nourishing the whole plant, roots, stalk, leaves, ear, Enoch, Elijah, and Christ himself, appear in the and full corn in the ear. | realms of glory: to which we may add the bodies of those saints which arose after our Lord's resurrection; and, after having appeared to many, doubtless were taken up to Paradise. By terrestrial bodies we may understand those in which the saints now live. Verse 38. But God giveth it a body] And is there any other way of accounting for it but by the miraculous working of God's power? For out of that one bare grain is produced a system of roots, a tall and vigorous stalk, with all its appendages of leaves, But the glory of the celestial is one] The glory-the &c., besides the full corn in the ear; the whole excellence, beauty, and perfection. Even the present making several hundred times the quantum of what was frail human body possesses an indescribable degree originally deposited. There are no proofs that what of contrivance, art, economy, order, beauty, and exsome call nature can effect this: it will ever be a phi-cellence; but the celestial body, that in which Christ losophical as well as a scriptural truth, that God giveth it a body as it pleaseth him; and so doth he manage the whole of the work, that every seed shall have its own body: that the wheat germ shall never produce barley; nor the rye, oats. See the note on Gen. i. 12. Verse 39. All flesh is not the same flesh] Though the organization of all animals is, in its general principles, the same, yet there are no two different kinds of animals that have flesh of the same flavour, whether the animal be beast, fowl, or fish. And this is precisely the same with vegetables. In opposition to this general assertion of St. Paul, there are certain people who tell us that fish is not flesh; and while their religion prohibits, at one time of the year, the flesh of quadrupeds and fowls, it allows them to eat fish, fondly supposing that fish is not flesh tl.ey might as well tell us that a lily is not a vegetable, because it is not a cabbage. There is a Jewish canon pronounced by Schoettgen which my readers may not be displeased to find inserted here: הנודר מן הבשר יהא אסור בבשר דגים והגבים :40 .Nedarim, fol He who is bound by a vow to abstain from flesh, is bound to abstain from the flesh of fish and of locusts. From this it appears that they acknowledged that there was one flesh of beasts, and another of fishes; and that he was religiously bound to abstain from the one, who was bound to abstain from the other. Verse 40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial] The apostle certainly does not speak of celestial and terrestrial bodies in the sense in which we use those terms: we invariably mean by the former the sun, moon, planets, and stars; by the latter, masses of inanimate matter. But the apostle speaks of human beings, some of which were clothed with celestial, others with terrestrial bodies. It is very likely, therefore, that he means by the celestial bodies such as those refined human bodies with which now appears, and according to which ours shall be raised (Phil. iii. 21), will exceed the excellence of this beyond all comparison. A glory or splendour will belong to that which does not belong to this: here there is a glory of excellence; there, there will be a glory of light and effulgence; for the bodies of the saints shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. See Matt. xiii. 43. Verse 41. There is one glory of the sun] As if he had said: This may be illustrated by the present appearance of the celestial bodies which belong to our system. The sun has a greater degree of splendour than the moon; the moon than the planets; and the planets than the stars. And even in the fixed stars, one has a greater degree of splendour than another, which may proceed either from their different magnitudes, or from the comparative proximity of some of them to our earth; but from which of these causes, or from what other cause unknown, we cannot tell, as it is impossible to ascertain the distance of any of the fixed stars; even the nearest of them being too remote to afford any sensible parallar, without which their distances cannot be measured. See the concluding observations. Verse 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead.] That is, The bodies of the dead, though all immortal, shall possess different degrees of splendour and glory, according to the state of holiness in which their respective souls were found. The rabbins have some crude notions concerning different degrees of glory, which the righteous shall possess in the kingdom of heaven. They make out seven degrees: "The first of which is possessed by opy tsaddikim. the just, who observe the covenant of the Holy Blessed God, and subjugate all evil affections." "The second is possessed by those who are The difference between the A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A. U. C. 809. Anao Imp. Neronis Cæs. 3. a It is sown in corruption; it is 44 It is sown b natural 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: a Phil. iii. 21. body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam b Gal. vi. 8. yeskarim, the upright; whose delight it is to walk in nourishment secreted, brought into the circulation, the ways of God, and please him." farther elaborated, and prepared to enter into the composition of every part; hence growth and nutrition; without which no organized body can possibly exist. "The third is for n temimim, the perfect; those who, with integrity, walk in the ways of God, and do not curiously pry into his dispensations." "The fourth is for □p kedoshim, the holy ones; those who are the excellent of the earth, in whom is all God's delight." Ps. xvi. 3. "The fifth is for awn by baaley teshubah, the chief of the penitents; who have broken through the brazen doors, and returned to the Lord." The sixth is for 1 ma bwmpon tinukoth shel beith reben, the scholars and tender ones; who have not transgressed." “The seventh is for on chasidim, the godly; and this is the innermost of all the departments." These seven degrees require a comment by themselves. There is a saying among the rabbins very like that of the apostle in this and the preceding verse. Siştri, in Yalcut Simeoni, page 2, fol. 10: The faces of the righteous shall be, in the world to come, like cas, moons, the heaven, stars, lightnings and like thees and candlesticks of the temple." It is worn in corruption] The body is buried in a state of degradation, decay, and corruption. The apostle uses the word sown to intimate that the body stall rise again, as a seed springs up that has been sown in the earth. It is raised in incorruption] It is raised a spiritual body.] One perfect in all its parts; no longer dependant on natural productions for its support, being built up on indestructible principles, and existing in a region where there shall be no more death; no more causes of decay leading to dissolution; and consequently, no more necessity for food, nutrition, &c. The body is spiritual, and has a spiritual existence and spiritual support. What the apostle says here is quite consistent with the views his countrymen had on this subject. In Sohar Chadash, fol. 43, it is said: "So shall it be in the resurrection of the dead; only, the old uncleanness shall not be found." R. Bechai, on the law, fol. 14, says: "When the godly shall arise, their bodies shall be pure and innocent; obedient to the instinct of the soul: there shall be no adversary, nor any evil disease." Rab. Pinchas says: "The Holy Blessed God shall make the bodies of the righteous as beautiful as the body of Adam was when he entered into paradise." Rab. Levi says: "When the soul is in heaven, it is clothed with celestial light; when it returns to the body, it shall have the same light; and then the sub-body shall shine like the splendour of the firmament of heaven. Then shall men gain the knowledge of what is perfect." Sohar. Gen., fol. 69. Being no more ject to corruption, dissolution, and death. Verse 43. It is sown in dishonour] Being now stripped of all the glory it had as a machine, fearfully and wonderfully made by the hands of God; and also consigned to death and destruction because of . This is the most dishonourable circumstance. It is raised in glory] It is raised a glorious body, because immortal, and for ever redeemed from the empire of death. It is sown in weakness] The principles of dissolution, corruption, and decay, have prevailed over it; case undermined it; and death made it his prey. It is raised in power] To be no more liable to weakness through labour; decay, by age; wasting, by sease; and dissolution, by death. First, the ore may be sepa The Jews have an opinion that the os coxendicis, the lower joint of the backbone, survives the corruption of the body; and that it is out of this bone that the resurrection body is formed. In the place last quoted, fol. 70, we have the following teachings on this subject: "Let us borrow an example from what relates to the purifying of silver. is cast into the burning furnace, that it rated from its earthly impurities; it is then silver, but not perfect silver. They put it into the furnace a second time, and then all its scoria are separated from it, and it becomes perfect silver, without any adulteration. Thus does the holy blessed God: he Verse 44. It is sown a natural body] Ewpa first buries our bodies under the earth, where they An animal body, having a multiplicity of putrefy and corrupt, that nothing remains but that ids and fluids of different kinds, with different one bone: from this a new body is produced, which factions; composed of muscles, fibres, tendons, car-is indeed a body, but not a perfect body. But in that tages, bones, arteries, veins, nerves, blood, and great day, when all bodies are hidden in the earth, Tandus juices, requiring continual support from ali- and the soul departs, then even that bone decays, ment; and hence the necessity of labour to provide and the body which was formed out of it remains, food, and skill to prepare it; which food must be and is as the light of the sun, and the splendour of masticated, digested, and refined; what is proper for heaven. Thus, as the silver was purified, so is the The difference between the A. M. 4060. a b 46 Howbeit, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; Gen. ii. 7.b Rom. v. 14.- c John v. 21. vi. 33, 39, 40, 54, 57. Phil. iii. 21. Col. iii. 4. body and no imperfect mixture remains." Schoettgen. d 47 The first man is of the e earth, earthy: the second man A. M. 4060 A. D. 56 A. U. C. 80 Anno Imp. N nis Cæs. 3 d John iii. 31. Gen. ii. 7. iii. 19. John iii. 13, 31 See these references to Jewish opinions and forms speech the apostle uses to convince them that t These things must not be treated as rabbinical thing was possible; and that the resurrection of dotages; the different similes used by the apostle body was generally credited by all their wise a have the same spirit and design: as the seed which learned men. The Jews, as Dr. Lightfoot observ is sown in the earth rots, and out of the germ con- speak frequently of the Spirit of the Messiah; a tained in it God in his providence produces a root, they allow that it was this Spirit that moved on stalk, leaves, ear, and a great numerical increase of face of the waters, Gen. i. 2. And they assert that! grains; is it not likely that God, out of some essential | Messiah shall quicken those who dwell in the dust. parts of the body that now is, will produce the re- "It ought not to be passed by," says the sa surrection body; and will then give the soul a body author, "that Adam, receiving from God the promi as it pleaseth him; and so completely preserve the of Christ-The seed of the woman shall bruise the he individuality of every human being, as he does of of the serpent, and believing it, named his wife every grain; giving to each its own body? ver. 38. Chavvah, that is, life; so the Septuagint, kai ekade So that as surely as the grain of wheat shall produce | Αδαμ το ονομα της γυναικός αυτου Ζωη And Ada wheat after it is cast in the earth, corrupts, and dies; called the name of his wife, Life. What! Is s so surely shall our bodies produce the same bodies as called Life that brought death into the world? B to their essential individuality. As the germination Adam perceived Tov oxarov Adaμ, the last Ada of seeds is produced by his wisdom and power, so exhibited to him in the promise, to be vevua shall the pure and perfect human body be in the Tolovv, a quickening or life-giving spirit; and L resurrection. Hence he does not say the body is brought in a better life of the soul; and should buried, but the body is sown; it is sown in weakness, last bring in a better life of the body. Hence is th it is sown in dishonour, &c. &c. saying, John i. 4: Ev avty Cwn ny, In HIM w | There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual | LIFE." body.] This very saying is found in so many words, in Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 126: “There are different אית אדם דאיהו אדם דנשמתא ואית אדם דגופא ".kinds of men "There is a spiritual Adam, and there is also a corporeal Adam." Verse 45. The first man Adam was made a living soul] These forms of expression are also common among the Jews: hence we find 1877 078 Adam harishon, "Adam the first;" and p R Adam kadmai, "Adam the last." They assert that there are two Adams: 1. The mystical heavenly Adam ; and 2. The mystical earthly Adam. See Sohar Exod., fol. 29; and the several examples in Schoettgen. The apostle says this is written: The first man Adam was made a living soul: this is found Gen. ii. 7, in the words on nowɔ nishmath chaiyim, the breath of lives; which the apostle translates vxny woav, a living soul. The last Adam-a quickening spirit.] This is also said to be written; but where, says Dr. Lightfoot, is this written in the whole sacred book? Schoettgen replies, In the very same verse, and in these words: wb Dan n vayehi ha-Adam le-nephesh chaiyah, and Adam became a living soul; which the apostle translates Vevpa Zwoпolovv, a quickening, or lifegiving spirit. Among the cabalistic Jews wo nephesh is considered as implying greater dignity than wi nishmah. The former may be considered as pointing out the rational, the latter the sensitive soul. All Some contend that the first Adam and the la Adam mean the same person in two different state: the first man with the body of his creation; th same person with the body of his resurrection. S on ver. 49. Verse 46. That was not first which is spiritua The natural or animal body described, ver. 44, Wi the first; it was the body with which Adam w created. The spiritual body is the last, and is th with which the soul is to be clothed in the resurrection Verse 47. The first man is of the earth] That is Adam's body was made out of the dust of the earth and hence the apostle says he was yoïsos, of the dust for the body was made 15 aphar min ha adamah, dust from the ground; Gen. ii. 7. The second man is--from heaven.] Heavenly, ovpa vioç, as several good MSS. and Versions read. Th resurrection body shall be of a heavenly nature, an not subject to decay or death. What is formed o earth must live after an earthly manner; must b nourished and supported by the earth: what is from heaven is of a spiritual nature; and shall have n farther connexion with, nor dependance upon, earth I conceive both these clauses to relate to man; and to point out the difference between the animal bod and the spiritual body, or between the bodies whic we now have and the bodies which we shall have it the resurrection. But can this be the meaning of the clause, the second man is the Lord from heaven? It The difference between the A. M. 460. A. D. 56. CHAP. XV. b first and last Adam. 48 As is the earthy, such are | 49 And as we have borne are A. U. C. 509. they also that are earthy: and the image of the earthy, we as is the heavenly, such shall also bear the image of the they also that are heavenly. heavenly. Anno Imp. Neromis Cæs. 3. Phil. iii. 20, 21.- b Gen. v. 3. the quotation I have omitted & Kupios, the Lord, on the following authorities: MANUSCRIPTS-BCD*EFG, and two others. VERSIONS-Coptic, Ethiopic, Armein in the margin, Vulgate, and Itala. FATHERS Origen, who quotes it once and omits it once; Athasius, Basil, the two Gregories, Nyssen and Naziazn; Isidore, Cyril, Tertullian, Cyprian, Hilary, Zeno, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrosiaster, Philaster, Leo, Pacianus, Primasius, Sedulius, Bede, and others. See these authorities more at large in Wetstein. Some of the most eminent of modern critics leave out the word, and Tertullian says that it was put in by the heretic Marcion. I do think that the word is act legitimate in this place. The verse is read by the MSS., Versions, and Fathers referred to, thus: The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is of heren, heavenly; Kupios being omitted, and ovpavios odded. The first man and the second man of this verse are the same as the first Adam and the second Adam of ver. 45, and it is not clear that Christ is meant in either place. Some suppose that there is a reference here to what Eve said when she brought forth Cain: I have gotten a man from the Lord, kanithi ish eth Yehovah, I have poswordtained a man, the Lord; that is, as Dr. fot explains it, that the Lord himself should become man and he thinks that Eve had respect to the promise of Christ when she named her son; as Adan had when he named his wife. If Eve had this in view, we can only say she was sadly mistaken: indeed the conjecture is too refined. The terms first man of the earth and second man from heaven, are frequent among the Jews: by the superior Adam; and D7 Adam the inferior; that is, the earthly and the heavenly Adam: Adam before the resurrection, and Adam after it. Verse 43. As is the earthy, &c.] As Adam was, who was formed from the earth, so are all his descendaats; frail, decaying, and subject to death. As is the heavenly] As is the heavenly state of lam and all glorified beings, so shall be the state of al those who, at the resurrection, are found fit for bory. A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A. U. C. 809. Anno Imp. Neronis Cæs. 3. c Rom. viii. 29. 2 Cor. iii. 18. iv. 11. Phil. iii. 21. 1 John iii. 2. and 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, Rom. v. 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 paradisiacal 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 further, that, "In the time in which Adam received by the 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 con But by many commentators the words are under- All shall not die, A. M. 4060. A. U. C. 809. Anno Imp. Nero nis Cæs. 3. incorruption. 50 Now this I say, brethren, | and we shall be changed. that flesh and blood cannot a inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit b 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: " for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, a Matt. xvi. 17. Phil. iii. 21. d Verse 50. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom] This is a Hebrew periphrasis for man, and man in his present state of infirmity and decay. Man, in his present state, cannot inherit the kingdom of God; his nature is not suited to that place; he could not, in his present weak state, endure an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory. Therefore, it is necessary that he should die, or be changed; that he should have a celestial body suited to the celestial state. The apostle is certainly not speaking of flesh and blood in a moral sense, to signify corruption of mind and heart; but in a natural sense: as such, flesh and blood cannot inherit glory, for the reasons already assigned. Verse 51. I show you a mystery] That is, a thing which you have never known before. But what is this mystery? Why, that we shall not all sleep; we shall not all die; but we shall all be changed: of this the Jews had not distinct notions. For, as flesh and blood cannot inherit glory, and all shall not be found dead at the day of judgment, then all must be changed— undergo such a change that their bodies may become spiritual, like the bodies of those who shall be raised from the dead. Verse 52. In a moment] Ev aroμy In an atom; that is, an indivisible point of time. In the twinkling of an eye; as soon as a man can wink; which expressions show that this mighty work is to be done by the almighty power of God, as he does all his works: He calls, and it is done. The resurrection of all the dead, from the foundation of the world to that time, and the change of all the living then upon earth, shall be the work of a single moment. At the last trump] This, as well as all the rest of the peculiar phraseology of this chapter, is merely Jewish, and we must go to the Jewish writers to know what is intended. On this subject, the rabbins use the very same expression. Thus Rabbi Akiba: "How shall the holy blessed God raise the dead? We are taught that God has a trumpet a thousand ells long, according to the ell of God: this trumpet he shall blow, so that the sound of it shall extend from one extremity of the earth to the other. At the first blast the earth shall be shaken; at the second, the dust shall be separated; at the third, the bones shall be gathered together; at the fourth, the members shall wax warm; at the fifth, the heads shall 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A. U. C. 809. Anno Imp. Neronis Cæs. 3. 54 So, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Thess. iv. 16.- e 2 Cor. v. 4.14, 15. Rev. xx. 14. f Isai. xxv. 8. Hebr. ii. be covered with skin; at the sixth, the souls shall be rejoined to their bodies; at the seventh, all shall revive and stand clothed. Sec Wetstein. This tradition shows us what we are to understand by the last trump of the apostle; it is the seventh of Rab. Akiba, when the dead shall be all raised, and, being clothed upon with their eternal vehicles, they shall be ready to appear before the judgment-seat of God. For the trumpet shall sound] By this the apostle confirms the substance of the tradition, there shall be the sound of a trumpet on this great day; and this other scriptures teach: see Zech. ix. 14; Matt. xxiv. 31; John v. 25; 1 Thess. iv. 16, in which latter place, the apostle treats this subject among the Thessalonians, as he does here among the Corinthians. See the notes there. Shall be raised incorruptible] Fully clothed with a new body, to die no more. We shall be changed.] That is, those who shal then be found alive. Verse 53. For this corruptible, &c.] Because flesh and blood cannot inherit glory; therefore, there must be a refinement by death, or a change without it. Verse 54. Death is swallowed up in victory.] Kareñolŋ ȧ lavatoç ELS VIKOS. These words are a quotation from Isai. xxv. 8, where the Hebrew is m billá hammareth lanetsach: He (God) hath swallowed up death in victory; or, for ever. These words in the Septuagint are thus translated: karεTIEV Oavaros xvoaç Death, having prevailed or conquered, hath swallowed up. But in the version of Theodetion, the words are the same with those of the apostle. The Hebrew lanetsach the Septuagint sometimes translate ac vikog, in victory, but most commonly as reλos, for ever; both, as Bishop Pearce observes, in such kind of phrases, signifying the same thing, because eternity conquers all things; and accordingly, in 2 Sam. ii. 26, where the Septuagint have μn us VIKOÇ KATαpaуεTαι poμpaia, our English version has Shall the sword devour FOR EVER? And the same may be seen in Job xxxvi. 7; Lam. v. 20; Amos i. 11; and viii. 7; from which authority the bishop translated the clause here, Death is swallowed up FOR EVER. Death is here personified and represented as a devouring being, swallowing up all the generations of men; and by the resurrection of the body and the destruction of the empire of death, God is repre |