Commentaries Dictionaries Concordances

Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

1 Corinthians 15:46

Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual. — Here a further thought is introduced. There is not only a variety of bodies — and that variety regulated by adaptability to their state of existence — but there is an ordered sequence in that variety. As the Adam was first from whom we derive the natural body and soul, and the Adam was last from whom comes our spiritual nature, so there will be the like order in regard to our bodies. The natural body first in this life — the spiritual body afterwards in the next life.

Continues after advertising

See also 1 Corinthians 15:46 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse 46. _THAT WAS NOT FIRST WHICH IS SPIRITUAL_] The _natural_ or _animal_ body, described 1 Corinthians 15:44, was the _first_; it was the body with which Adam was _created_. The _spiritual body_ i...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    HOWBEIT - There is a due order observed, 1 Corinthians 15:23. The decaying, the dying, the weak, the corruptible, in the proper order of events, was first. This order was necessary, and this is observ...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    III. RESURRECTION AND THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH AND CONCLUSION: Chapter S 15-16 1. Resurrection and the Hope of the Church. CHAPTER 15 _ 1. The Gospel and the Resurrection of Christ. (1 Corinthians 1...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    Paul now meets the objection, How are the dead raised? in what kind of a body do they come back from the tomb? Only a fool (in the Hebrew rather than the Greek sense), he tartly says, would ask such a...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    JESUS' RESURRECTION AND OURS (1 Corinthians 15:1-58) 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 is both one of the greatest and one of the most difficult Chapter s in the New Testament. Not only is it in itself difficult...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    But perhaps someone says, "In what form are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" That is a foolish question. When you sow a seed, it cannot be made alive, unless it first dies. It is...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    HOWBEIT, &C. Read "But not first the spiritual, but the natural". AND. Omit. THAT WHICH IS. the....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _Howbeit that was no first which is spiritual_ See note on 1 Corinthians 15:23. "The law of God's universe is progress." Robertson. His whole lecture on this passage will repay study. He shews how the...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    ἈΛΛ' ΟΥ̓ ΠΡΩ͂ΤΟΝ. See note on 1 Corinthians 15:23. ‘The law of God’s universe is progress.’ Robertson. His whole lecture on this passage will repay study. He shews how the Fall was an illustration of...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    1 Corinthians 15:1-58. THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION This chapter is one of the deepest and most mysterious in the Bible. It is the one exception to the statement in ch. 3 that St Paul was unable t...

  • Charles Box Commentaries

    _CHANGES BROUGHT BY THE RESURRECTION 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-58:_ Some were asking, "How will the dead be raised to life? What kind of bodies will they have?" They were taught that changes would take plac...

  • Charles Rose Commentaries

    ΠΡΏΤΟΝ (G4412) _n._ первый; _пот. sing._ praed. ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΙΚΌΝ (G4152) духовный, ΈΠΕΙΤΑ (G1899) затем....

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    BUTLER'S COMMENTS SECTION 3 Its Heavenliness (1 Corinthians 15:35-57) 35 But some one will ask, How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come? 36You foolish man! What you sow does not...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    APPLEBURY'S COMMENTS _Answer to Problems of The Resurrection_ (35-58) _Text_ 1 Corinthians 15:35-58. But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what manner of body do they come? 36 Tho...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. AFTERWARD. Adam had "a living soul," framed for eternal life by eating the tree of l...

  • Concordant Commentary on the New Testament by A. E. Knoch

    40 There is no direct statement here that our bodies will be changed to celestial bodies, in accord with the later revelation of Ephesians, but such an inference would be in point. Even among the cele...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    15:46 natural, (b-13) i.e. having natural life through the living soul....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    _(F) THE FACT AND THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD_ Some Corinthians disbelieved in the resurrection of the dead—not, apparently, in Christ's Resurrection, though St. Paul felt this would...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    SERVANTS OF CHRIST 1 CORINTHIANS _HILDA BRIGHT_ CHAPTER 15 *RESURRECTION 15:1-58 The reason that Paul was writing about the *resurrection is in verse 12. Some Christians were saying that there i...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CHAPTER 24 THE SPIRITUAL BODY THE proofs of the Resurrection which Paul has adduced are satisfactory. So long as they are clearly before the mind, we find it possible to believe in that great experie...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    might have been expressly aimed at the Philonian exegesis; it affirms a development from lower to higher, from the dispensation of ψυχὴ to that of πνεῦμα, the precise opp [2553] of that extracted from...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    VICTORY OVER SIN AND DEATH 1 Corinthians 15:42 Life on the other side will be as real and as earnest as here. We shall not dissolve into thin mist or flit as bodiless ghosts. We shall each be provide...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The last fact of the "spiritualities" is the resurrection, and the apostle first gives the proof of the resurrection of Christ. His final proof was his own experience. It is evident that there were so...

  • Gary Hampton Commentaries

    The Glorified Body The resurrection will be just like what occurs in farmers' fields all over the world. A seed, or body, that will die (Genesis 3:19) is planted, or buried, and is raised with a new s...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    (26) Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. (26) Secondly, he wills the order of this twofold state or quality to be observ...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    How do the dead rise again? He now answers the objections these new teachers made against the resurrection. St. John Chrysostom reduces them to these two questions: how is it possible for them to rise...

  • Godet's commentary on Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians

    II. THE MODE OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-58. After demonstrating the essential part played by the resurrection in the Christian salvation, the apostle sets himself to answer t...

  • Godet's commentary on Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians

    “Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is psychical; and afterward that which is spiritual.” Are we right in regarding this as a general law, or must we, with Osiander and other...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    (35) But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? (36) Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: (37) And that which thou sowest, thou s...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    As usual, the introductory words (1 Corinthians 1:1-3) of the epistle give us no little intimation of that which is to follow. The apostle speaks of himself as such "called [to be] an apostle of Jesus...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    46._But this is not first, which is spiritual. _“It is necessary,” says he, “that before we are restored in Christ, we derive our origin from Adam, and resemble him. Let us, therefore, not wonder, if...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    But other evils had found means to introduce themselves into the midst of the shining gifts which were exercised in the bosom of the flock at Corinth. The resurrection of the dead was denied. Satan is...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    HOWBEIT, THAT WAS NOT FIRST WHICH IS SPIRITUAL,.... As the apostle before proves the distinction of a natural and spiritual body, and gives instances of both in the two principal men in the world, the...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Howbeit that _was_ not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. Ver. 46. _And afterward, that is spiritual_] Nature, art, grace, proceed from less p...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _And so it is written_ With respect to the animal body, Genesis 2:7. _The first Adam was made a living soul_ God gave him animal life, in many respects resembling that of other animals; _the last Adam...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    HOWBEIT THAT WAS NOT FIRST WHICH IS SPIRITUAL, BUT THAT WHICH IS NATURAL; AND AFTERWARD THAT WHICH IS SPIRITUAL....

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    A contrast between the present and the future states:...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    This chapter itself forms a third division of the book, and deals with another most serious matter in Corinth. Some among them denied the resurrection of the dead. But the resurrection of Christ is th...

  • Mark Dunagan Commentaries

    HOWBEIT THAT IS NOT FIRST WHICH IS SPIRITUAL, BUT THAT WHICH IS NATURAL; THEN THAT WHICH IS SPIRITUAL. 'Any ideas which speculate that the spirit of man existed prior to his body must come to grips w...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    35-50 1. How are the dead raised up? that is, by what means? How can they be raised? 2. As to the bodies which shall rise. Will it be with the like shape, and form, and stature, and members, and qual...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    Christ, the spiritual Adam, was not first in order of time, but the natural Adam, God in his providence rising from more imperfect to more perfect dispensations: and so it is as to God's providences r...

  • McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries

    Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual....

  • NT Verse References in the Ante-Nicene Fathers

    Irenaeus Against Heresies Book V "But that is not first which is spiritual," says the apostle, speaking this as if with reference to us human beings; "but that is first which is animal, afterwards tha...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    1 Corinthians 15:46 However G235 spiritual G4152 not G3756 first G4412 but G235 natural G5591 afterward G1899 spiritual...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    'Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual.' But there is an order to things. First comes what is of nature (natural, soulish), where life i...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    1 Corinthians 15:46. HOWBEIT THAT IS NOT FIRST WHICH IS SPIRITUAL, BUT THAT WHICH IS NATURAL by an ascent from the lower to the higher, as is the law of all God's works....

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    _The Mode and Issues of the Resurrection,_ 35-57. The invaluable information on the subject of the resurrection here given is drawn forth in the way of reply to objections, arising from the difficult...

  • Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament

    HOWBEIT THAT IS NOT FIRST WHICH IS SPIRITUAL, BUT THAT WHICH IS NATURAL (αλλ' ου πρωτον το πνευματικον, αλλα το ψυχικον). Literally, "But not first the spiritual, but the natural." This is the law...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    1 Corinthians 15:46 Consider: I. The dispensations of revealed religion. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The gospel is more excellent than the law. The law was...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    1 Corinthians 15:45 The two bodies, the natural and the spiritual, are connected with the first Adam and the second Adam respectively. That is the teaching of these verses. The Apostle is anxious to...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    1 Corinthians 15:1. _Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory wh...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    1 Corinthians 15:1. _Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory wh...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: The resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of believers resulting from it. CHARACTERS: God, Christ, Paul, Cephas, James, Adam. CONCLUSION: The resurrection of Christ, together with His...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    1 Corinthians 15:1. _I declare unto you the gospel by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you._ We have here an epitome of the whole gospel, comprising essentially the d...

  • The Bible Study New Testament

    THAT COMES FIRST. First Adam, then Christ. First the physical, then the spiritual....

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural._ THE NATURAL AND THE SPIRITUAL I. The natural precedes the spiritual. This is seen in-- 1. Nature. Not until the earth was...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _The first man Adam was made a living soul _ ADAM AND CHRIST Or the mystery of life contemplated:-- I. In its sources. 1. Adam was endued with natural life, Christ with a life-giving Spirit. 2. T...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    1 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 1 CORINTHIANS 15:44 Paul’s contrast between NATURAL and SPIRITUAL is a contrast between that which is temporally alive and that which is eternal (compare...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    1 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35 Apparently the Corinthians did not understand how ma­terial bodies, subject to sickness, death, and eventual decay, could live eternally. Paul explains that G...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    1 CORINTHIANS 15:1 The Futility of Faith If the Dead Are Not Raised. Many people in the ancient Greco-Roman world believed that death ended life completely or led to a permanent but shadowy existence...

  • The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

    CHAPTER 15 SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER He proves the resurrection of the dead against the false teachers who denied it: I. From the fact of Christ's resurrection. Thus (ver. 12) he gives the bearing of...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    _CRITICAL NOTES_ 1 Corinthians 15:35.— (1) Emphasis on “_the dead_,—the DEAD!—the DEAD!” (2) “_With what_ (kind of) _body?_” See Homiletic Analysis. 1 Corinthians 15:36.—Emphasis on “_thou_” (so R...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1 _The doctrine of the resurrection. _This chapter, and the thirteenth, on Christian love, stand out, even among the writings of St. Paul, as pre-eminently beautiful and i...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Let's turn to I Corinthians, chapter 15. The Corinthian church was a real mess. A lot of carnality that led to divisions, a lot of party spirit, a real misunderstanding of the spiritual gifts, a lot o...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Colossians 3:10; Colossians 3:9; Ephesians 4:22; Romans 6:6...

  • Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament (4 Volume Set)

    Not first - spiritual - natural. A general principle, illustrated everywhere in human history, that the lower life precedes the higher....

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED UP? 1 Corinthians 15:29 INTRODUCTORY WORDS There are two rather startling questions asked and answered in the opening verses; that is, from 1 Corinthians 15:29 1. The first...

Continues after advertising