1COR 12:21 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Your eye can’t tell your hand, “I don’t need you,” and your head can’t tell your feet, “I don’t need you.”

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Now the eye is not able to say to the hand, “I do not have need of you,” or again, the head to the feet, “I do not have need of you.”

UST Imagine again that your body parts could talk. An eye would never tell a hand, “I do not need you.” Similarly, a head would never tell feet, “I do not need you.”

BSB § The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.”

BLB Now the eye is not able to say to the hand, "I have no need of you." Or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."

AICNT The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

OEB The eye cannot say to the hand “I do not need you,” nor, again, the head to the feet “I do not need you.”

WEBBE The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.”

LSV and an eye is not able to say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

FBV The eye can't tell the hand, “I don't need you,” or the head tell the feet, “I don't need you.”

TCNT The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of yoʋ,” nor in turn can the head say to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

T4T That is why if our eye could talk, it should never say to our hand, “I do not need you!” And if our head could talk, it should not say to our feet, “I do not need you!”

LEB Now the eye is not able to say to the hand, “I do not have need of you,” or again, the head to the feet, “I do not have need of you.”

BBE And the eye may not say to the hand, I have no need of you: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

Moff No Moff 1COR book available

Wymth It is also impossible for the eye to say to the hand, "I do not need you;" or again for the head to say to the feet, "I do not need you."

ASV And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

DRA And the eye cannot say to the hand: I need not thy help; nor again the head to the feet: I have no need of you.

YLT and an eye is not able to say to the hand, 'I have no need of thee;' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'

Drby The eye cannot say to the hand, I have not need of thee; or again, the head to the feet, I have not need of you.

RV And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

Wbstr And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

KJB-1769 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
(And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee/you: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. )

KJB-1611 And the eye cannot say vnto the hand, I haue no need of thee: nor againe, the head to the feete, I haue no neede of you.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps And the eye can not say vnto ye hande, I haue no neede of thee: Nor, the head agayne to the feete, I haue no neede of you.
(And the eye cannot say unto ye/you_all hand, I have no need of thee/you: Nor, the head again to the feet, I have no need of you.)

Gnva And the eye cannot say vnto the hand, I haue no neede of thee: nor the head againe to the feete, I haue no neede of you.
(And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee/you: nor the head again to the feet, I have no need of you. )

Cvdl The eye can not saye vnto the hande: I haue no nede of the: or agayne the heade vnto the fete, I haue no nede of you:
(The eye cannot say unto the hande: I have no need of them: or again the head unto the feet, I have no need of you:)

TNT And the eye can not saye vnto the honde I have no nede of the: nor the heed also to the fete. I have no nede of you.
(And the eye cannot say unto the hand I have no need of them: nor the head also to the feet. I have no need of you. )

Wycl And the iye may not seie to the hond, Y haue no nede to thi werkis; or eft the heed to the feet, Ye ben not necessarie to me.
(And the iye may not say to the hand, I have no need to thy/your works; or after the head to the feet, Ye/You_all been not necessarie to me.)

Luth Es kann das Auge nicht sagen zu der Hand: Ich bedarf dein nicht; oder wiederum das Haupt zu den Füßen: Ich bedarf euer nicht;
(It kann the Auge not say to the/of_the Hand: I bedarf your not; or again/in_turn the head to the feet: I bedarf euer not;)

ClVg Non potest autem oculus dicere manui: Opera tua non indigeo: aut iterum caput pedibus: Non estis mihi necessarii.[fn]
(Non potest however oculus dicere manui: Opera your not/no indigeo: aut again caput feet: Non estis to_me necessarii. )

12.21 Aut iterum caput pedibus. Ipsa dignitas contemptibilis est sine subjectis. Officium enim est per quod dignitas constat. Magnus imperator necessarium habet exercitum.

12.21 Aut again caput feet. Ipsa dignitas contemptibilis it_is without subyectis. Officium because it_is through that dignitas constat. Magnus imperator necessarium habet exercitum.

UGNT οὐ δύναται δὲ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς εἰπεῖν τῇ χειρί, χρείαν σου οὐκ ἔχω; ἢ πάλιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῖς ποσίν, χρείαν ὑμῶν οὐκ ἔχω.
(ou dunatai de ho ofthalmos eipein taʸ ⱪeiri, ⱪreian sou ouk eⱪō; aʸ palin haʸ kefalaʸ tois posin, ⱪreian humōn ouk eⱪō.)

SBL-GNT οὐ δύναται δὲ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς εἰπεῖν τῇ χειρί· Χρείαν σου οὐκ ἔχω, ἢ πάλιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῖς ποσίν· Χρείαν ὑμῶν οὐκ ἔχω·
(ou dunatai de ho ofthalmos eipein taʸ ⱪeiri; Ⱪreian sou ouk eⱪō, aʸ palin haʸ kefalaʸ tois posin; Ⱪreian humōn ouk eⱪō;)

TC-GNT Οὐ δύναται δὲ [fn]ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς εἰπεῖν τῇ χειρί, Χρείαν σου οὐκ ἔχω· ἢ πάλιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῖς ποσί, Χρείαν ὑμῶν οὐκ ἔχω.
(Ou dunatai de ho ofthalmos eipein taʸ ⱪeiri, Ⱪreian sou ouk eⱪō; aʸ palin haʸ kefalaʸ tois posi, Ⱪreian humōn ouk eⱪō. )

12:21 ο ¦ — ANT TR

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / hypo

οὐ δύναται & ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς & ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῖς ποσίν

not /is/_able & the eye & the head ˱to˲_the feet

Here Paul is using a hypothetical situation to teach the Corinthians. He wants them to imagine that an eye and a head could talk to other body parts. He uses this hypothetical situation because, if these body parts could talk, they would never say “I have no need of you” to other body parts. His point is that human body parts work together; they do not try to get rid of each other. Use a natural way in your language to introduce a hypothetical situation. Alternate translation: [suppose that the eye could speak. It is not able … suppose that the head could speak. It is not able to say to the feet]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

οὐ δύναται & ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς εἰπεῖν τῇ χειρί, χρείαν σου οὐκ ἔχω; ἢ πάλιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῖς ποσίν, χρείαν ὑμῶν οὐκ ἔχω

not /is/_able & the eye /to/_say ˱to˲_the hand need ˱of˲_you not ˱I˲_/am/_having or again the head ˱to˲_the feet need ˱of˲_you_all not ˱I˲_/am/_having

Here Paul speaks as if an eye and a head could say things. He speaks in this way because he wants the Corinthians to think of themselves as body parts of the body of Christ, and so the eye and the head are examples for them. He also wishes them to see how absurd it would be if an eye or a head were to say that it did not need other body parts. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this figure of speech by clarifying that this is a hypothetical situation in which an eye or a head can say things. Alternate translation: [say that an eye could talk. It is not able to say to the hand, ‘I do not have need of you.’ Or again, say that a head could talk. It is not able to say to the hand, ‘I do not have need of you.’]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / quotations

τῇ χειρί, χρείαν σου οὐκ ἔχω & τοῖς ποσίν, χρείαν ὑμῶν οὐκ ἔχω.

˱to˲_the hand need ˱of˲_you not ˱I˲_/am/_having & ˱to˲_the feet need ˱of˲_you_all not ˱I˲_/am/_having

If your language does not use this form, you can translate the statement as an indirect quote instead of as a direct quote. Alternate translation: [that it does not need the hand … that it does not need the feet]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

οὐ δύναται & ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς εἰπεῖν τῇ χειρί & ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῖς ποσίν

not /is/_able & the eye /to/_say ˱to˲_the hand & the head ˱to˲_the feet

Paul is using these body parts as examples. He is not speaking about one particular eye, hand, head, or feet. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this form with a form that refers to any ear. Alternate translation: [no eye is able to say to a hand … no head is able to say to feet]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

χρείαν σου οὐκ ἔχω & χρείαν ὑμῶν οὐκ ἔχω

need ˱of˲_you not ˱I˲_/am/_having & need ˱of˲_you_all not ˱I˲_/am/_having

Here, I do not have need of you is a natural way to express this idea in Paul’s language. In some languages, this clause sounds unnatural or longer than it needs to be. Paul is not using this form for special emphasis, so you could express the idea in whatever way seems natural in your language. Alternate translation: [I do not require you … I do not require you] or [You are not needed … You are not needed]

Note 6 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

ἢ πάλιν

or again

Here, or again introduces another example. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express or again with a word or phrase that introduces another example. Alternate translation: [or, for another example,] or [or further]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῖς ποσίν

the head ˱to˲_the feet

Here Paul omits some words that your language may require to make a complete thought. Paul omits these words because he stated them explicitly in the previous clause (is not able to say). If your language does need these words, you could supply them from that clause. Alternate translation: [the head is not able to say to the feet]

Parallel 1COR 12:21