Passage

1 Corinthians 15.45-49

"So also it is written, 'The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly." (1 Corinthians 15:45-49, NASB95)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"43. it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44. it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body."

"45. So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46. Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual. 47. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven. 48. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."

"50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed," (1 Corinthians 15:43-51, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"43. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body."

"45. So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46. However that which is spiritual isn't first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. 47. The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. 48. As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49. As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let's also bear the image of the heavenly."

"50. Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can't inherit God's Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable. 51. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed," (1 Corinthians 15:43-51, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"43. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."

"45. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."

"50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed," (1 Corinthians 15:43-51, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"43. it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44. it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body;"

"45. so also it hath been written, 'The first man Adam became a living creature,' the last Adam [is] for a life-giving spirit, 46. but that which is spiritual [is] not first, but that which [was] natural, afterwards that which [is] spiritual. 47. The first man [is] out of the earth, earthy; the second man [is] the Lord out of heaven; 48. as [is] the earthy, such [are] also the earthy; and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] also the heavenly; 49. and, according as we did bear the image of the earthy, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly."

"50. And this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood the reign of God is not able to inherit, nor doth the corruption inherit the incorruption; 51. lo, I tell you a secret; we indeed shall not all sleep, and we all shall be changed;" (1 Corinthians 15:43-51, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle
Audience: Christian believers at Corinth, some of whom denied the future bodily resurrection (1 Cor 15:12)
Location: composed in Ephesus
Time period: c. AD 55-56

Theological reading

Paul caps his resurrection chapter (1 Cor 15) by drawing a deliberate typological line from the first Adam to the last Adam. Adam is quoted from Gen 2:7 LXX, who became a living psychē, soul. Christ, the "last Adam," became a life-giving pneuma, spirit. The contrast is not a contrast between physical and immaterial. The body raised is still a body. The contrast is between two principles of life: the perishable, soulish, dust-derived life of Adam, and the imperishable, Spirit-energised, heaven-derived life of the risen Christ. The two adjectives Paul uses, psychikon and pneumatikon, name the animating principle of each body, not its material composition. The pneumatikon body is no less embodied for being raised; it is a body fully animated and indwelt by the Spirit.

The typology grounds Federal Headship and the Pauline doctrine of Original Sin. Two heads, two humanities; what each head does determines the destiny of those joined to him. Adam's headship issues in mortality and the psychikon body; Christ's headship issues in resurrection and the pneumatikon body. This passage and Romans 5.12-21 are the two pillars of the Pauline Adam-Christ typology, and Paul presupposes both texts in 1 Corinthians 15.21-22 ("for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive").

Verse 49 settles the apologetic question of resurrection-body continuity. The image we have borne is the earthy; the image we will bear is the heavenly. The same "we" wears both. Resurrection is not the swapping of one self for another but the transformation of one self through death into glorified embodied life. That commitment closes off both gnostic readings (escape the body) and reductive materialist readings (mere resuscitation), and grounds the Resurrection of the Body hub. The Adam-Christ typology also bears on Adam and Eve Historicity: the strongest theological reading reads a historical Adam as the necessary partner of the typology Paul builds his soteriology on, though some theistic-evolutionist accounts (see Theistic Evolution) propose a representative or federal Adam without monogenistic biological commitments.

Key words

H0120 - adam, adam (Strong's H0120), the Hebrew "man" / Adam, behind Paul's typology.
G4151 - pneuma, pneuma (Strong's G4151), the "spirit" of the life-giving spirit and the pneumatikon body.
G4561 - sarx, sarx (Strong's G4561), the related Pauline anthropological term; Paul uses psychikon and pneumatikon here, but the sarx / pneuma contrast runs through the same theology.

Cross-references

Romans 5.12-21, the second pillar of the Adam-Christ typology, treating sin and righteousness rather than death and resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15.21-22, the same chapter's compressed form: "as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive."
Necessity of the Incarnation, the argument that only the last Adam, the Son incarnate, can do what the first Adam could not.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.