1 Corinthians 15:37

Amplified Bible

The seed you sow is not the body (the plant) which it is going to become, but it is a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
And when you plant something, what you plant does not have the same "body" that it will have later. What you plant is only a seed, maybe wheat or something else.

Revised Standard Version
And what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And what sowest thow? Thow sowest not that body that shalbe: but bare corne (I meane ether of wheet or of some other)

Hebrew Names Version
That which you sow, you don't sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.

International Standard Version
and what you plant is not the form that it will be, but a bare kernel, whether it is wheat or something else.

New American Standard Bible
and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

New Century Version
And when you sow it, it does not have the same "body" it will have later. What you sow is only a bare seed, maybe wheat or something else.

Update Bible Version
and that which you sow, you do not sow the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may be of wheat, or of some other kind;

Webster's Bible Translation
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain; it may be of wheat, or of some other [grain]:

English Standard Version
And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

World English Bible
That which you sow, you don't sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat, or of any other corn:

Weymouth's New Testament
and as for what you sow, it is not the plant which is to be that you are sowing, but a bare grain, of wheat (it may be) or of something else, and God gives it a body as He has seen fit,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and that thing that thou sowist, `thou sowist not the bodi that is to come, but a nakid corn, as of whete, or of summe othere seedis;

English Revised Version
and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind;

Berean Standard Bible
And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else.

Contemporary English Version
Wheat seeds and all other seeds look different from the sprouts that come up.

American Standard Version
and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind;

Bible in Basic English
And when you put it into the earth, you do not put in the body which it will be, but only the seed, of grain or some other sort of plant;

Complete Jewish Bible
Also, what you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed of, say, wheat or something else;

Darby Translation
And what thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain: it may be of wheat, or some one of the rest:

Etheridge Translation
and that thing which thou sowest is not the body that is to be, but thou sowest naked grain, of wheat, or of barley, or of the rest of seeds;

Murdock Translation
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that is to be, but the naked kernel of wheat or barley, or of the other grains:

King James Version (1611)
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare graine, it may chance of wheate, or of some other graine.

New Living Translation
And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting.

New Life Bible
When you put it in the earth, you are not planting the body which it will become. You put in only a seed.

New Revised Standard
And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shalbe, but bare corne as it falleth, of wheat, or of some other.

George Lamsa Translation
And that which you sow is not the body that shall be, but the bare grain; it may chance to be of wheat or barley, or some other seed.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, what thou sowest, not the body that shall come into existence, dost thou sow, but a naked kernel - if it so happen, of wheat, or of any of the rest, -

Douay-Rheims Bible
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be: but bare grain, as of wheat, or of some of the rest.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shalbe, but bare corne, as of wheate, or of some other:

Good News Translation
And what you plant is a bare seed, perhaps a grain of wheat or some other grain, not the full-bodied plant that will later grow up.

Christian Standard Bible®
And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain.

King James Version
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

Lexham English Bible
And what you sow is not the body which it will become, but you sow the bare seed, whether perhaps of wheat or of some of the rest.

Literal Translation
And what you sow, you do not sow the body that is going to be, but a bare grain, (it may be of wheat, or of some of the rest),

Young's Literal Translation
and that which thou dost sow, not the body that shall be dost thou sow, but bare grain, it may be of wheat, or of some one of the others,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And what sowest thou? thou sowest not ye body that shalbe, but a bare corne, namely of wheate, or of some other.

Mace New Testament (1729)
and whatever you sow, you don't sow that body which shall afterwards appear, but only the bare grain of wheat, for instance, or of some other grain.

New English Translation
And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed—perhaps of wheat or something else.

New King James Version
And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain--perhaps wheat or some other grain.

Simplified Cowboy Version
But what you plant isn't the same as what comes up. One is a seed and what comes up is a new plant.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

Legacy Standard Bible
and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

Contextual Overview

³⁵But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body will they come?" ³⁶You fool! Every time you plant seed you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up and growing] unless it first dies. ³⁷The seed you sow is not the body (the plant) which it is going to become, but it is a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or some other grain.³⁸But God gives it a body just as He planned, and to each kind of seed a body of its own [is given]. ³⁹All flesh is not the same. There is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. ⁴⁰There are also heavenly bodies [sun, moon and stars] and earthly bodies [humans, animals, and plants], but the glory and beauty of the heavenly is one kind, and the glory of the earthly is another. ⁴¹There is a glory and beauty of the sun, another glory of the moon, and yet another [distinctive] glory of the stars; and one star differs from another in glory and brilliance. ⁴²So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The [human] body that is sown is perishable and mortal, it is raised imperishable and immortal. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; ⁴⁴it is sown a natural body [mortal, suited to earth], it is raised a spiritual body [immortal, suited to heaven]. As surely as there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: Leviticus 11:37 - sowing seed Mark 4:27 - and grow 2 Corinthians 2:14 - which

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be,.... The sower, for instance, does not take a stalk of wheat in its blade, and ear, and full corn in the ear, encompassed with the husk, and sow it in the earth, which is the body or form in which it appears when it rises up again, and is come to its full growth:

but bare grain (or naked grain) it may chance of wheat, or some other grain; wheat, or any other grain, is cast into the earth naked, beat out of the husk; and that selfsame grain rises up again, clothed with additional verdure, beauty, and fruitfulness; and so the body which comes out of its mother's womb naked, and returns naked again, Job 1:21 to which the apostle seems to allude, will rise again the same body, though with additional glories and excellencies; so that if it should be asked, how is it possible that a dead body can be raised up again? the possibility of it may be seen, in the quickening and raising up of a grain of wheat, that first rots and dies; and if it be inquired with what body the dead will be raised, it may in some measure be observed in this instance, that though it will be the same body, yet with different and excelling qualities: this simile seems to have been much in use among the Jews, to illustrate this doctrine, and we have some traces of it still in their writings o:

"Cleopatra the queen asked R. Meir, saying, I know that the dead shall live, for it is written, "they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth", Psalms 72:16 but when they rise, shall they rise naked, or shall they rise in their clothes? to which he replied, much more than wheat: for as wheat is buried, ערומה, "naked", it comes forth, (or springs up,) with many clothings; and how much more the righteous, who are buried in their clothes?''

and again p,

"says R. Eliezer, all the dead shall stand in the resurrection of the dead, and shall rise with their garments on; from whence do you learn this? from the seed of the earth, especially from wheat; for as wheat is buried "naked", and comes forth with many clothings, much more the righteous, who are buried in their clothes.''

o T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol, 90. 2. p Pirke Eliezer, c. 33.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And that which thou sowest - The seed which is sown.

Not that body that shall be - You sow one kernel which is to produce many others. They shall not be the same that is sown. They will be new kernels raised from that; of the same kind, indeed, and showing their intimate and necessary connection with that which is sown. It is implied here that the body which will be raised will not be the same in the sense that the same particles of matter shall compose it, but the same only in the sense that it will have sprung up from that; will constitute the same order, rank, species of being, and be subject to the same laws, and deserve the same course of treatment as that which died; as the grain produced is subject to the same laws, and belongs to the same rank, order, and species as that which is sown. And as the same particles of matter which are sown do not enter into that which shall be in the harvest, so it is taught that the same particles of matter which constitute the body when it dies, do not constitute the new body at the resurrection.

But bare grain - Mere grain; a mere kernel, without any husk, leaf, blade, or covering of any kind. Those are added in the process of reproduction. The design of this is to make it appear more remarkable, and to destroy the force of the objection. It was not only not the grain that should be produced, but it was without the appendages and ornaments of blade, and flower, and beard of the new grain. How could anyone tell but what it would be so in the resurrection? How could any know but what there might be appendages and ornaments there, which were not connected with the body that died?

It may chance of wheat ... - For example; or suppose it be wheat or any other grain. The apostle adduces this merely for an example; not to intimate that there is any chance about it.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 37. Thou sowest not that body that shall be — This is decomposed, and becomes the means of nourishing the whole plant, roots, stalk, leaves, ear, and full corn in the ear.