1 Corinthians 6 · Verse 15

1 Corinthians 6:15

Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
1 Corinthians 6:15, King James Version

1 Corinthians 6:15 in other translations

BSBDo you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
WEBDon’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!
ASVKnow ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? shall I then take away the members of Christ, and make them members of a harlot? God forbid.
YLTHave ye not known that your bodies are members of Christ? having taken, then, the members of the Christ, shall I make them members of an harlot? let it be not!
DARBYDo ye not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then, taking the members of the Christ, make them members of a harlot? Far be the thought.
BBEDo you not see that your bodies are part of the body of Christ? how then may I take what is a part of the body of Christ and make it a part of the body of a loose woman? such a thing may not be.
WebsterKnow ye not, that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? By no means.

What does 1 Corinthians 6:15 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
15. Resuming the thought in 1Co 6:13, "the body is for the Lord" (1Co 12:27; Ep 4:12, 15, 16; 5:30). shall I then--such being the case. take--spontaneously alienating them from Christ. For they cannot be at the same time "the members of an harlot," and "of Christ" [Bengel]. It is a fact no less certain than mysterious, that moral and spiritual ruin is caused by such sins; which human wisdom (when untaught by revelation) held to be actions as blameless as eating and drinking [Conybeare and Howson].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verses 15, 16. Know ye not, etc. This is the third argument against licentiousness. It is, that we, as Christians, are united to Christ, (comp. Jn 15:1, etc.;) and that it is abominable to take the members of Christ, and subject them to pollution and sin. Christ was pure, wholly pure. We are professedly united to him. We are bound therefore to be pure, as he was. Shall that which is a part, as it were, of the pure and holy Saviour, be prostituted to impure and unholy embraces?

God forbid. Rom 3:4. This expresses the deep abhorrence of the apostle at the thought. It needed not argument to show it. The whole world revolted at the idea; and language could scarcely express the abomination of the very thought.

Know ye not, etc. This is designed to confirm and strengthen what he had just said.

He which is joined. Who is attached to; or who is connected with.

Is one body. That is, is to be regarded as one; is closely and intimately united. Similar expressions occur in classic writers. See Grotius and Bloomfield.

For two, saith he, etc. This Paul illustrates by a reference to the formation of the marriage connexion in Gen 2:24. He cannot be understood as affirming that that passage had original reference to illicit connexions; but he uses it for purposes of illustration. God had declared that the man and his wife became one; in a similar sense, in unlawful connexions the parties became one.

(a) "members of Christ" Eph 5:30

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? - Because he has taken your nature upon him, and thus, as believers in him, ye are the members of Christ. Shall I then take, etc. - Shall we, who profess to be members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, connect ourselves with harlots, and thus dishonor and pollute the bodies which are members of Christ? God forbid! These passages admit of a more literal interpretation. This, if given at all, I must give in a strange language. Membra humana, ad generationem pertinentia, vocantur Membra Christi, quia mysterium conjunctionis Christi et Ecclesiae per conjunctionem maris et faeminae indigitatur, Eph 5:32. In Vet. Test. idem valebat de membro masculino, guippe quod circumcisione, tanquam signo faederis, honoratum est. Vide Schoettgen, Hor. Hebr.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Some among the Corinthians seem to have been ready to say, All things are lawful for me. This dangerous conceit St. Paul opposes. There is a liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, in which we must stand fast. But surely a Christian would never put himself into the power of any bodily appetite. The body is for the Lord; is to be an instrument of righteousness to holiness, therefore is never to be made an…

Read the full comment on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 →

1 Corinthians 6:15 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ΟὐκOukSurelyG3756
οἴδατεoidateyou know
ὅτιhotithatG3754
τὰtatheG3588
σώματαsōmatabodiesG4983
ὑμῶνhumōnof youG4771
μέληmelēmembersG3196
ΧριστοῦChristouof ChristG5547
ἐστιν;estinare?G1510
ἄραςarasHaving takenG142
οὖνounthenG3767
τὰtatheG3588
μέληmelēmembersG3196
τοῦtouof theG3588
ΧριστοῦChristouChristG5547
ποιήσωpoiēsōshall I makeG4160
πόρνηςpornēs[them] of a prostituteG4204
μέλη;melēmembers?G3196
μὴmēNeverG3361
γένοιτο.genoitowould it be!G1096

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Corinthians 6:15

  • Ephesians 5:30

    For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

  • Romans 12:5

    So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

  • Ephesians 4:15-16

    But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

  • Colossians 2:19

    And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

  • 1 Corinthians 12:27

    Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

  • Ephesians 4:12

    For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

  • 1 Corinthians 6:19

    What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

  • 1 Corinthians 11:3

    But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

  • Ephesians 5:23

    For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

  • Luke 20:16

    He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.

  • Galatians 6:14

    But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

  • Galatians 2:17

    But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
your.
19; 11:3; 12:27; Ro 12:5; Eph 1:22,23; 4:12,15,16; 5:23,30; Col 2:19
God.
Ge 44:17; Lu 20:16; Ro 3:3,4,6,31; 6:2,15; 7:7,13; Ga 2:17; 3:21
Ga 6:14

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Corinthians 6:14

    And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

  • 1 Corinthians 6:15

    Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

  • 1 Corinthians 6:16

    What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

Read all of 1 Corinthians 6

1 Corinthians 6:15 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¿No sabéis que vuestros cuerpos son miembros de Cristo? ¿Quitaré pues los miembros de Cristo, y los haré miembros de una ramera? Lejos sea.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Ne savez-vous pas que vos corps sont des membres de Christ? Prendrai-je donc les membres du Christ pour en faire les membres d’une prostituée? Qu’ainsi n’advienne!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wisset ihr nicht, daß eure Leiber Glieder Christi sind? Soll ich denn die Glieder Christi nehmen und zu Gliedern einer Hure machen? Das sei ferne!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Nescitis quoniam corpora vestra membra sunt Christi? Tollens ergo membra Christi, faciam membra meretricis? Absit.