These two verses have a similar structure and complement one another in meaning. Paul begins by appealing to something that Jewish Christians, like other Jews, would have readily admitted, namely, that sin came into the world through Adam. The language of the first clause is condensed; the meaning is “since, as we agree, death entered the world by or through a man….” The same Hebrew word means Adam and “human being,” but Paul does not use the proper name Adam until verse 22. So his indirect reference to Adam in verse 21 should be kept in translation, if possible. There is a danger that readers may understand a man in the two halves of the verse to refer to the same man. In that case translators should render the second one as “by means of another man.”

The word translated man means “human being”; the fact that Adam was male is not in focus.

A possible model for translating verse 21 is as follows: “For just as people die because of what a man did, in the same way people rise from death because of what another man did.”

In verse 22 Paul states the comparison more emphatically: as and so also are expressed here but implied in verse 21. Good News Bible rightly expands the phrases that Revised Standard Version translated in Adam and in Christ. The latter expression is frequent in Paul’s writings; see comments on 1.30. An American Translation translates “because of their relation to Adam” and “… to Christ.” This is slightly weaker than Good News Bible‘s “union” but may be a more correct rendering.

There is nothing in the Greek corresponding to has come, came, or “comes” (Good News Bible). In most languages it will be necessary to supply a verb in the first part of the sentence referring to a distant past event, and in the second part a verb referring to a recent past event. Another way to translate these verbs or events, came death and come … the resurrection, are “people had to die” and “people will be raised from death.” Another possible translation model for verse 21 is: “For just as people had to die because of what one man did, so people can be raised from death by what a man has done.” The following verse explains who these two men were.

Scholars disagree about whether the second half of this verse implies that everyone, whether Christian or not, would be brought to life again in the resurrection, and if so, whether this means that all will be saved. Translators are not concerned with the last question, but it is possible to translate verse 22b as “so also all who are in Christ will be brought to life” (so Fee, but this interpretation is not clearly followed by any translation we have consulted). However, this requires verse 22a to be translated “all who are in Adam die,” and it is clear that for Paul, Adam gathered up into his person the whole human race. Adam thus symbolized the whole human race, so that the whole human race is thought of as identical with Adam. Thus, when Adam sinned, all humans sinned, and when Adam died, all died. It is therefore best to follow Good News Bible in translating simply “all will be raised to life.” Paul is probably at this point not asking questions concerning the fate of those who do not believe. In any case, verse 22b should be understood in the light of verse 21b, which implies that there is no resurrection of the dead apart from Christ.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .