complete verse (1 Corinthians 15:39)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 15:39:

  • Uma: “If we think also about all the animals that live on the earth, they don’t all look alike. Man[kind], they have one appearance. Birds, they have another appearance. Fish, they have another appearance. Every kind of animal, they each have a different appearance.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And all the different kinds of living things here in the world, it’s muscle/flesh is not the same. The human flesh is not the same as the animal flesh. The flesh of birds is also different from the flesh of fish.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And it’s the same way also with the bodies of every created thing which has breath, because they are not all alike. If it’s a human being, his body is one kind; if an animal, it’s another kind. And the same way also with the birds and fish because they are different.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Even also the muscle (word for flesh also means fruit so is not appropriate here) of living-things on the earth, it is not the same, because the muscle of people and animals and birds and fish is mutually-different.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, like that also, the bodies and flesh of created beings which have life/breath are not all the same. The body and flesh of people are different (from other species), the body and flesh of animals are different. That of birds is different, and that of fish is different.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Concerning all that there is, they do not have the same form. The body of a person is not the same as the body of an animal. There are different kinds of bodies; different are the bodies of the birds, different are the bodies of the fish.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:39

As we mentioned in the comments on verse 35, there is no great difference in meaning in this passage between flesh and “body.” Languages differ according to whether or not they use the same term to describe the “flesh” of humans, animals, and plants. In languages where distinctions are made, translators should always use what is natural in the receptor language rather than word-for-word correspondence with the Greek terms.

Not all flesh is alike: Good News Bible‘s expanded translation “the flesh of living beings is not all the same kind of flesh” is much clearer in English. The words “of living beings” prepares the reader for the range of examples given later in the verse. In fact, all the examples are given from the animal kingdom. A general term for animals can be used; however, the Greek term normally covers domestic animals such as cattle, and that form is preferred in languages which must make a distinction.

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 .