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Selected Verse: 1 Corinthians 15:46 - King James
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
1Co 15:46 |
King James |
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
afterward--Adam had a soul not necessarily mortal, as it afterwards became by sin, but "a living soul," and destined to live for ever, if he had eaten of the tree of life (Gen 3:22); still his body was but an animal-souled body, not a spiritual body, such as believers shall have; much less was he a "life-giving spirit," as Christ. His soul had the germ of the Spirit, rather than the fulness of it, such as man shall have when restored "body, soul, and spirit," by the second Adam (Th1 5:23). As the first and lower Adam came before the second and heavenly Adam, so the animal-souled body comes first, and must die before it be changed into the spiritual body (that is, that in which the Spirit predominates over the animal soul). |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Howbeit - There is a due order observed, Co1 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. |
Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
Not first - spiritual - natural
A general principle, illustrated everywhere in human history, that the lower life precedes the higher. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
That was not first which is spiritual - The natural or animal body, described Co1 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. |
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.