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1 Corinthians 15:21

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:21 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.
  • BSB For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
  • NKJV For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
  • NASB For since by a man death came, by a Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
  • NLT So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

As death came through a man, so resurrection comes through a man. It matters because Christ undoes through His humanity the ruin brought by Adam.

Overview

Paul introduces the Adam-Christ parallel that frames the whole passage. Death entered the world through Adam's sin, and resurrection now comes through the man Christ Jesus. This shows that salvation is accomplished by a true human representative, Christ, who reverses what Adam lost.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • John 11:25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
  • Rom 5:12–17Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
  • Rom 6:23For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  • 1 Cor 15:22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

Christ at the center

Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.

How 1 Corinthians 15:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.