sentient desires, passions, and propensities; and then a living thing, an animal. It may be applied to any animal, or any living thing, whether brutes or men. It is distinguished from the soul or spirit (vεupa), inasmuch as that more commonly denotes the rational spirit, the immortal soul, that which thinks, reasons, reflects, &c. The word "natural" here, therefore, means that which has anima! life; which breathes and acts by the laws of the animal economy; that which draws in the breath of life; which is endowed with senses, and which has need of the supports of animal life, and of the refreshments derived from food, exercise, sleep, &c. The apostle here, by affirming that the body will be spiritual, intends to deny that it will need that which is now necessary to the support of the animal functions; it will not be sustained in that way; it will lay aside these peculiar animal organizations, and will cease to convey the idea which we now attach to the word animal, or to possess that which we now include under the name of vital functions. Here the body of man is endowed simply with animal functions. It is the dwelling-place, indeed, of an immortal mind; but as a body it has the properties of animal life, and is subject to the same laws and inconveniences as the bodies of other animals. It is sustained by breath, and food, and sleep; it is endowed with the organs of sense, the eye, the ear, the smell, the touch, by which alone the soul can hold communication with the external world; it is liable to disease, languor, decay, death. These animal or vital functions will cease in heaven, and the body be raised in a different mode of being, and where all the inconveniences of this mere animal life shall be laid aside. It is raised a spiritual body.-Not a mere spirit, for then it would not be a body. The word spiritual (vevμarikov) here stands opposed to the word natural, or animal. It will not be a body that is subject to the laws of the vital functions, or organized or sustained in that way. It will still be a 66 body," (ooμa,) but it will have so far the nature of spirit as to be without the vital functions which here control the body. This is all that the word here means. It does not mean refined, sublimated, or transcendental; it does not mean that it will be without shape or form; it does not mean that it will not be properly a body. The idea of Paul seems to be this: "We conceive of soul or spirit as not subject to the laws of vital or animal agency. It is independent of them. It is not sustained or nourished by the functions of the animal organization. It has an economy of its own; living without nourishment; not subject to decay; not liable to sickness, pain, or death. So will be the body in the resurrection. It will not be subject to the laws of the vital organization. It will be so much like a spirit as to be continued without food or nutriment; to be destitute of the peculiar physical organization of flesh, and blood, and bones; of veins, and arteries, and nerves, as here, (ver. 50;) and it will live in the manner in which we conceive spirits to live; sustained, and exercising its powers, without waste, weariness, decay, or the necessity of having its powers recruited by food and sleep." All, therefore, that has been said about a refined body, a body that shall be

spirit, a body that shall be pure, &c., whatever may be its truth, is not sustained by this passage. It will be a body without the vital functions of the animal economy; a body sustained in the manner in which we conceive the spirit to be. There is a natural body.-This seems to be added by Paul in the way of strong affirmation arising from earnestness, and from a desire to prevent misconception. The affirmation is, that there is a natural body; that is apparent; it is every where seen. No one can doubt it. So, with equal certainty, says Paul, there is a spiritual body. It is just as certain and indisputable. This assertion is made, not because the evidence of both is the same, but is made on his apostolic authority, and is to be received on that authority. That there was an animal body was apparent to all; that there was a spiritual body was a position which he affirmed to be as certain as the other. The only proof which he alleges is in ver. 45, which is the proof arising from revelation.

And so it is written.-Gen. ii. 7. It is only the first part of the verse which is quoted. The first man Adam was made a living soul.-This is quoted exactly from the translation by the LXX, except that the apostle has added the words "first" and "Adam." This is done to designate whom he meant. The meaning of the phrase "was made a living soul” (ἐγένετο εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν—in Hebrew,,) is, became a living, animated being; a being endowed with life. The use of the word "soul" in our translation, for vx and wa (nephesh,) does not quite convey the idea. We apply the word soul, usually, to the intelligent and the immortal part of man; that which reasons, thinks, remembers, is conscious, is responsible, &c. The Greek and Hebrew words, however, more properly denote that which is alive, which is animated, which breathes, which has an animal nature. Note on ver. 44. And this is precisely the idea which Paul uses here, that the first man was made an animated being by having breathed into him the breath of life, (Gen. ii. 7,) and that it is the image of this animated or vital being which we bear. (Ver. 48.) Neither Moses nor Paul deny that in addition to this, man was endowed with a rational soul, an immortal nature; but that is not the idea which they present in the passage in Genesis which Paul quotes. The last Adam.-The second Adam, or the "second man." (Ver. 47.) That Christ is here intended is apparent, and has been usually admitted by commentators. Christ here seems to be called Adam, because he stands in contradistinction from the first Adam; or, because, as we derive our animal and dying nature from the one, so we derive our immortal and undying bodies from the other. From the one we derive an animal or vital existence; from the other we derive our immortal existence, and resurrection from the grave. The one stands at the head of all those who have an existence represented by

the words, "a living soul;" the other, of all those who shall have a spiritual body in heaven. He is called "the last Adam;" meaning that there shall be no other after him who shall affect the destiny of man in the same way, or who shall stand at the head of the race in a manner similar to what had been done by him and the first father of the human family. They sustain peculiar relations to the race; and in this respect they were "the first" and "the last" in the peculiar economy. The name "Adam" is not elsewhere given to the Messiah, though a comparison is several times instituted between him and Adam. See Rom. v. 12-19. A quickening spirit, (tic πνευμα ζωοποιοῦν.)-A vivifying spirit; a spirit giving or imparting life. Not a being having mere vital functions, or an animated nature, but a being who has the power of imparting life. This is not a quotation from any part of the Scriptures, but seems to be used by Paul either as affirming what was true on his own apostolic authority, or as conveying the substance of what was revealed respecting the Messiah in the Old Testament. There may be also reference to what the Saviour himself taught, that he was the source of life; that he had the power of imparting life; and that he gave life to all whom he pleased. See Note, John i. 4; v. 26, "For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." Ver. 21, "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will." The word "spirit," here applied to Christ, is in contradistinction from "a living being," as applied to Adam, and seems to be used in the sense of spirit of life, as raising the bodies of his people from the dead, and imparting life to them. He was constituted not as having life merely, but as endowed with the power of imparting life; as endowed with that spiritual or vital energy which was needful to impart life. All life is the creation or production of spirit, (IIvevpa;) as applied to God the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit. Spirit is the source of all vitality. God is a spirit, and God is the source of all life. And the idea here is, that Christ had such a spiritual existence, such power as a spirit; that he was the source of all life to his people. The word spirit is applied to his exalted spiritual nature, in distinction from his human nature, in Rom. i. 4; 1 Tim. iii. 16; 1 Pet. iii. 18. The apostle does not here affirm that he had not a human nature, or a vital existence as a man; but that his main characteristic in contradistinction from Adam was, that he was endowed with an elevated spiritual nature, which was capable of imparting vital existence to the dead. VER. 46. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Howbeit. There is a due order observed. (Ver. 23.) The decaying, the dying, the weak, the corruptible, in the proper order of events, was first. This order is necessary, and this is observed every where. It is seen in the grain that dies in the ground, and in the resurrection of man. The imperfect is succeeded by the perfect; the

impure by the pure; the vile and degraded by the precious and the glorious. The idea is, that there is a tendency towards perfection, and that God observes the proper order by which that which is most glorious shall be secured. It was not his plan that all things in the beginning should be perfect; but that perfection should be the work of time, and should be secured in an appropriate order of events. The design of Paul in this verse seems to be to vindicate the statement which he had made, by showing that it was in accordance with what was every where observed, that the proper order should be maintained. This idea is carried through the following verses. VER. 47. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

≈ John iii. 13, 31.

The first man.-Adam. Is of the earth.-Was made of the dust. See Gen. ii. 7. Earthy.-Partaking of the earth; he was a mass of animated clay, and could be appropriately called "dust." (Gen. iii. 19.) Of course, he must partake of a nature that was low, mean, mortal, and corruptible. The second man.-Christ. See Note on ver. 45. He is called the second man, as being the second who sustained a relation to men that was materially to affect their conduct and destiny; the second and the last, (ver. 45,) who should sustain a peculiar headship to the race. The Lord from heaven.-Called in chap. ii. 8. the "Lord of glory." See Note on that place. This expression refers to the fact, that the Lord Jesus had a heavenly origin, in contradistinction from Adam, who was formed from the earth. The Latin Vulgate renders this, "the second man from heaven is heavenly;" and this idea seems to accord with the meaning in the former member of the verse. The sense is, evidently, that, as the first man had an earthly origin, and was, therefore, earthy, so the second man being from heaven, as his proper home, would have a body adapted to that abode; unlike that which was earthy, and which would be fitted to his exalted nature, and to the world where he would dwell And while, therefore, the phrase "from heaven" refers to his heavenly origin, the essential idea is, that he would have a body that was adapted to such an origin and such a world-a body unlike that which was earthy. That is, Christ had a glorified body, to which the bodies of the saints must yet be made like.

VER. 48. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

:

Such

As is the earthy.-Such as Adam was. are they also, &c.-Such are all his descendants; all who derive their nature from him. That is, | they are frail, corruptible, mortal; they live in i an animal body as he did, and, like him, they are subject to corruption and decay. And as is the heavenly.—As is he who was from heaven; as is the Lord Jesus now in his glorified body. Such are they also, &c.-Such will they be also. They will be like him; they will have a body like his.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy.As, like our first father, we are frail, decaying, dying; as we are so closely connected with him, as to be like him. This does not refer, mainly, to one bearing his moral character, but to the fact that we are, like him, subject to sickness, frailty, sorrow, and death. We shall also bear the image of the heavenly.-The Lord Jesus Christ, who was from heaven, and who is in heaven. As we are so closely connected with Adam as to resemble him, so, by the divine arrangement, and by faith in the Lord Jesus, we are so closely connected with him, that we shall resemble him in heaven. And as he is now free from frailty, sickness, pain, sorrow, and death, and as he has a pure and spiritual body, adapted to a residence in heaven, so shall we be in that future world. The argument here is, that the connexion which is formed between the believer and the Saviour is as close as that which subsisted between him and Adam; and as that connexion with Adam involved the certainty that he would be subjected to pain, sin, sickness, and death, so the connexion with Christ involves the certainty that he will, like him, be free from sin, sickness, pain, and death, and like him will have a body that is pure, incorruptible, and immortal.

Now this I say, brethren.-"I make this affirmation in regard to this whole subject. I do it as containing the substance of all that I have said. I do it in order to prevent all mistake in regard to the nature of the bodies which shall be raised up." This affirmation is made respecting all the dead and all the living, that there must be a material and important change in regard to them, before they can be prepared for heaven. Paul had proved, in the previous verses, that it was possible for God to give us bodies different from those which we now possess; he here affirms, in the most positive manner, that it was indispensable that we should have bodies different from what we now have. Flesh and blood.-Bodies organized as ours now are. "Flesh and blood" denotes such bodies as we have here,-bodies that are fragile, weak, liable to disease, subject to pain and death. They are composed of changing particles; to be repaired and strengthened daily; they are subject to decay, and are wasted away by sickness, and of course they cannot be fitted to a world where there shall be no decay and no death. Cannot inherit.— Cannot be admitted as heir to the kingdom of God. The future world of glory is often represented as an heirship. See Note on Rom. viii.

17.

The kingdom of God.-Heaven; appropriately called his kingdom, because he shall reign there in undivided and perfect glory for ever. Neither doth corruption, &c.-Neither can that which is in its nature corruptible, and liable to decay, be adapted to a world where all is incorruptible. The apostle here simply states the fact. He does not tell us why it is impossible. It may be because the mode of communication there is not by the bodily senses; it may be because such bodies as ours would not be fitted to relish the pure and exalted pleasures of an incorruptible world; it may be because they would interfere with the exalted worship, the active service, and the sleepless employments of the heavenly world; it may be because such a body is constituted to derive pleasure from objects which shall not be found in heaven. It is adapted to enjoyment in eating and drinking, and the pleasures of the eye, the ear, the taste, the touch; in heaven the soul shall be awake to more elevated and pure enjoyments than these, and, of course, such bodies as we here have would impede our progress and destroy our comforts, and be ill adapted to all the employments and enjoyments of that heavenly world.

VER. 51. Behold, I show you a mystery: We ⚫ shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

c 1 Thess. iv. 15-17.

Behold, I show you. This commences the third subject of inquiry in the chapter, the question, what will become of those who are alive when the Lord Jesus shall return to raise the dead? This was an obvious inquiry, and the answer was, perhaps, supposed to be difficult. Paul answers it directly, and says that they will undergo an instantaneous change, which will make them like the dead that shall be raised. A mystery. On the meaning of this word, see Note, chap. ii. 7. The word here does not mean any thing which was in its nature unintelligible, but that which to them had been hitherto unknown. "I now communicate to you a truth which has not been brought into the discussion, and in regard to which no communication has been made to you." On this subject there had been no revelation. Though the Pharisees held that the dead would rise, yet they do not seem to have made any statement in regard to the living who should remain when the dead should rise. Nor, perhaps, had the subject occupied the attention of the apostles; nor had there been any direct communication on it from the Lord Jesus himself. Paul then here says, that he was about to communicate a great truth which till then had been unknown, and to resolve a great inquiry on which there had as yet been no revelation. We shall not all sleep.-We Christians; grouping all together who then lived and should live afterwards, for his discussion has relation to them all. The following remarks may, perhaps, remove some of the difficulty which attends the interpretation of this passage. The objection which is made to it is, that Paul expected to live until the Lord Jesus should return; that he, therefore, expected that the world would soon end, and that in this he was mistaken, and could not be inspired. To

this, we may reply, (1.) He is speaking of Christians as such-of the whole church that had been redeemed-of the entire mass that should enter heaven; and he groups them all together, and connects himself with them, and says, "We shall not die; we Christians, including the whole church, shall not all die," &c. That he did not refer only to those whom he was then addressing, is apparent from the whole discussion. The argument relates to Christians -to the church at large; and the affirmation here has reference to that church considered as one church that was to be raised up on the last day. (2.) That Paul did not expect that the Lord Jesus would soon come, and that the world would soon come to an end, is apparent from a similar place in the epistle to the Thessalonians. In 1 Thess. iv. 15, he uses language remarkably similar to that which is here used: "We which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord," &c. This language was interpreted by the Thessalonians as teaching that the world would soon come to an end, and the effect had been to produce a state of alarm. Paul was, therefore, at special pains to show in his second epistle to them, that he did not mean any such thing. He showed them (2 Thess. ii.) that the end of the world was not near; that very important events were to occur before the world would come to an end; and that his language did not imply any expectation on his part that the world would soon terminate, or that the Lord Jesus would soon come. (3.) Parallel expressions occur in the other writers of the New Testament, and with a similar signification. Thus, John (1 Epis. ii. 18) says, "It is the last time." Comp. Heb. i. 2. But the meaning of this is not that the world would soon come to an end. The prophets spoke of a period which they called "the last days," (Isa. ii. 2; Micah iv. 1; in Hebrew, "the after days,") as the period in which the Messiah would live and reign. By it they meant the dispensation which should be the last; that under which the world would close; the reign of the Messiah, which would be the last economy of human things. But it did not follow that this was to be a short period; or that it might not be longer than any one of the former, or than all the former put together. This was that which John spoke of as the last time. (4.) I do not know that the proper doctrine of inspiration suffers, if we admit that the apostles were ignorant of the exact time when the world would close; or even that in regard to the precise period when that would take place, they might be in error. The following considerations may be suggested on this subject, showing that the claim to inspiration did not extend to the knowledge of this fact. (a) That they were not omniscient, and there is no more absurdity in supposing that they were ignorant on this subject than in regard to any other. (6) Inspiration extended to the order of future events, and not to the times. There is in the Scriptures no statement of the time when the world would close. Future events were made to pass before the mind of the prophets, as in a landscape. The order of the images may be distinctly marked, but the times may not be designated. And even events which

may occur in fact at distant periods, may in vision appear to be near each other; as in a landscape, objects which are in fact separated by distant intervals, like the ridges of a mountain, may appear to lie close to each other. (c) The Saviour expressly said, that it was not designed that they should know when future events would occur. Thus, after his ascension, in answer to an inquiry whether he then would restore the kingdom to Israel, he said, (Acts i. 7.) “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power." See Note on that verse. (d) The Saviour said that even he himself, as man, was ignorant in regard to the exact time in which future events would occur, "But of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." (Mark xiii. 32.) (e) The apostles were in fact ignorant, and mistaken in regard to, at least, the time of the occurrence of one future event, the death of John. (Ch. xxi. 23.) There is, therefore, no departure from the proper doctrine of inspiration, in supposing that the apostles were not inspired on these subjects, and that they might be ignorant like others. The proper order of events they state truly and exactly: the exact time God did not, for wise reasons, intend to make known. Shall not all sleep.-Shall not all die. See Note, ch. xi. 30. But we shall all be changed.-There is considerable variety in the reading of this passage. The Vulgate reads it, "We shall all indeed rise, but we shall not all be changed." Some Greek MSS. read it, “We shall all sleep, but we shall not all be changed." Others, as the Vulgate, "We shall all rise, but we shall not all be changed." But the present Greek text contains, doubtless, the true reading; and the sense is, that all who are alive at the coming of the Lord Jesus shall undergo such a change as to fit them for their new abode in heaven; or such as shall make them like those who shall be raised from the dead. This change will be instantaneous, (ver. 52,) for it is evident that God can as easily change the living as he can raise the dead; and as the affairs of the world will then have come to an end, there will be no necessity that those who are then alive should be removed by death; nor would it be proper that they should go down to lie any time in the grave. The ordinary laws, therefore, by which men are removed to eternity, will not operate in regard to them, and they will be removed at once to their new abode.

VER. 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, and we shall be changed.

ceivable duration of time. The suddenness of the coming of the Lord Jesus is elsewhere compared to the coming of a thief in the night. (2 Pet. iii. 10.) The word rendered "twinkling" (on, from oiro, to throw, cast) means a throw, cast, jerk, as of a stone: and then a jerk of the eye, i.e. a wink.-Robinson. At the last trump. When the trumpet shall sound to raise the dead. The word "last" here does not imply that any trumpet shall have been before sounded at the resurrection, but is a word denoting that this is the consummation or close of things; it will end the economy of this world; it will be connected with the last state of things. For the trumpet shall sound.-See Note, Matt. xxiv. 31. And the dead shall be raised. Note, John v. 25.

VER. 53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortals must put on immortality.

g 2 Cor. v. 4. 1 John iii. 4.

For this corruptible, &c.-It is necessary that a change should take place, either by dying and then being raised, or by being changed without seeing death; for we cannot enter heaven as we

are now. Must put on.-The word here used (ivivre) properly means to go in, to envelope, to put on as a garment; and then to put on any thing; as the soul is, as it were, clothed with, or invested with a body; and here it means, must be endued with, or furnished with. It is equivalent to saying that this corruptible must become incorruptible, and this mortal must become immortal. We must cease to be corruptible and mortal, and must become incorruptible and immortal. The righteous who remain till the coming of Christ shall be at once changed, and invested, as Enoch and Elijah were, with incorruption and immortality.

VER. 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.

h Isaiah XXV. 8.

So when, &c.-In that future glorious world, when all this shall have been accomplished. Then shall be brought to pass.-Then shall be fully accomplished; these words shall then receive their entire fulfilment; or this event shall meet all that is implied in these words. The saying that is written.-What is written, or the record which is made. These words are quoted from Isa. xxv. 8; and the fact that Paul thus quotes them, and the connexion in which they stand, prove that they had reference to the times of the gospel, and to the resurrection of the dead. Paul does not quote directly from the Hebrew, or from the LXX, but gives the substance of the passage. Death.-Referring here, undoubtedly, to death in the proper sense; death as prostrating the living, and consigning them to the grave. Is swallowed up.-KαTEπón (from Karavw, to drink down, to swallow down) means to

absorb, (Rev. xii. 16;) to overwhelm, to drown, (Heb. xi. 29 ;) and then to destroy or remove. The idea may be taken from a whirlpool, or maelstrom, that absorbs all that comes near it; and the sense is, that he will abolish or remove death; that is, cause it to cease from its ravages and triumphs. In victory, (eiç vĩкoc.)—Unto victory; so as to obtain a complete victory. The Hebrew (Isa. xxv. 8) is . The LXX often render the word, which properly means splendour, purity, trust, perpetuity, eternity, perfection, by viкoc, victory. (2 Kings ii. 26. Job xxxvi. 7. Lam. iii. 18; v. 20. Amos i.; ii.; viii. 7.) The Hebrew word here may be rendered either unto the end, i. e. to completeness or perfection, or unto victory, with triumph. It matters little which is the meaning, for they both come to the same thing. The idea is, that the power and dominion of death shall be entirely destroyed, or brought to an end.

VER. 55. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

O death. This triumphant exclamation is the commencement of the fourth division of the chapter, the practical consequences of the doctrine. It is such an exclamation as every man with right feelings will be disposed to make, who contemplates the ravages of death; who looks upon a world where in all forms he has reigned, and who then contemplates the glorious truth, that a complete and final triumph has been obtained over this great enemy of the happiness of man, and that man would die no more. It is a triumphant view which bursts upon the soul as it contemplates the fact that the work of the second Adam has repaired the ruins of the first, and that man is redeemed; his body will be raised; not another human being should die, and the work of death should be ended. Nay, it is more. Death is not only at an end; it shall not only cease, but its evils shall be repaired; and a glory and honour shall encompass the body of man, such as would have been unknown had there been no death. No commentary can add to the beauty and force of the language in this verse; and the best way to see its beauty, and to enjoy it, is to sit down and think of death; of what death has been, and has done; of the millions and millions that have died; of the earth strewed with the dead, and "arched with graves;" of our own death; the certainty that we must die, and our parents, and brothers, and sisters, and children, and friends; that all, all must die; and then to suffer the truth, in its full-orbed splendour, to rise upon us, that the time will come when death shall be at an end. Who, in such contemplation, can refrain from the language of triumph, and from hymns of praise? Where is thy sting?—The word which is here rendered sting (KivTpov) denotes properly a prick, a point; hence a goad or stimulus, i. e. a rod or staff with an iron point, for goading oxen, (see Note, Acts ix. 5 ;) and then a sting properly, as of scorpions, bees, &c. It denotes here a venomous thing, or weapon, applied to death personified, as if death employed it to de