so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another.
Parallel translations
- WEB so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
- KJV So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
- NKJV so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
- NASB so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.
- NLT so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Though many, believers form one body in Christ and belong to one another as members.
Overview
Paul completes the body metaphor: union with Christ creates a real corporate unity among believers, who are 'individually members one of another.' This mutual belonging is the basis for the gifts and duties that follow. It teaches that Christian identity is never merely individual but bound up with the whole body of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Cor 12:20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
- 1 Cor 12:27–28Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it.
- 1 Cor 10:17Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.
- Eph 4:25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
- Eph 5:30For we are members of His body.
- Col 2:19He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow.
- 1 Cor 10:33as I also try to please everyone in all I do. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved.
- 1 Cor 12:12–14The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ.
- Col 1:24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.
- Rom 12:4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function,
- Eph 1:23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
- Eph 5:23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 12:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.