1 Corinthians 15:35

Contextual Overview

³⁵But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?"³⁵ But someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" ³⁵Some have wondered, "How are we brought back from the grave? What will our bodies look like?" ³⁵ But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?"³⁵But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?" ³⁵ But someone will say, How do the dead come back? and with what sort of body do they come? ³⁵ But some one will say, How are the dead raised? and with what body do they come? ³⁵ But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?" ³⁵ But some one will say, "How are the dead raised?" and, "With what kind of body do they come?" ³⁵ But some one will say, How are the dead raised? And with what body do they come?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

How: Job 11:12, Job 22:13, Psalms 73:11, Ecclesiastes 11:5, Ezekiel 37:3, Ezekiel 37:11, John 3:4, John 3:9, John 9:10

with: 1 Corinthians 15:38-53, Matthew 22:29, Matthew 22:30, Philippians 3:21

Reciprocal: Romans 9:19 - Thou Colossians 2:8 - philosophy James 2:20 - O vain

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But some man will say,.... Or "some one of you", as the Syriac and Arabic versions read; for there were some among them members of this church, that denied the resurrection of the dead, 1 Corinthians 15:12 a weak believer indeed may be designed, one of the babes in Christ in this church, that could not digest such strong meat, but had some doubt and difficulties in his mind about this point, though he did not absolutely deny it: but by the manner in which the objections and queries are put, and the sharpness in which the apostle answers them, it looks rather that an infidel as to this doctrine is intended, one of those Epicureans, who said, 1 Corinthians 15:32 "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die"; or some Heathen philosopher, a mere natural man, that rejected this doctrine because not agreeable to his carnal reason, and laughed at it as monstrous and ridiculous:

how are the dead raised up? This query is put, not as though the person merely hesitated, and was in some suspense about this matter, or with a desire to be informed; but as denying the thing, and as objecting to it as a thing impossible, and impracticable; suggesting it could not be, it was a thing incredible that those dead bodies which have been laid in the earth for so many hundred, and some, thousands of years, and have been long ago reduced to dust, and this dust has undergone a thousand forms; that such whose bodies have been burnt to ashes, or destroyed by wild beasts, and digested by them, should ever be raised again. Such a doctrine must be past all belief:

and with what body do they come? out of their graves, as you say, and appear on the earth at the last day: will they come forth with the same bodies, or with other? with earthly or heavenly ones? mortal or immortal? with bodies different from one another, and from what they now are?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But some man will say - An objection will be made to the statement that the dead will be raised. This verse commences the second part of the chapter, in which the apostle meets the objections to the argument. and shows in what manner the dead will be raised. See the Analysis. That objections were made to the doctrine is apparent from 1 Corinthians 15:12.

How are the dead raised up? - (Πῶς Pōs.) In what way or manner; by what means. This I regard as the first objection which would be made, or the first inquiry on the subject which the apostle answers. The question is one which would be likely to be made by the subtle and doubting Greeks. The apostle, indeed, does not draw it out at length, or state it fully, but it may be regarded probably as substantially the same as that which has been made in all ages. “How is it possible that the dead should be raised? They return to their native dust. They become entirely disorganized. Their dust may be scattered; how shall it be re-collected? Or they may be burned at the stake, and how shall the particles which composed their bodies be recollected and re-organized? Or they may be devoured by the beasts of the field, the fowls of heaven, or the fishes of the sea, and their flesh may have served to constitute the food of other animals, and to form their bodies; how can it be re-collected and re-organized? Or it may have been the food of plants, and like other dust have been used to constitute the leaves or the flowers of plants, and the trunks of trees; and how can it be remoulded into a human frame?” This objection the apostle answers in 1 Corinthians 15:36-38.

And with what body do they come? - This is the second objection or inquiry which he answers. It may be understood as meaning, “What will be the form, the shape, the size, the organization of the new body? Are we to suppose that all the matter which at any time entered into its composition here is to be recollected, and to constitute a colossal frame? Are we to suppose that it will be the same as it is here, with the same organization, the same necessities, the same needs? Are we to suppose that the aged will be raised as aged, and the young as young, and that infancy will be raised in the same state, and remain such for ever? Are we to suppose that the bodies will be gross, material, and needing support and nourishment, or, that there will be a new organization?” All these and numerous other questions have been asked, in regard to the bodies at the resurrection; and it is by no means improbable that they were asked by the subtle and philosophizing Greeks, and that they constituted a part of the reasoning of those who denied the doctrine of the resurrection. This question, or objection, the apostle answers 1 Corinthians 15:39-50. It has been doubted, indeed, whether he refers in this verse to two inquiries - to the possibility of the resurrection, and to the kind of bodies that should be raised; but it is the most obvious interpretation of the verse, and it is certain that in his argument he discusses both these points.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 35. But some man will say — αλλα ερει τις. It is very likely that the apostle, by τις some, some one, some man, means particularly the false apostle, or teacher at Corinth, who was chief in the opposition to the pure doctrine of the Gospel, and to whom, in this covert way, he often refers.

The second part of the apostle's discourse begins at this verse. What shall be the nature of the resurrection body?

1. The question is stated, 1 Corinthians 15:35.

2. It is answered: first, by a similitude, 1 Corinthians 15:36-38;

secondly, by an application, 1 Corinthians 15:33-41;

and thirdly, by explication, 1 Corinthians 15:42-50.