1 Corinthians 15:37 (ASV)

Passage

and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other kind;

Nearby Context

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

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

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

1 Corinthians 15:38 but God giveth it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.

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

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 foolish one that which thou thyself..." into verse 38's "but God giveth it a body even...", 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.