Passage

1 Corinthians 12.29-30

Book: 1 Corinthians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

27. Now ye are the body of Christ, and severally members thereof. 28. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues.

29. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? 30. have all gifts of healings? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

But desire earnestly the greater gifts. And moreover a most excellent way show I unto you. (1 Corinthians 12:27-31, ASV)

WEB

27. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 28. God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, and various kinds of languages.

29. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all miracle workers? 30. Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with various languages? Do all interpret?

But earnestly desire the best gifts. Moreover, I show a most excellent way to you. (1 Corinthians 12:27-31, WEB)

KJV

27. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 28. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. ^{diversities: or, kinds}

29. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? ^{workers: or, powers?} 30. Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. (1 Corinthians 12:27-31, KJV)

YLT

27. and ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 28. And some, indeed, did God set in the assembly, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, afterwards powers, afterwards gifts of healings, helpings, governings, divers kinds of tongues;

29. [are] all apostles? [are] all prophets? [are] all teachers? [are] all powers? 30. have all gifts of healings? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

and desire earnestly the better gifts; and yet a far excelling way do I shew to you: (1 Corinthians 12:27-31, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle
Audience: the church at Corinth, a mixed Jew-and-Gentile congregation in a wealthy Roman colony, fractured over teachers, status, sexual ethics, and the limits of freedom
Location: composed in Ephesus, addressed to Corinth
Time period: c. AD 55-56

Theological reading

Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? have all gifts of healings? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? Seven questions in two verses, each framed in Greek with the particle me, which signals that the expected answer is no.

That grammatical detail is the whole exegetical point, and it is invisible in most English translations. Paul is not asking open questions. He is asserting, in interrogative form, that no single gift is distributed to every believer, and he includes tongues in the list without singling it out. Any position that treats one particular manifestation as the necessary evidence of a genuine work of the Spirit in every Christian has to account for a rhetorical question expecting the answer no. See Tongues as Evidence of the Spirit.

The verses close the body argument that began at verse 12. If the foot is not the hand and the ear is not the eye, then a congregation in which everyone exercised the same gift would not be a body at all but a monstrosity, which is exactly the reductio Paul runs in verse 17. The diversity is not a concession to human limitation; it is the design.

Verse 31 then redirects everything: desire earnestly the greater gifts. And moreover a most excellent way show I unto you. Chapter 13 follows, and its placement is an argument, not an interlude.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

TBD

Quoted in

Concepts:

Tongues as Evidence of the Spirit

Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.