1 Corinthians 15:47

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

first: 1 Corinthians 15:45, Genesis 2:7, Genesis 3:19, John 3:13, John 3:31, 2 Corinthians 5:1

the Lord: Isaiah 9:6, Jeremiah 23:6, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:16, Luke 1:17, Luke 2:11, John 3:12, John 3:13, John 3:31, John 6:33, Acts 10:36, Ephesians 4:9-11, 1 Timothy 3:16

Reciprocal: Genesis 18:27 - dust Genesis 32:24 - man Psalms 10:18 - the man Luke 3:38 - of God John 1:14 - the Word John 3:6 - born of the flesh John 4:1 - the Lord John 6:42 - Is not John 8:23 - Ye are from John 16:27 - and have John 21:7 - It is Acts 9:17 - the Lord Acts 17:26 - hath made Romans 10:12 - Lord 2 Corinthians 4:5 - Christ 2 Corinthians 8:9 - though Philippians 2:11 - is Lord

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The first man is of the earth, earthy,.... He was formed out of the earth, Genesis 2:7 and the word there used signifies red earth. Josephus c observes, that the first man was called Adam, which in the Hebrew tongue signifies red, because he was made out of red earth; for such, adds he, is the true and virgin earth: Pausanias d makes mention of a clay, which is not the colour of earth, but like the sand of brooks and rivers; and gives a smell very near to that of the skin, or body of men; and which is said to be the remains of that clay, out of which all mankind was made: but be that as it will, Adam was certainly made out of the earth, and had his habitation and abode assigned him in the garden of Eden, and was made to cultivate and till it; his lordship and dominion, at most and best, only extended to the terraqueous globe, and the creatures in it; and having sinned, he was not only thrust out of the garden to till the ground out of which he was taken, but doomed to return to the dust from whence he came; and whose sin and fall had such an influence on him and his posterity, as to make their souls sensual and earthly, to mind, affect, and cleave unto earthly things:

the second man is the Lord from heaven; as Adam was the first man, Christ is the second man; and these two are spoken of, as it 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 his spiritual offspring: and he is "the Lord from heaven"; in distinction from the first man, who was of the earth, and whose lordship reached only to the earth; whereas Christ is Lord of all, not only Lord of lords below, but Lord of angels and saints above; the whole family in heaven and in earth is named of him; and he has all power in heaven and in earth, and a name above every name in this world, and that to come, and is indeed higher than the heavens: this is not to be understood of his human nature, or of his human body, as if that came down from heaven, and passed through the virgin, as some heretics of old said, as water through a pipe; for though it was conceived and formed in a miraculous manner, under the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost from on high, yet was formed out of the matter and substance of the virgin, and so was of the earth; and was indeed an earthly body, supported by earthly means, and at last returned to the earth, and was interred in it: but it is to be understood either of Christ as a divine person, as the Son of God, as Lord of all, coming down from heaven at his incarnation; not by local motion, or change of place, but by assumption of the human nature into union with him, the Lord from heaven; or rather of him as he shall descend from heaven, as the Lord and Judge of all at the last day, when he will come in his glorious, spiritual, and heavenly body; and raise the righteous dead, and fashion their bodies like his own; when what follows will have its full accomplishment. The Cabalistic doctors among the Jews often speak e of אדם עליון, "the superior man", and ואדם תחתון, "the inferior man"; and in their Cabalistic table f, in the sixth "sephirah", or number, they place the man from above, the heavenly Adam; and, in one of their writings g, have these remarkable words,

"anynt Mdaw hale Mda Nam, "who is the supreme man and the second man", but of whom it is said, Proverbs 30:4 "what is his name, and what is his son's name?" what is his name? this is the supreme man; what is his son's name? this is the inferior man; and both of them are intimated in that Scripture, Exodus 3:13 "and they shall say unto me, what is his name? what shall I say?"''

Some copies, and the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions; leave out the word "Lord", and add the word "heavenly", reading the clause thus, "the second man from heaven, heavenly".

c Antiqu. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 2. d Phocica, sive l. 10. p. 615. e Raziel, fol. 26. 1. & 31. 1. & 33. 1. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 1. 4. f In Cabala Denudata, par. 2. p. 9. g Zohar in Gen. fol. 39. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The first man - Adam.

Is of the earth - Was made of the dust; see Genesis 2:7.

Earthy - Partaking of the earth; he was a mass of animated clay, and could be appropriately called “dust;” Genesis 3:19. Of course, he must partake of a nature that was low, mean, mortal, and corruptible.

The second man - Christ; see the note on 1 Corinthians 15:45. He is called the second man, as being the second who sustained a relation to people that was materially to affect their conduct and destiny; the second and the last 1 Corinthians 15:45, who should sustain a special headship to the race.

The Lord from heaven - Called in 1 Corinthians 2:8, the “Lord of glory;” see note on that place. This expression refers to the fact that the Lord Jesus had a heavenly origin, in contradistinction from Adam, who was formed from the earth. The Latin Vulgate renders this, “the second man from heaven is heavenly;” and this idea seems to accord with the meaning in the former member of the verse. The sense is, evidently, that as the first man had an earthly origin, and was, therefore, earthy, so the second man being from heaven, as his proper home, would have a body adapted to that abode; unlike that which was earthy, and which would be suited to his exalted nature, and to the world where he would dwell. And while, therefore, the phrase “from heaven” refers to his heavenly origin, the essential idea is, that he would have a body that was adapted to such an origin and such a world - a body unlike that which was earthy. That is, Christ had a glorified body to which the bodies of the saints must yet be made like.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 47. The first man is of the earth — That is: Adam's body was made out of the dust of the earth; and hence the apostle says he was χοικος, of the dust; for the body was made עפר מן האדמה aphar min ha-adamah, dust from the ground; Genesis 2:7.

The second man is - from heaven. — Heavenly, ουρανιος, as several good MSS. and versions read. The resurrection body shall be of a heavenly nature, and not subject to decay or death. What is formed of earth must live after an earthly manner; must be nourished and supported by the earth: what is from heaven is of a spiritual nature; and shall have no farther connection with, nor dependence upon, earth. I conceive both these clauses to relate to man; and to point out the difference between the animal body and the spiritual body, or between the bodies which we now have and the bodies which we shall have in the resurrection. But can this be the meaning of the clause, the second man is the Lord from heaven? In the quotation I have omitted οκυριος, the Lord, on the following authorities: MANUSCRIPTS - BCD*EFG, and two others. VERSIONS - Coptic, AEthiopic, Armenian in the margin, Vulgate, and Itala. FATHERS - Origen, who quotes it once and omits it once; Athanasius, Basil, the two Gregories, Nyssen and Nazianzen; Isidore, Cyril, Tertullian, Cyprian, Hilary, Zeno, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrosiaster, Philaster, Leo, Pacianus, Primasius, Sedulius, Bede, and others. See these authorities more at large in Wetstein. Some of the most eminent of modern critics leave out the word, and Tertullian says that it was put in by the heretic Marcion. I do think that the word is not legitimate in this place. The verse is read by the MSS., versions, and fathers referred to, thus: The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is of heaven, heavenly; κυριος being omitted and ουρανιος added. The first man and the second man of this verse are the same as the first Adam and the second Adam of 1 Corinthians 15:45, and it is not clear that Christ is meant in either place. Some suppose that there is a reference here to what Eve said when she brought forth Cain: I have gotten a man from the Lord, קניתי איש את יהוה kanithi ish eth Yehovah, I have possessed or obtained a man, the Lord; that is, as Dr. Lightfoot explains it, that the Lord himself should become man: and he thinks that Eve had respect to the promise of Christ when she named her son; as Adam had when he named his wife. If Eve had this in view, we can only say she was sadly mistaken: indeed the conjecture is too refined.

The terms first man of the earth, and second man from heaven, are frequent among the Jews: אדם לעילא the superior Adam; and אדם תתאה Adam the inferior; that is, the earthly and the heavenly Adam: Adam before the resurrection, and Adam after it.