Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Corinthians 12:29

"Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all [workers of] miracles?" — 1 Corinthians 12:29 (ASV)

By these rhetorical questions, all of which imply “no” for an answer, Paul stresses the principle of divine selectivity. Not all believers function in each of the ways listed. God selects individuals and gives them their specific gifts (v.28). Paul ends v.30 with the gift of interpretation of tongues, because he will comment on this in ch. 14. As in v.28, “tongues” comes last in his list.