1 Corinthians 15:42

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(42) So also is the resurrection of the dead.—Here follows the application of these analogies to the subject in hand. As there is in the vegetable growth, in the varieties of animal life, and in the diversities of form assumed by inorganic matter, an identity preserved amid ever-varying form or variety of “body,” so a change in the form or glory of our organism which we call our “body” is compatible with the preservation of personal identity. The “it,” the personality, remains the same—now in corruption, then in incorruption; now in dishonour, then in glory; now in weakness, then in power.

Benson Commentary

1 Corinthians 15:42-44. So also is the resurrection of the dead — So great is the difference between the body which fell and that which rises. It is to be observed, that in this and the following verses, the apostle is giving an account of the righteous only. It is sown — A beautiful word; committed as seed to the ground: and the apostle thus expresses the burial of the body, because he had illustrated the possibility of its resurrection, notwithstanding it rots in the grave, or is otherwise destroyed, by the example of grain sown in the earth, which after it rots produces grain of the same kind with itself; a comparison intended to illustrate only the possibility of the resurrection, but not the manner of its being effected. For certainly the body to be raised will not be produced by any virtue in the body buried, as plants are produced by a virtue latent in the seeds that are sown. For we are carefully taught in the Scriptures, that the resurrection of our bodies will be effected merely by the extraordinary and miraculous power of God, and not at all as either plants or animals are produced, in a natural way, from their seeds. In corruption — Just ready to putrefy, and by various degrees of corruption and decay, to return to the dust from whence it came. It is raised in incorruption — Utterly incapable of either dissolution or decay. It is sown in dishonour — Shocking to those who loved it best: human nature in disgrace! It is raised in glory — Clothed with robes of light, fit for those whom the King of heaven delights to honour. See on Matthew 13:23; Php 3:21. It is sown in weakness — Deprived even of that feeble strength which it once enjoyed: it is raised in power — Endued with vigour, strength, and activity, such as we cannot now conceive. It is sown in this world a natural body — Or rather, an animal body, as σωμα ψυχικον more properly signifies, supported by food, sleep, and air, as the bodies of all animals are: it is raised a spiritual body — Of a more refined contexture, needing none of those animal refreshments, and endued with qualities of a spiritual nature like the angels of God. These alterations to be produced in the contexture of the bodies of the righteous are indeed great and wonderful, but far from being impossible. For, as Dr. Macknight justly observes, “to illustrate great things by small, we have an example of a similar, though very inferior transformation, in the bodies of caterpillars, which in their first state are ugly, weak, and easily crushed, but in their second state become beautifully winged animals, full of life and activity. This shows what God can do in greater instances.”

It may not be improper to add here, what is justly observed by the same author, that, notwithstanding this great difference between the bodies raised, and the bodies committed to the ground, those raised will, in a sound sense, be the same with the bodies that were buried; inasmuch as they will consist of members and organs of sensation in form and use similar to the members and organs of the present body: that is, as far as their new state will admit; a limitation this, absolutely necessary to be made, because the Scripture itself mentions two particulars, and reason suggests others, in which the bodies raised will essentially differ from those which died. 1st, We are told (1 Corinthians 6:13) that God will destroy both the belly, (including both the stomach and bowels,) or the use of that member, and meats. 2d, Our Lord assures us, that they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they are equal to the angels. From these texts it follows, that none of the members necessary to eating, and drinking, and marriage, will make part of the glorified bodies of the saints; and that none of the appetites and passions which are gratified by these members, will have any existence in their minds: consequently, the joys of the heavenly country, though in part they are to arise from bodily senses, will have no affinity with the pleasures of a Mohammedan paradise. 3d, Reason directs us to believe, that to the similarity or sameness of the body which is raised, with the body that was buried, it is by no means necessary that the imperfections in the members of the buried body, should take place in the raised body. On the contrary, the restoration of all the members to their proper form, place, and office in the body, instead of making it a different body, will render it more perfectly the same. 4th, Besides the differences mentioned, there may be other differences likewise in the glorified bodies of the saints, suited to the difference of their state, of which at present we can form no conception. For if the raised body is to be endowed with new powers of action, and new senses, these may require additional members; and notwithstanding the addition, the raised body may, on account of its general similarity to the body that was buried, be still considered as the same. To conclude, the Scripture speaks consistently when, in describing the state of the righteous after the resurrection, it represents them as having their mortal bodies refashioned like to the glorious body of Christ, and informs us, that after their whole persons are thus completed, they shall be carried to a heavenly country, where every object being suited to the nature of their glorified bodies, they shall live unspeakably happy to all eternity.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:35-50 1. How are the dead raised up? that is, by what means? How can they be raised? 2. As to the bodies which shall rise. Will it be with the like shape, and form, and stature, and members, and qualities? The former objection is that of those who opposed the doctrine, the latter of curious doubters. To the first the answer is, This was to be brought about by Divine power; that power which all may see does somewhat like it, year after year, in the death and revival of the corn. It is foolish to question the Almighty power of God to raise the dead, when we see it every day quickening and reviving things that are dead. To the second inquiry; The grain undergoes a great change; and so will the dead, when they rise and live again. The seed dies, though a part of it springs into new life, though how it is we cannot fully understand. The works of creation and providence daily teach us to be humble, as well as to admire the Creator's wisdom and goodness. There is a great variety among other bodies, as there is among plants. There is a variety of glory among heavenly bodies. The bodies of the dead, when they rise, will be fitted for the heavenly bodies. The bodies of the dead, when they rise, will be fitted for the heavenly state; and there will be a variety of glories among them. Burying the dead, is like committing seed to the earth, that it may spring out of it again. Nothing is more loathsome than a dead body. But believers shall at the resurrection have bodies, made fit to be for ever united with spirits made perfect. To God all things are possible. He is the Author and Source of spiritual life and holiness, unto all his people, by the supply of his Holy Spirit to the soul; and he will also quicken and change the body by his Spirit. The dead in Christ shall not only rise, but shall rise thus gloriously changed. The bodies of the saints, when they rise again, will be changed. They will be then glorious and spiritual bodies, fitted to the heavenly world and state, where they are ever afterwards to dwell. The human body in its present form, and with its wants and weaknesses, cannot enter or enjoy the kingdom of God. Then let us not sow to the flesh, of which we can only reap corruption. And the body follows the state of the soul. He, therefore, who neglects the life of the soul, casts away his present good; he who refuses to live to God, squanders all he has.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

So also is the resurrection - In a manner similar to the grain that is sown, and to the different degrees of splendor and magnificence in the bodies in the sky and on the earth. The dead shall be raised in a manner analogous to the springing up of grain; and there shall be a difference between the body here and the body in the resurrection.

It is sown - In death. As we sow or plant the kernel in the earth.

In corruption - In the grave; in a place where it shall be corrupt; in a form tending to putrefaction, disorganization, and dust.

It is raised in incorruption - It will be so raised. In the previous verses 1 Corinthians 15:36-41 he had reasoned from analogy, and had demonstrated that it was possible that the dead should rise, or that there was no greater difficulty attending it than actually occurred in the events which were in fact constantly taking place. He here states positively what would be, and affirms that it was not only possible, but that such a resurrection would actually occur. They body would be raised "in incorruption," "uncorruptible" 1 Corinthians 15:52; that is, no more liable to decay, sickness, disorganization, and putrefaction. This is one characteristic of the body that shall be raised, that it shall be no more liable, as here, to wasting sickness, to disease, and to the loathsome corruption of the grave. That God can form a body of that kind, no one can doubt; that he actually will, the apostle positively affirms. That such will be the bodies of the saints is one of the most cheering prospects that can be presented to those who are here wasted away by sickness, and who look with dread and horror on the loathsome putrefaction of the tomb.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

42. sown—Following up the image of seed. A delightful word instead of burial.

in corruption—liable to corruption: corruptible: not merely a prey when dead to corruption; as the contrast shows, "raised in incorruption," that is, not liable to corruption: incorruptible.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

So also is the resurrection of the dead; that is, so shall it be, as to the bodies of the saints, in the resurrection. The same bodies of the saints shall rise, though with qualities, and in a condition, much different from what they were when they fell; as the same grain of wheat shooteth up, though with another body: and as there is a difference between celestial and terrestrial bodies, and between celestial bodies themselves; so there will be a difference between the bodies of the saints, now that they are only of the earth, earthy, from what they shall be in the resurrection; which difference he openeth in several particulars.

It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is sown that is, it dieth and is buried in such a state, that it is subject to putrefaction; but when it shall be again raised from the dead, it shall be subject to no putrefaction or corruption: so 1 Corinthians 15:52: The dead shall be raised incorruptible.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

So also is the resurrection of the dead,.... This will be the case and condition of risen bodies, they will be as different from what they now are, though they will be the same in substance, as a stalk of wheat in its blade and ear, and full corn in the ear, is from the naked grain, when cast into the earth; or as the flesh of men is from the flesh of beasts, fishes, and birds; or as celestial bodies from terrestrial ones; or as the glory of the sun differs from the glory of the moon and stars; or as one star differs from another star in glory; that this is the apostle's sense is clear from the induction of particulars following, by which he explains in clear terms what he before signified by similitudes:

it is sown in corruption; it should be observed, that the word sown, in this and the following verses, does not merely relate to the interment of the body, but also to its generation; and includes its state, condition, and character, during life; as well as points out what it is at death, and its sepulture in the earth: it is from first to last a corruptible body; it is born frail and mortal, and liable to corruption and death; it is corrupted with sin, and so a vile body; there is a world of iniquity in one of its members, the tongue, and what then must there be in all its parts? but besides this moral corruption, in which it is during the present state, it is liable to a natural one; from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, it may be covered with wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores; a right arm may be dried up and withered away, and a leg may corrupt and mortify, and so any other part; the whole is supported by corruptible things, by meat that perisheth; and which if it did not corrupt and perish, would not be nourishing; and as meats are for the belly, and the belly for meats, in a short time God will destroy both it and them; the whole frame and texture of the body will be dissolved by death, and be brought to worms, corruption, and dust; and in this case will lie in the grave till the resurrection morn:

it is raised in incorruption: the very same body that was sown, generated, lived, and died, shall be raised again, but different from what it was; it will be incorruptible; its parts will be no more subject to corruption; it will not be supported by corruptible things; it will be immortal, and never die more, and will be clear of all its moral corruption; it will no more be a vile body, but fashioned like to the holy and glorious body of Christ.

Geneva Study Bible

{23} So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is {s} sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

(23) He makes three manner of qualities of the bodies being raised: first, incorruption, that is, because they will be sound and altogether of a nature that can not be corrupt. Second, glory, because they will be adorned with beauty and honour. Third, power, because they will continue everlasting, without food, drink, and all other helps, without which this frail life cannot keep itself from corruption.

(s) Is buried, and man is hid as seed in the ground.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

1 Corinthians 15:42-44. Application of the passage from 1 Corinthians 15:36 (σπείρεται) on to 1 Corinthians 15:41.

οὕτω καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις τ. νεκρ.] sc. ἐστι. So does it hold also with the resurrection of the dead, in so far, namely, as the resurrection-body will be quite otherwise constituted than the present body.[76]

It is sown in corruption, etc. What is sown and raised up, is self-evident, and is also distinctly said in 1 Corinthians 15:44, on occasion being given by the adjectival form of expression, into which the discourse there passes.

On σπείρεται, the remark of Grotius is sufficient: “cum posset dicere sepelitur, maluit dicere seritur, ut magis insisteret similitudini supra sumtae de grano.” The apostle falls back on the image of the matter already familiar to the readers, because it must have by this time become clear to them in general from this image, that a reproduction of the present body at the resurrection was not to be thought of. The fact, again, that the image of sowing had already gone before in this sense,—in the sense of interment,—excludes as contrary to the text, not only van Hengel’s interpretation, according to which σπείρεται is held to apply to generation and man is to be conceived as the subject, but also Hofmann’s view, that the sowing is the giving up of the body to death, without reference to the point whether it be laid in the earth or not. The sowing is man’s act, but the ἐγείρεται God’s act, quite corresponding to the antithesis cf σύ, 1 Corinthians 15:36, and ὁ δὲ θεός, 1 Corinthians 15:38.

ἐν φθορᾷ] in corruption, i.e. in the condition of decay, is the body when it is buried.[77] Of a wholly different nature, however, will be the new body which raises itself at the resurrection-summons (1 Corinthians 15:52 f.) out of the buried one (as the plant out of the seed-corn); it is raised in the condition of incorruptibility. Comp. 1 Corinthians 15:50; 1 Corinthians 15:52.

ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ] in the condition of dishonour. Chrysostom (τί γὰρ εἰδεχθέστερον νεκροῦ διαῤῥυέντος;), Theodoret, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Beza, Grotius, al., including Billroth, have rightly understood this of the foeditas cadaveris; for σπείρεται represents the act of burial. Erasmus, Calvin, Vorstius, Estius, Rosenmüller, al., including Flatt (comp. Rückert), hold that it refers to the “ante mortem miseriis et foeditatibus obnoxium esse,” Estius. So also de Wette (comp. Osiander and Hofmann) in reference to all the three points, which, according to these expositors, are meant to designate the nature of the living body as regards its organization, or at least to include it (comp. Maier) in their scope. But this mode of conception, according to which the definition of state characterizes the earthly body generally according to its nature, not specially according to the condition in which it is at its interment, comes in only at the fourth point with σῶμα ψυχικόν in virtue of the change in the form of expression which is adopted on that very account. From the way in which Paul has expressed the first three points, he desires to state in what condition that which is being sown is at its sowing; in what condition, therefore, the body to be buried is, when it is being buried. This, too, in opposition to Ewald’s view: “even the best Christians move now in corruption, in outward dishonour before the world,” et.

ἐν δόξῃ] refers to the state of outward glory, which will be peculiar to the resurrection-bodies; 1 Corinthians 15:40. It is the σύμμορφον εἶναι τῷ σώματι τῆς δόξης Χριστοῦ, Php 3:21.

ἘΝ ἈΣΘΕΝΕΊᾼ] not: “variis morbis et periculis obnoxium,” Rosenmüller and others, comp. Rückert (weakliness); for it refers to the already dead body (σπείρεται), but: in the condition of powerlessness, inasmuch as all ability, all ἰσχύς (Soph. Oed. Col. 616), all σθένος of the limbs (Pindar, Nem. v. 72, x. 90) has vanished from the dead body. Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theodoret, Theophylact, al., narrow the reference too much in an arbitrary way, applying it simply to the inability to withstand corruption. Ἐν ἀσθ. is not a superfluous (de Wette), but a characteristic mark which specifically distinguishes the dead from the living bod.

ἐν δυνάμει] in the condition, of strength: the resurrection body will be endowed with fulness of strength for life and activity. What Grotius adds: “cum sensibus multis, quos nunc non intelligimus,” is perhaps true in itself, but is not conveyed in ἐν δυνάμει.

Instead of adducing one by one further qualities of the body as buried, with their opposites in the resurrection-body, Paul sums up by naming in addition that which conditions those other qualities, the specific fundamental nature of the present body which is buried, and of the future one which is raised: σπείρεται σῶμα ψυχικὸν, ἐγείρ. σ. πνευματικόν, i.e. there is sown a psychical body, etc. This is not opposed to the identity of the body, but the one which rises is quite differently qualified; there is buried a ψυχικόν, there rises a ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΙΚΌΝ. That is the new ποιότης τοῦ σώματος in which the risen man comes (1 Corinthians 15:35); but the expression, which sets forth the difference as two subjects, is stronger and more significant than if we should take it with Hofmann: it is sown as a psychical body, etc.

The body which is buried is ψυχικόν, inasmuch as the ΨΥΧΉ, this power of the sensuous and perishable life (comp. on 1 Corinthians 2:14), was its life-principle and the determining element of its whole nature (consisting of flesh and blood, 1 Corinthians 15:50). The ΨΥΧΉ had in it, as Oecumenius and Theophylact say, ΤῸ ΚῦΡΟς Κ. ΤῊΝ ἩΓΕΜΟΝΊΑΝ. The resurrection-body, however, will be ΠΝΕΥΜΑΤΙΚΌΝ, i.e. not an ethereal body (Origen, comp. Chrysostom),[78] which the antithesis of ψυχικόν forbids; but a spiritual body, inasmuch as the πνεῦμα, the power of the supersensuous, eternal life (the true, imperishable ζωή), in which the Holy Spirit carries on the work of regeneration and sanctification (Romans 8:16-17), will be its life-principle and the determining element of its whole nature. In the earthly body the ψυχή, not the πνεῦμα, is that which conditions its constitution and its qualities, so that it is framed as the organ of the ψυχή;[79] in the resurrection-body the reverse is the case; the πνεῦμα, for whose life-activity it is the adequate organ, conditions its nature, and the ψυχή has ceased to be, as formerly, the ruling and determining element. We are not, however, on this account to assume, with Rückert, that Paul conceived the soul as not continuing to subsist for ever,—a conception which would do away with the essential completeness and thereby with the identity of the human being. On the contrary, he has conceived of the πνεῦμα in the risen bodies as the absolutely dominant element, to which the psychical powers and activities shall be completely subordinated. The whole predicates of the resurrection-body, contrasted with the properties of the present body, are united in the likeness to the angels, which Jesus affirms of the risen, Matthew 22:30, Luke 20:36, and in their being fashioned like unto the glorified body of Christ, as is promised by Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:48-49; Php 3:21. How far the doctrine of Paul is exalted above the assertion by the Rabbins of the (quite crass) identity of the resurrection-body with the present one, may be seen from the citations in Wetstein on 1 Corinthians 15:36, and in Eisenmenger, entdeckt. Judenth. II. p. 938 f.

εἰ ἔστι σῶμα ψυχ., ἔστι καὶ κ.τ.λ.] logical confirmation of the σῶμα πνευματ. just mentioned. It is to be shown, namely, that it is not an air-drawn fancy to speak of the future existence of a σῶμα πνευματικόν: If it is true that there is a psychical body, then there is also a spiritual body, then such a body cannot be a non-ens—according to the mutually conditioning relations of the antitheses. The emphasis lies on the twice-prefixed ἔστι, existit (comp. the Rabbinical אית in Schoettgen, Hor. p. 670). The logical correctness of the sentence, again, depends upon the presupposition (1 Corinthians 15:42 f.) that the present and the future body stand in the relation of counterparts to each other. If, therefore, there exists a psychical body (and that is the present one), then a pneumatic body also must be no mere idea, but really existent (and that is the resurrection-body).

[76] It is to be observed that Paul, in his whole discussion regarding the nature of the future bodies, has in view only those of the first resurrection (see on ver. 23), leaving quite out of account the bodies of those who shall belong to the second resurrection, and consequently to the τέλος, ver. 24. He has in fact to do with believers, with future sharers in the resurrection of the righteous (comp. on Php 3:11), whose resurrection-hope was being assailed.

[77] Not as Hofmann would have it, in connection with his inappropriate interpretation of σπείρεται: up to the point, when it is given over to death.

[78] Or as Zeller in the theol. Jahrb. 1852, p. 297, would have it: “a body composed of spirit,” the πνεῦμα being conceived as material. Comp. Holsten, zum Ev. d. Paul. u. Petr. p. 72: “out of heavenly light-material.”

[79] Luther’s gloss is: “which eats, drinks, sleeps, digests, grows larger and smaller, begets children, etc. Spiritual, which may do none of these things, and nevertheless is a true body alive from the spirit.”

Expositor's Greek Testament

1 Corinthians 15:42 a sums up what has been advanced in 1 Corinthians 15:36-41, and presents it in six words: οὕτως καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις τῶν νεκρῶν, “So indeed is the resurrection of the dead”. It is as possible as that plants of wholly diff[2522] form should shoot from the seed sown by your own hand; and the form of each risen body will be determined by God, who finds a suitable organism for every type of earthly life, and can do so equally for every type and grade of heavenly life, in a region where, as sun, moon, and stars nightly show, the universal splendour is graduated and varied infinitely.

[2522] difference, different, differently.

1 Corinthians 15:42-43. Σπείρεται ἐν φθορᾷ … ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ … ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ: “The sowing is in corruption (perishableness) … in dishonour … in weakness”. It is better, with Cv[2523], Wr[2524] (p. 656), and Hn[2525], to regard σπείρεται and ἐγείρεται as impersonal, since no subject is supplied; the vbs., thrice repeated with emphasis, are contrasted in idea; the antithesis lies between two opp[2526] stages of being (cf., for the mode of expression, Luke 12:48). σπείρεται recalls, and applies in the most general way, the ὃ σπείρεις and σπέρματα of 1 Corinthians 15:36 ff. To interpret this vb[2527] as figuring the act of burial (“verbum amœnissimum pro sepultura,” Bg[2528]; so Cm[2529], Gr[2530], Mr[2531], Bt[2532], El[2533], and many others) confuses the analogy (the “sowing” is expressly distinguished from the “dying” of the seed, 1 Corinthians 15:36), and jars with ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ (a sick man, not a corpse, is called weak), and with ψυχικὸν in 1 Corinthians 15:44; cf. also 1 Corinthians 15:50-54, where ἡ φθορά, τὸ φθαρτόν, τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο are identified with the living ἡμεῖς. Our present life is the seed-time (Galatians 6:7 ff.), and our “mortal bodies” (Romans 8:10 f.) are in the germinal state, concluding with death (1 Corinthians 15:36), out of which a wholly diff[2534] organism will spring. The attributes φθορά (cf. δουλεία τ. φθορᾶς, Romans 8:21), ἀτιμία (cf. Php 3:21), ἀσθενεία (cf. 2 Corinthians 13:4)—summed up in the θνητὰ σώματα of Romans 8:11 and μορφὴ δούλου of Php 2:7—are those that P. is wont to ascribe to man’s actual physique, in contrast with the ἀφθαρσία, δόξα, δύναμις of the post-resurrection state: see 2 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Corinthians 4:10; 2 Corinthians 4:16; 2 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:4, Romans 1:4; Romans 8:18-23. Thus, with variety in detail, Est. (“moritur corpus multis ante mortem miseriis et fœditatibus obnoxium, suscitabitur idem corpus omni ex parte gloriosum”), Cv[2535], Hf[2536], Hn[2537], Ed[2538] Gd[2539] refers the threefold σπείρεται to the three moments of burial, mortal life, and birth respectively; van Hengel identifies it with procreation, quite unsuitably.

[2523] Calvin’s In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii.

[2524] Winer-Moulton’s Grammar of N.T. Greek (8th ed., 1877).

[2525] C. F. G. Heinrici’s Erklärung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer’s krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).

[2526] opposite, opposition.

[2527] verb

[2528] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.

[2529] John Chrysostom’s Homiliœ († 407).

[2530] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.

[2531] Meyer’s Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).

[2532] J. A. Beet’s St. Paul’s Epp. to the Corinthians (1882).

[2533] C. J. Ellicott’s St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians.

[2534] difference, different, differently.

[2535] Calvin’s In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii.

[2536] J. C. K. von Hofmann’s Die heilige Schrift N.T. untersucht, ii. 2 (2te Auflage, 1874).

[2537] C. F. G. Heinrici’s Erklärung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer’s krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).

[2538] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians.2

[2539] F. Godet’s Commentaire sur la prem. Ép. aux Corinthiens (Eng. Trans.).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

42. So also is the resurrection of the dead] The fact is now plainly stated that all shall not possess the same degree of glory in heaven. ‘So,’ i.e. as has been before stated. But St Paul goes on to deal less with the fact than with the manner in which the fact is accomplished.

It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption] Cf. Romans 8:21; Colossians 2:22; 2 Peter 1:4 for corruption (in the Greek). And for incorruption see Romans 2:7, Ephesians 6:24 (margin), 2 Timothy 1:10, and Titus 2:7. The English version in the first and third of these passages renders by immortality, in the second and fourth by sincerity. The rendering in the text is the more accurate.

Bengel's Gnomen

1 Corinthians 15:42. Οὕτω, thus) This word relates to the protasis already begun at 1 Corinthians 15:36.—σπείρεται, is sown) a very delightful word instead of burial.—ἐν φθορᾷ, in corruption) The condition not only of the dead body but of the mortal body is denoted.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 42. - So also is the resurrection of the dead. In like manner the dead, when raised, shall have bodies which differ from their body of humiliation (Philippians 3:21). It is sown in corruption. "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19). It is raised in incorruption. The word means strictly, "incorruptibility." The resurrection body will not be subjected to earthly conditions (Luke 20:35, 36). 1 Corinthians 15:42

Vincent's Word Studies

So also

Having argued that newness of organization is no argument against its possibility, Paul now shows that the substantial diversity of organism between the earthly and the new man is founded in a diversity of the whole nature in the state before and in the state after the resurrection. Earthly beings are distinguished from the risen as to duration, value, power, and a natural as distinguished from a spiritual body.

It is sown

Referring to the interment of the body, as is clear from 1 Corinthians 15:36, 1 Corinthians 15:37.