The force of the idiom σαρξ και αιμα “flesh
and blood” is further clarified by its contrast its antiquity with the
expression σαρξ
και οστεα “flesh
and bones.” We find σαρξ
και οστεα and related expressions in both Jewish and
Hellenistic contexts, used with reference to the physical, bodily aspect of
human beings (Luke 24:39; Job 2:5 LXX; Homer, Od. 11.219; Aristotle, Cael.
278a33; 300b29; Metaph. 1034a6-7) or to whole human beings in their
physical bodily aspect (LXX Gen 2:23; 29:14; Judg 9:2; 2 Kgdms 5:1; 19:13-14; 1
Chr 11:1; cf. Ezek 37:1-14). Within the Jewish context and the Bible, this idiom
is always used positively, never negatively (e.g., Judg 9:2 LXX; 2 Kgdms
5:1 LXX). For example, the risen Jesus as to the disciples in Luke’s Gospel, “Touch
me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones [σαρξ και οστεα] as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39).
By contrast, the expression σαρξ
και αιμα, as we have seen, always bears a negative
connotation of lack or deficiency, denoting human beings in their liability
to corruption and decay in contrast with God and his heavenly hosts. It is
highly significant, then, that Paul in 1 Cor 15:50 chooses the term “flesh and
blood” and not the term “flesh and bones.” For In Paul’s Jewish context, “flesh
and bones” is a positive term that denotes human beings in their physicality;
“flesh and blood” is a negative expression that denotes human beings in their mortality.
In light of the usage of σαρξ
και αιμα in antiquity, the plight or deficiency
envisioned by this term is emphatically not humanity’s embodiment in flesh
but the fleshly body’s bondage to corruption. (James P. Ware, The Final
Triumph of God: Jesus, the Eyewitnesses, and the Resurrection of the Body in 1
Corinthians 15 [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2025], 376-77, italics in
original)
To Support this Blog:
Email for Amazon Gift card: ScripturalMormonism@gmail.com
Email for Logos.com Gift Card: IrishLDS87@gmail.com
