1 Corinthians 15:37 (KJV)

Passage

And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

Nearby Context

1 Corinthians 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

1 Corinthians 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

1 Corinthians 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

1 Corinthians 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

1 Corinthians 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "sowest", "body", "shall", "bare", and "grain". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "sowest", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 36's "Thou fool that which thou sowest is..." into verse 38's "But God giveth it a body as...", so "thou" and "sowest" belong inside that flow. In 1 Corinthians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "sowest" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.