1 Corinthians 15:46

Good News Translation

It is not the spiritual that comes first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
The spiritual man did not come first. It was the physical man that came first; then came the spiritual.

Revised Standard Version
But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
How be it yt is not fyrst which is spirituall: but yt which is naturall and then yt which is spretuall.

Hebrew Names Version
However that which is spiritual isn't first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.

International Standard Version
The spiritual does not come first, but the physical and then the spiritual.

New American Standard Bible
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

New Century Version
The spiritual did not come first, but the physical and then the spiritual.

Update Bible Version
Nevertheless that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual.

Webster's Bible Translation
However, that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

English Standard Version
But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.

World English Bible
However that which is spiritual isn't first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Yet the spiritual body was not first, but the animal; afterward the spiritual.

Weymouth's New Testament
Nevertheless, it is not what is spiritual that came first, but what is animal; what is spiritual came afterwards.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But the firste is not that that is spiritual, but that that is beestlich, aftirward that that is spiritual.

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

Berean Standard Bible
The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.

Contemporary English Version
We see that the one with a spiritual body did not come first. He came after the one who had a physical body.

Amplified Bible
However, the spiritual [the immortal life] is not first, but the physical [the mortal life]; then the spiritual.

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

Bible in Basic English
But that which is natural comes before that which is of the spirit.

Complete Jewish Bible
Note, however, that the body from the Spirit did not come first, but the ordinary human one; the one from the Spirit comes afterwards.

Darby Translation
But that which is spiritual [was] not first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual:

Etheridge Translation
But the spiritual was not first, but the animal; and then the spiritual.

Murdock Translation
And the spiritual was not first; but the animal, and then the spiritual.

King James Version (1611)
Howbeit that was not first which is spirituall: but that which is naturall, and afterward that which is spirituall.

New Living Translation
What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.

New Life Bible
We have these human bodies first. Then we are given God-like bodies that are ready for heaven.

New Revised Standard
But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Howbeit that was not first which is spirituall: but that which is naturall, and afterward that which is spirituall.

George Lamsa Translation
Howbeit, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Howbeit, not first, is the body of the spirit, but that, of the soul, - afterwards, that of the spirit.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Yet that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural: afterwards that which is spiritual.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Howebeit, that is not first whiche is spirituall, but that [whiche is] naturall, and then that [whiche is] spirituall.

Christian Standard Bible®
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

King James Version
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Lexham English Bible
But the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

Literal Translation
But not the spiritual first, but the natural; afterward the spiritual.

Young's Literal Translation
but that which is spiritual [is] not first, but that which [was] natural, afterwards that which [is] spiritual.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Howbeit the spirituall body is not the first, but ye naturall, and then the spirituall.

Mace New Testament (1729)
but the spiritual body was not first, but the animal; and afterwards the spiritual.

New English Translation
However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.

New King James Version
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.

Simplified Cowboy Version
First is the physical body, then the spiritual body comes later.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

Legacy Standard Bible
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

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

that which is natural: Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:9, Colossians 3:10

Reciprocal: 1 Corinthians 2:14 - the natural man 2 Corinthians 5:1 - our

Gill's Notes on the 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 first and the last; and points out the difference between them, the one being animated, and having life given unto it, the other animating, and giving life to others; proceeds to observe the order of these, how that one was before the other; the spiritual body, though the more perfect and most excellent, yet was not first in being:

but that which is natural; Adam's animal body was before Christ's spiritual body:

and afterwards that which is spiritual; yea, even Christ's animal, or natural body, was before his spiritual one; his body taken from the virgin, and formed in her womb, and in which he lived here on earth, was an animal body, as before observed; and upon his resurrection, it commenced a spiritual one; being the same in substance as the former, only different in qualities; and just so it is, and will be, with the bodies of the saints'; which is the apostle's design and view, in observing this order; the natural body is first, and then the spiritual; it is first a natural body, as generated and nourished, as weak and dying, and it is afterwards a spiritual one, when raised from the dead.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 observed everywhere. It is seen in the grain that dies in the ground, and in the resurrection of man. The imperfect is succeeded by the perfect; the impure by the pure; the vile and degraded by the precious and the glorious. The idea is, that there is a tendency toward perfection, and that God observes the proper order by which that which is most glorious shall be secured. It was not his plan that all things in the beginning should be perfect; but that perfection should be the work of time, and should be secured in an appropriate order of events. The design of Paul in this verse seems to be to vindicate the statement which he had made, by showing that it was in accordance with what was everywhere observed, that the proper order should be maintained. This idea is carried through the following verses.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

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 is the last, and is that with which the soul is to be clothed in the resurrection.