Page 375 - Demo

 CORINTHIANS 
42* So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible. 43It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.v 44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.
45So, too, it is written, “The rst man, Adam,* became a living being,” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.w 46But the spiritual was not rst; rather the natural and then the spiritual. 47The rst man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. 48As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. 49Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image* of the heavenly one.x
The Resurrection Event. 50* This I declare, brothers: esh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption* inherit incorruption.y 51* Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall
v. [15:43]
w. [15:45]
x. [15:49]
y. [15:50]
z. [15:51]
a. [15:52] 11:15–18. b. [15:53] c. [15:54] 2:14–15.
d. [15:55]
e. [15:56]
f. [15:57]
Phil 3:20–21; Col 3:4.
Gn 2:7 / Jn 5:21–29; 2 Cor 3:6, 17. Gn 5:3 / Rom 8:29; Phil 3:21.
Jn 3:3–6.
1 Thes 4:14–17.
Jl 2:1; Zec 9:14; Mt 24:31; Rev
2 Cor 5:2–4.
Is 25:8; 2 Cor 5:4; 2 Tm 1:10; Heb
Hos 13:14.
Rom 4:15; 7:7, 13. Jn 16:33; 1 Jn 5:4.
* [15:35–49] Paul approaches the question of the nature of the risen body (what kind of body?) by means of two analogies: the seed (1 Cor 15:36–44) and the rst man, Adam (1 Cor 15:45–49).
*[15:36–38] The analogy of the seed: there is a change of attributes from seed to plant; the old life-form must be lost for the new to emerge. By speaking about the seed as a body that dies and comes to life, Paul keeps the point of the analogy before the reader’s mind.
* [15:39–41] The expression “its own body” (1 Cor 15:38) leads to a development on the marvelous diversity evident in bodily life.
* [,15:42–44] The principles of qualitative di erence before and after death (1 Cor 15:36–38) and of diversity on di erent levels of creation (1 Cor 15:39–41) are now applied to the human body. Before: a body animated by a lower, natural life-principle (psychē) and endowed with the properties of natural existence (corruptibility, lack of glory, weakness). After: a body animated by a higher life-principle (pneuma; cf. 1 Cor 15:45) and endowed with other qualities (incorruptibility, glory, power,
spirituality), which are properties of God himself.
* [15:45] The analogy of the rst man, Adam, is introduced by a citation from Gn 2:7. Paul alters the text slightly, adding the adjective rst, and translating the Hebrew ’ādām twice, so as to give it its value both as a common noun (man) and as a proper name (Adam). 1 Cor 15:45b then speci es similarities and di erences between the two Adams. The last Adam, Christ (cf. 1 Cor 15:21–22) has become a. . .spirit (pneuma), a life-principle transcendent with respect to the natural soul (psychē) of the rst Adam (on the terminology here, cf. note on
1 Cor 3:1). Further, he is not just alive, but life-giving, a source
of life for others.
* [15:49] We shall also bear the image: although it has less
manuscript support, this reading better ts the context’s emphasis on futurity and the transforming action of God; on future transformation as conformity to the image of the Son, cf. Rom 8:29; Phil 3:21. The majority reading, “let us bear the image,” suggests that the image of the heavenly man is already present and exhorts us to conform to it.
* [15:50–57] These verses, an answer to the rst question of 1 Cor 15:35, explain theologically how the change of properties from one image to another will take place: God has the power to transform, and he will exercise it.
* [15:50–53] Flesh and blood. . .corruption: living persons and the corpses of the dead, respectively. In both cases, the gulf between creatures and God is too wide to be bridged unless God himself transforms us.
* [15:51–52] A mystery: the last moment in God’s plan is disclosed; cf. notes on 1 Cor 2:1, 7–10a. The nal trumpet and the awakening of the dead are stock details of the apocalyptic scenario. We shall not all fall asleep: Paul expected that some of his contemporaries might still be alive at Christ’s return; after the death of Paul and his whole generation, copyists altered this statement in various ways. We will all be changed: the statement extends to all Christians, for Paul is not directly speaking about anyone else. Whether they have died before the end or happen still to be alive, all must be transformed.
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