1 Corinthians 15:29-41 - This Body The Seed Of A Glorious One
The anticipation of the final resurrection enabled the early Christians to endure incredible sufferings. As one rank fell martyred, another was ready to step into its place; and the catechumens, or young believers, took the names of the martyrs, so as to perpetuate their testimony. With this hope in his heart Paul himself had confronted at Ephesus the tumult of the infuriated mob, Acts 19:1-41. Belief in this sublime undoing of the last effects of sin was one of the chief features in the conquering power of Christianity.
In every seed there is the germ of a new and beautiful growth, more elaborate and yet identical; so in each of us there is something which has the capacity and potentiality of furnishing another body, through which the emancipated spirit will be able to express itself more perfectly than it can in this body, which is composed of coarser materials. It is not difficult to believe in this, when we have seen the caterpillar become the butterfly. The world is full of wonderful and beautiful things. God's inventiveness reveals itself in a myriad differing organisms. It is by His will that the golden head of wheat is fairer than the little brown seed cast into the furrow; so it is His pleasure that the body which is to be shall surpass the present in glory. [source]
Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 15
1By Christ's resurrection, 12he proves the necessity of our resurrection, 16against all such as deny the resurrection of the body 21The fruit, 35and the manner thereof; 51and of the resurrection of those who shall be found alive at the last day
Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 15:36
Thou foolish one [απρων] Old word Proleptic position of συ su (thou) sharpens the point. Sceptics (agnostics) pose as unusually intellectual (the intelligentsia), but the pose does not make one intelligent. [source]
Except it die [εαν μη αποτανηι] Condition of third class, possibility assumed. This is the answer to the “how” question. In plant life death precedes life, death of the seed and then the new plant. [source]
Thou sowest [σὺ οπείρεις] Thou is emphatic. Every time thou sowest, thou sowest something which is quickened only through dying. Paul is not partial to metaphors from nature, and his references of this character are mostly to nature in connection with human labor. Dean Howson says: “We find more of this kind of illustration in the one short epistle of St. James than in all the writings of St. Paul” (“Metaphors of St. Paul.” Compare Farrar's “Paul,” i., 20,21). [source]
Die [] Become corrupted. Applied to the seed in order to keep up the analogy with the body. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 15:36
John 12:24Except [εαν μη] Negative condition of third class (undetermined, supposable case) with second aorist active participle πεσων pesōn (from πιπτω piptō to fall) and the second aorist active subjunctive of αποτνησκω apothnēskō to die. A grain of wheat Rather, “the grain of wheat.” By itself alone Both predicate nominatives after μενει menei It is not necessary to think (nor likely) that Jesus has in mind the Eleusinian mysteries which became a symbol of the mystery of spring. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:36 uses the same illustration of the resurrection that Jesus does here. Jesus shows here the paradox that life comes through death. Whether the Greeks heard him or not we do not know. If so, they heard something not in Greek philosophy, the Christian ideal of sacrifice, “and this was foreign to the philosophy of Greece” (Bernard). Jesus had already spoken of himself as the bread of life (6:35-65). But if it die Parallel condition of the third class. Grains of wheat have been found in Egyptian tombs three or four thousand years old, but they are now dead. They bore no fruit. [source]
1 Corinthians 15:35How - with what [πῶς - ποίῳ] Rev., correctly, with what manner of. There are two questions: the first as to the manner, the second as to the form in which resurrection is to take place. The answer to the first, How, etc., is, the body is raised through death (1 Corinthians 15:36); to the second, with what kind of a body, the answer, expanded throughout nearly the whole chapter, is, a spiritual body. [source]
1 Corinthians 15:22Shall be made alive [ζωοποιητησονται] First future passive indicative of ζωοποιεω zōopoieō late verb (Aristotle) to give life, to restore to life as here. In 1 Corinthians 15:36 ζωοποιειται zōopoieitai is used in the sense of natural life as in John 5:21; John 6:63 of spiritual life. It is not easy to catch Paul‘s thought here. He means resurrection (restoration) by the verb here, but not necessarily eternal life or salvation. So also παντες pantes may not coincide in both clauses. All who die die in Adam, all who will be made alive will be made alive (restored to life) in Christ. The same problem occurs in Romans 5:18 about “all,” and in Romans 5:19 about “the many.” [source]
1 Corinthians 15:35How [πως] This is still the great objection to the resurrection of our bodies. Granted that Jesus rose from the dead, for the sake of argument, these sceptics refuse to believe in the possibility of our resurrection. It is the attitude of Matthew Arnold who said, “Miracles do not happen.” Scientifically we know the “how” of few things. Paul has an astounding answer to this objection. Death itself is the way of resurrection as in the death of the seed for the new plant (1 Corinthians 15:36.). With what manner of body (ποιωι σωματι poiōi sōmati). This is the second question which makes plainer the difficulty of the first. The first body perishes. Will that body be raised? Paul treats this problem more at length (verses 38-54) and by analogy of nature (Cf. Butler‘s famous Analogy). It is a spiritual, not a natural, body that is raised. Σωμα Sōma here is an organism. Flesh (σαρχ sarx) is the σωμα sōma for the natural man, but there is spiritual (πνευματικον pneumatikon) σωμα sōma for the resurrection. [source]
2 Corinthians 5:5Wrought [κατεργασάμενος] The compound is significant, indicating an accomplished fact. Through the various operations of His Spirit and the processes of His discipline, God has worked us out (Stanley, worked up ) for this change. The process includes the dissolution of what is mortal no less than the renewal. The one is a step to the other. See 1 Corinthians 15:36. [source]
James 2:20O vain man [ω αντρωπε κενε] Goes on with the singular objector and demolishes him. For “empty” (deficient) Paul uses απρων aphrōn (fool) in 1 Corinthians 15:36 and just αντρωπε anthrōpe in Romans 2:1; Romans 9:20.Barren (αργε arge). See 2 Peter 1:8 (not idle nor unfruitful) and Matthew 12:36, but Hort urges “inactive” as the idea here, like money with no interest and land with no crops. [source]
What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 15:36 mean?
FoolyouWhatyou sownotdoes come to lifeifnotit dies
Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 15:36
Old word Proleptic position of συ su (thou) sharpens the point. Sceptics (agnostics) pose as unusually intellectual (the intelligentsia), but the pose does not make one intelligent. [source]
Condition of third class, possibility assumed. This is the answer to the “how” question. In plant life death precedes life, death of the seed and then the new plant. [source]
Thou is emphatic. Every time thou sowest, thou sowest something which is quickened only through dying. Paul is not partial to metaphors from nature, and his references of this character are mostly to nature in connection with human labor. Dean Howson says: “We find more of this kind of illustration in the one short epistle of St. James than in all the writings of St. Paul” (“Metaphors of St. Paul.” Compare Farrar's “Paul,” i., 20,21). [source]
Become corrupted. Applied to the seed in order to keep up the analogy with the body. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 15:36
Negative condition of third class (undetermined, supposable case) with second aorist active participle πεσων pesōn (from πιπτω piptō to fall) and the second aorist active subjunctive of αποτνησκω apothnēskō to die. A grain of wheat Rather, “the grain of wheat.” By itself alone Both predicate nominatives after μενει menei It is not necessary to think (nor likely) that Jesus has in mind the Eleusinian mysteries which became a symbol of the mystery of spring. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:36 uses the same illustration of the resurrection that Jesus does here. Jesus shows here the paradox that life comes through death. Whether the Greeks heard him or not we do not know. If so, they heard something not in Greek philosophy, the Christian ideal of sacrifice, “and this was foreign to the philosophy of Greece” (Bernard). Jesus had already spoken of himself as the bread of life (6:35-65). But if it die Parallel condition of the third class. Grains of wheat have been found in Egyptian tombs three or four thousand years old, but they are now dead. They bore no fruit. [source]
Referring to the interment of the body, as is clear from 1 Corinthians 15:36, 1 Corinthians 15:37. [source]
Rev., correctly, with what manner of. There are two questions: the first as to the manner, the second as to the form in which resurrection is to take place. The answer to the first, How, etc., is, the body is raised through death (1 Corinthians 15:36); to the second, with what kind of a body, the answer, expanded throughout nearly the whole chapter, is, a spiritual body. [source]
First future passive indicative of ζωοποιεω zōopoieō late verb (Aristotle) to give life, to restore to life as here. In 1 Corinthians 15:36 ζωοποιειται zōopoieitai is used in the sense of natural life as in John 5:21; John 6:63 of spiritual life. It is not easy to catch Paul‘s thought here. He means resurrection (restoration) by the verb here, but not necessarily eternal life or salvation. So also παντες pantes may not coincide in both clauses. All who die die in Adam, all who will be made alive will be made alive (restored to life) in Christ. The same problem occurs in Romans 5:18 about “all,” and in Romans 5:19 about “the many.” [source]
This is still the great objection to the resurrection of our bodies. Granted that Jesus rose from the dead, for the sake of argument, these sceptics refuse to believe in the possibility of our resurrection. It is the attitude of Matthew Arnold who said, “Miracles do not happen.” Scientifically we know the “how” of few things. Paul has an astounding answer to this objection. Death itself is the way of resurrection as in the death of the seed for the new plant (1 Corinthians 15:36.). With what manner of body (ποιωι σωματι poiōi sōmati). This is the second question which makes plainer the difficulty of the first. The first body perishes. Will that body be raised? Paul treats this problem more at length (verses 38-54) and by analogy of nature (Cf. Butler‘s famous Analogy). It is a spiritual, not a natural, body that is raised. Σωμα Sōma here is an organism. Flesh (σαρχ sarx) is the σωμα sōma for the natural man, but there is spiritual (πνευματικον pneumatikon) σωμα sōma for the resurrection. [source]
The compound is significant, indicating an accomplished fact. Through the various operations of His Spirit and the processes of His discipline, God has worked us out (Stanley, worked up ) for this change. The process includes the dissolution of what is mortal no less than the renewal. The one is a step to the other. See 1 Corinthians 15:36. [source]
In Pastorals only here and Titus 3:9. Μωρός means dull, sluggish, stupid: applied to the taste, flat, insipid: comp. μωρανθῇ havelost his savor, Matthew 5:13. In Pastorals never substantively, a fool, but so in 1 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 4:10. Comp. ἄφρων , 1 Corinthians 15:36. [source]
Goes on with the singular objector and demolishes him. For “empty” (deficient) Paul uses απρων aphrōn (fool) in 1 Corinthians 15:36 and just αντρωπε anthrōpe in Romans 2:1; Romans 9:20.Barren (αργε arge). See 2 Peter 1:8 (not idle nor unfruitful) and Matthew 12:36, but Hort urges “inactive” as the idea here, like money with no interest and land with no crops. [source]