📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 15:47
What does 1 Corinthians 15:47 mean?
"The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven."
— 1 Corinthians 15:47 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.
The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.
Explanation
This verse comes from Paul's extended argument about the resurrection of the dead, a major theme running through all of 1 Corinthians 15. Here Paul is drawing a contrast between two representative figures: Adam, "the first man," and Christ, "the second man." In plain language, Paul is saying that Adam was formed from the earth itself, made of dust, as Genesis 2:7 describes, and so he belongs to the natural, earthly order. Christ, by contrast, is called "the Lord from heaven," meaning his origin and nature are heavenly rather than earthly. Paul is not denying Christ's genuine humanity but pointing to a difference in origin and destiny between these two "Adams."
The context matters a great deal here. The church in Corinth included people who doubted or misunderstood the bodily resurrection of believers, some apparently thinking that resurrection meant a return to the same kind of physical, perishable body they already had, or perhaps doubting resurrection altogether. Paul writes to correct this by explaining that just as there are different kinds of bodies (verses 39-41), there is also a difference between the "natural body" we now have, inherited from Adam, and the "spiritual body" believers will receive, patterned after Christ, the risen and glorified Lord. Verse 47 fits into a set of contrasts Paul builds throughout verses 42-49: perishable versus imperishable, dishonor versus glory, weakness versus power, natural versus spiritual, earthly versus heavenly.
Theologically, this verse teaches that humanity
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.