1 Corinthians 15:39
What does 1 Corinthians 15:39 mean?
A plain-English look at 1 Corinthians 15:39 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 1 Corinthians 15:39 means
Not all flesh is the same: human, animals, birds, and fish each have their own kind. Paul’s point is that God has already filled creation with diverse bodily forms appropriate to their environments. Difference in kind does not threaten identity or design; it displays divine wisdom. If God can fashion such varied creatures, He can also provide a transformed body for resurrected believers. The comparison undercuts the skeptic’s assumption that there is only one possible bodily mode. God has many ways to house life, and the resurrection body will be a divinely appointed upgrade, not an impossibility.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes.
KJV
King James Version · 1611All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one flesh of men, another of beasts, another of birds, and another of fishes.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862All flesh <FI>is<Fi> not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752All flesh is not the same flesh: but one is the flesh of men, another of beasts, other of birds, another of fishes.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Every flesh [is] not the same flesh, but one [is] of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another [flesh] of birds, and another of fishes.
Context
After attributing bodily form to God’s gift (v. 38), Paul illustrates the variety of bodies in the natural world (v. 39) and in the heavens (vv. 40–41). These observations prepare the mind to accept that the resurrection body can differ significantly from the present one while still being truly a body. The context moves from examples in nature to direct application in vv. 42–44, where Paul names the sown/raised contrasts.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Genesis 1:20
And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
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