1 Corinthians 15:22
in 1 Corinthians 15For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
KJV
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
⋯
This verse in 1 Corinthians 15
Commentary
23 notes on this verseVain also are the Ebionites, who do not receive by faith into their soul the union of God and man, but who remain in the old leaven of [the natural] birth, and who do not choose to understand that the Holy Ghost came upon Mary, and the power of the Most High did overshadow her: wherefore also what was generated is a holy thing, and the Son of the Most High God the Father of all, who effected the incarnation of this being, and showed forth a new [kind of] generation; that as by the former generation we inherited death, so by this new generation we might inherit life.
This site's exposition
For since death came through
on 1 Corinthians 15:21-22
Death came through a man, and the resurrection comes through a man, each man's act fixing the fate of his race. As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, the structure Romans 5 develops.
This site's exposition
as in Adam all die
In Adam and in Christ name two heads, each carrying the people united to him. Hodge limits the second all to those in Christ, the group verse 23 calls those who belong to Him. Chrysostom reads it of every body raised, the wicked to judgment.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Adam died because he sinned, and so Christ, who was without sin, overcame death, in that death comes from sin. Everyone, the righteous and the unrighteous alike, dies in Adam, and everyone, believers and unbelievers alike, will also be raised in Christ. But the unbelievers …
This does not mean that all who die in Adam will be members of Christ, since the majority will be punished in eternity by a second death. The apostle uses the word all in both clauses because as no one dies in a natural body except in Adam, so no one is made to live again in a spiritual body, except in Christ.
Man indeed brought death to himself and to the Son of Man. But the Son of Man, by dying and rising again, brought life to man.
No human enters into death except through Adam and no one into eternal life except through Christ. This is the meaning of that repeated phrase all, because as all men belong to Adam through their first or carnal birth, so all men who belong to Christ come to the second or spiritual birth. Therefore he says "all" in both places because as all who die die only in Adam, so all who will be made alive will not be made alive except in Christ.
Notice how he emphasizes "one" and "one," that is Adam and Christ, the former for condemnation, the latter for justification.… Obviously he is speaking of the resurrection of the just where there is life eternal, not of the resurrection of the wicked where there will be eternal death. Those who "shall be made alive" are contrasted with the others who will be damned.
15 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers8 voices
We commonly say that all enter a certain house through one door, not because all humanity enters that house but because no one enters except through that door. It is in this sense that as all die in Adam so do all those who live live in Christ.… Aside from the one Mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, there is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved.
If Adam is a type of Christ then Adam's sleep is a symbol of the death of Christ, and by the wound in the side of Christ was typified the church, the true mother of all the living.
(This he says) in order, on the one hand, to distinguish the two authors-Adam of death, Christ of resurrection; and, on the other hand, to make the resurrection operate on the same substance as the death, by comparing the authors themselves under the designation man. For if "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," their vivification in Christ must be in the flesh, since it is in the flesh that arises their death in Adam.
Blush, O flesh, who hast "put on" Christ! Suffice it thee once for all to marry, whereto "from the beginning" thou wast created, whereto by "the end" thou art being recalled! Return at least to the former Adam, if to the last thou canst not! Once for all did he taste of the tree; once for all felt concupiscence; once for all veiled his shame; once for all blushed in the presence of God; once for all concealed his guilty hue; once for all was exiled from the paradise of holiness; once for all thenceforward married. If you were "in him," you have your norm; if you have passed over "into Christ," you will be bound to be (yet) better.
Adam, should "all be made alive.". he was changed into the nature of the latter, himself being neither the tree of life nor that of corruption; but having been shown forth as mortal, from his participation in and presence with corruption, and, again, as incorrupt and immortal by connection with and participation in life; as Paul also taught, saying, "Corruption shall not inherit in corruption, nor death life". But if any one were to think that the earthy image is the flesh itself, but the heavenly image some other spiritual body besides the flesh; let him first consider that Christ, the heavenly man, when He appeared, bore the same form of limbs and the same image of flesh as ours, through which also He, who was not man, became man, that "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection. And by way of showing who the first man was by whom death was introduced, he adds; For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." What then? tell me; did all die in Adam the death of sin? How then was Noah righteous in his generation? and how Abraham? and how Job? and how all the rest? And what, I pray? shall all be made alive in Christ? Where then are those who are led away into hell fire? Thus, if this be said of the body, the doctrine stands: but if of righteousness and sin, it doth so no longer. Further, lest, on hearing that the making alive is common to all, thou shouldest also suppose that sinners are saved, he adds...
A commentator
Severian of GabalaPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH · Written before 425.
proposed
Strictly speaking, not everyone has died. Enoch and Elijah, for example, never did. Some will be found alive at the second coming of the Savior.
The Medieval Church2 voices
He adds the reason by which what was said is confirmed. It was necessary, he says, that the very nature which was defeated should itself be victorious, and that the very one who was cast down should himself overcome. For just as "in Adam," that …
932. – For as in Adam. Here he proves the same in special, saying that as in Adam we all die a bodily death, so too we are all made alive in Christ: "As sin came into the world through one man" (Rom 5:12). He …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
As through Adam all, even the righteous, die, so through Christ all these shall be made alive - He does not say, "shall revive," (as naturally as they die,) but shall be made alive, by a power not their own.
For as in Adam all die,....
He answers an objection against this truth, and takes occasion thence to show what a vast change will be made in the bodies of believers at the resurrection,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For as in Adam - (ἐν τῳ Ἀδαμ en tō Adam). By Adam; by the act, or by means of Adam; as a consequence of his act. His deed was the procuring cause, or the reason, why all are subjected to temporal death; see Gen 3:
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
in Adam all--in union of nature with Adam, as representative head of mankind in their fall. in Christ . . . all--in union of nature with Christ, the representative head of mankind in their recovery. The life brought in by Christ is co-extensive with the death brought in by Adam.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
On 1 Corinthians 15:20-23On 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
The sheaf behind “firstfruits”
“Firstfruits” is not a loose metaphor; it is a feast. During Passover week the first sheaf (the omer) of the barley harvest was brought to the priest and waved before the LORD “on the day after the Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:10–11): one sheaf, offered ahead of the whole harvest as its pledge and its guarantee. Paul writes that Christ was raised as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”: the one, risen at that very season, standing for the many to follow. The feast's logic is the argument: where the first sheaf goes, the harvest follows.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Leviticus 23:10–11 (the waved sheaf) · Mishnah Menachot 10:3 (the omer's cutting, as practiced)
The words behind it
14 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὥσπερ | hosper | For as | G5618 → | 36 times |
| γὰρ | gar | indeed | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τῷ | to | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Ἀδὰμ | adam | Adam | G76 → | 9 times |
| πάντες | pantes | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| ἀποθνῄσκουσιν, | apothneskousin | die, | G599 → | 110 times |
| οὕτως | houtos | so | G3779 → | 208 times |
| καὶ | kai | also | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τῷ | to | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Χριστῷ | christo | Christ | G5547 → | 523 times |
| πάντες | pantes | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| ζῳοποιηθήσονται. | zoopoiethesontai | will be made alive. | G2227 → | 11 times |
ὥσπερFor as
hosperG5618 →36 times
γὰρindeed
garG1063 →1039 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τῷ<the>
toG3588 →19766 times
ἈδὰμAdam
adamG76 →9 times
πάντεςall
pantesG3956 →1235 times
ἀποθνῄσκουσιν,die,
apothneskousinG599 →110 times
οὕτωςso
houtosG3779 →208 times
καὶalso
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τῷ<the>
toG3588 →19766 times
ΧριστῷChrist
christoG5547 →523 times
πάντεςall
pantesG3956 →1235 times
ζῳοποιηθήσονται.will be made alive.
zoopoiethesontaiG2227 →11 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave…
it leads to
- 1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- James 1:14–15
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
- 1 Timothy 2:14
And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression.
- 1 John 2:16
Through
Genesis 2:17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
it leads to
- Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- James 1:15
Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
- Genesis 3:19
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:56
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
- Galatians 3:10
All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Romans 6:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies34
On this verse
On this chapter
About 1 Corinthians

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 24 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 13.23; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 140, TO HONORATUS 9; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 167, To Jerome 21; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 157, TO HILARIUS; Augustine of Hippo, AGAINST JULIAN 24; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 7; Frederic Godet, Commentary on First Corinthians; Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book V; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 39; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Methodius of Olympus, Methodius Discourse III. Thaleia; Severian of Gabala, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; Tertullian, ON THE SOUL 43.10; Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh; Tertullian, On Monogamy; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.
