complete verse (1 Corinthians 15:36)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 15:36:

  • Uma: “How stupid are people who ask like that! If we plant something, our planted-thing doesn’t yet grow unless it is first buried and covered-over like a dead-person.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You are so slow to learn! (lit. stupid/dull cause-to-be-good you) Observe the seeds. The seed has to be planted first, then it sprouts and when it already sprouts the seed is no longer there.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “my answer is: it’s evident that that person does not know how to think, because when we plant a seed in the ground, it’s necessary that the body of the seed be changed. For that seed will be detroyed and then it will sprout.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The one who asks that, it’s as if he is has a (mental) lack. He should think of what happens to a seed. Because if you (sing.) plant a seed, it doesn’t sprout if it doesn’t rot first.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As for the one who asks like that, he is stupid. For think about seeds. A seed will definitely not live as long as it has not rotted in the ground.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Such a one is a person who is foolish in asking such a question. You see that when a seed is planted, the shell rots, but the heart of it sprouts up.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:36

You foolish man! is unusually blunt for Paul, but the same language is used in Luke 11.40; 12.20; similar language in Eph 5.17; and an equally strong expression in Matt 15.14. It should be remembered that Paul is addressing, not a real individual, but a typical objector, who grammatically may be male or female, so Revised Standard Version‘s man is unnecessary. Some translations use softer expressions: Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “how can you ask such a question?”; New Jerusalem Bible has “how foolish!”;Revised English Bible “What stupid questions.”

Man means “person.”

The second you is singular and emphatic, meaning not “someone” but “you who are asking the question.”

Sow in Greek simply refers to scattering seed on the surface, as in Mark 4.3 and the following verses. However, “plant a seed” (Good News Bible) will in many languages be a better picture, especially in the light of a bare kernel (Good News Bible‘s “bare seed”) in verse 37.

Does not come to life unless it dies may be expanded as “unless it first dies, it will not come to life again as a plant.” Dies is what the text says, and therefore what must be translated. Paul does not write as a modern botanist; he means that the seed must cease to exist as a seed before it can become a plant. A similar thought is expressed in John 12.24.

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 .