ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Corinthians 15.49

Book: 1 Corinthians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

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.

  1. 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 15:47-51, ASV)
WEB

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.

  1. 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 15:47-51, WEB)
KJV

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.

  1. 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 15:47-51, KJV)
YLT

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.

  1. 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 15:47-51, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle
  • Audience: the church at Corinth, a mixed Jew-and-Gentile congregation in a wealthy Roman colony, fractured over teachers, status, sexual ethics, and the limits of freedom
  • Location: composed in Ephesus, addressed to Corinth
  • Time period: c. AD 55-56

Theological reading

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. The verse closes Paul's Adam and Christ comparison, and it makes the resurrection body a matter of conformity to a person rather than of survival as a substance.

Eikon is the word of Genesis 1:26 and 27, and Paul has used it in this chapter to structure the whole argument: humanity bears the likeness of the first man, made of dust, and will bear the likeness of the second man, from heaven. The doctrine of the image is therefore not only a statement about creation but about destiny, and it runs from Genesis through this chapter to Romans 8:29, where believers are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son. See Imago Dei.

There is a textual point worth knowing. Some manuscripts read the verb as a hortatory subjunctive, let us bear, rather than a future indicative, we shall bear, and the two differ by a single vowel. The future indicative fits the argument, which is a sustained description of what will happen rather than an exhortation, and most modern editions and translations adopt it, though the variant is well attested.

The verse also sets a boundary against two errors at once. The resurrection body is not the present body resuscitated, since flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom (verse 50), and it is not the shedding of embodiment for a purely spiritual state, since what is raised is a soma. See Resurrection of the Body.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Lexicon:

Guides:

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.