There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.
Parallel Translations
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There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.
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Ther are celestiall bodyes and ther are bodyes terrestriall. But the glory of the celestiall is one and the glory of the terrestriall is another.
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There are also heauenly bodies, and earthly bodies: but the glorie of the heauenly is one, and the glorie of the earthly is another.
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Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial:…
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.
Ver. 40. There are also celestial] Stars and spirits (the inhabitants of that other heaven) I find, saith a divine, like one another. Meteors and fowls in as many varieties as there are several creatures. Why? Is it because man, for whose sake they were made, delights in variety, God in constancy? Or is it because that in these God may show his own skill and their imperfection?
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The glory of the terrestrial] The glory of our terrestrial bodies shall at the resurrection be celestial; they shall be more like spirits than bodies, so clear and transparent, saith Aquinas, that all the veins, humours, nerves, and bowels shall be seen, as in a glass: they shall be conformed to the glorified body of Christ, as to the standard.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain There are also celestial bodies; such are the sun,…
There are also celestial bodies; such are the sun, the moon, and the stars.
And bodies terrestrial; men, beasts, birds, fishes, the elements, stones, &c.
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But the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another; now between these two species of bodies, in respect of qualities, there is a very great difference; the glory of the heavenly bodies is much greater than the glory of the earthy bodies that are compounded of the elements.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain It is sown in dishonour,.... Its original is dishonourable,…
It is sown in dishonour,.... Its original is dishonourable, it comes, as the Jews often say (w), , "from a filthy drop"; its generated brought forth in a manner we are ashamed of; it is conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity; it is unclean, and born of the flesh: and when born, is in such a condition, as is to the loathing of it; some of its members are less honourable; and so uncomely as always to need a covering; it is subject to various blemishes, defects, and imperfections, and few bodies are without one or another; and liable to many injuries and affronts, as the body of our Lord himself was, who gave his back to the smiters, his cheek to them that plucked off the hair, and hid not his face from shame and spitting; and in death, it is nauseous, filthy, and very dishonourable, so that the nearest relation and friend cannot take pleasure in it, but desires to bury it out of sight; and amidst the greatest funereal pomp and splendour, it is laid in the grave in dishonour, to be the companion of corruption and worms: but in the resurrection,
it is raised in glory; in perfect beauty and comeliness, without the least blemish, defect, or imperfection; nor will there be any part of it that will occasion shame; it will be metamorphosed, and fashioned like to the glorious body of Christ; it will shine as the sun, and be as the brightness of the firmament: and so the Jews understand the passage in Dan 12:3 they say (x) that
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"God will beautify the bodies of the righteous in time to come, as the body of the first man when he entered into the garden of Eden; and that the soul, whilst it is in its dignity, is sustained by the superior light, and is clothed with it; and when it enters into the body in time to come, it enters with the light; and then will the body shine as the brightness of the firmament, according to Dan 12:3.''
It is sown in weakness; it comes into the world in great weakness; what is weaker than the body of a new born babe? it cannot move, nor help itself in any respect; and how weak and defenceless is the body of man, when adult; as he is subject to various diseases and disorders, which weaken his strength in the way, and is surrounded with natural infirmities, arising from hunger, thirst, nakedness, labour, &c. so he is not armed, as many other creatures are, for defence and offence; nor can he resist and overcome many things which do him hurt, much less can he resist death, or retain his spirit then; and through weakness at last dies, and is devoid of all strength, and as such is laid in the grave, where there is no work that he can do: but
it is raised in power; it is raised by the power of God, and with great power in itself; being able to subsist without food, and of moving itself from place to place, with great agility; and capable of the highest services before God and the Lamb, without weariness; nor will it be ever more liable to weakness or death; death shall have no more power over it; nor shall it be encompassed or attended with any infirmity whatever.
(w) Pirke Abot, c. 3. sect. 1. (x) Zohar in Gen. fol. 69. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain There are also heavenly bodies - As the sun,…
There are also heavenly bodies - As the sun, moon, and stars; and there are earthy - as vegetables and animals. But the brightest lustre which the latter can have is widely different from that of the former.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies…
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 Enoch, Elijah, and Christ himself, appear in the 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.
But the glory of the celestial is one] The glory - the excellence, beauty, and perfection. Even the present frail human body possesses an indescribable degree of contrivance, art, economy, order, beauty, and excellence; but the celestial body, that in which Christ now appears, and according to which ours shall be raised, (Php 3:21,) 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 Mt 13:43.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain There are also celestial bodies - The planets; the…
There are also celestial bodies - The planets; the stars; the host of heaven; see 1Co 15:41.
And bodies terrestrial - On earth; earthly. He refers here to the bodies of human beings, beasts, birds, etc.; perhaps, also, of trees and vegetables. The sense is, “There is a great variety of bodies. Look upon the heavens, and see the splendor of the sun, the moon, and the stars. And then look upon the earth, and see the bodies there - the bodies of people, and brutes, and insects. You see here two entire classes of bodies. You see how they differ. Can it be deemed strange if there should be a difference between our bodies when on earth and when in heaven? Do we not, in fact, see a vast difference between what strikes our eye here on earth and in the sky? And why should we deem it strange that between bodies adapted to live here and bodies adapted to live in heaven, there should be a difference, like that which is seen between the objects which appear on earth and those which appear in the sky?” The argument is a popular one; but it is striking, and meets the object which he has in view.
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The glory of the celestial is one - The splendor, beauty, dignity, magnificence of the heavenly bodies differs much from those on earth. That is one thing; the beauty of earthly objects is another and a different thing. Beautiful as may be the human frame; beautiful as may be the plumage of birds; beautiful as may be the flower, the fossil, the mineral, the topaz, or the diamond; yet they differ from the heavenly bodies, and are not to be compared with them. Why should we deem it strange that there may be a similar difference between the body as adapted to its residence here and as adapted to its residence in heaven?
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain celestial bodies--not the sun, moon, and stars, which are…
celestial bodies--not the sun, moon, and stars, which are first introduced in Co1 15:41, but the bodies of angels, as distinguished from the bodies of earthly creatures.
the glory of the celestial-- (Luk 9:26).
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glory of . . . terrestrial-- (Mat 6:28-29; Pe1 1:24).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 40. Celestial… terrestrial—Celestial bodies might be understood of the…
40. Celestial… terrestrial—Celestial bodies might be understood of the stars, or, as they are called, “the heavenly bodies,” but there hardly appear to be any earthly bodies to correspond with them. Hence, very plausibly, they are interpreted by the best modern commentators as angelic bodies and human bodies. This would assume that an angel possesses, or at least assumes whenever he appears to human vision, a spiritual body, 1Co_15:44, yet none the less a subtilely material one. The glory of our earthly bodies is indeed a very inferior one at present, yet still possessing traits of the image of God.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial]…
40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial] The principle is now further extended to the heavenly bodies, and another argument thus drawn from the close analogy which subsists between the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of grace. Meyer, De Wette, and Alford consider the heavenly bodies to be those of angels. But we nowhere read of angels having bodies, though we read of their assuming visible forms. Chrysostom refers the phrase to the resurrection bodies. This is unquestionably the meaning of ἐπουράνιος in 1Co_15:48 : but here it would seem to be in more strict opposition to ἐπίγειος, that which exists on the earth, since the Apostle refers to the sun, moon, and stars as ‘heavenly bodies’ in the next verse.
but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another] The celestial body is superior to the terrestrial. In like manner, and to a similar extent, shall the risen body surpass the present human organism.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (40) There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial.—It…
(40) There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial.—It is held by many that this is a distinct illustration from that which occurs in the next verse, and that the “celestial bodies” here spoken of are the bodies of angels, whose appearances on earth are accompanied (see Mat_28:3; Act_12:7) by a blaze of glory or light. It is better, perhaps, to regard it as a general statement of what is expanded in 1Co_15:41. The force of the three analogies introduced in this whole argument is that identity of matter is preserved amid variety of form, and on this point the difference between angelic bodies and human bodies would have no bearing. Between the earthly things and the heavenly things, such as the sun, moon, and stars, there is an identity of substance, but an infinite variety of form and of glory.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial. The…
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial. The words are often misunderstood. The "celestial bodies" are not the sun, moon, and stars of the next verse for that would be a false antithesis to "bodies terrestrial but bodies (or organisms) which belong to heavenly beings, such as the resurrection body of our Lord and of glorified saints, or even in some sense of angels. (Mat_22:30)
The two glories.
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The apostle appears to be referring to the differences between the organisms the spiritual bodies of the inhabitants of heaven and the bodies of human beings on earth. But in a wider sense we may understand his statement that "the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another." The glory of things belonging to a fallen world is one; the glory belonging to things of an unfallen world is another. The things of man fallen contrasted with the things of the God Man unfallen. The natural as opposed to the spiritual.
I THE GLORY OF THINGS TERRESTRIAL.
1. Slight. Showy, but delusive. Money, human learning, earthly power, worldly pleasures, these are attractive, but the glory of the best of them is small. Innumerable testimonies have been borne to this fact, difficult for those to credit who are captivated by the gaudiness which they mistake for glory.
2. Marred. When we speak of earthly things we think of them in their highest perfection; our conception is apt to be ideal. Experimentally we find that the natural glory is greatly marred.
3. Uncertain. The flame flickers and darkness is threatened. Much depends upon our health, surroundings, position, as to whether things terrestrial have glory in relation to ourselves. Changes are often sudden and complete, and that which erewhile we pronounced glorious becomes simply detestable. That which pleases us today may disgust us tomorrow. Alas! with things terrestrial there is no improvement upon intimate acquaintance.
4. Brief. At best the glory is short lived. The sun soon goes down. When most needed the glory often disappears.
5. Unsatisying. Something more glorious is ever craved for. The more glorious may be expected from that which is of the earth, and when not found in it, the disappointment is often bitter. Earthly things have a firework glory.
II THE GLORY OF THINGS CELESTIAL.
1. Great. Solid and substantial, not flash), . This is natural, for they are of God. In their glory there is more of substance than of shadow.
2. Not fluctuating. They are fixed stars, not meteors. There is in them certainty, They are stable.
3. Increasing. In our experience. We discover fresh glory ever. In things terrestrial we soon come to the end of the tether; in things celestial we never do. We ever find more to excite our wonder and to cause us delight.
4. Eternal. The glory abides undimmed, and shall blaze forth forever. We are immortal, and as long as we endure shall the glory of those celestial truths which Christ reveals to us.
5. Satisfying. The cry of the soul is responded to. There is no disappointment. The feeling of unsupplied want vanishes. At last the soul is at rest.
III THINGS CELESTIAL MAY BE SECURED IN THE LIFE TERRESTRIAL. Christ brings them to us here. The "strait gate" admits us to them. The Holy Spirit reveals them. In Christian worship and work we begin to enjoy them.
IV THE RELATIVE GLORY SHOULD INFLUENCE OUR CHOICE. When we may have the better, it is folly to choose the worse. We may have both if we will not be absorbed unduly by the inferior. But amidst the glory of the terrestrial we have to choose the glory of the celestial, and to place it first. This is the better part. Moses is a splendid example of wise choice, and Abraham, and Paul, who counted all terrestrial things but loss that he might secure the celestial. H.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 40. There are also celestial bodies and … terrestrial.…
40. There are also celestial bodies and … terrestrial. These, too, have forms and glories, unlike, and suited to their condition. For instance:
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 40. “There are celestial bodies and there are terrestrial…
INFINITE DIVERSITY IN THE RESURRECTION
40. “There are celestial bodies and there are terrestrial bodies, and the glory of the celestials is one and the glory of the terrestrials is another.
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41. “There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from a star in glory.
42. “So also is the resurrection of the dead.” We see from this description that there be an endless diversity of glories in the resurrection. The naked eye recognizes sixteen different stellar magnitudes, while the most powerful telescopes discriminate a thousand different magnitudes. Hence we see the diversity in the resurrection will be infinitesimal. This certainly is exceedingly inspiring, throwing wide open the stadium and inviting every one to come in and run for a crown of glory that shall never fade away. The progressive facilities of this life are illimitable. Rest assured, you will retain all you achieve, and in this way your status will obtain on the resurrection morn, when every one will be raised in his own rank (1Co 15:23). “It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption;
43. “It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in no strength, it is raised in dynamite.” The contrast is truly wonderful and inconceivable, the antithesis given by the Holy Ghost descriptive of the contrast being hyperbolical in the superlative degree.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but…
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another .
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 heavenly bodies
heavenly bodies
Possible meanings are 1) the sun, moon, stars, and other visible lights in the sky or 2) heavenly beings, such as angels and other supernatural beings.
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earthly bodies
This refers to humans.
the glory of the heavenly body is one kind and the glory of the earthly is another
"the glory that heavenly bodies have is different from the glory of human bodies"
glory
Here "glory" refers to the relative brightness to the human eye of objects in the sky.
translationWords
heaven
earth
body
glory
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 15:40-41 Everything that God has made has its own…
15:40-41 Everything that God has made has its own glory—its own unique beauty and magnificence. The resurrection body will be unlike anything else.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.