1 Corinthians 15:44

Good News Translation

When buried, it is a physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is, of course, a physical body, so there has to be a spiritual body.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
The body that is "planted" is a physical body. When it is raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is a physical body. So there is also a spiritual body.

Revised Standard Version
It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Ther is a naturall bodye and ther is a spretuall body:

Hebrew Names Version
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.

International Standard Version
It is planted a physical body but raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.body">[fn]

New American Standard Bible
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

New Century Version
The body that is "planted" is a physical body. When it is raised, it is a spiritual body. There is a physical body, and there is also a spiritual body.

Update Bible Version
it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual [body].

Webster's Bible Translation
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

English Standard Version
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

World English Bible
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
It is sown an animal body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is an animal body, and there is a spiritual body.

Weymouth's New Testament
an animal body is sown, a spiritual body is raised. As surely as there is an animal body, so there is also a spiritual body.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
it is sowun a beestly bodi, it schal rise a spiritual bodi. If ther is a beestli bodi, ther is also a spiritual bodi;

English Revised Version
it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual [body].

Berean Standard Bible
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Contemporary English Version
As surely as there are physical bodies, there are spiritual bodies. And our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies.

Amplified Bible
it 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.

American Standard Version
it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Bible in Basic English
It is planted a natural body; it comes again as a body of the spirit. If there is a natural body, there is equally a body of the spirit.

Complete Jewish Bible
When sown, it is an ordinary human body; when raised, it will be a body controlled by the Spirit. If there is an ordinary human body, there is also a body controlled by the Spirit.

Darby Translation
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body: if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual [one].

Etheridge Translation
44 It is sown an animal body, it ariseth a body spiritual. For there is a body of the animal, [fn] and there is a body of the spirit;

Murdock Translation
it is sown an animal body, it ariseth a spiritual body. For there is a body of the animal life, and there is a body of the spirit.

King James Version (1611)
It is sowen a naturall body, it is raised a spirituall bodie. There is a naturall bodie, and there is a spirituall bodie.

New Living Translation
They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.

New Life Bible
It is a human body when it dies, but it is a God-like body when it is raised from the dead. There are human bodies and there are God-like bodies.

New Revised Standard
It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.

Geneva Bible (1587)
It is sowen a naturall body, and is raysed a spirituall body: there is a naturall body, and there is a spirituall body.

George Lamsa Translation
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
It is sown a body of the soul, it is raised a body of the spirit; if there is a body of the soul, there is also of the spirit: -

Douay-Rheims Bible
It is sown a natural body: it shall rise a spiritual body. If there be a natural body, there is also a spiritual body, as it is written:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
It is sowen a naturall bodie, it ryseth a spirituall bodie. There is a naturall bodie, and there is a spirituall bodie.

Christian Standard Bible®
sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

King James Version
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Lexham English Bible
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Literal Translation
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Young's Literal Translation
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf there be a naturall body, there is a spirituall body also.

Mace New Testament (1729)
it is sown an animal body, it will rise a spiritual body. there is an animal body, and there is a spiritual body.

New English Translation
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

New King James Version
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Simplified Cowboy Version
The body that is planted will be a physical body, but the body that is raised will be a spiritual one. We have physical bodies and spiritual bodies.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Legacy Standard Bible
it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Contextual Overview

³⁵ Someone will ask, "How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?" ³⁶ You fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it does not sprout to life unless it dies. ³⁷ 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. ³⁸ God provides that seed with the body he wishes; he gives each seed its own proper body. ³⁹ And the flesh of living beings is not all the same kind of flesh; human beings have one kind of flesh, animals another, birds another, and fish another. ⁴⁰ And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; the beauty that belongs to heavenly bodies is different from the beauty that belongs to earthly bodies. ⁴¹ The sun has its own beauty, the moon another beauty, and the stars a different beauty; and even among stars there are different kinds of beauty. ⁴² This is how it will be when the dead are raised to life. When the body is buried, it is mortal; when raised, it will be immortal. ⁴³ When buried, it is ugly and weak; when raised, it will be beautiful and strong. ⁴⁴ When buried, it is a physical body; when raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is, of course, a physical body, so there has to be a spiritual body.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

there is a spiritual: Luke 24:31, John 20:19, John 20:26

Reciprocal: 1 Corinthians 2:14 - the natural man

Gill's Notes on the Bible

It is sown a natural body,.... Or an animal one, being generated as animals are, and supported with food as they be, and die at last as they do: see Ecclesiastes 3:19.

It is raised a spiritual body; not as to substance, but as to its quality; it will not be changed into a spirit; our Lord's risen body, to which ours will be conformed, was not a spirit, but, as before, consisted of flesh and bones: but the body will then be subject to the spirit and soul of man; it will be employed in spiritual service, for which it will be abundantly fitted and assisted by the Spirit of God; and it will be delighted with spiritual objects; it will be like the angels, those excellent spirits; it will live as spirits do, without natural helps and means, as meat, drink, clothes, sleep, and, as they, will never die:

there is a natural; or "animal body", such as the first man's was, and those are that descend from him by ordinary generation; and

there is a spiritual body; such as the body of Christ now is, and as will be the bodies of the risen saints; the phrase is Jewish, הרוחני

הגוף, "the spiritual body" y and the flesh of the righteous, being

בשרם רוחנים, "spiritual flesh" z, are to be met with in their writings.

y Nishmath Chayim. fol. 37. 1. z Tzeror Hammor, fol. 9. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

It is sown a natural body - (σῶμα ψυχικὸν sōma psuchikon). This word, “natural,” denotes properly that which is endowed with “animal” life, having breath, or vitality. The word from which it is derived (ψυχή psuchē) denotes properly the breath; vital breath; the soul, as the vital principle; the animal soul, or the vital spirit; the soul, as the seat of the sentient desires, passions, and propensities; and then a living thing, an animal. It may be applied to any animal, or any living thing, whether brutes or men. It is distinguished from the soul or spirit (Πνεῦμα Pneuma), inasmuch as that more commonly denotes the rational spirit, the immortal soul, that which thinks, reasons, reflects, etc. The word “natural” here, therefore, means that which has “animal” life; which breathes and acts by the laws of the animal economy; that which draws in the breath of life; which is endowed with senses, and which has need of the supports of animal life, and of the refreshments derived from food, exercise, sleep, etc.

The apostle here, by affirming that the body will be spiritual, intends to deny that it will need that which is now necessary to the support of the animal functions; it will not be sustained in that way; it will lay aside these special animal organizations, and will cease to convey the idea which we now attach to the word animal, or to possess that which we now include under the name of vital functions. Here the body of man is endowed simply with animal functions. It is the dwelling-place indeed of an immortal mind; but as a body it has the properties of animal life, and is subject to the same laws and inconveniences as the bodies of other animals. It is sustained by breath, and food, and sleep; it is endowed with the organs of sense, the eye, the ear, the smell, the touch, by which alone the soul can hold communication with the external world; it is liable to disease, languor, decay, death. These animal or vital functions will cease in heaven, and the body be raised in a different mode of being, and where all the inconveniences of this mere animal life shall be laid aside.

It is raised a spiritual body - Not a mere spirit, for then it would not be a body. The word spiritual (πνευματικόν pneumatikon) here stands opposed to the word natural, or animal. it will not be a body that is subject to the laws of the vital functions, or organized or sustained in that way. It will still be a “body” (σῶμα sōma), but it will have so far the nature of spirit as to be without the vital functions which here control the body. This is all that the word here means. It does not mean refined, sublimated, or transcendental; it does not mean that it will be without shape or form; it does not mean that it will not be properly a body. The idea of Paul seems to be this: “We conceive of soul or spirit as not subject to the laws of vital or animal agency. It is independent of them. It is not sustained or nourished by the functions of the animal organization. It has an economy of its own; living without nourishment; not subject to decay; not liable to sickness, pain, or death. So will be the body in the resurrection. It will not be subject to the laws of the vital organization. It will be so much like a spirit as to be continued without food or nutriment; to be destitute of the special physical organization of flesh, and blood, and bones; of veins, and arteries, and nerves, as here 1 Corinthians 15:50.; and it will live in the manner in which we conceive spirits to live; sustained, and exercising its powers, without waste, weariness, decay, or the necessity of having its powers recruited by food and sleep.” All, therefore, that has been said about a refined body, a body that shall be spirit, a body that shall be pure, etc., whatever may be its truth, is not sustained by this passage. It will be a body without the vital functions of the animal economy; a body sustained in the manner in which we conceive the spirit to be.

There is a natural body - This seems to be added by Paul in the way of strong affirmation arising from earnestness, and from a desire to prevent misconception. The affirmation is, that there is a natural body; that is apparent: it is everywhere seen. No one can doubt it. So, with equal certainty, says Paul, there is a spiritual body. It is just as certain and indisputable. This assertion is made, not because the evidence of both is the same, but is made on his apostolic authority, and is to be received on that authority. That there was an animal body was apparent to all; that there was a spiritual body was a position which he affirmed to be as certain as the other. The only proof which he alleges is in 1 Corinthians 15:45, which is the proof arising from revelation.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 44. It is sown a natural body — σωμα ψυχικον. An animal body, having a multiplicity of solids and fluids of different kinds, with different functions; composed of muscles, fibres, tendons, cartilages, bones, arteries, veins, nerves, blood, and various juices, requiring continual support from aliment; and hence the necessity of labour to provide food, and skill to prepare it; which food must be masticated, digested, and refined; what is proper for nourishment secreted, brought into the circulation, farther elaborated, and prepared to enter into the composition of every part; hence growth and nutrition; without which no organized body can possibly exist.

It is raised a spiritual body. — One perfect in all its parts; no longer dependent on natural productions for its support; being built up on indestructible principles, and existing in a region where there shall be no more death; no more causes of decay leading to dissolution; and consequently, no more necessity for food, nutrition, c. The body is spiritual, and has a spiritual existence and spiritual support.

What the apostle says here is quite consistent with the views his countrymen had on this subject.

In Sohar Chadash, fol. 43, it is said: "So shall it be in the resurrection of the dead only, the old uncleanness shall not be found."

R. Bechai, on the law, fol. 14, says: "When the godly shall arise, their bodies shall be pure and innocent; obedient to the instinct of the soul: there shall be no adversary, nor any evil disease."

Rab. Pinchas says: "The holy blessed God shall make the bodies of the righteous as beautiful as the body of Adam was when he entered into paradise."

Rab. Levi says: "When the soul is in heaven, it is clothed with celestial light; when it returns to the body, it shall have the same light; and then the body shall shine like the splendour of the firmament of heaven. Then shall men gain the knowledge of what is perfect." Sohar. Gen., fol. 69.

The Jews have an opinion that the os coxendicis, the lower joint of the backbone, survives the corruption of the body; and that it is out of this bone that the resurrection body is formed. In the place last quoted, fol. 70, we have the following teachings on this subject: "Let us borrow an example from what relates to the purifying of silver. First, the ore is cast into the burning furnace, that it may be separated from its earthly impurities; it is then silver, but not perfect silver. They put it into the furnace a second time, and then all its scoriae are separated from it, and it becomes perfect silver, without any adulteration. Thus does the holy blessed God: he first buries our bodies under the earth, where they putrefy and corrupt, that nothing remains but that one bone: from this a new body is produced, which is indeed a body, but not a perfect body. But in that great day, when all bodies are hidden in the earth, and the soul departs, then even that bone decays, and the body which was formed out of it remains, and is as the light of the sun, and the splendour of heaven. Thus, as the silver was purified, so is the body: and no imperfect mixture remains." See Schoettgen.

These things must not be treated as rabbinical dotages; the different similes used for the apostle have the same spirit and design: as the seed which is sown in the earth rots, and out of the germ contained in it God in his providence produces a root, stalk, leaves, ear, and a great numerical increase of grains; is it not likely that God, out of some essential parts of the body that now is, will produce the resurrection body; and will then give the soul a body as it pleaseth him; and so completely preserve the individuality of every human being, as he does of every grain; giving to each its own body? 1 Corinthians 15:38. So that as surely as the grain of wheat shall produce wheat after it is cast in the earth, corrupts, and dies; so surely shall our bodies produce the same bodies as to their essential individuality. As the germination of seeds is produced by his wisdom and power, so shall the pure and perfect human body be in the resurrection. Hence he does not say the body is buried, but the body is sown; it is sown in weakness, it is sown in dishonour, &c., &c.

There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. — This very saying is found in so many words, in Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 126: "There are different kinds of men."

אית אדם דאיהו אדם דנשמתא ואיה אדם רגופא

"There is a spiritual Adam, and there is also a corporeal Adam."