God’s Word Translation
1 Corinthians 15:36
36You fool! The seed you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies first.
1 Corinthians 15:36 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
- New International Version (NIV)How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
- English Standard Version (ESV)You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.
Context of 1 Corinthians 15:36
34Come back to the right point of view, and stop sinning. Some people don’t know anything about God. You should be ashamed of yourselves. 35But someone will ask, “How do the dead come back to life? With what kind of body will they come back?” You fool! The seed you plant doesn’t come to life unless it dies first. 37What you plant, whether it’s wheat or something else, is only a seed. It doesn’t have the form that the plant will have. 38God gives the plant the form he wants it to have. Each kind of seed grows into its own form.
Read all of 1 Corinthians 151 Corinthians 15:36 word by word
ἄφρων, σὺ ὃ σπείρεις, οὐ ζῳοποιεῖται ἐὰν μὴ ἀποθάνῃ·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 15:36
- Luke 12:20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! I will demand your life from you tonight! Now who will get what you’ve accumulated?’
- Luke 24:25Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are! You’re so slow to believe everything the prophets said!
- Romans 1:22While claiming to be wise, they became fools.
- Ephesians 5:15So then, be very careful how you live. Don’t live like foolish people but like wise people.
- John 12:24I can guarantee this truth: A single grain of wheat doesn’t produce anything unless it is planted in the ground and dies. If it dies, it will produce a lot of grain.
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 15:36
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 36Thou fool - . If this be addressed, as it probably is, to the false apostle, there is a peculiar propriety in it; as this man seems to have magnified his own wisdom, and set it up against both God and man; and none but a fool could act so. At the same time, it is folly in any to assert the impossibility of a thing because he cannot comprehend it. That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die - I have shown the propriety of this simile of the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 36Thou fool - Foolish, inconsiderate man! The meaning is, that it was foolish to make this objection, when the same difficulty existed in an undeniable fact which fell under daily observation. A man was a fool to urge that as an objection to religion which must exist in the undeniable and everyday facts which they witnessed. The idea is, “The same difficulty may be started about the growth of grain. Suppose a man who had never seen it, were to be told that…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 35-50Verses 35-50 1. How are the dead raised up? that is, by what means? How can they be raised? 2. As to the bodies which shall rise. Will it be with the like shape, and form, and stature, and members, and qualities? The former objection is that of those who opposed the doctrine, the latter of curious doubters. To the first the answer is, This was to be brought about by Divine power; that power which all may see does somewhat like it, year after year, in the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 36You fool!: Paul’s strong response suggests skepticism. It might also imply that the answer cannot be known.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3636. fool--with all thy boasted philosophy (Psa 14:1). that which thou--"thou," emphatical: appeal to the objector's own experience: "The seed which thou thyself sowest." Paul, in this verse and in 1Co 15:42, answers the question of 1Co 15:35, "How?" and in 1Co 15:37-41, 43, the question, "With what kind of body?" He converts the very objection (the death of the natural body) into an argument. Death, so far from preventing quickening, is the necessary…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Corinthians 15:36
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries