In this verse Paul makes a statement that can be applied equally to illustrations from the natural world and to that which they are chosen to illustrate, namely the resurrection.

The clause God gives it … may be expanded to “God gives that seed a body which he has chosen for it.”

He has chosen is literally “he wished.” The meaning is that God first decided which kind of organism was appropriate to each type of seed and then gave it to the seed in question. However, the two events “choosing” and “giving” are not sharply distinguished. So rather than raising questions about when God did the choosing or deciding, it is better to use a present tense for both verbs, as in Good News Bible. The language, and to some extent the thought, recalls 12.18.

The two halves of the verse are connected in Greek by and, but Good News Bible rightly omits this word, since the second statement contains little new information.

“He gives” in Good News Bible is implied, and so is the word “proper.” This latter word emphasizes the word own. The final clause can be also rendered as “he gives to each seed the body that is most suited to 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 .