1 Corinthians 15:47

15:35-50 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 qualities? The former objection is that of those who opposed the doctrine, the latter of curious doubters. To the first the answer is, This was to be brought about by Divine power; that power which all may see does somewhat like it, year after year, in the death and revival of the corn. It is foolish to question the Almighty power of God to raise the dead, when we see it every day quickening and reviving things that are dead. To the second inquiry; The grain undergoes a great change; and so will the dead, when they rise and live again. The seed dies, though a part of it springs into new life, though how it is we cannot fully understand. The works of creation and providence daily teach us to be humble, as well as to admire the Creator's wisdom and goodness. There is a great variety among other bodies, as there is among plants. There is a variety of glory among heavenly bodies. The bodies of the dead, when they rise, will be fitted for the heavenly bodies. The bodies of the dead, when they rise, will be fitted for the heavenly state; and there will be a variety of glories among them. Burying the dead, is like committing seed to the earth, that it may spring out of it again. Nothing is more loathsome than a dead body.

Earthy (χοΐ́κός) Only in this chapter. The kindred noun χοῦς dust appears Mark 6:11; Revelation 18:19. From χέω to pour; hence of earth thrown down or heaped up: loose earth. Compare Genesis 2:7, Sept., where the word is used. From heaven (ἐζ οὐρανοῦ) Ἑξ out of, marking the origin, as ἐκ γῆς out of the earth. Meyer acutely remarks that "no predicate in this second clause corresponds to the earthy of the first half of the verse, because the material of the glorified body of Christ transcends alike conception and expression." The phrase includes both the divine origin and the heavenly nature; and its reference, determined by the line of the whole argument, is to the glorified body of Christ - the Lord who shall descend from heaven in His glorified body. See Philippians 3:20, Philippians 3:21.

1 Corinthians 15:47-49 . The first man is [was] of the earth, earthy — Being from earth, and having forfeited his immortality by sin, he became subject to corruption and dissolution, like the earth from which he came. The second man is the Lord from heaven — St. Paul could not well say, “is of, or from heaven, heavenly:” because though man owes it to the earth that he is earthy, yet the Lord does not owe it to heaven that he is glorious. He himself made the heavens, and by descending from them, showed himself to us as the Lord. Christ is called the second Adam in this respect, that as Adam was a public person who acted in the stead of all mankind, so was Christ; and as Adam was the first general representative of men, Christ was the second and the last: and what they severally did, terminated not in themselves, but affected all whom they represented. As is the earthy — The first Adam after his fall; such are they also that are earthy — Who continue without any higher principle; they are sinful, mortal, corruptible creatures: such a body as Adam had, have all his posterity while they remain on earth. And as is the heavenly — Man, Christ, at present; such are — Or rather, shall be; they that are heavenly — Who are united to Christ by the quickening and regenerating influences of his Spirit. That they may live with him in heaven, they shall at last have glorious bodies like his.

The first man is of the earth, {z} earthy: the second man is the Lord from {a} heaven. (z) Wallowing in dirt, and wholly given to an earthly nature. (a) As Adam was the first man, Christ is the second man; and these two are spoken of, as if they were the only two men in the world; because as the former was the head and representative of all his natural posterity, so the latter is the head and representative of all the spiritual offspring: and that he is the Lord from heaven; in distinction from the first man. (Ed.)

47 . The first man is of the earth, earthy ] See Genesis 2:7 . The word earthy ( χοϊκός from χοῦς dust) is an allusion to the ‘dust of the ground’ in that passage, in the Septuagint χους . the second man is the Lord from heaven ] The Vulgate reads, is from heaven, heavenly , Tyndale follows the Vulgate, and also Wiclif, who translates however, the secunde man of heuene is heueneli . Alford reads the second man is from heaven , with the majority of MSS. and versions. The law of progress, above referred to, is illustrated by the creation of the second man. The first man was ‘dust of the ground,’ and God breathed a breath of life into his soul. But the second man is not created anew altogether, but takes the first man as the starting-point of the new life. By the agency of the Holy Spirit Jesus Christ took our flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, being a new creation, but not directly from heaven. See note on 1 Corinthians 15:21 . This passage bears a strong resemblance to St John 3:31 ; and in the reading we have mentioned the resemblance is even stronger than in the authorized version. The margin of St John 3:3 may also be compared.

(47) The second man is the Lord from heaven. —Better, the second man is from heaven. The words “the Lord,” which occur in the English version, are not in the best Greek MSS. The word which is twice rendered “of” in this verse has the force of “from,” “originating from,” in the Greek. The first representative man was from the earth, the second representative man was from heaven; and as was the first earthly Adam, so are we in our merely physical condition; and as is the second heavenly Adam, so shall we be in our heavenly state.

1 Corinthians 15:47 . Ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος , ἐκ γῆς , χοϊκος · ὁ δεύτερος , ὁ Κύριος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ , the first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven ) We have here an exact antithesis. The first man, ἐκ γῆς , viz. ὢν , since he is of the earth , is χοϊκὸς , earthy , affected in the same way as a heap of earth ( χοῦς ) χυτὴ , accumulated , and then scattered: the reason of this is, because he is sprung from the earth . This is the protasis; the apodosis follows, in which it would not have been appropriate to say, the second man, from [of] heaven, heavenly; for man owes to the earth his obligations for this, that he is earthy; but the Lord does not owe His glory to heaven, inasmuch as it was He Himself who made heaven what it is, and by descending from heaven, presented Himself to us as the Lord. Therefore the order of the words is now changed, the Lord, from heaven [ Lord coming before from heaven; whereas earthy , the antithesis to Lord , comes after of earth ]. The word Lord signifies the same thing in the concrete, as glory does in the abstract (Germ. Herr, Herrlichkeit, Lord, Lordship ), whence it is properly opposed to earthy , 1 Corinthians 15:43 ; Php 3:20 , etc.: and from this glory is derived the incorruptibility of Christ’s flesh, Acts 2:24 ; Acts 2:31 .

In this way the received reading is defended, and the various readings, although ancient, which are mentioned in the Apparatus , are withdrawn.[144] [144] BCD corr. later, G Vulg. g (these last three add οὐράνιος ) f omit ὁ Κύριος . Rec. Text retains the words, with A (according to Tisch., but Lachm. quotes A against the words), Marcion (according to Tertullian) both Syr. Versions. Origen, 2,559 d supports them. But in 4,302 d he rejects them.—ED.

47. of the earth—inasmuch as being sprung from the earth, he is "earthy" (Ge 2:7; 3:19, "dust thou art"); that is, not merely earthly or born upon the earth, but terrene, or of earth; literally, "of heaped earth" or clay. "Adam" means red earth. the Lord—omitted in the oldest manuscripts and versions. from heaven—(Joh 3:13, 31). Humanity in Christ is generic. In Him man is impersonated in his true ideal as God originally designed him. Christ is the representative man, the federal head of redeemed man.

Verse 47. - Earthy . Made of" the dust of the ground" ( Genesis 2:7 ). Is the Lord from heaven. The words "the Lord" are a gloss, not found in א , B, C, D, E, F, G. The verse remarkably resembles John 3:31 , and probably oral reminiscences of our Lord's discourses were current among the apostles long before the Gospels were written. Tertullian attributes the insertion of "the Lord" to Marcion. 1 Corinthians 15:47

Adam, who was the first man, was of the earth, Genesis 2:7 , and was of an earthy constitution, like unto the earth out of which he was formed; but Christ had another original: for though his body was formed in the womb of the virgin, and he was flesh of her flesh, yet she conceived by the Holy Ghost overshadowing her, and Christ had an eternal generation (as to his Divine nature) from his Father.