Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Corinthians 15:45

"So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit." — 1 Corinthians 15:45 (ASV)

And so it is written (Genesis 2:7). It is only the first part of the verse that is quoted.

The first man Adam was made a living soul. This is quoted exactly from the translation by the Septuagint, except that the apostle added the words "first" and "Adam." This was done to designate who he meant. The meaning of the phrase "was made a living soul" (egeneto eiv quchn zwsan, which is the Greek rendering from the Hebrew text) is that he became a living, animated being, a being endowed with life. The use of the word 'soul' in our translation, for the Greek term quch and the Hebrew term nephesh, does not fully convey the idea. We usually apply the word soul to the intelligent and immortal part of man—that which reasons, thinks, remembers, is conscious, is responsible, etc. The Greek and Hebrew words, however, more properly denote that which is alive, which is animated, which breathes, which has an animal nature (see the note on 1 Corinthians 15:44).

And this is precisely the idea that Paul uses here: that the first man was made an animated being by having the breath of life breathed into him (Genesis 2:7), and that it is the image of this animated or vital being that we bear (1 Corinthians 15:48). Neither Moses nor Paul denies that, in addition to this, man was endowed with a rational soul, an immortal nature; but that is not the idea that they present in the passage in Genesis that Paul quotes.

The last Adam. This refers to the second Adam, or the "second man" (1 Corinthians 15:47). That Christ is intended here is apparent and has usually been admitted by commentators. Christ here seems to be called Adam because He stands in contrast to the first Adam, or because, as we derive our animal and dying nature from the one, so we derive our immortal and undying bodies from the other.

From the one we derive an animal or vital existence; from the other we derive our immortal existence and resurrection from the grave. The one stands at the head of all those who have an existence represented by the words, "a living soul;" the other, of all those who will have a spiritual body in heaven.

He is called "the last Adam," meaning that there will be no other after Him who will affect the destiny of man in the same way, or who will stand at the head of the race in a manner similar to what had been done by Him and the first father of the human family. They sustain peculiar relations to the race, and in this respect, they were "the first" and "the last" in the peculiar economy. The name "Adam" is not elsewhere given to the Messiah, though a comparison is several times instituted between Him and Adam .

A quickening spirit (eiv pneuma zwopoioun). This means a vivifying spirit; a spirit giving or imparting life. Not a being having mere vital functions, or an animated nature, but a being who has the power of imparting life. This is not a quotation from any part of the Scriptures but seems to be used by Paul either as affirming what was true on his own apostolic authority or as conveying the substance of what was revealed respecting the Messiah in the Old Testament. There may also be reference to what the Savior Himself taught: that He was the source of life, that He had the power of imparting life, and that He gave life to all whom He pleased (see the note on John 1:4; see the note on John 5:26).

For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; (see 1 Corinthians 15:21). For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. The word "spirit," here applied to Christ, is in contradistinction from "a living being," as applied to Adam, and seems to be used in the sense of a spirit of life, raising the bodies of His people from the dead and imparting life to them.

He was constituted not as having life merely, but as endowed with the power of imparting life; as endowed with that spiritual or vital energy which was needful to impart life. All life is the creation or production of spirit (pneuma), as applied to God the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit.

Spirit is the source of all vitality. God is a Spirit, and God is the source of all life. And the idea here is that Christ had such a spiritual existence, such power as a spirit, that He was the source of all life to His people. The word spirit is applied to His exalted spiritual nature, in distinction from His human nature, in Romans 1:4; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 3:18.

The apostle does not here affirm that He did not have a human nature, or a vital existence as a man, but that His main characteristic in contradistinction from Adam was that He was endowed with an elevated spiritual nature, which was capable of imparting vital existence to the dead.