1 Corinthians 15:49

15:49 Like the earthly man, Adam, we have physical bodies in this life. But we will someday be like Christ, the heavenly man, experiencing the Kingdom of God in resurrection bodies (cp. Rom 6:4-14).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Co 15:49. Καὶ καθὼς, and even as) From the former state Paul infers the latter.—ἐφορέσαμεν, we have borne [worn]) as a garment.—τὴν εἰκόνα, the image) This not only denotes the resemblance, but also the dependence.—φορέσωμεν καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ ἐπουρανίου, let us bear [wear] also the image of the heavenly) Tertullian says: Let us bear; not we shall bear, preceptively, not promissively. Nay, φορέσωμεν, let us bear, and yet in the way of promise.[145] The subjunctive renders the expression modal and conciliatory, by which Paul (comp. 1Co 15:53, must) expresses the divine appointment and faith assenting to it. Comp. the subjunctive Jas 4:13; Jas 4:15, πορευσώμεθα, κ.τ.λ. Later copies have made it, φορέσομεν; and there is the same variety in the copies of Orige[146] against Celsus, as Sam. Battier observes in Biblioth. Brem., Class vi., p. 102, etc., who approves of the reading φορέσωμεν out of Maximus, περὶ ἀγάπης.

[145] Tisch. reads φορέσομεν with B (judging from silence) both Syr. Versions. But Lachm. as Beng., φορέσωμεν with ACD(Λ)Gfg Vulg. Orig. 1,591bc, 2,26b, Iren. Cypr. Hilar.—ED.

[146] rigen (born about 186 A.D., died 253 A.D., a Greek father: two-thirds of the N. Test. are quoted in his writings). Ed. Vinc. Delarue, Paris. 1733, 1740, 1759.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_15:49. The Recepta φορέσομεν is to be retained (see the critical remarks), for which van Hengel. too, decides, although taking τ. εἰκόνα in the moral sense An exhortation (φορέσωμεν, defended by Hofmann) lies all the more remote from the connection, seeing that Paul proceeds in his development of the subject with καί, and it is certainly not the ethical, but the physical conception of εἰκών which is prepared for by what precedes (see still τοιοῦτοι, 1Co_15:48); also in what follows, 1Co_15:50, it is not an ethical, but a physiological relation which is expressed. Beza says well, in opposition to the reading φορέσωμεν and its interpretation: Hoc plane est detortum, quum res ipsa clamet, Paulum in proposito argumento pergere. What, namely, was already contained in 1Co_15:48, he now expresses in a yet more definite and concrete way (hence, too, passing over into the first person), bringing out with much emphasis the full meaning of the weighty statement, thus: And as we have borne (before the Parousia) the image of the earthly (of Adam),i.e. the psychical body which makes us appear as like in kind to Adam,so shall we (after the Parousia) bear also the image of the heavenly (of Christ), i.e. the pneumatic body. Paul transfers himself and his readers to the turning-point of the Parousia, from which the aorist dates backward in the αἰὼν οὗτος, and the future forward in the αἰὼν μέλλων.

To extend the we to all men (Krauss) is forbidden by the whole context, and would presuppose the idea of the ἀποκατάστασις πάντων.

Regarding φορεῖν, the continuous φέρειν, see on Rom_13:4.

REMARK.

Adopting the reading φορέσωμεν, we should not, with Bengel, import the idea of a promise, but take it as hortative, with Chrysostom, Theophylact, Erasmus, al., including Hofmann, so that εἰκών would fall to be understood ethically. Εἰκόνα δὲ χοϊκοῦ τὰς φαύλας πράξεις λέγει· εἰκόνα δὲ τοῦ ἐπουρανίου τὰς ἀγαθάς, Theophylact. In connection with this Hofmann takes καθώς argumentatively (comp. on Php_1:7; Php_2:12): seeing that we have borne … so must we now also be willing to bear … But that καθώς is the ordinary as of comparison, is shown by the two comparative clauses in 1Co_15:48, and by the annexing of the καθώς to them by the simple καί, which continues the comparison in the way of assertion. Moreover, φορέσωμεν would, in fact, not mean, we must be willing to bear, but, let us bear.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_15:49

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

In this passage, instead of the future φορέσομεν, we shall bear, the great majority of the oldest MSS. read the conjunctive φορέσωμεν, let us bear. The context, however, so evidently demands the future, that the common reading is preferred by almost all editors. An exhortation here would be entirely out of place. The apostle is evidently proceeding with his discussion. He is obviating the objection to the doctrine of the resurrection founded on the assumption that our bodies hereafter are to be of the same kind as those which we have here. This is not so. They are to be like the body of Christ. As we have borne the image of Adam as to his body, we shall bear the image of Christ as to his body. The idea that as we have derived a corrupt nature from Adam, we derive a holy nature from Christ, though true in itself, is altogether foreign to the connection.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Not a vain and false image, but such an one as had the truth with it indeed.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

as--Greek, "even as" (see Gen 5:3).

we shall also bear--or wear as a garment [BENGEL]. The oldest manuscripts and versions read, "We must also bear," or "let us also bear." It implies the divine appointment (compare "must," Co1 15:53) and faith assenting to it. An exhortation, and yet implying a promise (so Rom 8:29). The conformity to the image of the heavenly Representative man is to be begun here in our souls, in part, and shall be perfected at the resurrection in both bodies and souls.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 49. And as we have borne the image of the earthy] As being descendants from Adam we have all been born in his likeness, and subject to the same kind of corruption, disgrace, and death; we shall also be raised to a life immortal, such as he now enjoys in the kingdom of God. This interpretation proceeds on the ground that what is here spoken belongs to Adam in his twofold state: viz. of mortality and immortality; of disgrace and honour; of earth and heaven.

But by many commentators the words are understood to refer to Adam and Christ, in 1Co 15:46-49. By these, Christ is called the second Adam, the quickening Spirit, the second man, and the heavenly; whose image of righteousness and true holiness we are to bear.

But when I consider, 1st. How all these terms are used and applied in the Jewish writings, it appears to me that as this was not their import among them, so it was not the design of Paul; and it would be very difficult to find any place where Jesus Christ is called the second Adam in either Old or New Testament. The discourse of the apostle, Ro 5:14-19, will not prove it, though in those verses there is a comparison drawn between Adam and Christ; but that comparison refers to the extent of the sin and condemnation brought upon all men by the transgression of the first; and the redemption purchased for all men by the sacrifice of the last; and the superabundant grace procured by that sacrifice. But here, the comparison most evidently is between the state of man in this mortal life, and his state after the resurrection. Here, all men are corrupt and mortal, and here, all men die. There, all men shall be incorrupt and immortal, and, whether holy or unholy, shall be eternally immortal.

Of the image of Adam, in his heavenly or paradisaical state, the rabbins talk largely: they say that "God created Adam with a double image, earthly and heavenly; that he was the most perfect of all beings; that his splendour shone from one extremity of the earth to the other; that all feared before him; that he knew all wisdom, both earthly and heavenly; but when he sinned, his glory was diminished, and his wisdom departed from him." Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 10.

They add farther, that "in the time in which Adam received the בדיוקנה עילאה heavenly image, all creatures came to him, and acknowledged him king of the earth." Ibid., fol. 21.

2. From all this, and much more might be produced on the subject, (see Schoettgen,) it appears that the apostle follows, as far as it could comport with his design, the sentiments of his countrymen, and that he adopts their very phraseology; and that it is through the medium of these sentiments and this phraseology that he is to be understood and interpreted. Others may understand all these passages differently; and still consider them as a parallel between Adam and Christ, which is the general view of interpreters. The view which I have taken of them appears to me to be much more consistent with the nature of the discourse, and the scope and design of the apostle. The common opinion is orthodox: what I here propose is no heresy. There are many difficulties in the chapter, and not a few in the verses immediately under consideration.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(49) We shall also bear the image of the heavenly.—Better, let us bear also the image of the heavenly. Such is the reading of the best MSS. The words transport the thoughts of the reader to the future glory, and, at the same moment, show a light on present duty. The resurrection life is to be begun in us even now. “If by any means we can attain to the resurrection of the dead” (2Co_3:18; Php_3:21).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

49. And as we have borne the image] The image or likeness. In this present life we are like Adam: in the next we shall be like Christ, cf. Rom_8:29; 2Co_3:18; Php_3:21; Col_3:10; 1Jn_3:2.

we shall also bear] So Tyndale. Many MSS. read ‘let us also bear’ in this passage. But St Paul is not exhorting here, but teaching (“non esse exhortationem, sed puram doctrinam.” Calvin). And, moreover, the exhortation would seem a little out of place, since “regeneration cannot be obtained by striving or even by faith itself, it is an act of positive grace.” Olshausen. Tertullian, however, remarks expressly that St Paul says ‘let us bear,’ speaking in exhortation, not in doctrine. So Chrysostom, whom—with the Vulgate—Wiclif follows, translating “bere we also;” while Theodoret, on the contrary, says that St Paul here was not speaking hortatively, but prophetically.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In a moment,.... Or point of time, which is very short indeed; what a moment is, according to the Jewish doctors, See Gill on Mat 4:8.

In the twinkling of an eye; these two the Jews not only put together as here, but make one to be as the other; so they say (k), , "a moment is as the twinkling of an eye". This phrase, as the twinkling of an eye, is frequently used in Jewish writings (l), to signify how speedily ard suddenly anything is done, and which is the design of it here; and the apostle's meaning is, that the change upon the bodies of living saints will be so quick, that it will be done in a trice, before a man can shut his eyes and open them again; so that it will be as it were imperceptible, and without the least sensation of pain; this may also be referred to the resurrection, which will be quick, and done at once; though it seems rather, and chiefly, to respect the change of the living; what follows, indeed, favours the other sense also; for all will be quick and sudden, the coming of Christ, the raising of the dead, and the change of the living:

at the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound; or "by the last trumpet", as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it; that is, by means of it, through the sounding of that:

and the dead shall be raised incorruptible; free from all frailty, mortality, and corruption, when the trumpet shall sound:

and at the same time also,

we shall be changed; the saints that will be found alive; the apostle speaks in the first person, because of the uncertainty of Christ's coming, and of the blowing of the last trumpet, he not knowing but it might be in his time; what this last trumpet will be, is not easy to say; it can hardly be thought to be a material one: the Jews (m) have a notion, that a trumpet will be blown at the time of the resurrection of the dead, as at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; which will quicken the dead, as they say it then did; and that this will be blown by Michael the archangel (n): it seems very likely to be the same with the shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God, Th1 4:16 all which may be no other than the voice of Christ; at the hearing of which, the dead will rise; but whether this will be an articulate one, as at the raising of Lazarus, or is only expressive of his power, which will then be put forth, is not material, nor a point to be determined: and what if by all this should be meant some violent claps of thunder, as at Mount Sinai, which will shake the whole earth; and when almighty power will be put forth to raise the dead: since such are by the Jews (o) called the voices of the son of David, and are expected by them, a little before his coming? This is called the "last" trumpet, not so much with respect to those that go before, much less to the seven trumpets in the Revelations, of which as yet there was no revelation made, but because there will be none after it; see:

"And the trumpet shall give a sound, which when every man heareth, they shall be suddenly afraid.'' (2 Esdras 6:23)

(i) Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 11. fol. 202. 3. (k) T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 2. 4. Eeha Rabbati, fol. 54. 4. (l) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 2. 2. Sabbat, fol. 34. 2. Zohar in Gen, fol. 38. 4. & 39. 1. & 65. 4. Caphtor, fol. 75. 2. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 77. fol. 67. 4. (m) Targum. Jon. in Exod. xx. 18. & Kettoreth Hassammim in ib. Abarbinel. Mashmia Jeshua, fol. 11. 4. (n) Abkath Rochel, p. 138. (o) T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 97. 1. & Gloss. in ib. Vid. Megilla, fol. 17. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Ver. 49. The image of the heavenly] See Php 3:21. Our bodies shall be fashioned like to Christ’s glorious body in beauty, brightness, incorruption, immortality, grace, favour, agility, strength, and other unspeakable qualities and excellencies. Whether they shall have that power as to toss the greatest mountains like a ball, yea, to shake the whole earth at their pleasure, as Anselm and Luther think, I have not to say.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy - As like our first father, we are frail, decaying, dying; as we are so closely connected with him as to be like him. This does not refer, mainly, to one bearing his moral character, but to the fact that we are, like him, subject to sickness, frailty, sorrow, and death.

We shall also bear the image of the heavenly - The Lord Jesus Christ, who was from heaven, and who is in heaven. As we are so closely connected with Adam as to resemble him. so by the divine arrangement, and by faith in the Lord Jesus, we are so closely connected with him that we shall resemble him in heaven. And as he is now free from frailty, sickness. pain, sorrow, and death, and as he has a pure and spiritual body, adapted to a residence in heaven, so shall we be in that future world. The argument here is, that the connection which is formed between the believer and the Saviour is as close as that which subsisted between him and Adam; and as that connection with Adam involved the certainty that he would be subjected to pain, sin, sickness, and death, so the connection with Christ involves the certainty that he will like him be free from sin, sickness, pain, and death, and like him will have a body that is pure, incorruptible, and immortal.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And as believers, being the natural sons of the first Adam, have borne his image, had such bodies as he had while they lived here; so they shall also in the resurrection bear the image of the heavenly, the image of Christ; that is, have such bodies as was Christ’s body after that he was again risen from the dead.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

49. We shall also bear—Instead of the future the subjunctive of the verb has the best authority from MSS. But Alford rejects it, properly, (as well as the subjunctive in Rom_6:1,) as having been introduced from doctrinal reasons. It would then follow, from Alford’s own conclusion, that St. Paul here gives us a we in which it was not fully certain that himself would be included. See note, 1Co_15:52.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We shall also bear the image of the heavenly (for the fact, Rom_8:29; 1Jn_3:2) For "we shall bear," the best manuscripts (a, A, C, D, E, F, G, etc.) read "Let us bear." Our reading is, however, supported by B, and this is just one of the cases in which manuscript evidence (or as it is called "diplomatic evidence") has a minimum value, and other evidence (paradiplomatic) is decisive.

For (1) the pronunciation of the indicative and subjunctive at that time was almost identical, because in conversation the vowels seem to have been much slurred; and

(2) there was a universal tendency to substitute hortative for direct forms, with a view to edification (as in 1Co_14:15; Rom_6:2, . 2Co_5:11, etc.) Here the exhortation would ruin the texture of the argument.

The image of the heavenly.

According to the reading of the original which is adopted, this passage bears an indicative or an imperative meaning. If imperative, then it is an admonition to cultivate and perfect in our character and life, even now upon earth, the moral and spiritual image of the Divine Lord. If indicative and future, then it is an assertion that, in the coming time, the time of celestial glory, Christians shall bear the image of the heavenly.

I WHOSE IMAGE IS THIS? The answer to this question cannot be doubtful. The heavenly One, whose image Christians are to reflect, can be none other than the Divine Lord himself. There is a measure in which this resemblance is attained even upon earth, and many admonitions are addressed to Christians, to cultivate moral resemblance to their great and glorious Head. But in the future state hindrances to assimilation shall be removed; and "we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is". (1Jn_3:2) As St. Paul expresses it elsewhere, we shall be "changed into the same image." So that the apostles agree as to what shall constitute the peculiar privilege and glory of the coming state of felicity.

II IN WHAT DOES THIS IMAGE CONSIST?

1. It is a spiritual likeness, consisting not in the similarity of form or feature, but in that of character, of moral life.

2. It is a likeness in true holiness. God"s holy Child or Servant, Jesus, is the model of all purity and perfection, and to be like Christ is to be holy even as he is holy.

3. It corresponds to God"s original intention as to what man should be. He at first created man in his own image; and although that image was marred by sin, grace restores it; and the great Father and Lord of all beholds his original conception realized in the regenerated and glorified humanity.

III BY WHOM IS THIS IMAGE PARTICIPATED?

1. Properly speaking, it will be apparent in all those who by Divine grace are brought upon earth to the enjoyment of Christian character and privilege, and who are led safely home to glory. It is the family likeness by which the spiritual children are identified.

2. There is a wider sense in which all the holy intelligences who people heaven may be considered as bearing this image. There are those who have not borne the image of the earthly, who from their creation have been citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, in whom appear the spiritual lineaments which are the mark of a Divine parentage and the earnest of a blessed immortality.

APPLICATION. That this image may be borne in all its brightness and beauty hereafter and above, its first rudiments must be traced here. The life of faith, obedience, and aspiration is the divinely appointed preparation for the glories and felicities of heaven. And no religion is of worth which does not form and cherish the spiritual likeness which alone can qualify for the employments and the society of heaven. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The image of the heavenly - Holiness and glory.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly . [Here the two heads of humanity are contrasted. Adam was a quickening soul, and Christ a quickening spirit (comp. Gen_2:7 ; and Joh_20:22 . See also 2Co_3:17 ; Rom_8:2 ; Rom_8:11 ; Joh_7:38-39 ). But of these two heads the natural came first. We are Adam's by generation, and Christ's by regeneration. The life principle of Adam is soul, and he was formed of the earth: the life principle of Christ is spiritual. He was in heaven ( Joh_1:1 ) and from thence entered the world and became flesh ( Joh_1:14 ; Joh_3:13 ; Joh_3:21 ; Phi_2:6-8 ; Joh_1:1-3 ; Luk_1:35 ). Now, as the two heads differ, so do the two families, and each resembles its head; the earthly progeny of Adam having earthly natures, and the spiritual progeny of Christ having spiritual and heavenly natures. But in both families the earthly nature comes first, and the spiritual children wait for their manifestation, which is the very thing about which the apostle has been talking, for it comes when they are raised from the dead ( Rom_8:29 ; 1Jo_3:2 ; Rom_8:22-23 ; 2Co_5:1-10 ). Life is not retrogression, but ascension. Therefore he assures them that as they have borne the image of the earthly Adam, so also are they to bear the image of the heavenly Christ, both of whom have the bodies of men, yet bodies differing vastly in glory, power, etc., for one belongs to the earth, dies and returns to it, while the other belongs to the deathless heaven and forever abides there.]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

49. φορέσωμεν אACDEFG Vetus Lat. Vulg. φορέσομεν B.

49. τὴν εἰκόνα. The image or likeness. In this present life we are like Adam: in the next we shall be like Christ, cf. Rom 8:29; 2Co 3:18; Php 3:21; Col 3:10; 1Jn 3:2.

φορέσωμεν. We might have been disposed to suspect that here, as in many other places, the doctrinal statement of the Apostle has been fastened upon by divines, and made use of for hortatory purposes, and that the hortatory reading has crept into the text. But it is impossible to evade the almost unanimous testimony of the MSS. and VSS. here (see Critical Note), backed as they are by the express authority of so early a writer as Tertullian, who twice (Adv. Marc. 1Co 15:10, and De Res. Carnis c. 49) declares that the verb is imperative, and in the first passage also remarks that it is not indicative. Therefore we must explain that St Paul warns the Corinthians to become heavenly minded in this life so that they may not fail of being conformed to the Divine image at last. Theodoret, however, states, equally expressly, that in his Syrian text the verb is here in the indicative.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

-49.] Reassertion and Confirmation of the existence of the spiritual body.

44 b.] If there exists an animal body, there exists also a spiritual: i.e. it is no more wonderful a thing, that there should be a body fitted to the capacities and wants of man’s highest part, his spirit, than (which we see to be the case) that there should be one fitted to the capacities and wants of his subordinate animal soul. The emphasis is both times on ἔστιν.

49.] For the reason of keeping φορέσομεν, see var. readd. As we (Christians) bore in this life; the time imagined is when this life is past, and the resurrection instant …

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We shall bear [φαορεσομεν] . The great weight of authority is in favor of foreswmen let us bear. This reading presents a similar difficulty to that of let us have in Rom 5:1 (see note). The context and the general drift of the argument are certainly against it. The perceptive or hortative subjunctive is, as Ellicott remarks, singularly out of place and unlooked for. It may possibly be a case of itacism, i e., the confusing of one vowel with another in pronunciation leading to a loose mode of orthography.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.