What Does 1 Corinthians 15:37 Mean in the King James?
And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The seed is not a smaller copy of the body to come; its bare form opens into a different one.
THE MEANING
What is sown now is not the body that comes to be; the form placed in the ground and the form that rises are not identical. The verse holds their connection together while making room for real transformation.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that something must keep its present form intact in order to remain connected to what comes next.
THE ROOT
γενησόμενον
genēsomenon
GROWS FROM
γεν-
gen-
Come to be, become, or come into being.
The phrase “that shall be” uses a form of γίνομαι (ginomai, “to become” or “come to be”). The body to come is described as coming into being, so the verse holds a future form distinct from the seed that is sown.
ALSO GROWS
genesis: Origin, birth, or coming into being.
γένεσις
It shares the language of becoming, making the future body a form that comes to be.
genos: Kind, family, or lineage.
γένος
It links coming-to-be with the kind or line into which something belongs.
σπείρεις
speireis
GROWS FROM
σπειρ-
speir-
Sow or scatter seed.
“sowest” in this verse is speireis. The verb σπείρω (speirō, “to sow”) belongs to a word family that also carries the sense of scattering. The seed enters the ground through release from its present place, while remaining part of a process that continues beyond what is visible.
ALSO GROWS
spora: Seed or sowing.
σπορά
It names the seed and the act of sowing with the same root heard in “sowest.”
diaspora: Scattering or dispersion.
διασπορά
It makes the scattering inside sowing visible: what is scattered can still belong to a process of growth.
γυμνόν
gymnon
GROWS FROM
γυμν-
gymn-
Naked or uncovered.
“bare” in this verse is gymnon. The word pictures the grain as uncovered, not as lifeless. What it lacks is the form of the body still to come; its present nakedness does not exhaust what can emerge from it.
ALSO GROWS
gymnazō: Exercise or train.
γυμνάζω
It preserves the same root of nakedness and exposure in a word for bodily training.
gymnasia: Exercise or bodily training.
γυμνασία
It shows the root’s continued association with the exposed body.
THE PATTERN
What is sown enters a hidden passage in which its emerging form exceeds the form released.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:THE THREAD
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.“Grain” in both verses is κόκκος (kokkos, grain or kernel). John opens the image further: the grain’s first form does not display the fruit that emerges from it.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us