ris3n's Apologetics Codex
1 Corinthians 15.40-42
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Passage

1 Corinthians 15.40-42

Book: 1 Corinthians · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

38. but God giveth it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own. 39. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes.

40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

  1. it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44. it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:38-44, ASV)
WEB

38. But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own. 39. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

40. There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial. 41. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable.

  1. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:38-44, WEB)
KJV

38. But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

  1. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:38-44, KJV)
YLT

38. and God doth give to it a body according as He willed, and to each of the seeds its proper body. 39. All flesh [is] not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds;

40. and [there are] heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies; but one [is] the glory of the heavenly, and another that of the earthly; 41. one glory of sun, and another glory of moon, and another glory of stars, for star from star doth differ in glory. 42. So also [is] the rising again of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption;

  1. it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44. it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body; (1 Corinthians 15:38-44, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the apostle, with Sosthenes named as co-sender (1:1)
  • Audience: The church at Corinth, which Paul had founded (Acts 18:1-11), writing in reply to reports and to a letter from them (1:11; 7:1)
  • Location: Ephesus, where Paul planned to stay "until Pentecost" (16:8)
  • Time period: C. AD 53-55, during Paul's long ministry in Ephesus on his third missionary journey (Acts 19)

Theological reading

"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption."

The question being answered. Verse 35 sets the topic: "How are the dead raised? and with what manner of body do they come?" Paul answers with a series of analogies. A seed is sown and God gives it a new body (15:36-38). Flesh differs among people, beasts, birds and fish (15:39). Heavenly bodies differ from earthly ones, and the sun, moon and stars differ from each other in glory (15:40-41). Then comes the point: "So also is the resurrection of the dead" (15:42).

The words. "Celestial" (Strong's G2032) means heavenly, "terrestrial" (G1919) earthly, and "glory" (G1391) here means splendor or brightness. Paul's argument is that God already makes bodies of very different kinds and glories, so a resurrection body suited to the age to come is not hard for him. The contrast that follows is between the present body and the raised body: corruption and incorruption, dishonor and glory, weakness and power, natural and spiritual (15:42-44).

Three degrees of glory. Doctrine and Covenants 76, a vision Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon reported in February 1832, describes three kingdoms after the resurrection: celestial, terrestrial and telestial, whose glories are compared to the sun, the moon and the stars. Latter-day Saints read this passage as Paul's reference to the same order. The Mormonism vs the Christian God comparison answers that Paul is comparing kinds of bodies, not ranking kingdoms; that his heavenly and earthly bodies sit beside fish, birds and seeds in the same chain of examples; and that the passage names no third, telestial category. The sun, moon and stars illustrate difference in glory, and Paul applies it to the difference between the body sown and the body raised. See Heaven, Resurrection and 1 Corinthians 15.42.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.