1 Corinthians 12:7

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each man for the common advantage.”

Each receives an aptitude from the Spirit, but not for himself; what each possesses is intended for the good of all.

The genitive τοῦ πνεύματος, of the Spirit, cannot be, as Meyer and others will have it, an objective complement, as if it were the Spirit who was manifested by the gift. From the fact that in 2 Corinthians 4:2 the word ἡ φανέρωσις has an objective complement (of the truth), it does not follow that it should be the same here; the two notions of truth and Spirit are very different. Paul does not mean that what belongs to the Spirit is revealed by the exercise of gifts, but that He manifests Himself by communicating them. And as the Spirit is one (1 Corinthians 12:4), it follows that all the gifts, however different, must tend to a common end, the good of the whole, and not to the selfish satisfaction of the individual on whom they are bestowed. With the dative ἑκάστῳ, to each, which is placed first, there is connected grammatically and logically the whole following enumeration of the gifts, or, as has been said, the presents which the bridegroom makes to the bride.