complete verse (1 Corinthians 15:46)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 15:46:

  • Uma: “God does not immediately change our bodies so that we are fit to dwell in heaven. What he gives us first is our bodies that are fit to dwell on the earth. In the future he will give us bodies that are fit to dwell in heaven.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “We (dual) should have first a body belonging to the world then we (dual) are given a body belonging to heaven.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “That life which is forever in Heaven does not come first; but rather, the life which comes first is our (incl.) life here on the earth. And after that, the life in Heaven.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But let us remember that the first-one (lit. one-that-preceded) that was given to us was our human (connotes sinful, limited humanity) body, after that the heavenly-one will replace-it.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But it isn’t possible that the fitted-for-heaven come-first, but rather this fitted-for-earth. And then the fitted-for-heaven will follow.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “At first we have bodies which die. Afterwards there will be our bodies which will not die.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Spirit (of God) (Japanese honorifics)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-tama (御霊) or “Spirit (of God)” in the referenced verses.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also Holy Spirit

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:46

Not … first in this context refers in one sense to time; we have an earthly body and then a body filled with God’s Spirit. But first in this verse may also imply “less important.” Jewish interpreters of the Old Testament had a saying: “A new act of God supersedes the old.” Paul may have meant something similar, where the two items are in order of increasing importance. Translation models reflecting this idea are the following: “The physical comes first and then the spiritual,” or “For the physical comes first and then the spiritual replaces it.”

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 .