“Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?”
The full verse · 1 Corinthians 12:29 · KJV
Are ? are ? are ? are workers of ?
Asked by
Paul: the apostle writing to the Corinthians "concerning spiritual gifts" and the church as one body (1 Corinthians 12:1, 12)
Asked to
Corinthians: the believers at Corinth, to whom Paul says, "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Corinthians 12:27)
The Scene
Paul has just listed whom "God hath set" in the church: "first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues" (1 Corinthians 12:28).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionPaul now moves from the picture of the body to the real church. Having named the roles and gifts God appointed, he asks a string of short questions that all expect the answer "no." Barnes says these questions "imply, with strong emphasis, that it could not be, and ought not to be, that there should be perfect equality of endowment." Gill answers each one: some are apostles, some prophets, some teachers, and most members are hearers who are taught. Paul wants the Corinthians to stop expecting everyone to have the same gift.
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe answer to each question is "no," and Paul does not need to say it. He moves straight to his counsel: "But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way" (1 Corinthians 12:31). That way is love, without which even prophecy and great faith leave a person "nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:2).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsIn Greek, each question begins with me, a particle that Thayer's lexicon says is used "when a negative answer is expected." So the grammar itself signals the answer. "Workers of miracles" translates one Greek word, dynameis, literally "powers." Paul's ordered list, "first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers" (1 Corinthians 12:28), shows differences of role; Matthew Henry notes that the members and officers did not all have the same rank or the same gifts.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyGod is the one who sets gifts and roles in the church (1 Corinthians 12:28), just as He set the members in the body (1 Corinthians 12:18). The differences are His doing, so no one needs to envy another's place or look down on another's. Matthew Henry draws both lessons: "We must be content with our own rank and share, if they be lower and less than those of others," and "We must not be conceited of ourselves, and despise others, if we are in the higher rank and have greater gifts."
Henry also ties these questions back to Paul's body picture. To make everyone an apostle or prophet "were to make the church a monster: all one as if the body were all ear or all eye." Paul's questions protect the church from that kind of sameness.
Look Closer
Why do these questions expect the answer "no"?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Father, You give gifts as You choose; is there someone whose gift I have envied, or someone whose gift I have looked down on, that You want me to see differently?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Which is harder for you: being content with your own gift, or honoring someone whose gift seems smaller? Why?
- Tell about someone whose gift was very different from yours and how God used it in your life.
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
You don't have to be everything. Not everyone is called to teach, lead, or do the most visible work, and that is by God's design (1 Corinthians 12:28). You can serve gladly with the gift God gave you without measuring it against someone else's.
If your gift is more visible, that gives you no reason to look down on anyone. Paul's questions level the ground: every gift comes from the same God, for the good of the whole body.
This doesn't mean you should stop growing. Paul still says, "covet earnestly the best gifts" (1 Corinthians 12:31). But the way that matters most is open to everyone: love (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Scripture's own application: Romans 12:6-8
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?”
“If they were all one member, where were the body?”
“If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?”
“Is it therefore not of the body?”