1 Corinthians · Chapter 15
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
John Wesley
V. 2. Ye are saved, if ye hold fast-Your salvation is begun, and will be perfected, if ye continue in the faith.
Unless ye have believed in vain-Unless indeed your faith was only a delusion.
Adam Clarke
Verse 2. By which also ye are saved] That is, ye are now in a salvable state; and are saved from your Gentilism, and from your former sins. If ye keep in memory] Your future salvation, or being brought finally to glory, will now depend on your faithfulness to the grace that ye have received.
Joseph Benson
Verses 1, 2. Moreover, brethren — The resurrection of the body being one of the great objects of the faith and hope of Christians, the apostle in this chapter sets before the Corinthians, and all mankind, the proof by which that joyful event is rendered indubitable, namely, that it is a necessary consequence of the resurrection of Christ. Wherefore, to lay a firm foundation for this proof, he judged it proper to recall to the remembrance of the Corinthians the arguments by which he had proved to their satisfaction the truth of Christ’s resurrection, which is the subject that he first touches upon. I declare — Gnwrizw, I make known; the gospel — The principal doctrines thereof; which I preached unto you — At the very beginning of my ministry among you; which also you received — In faith and love; and wherein you stand — In the faith of which many of you persevere; by which also ye are — Or shall be; saved finally, if ye keep in memory — Ei katecete, if ye hold fast; what I preached unto you — The great truths to which I bore testimony: that is, your salvation is begun, and will be perfected if ye continue in the faith; unless ye have believed in vain — Or rather, rashly, as eikh seems evidently here to signify, denoting the disposition of those who do a thing by chance and lightly, without knowing for what reason or end they do it.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Verse 1, 2. I declare unto you the gospel — by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you. We have here an epitome of the whole gospel, comprising essentially the death of Christ as a sacrifice for sin, and his triumphant resurrection from the dead; these are truths which lie at the foundation of all human hope. The promise of salvation so often repeated to sincere and faithful souls, must always be kept in view. Mark 16:16. Romans 1:16. What consolation can be stronger to the conscious mind? Faith saves because it justifies and sanctifies, it also overcomes the world, and is the presage of eternal life.
Daniel Whedon
2. Saved—It is by holy truth, received and kept in memory, that we are saved.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 1.-2. Make known to you the Gospel: as though they needed to be told (cp. 1 Corinthians 12:3; Galatians 1:11) what it was they had already believed. Of this virtual promise, § 27 is a fulfillment. Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:11.
The Gospel etc.: “the good news which as good news I announced to you.”
Also … also … also: proof after proof, from their own experience, of the worth of the Gospel. Long ago it so commended itself to them that they received it: today they find in it a firm ground on which morally and spiritually they stand (1 Corinthians 10:12) erect; and by its means they day by day experience deliverance (1 Corinthians 1:18, 21; Ephesians 1:13) from sin and its consequences. (Notice that we stand also (Romans 5:2; 11:20) in the grace of God and by faith: for by faith we receive the good news, which reveals God's favor towards us.) Holding-fast etc.: condition on which hangs the truth of the words you stand, are being saved. It is therefore a warning suggesting self-examination; and is an appeal to the readers; inner consciousness that their spiritual erectness and victory are in proportion to the firmness with which they hold fast Paul's teaching.
The word with which etc.: the verbal form in which Paul preached the Gospel to them.
Except etc.; supports the assertion that, unless they have relaxed their hold upon Paul's teaching, they now stand firm and are now in the way of salvation: for otherwise, the faith they formerly exercised is an empty thing. And, that it is not such, their inmost heart proclaims. This argument is developed in 1 Corinthians 15:17.
Believed: as in Romans 13:11.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
John Wesley
V. 3. I received-From Christ himself. It was not a fiction of my own. Isaiah 53:8, 9.
Adam Clarke
Verse 3. For I delivered unto you first of all] en protoiv. As the chief things, or matters of the greatest importance; fundamental truths. That which I-received] By revelations from God himself, and not from man.
That Christ died for our sins] The death of Jesus Christ, as a vicarious sacrifice for sin, is en prwtoiv; among the things that are of chief importance, and is essential to the Gospel scheme of salvation. According to the Scriptures] It is not said any where in the Scriptures, in express terms, that Christ should rise on the third day; but it is fully implied in his types, as in the case of Jonah, who came out of the belly of the fish on the third day; but particularly in the case of Isaac, who was a very expressive type of Christ; for, as his being brought to the Mount Moriah, bound and laid on the wood, in order to be sacrificed, pointed out the death of Christ; so his being brought alive on the third day from the mount was a figure of Christ’s resurrection. Bishop Pearce and others refer to Matthew 12:40; 16:21; and Luke 9:22; “which two Gospels, having been written at the time when Paul wrote this epistle, were properly called by the name of the Sacred Scriptures.” It might be so; but I do not know of one proof in the New Testament where its writings, or any part of them, are called the Scriptures.
Joseph Benson
Verses 3, 4. For I delivered unto you first of all — Among the first things, and as the chief articles of the gospel, that which I also received, namely, from Christ himself; that Christ died for our sins — Made atonement for them by dying; according to the Scriptures — Of the Old Testament, particularly Isaiah 53:5, 6, 12; Daniel 9:26. He proves, first, from the Scriptures, that the Messiah was to die for the expiation of sin, and then from the testimony of a cloud of witnesses, that Jesus of Nazareth, who by his miracles had proved himself to be that Messiah, had died for men’s sins accordingly. And that he was buried — In consequence of his being certainly dead; and that he rose again the third day — His enemies keeping guard about his dead body in vain. According to the Scriptures — The Scriptures which foretold the resurrection of Christ on the third day, and to which St. Paul refers, are Psalm 16:10, (which Peter, Acts 2:31, expressly affirmed to be a prediction of that event,) and Jonah 1:17, which our Lord himself affirmed to be a typical prophecy of his continuing three days in the heart of the earth, and of his subsequent resurrection. See Matthew 12:39, 40. Here we see the apostle delivered to the Corinthians, from the Lord himself, not only that he died for our sins, and rose again the third day after his death, but that these things had happened according to the prophecies of the Scriptures concerning the Christ, because by that circumstance, as well as by his resurrection, our Lord was demonstrated to be the Christ.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 3, 4. How that Christ died for our sins — and that he rose again the third day. That he should rise again was expressly foretold by David, Psalm 16:10; and by Isaiah 53:10. It has been asked, where is the Hebrew scripture which foretels the resurrection of Christ on the third day? The Socinians, unable to find any such scripture, propose to correct St. Paul in the following manner; — “that Christ rose according to the scriptures, and that on the third day.” They see no difficulty in sacrificing important scriptures to get St. Paul out of trouble.
We reply, that Isaac was raised up from the altar on the third day, and Jonah from the deep in the same space of time; and if symbolical prophecy has any force, these figures must also have their weight. A prophet has said, “The Lord hath smitten us, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.” Hosea 6:1-3. Rabbi Abarbanel understands the two days, of the two flourishing dispensations, after the first, and after the second temple. The third day will be sub templo futuro exsuscitabit nos, when he shall raise us up, under the future temple, and when we shall live in his sight, persevere in his worship, and not die; neither shall our land be desolate. The jews understood this prophecy to have a final reference to the resurrection of the dead, the day when all our woes shall be healed. But what are the comments of the christian fathers on this prophecy? These have been collected by Tirinus as follow. “All the holy fathers and orthodox doctors contend, that this text refers to Christ; to the redemption and resurrection from the death of sin, to the everlasting life of righteousness, grace, and glory, which shall come on the whole world by Christ after two days; that is, a few days, or short time; say about six hundred and ninety years, which should flow from Hosea’s time till the death of Christ. So St. Cyril, Arias, Vatablus, and others expound the passage. On the same text we may add, Tertullian, Origen, Lactantius, Cyprian, Jerome, Augustine, Gregory, Rufinus, Nyssen, Theodoret, and other catholics. Nay, the old Hebrews, as cited by Galatin, prove the resurrection of Christ from the first day of his passion, from the second in the sepulchre, and the third day, as cited by St. Paul, on which he rose from the dead.” — After these citations of Tirinus, what more can we ask. We have much weight from the synagogue, and the full weight of the christian fathers.
Daniel Whedon
3. I delivered… received—St. Paul rigidly expresses the fact that his message was given, as received, with perfect exactness. In this Christ-narrative every item has been carefully guarded. He repeats it with all the formality of a profession of faith. For our sins—’Uper, on behalf of our sins. So says Alford, and he very strikingly adds, “It may be noticed that in 1 Kings 16:19, where it is said that Zimri ‘died for (uper) his sins which he had done,’ it is for his own sins, as their punishment, that he died. So that uper may bear the meaning, that Christ’s punishment was of the sins of our nature which he took upon him. But its undoubtedly inclusive vicarious import in other passages where uper hmwn and the like occur, seems to rule it to have that sense here also.” According to the Scriptures—See note on Luke 24:26. The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and the whole system of Jewish sacrifices, were predictive of the one real sacrifice. The Scriptures, here, mean the Old Testament, for the New was but yet partially written.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 3.-4. Reason for the broad statement of 1 Corinthians 15:1, 2, showing its bearing on the matter in hand. Paul appealed to the effect of the gospel he preached because the resurrection of Christ was a part of it. Delivered: as in 1 Corinthians 11:2; see note.
The first things: first in importance probably. For this is the chief point: and in what follows there is no reference to time. Paul received the historic details, some of which he gives here, doubtless from the apostles (e.g. Galatians 1:18) and other human witnesses; the spiritual meaning of the great facts, from (Galatians 1:12) Christ Himself. But of all this he says nothing here; except that his teaching was no invention of his own, that he was but the channel through which it came to the Corinthians. On-behalf-of our sins: i.e. to save us from them. Same preposition in Hebrews 5:1; 7:27; 9:7; 10:12. See under 1 Corinthians 15:29. Cp. “because of our trespasses,” Romans 4:25. Each of these passages is meaningless unless we accept the great doctrine of the Atonement as I have endeavored to expound it under Romans 3:26. Cp. Hebrews 9:26ff; 10:12.
According to the Scriptures: e.g. Isaiah 53:9-12 Buried: the link between Christ's death and resurrection. These words suggest that the historic details of the death of Christ were put prominently forward by the early preachers, as we find them made prominent in the four Gospels.
[Is-risen: the Greek perfect as in 1 Corinthians 15:12. The addition the third day is no incongruity. See Expositor, vol. xi. p. 301.]
Whether according to the Scriptures refers also to was buried, (cp. Isaiah 53:9,) is unimportant. It probably does not refer to the third day: for this is not clearly mentioned in the Old Testament, and is an unimportant detail. But Isaiah 53:10-12 implies fairly the resurrection of Christ. The words according to the Scriptures, which receive emphasis from their repetition, support strongly the teaching of Paul. For they show that it was not only a means of salvation to the Corinthians but was in harmony with the very ancient books held sacred even by the enemies of the Gospel. We have here an important coincidence with the Epistle to the Romans, which we may take to be an epitome of Paul's teaching, and in which he shows that the Gospel is through-out in harmony with the Old Testament.
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
John Wesley
V. 4. According to the scriptures-He proves it first from scripture, then from the testimony of a cloud of witnesses. Psalm 16:10.
Joseph Benson
Verses 3, 4. For I delivered unto you first of all — Among the first things, and as the chief articles of the gospel, that which I also received, namely, from Christ himself; that Christ died for our sins — Made atonement for them by dying; according to the Scriptures — Of the Old Testament, particularly Isaiah 53:5, 6, 12; Daniel 9:26. He proves, first, from the Scriptures, that the Messiah was to die for the expiation of sin, and then from the testimony of a cloud of witnesses, that Jesus of Nazareth, who by his miracles had proved himself to be that Messiah, had died for men’s sins accordingly. And that he was buried — In consequence of his being certainly dead; and that he rose again the third day — His enemies keeping guard about his dead body in vain. According to the Scriptures — The Scriptures which foretold the resurrection of Christ on the third day, and to which St. Paul refers, are Psalm 16:10, (which Peter, Acts 2:31, expressly affirmed to be a prediction of that event,) and Jonah 1:17, which our Lord himself affirmed to be a typical prophecy of his continuing three days in the heart of the earth, and of his subsequent resurrection. See Matthew 12:39, 40. Here we see the apostle delivered to the Corinthians, from the Lord himself, not only that he died for our sins, and rose again the third day after his death, but that these things had happened according to the prophecies of the Scriptures concerning the Christ, because by that circumstance, as well as by his resurrection, our Lord was demonstrated to be the Christ.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 3, 4. How that Christ died for our sins — and that he rose again the third day. That he should rise again was expressly foretold by David, Psalm 16:10; and by Isaiah 53:10. It has been asked, where is the Hebrew scripture which foretels the resurrection of Christ on the third day? The Socinians, unable to find any such scripture, propose to correct St. Paul in the following manner; — “that Christ rose according to the scriptures, and that on the third day.” They see no difficulty in sacrificing important scriptures to get St. Paul out of trouble.
We reply, that Isaac was raised up from the altar on the third day, and Jonah from the deep in the same space of time; and if symbolical prophecy has any force, these figures must also have their weight. A prophet has said, “The Lord hath smitten us, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.” Hosea 6:1-3. Rabbi Abarbanel understands the two days, of the two flourishing dispensations, after the first, and after the second temple. The third day will be sub templo futuro exsuscitabit nos, when he shall raise us up, under the future temple, and when we shall live in his sight, persevere in his worship, and not die; neither shall our land be desolate. The jews understood this prophecy to have a final reference to the resurrection of the dead, the day when all our woes shall be healed. But what are the comments of the christian fathers on this prophecy? These have been collected by Tirinus as follow. “All the holy fathers and orthodox doctors contend, that this text refers to Christ; to the redemption and resurrection from the death of sin, to the everlasting life of righteousness, grace, and glory, which shall come on the whole world by Christ after two days; that is, a few days, or short time; say about six hundred and ninety years, which should flow from Hosea’s time till the death of Christ. So St. Cyril, Arias, Vatablus, and others expound the passage. On the same text we may add, Tertullian, Origen, Lactantius, Cyprian, Jerome, Augustine, Gregory, Rufinus, Nyssen, Theodoret, and other catholics. Nay, the old Hebrews, as cited by Galatin, prove the resurrection of Christ from the first day of his passion, from the second in the sepulchre, and the third day, as cited by St. Paul, on which he rose from the dead.” — After these citations of Tirinus, what more can we ask. We have much weight from the synagogue, and the full weight of the christian fathers.
Daniel Whedon
4. Buried—Entombed. According to the Scriptures—Christ’s
resurrection was not an isolated event, like a resuscitation from catalepsy or drowning of some apparent corpse. See note on Acts 17:31, and 2:24. It is the crowning fact of a great organic system of facts, binding each other into one common solidity.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 3.-4. Reason for the broad statement of 1 Corinthians 15:1, 2, showing its bearing on the matter in hand. Paul appealed to the effect of the gospel he preached because the resurrection of Christ was a part of it. Delivered: as in 1 Corinthians 11:2; see note.
The first things: first in importance probably. For this is the chief point: and in what follows there is no reference to time. Paul received the historic details, some of which he gives here, doubtless from the apostles (e.g. Galatians 1:18) and other human witnesses; the spiritual meaning of the great facts, from (Galatians 1:12) Christ Himself. But of all this he says nothing here; except that his teaching was no invention of his own, that he was but the channel through which it came to the Corinthians. On-behalf-of our sins: i.e. to save us from them. Same preposition in Hebrews 5:1; 7:27; 9:7; 10:12. See under 1 Corinthians 15:29. Cp. “because of our trespasses,” Romans 4:25. Each of these passages is meaningless unless we accept the great doctrine of the Atonement as I have endeavored to expound it under Romans 3:26. Cp. Hebrews 9:26ff; 10:12.
According to the Scriptures: e.g. Isaiah 53:9-12 Buried: the link between Christ's death and resurrection. These words suggest that the historic details of the death of Christ were put prominently forward by the early preachers, as we find them made prominent in the four Gospels.
[Is-risen: the Greek perfect as in 1 Corinthians 15:12. The addition the third day is no incongruity. See Expositor, vol. xi. p. 301.]
Whether according to the Scriptures refers also to was buried, (cp. Isaiah 53:9,) is unimportant. It probably does not refer to the third day: for this is not clearly mentioned in the Old Testament, and is an unimportant detail. But Isaiah 53:10-12 implies fairly the resurrection of Christ. The words according to the Scriptures, which receive emphasis from their repetition, support strongly the teaching of Paul. For they show that it was not only a means of salvation to the Corinthians but was in harmony with the very ancient books held sacred even by the enemies of the Gospel. We have here an important coincidence with the Epistle to the Romans, which we may take to be an epitome of Paul's teaching, and in which he shows that the Gospel is through-out in harmony with the Old Testament.
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
John Wesley
V. 5. By the twelve-This was their standing appellation; but their full number was not then present.
Adam Clarke
Verse 5. That he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve] This refers to the journey to Emmaus, Luke 24:13, 34; and to what is related Mark 16:14.
Then of the twelve] Instead of dwdeka, twelve, endeka, eleven, is the reading of D*EFG, Syriac in the margin, some of the Slavonic, Armenian, Vulgate, Itala, and several of the fathers; and this reading is supported by Mark 16:14. Perhaps the term twelve is used here merely to point out the society of the apostles, who, though at this time they were only eleven, were still called the twelve, because this was their original number, and a number which was afterward filled up. See John 20:24.
Joseph Benson
Verse 5. And that he was seen of Cephas — As mentioned Luke 24:34, who saw him before any of the other apostles. He appeared, indeed, after his resurrection, first of all to Mary Magdalene: but as no woman was employed to testify his resurrection to the world, St. Paul did not think it necessary, in exhibiting the proofs of Christ’s resurrection, to mention any of his appearances to the women. Then of the twelve — That company of apostles so called, though several of the number were not present when he appeared. Macknight thinks, that in this expression all our Lord’s appearances to his apostles, from the time he arose, to the time he showed himself to the five hundred brethren at once, are comprehended; namely, his appearance to the apostles on the evening of the day on which he arose, and on the eighth day thereafter, and at the sea of Tiberias, as also every other appearance to them which the evangelists may have omitted to relate; for that they omitted some is certain.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 5. He was seen of Cephas, (the surname of Peter) then of the twelve. Paul omits the women who watched at the sepulchre. Mary, the most disconsolate, saw him first. Peter, heart-broken Peter, in the course of the day, saw him next. In the evening he appeared to the ten, still called the twelve, Thomas being absent. The two returning from Emmaus confirmed their joy. Dr. Lightfoot is I think unique in the supposition, that Peter and Cleophas were the two that went to Emmaus. — Of the twelve, he was seen again when Thomas was present, and of seven when they went a-fishing, and finally when he led the twelve to mount Olivet, and ascended to heaven.
Daniel Whedon
5. The twelve—Though Judas was dead and Thomas absent, so that they were but eleven, Paul calls the apostolic college by its habitual numerical title, the twelve. See our vol. ii, p. 81.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 5. Further statement of what Paul had said to them.
To Cephas: a very important coincidence with apparently casual words in Luke 24:34; Mark 16:7.
To the twelve: further coincidence with Luke 24:36ff, which is confirmed by John 20:19ff. The twelve had so thoroughly become a technical term for the original apostles both before and after (Acts 6:2) the death of Christ that it is used here although one had fallen from the ranks. This makes it possible and likely that Paul refers to the appearance in John 20:19 when Thomas also was present.
After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
John Wesley
V. 6. Above five hundred-Probably in Galilee. A glorious and incontestable proof!
The greater part remain-Alive.
Adam Clarke
Verse 6. Above five hundred brethren at once] This was probably in Galilee, where our Lord had many disciples. See Matthew 28:16. What a remarkable testimony is this to the truth of our Lord’s resurrection! Five hundred persons saw him at one time; the greater part of whom were alive when the apostle wrote, and he might have been confronted by many if he had dared to assert a falsity.
Joseph Benson
Verses 6, 7. After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once — None of the evangelists have expressly mentioned this appearance, but Matthew seems to hint at it, Matthew 28:10; for probably this appearance was made in Galilee, to which Jesus commanded his disciples to repair, promising that they should there see him; and to which, in obedience to his order, the eleven went, and where, doubtless, many others of his disciples assembled from all parts of the country, Christ having appointed a certain mountain, probably that on which he was transfigured, where he would be seen of them. See note on Matthew 28:16. “As the greatest part of our Lord’s disciples lived in Galilee, it was highly proper, for their consolation, that he should show himself alive there in that public manner. For thus, besides the apostles, numbers, who had often attended him during his ministry in Galilee, and who were well acquainted with his person, having an opportunity to converse with him, could satisfy themselves by the testimony of their own senses concerning the truth of his resurrection, and attest it to others on the surest evidence. These, therefore, may have been the five hundred brethren of whom St. Paul speaks. And their testimony was appealed to by the apostle with the greatest propriety when proving the resurrection of Christ, because such a multitude cannot be supposed to have agreed for so long a time in publishing a falsehood to the world, without any one of them ever betraying the imposture, or even varying in their account of the fact.” Of whom the greater part remain unto this present — About twenty-eight years after the event, constituting a cloud of witnesses to this glorious and infinitely important event; but some are fallen asleep — Doubtless in Jesus, with whom they were gone to dwell. After that he was seen of James — Of this appearance there is no mention in the gospels; but the fathers speak of it, and tell us that the person thus honoured was James the Less, or younger, our Lord’s brother, that is, his cousin-german, and the author of the epistle which bears his name. Eusebius (Chronicles, p. 43) says, this appearance happened in the first year after our Lord’s resurrection. But, from the order in which Paul hath placed it here, it seems more probable that it took place before our Lord’s ascension, at which all the apostles were present, as mentioned in the next clause.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 6. He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, on “a mountain of Galilee,” as stated by Matthew 28:16-18, “where Jesus had appointed.” Here were a cloud of witnesses to assure and to comfort the church.
Daniel Whedon
6. Five hundred—An appearance not elsewhere mentioned; nor do the conjectures of commentators much illustrate the time or place. But most probably, as indicated in Matthew 28:16, 17, in a mountain or highland of Galilee. (On the phrase a mountain, see our note on Luke 6:12.) As this was an appointment in Galilee, where so much of the ministry of Christ was spent, it were no wonder if there Jesus met a full assembly. Greater part—A majority; more than two hundred and fifty. This event was between twenty and thirty years ago; but plenty of eyewitnesses still live. It was no myth formed by popular imagination. Asleep—A beautiful image of death, implying the hope of an awakening to future life. See note on Luke 8:52. it conclusively implies that the same body that dies is raised, and not another substituted. The epitaphs inscribed by the primitive Christians upon their tombs as found in the Roman catacombs abound in this cheerful image of repose and sleep. The following specimens are given by Mr. Withrow in his very interesting book on the Catacombs:
“We find also such expressions as follow: DEPOSTVS (sic) IN PACE FIDEI CATHOLICE, (sic)—’Buried in the peace of the Catholic faith,’ A.D. 462; HIC. REQ. IN PACE DEVS, (sic)— ‘Here rests in the peace of God,’ A.D. 500; IN PACE ECCLESIAE— ‘In the peace of the Church,’ A.D. 523; IN PACE ET BENEDICTIONE—’In peace and benediction;’ SEMPER FIDELIS MANEBIT APVD DEVM—’Ever faithful, he shall remain with God,’ (circ. 590); ZOTICVS HIC AD DORMIENDVM— ‘Zoticus here laid to sleep;’ DORMITIO ELPIDIS— ‘The sleeping-place of Elpis;’ DORMIVlT ET REQVIESCIT— ‘He has slept and is at rest;’ DORMIT SED VIVIT—’He sleeps but lives;’ QVIESCIT IN DOMINO IESV— ‘He reposes in the Lord Jesus;’ IVIT AD DEVM— ‘He went to God;’ EVOCATVS A DOMINO— ‘Called by God;’ ACCEPTA APVD DEVM— ‘Accepted with God;’
ETELEIWQH—’He finished his life;’ EKOIMHQH—’He fell asleep;’ DAMILIS HIC SIC - V - D—’Here lies Damalis, for so God wills.’”—Pp. 429, 430.
The following epitaphs given by Mr. Withrow show that the image of sleep was limited to the body. While the eyes are closed in sleep, the soul is awake, and living in
“The Celestial realms:” “Of similar character are also the following: SALONICE ISPIRITVS TVVS IN BONIS—’Salonice, thy spirit is among the good;’ REFRIGERAS SPIRITVS TVVS IN BONIS—’Thou refreshest thy spirit among the good;’ PRWTOC EN AGIW PNEUMATI QEOU ENQADE KEITAI—’Here in the Holy Spirit of God lieth Protus;’ CORPVS HABET TELLVS ANIMAM CAELESTIA REGNA—’The earth has the body, celestial realms the soul;’ GLUKERON FAOC OU KATELEFAS (sic) ESCES GAR META COU
PANAQANATON—’Thou didst not leave the sweet light, for thou hadst with thee Him who knows not death,’ literally, ‘the all-deathless One;’ AGAPE VIBIS IN ETERNVM—’Agape, thou livest forever;’ DORMIT ET VIVIT IN PACE XO, (sic)—’He sleeps and lives in the peace of Christ;’ MENS NESCIA MORTIS VIVIT ET ASPECTV FRVITVR BENE CONSCIA CHRISTI—’The soul lives unknowing of death, and consciously rejoices in the vision of Christ;’ PRIMA VIVIS IN GLORIA DEI ET IN PACE DOMINI NOSTRI XR.—’Prima, thou livest in the glory of God, and in the peace of Christ, our Lord.’”—Pp. 430, 431.
These epitaphs show the primitive Christian doctrines to have been: 1. That the self-same body that sleeps in death shall awake to the resurrection. 2. That between death and the resurrection the soul is in an intermediate state of blessed consciousness, awaiting the resurrection of its sleeping body.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 6. The change here from indirect to direct narration is no proof that Paul had not spoken at Corinth about the facts which follow. For he must have spoken of (1 Corinthians 15:8) Christ's appearance to himself. The change was prompted by the number of the facts mentioned; and gives reality to the narration by pointing us to the facts themselves rather than to Paul's mention of them. This gathering of above five hundred brethren and Christ's appearance to them are not mentioned elsewhere, and the circumstances are quite unknown: but it is easily conceivable, and Paul's word is sufficient evidence of the fact. (The 120 names of Acts 1:15 were but the enrolled disciples at Jerusalem.) It may have been in Galilee, (cp. Matthew 28:7, confirmed by John 21:1,) where Christ had labored long; or near to Jerusalem before the Passover pilgrims went home. The size of the assembly, however called together, and the appearance of Christ to so many at once, each of whom would compare his view of the Risen One, made this event an indisputable and conspicuous proof of the resurrection of Christ. Its omission from the Gospels is no more remarkable than the silence of the first three about the raising of Lazarus; and is in harmony with John 20:30. That after the lapse of about twenty-five years the more part were still living, seems to imply that Christ chose young men chiefly to be witnesses of His resurrection, who might live long to testify it to others. That Paul knew that the majority were still alive, proves that those who had actually seen the risen Lord were marked men in the early church. Cp. Joshua 24:31, “the elders that overlived Joshua.”
After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
John Wesley
V. 7. Then by all the apostles-The twelve were mentioned 1 Corinthians 15:5. This title here, therefore, seems to include the seventy; if not all those, likewise, whom God afterwards sent to plant the gospel in heathen nations.
Adam Clarke
Verse 7. After that, he was seen of James] But where, and on what occasion, we are not told; nor indeed do we know which James is intended; James the son of Zebedee, or James the son of Alpheus. But one thing is sufficiently evident, from what is here said, that this James, of whom the apostle speaks, was still alive; for the apostle’s manner of speaking justifies this conclusion.
Then of all the apostles.] Including, not only the eleven, but, as some suppose, the seventy-two disciples.
Joseph Benson
Verses 6, 7. After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once — None of the evangelists have expressly mentioned this appearance, but Matthew seems to hint at it, Matthew 28:10; for probably this appearance was made in Galilee, to which Jesus commanded his disciples to repair, promising that they should there see him; and to which, in obedience to his order, the eleven went, and where, doubtless, many others of his disciples assembled from all parts of the country, Christ having appointed a certain mountain, probably that on which he was transfigured, where he would be seen of them. See note on Matthew 28:16. “As the greatest part of our Lord’s disciples lived in Galilee, it was highly proper, for their consolation, that he should show himself alive there in that public manner. For thus, besides the apostles, numbers, who had often attended him during his ministry in Galilee, and who were well acquainted with his person, having an opportunity to converse with him, could satisfy themselves by the testimony of their own senses concerning the truth of his resurrection, and attest it to others on the surest evidence. These, therefore, may have been the five hundred brethren of whom St. Paul speaks. And their testimony was appealed to by the apostle with the greatest propriety when proving the resurrection of Christ, because such a multitude cannot be supposed to have agreed for so long a time in publishing a falsehood to the world, without any one of them ever betraying the imposture, or even varying in their account of the fact.” Of whom the greater part remain unto this present — About twenty-eight years after the event, constituting a cloud of witnesses to this glorious and infinitely important event; but some are fallen asleep — Doubtless in Jesus, with whom they were gone to dwell. After that he was seen of James — Of this appearance there is no mention in the gospels; but the fathers speak of it, and tell us that the person thus honoured was James the Less, or younger, our Lord’s brother, that is, his cousin-german, and the author of the epistle which bears his name. Eusebius (Chronicles, p. 43) says, this appearance happened in the first year after our Lord’s resurrection. But, from the order in which Paul hath placed it here, it seems more probable that it took place before our Lord’s ascension, at which all the apostles were present, as mentioned in the next clause.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 7. He was seen of James. No doubt this was James the brother of John. In the gospel of the Nazarenes, which in the main agrees with that of Matthew, we find an addition, that James having made a vow that he would neither eat nor drink till assured that the Lord was risen, and that “Jesus brought him bread and wine, and said, eat and drink, for the Son of man is risen from the dead.”
Daniel Whedon
7. James—Half brother of the Lord, bishop of Jerusalem, author of the Epistle of James. See notes on Matthew 10:3; and Acts 12:2. All the apostles—Probably the same as mentioned in Acts 1:4.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 7. James: “the Lord's brother;” who when these epistles were written had a position so prominent that in Galatians 2:9 he is mentioned before Peter and John. He was probably not the same as “the son of Alphaeus” in Matthew 10:3. See further under Galatians 1:19. This appearance is not mentioned elsewhere. That in the autumn before His death (John 7:25) the brothers of Jesus did not believe in Him, and yet were found with His disciples immediately after His ascension, suggests that this appearance to His oldest brother (probably, see Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3) led to the conversion of him and perhaps of the others. This verse is thus a link between John 7:5 and Acts 1:14. All the apostles; seems at first sight to have a compass different from “the twelve” in 1 Corinthians 15:5. But this would involve difficulties nearly or quite insuperable. The apostles held (1 Corinthians 12:28) the first rank in the church. During our Lord's life this title belonged specifically to the twelve; and in the Gospels is given to none else: see Matthew 10:2; Mark 6:30; Luke 6:13; 22:14. Only Luke 17:5 is open to doubt. And the presence of the twelve only at the Last Supper implies that they held a rank shared by no others. In Luke 24:10, referring to the day of the Resurrection, “the apostles” are evidently “the eleven” of Luke 24:9. Now if to all the apostles be not equivalent to “the twelve” in 1 Corinthians 15:5, we must suppose that during the forty days Christ added to the first rank of His official servants a definite number of new members, and that He appeared to these, either singly or together. And since all is a definite term, we must suppose either that He then appeared to all who afterwards were called apostles, (yet Paul would be an exception,) or that He first called these additional ones to be apostles and then appeared to all whom He had thus called. Both these suppositions are very unlikely. Moreover, after the ascension we find the Eleven still occupying a unique position in the church: as is proved by the record of their names in Acts 1:13, and by the formal addition (Acts 1:26) of Matthias to their number. This makes it still more unlikely that during the forty days Christ had given to some others the name and rank of Apostle. He did this, however, in later days to Paul; and perhaps to Barnabas, Silvanus, James, and others. Acts 14:4; Galatians 1:19, and especially 1 Thessalonians 2:6. In view of all this it is perhaps least difficult to suppose that 1 Corinthians 15:7 refers to the eleven surviving original apostles, and possibly to the appearance narrated in John 20:26. If this latter supposition be correct, “the twelve” in 1 Corinthians 15:5 would be a general term for the apostolic band, consisting in this case of only ten persons: whereas all the apostles in 1 Corinthians 15:7 would denote the entire eleven. Notice Paul's accuracy in stating even the order of these appearances. The exact details were evidently known to him. Of the appearances mentioned, the first (Luke 24:34) was to Peter; the second (Luke 24:36) to the assembled apostles; the third, to a gathering of 500 persons; the fourth, to His brother James; and the fifth (perhaps John 20:26) to the entire apostolic band. To all these well-known persons Paul appeals as witnesses that Christ has risen.
And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
John Wesley
V. 8. An untimely birth-It was impossible to abase himself more than he does by this single appellation. As an abortion is not worthy the name of a man, so he affirms himself to be not worthy the name of an apostle.
Adam Clarke
Verse 8. And last of all-of me also] It seems that it was essential to the character of a primitive apostle that he had seen and conversed with Christ; and it is evident, from the history of Saul’s conversion, Acts 9:4-7, where see the notes, that Jesus Christ did appear to him; and he pleaded this ever after as a proof of his call to the apostleship. And it does not appear that, after this time, Jesus ever did make any personal discovery of himself to any one.
As of one born out of due time.] The apostle considers himself as coming after the time in which Jesus Christ personally conversed with his disciples; and that, therefore, to see him at all, he must see him in this extraordinary way. Some have entered into a very disgusting detail on the figure used here by the apostle. The words, wsperei tw ektrwmati, signify not merely one born out of due time, but one born before his time; and consequently, not bidding fair for vigour, usefulness, or long life. But it is likely that the apostle had a different meaning; and that he refers to the original institution of the twelve apostles, in the rank of whom he never stood, being appointed not to fill up a place among the twelve, but as an extra and additional apostle. Rosenmuller says that those who were beyond the number of twelve senators were termed abortivi, abortives; and refers to Suetonius in Octavio, cap. 35. I have examined the place, but find no such epithet. According to Suetonius, in that place, they were called orcini-persons who had assumed the senatorial dignity after the death of Julius Cæsar, pretending that they had derived that honour from him.
Joseph Benson
Verse 8. Last of all — This evidently implies that our Lord appeared to none of the disciples after his ascension, except to Paul; he was seen of me also — He here no doubt speaks of Christ’s appearing to him on the way to Damascus, but he does not exclude his other appearances to him. See 1 Corinthians 9:1. As of one born out of due time — An untimely birth. It was impossible to abase himself more than he does by this single appellation. As an abortion is not worthy the name of a man, so he affirms himself to be not worthy the name of an apostle. It must be observed, however, it was not on account of his being sensible of any imperfection in his commission, or of any weakness in his qualifications as an apostle, that he gave himself this name; for he affirms (2 Corinthians 11:5) that he was in nothing behind the very chief of the apostles: but he called himself an untimely birth, for the reason mentioned in the next verse, “and because he was made an apostle without that previous course of instruction and preparation which the other apostles enjoyed, who had attended Jesus during his ministry on earth; so that, in the proper sense of the word, he was ektroma, one born before he was brought to maturity. That want, however, was abundantly supplied by the many revelations which his Master gave him, after he had made him an apostle.” — Macknight.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 8. Last of all he was seen of me also, in the vision on the way to Damascus, three times repeated. Acts 9:3-5, 17. 22:6, 14. 1 Corinthians 9:1. He saw the Holy and Just One, which made him a full witness of his glory, that he might testify it to the gentiles. Thus this first of characters examined the witnesses of the resurrection with enlightened regards, on men, on things, on prophecies; and if our unbelievers would examine them with the same care, and in the same spirit, the issue would also be the full assurance of faith and of comfort. The grace conferred on Paul was great, and his more abundant labours corresponded with the glory of his calling.
Daniel Whedon
8. One born out of due time—Born, not after, but before, the time; and consequently immature and unshapely.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 8. Last of all: of all the apostles, probably; or of those persons to whom the Risen One showed Himself. At the time of the above-mentioned appearances Paul was an enemy. But that he might take rank equal with the rest, long after appearing to the others, Christ appeared also to him. The untimely-one, in LXX., Numbers 12:12; Job 3:16; Ecclesiastes 6:3: an abortive offspring born at the wrong time and not reckoned among the children. With deep humility Paul says that among the apostles he was the untimely birth: not that his apostolic birth was a failure, but abnormal in its circumstances. That Paul does not speak between 1 Corinthians 15:7 and 1 Corinthians 15:8 of the ascension, is no proof that he did not believe that it occurred as narrated in Acts 1:9. For he speaks here simply of the fact of the resurrection, of which the appearances to others and to himself were clear proof, a proof not strengthened by Christ's departure to heaven. 1 John 1 Corinthians 15:9 justifies “the untimely one.”
The least etc.: cp. Ephesians 3:8.
Sufficient: same word in Matthew 3:11; 2 Corinthians 2:16; 3:5. To be called: to bear the honored name of Apostle. Although pardoned by God, Paul evidently felt deeply and constantly how sinful, and how perilous to himself, was his former war against Christ; and wondered that such a rebel should be permitted to take any place among the servants of Christ. And he felt that among these, and especially in the apostolic band, such a one must ever put himself in the lowest place. Cp. 1 Timothy 1:13-16. It would be well if similar humiliation were manifested by all who after notorious sin have become Christian workers. In 1 Corinthians 15:10, after speaking of himself as the least of the apostles, Paul remembers that in labors and success he is the greatest of them. And for the glory of Him who has conferred such honor on one so unworthy he cannot pass over this in silence.
What I am; sums up Paul's entire toil and success: all this he says he owes to the undeserved favor of God. These words all Christians can use touching all that belongs to them except the consequences of their own unfaithfulness.
And His grace etc.: an addition to the foregoing which both explains and proves it.
Did not become vain: so literally; in colloquial English, “did not turn out vain.”
But more etc.: the exact opposite of being vain i.e. without result. All of them; may, but does not necessarily, mean “all put together.” How far his own labors surpassed those of others, Paul leaves his readers to judge.
The grace of God with me. Although the results were wrought altogether by God, in undeserved favor, yet they were wrought through the instrumentality and with the concurrence of Paul. Now, what a man has done determines his spiritual stature. Therefore, since all that Paul had done had been wrought in and through him by the favor of God, he could say, By the grace of God I am what I am.
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
John Wesley
V. 9. I persecuted the church-True believers are humbled all their lives, even for the sins they committed before they believed.
Adam Clarke
Verse 9. I am the least of the apostles] This was literally true in reference to his being chosen last, and chosen not in the number of the twelve, but as an extra apostle. How much pains do some men take to make the apostle contradict himself, by attempting to show that he was the very greatest of the apostles, though he calls himself the least! Taken as a man and a minister of Christ, he was greater than any of the twelve; taken as an apostle he was less than any of the twelve, because not originally in that body.
Amos not meet to be called an apostle] None of the twelve had ever persecuted Christ, nor withstood his doctrine: Saul of Tarsus had been, before his conversion, a grievous persecutor; and therefore he says, ouk eimi ikanov, I am not proper to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God, i.e. of Christ, which none of the apostles ever did.
Joseph Benson
Verses 9-11. I am the least of the apostles, because I persecuted, &c. — True believers are humbled all their lives for the sins they committed before they repented and believed. But by the grace of God I am what I am — A Christian and an apostle; and his grace upon — Or toward me, in raising me to so high a dignity, and so happy a state; was not in vain — But produced, in a great measure, its proper fruit. For I laboured more abundantly than they all — That is, more than any of them, from the peculiar love God had showed me; yet — To speak more properly; not I, but the grace of God which was with me — This it was which at first qualified me for the work, and still excites me to zeal and diligence in it. As to Paul’s labouring more than any of the other apostles, it must be observed that they confined their preaching, for the most part, to the Jews, Galatians 2:9: but Paul preached the gospel to all the Gentile nations, from Jerusalem, round about to Illyricum, Romans 15:19, and also to the Jews who lived in those countries; and by his labours he converted great numbers both of the Jews and Greeks. Moreover, as his success in spreading the gospel exceeded the success of the other apostles, so his labours, if we may judge of them from his own account, 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, greatly exceeded theirs likewise. Therefore whether it were I or they — Whose doctrine you own and adhere to; so we preach, and so ye believed — We agreed in our doctrine concerning the particulars above mentioned: all of us spake, and still speak the same thing.
Daniel Whedon
9. For—While the other apostles were following Jesus and hearing his divine wisdom, Paul was sitting at the feet of the rabbins and hearing their traditions. While the other apostles were preaching the crucified and arisen Saviour, he persecuted the Church of God. He was, therefore, a crude material to make into an apostle. And he still feels the terrible dwarfing and deforming effect of that crime of persecuting the Church resting upon his being. It was from this distorted history that he was the last of all to see the risen Saviour. Had he been in timely and regular manner chosen by Jesus with the twelve he would have seen him with them at his resurrection. Not meet—Viewing himself in that light, he felt as fully as his assailants could wish that he was unfit to be an apostle. Of this fact they fully availed themselves to the last. But there was another side to the matter which he will next give.
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
John Wesley
V. 10. I laboured more than they all-That is, more than any of them, from a deep sense of the peculiar love God had shown me. Yet, to speak more properly, it is not I, but the grace of God that is with me-This it is which at first qualified me for the work, and still excites me to zeal and diligence in it.
Adam Clarke
Verse 10. But, by the grace of God I am what I am] God, by his mere grace and good will, has called me to be an apostle, and has denominated me such.
And his grace, &c.] Nor have I been unfaithful to the Divine call; I used the grace which he gave me; and when my labours, travels, and sufferings are considered, it will be evident that I have laboured more abundantly than the whole twelve. This was most literally true.
Yet not I, but the grace of God] It was not through my own power or wisdom that I performed these things, but through the Divine influence which accompanied me.
Joseph Benson
Verses 9-11. I am the least of the apostles, because I persecuted, &c. — True believers are humbled all their lives for the sins they committed before they repented and believed. But by the grace of God I am what I am — A Christian and an apostle; and his grace upon — Or toward me, in raising me to so high a dignity, and so happy a state; was not in vain — But produced, in a great measure, its proper fruit. For I laboured more abundantly than they all — That is, more than any of them, from the peculiar love God had showed me; yet — To speak more properly; not I, but the grace of God which was with me — This it was which at first qualified me for the work, and still excites me to zeal and diligence in it. As to Paul’s labouring more than any of the other apostles, it must be observed that they confined their preaching, for the most part, to the Jews, Galatians 2:9: but Paul preached the gospel to all the Gentile nations, from Jerusalem, round about to Illyricum, Romans 15:19, and also to the Jews who lived in those countries; and by his labours he converted great numbers both of the Jews and Greeks. Moreover, as his success in spreading the gospel exceeded the success of the other apostles, so his labours, if we may judge of them from his own account, 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, greatly exceeded theirs likewise. Therefore whether it were I or they — Whose doctrine you own and adhere to; so we preach, and so ye believed — We agreed in our doctrine concerning the particulars above mentioned: all of us spake, and still speak the same thing.
Daniel Whedon
10. Whatever I was as a persecutor, yet by the grace of God I am what I am—An apostle! Not in vain—He was, he says, (Acts 26:19,) “not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.” More abundantly than they all— Than any one of them all. Not I—Spoken comparatively. Yet while he would claim much in comparison with other apostles, he has no claim to make in competition with God’s grace.
Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
John Wesley
V. 11. Whether I or they, so we preach-All of us speak the same thing.
Adam Clarke
Verse 11. Whether it were I or they] All the apostles of Christ agree in the same doctrines; we all preach one and the same thing; and, as we preached, so ye believed; having received from us the true apostolical faith, that Jesus died for our sins, and rose again for our justification; and that his resurrection is the pledge and proof of ours. Whoever teaches contrary to this does not preach the true apostolic doctrine.
Paul was the last of the primitive apostles. The primitive apostles were those who had seen Christ, and got their call to the apostolate immediately from himself. There were many apostles after this time, but they were all secondary; they had a Divine call, but it was internal, and never accompanied by any vision or external demonstration of that Christ who had been manifested in the flesh.
Joseph Benson
Verses 9-11. I am the least of the apostles, because I persecuted, &c. — True believers are humbled all their lives for the sins they committed before they repented and believed. But by the grace of God I am what I am — A Christian and an apostle; and his grace upon — Or toward me, in raising me to so high a dignity, and so happy a state; was not in vain — But produced, in a great measure, its proper fruit. For I laboured more abundantly than they all — That is, more than any of them, from the peculiar love God had showed me; yet — To speak more properly; not I, but the grace of God which was with me — This it was which at first qualified me for the work, and still excites me to zeal and diligence in it. As to Paul’s labouring more than any of the other apostles, it must be observed that they confined their preaching, for the most part, to the Jews, Galatians 2:9: but Paul preached the gospel to all the Gentile nations, from Jerusalem, round about to Illyricum, Romans 15:19, and also to the Jews who lived in those countries; and by his labours he converted great numbers both of the Jews and Greeks. Moreover, as his success in spreading the gospel exceeded the success of the other apostles, so his labours, if we may judge of them from his own account, 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, greatly exceeded theirs likewise. Therefore whether it were I or they — Whose doctrine you own and adhere to; so we preach, and so ye believed — We agreed in our doctrine concerning the particulars above mentioned: all of us spake, and still speak the same thing.
Daniel Whedon
11. Therefore—In view of this profession of faith. Or they—The other apostles. So we preach—Ours is a common and unanimous apostolic doctrine; including the resurrection of the dead. This is a very positive declaration of Paul that he and the other apostles preached one faith and dogma. So ye believed—As I have preached, so have ye believed, the one common catholic apostolic faith. The concealed object of this covered approach is revealed in the next paragraph.
2. A denial of the resurrection is a denial of the resurrection of Christ, and so a repudiation of the Christian faith, 12-19.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 11. Summary of § 27, in a form prompted by Paul's comparison of himself with the other apostles. Although he was the untimely birth and they were born in due time, and although he labored more than they, yet he and they were alike in that all proclaimed that Christ had risen. And what he and they proclaimed his readers had accepted; with what results, they knew.
Preach: see under Romans 2:21.
Thus we preach; recapitulates 1 Corinthians 15:3-10, and corresponds with “I make known … preached to you” in 1 Corinthians 15:1.
Thus you believed; corresponds with “which also you received … in vain believed.” Paul thus prepares the way, by stating well-attested facts which his readers had themselves accepted, for the argument of § 28.
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
John Wesley
V. 12. How say some-Who probably had been heathen philosophers. Verse 13. If there be no resurrection-If it be a thing flatly impossible.
Adam Clarke
Verse 12. Now if Christ be preached, &c.] Seeing it is true that we have thus preached Christ, and ye have credited this preaching, how say some among you, who have professed to receive this doctrine from us; that there is no resurrection of the dead, though we have shown that his resurrection is the proof and pledge of ours? That there was some false teacher, or teachers, among them, who was endeavouring to incorporate Mosaic rites and ceremonies with the Christian doctrines, and even to blend Sadduceeism with the whole, appears pretty evident. To confute this mongrel Christian, and overturn his bad doctrine, the apostle writes this chapter.
Joseph Benson
Verse 12, 13. Now if Christ be preached, By all of us, and that upon such infallible grounds as I have mentioned; that he rose from the dead, how say some of you — Or rather, how can some among you say; that there is no resurrection of the dead? — With what face can any who allow of Christ’s resurrection, pretend to deny the resurrection of his disciples, whether it be from an attachment to Sadducean or philosophical prejudices? For, if there be no resurrection of the dead — If that doctrine be, in the general, altogether incredible; then is Christ not risen — “The apostle hath not expressed the ideas, by which the consequent in this hypothetical proposition is connected with its antecedent. But when these ideas are supplied, [as follows,] every reader will be sensible of the connection. Christ promised, repeatedly, in the most express terms, that he would raise all mankind from the dead, Matthew 16:27; John 5:28, 29. Wherefore, if there is to be no resurrection of the dead, Christ is a deceiver, whom no person in his right senses can suppose God to have raised, and to have declared his Son. And if Christ hath not been raised, the gospel being stripped of the evidence which it derives from the resurrection of its Author, the whole of the preaching of the apostles, as is observed verse 14, is absolutely false; and the faith of the Corinthians in the divine original of the gospel, and of all Christians, from the beginning to the present hour, is likewise false. Such are the consequences of denying the resurrection of the dead.”
Daniel Whedon
12. If… how say—This draws out the issue. Some—Who or what were these some? Though with the Sadducees they denied the resurrection of the dead, and probably also the existence of spirit, the opposition between Sadducees and Christians renders it improbable that these deniers belonged to that sect. They may have been converts from among the followers of the Athenian philosophers, especially the Epicureans, who dismissed Paul so promptly for preaching Jesus and the resurrection. Indeed, the summit of the Acrocorinthus was almost in sight of Athens; and this epistle, addressed not only to Corinth but to the Churches of Achaia, doubtless included Athens. Nevertheless the some appear, from the objections of theirs answered by St. Paul, to have rejected the resurrection on account of their holding the oriental Gnostic doctrine of the essential impurity of matter. See note on Acts 8:9. Resurrection—The resurrection is, in the New Testament, designated by two words, each designating precisely the same event, but from a different standpoint; 1. ‘Egeirw, to raise, transitively; where the divine power is the agent; 2. Anisthmi, (noun anastasiv,) to rise up; where the person rising is the agent. In this chapter the former word is used at verses 4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15, 15, 16, 16, 17, 20, 29, 32, 35, 42, 43, 43, 44; the latter at verses 12, 13, 20, 42, 52. Both words are applied to the resurrection of Christ, and to the resurrection of the general dead indiscriminately. The former is uniformly held as the essential model of the other. He rose from the dead—Literally, that he has been raised from deads. See our note on Luke 20:35, where the difference between a resurrection of the dead, a resurrection from the dead, and a resurrection from deads, (dead being Greek plural and without the article,) is shown. This is a very important distinction, which no commentator has clearly noticed. Here it is a resurrection from deads or dead ones, Christ himself being included in the dead ones from whom he is raised; the being raised from one’s own dead self being included in the word.
Joseph Agar Beet
I CORINTHIANS
SECTION 28 — SINCE CHRIST HAS RISEN, HIS
PEOPLE WILL RISE CH. 25:12-34
But if Christ is preached, that He is risen from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of dead men? But if there is no resurrection of dead men, not even Christ is risen. And if Christ is not risen, empty then is our preached word, empty also your faith. And we are found to be also false witnesses of God, because we have borne witnesses against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, we should infer, if dead men are not raised, For if dead men are not raised, not even Christ is risen. And if Christ is not risen, vain is your faith; you are still in your sins.
We infer then that they also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we are only men who in this life have hope in Christ, more pitiable than all men are we.
But now Christ is risen from the dead, a firstfruit of the sleeping ones. For since through man is Death, also through man there is Resurrection of dead ones. For just as in Adam all die so also in the Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order. As firstfruit, Christ; then they that are Christ's, at His coming. Then the end, when He gives up the Kingdom to the God and Father, when He shall have brought to nought all principality and all authority and power. For it must needs be that He reign as king till when He have put all the enemies under His feet. As a last enemy, Death is brought to nought. For, all things He has made subject under His feet. But whenever He shall say that all things are made subject, it is evident that it is with the exception of Him who made all things subject to Him. And, when all things have been made subject to Him, then also the Son will be made subject to Him who made all things subject to Him; that God may be all things in all.
Else what will they do who are being baptized on behalf of the dead ones? If, to speak generally, dead men are not raised why are they being baptized on their behalf? Why do we also incur danger every hour? Day by day I am dying; as witness, the exultation about you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. If with human aim I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what is the gain to me? If dead men do not rise, “Let us eat and let us drink: for to-morrow we die.” (Isaiah 22:13.) Be not deceived. “Bad companionships corrupt good dispositions.” Rouse up righteously: and do not sin. For, ignorance of God some have. To awaken shame, to you I speak. By a question Paul now reveals his reason for stating the facts of § 27, viz. that at Corinth some were saying that there is no resurrection of dead men. The precise intention and ground of this last assertion are discussed at the end of § 28 and of DIV. VII. In 1 Corinthians 15:12-17 Paul refutes it by developing the facts of § 27 and then refuting a necessary, though not expressly asserted, consequence of it. viz. that Christ has not risen: in 1 Corinthians 15:13-34 he refutes a second and avowed inference from the same chief error, viz. that there is no life beyond death. Thus, by refuting two necessary logical consequences, Paul overthrows the error itself. And in § 29 he dispels a misconception on which in part the chief error rests.
Ver. 12.-13. Preached; takes up the same word in 1 Corinthians 15:11, which recapitulates 1 Corinthians 15:3-10. Paul does not assume here that Christ is actually risen, but merely that this is proclaimed, as described above. From this proclamation and its results he will prove the fact of the resurrection. Christ is preached. To proclaim that He rose is to proclaim HIM as Prince and Saviour. [The conspicuous perfects in 1 Corinthians 15:12-14, 16, 17, 20 call attention to the abiding effect of Christ's resurrection.]
How say etc.: question of astonishment, like 1 Corinthians 6:1. The present tense implies that they continued to spread their opinions. Some among you: evidently church-members. Yet instead of requiring their expulsion as in 1 Corinthians 5:4f, Paul reasons earnestly with them.
That the inference neither is Christ risen is stated, and in 1 Corinthians 15:16 repeated, without proof but with perfect confidence, implies that it was unmistakably involved in the assertion there is no resurrection of dead men. Consequently, this assertion must be taken as denying in the widest sense that a departed spirit can return to the body. For, in a narrower sense we might deny that a body dissolved in the grace can rise without denying that He rose Whose “flesh saw no corruption.” But the argument implies that no such limited denial was intended by the men referred to here.
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
Adam Clarke
Verse 13. If there be no resurrection of the dead] As Christ was partaker of the same flesh and blood with us, and he promised to raise mankind from the dead through his resurrection, if the dead rise not then Christ has had no resurrection. There seem to have been some at Corinth who, though they denied the resurrection of the dead, admitted that Christ had risen again: the apostle’s argument goes therefore to state that, if Christ was raised from the dead, mankind may be raised; if mankind cannot be raised from the dead, then the body of Christ was never raised.
Joseph Benson
Verse 12, 13. Now if Christ be preached, By all of us, and that upon such infallible grounds as I have mentioned; that he rose from the dead, how say some of you — Or rather, how can some among you say; that there is no resurrection of the dead? — With what face can any who allow of Christ’s resurrection, pretend to deny the resurrection of his disciples, whether it be from an attachment to Sadducean or philosophical prejudices? For, if there be no resurrection of the dead — If that doctrine be, in the general, altogether incredible; then is Christ not risen — “The apostle hath not expressed the ideas, by which the consequent in this hypothetical proposition is connected with its antecedent. But when these ideas are supplied, [as follows,] every reader will be sensible of the connection. Christ promised, repeatedly, in the most express terms, that he would raise all mankind from the dead, Matthew 16:27; John 5:28, 29. Wherefore, if there is to be no resurrection of the dead, Christ is a deceiver, whom no person in his right senses can suppose God to have raised, and to have declared his Son. And if Christ hath not been raised, the gospel being stripped of the evidence which it derives from the resurrection of its Author, the whole of the preaching of the apostles, as is observed verse 14, is absolutely false; and the faith of the Corinthians in the divine original of the gospel, and of all Christians, from the beginning to the present hour, is likewise false. Such are the consequences of denying the resurrection of the dead.”
Daniel Whedon
13. If… no resurrection—If resurrection of deads there is not. If (such is the supposition) no resurrection of any dead persons takes place: if a resurrection is excluded from nature and thought. So thought the Epicureans and Stoics at Athens, (Acts 17:32,) flouting or politely dismissing the idea of a resurrection from consideration. Christ not risen—Literally, Christ has not been raised. He is still dead. The reasoning is decisive as a syllogism, from the universal to the particular. So the Athenians reasoned, from universal to individual.
Joseph Agar Beet
I CORINTHIANS
SECTION 28 — SINCE CHRIST HAS RISEN, HIS
PEOPLE WILL RISE CH. 25:12-34
But if Christ is preached, that He is risen from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of dead men? But if there is no resurrection of dead men, not even Christ is risen. And if Christ is not risen, empty then is our preached word, empty also your faith. And we are found to be also false witnesses of God, because we have borne witnesses against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, we should infer, if dead men are not raised, For if dead men are not raised, not even Christ is risen. And if Christ is not risen, vain is your faith; you are still in your sins.
We infer then that they also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we are only men who in this life have hope in Christ, more pitiable than all men are we.
But now Christ is risen from the dead, a firstfruit of the sleeping ones. For since through man is Death, also through man there is Resurrection of dead ones. For just as in Adam all die so also in the Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order. As firstfruit, Christ; then they that are Christ's, at His coming. Then the end, when He gives up the Kingdom to the God and Father, when He shall have brought to nought all principality and all authority and power. For it must needs be that He reign as king till when He have put all the enemies under His feet. As a last enemy, Death is brought to nought. For, all things He has made subject under His feet. But whenever He shall say that all things are made subject, it is evident that it is with the exception of Him who made all things subject to Him. And, when all things have been made subject to Him, then also the Son will be made subject to Him who made all things subject to Him; that God may be all things in all.
Else what will they do who are being baptized on behalf of the dead ones? If, to speak generally, dead men are not raised why are they being baptized on their behalf? Why do we also incur danger every hour? Day by day I am dying; as witness, the exultation about you, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. If with human aim I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what is the gain to me? If dead men do not rise, “Let us eat and let us drink: for to-morrow we die.” (Isaiah 22:13.) Be not deceived. “Bad companionships corrupt good dispositions.” Rouse up righteously: and do not sin. For, ignorance of God some have. To awaken shame, to you I speak. By a question Paul now reveals his reason for stating the facts of § 27, viz. that at Corinth some were saying that there is no resurrection of dead men. The precise intention and ground of this last assertion are discussed at the end of § 28 and of DIV. VII. In 1 Corinthians 15:12-17 Paul refutes it by developing the facts of § 27 and then refuting a necessary, though not expressly asserted, consequence of it. viz. that Christ has not risen: in 1 Corinthians 15:13-34 he refutes a second and avowed inference from the same chief error, viz. that there is no life beyond death. Thus, by refuting two necessary logical consequences, Paul overthrows the error itself. And in § 29 he dispels a misconception on which in part the chief error rests.
Ver. 12.-13. Preached; takes up the same word in 1 Corinthians 15:11, which recapitulates 1 Corinthians 15:3-10. Paul does not assume here that Christ is actually risen, but merely that this is proclaimed, as described above. From this proclamation and its results he will prove the fact of the resurrection. Christ is preached. To proclaim that He rose is to proclaim HIM as Prince and Saviour. [The conspicuous perfects in 1 Corinthians 15:12-14, 16, 17, 20 call attention to the abiding effect of Christ's resurrection.]
How say etc.: question of astonishment, like 1 Corinthians 6:1. The present tense implies that they continued to spread their opinions. Some among you: evidently church-members. Yet instead of requiring their expulsion as in 1 Corinthians 5:4f, Paul reasons earnestly with them.
That the inference neither is Christ risen is stated, and in 1 Corinthians 15:16 repeated, without proof but with perfect confidence, implies that it was unmistakably involved in the assertion there is no resurrection of dead men. Consequently, this assertion must be taken as denying in the widest sense that a departed spirit can return to the body. For, in a narrower sense we might deny that a body dissolved in the grace can rise without denying that He rose Whose “flesh saw no corruption.” But the argument implies that no such limited denial was intended by the men referred to here.
And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
John Wesley
V. 14. Then is our preaching-From a commission supposed to be given after the resurrection.
Vain-Without any real foundation.
Adam Clarke
Verse 14. Then is our preaching vain] Our whole doctrine is useless, nugatory and false.
And your faith is also vain.] Your belief of a false doctrine must necessarily be to you unprofitable.
Joseph Benson
Verses 14-18. Then is our preaching — In consequence of a commission supposed to be given after his resurrection; vain — Without any real foundation, and destitute of truth; and your faith — In our preaching; is vain — Is grounded on falsehood and deception; yea, and we are false witnesses of God — Having testified that Jesus of Nazareth is his Son and the Messiah; that he hath atoned for sin; hath risen from the dead and ascended into heaven; hath obtained for his followers the Holy Spirit in his gifts and graces; a resurrection from the dead, and eternal life; and is constituted the final Judge of men and angels; — all which things, depending on his resurrection, are absolutely false, if he be not risen; and, of consequence, ye are yet in your sins — Unpardoned and unrenewed, without either a title to heaven or a meetness for it. So that there needed something more than reformation, (which was plainly wrought in them,) in order to their being delivered from the guilt of sin, and renewed after the divine image; even that atonement, the sufficiency of which God attested by raising our great Surety from the grave, and the influences of the Divine Spirit procured for us by that atonement. Then they who are fallen asleep in Christ — Who have died for him, or believing in him; are perished — Have lost their life and being together. This sentence shows, that in this discourse the apostle has the resurrection of the just principally in view, and that what he hath written concerning the excellent qualities of the bodies to be raised, is to be understood of the bodies of the saints only.
Daniel Whedon
14. Our preaching… your faith—Our preaching and your faith are alike a vanity. St. Paul does not suppose that any one will reply. But even without a resurrection, is not the soul immortal, and may not its immortality be blissful through Christ? He does not anticipate this reply, because those deniers did not admit any such immortality. Nor, to all appearance, does Paul himself base our Christian hopes upon an immortality of soul that is not based on Christ, that is, of which our resurrection is not the base, and that based on his resurrection. He preached not Jesus and the immortality of the soul, but Jesus and the resurrection. That he believed in the separate existence and immortality of the soul appears from Philippians 1:23, 24. But man is an immortal being, not because he is a thinking substance, for brutes think; but because he is by God placed in the conditions for immortality. A lamp will burn forever if the conditions of carbon and oxygen are properly supplied. An animal would be immortal if placed by God in the conditions for its immortality. Now man is an immortal being because he is placed by God in a probationary system, the basis of which is the resurrection, the accompaniment of which resurrection is the perpetuation of the existence of the soul through the intermediate state until its reunion with the body. Of this destiny for immortality, the proofs drawn from the high intuitive character of the spirit of man are valid and powerful. Animals fear death, and avoid localities of danger. But animals are below the conception of immortality, which is a form of the idea of the Infinite. From this view it is clear that no argument can be drawn against the immortality of man from the high intellective character of some animals. We are not, indeed, obliged by Christianity to deny the immortality of brutes, or insects. We are perfectly free to believe even that every case of individualized perceptive life, (that is, every intellective entity individualized by being once united to a material organism,) remains a thinking individual forever. But the Pauline ground for man’s immortality is the assumed fact of man’s probationary condition under the headship of Christ, as heir of the resurrection.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 14.-17. Proof, from the facts of § 27 summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:11, that the concluding words of 1 Corinthians 15:13 are false. Our preached-word (developed in 1 Corinthians 15:15) takes up “we preached” in 1 Corinthians 15:11: your faith (developed in 1 Corinthians 15:17) takes up “you believed.” Both the word preached by Paul and the assurance with which the Corinthians received it would, if Christ had not risen, be empty, i.e. destitute of reality. Of these two assertions, the former is developed in 1 Corinthians 15:15. If Christ be not risen, the apostles are found out to be acting under false pretences and giving false testimony even about God.
Because we etc.; proves this, and carries it a step further. Since God has done all that is wise and good, to say that He has done what He has not done, is to bear witness against God.
Whom He did not raise … not even Christ is risen: forceful repetition of the argument of 1 Corinthians 15:13.
Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
John Wesley
V. 15. If the dead rise not-If the very notion of a resurrection be, as they say, absurd and impossible.
Joseph Benson
Verses 14-18. Then is our preaching — In consequence of a commission supposed to be given after his resurrection; vain — Without any real foundation, and destitute of truth; and your faith — In our preaching; is vain — Is grounded on falsehood and deception; yea, and we are false witnesses of God — Having testified that Jesus of Nazareth is his Son and the Messiah; that he hath atoned for sin; hath risen from the dead and ascended into heaven; hath obtained for his followers the Holy Spirit in his gifts and graces; a resurrection from the dead, and eternal life; and is constituted the final Judge of men and angels; — all which things, depending on his resurrection, are absolutely false, if he be not risen; and, of consequence, ye are yet in your sins — Unpardoned and unrenewed, without either a title to heaven or a meetness for it. So that there needed something more than reformation, (which was plainly wrought in them,) in order to their being delivered from the guilt of sin, and renewed after the divine image; even that atonement, the sufficiency of which God attested by raising our great Surety from the grave, and the influences of the Divine Spirit procured for us by that atonement. Then they who are fallen asleep in Christ — Who have died for him, or believing in him; are perished — Have lost their life and being together. This sentence shows, that in this discourse the apostle has the resurrection of the just principally in view, and that what he hath written concerning the excellent qualities of the bodies to be raised, is to be understood of the bodies of the saints only.
Daniel Whedon
15. False witnesses—The supposition not only empties our faith of all value, but it makes all of us apostles perjurers. Paul admits no excuse on grounds of the apostles being mistaken, deceived by false perceptions or excited imaginations. It is an issue of personal veracity. Of God—False reporters of, or in regard to, God. Of God—The Greek (in spite of Alford) can hardly be otherwise rendered than against God. The charge is, that we have testified against God what he never did; and what either the laws of nature or the corruptness of matter forbids him to do. And, says Grotius ingeniously: “If any one adulterates the coin of the king, he is most severely punished. Miracles are the coin of God.”
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 14.-17. Proof, from the facts of § 27 summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:11, that the concluding words of 1 Corinthians 15:13 are false. Our preached-word (developed in 1 Corinthians 15:15) takes up “we preached” in 1 Corinthians 15:11: your faith (developed in 1 Corinthians 15:17) takes up “you believed.” Both the word preached by Paul and the assurance with which the Corinthians received it would, if Christ had not risen, be empty, i.e. destitute of reality. Of these two assertions, the former is developed in 1 Corinthians 15:15. If Christ be not risen, the apostles are found out to be acting under false pretences and giving false testimony even about God.
Because we etc.; proves this, and carries it a step further. Since God has done all that is wise and good, to say that He has done what He has not done, is to bear witness against God.
Whom He did not raise … not even Christ is risen: forceful repetition of the argument of 1 Corinthians 15:13.
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
Adam Clarke
Verse 16. False witnesses] As having testified the fact of Christ’s resurrection, as a matter which ourselves had witnessed, when we knew that we bore testimony to a falsehood. But could five hundred persons agree in this imposition? And if they did, is it possible that some one would not discover the cheat, when he could have no interest in keeping the secret, and might greatly promote his secular interest by making the discovery? Such a case never occurred, and never can occur. The testimony, therefore, concerning the resurrection of Christ, is incontrovertibly true.
If so be that the dead rise not.] This clause is wanting in DE, Syriac, some of the Slavonian, and Itala; several also of the primitive fathers omit it. Its great similarity to the following words might be the cause of its omission by some copyists.
Joseph Benson
Verses 14-18. Then is our preaching — In consequence of a commission supposed to be given after his resurrection; vain — Without any real foundation, and destitute of truth; and your faith — In our preaching; is vain — Is grounded on falsehood and deception; yea, and we are false witnesses of God — Having testified that Jesus of Nazareth is his Son and the Messiah; that he hath atoned for sin; hath risen from the dead and ascended into heaven; hath obtained for his followers the Holy Spirit in his gifts and graces; a resurrection from the dead, and eternal life; and is constituted the final Judge of men and angels; — all which things, depending on his resurrection, are absolutely false, if he be not risen; and, of consequence, ye are yet in your sins — Unpardoned and unrenewed, without either a title to heaven or a meetness for it. So that there needed something more than reformation, (which was plainly wrought in them,) in order to their being delivered from the guilt of sin, and renewed after the divine image; even that atonement, the sufficiency of which God attested by raising our great Surety from the grave, and the influences of the Divine Spirit procured for us by that atonement. Then they who are fallen asleep in Christ — Who have died for him, or believing in him; are perished — Have lost their life and being together. This sentence shows, that in this discourse the apostle has the resurrection of the just principally in view, and that what he hath written concerning the excellent qualities of the bodies to be raised, is to be understood of the bodies of the saints only.
Daniel Whedon
16-19. Paul now commences a new series of ifs, supposing Christ not risen, and ending with the perdition of the dead saints, and utter misery of the living.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 14.-17. Proof, from the facts of § 27 summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:11, that the concluding words of 1 Corinthians 15:13 are false. Our preached-word (developed in 1 Corinthians 15:15) takes up “we preached” in 1 Corinthians 15:11: your faith (developed in 1 Corinthians 15:17) takes up “you believed.” Both the word preached by Paul and the assurance with which the Corinthians received it would, if Christ had not risen, be empty, i.e. destitute of reality. Of these two assertions, the former is developed in 1 Corinthians 15:15. If Christ be not risen, the apostles are found out to be acting under false pretences and giving false testimony even about God.
Because we etc.; proves this, and carries it a step further. Since God has done all that is wise and good, to say that He has done what He has not done, is to bear witness against God.
Whom He did not raise … not even Christ is risen: forceful repetition of the argument of 1 Corinthians 15:13.
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
John Wesley
V. 17. Ye are still in your sins-That is, under the guilt of them. So that there needed something more than reformation, (which was plainly wrought,) in order to their being delivered from the guilt of sin even that atonement, the sufficiency of which God attested by raising our great Surety from the grave.
Adam Clarke
Verse 17. Ye are yet in your sins.] If Christ has not risen from the dead, there is no proof that he has not been justly put to death. If he were a malefactor, God would not work a miracle to raise him from the dead. If he has not been raised from the dead, there is a presumption that he has been put to death justly; and, if so, consequently he has made no atonement; and ye are yet in your sins-under the power, guilt, and condemnation of them. All this reasoning of the apostle goes to prove that at Corinth, even among those false teachers, the innocency of our Lord was allowed, and the reality of his resurrection not questioned.
Joseph Benson
Verses 14-18. Then is our preaching — In consequence of a commission supposed to be given after his resurrection; vain — Without any real foundation, and destitute of truth; and your faith — In our preaching; is vain — Is grounded on falsehood and deception; yea, and we are false witnesses of God — Having testified that Jesus of Nazareth is his Son and the Messiah; that he hath atoned for sin; hath risen from the dead and ascended into heaven; hath obtained for his followers the Holy Spirit in his gifts and graces; a resurrection from the dead, and eternal life; and is constituted the final Judge of men and angels; — all which things, depending on his resurrection, are absolutely false, if he be not risen; and, of consequence, ye are yet in your sins — Unpardoned and unrenewed, without either a title to heaven or a meetness for it. So that there needed something more than reformation, (which was plainly wrought in them,) in order to their being delivered from the guilt of sin, and renewed after the divine image; even that atonement, the sufficiency of which God attested by raising our great Surety from the grave, and the influences of the Divine Spirit procured for us by that atonement. Then they who are fallen asleep in Christ — Who have died for him, or believing in him; are perished — Have lost their life and being together. This sentence shows, that in this discourse the apostle has the resurrection of the just principally in view, and that what he hath written concerning the excellent qualities of the bodies to be raised, is to be understood of the bodies of the saints only.
Daniel Whedon
17. In your sins—If Christ is still dead, and Christianity is nothing, we are in a pagan or Jewish condition. We have no deliverance from sin; neither by Christ, nor from the expiations that Judaism or paganism professes to offer. Both these systems had their sense of sin, and their sacrifices and lustrations for it. But if Christ rose not, ye Christians, wholly without expiation, are yet in your sins.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 17. Develops “empty also is your faith” in 1 Corinthians 15:14. For a belief which is “empty,” i.e. destitute of reality, must also be vain, i.e. barren of results.
In your sins: your former sins, as the element in which you still live and walk. Cp. Ephesians 2:2; John 8:24. This is better than to expound “under the penalty of sin.” For Paul evidently supposes that, without further disproof from him, these words will be at once contradicted by his reader's inner consciousness, which would testify that they are no longer committing their own former sins. To the same conscious victory over sin he appeals in Romans 8:13f. His readers knew well that they were no longer in their former bondage to sin. Consequently, their faith was not without result. And, if so, it could not be empty credulity; nor could the men whose word they had believed with results so good be false witnesses against God. Yet these men had proclaimed as an essential element of the Gospel that Christ had risen. Therefore, the inward deliverance from sin enjoyed by the Corinthians was itself a proof that Christ had risen. Notice that here, as in Romans 6:17ff; Ephesians 2:2f, Paul assumes that all men have been sinners; and with great confidence and courtesy assumes that his readers have been saved from sin.
That Paul took so much pains to prove the first link of the argument of 1 Corinthians 15:13, viz. that Christ has risen, and no pains at all to prove the second link, viz. that His resurrection disproves the assertion that there is no resurrection, shows that the second point was so clear that it would be admitted at once, whereas the former might be doubted. But, that no mention is made of denial that Christ had risen, suggests that, though some at Corinth had denied the resurrection in a sense which, as they could hardly fail to see, excluded the resurrection of Christ, yet they had not thought fit to express their denial to its logical issue. Notice that Paul does not speak directly to the deniers, but to the members generally whom he wishes to protect against error taught in their midst, and with whom he reasons from spiritual facts of their own inner life.
Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
John Wesley
V. 18. They who sleep in Christ-Who have died for him, or believing in him.
Are perished-Have lost their life and being together.
Adam Clarke
Verse 18. They also which are fallen asleep] All those who, either by martyrdom or natural death, have departed in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, are perished; their hope was without foundation, and their faith had not reason and truth for its object. Their bodies are dissolved in the earth, finally decomposed and destroyed, notwithstanding the promise of Christ to such, that he would raise them up at the last day. See John 5:25, 28, 29; 11:25, 26, &c.
Joseph Benson
Verses 14-18. Then is our preaching — In consequence of a commission supposed to be given after his resurrection; vain — Without any real foundation, and destitute of truth; and your faith — In our preaching; is vain — Is grounded on falsehood and deception; yea, and we are false witnesses of God — Having testified that Jesus of Nazareth is his Son and the Messiah; that he hath atoned for sin; hath risen from the dead and ascended into heaven; hath obtained for his followers the Holy Spirit in his gifts and graces; a resurrection from the dead, and eternal life; and is constituted the final Judge of men and angels; — all which things, depending on his resurrection, are absolutely false, if he be not risen; and, of consequence, ye are yet in your sins — Unpardoned and unrenewed, without either a title to heaven or a meetness for it. So that there needed something more than reformation, (which was plainly wrought in them,) in order to their being delivered from the guilt of sin, and renewed after the divine image; even that atonement, the sufficiency of which God attested by raising our great Surety from the grave, and the influences of the Divine Spirit procured for us by that atonement. Then they who are fallen asleep in Christ — Who have died for him, or believing in him; are perished — Have lost their life and being together. This sentence shows, that in this discourse the apostle has the resurrection of the just principally in view, and that what he hath written concerning the excellent qualities of the bodies to be raised, is to be understood of the bodies of the saints only.
Daniel Whedon
18. Fallen asleep—Ruckert quotes an elegant sentence from Photius: “In regard to Christ, Paul uses the term death in order that his dying should be clearly affirmed; when he speaks of us, he uses the cheerful word sleep, that he may yield us consolation. When resurrection is the subject he frankly says death; but when he dwells upon our hopes he calls it sleep.” Are perished—Literally, They that fell asleep in Christ perished; that is, aoristically, they perished in the act of falling asleep. They fell asleep in Christ, according to the Christian and Pauline view; they perished upon the non-resurrection and non-Christian view. What, then, is the meaning of perished? And it seems not pertinent here to say, with Kling: “Perdition, according to Scripture, is not annihilation, but the state of damnation— remaining in gehenna;” for Paul is writing for, and probably arguing with, those who ignore Gehenna, and even the future existence of the soul. Nor does it seem pertinent to say, with Alford, that perished means “passed into misery in hades.” Both these views Paul seems carefully to avoid expressing, and uses the generic term perished, which was in use among Gentiles on this very point, and which does not define the nature of the ruin. Besides, his statement that the falling asleep and the perishing is one and the same thing, forbids this applying the word perishing to an after state. Those with whom he argues confine the hope in Christ to this life, verse 19; and their view yields the Epicurean maxim of verse 32, both of which passages suggest that these heretics denied the future of the soul. The philosophers who mocked Paul at Athens denied alike the resurrection, and the immortality of the soul. A short time before Christ, Cesar, in the Roman senate, argued against executing the followers of Cataline under the assumption, fully expressed, that death is the last of man; and of the entire senate not one dissented from that belief. This was the settled view of the civilized paganism of the age. Even the poets, who playfully prattled of manes, hades, and shadowy Plutonian domes, did, as prosaic thinkers, reject and laugh at such myths. And these Corinthian deniers of the resurrection clearly held the view that Christianity only presented a resurrection of the soul from sin, and was, therefore, a good thing for this life, but nothing for the life to come.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 18. Another inference, in addition to that of 1 Corinthians 15:13, logically involved in the assertion “that there is no resurrection.” The mere statement of this inference proves it to be false; and thus disproves the statement which involves it. If the dead are not raised, then not only are you in your sins but also they who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
Fallen-asleep: frequent metaphor of death, 1 Corinthians 7:39; 11:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:13ff; Matthew 27:52; John 11:11; Acts 7:60; 13:36; 1 Kings 11:43; 2 Macc. 12:45. So Homer, Iliad bk. xi. 241: “He fell down and slept a sleep of brass.” It is specially suitable here: for we expect sleepers to awake. The metaphor is suggested so naturally by the appearance of the dead that it is utterly unfair to infer from it that they are unconscious. See 2 Corinthians 5:8. But they are at rest.
Fallen-asleep; directs attention to the event of death.
Perished: hopelessly ruined. Same word as destroyed, and lost: see Review of DIV. VII. and note under Romans 2:24. If dead men do not rise, and if consequently our hope of eternal happiness depends upon our surviving till Christ comes, then our departed brethren have lost their share in that happiness, and have thus lost everything and lost themselves. That this is absolutely impossible, Paul leaves his readers to judge. For it could not be conceived that they who had lived in Christ and gone down to the grave trusting in Him, whose very death had been an evident victory over death, had by the hand of death been separated from Him.
Grammatically we might connect 1 Corinthians 15:18 with the foregoing words, and take it as proof that we are not “still in our sins.” But to a Christian man this needs no proof. And, as expounded above, 1 Corinthians 15:18 is a complete and additional argument in support of the main thesis of § 28, viz. that there is a resurrection of the dead. A similarly abrupt argument in support of this thesis, we find in 1 Corinthians 15:29.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
John Wesley
V. 19. If in this life only we have hope-If we look for nothing beyond the grave. But if we have a divine evidence of things not seen, if we have a hope full of immortality, if we now taste of the powers of the world to come, and see the crown that fadeth not away, then, notwithstanding all our present trials, we are more happy than all men.
Adam Clarke
Verse 19. If in this life only we have hope] It would be better to translate and point this verse as follows:-
And, if in this life we have hoped in Christ only, we are more to be pitied than all men. If, in this life, we have no other hope and confidence but in Christ, (and if he be still dead, and not yet risen,) we are more to be pitied than any other men; we are sadly deceived; we have denied ourselves, and been denied by others; have mortified ourselves, and been persecuted by our fellow creatures on account of our belief and hope in One who is not existing, and therefore can neither succour us here, nor reward us hereafter. Bishop Pearce.
Joseph Benson
Verse 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ — We, who are exposed to such a variety of dangers and sufferings, for his sake; we are of all men most miserable — Eleeinoteroi, most to be pitied; that is, if we look for nothing beyond the grave. But if we have a divine evidence of things not seen; if we have a hope full of immortality; if we now taste the powers of the world to come, and see the crown that fadeth not away; then, notwithstanding all our present trials, we are more happy than all men. Some have argued from this verse, that if there were no future state, piety and virtue would make men more miserable in this world than they otherwise would be. But, as Dr. Doddridge observes, it is evident the apostle is not speaking here of the case of good men in general, if their hopes of future happiness should be disappointed; but of the case of the first Christians, and especially of the apostles and other preachers of Christianity, amid the hardships and persecutions to which they were continually exposed. If they had not known that there was a state of immortal felicity and glory before them, and if they had not been supported amid their various sufferings with a well-grounded and lively hope of it, they must have been peculiarly miserable. For besides all the external calamities to which they were exposed, they must have been perpetually subjected to the upbraidings of their own minds, for sacrificing every view of happiness in this world or another, to advance what they knew to be a pernicious falsehood. It must be observed, the apostle does not say, that if there should be no resurrection of the body, the Christian could only hope in Christ in this life; for if the soul be immortal, and may be happy after its separation from the body, that would not follow. But he argues thus: If Christ is not risen for our justification, we are yet under the guilt of sin, verse 17; and if so, both soul and body must perish after death, verse 18; and then the hope of Christians must terminate with this life, which being more especially to many of them a life of misery, by reason of the sufferings to which their faith here often exposes them, they would of all men be most miserable. Macknight considers the apostle as answering an objection, which he supposes the reader to have made in his own mind, namely, this: “The apostles know that Christ hath not risen, and that there will be no resurrection of the dead, but they preach these things for the sake of some present advantage.” “To this Paul replies, If in this life only we have hope, &c., we are of all men the most miserable — Because, by preaching Christ’s resurrection, we expose ourselves to every possible present evil, and if there is to be no resurrection of the dead, there is no future state in which we can enjoy anything. This argument is levelled against the Sadducees, who, believing the soul to be material, affirmed that it perishes with the body; and will have no existence after death, the body being never to be raised. The apostle’s argument is equally conclusive on supposition that the soul is immaterial, and that it will exist and enjoy [happiness] after death, although the body is not raised. For if the apostles were false witnesses and impostors, they could look for no happiness from God after death.”
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. The apostle here puts the consequences of denying the resurrection in their strongest forms. The gospel lost… the witness perjured… the dead perished! If so, what fools then are we to fight with beasts in every city, to be often in jails, scourged of the Romans, and whipped by the Jews! But thanks be to God, and let heaven and earth rehearse the song, THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST IS NO PROBLEM OF THE SCHOOLS: ALL IS CERTAINTY OF EVIDENCE, AND GLORY OF OPERATION.
Daniel Whedon
19. In this life—The Sadducees, Stoics, and Epicureans held to rewards of virtue in this life. Paul could concede that; but when they proceeded to add in this life only, he objected. Most miserable—Rather, most pitiable. They were more pitiable than either of the above three sects, because they underwent persecution, privation, and martyrdom; but still more because, on the supposition stated, they did all this inflated with false visions of eternal glory hereafter. And so pagan authors held the Christian readiness for suffering and death an infatuation. Said the philosopher Epictetus, “Is it possible that a man may arrive at this temper and become indifferent to those things, from madness or from habit, like the Galileans?” And the Emperor Marcus Aurelius said, “Let this preparedness of mind (for death) arise from its own judgment, and not from obstinacy, like the Christians.”
3. Reaffirmation of Christ’s resurrection, and statement of the place of the resurrection in the divine system, 20-28.
This sublime passage, preceded by 2 Thessalonians 1:10, and followed by vv. 51-57 of this chapter, forms a part of what we may call the Apocalypse of St. Paul. It differs from that of St. John as being briefer and more literal; and, because it is more literal, John is to be explained by Paul rather than Paul by John.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 19. An argument supplementary to the last. It implies that some who denied the resurrection were, or might be, nevertheless looking forward with hope to the coming of Christ and to the endless happiness He will bring. Now, if dead men be not raised, i.e. if they “who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished,” the realization of these hopes depends upon our surviving till Christ comes. And, if so, we and all our hopes are at the mercy of death: for they may be overturned at any moment by its approach. Our hopes, like worldly hopes, depend upon continuance in this life. We are only men who in this life have hope of Christ. If so, men like Paul, whose life was one long peril of death, are in a position most pitiable: and their conduct in braving such perils (1 Corinthians 15:30) is inexplicable. For hopes most glorious hang upon a thread most slender. The correctness of the foregoing exposition is confirmed by an important coincidence in 1 Thessalonians 4:13ff, where we learn that similar doubts existed at Thessalonica.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
John Wesley
V. 20. But now-St. Paul declares that Christians have hope, not in this life only. His proof of the resurrection lies in a narrow compass, 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. Almost all the rest of the chapter is taken up in illustrating, vindicating, and applying it. The proof is short, but solid and convincing, that which arose from Christ's resurrection. Now this not only proved a resurrection possible, but, as it proved him to be a divine teacher, proved the certainty of a general resurrection, which he so expressly taught.
The first fruit of them that slept-The earnest, pledge, and insurance of their resurrection who slept in him: even of all the righteous. It is of the resurrection of these, and these only, that the apostle speaks throughout the chapter.
Adam Clarke
Verse 20. But now is Christ risen] On the contrary, Christ is raised from the dead, and is become the first fruits of them that slept. His resurrection has been demonstrated, and our resurrection necessarily follows; as sure as the first fruits are the proof that there is a harvest, so surely the resurrection of Christ is a proof of ours. The Judaizing teacher at Corinth would feel the force of this observation much sooner than we can, who are not much acquainted with Jewish customs. “Although,” says Dr. Lightfoot, “the resurrection of Christ, compared with some first fruits, has very good harmony with them; yet especially it agrees with the offering of the sheaf, commonly called rmw[ omer, not only as the thing itself, but also as to the circumstances of the time. For first there was the passover, and the day following was a Sabbatic day, and on the day following that the first fruits were offered. So Christ, our passover, was crucified: the day following his crucifixion was the Sabbath, and the day following that, He, the first fruits of them that slept, rose again. All who died before Christ, and were raised again to life, died afterwards; but Christ is the first fruits of all who shall be raised from the dead to die no more.”
Joseph Benson
Verses 20-22. But now is Christ risen — Here the apostle declares that Christians have hope not in this life only. His proof of the resurrection lies in a narrow compass, verse 12-19. Almost all the rest of the chapter is taken up in illustrating, vindicating, and applying it. The proof is short, but solid and convincing, namely, that which arose from Christ’s resurrection. Now this not only proved a resurrection possible, but, as it proved him to be a divine teacher, it proved also the certainty of a general resurrection, which he so expressly taught. The first-fruits of them that slept — The pledge, earnest, and assurance of the resurrection of those who sleep in him, even of all the righteous, of the resurrection of whom, at least chiefly, if not only, the apostle speaks throughout the chapter. As to the term first-fruits, in explanation thereof it may be proper to observe, that “the Israelites were commanded to bring on the morrow after the sabbath, with which the passover week began, a sheaf of the first-fruits of their harvest to the priest, to be waved before the Lord, who, by accepting it, made it an example and a pledge of the future harvest. In allusion to that rite, Christ, who arose on the very day on which the first-fruits were offered, is called the first-fruits of them who slept, because he is the first who was raised from the dead to die no more, and because his resurrection is an example and an earnest of the resurrection of the righteous.” For since by man came death — Since death came on the whole human race by means of one man, who brought mortality on all his posterity in consequence of one great and wilful transgression; by man came also, &c. — That is, by means of another man came likewise the resurrection of the dead — And our happy relation to him abundantly repairs the damage we sustain by our fatal relation to the former. For as in Adam all — Even the righteous; die, so in — Or through; Christ shall all these be made alive — He does not say shall revive, (as naturally as they die,) but shall be made alive, namely, by a power not their own. See on Romans 5:18, a passage which is a good comment on this verse.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 20. Now is Christ risen — the firstfruits of them that slept. His resurrection occurred on the day after the jewish sabbath, the very day when the sheaf, the firstfruits of the barley harvest, was offered to the Lord, a happy figure of Christ, the first-begotten from the dead, on which account our Saxon fathers call the festival Erist, or Easter.
Daniel Whedon
20. But now—After all these denials. Is Christ risen—Reaffirmed with sublime emphasis. Firstfruits—According to the Mosaic ritual the first product of the year from field, vineyard, etc., was sacred, and offered unto God. So Christ, as the first raised from the dead to die no more, was the firstfruits of the universal resurrection. Others, like Lazarus and the son of the widow of Nain, were raised from death; and that raising is called, in verb form, a resurrection; but they were raised in mortal body to die again. Their raising was no part of the organic universal resurrection. Christ was the first who went from the tomb to heaven.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 20. Triumphant assertion that Christ is risen, prompted by a deep consciousness how far from true were the suppositions involved in a denial of it; followed by an assertion that His resurrection is a pledge of ours. But now: as in 1 Corinthians 12:18: “as things actually are.” First-fruit: Romans 8:23; 16:5: the first-ripe ears, which are a pledge and a part of the coming harvest. Cp. Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:5; and, in Appendix A, the Epistle of Clement, ch. 24.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
Adam Clarke
Verse 21. For since by man came death] Mortality came by Adam, immortality by Christ; so sure as all have been subjected to natural death by Adam, so sure shall all be raised again by Christ Jesus. Mortality and immortality, on a general ground, are the subject of the apostle’s reasoning here; and for the explanation of the transgression of Adam, and the redemption by Christ, see Clarke’s notes on “Romans 5:10”, &c.
Joseph Benson
Verses 20-22. But now is Christ risen — Here the apostle declares that Christians have hope not in this life only. His proof of the resurrection lies in a narrow compass, verse 12-19. Almost all the rest of the chapter is taken up in illustrating, vindicating, and applying it. The proof is short, but solid and convincing, namely, that which arose from Christ’s resurrection. Now this not only proved a resurrection possible, but, as it proved him to be a divine teacher, it proved also the certainty of a general resurrection, which he so expressly taught. The first-fruits of them that slept — The pledge, earnest, and assurance of the resurrection of those who sleep in him, even of all the righteous, of the resurrection of whom, at least chiefly, if not only, the apostle speaks throughout the chapter. As to the term first-fruits, in explanation thereof it may be proper to observe, that “the Israelites were commanded to bring on the morrow after the sabbath, with which the passover week began, a sheaf of the first-fruits of their harvest to the priest, to be waved before the Lord, who, by accepting it, made it an example and a pledge of the future harvest. In allusion to that rite, Christ, who arose on the very day on which the first-fruits were offered, is called the first-fruits of them who slept, because he is the first who was raised from the dead to die no more, and because his resurrection is an example and an earnest of the resurrection of the righteous.” For since by man came death — Since death came on the whole human race by means of one man, who brought mortality on all his posterity in consequence of one great and wilful transgression; by man came also, &c. — That is, by means of another man came likewise the resurrection of the dead — And our happy relation to him abundantly repairs the damage we sustain by our fatal relation to the former. For as in Adam all — Even the righteous; die, so in — Or through; Christ shall all these be made alive — He does not say shall revive, (as naturally as they die,) but shall be made alive, namely, by a power not their own. See on Romans 5:18, a passage which is a good comment on this verse.
Daniel Whedon
21. For—Just as the afterfruits are of the same nature with the firstfruits, so the human race is after the nature of its heads. By man—It pleased God that in some way humanity should within itself, however aided by divinity, work out its own destiny, both for death and life; within itself, in Adam and in Christ.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 21. Justifies the expression first-fruit, by explaining the connection therein implied between Christ's resurrection and ours.
Through man, death: explained in Romans 5:12.
Through; denotes constantly Christ's relation to us and our salvation. See under Romans 1:5. The conspicuous repetition through man … also through man, embodies an important principle. God has linked men together so closely that each one receives good and ill through his fellows. This abiding relation revealed itself first in the father of our race, through whom comes death to all. And, that this relation might be a channel not only of ill but of surpassing good, Christ became man and made His humanity a channel of life to all who receive Him.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
John Wesley
V. 22. As through Adam all, even the righteous, die, so through Christ all these shall be made alive-He does not say, shall revive, (as naturally as they die,) but shall be made alive, by a power not their own.
Joseph Benson
Verses 20-22. But now is Christ risen — Here the apostle declares that Christians have hope not in this life only. His proof of the resurrection lies in a narrow compass, verse 12-19. Almost all the rest of the chapter is taken up in illustrating, vindicating, and applying it. The proof is short, but solid and convincing, namely, that which arose from Christ’s resurrection. Now this not only proved a resurrection possible, but, as it proved him to be a divine teacher, it proved also the certainty of a general resurrection, which he so expressly taught. The first-fruits of them that slept — The pledge, earnest, and assurance of the resurrection of those who sleep in him, even of all the righteous, of the resurrection of whom, at least chiefly, if not only, the apostle speaks throughout the chapter. As to the term first-fruits, in explanation thereof it may be proper to observe, that “the Israelites were commanded to bring on the morrow after the sabbath, with which the passover week began, a sheaf of the first-fruits of their harvest to the priest, to be waved before the Lord, who, by accepting it, made it an example and a pledge of the future harvest. In allusion to that rite, Christ, who arose on the very day on which the first-fruits were offered, is called the first-fruits of them who slept, because he is the first who was raised from the dead to die no more, and because his resurrection is an example and an earnest of the resurrection of the righteous.” For since by man came death — Since death came on the whole human race by means of one man, who brought mortality on all his posterity in consequence of one great and wilful transgression; by man came also, &c. — That is, by means of another man came likewise the resurrection of the dead — And our happy relation to him abundantly repairs the damage we sustain by our fatal relation to the former. For as in Adam all — Even the righteous; die, so in — Or through; Christ shall all these be made alive — He does not say shall revive, (as naturally as they die,) but shall be made alive, namely, by a power not their own. See on Romans 5:18, a passage which is a good comment on this verse.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 22. As in Adam all die, for all have sinned in him, and the children follow their fathers to the tomb, but with the gracious hope of a resurrection, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Daniel Whedon
22. In Adam… in Christ—Literally in the Adam, in the Christ. That all the race was done up in Adam and drawn out from him, (just as the successive lengths of a spyglass are done up in and drawn out from the first length,) is not a literal fact. It is an imaginative conception, which, properly guarded, gives a powerful impression of the truth. St. Augustine, by perverting the conception, did almost as much to corrupt Christian theology as he did, in other respects, to defend it. See note on Romans 5:12. The being made alive here, is simply the same as the resurrection in the previous verse, and affirms, merely, a universal bodily resurrection. The being in Christ refers not to the incorporation into Christ’s mystical body of believers by faith, but to their being taken in under his headship of the race, as they were previously in under the headship of Adam by descent.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 22. Explains and develops 1 Corinthians 15:21, thus continuing the justification of 1 Corinthians 15:20b. The whole race and its fortunes were so wrapped in the one father of the race that the punishment inflicted upon him falls upon us: and all of us die because Adam died. We die now in virtue of our relation to one who died long ago. So also etc.: triumphant parallel.
In Christ: in virtue of our relation to Christ. Since never once are unbelievers said to be in any sense in Christ, since the future state of the lost is never once called life, and since in the foregoing (“firstfruit of the sleeping ones”) and following (“they that are Christ's”) verses Paul limits his view to believers, we must understand the words all … all in this limitation. Only within these limits is 1 Corinthians 15:43 true. See note under Romans 5:18. That made-alive is perhaps sometimes used in the simple sense of “restore to natural life,” does not weaken this proof. For all men on earth are said to be alive: but never those who are dead and lost. [Hence the absence of anqrwpoi, a word conspicuous in Romans 5:12, 18, which refer (Romans 5:14) to the whole race.] It is true that “all men” die in Adam. But in this chapter Paul thinks only of believers. Similarly, he leaves out of sight, as not affecting the argument, those who survive till Christ comes. In consequence of his readers' relation to Adam, every one of them will be laid in the grave: in consequence of their relation to Christ they will all be raised from the grave. This doctrine rests, as do all the great doctrines of the Gospel (see under Romans 3:22, and Dissertation i. 3) simply and only on the authoritative word of God. That both good and bad will rise from the dust of death, was revealed to Daniel (Daniel 12:2) in his last prophetic vision. It was solemnly announced by Christ, John 5:28: and the resurrection of believers is announced by Paul to the Thessalonicans “in the word of the Lord,” 1 Thessalonians 4:15. The abundant teaching of the New Testament makes us absolutely certain that it was taught by Christ. Our belief of it rests therefore upon the sufficient authority of Him Who will judge the world. Therefore, to deny the general resurrection, is to dispute this authority and thus practically to deny that God raised Christ from the dead. Consequently, we believe that we shall rise because we believe that He rose. And the connecting link between these beliefs is the express word of Christ. But to this express teaching Paul does not refer in this chapter. For he is dealing with an objection so sweeping that it includes a denial that Christ has risen. Perhaps also Paul knew that this objection to the resurrection of believers was really a covert attack on the resurrection of Christ.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
John Wesley
V. 23. Afterward-The whole harvest. At the same time the wicked shall rise also. But they are not here taken into the account.
Adam Clarke
Verse 23. But every man in his own order] The apostle mentions three orders here: 1. Christ, who rose from the dead by his own power. 2. Them that are Christ’s; all his apostles, martyrs, confessors, and faithful followers. 3. Then cometh the end, when the whole mass shall be raised. Whether this order be exactly what the apostle intends, I shall not assert. Of the first, Christ’s own resurrection, there can be no question. The second, the resurrection of his followers, before that of the common dead, is thought by some very reasonable. “They had here a resurrection from a death of sin to a life of righteousness, which the others had not, because they would not be saved in Christ’s way. That they should have the privilege of being raised first, to behold the astonishing changes and revolutions which shall then take place, has nothing in it contrary to propriety and fitness;” but it seems contrary to 1 Corinthians 15:52, in which all the dead are said to rise in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. “And, thirdly, that all the other mass of mankind should be raised last, just to come forward and receive their doom, is equally reasonable:” but it is apparently inconsistent with the manner in which God chooses to act; see 1 Corinthians 15:53. Some think that by them that are Christ’s at his coming, “we are to understand Christ’s coming to reign on earth a thousand years with his saints, previously to the general judgment;” but I must confess I find nothing in the sacred writings distinctly enough marked to support this opinion of the millennium, or thousand years’ reign; nor can I conceive any important end that can be answered by this procedure. We should be very cautious how we make a figurative expression, used in the most figurative book in the Bible, the foundation of a very important literal system that is to occupy a measure of the faith, and no small portion of the hope, of Christians. The strange conjectures formed on this very uncertain basis have not been very creditable either to reason or religion.
Joseph Benson
Verse 23. But every man — Shall be reanimated, raised, and glorified; in his own order — Or in his own band, as tw idiw tagmati more properly signifies, denoting a band of soldiers, a cohort, or legion; the word for order being rather taxiv. According to this interpretation, it is here intimated that the righteous will be raised by themselves, and the wicked by themselves; that is, according to the next verse, the righteous are to be raised at Christ’s coming, or are to be first raised, even before the living are changed, and much more before the wicked are raised. See 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.
Daniel Whedon
23. Every man—Shall be made alive, in his own order. Order is in the Greek a military term, signifying a band or battalion. The three battalions are Christ, his own, and the wicked. As the apostle, however, is writing for Christians, and for Christian consolation, he here skips the wicked and pictures the resurrection of the righteous solely. He paints the glorious resurrection, or, in other words, the glorious side of the resurrection, alone. That he believed in the resurrection of the wicked is shown by his words, Acts 24:15, where see note. At his coming—His PAROUSIA; a Greek word which, in reference to Christ, always denotes his personal presence at the second advent to judge the world. Of this event the Apostles’ Creed says: “He ascended into heaven,… from thence he shall come to judge the quick,” (living) “and the dead.” The passages containing the word parousia, in application to Christ, and always translated coming, are the following: Matthew 24:3, 37, 39; 1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8, 9; James 5:7, 8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4, 12; 1 John 2:28. Other comings of God or Christ are mentioned in the Old Testament and New, both in verb and noun forms, which may designate any of the providential interpositions of God in great events, and which are not to be identified with this PAROUSIA.
Joseph Agar Beet
Verse 23. Each in his own order: found twice word for word in the Epistle of Clement, chs. 37, 41; in reference to military array, and to church order. In the order in which the army of the redeemed marches forth from the gates of death each one keeps the place appropriate to his rank, i.e. the Captain marches first and His followers afterwards. They that are Christ's: 1 Corinthians 3:23; Galatians 5:24: evidently the saved, including those of the Old Testament and of the heathen world. These last, Christ claims expressly in John 10:16, “Other sheep I have;” and declares that they shall be brought into the “One flock.” Cp. Romans 2:26. That we are Christ's, confirms the teaching that Christ's resurrection is a pledge of ours.
At His coming: 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15. It gives vividness to the picture by pointing to its most conspicuous feature, the visible return of Christ. This verse does not contradict John 5:28f, viz. that good and bad men will rise together. For throughout 1 Corinthians 15, (cp. 1 Corinthians 15:43) Paul speaks only of the saved. Here, without denying that all the dead will rise at the same time, he says that Christ's people will rise later than Himself; as in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 that dead believers will rise before the living ones are caught up to Christ. Revelation 20:4 refers only to the martyrs, who for Christ's sake went down into the grave before their time, and who will have the honor of rising before the rest of the people of God.
Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
John Wesley
V. 24. Then-After the resurrection and the general judgment. Cometh the end-Of the world; the grand period of all those wonderful scenes that have appeared for so many succeeding generations. When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to the Father, and he (the Father) shall have abolished all adverse rule, authority, and power-Not that the Father will then begin to reign without the Son, nor will the Son then cease to reign. For the divine reign both of the Father and Son is from everlasting to everlasting. But this is spoken of the Son's mediatorial kingdom, which will then be delivered up, and of the immediate kingdom or reign of the Father, which will then commence. Till then the Son transacts the business which the Father hath given him, for those who are his, and by them as well as by the angels, with the Father, and against their enemies. So far as the Father gave the kingdom to the Son, the Son shall deliver it up to the Father, John 13:3. Nor does the Father cease to reign, when he gives it to the Son; neither the Son, when he delivers it to the Father: but the glory which he had before the world began, John 17:5; Hebrews 1:8, will remain even after this is delivered up. Nor will he cease to be a king even in his human nature, Luke 1:33. If the citizens of the new Jerusalem shall reign for ever, Revelation 22:5, how much more shall he?
Adam Clarke
Verse 24. When he shall have delivered up the kingdom] The mediatorial kingdom, which comprehends all the displays of his grace in saving sinners, and all his spiritual influence in governing the Church. All rule, and all authority and power.] archn exousian--kai dunamin. As the apostle is here speaking of the end of the present system of the world, the rule, authority, and power, may refer to all earthly governments, emperors, kings, princes, &c.; though angels, principalities, and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, and all spiritual wickedness in high places, may be also intended. Our Lord Jesus is represented here as administering the concerns of the kingdom of grace in this lower world during the time that this Divine economy lasts; and when the end-the time determined by the wisdom of God, comes, then, as there is no longer any need of this administration, the kingdom is delivered up unto the Father: an allusion to the case of Roman viceroys or governors of provinces, who, when their administration was ended, delivered up their kingdom or government into the hands of the emperor.
The apostle may refer, also, to an opinion of the ancient Jews, that there should be ten kings who should have the supreme government of the whole world: the first and last of which should be GOD himself; but the ninth should be the Messiah; after whose empire the kingdom should be delivered up into the hands of God for ever. See the place in Schoettgen on this verse, and on Luke 1:33.
Joseph Benson
Verse 24. Then — After the resurrection and the general judgment; cometh the end — Of the world, the grand period of all those wonderful scenes that have appeared for so many succeeding generations; when he shall — Publicly and solemnly; have delivered up — Greek, otan paradw, when he shall deliver up; the mediatorial kingdom to God, even the Father — By whose commission he had held it, and to whose glory he had always administered it; when he shall have put down — Otan katarghsh, when he shall have destroyed all adverse rule, authority, and power — That had opposed itself to his government, and shall have triumphed over all the efforts which either men or devils could ever make against his dominion. This mediatorial kingdom which Christ will deliver up, is represented, Matthew 28:18, to be his possessing all power in heaven and in earth; “that is, power over angels as well as over men. This kingdom our Lord received in the human nature, as the reward of his humiliation, and was solemnly installed in it after his resurrection, when he ascended into heaven, and was invited by God to sit at his right hand till he should make his enemies his footstool. Further, because it is said, Colossians 1:17, He is before all things, and by him all things consist; and because we are told, Hebrews 1:3, that the Son, while he spake the gospel, upheld all things by the word of his power; it is believed, that besides the mediatorial kingdom which the Son administered in the human nature, and which he will deliver up to the Father after the judgment, he possessed the government of the universe from the beginning, in his character as Creator: and that, after the mediatorial kingdom is delivered up, the kingdom which he holds as Creator, will remain with him as from the beginning. So that after the judgment, the righteous shall enter still into the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ, as they are represented to do, 2 Peter 1:11.” — Macknight. Indeed, the divine reign, both of the Father and the Son, is from everlasting to everlasting. And only so far as the Father gave the kingdom to the Son, shall the Son deliver it up to the Father, John 13:3. Nor does the Father cease to reign when he gives it to the Son, neither the Son when he delivers it to the Father; but the glory which he had before the world began, (John 17:5; Hebrews 1:8,) will remain even after that is delivered up. Nor will he cease to be a king even in his human nature, Luke 1:33. If the citizens of the New Jerusalem shall reign for ever, (Revelation 22:5,) how much more shall he!
Daniel Whedon
24. Then cometh the end—The end of the mediatorial and probationary kingdom of the Messiah; that is, its restoring by Christ to the Father. This is the result of the completed judgment of both the righteous and the unrighteous. The words afterward and then, which mark the second and third of the points of succession, are in Greek epeita and eita, which furnish no indication of the length of interval between the points. As the apostle was not given to know the length of time between Christ’s resurrection and second advent, nor between that advent and the end, he gives no measurement. Personally, he may have believed it possible that the three events were with little or no interval; and the revelation vouchsafed here to him, affirms nothing as to time. But many commentators hold that there are two bodily resurrections; one of the righteous and the other of the wicked, a thousand years apart; so that the end, the third point, is at least that length of period from the parousia. The only authority for this opinion is Revelation 20:5, which, however, describes a resurrection of “souls,” not of bodies. The same two resurrections are shadowed by John in his gospel, John 5:25-29. There is nothing here to show any length of interval between the advent and the end, or to show that there is more than a one twofold resurrection at that advent. And such is the doctrine of Matthew 24 and 25, and of John 5:28, 29, as well as of the Apostles’ Creed just quoted, and, we may add, of all the confessions of faith of the great Churches of Christendom. The parousia or advent of this verse is identical with the “great white throne” of Revelation 20:11. The kingdom—The rule of the Son, as bringing to order the rebellion of the world, is well compared by Grotius to the vice-royalty of a king’s son, sent forth to subdue an insurgent province. When every enemy is subdued, he returns to the capital, gives up his commission, resigns his foreign viceroyalty, and resumes his royal place at the royal right hand; and the king is all-ruling in all things, owing to the harmony restored. To God, even the Father—Literally, to the God and Father. Put down—A bad rendering for katarghsh, which means nullify, abolish, or put out of existence, not the persons of his enemies, but their organic rule, authority, and power.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 24. The end: of the redemptive reign of Christ, as suggested by the words immediately following, and proved by the emphatic and prolonged reference in 1 Corinthians 15:25-28 to the end of Christ's reign and to His submission to the Father. It is the “completion of the age,” Matthew 13:39; 24:3; 28:20. Meyer's exposition, that the end is the resurrection of the unjust, cannot be allowed. For this, not being referred to in the whole chapter, would require specific mention. The word “each” in 1 Corinthians 15:23 does not necessarily imply more than two orders, i.e. Christ and His people. Of a third order, viz. the unsaved, not a word is said.
Gives up: as though Paul, in prophetic vision, saw Christ giving up the Kingdom.
When He gives up; expounds the end. After raising His people from death and thus completing their deliverance, Christ solemnly presents His finished work to the Father, the work which the Father gave Him to do: and this presentation will be the last act, the end, of His redemptive reign. The God and Father: of Christ and of us. He is the Supreme Ruler of the universe and the Loving Parent of the whole family of heaven. Brought to nought: same word in 1 Corinthians 2:6; Romans 3:3.
Principality, authority, power: Ephesians 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Colossians 1:16; 2:10, 15; Titus 3:1: evidently hostile powers (“enemies,” 1 Corinthians 15:25) human and superhuman. To the men of Paul's day the hostile human powers were a terrible reality: the hostile spiritual powers are terrible now. Principality, suggests the first rank; authority, control over others; power, ability to produce results. The rank, as the most conspicuous feature, is mentioned first: from this flow the authority and power. 1 Corinthians 15:24b suggests that till these exalted adversaries are overthrown the Son cannot give up the kingdom to God.
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
John Wesley
V. 25. He must reign-Because so it is written.
Till he-the Father hath put all his enemies under his feet. Psalm 110:1.
Adam Clarke
Verse 25. For he must reign, &c.] This is according to the promise, Psalm 110:1: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Therefore the kingdom cannot be given up till all rule and government be cast down. So that while the world lasts, Jesus, as the Messiah and Mediator, must reign; and all human beings are properly his subjects, are under his government, and are accountable to him.
Joseph Benson
Verses 25-27. For he must reign — Because so it is written, Psalm 110:1; till he — God the Father; hath put all enemies under his feet — That is, till he hath utterly subdued them to Christ, that he may destroy them. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death — That enemy which continues, in some measure, to hold the subjects of Christ under his dominion, even when the temptations of the world, and the malice of Satan, can hold them no longer, and when every remainder of corrupt nature and human infirmity has long since ceased in the perfect holiness of the intermediate state. Macknight, who renders this verse, the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed, observes, that “the common version of this passage implies that there are some enemies who shall not be destroyed, which is wrong: for all enemies shall be destroyed, verse 25.” Nor is it true in every sense, that “because death is called the last enemy, it is to be last destroyed: for if the destruction of death is to be accomplished by the resurrection, the devil and his angels, and wicked men, are to be judged and punished after the dead are raised. In Chrysostom’s opinion, death is called the last enemy, because he entered into the world after the devil and sin entered.” For Satan brought in sin, and sin brought forth death. There is a sense, however, in which it may be affirmed that death is the last enemy that is destroyed; for when Christ engaged these enemies, he first conquered Satan, namely, in his temptation, then sin in his death, and lastly, death in his resurrection. In the same order he delivers all the faithful from them, yea, and destroys their power. Death he so destroys, that it shall exist no more; sin and Satan, so that they shall no more hurt his people. For he hath put all things under his feet — Agreeably to what is said, Psalm 8:6. But — As is sufficiently evident; when he saith all things are put under him — In the last-mentioned passage, and as is implied in many others; he — The Father; is excepted, who did put all things under him — This declaration concerning the Father’s not being subject to the Son, was intended to prevent us from interpreting what is said of the extent of the Son’s dominion, in such a manner as to fancy that he is in any respect superior to the Father.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 25. He must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet, conformably to the oath of his installation, in the hundred and tenth Psalm. Examine the glory of his kingdom under the following texts, where he fills Jehovah’s throne. Zechariah 6:13. Psalm 2. Isaiah 9:6-8. Daniel 2:44. In this throne he has a name above every name, and is worshipped by every creature in heaven and on earth. Thus the Father hath put all things under him. He must therefore reign till he has completed his mission, before he delivers up the mediatorial kingdom to God, even the Father, as the fountain of deity. The cessation of time for repentance, and of office in regard of Christ, induces no change either in his divine or human nature.
Daniel Whedon
25. For—Assigns Scripture proof of this abolition. He, Christ, must reign from his accession to the end above mentioned. The quotation is from Psalms 110:1
Psalm 110:1, in which “Jehovah says to my Jehovah, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” With this compare our notes on Matthew 28:18, and Acts 1:1, showing Christ’s investiture with this kingdom at his ascension in accordance with Daniel 7:13. Put all enemies under his feet—As their organisms in the last verse were to be abolished, so their persons it is that are put down. The figure is taken from the custom of ancient conquerors placing their feet upon the head of the conquered. See note on Acts 2:35. It indicates not the conversion, but the powerful subjection, of incorrigible enemies.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 25. Proof that the giving up of the kingdom will be preceded by the overthrow of all hostile powers, by an appeal to a necessity resting on the immovable purpose of God as revealed in ancient prophecy. Must-needs: same word in Matthew 16:21; 17:10; 24:6; 26:54; Luke 24:7, 26, 44; John 3:14; 20:9; Acts 1:16; 3:21; 17:3, etc.
Reign-as-king: in contrast to “give up the kingdom.”
He have put etc.: viz. Christ. For nothing suggests a change of subject. All the enemies: of him and us. This is an almost exact quotation of Psalm 110:1. The similar quotations in Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42; Acts 2:34; Hebrews 1:13, prove how familiar it was to the early church, as a prophecy about Christ, from the lips of David. And to Christ, Psa. 110 certainly refers. For it speaks of One who is both David's king and a priest of an order of Aaron. Now this prophecy declares that on the right hand of God Christ shall sit, ruling among His enemies, until their power shall be utterly destroyed. Therefore, not till then can He give up to God His redemptive reign. For not till then will His redemptive work be complete, or this prophecy fulfilled.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
John Wesley
V. 26. The last enemy that is destroyed is death-Namely, after Satan, Hebrews 2:14, and sin, 1 Corinthians 15:56, are destroyed. In the same order they prevailed. Satan brought in sin, and sin brought forth death. And Christ, when he of old engaged with these enemies, first conquered Satan, then sin, in his death; and, lastly, death, in his resurrection. In the same order he delivers all the faithful from them, yea, and destroys these enemies themselves. Death he so destroys that it shall be no more; sin and Satan, so that they shall no more hurt his people.
Adam Clarke
Verse 26. The last enemy] Death, shall be destroyed; katargeitai, shall be counter-worked, subverted, and finally overturned. But death cannot be destroyed by there being simply no farther death; death can only be destroyed and annihilated by a general resurrection; if there be no general resurrection, it is most evident that death will still retain his empire. Therefore, the fact that death shall be destroyed assures the fact that there shall be a general resurrection; and this is a proof, also, that after the resurrection there shall be no more death.
Joseph Benson
Verses 25-27. For he must reign — Because so it is written, Psalm 110:1; till he — God the Father; hath put all enemies under his feet — That is, till he hath utterly subdued them to Christ, that he may destroy them. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death — That enemy which continues, in some measure, to hold the subjects of Christ under his dominion, even when the temptations of the world, and the malice of Satan, can hold them no longer, and when every remainder of corrupt nature and human infirmity has long since ceased in the perfect holiness of the intermediate state. Macknight, who renders this verse, the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed, observes, that “the common version of this passage implies that there are some enemies who shall not be destroyed, which is wrong: for all enemies shall be destroyed, verse 25.” Nor is it true in every sense, that “because death is called the last enemy, it is to be last destroyed: for if the destruction of death is to be accomplished by the resurrection, the devil and his angels, and wicked men, are to be judged and punished after the dead are raised. In Chrysostom’s opinion, death is called the last enemy, because he entered into the world after the devil and sin entered.” For Satan brought in sin, and sin brought forth death. There is a sense, however, in which it may be affirmed that death is the last enemy that is destroyed; for when Christ engaged these enemies, he first conquered Satan, namely, in his temptation, then sin in his death, and lastly, death in his resurrection. In the same order he delivers all the faithful from them, yea, and destroys their power. Death he so destroys, that it shall exist no more; sin and Satan, so that they shall no more hurt his people. For he hath put all things under his feet — Agreeably to what is said, Psalm 8:6. But — As is sufficiently evident; when he saith all things are put under him — In the last-mentioned passage, and as is implied in many others; he — The Father; is excepted, who did put all things under him — This declaration concerning the Father’s not being subject to the Son, was intended to prevent us from interpreting what is said of the extent of the Son’s dominion, in such a manner as to fancy that he is in any respect superior to the Father.
Daniel Whedon
26. The last enemy—Literally, the last enemy shall be abolished, death. The word for abolished is the same as we have so rendered in verse 24. This is annihilation of death by the universal resurrection. So Revelation 20:14, “Death and hades were cast into the lake of fire;” Revelation 21:4, “and there shall be no more death.” Death is an enemy to man, brought in by sin; an enemy to Christ, to whom Christ had first to submit, in order last to conquer and destroy.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 26. This simple assertion unfolds a truth implied in the just quoted prophecy.
Is-brought-to-nought; portrays the overthrow of death as though now taking place. “All the enemies” in 1 Corinthians 15:25 certainly includes death. For death silences lips which once gave praise to Christ, and binds hands which gladly did His bidding. And, if an enemy, death must, according to the prophecy, be conquered. To Paul's eye of faith the conquest is already taking place. And when this foe is conquered, all are conquered. It is therefore the last enemy.
For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
John Wesley
V. 27. Under him-Under the Son. Psalm 8:6, 7
Adam Clarke
Verse 27. For he hath put all things under his feet] The Father hath put all things under the feet of Christ according to the prophecy, Psalm 110:1-7.
He is excepted] i.e. The Father, who hath put all things under him, the Son. This observation seems to be introduced by the apostle to show that he does not mean that the Divine nature shall be subjected to the human nature. Christ, as Messiah, and Mediator between God and man, must ever be considered inferior to the Father: and his human nature, however dignified in consequence of its union with the Divine nature, must ever be inferior to God. The whole of this verse should be read in a parenthesis.
Joseph Benson
Verses 25-27. For he must reign — Because so it is written, Psalm 110:1; till he — God the Father; hath put all enemies under his feet — That is, till he hath utterly subdued them to Christ, that he may destroy them. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death — That enemy which continues, in some measure, to hold the subjects of Christ under his dominion, even when the temptations of the world, and the malice of Satan, can hold them no longer, and when every remainder of corrupt nature and human infirmity has long since ceased in the perfect holiness of the intermediate state. Macknight, who renders this verse, the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed, observes, that “the common version of this passage implies that there are some enemies who shall not be destroyed, which is wrong: for all enemies shall be destroyed, verse 25.” Nor is it true in every sense, that “because death is called the last enemy, it is to be last destroyed: for if the destruction of death is to be accomplished by the resurrection, the devil and his angels, and wicked men, are to be judged and punished after the dead are raised. In Chrysostom’s opinion, death is called the last enemy, because he entered into the world after the devil and sin entered.” For Satan brought in sin, and sin brought forth death. There is a sense, however, in which it may be affirmed that death is the last enemy that is destroyed; for when Christ engaged these enemies, he first conquered Satan, namely, in his temptation, then sin in his death, and lastly, death in his resurrection. In the same order he delivers all the faithful from them, yea, and destroys their power. Death he so destroys, that it shall exist no more; sin and Satan, so that they shall no more hurt his people. For he hath put all things under his feet — Agreeably to what is said, Psalm 8:6. But — As is sufficiently evident; when he saith all things are put under him — In the last-mentioned passage, and as is implied in many others; he — The Father; is excepted, who did put all things under him — This declaration concerning the Father’s not being subject to the Son, was intended to prevent us from interpreting what is said of the extent of the Son’s dominion, in such a manner as to fancy that he is in any respect superior to the Father.
Daniel Whedon
27. He (God) hath put all things under his (Christ’s) feet—This is a quotation from Psalm 8:6; words which are spoken by the psalmist of man as in the earthly image of God; and are applied here, as in Hebrews 2:8, to Jesus as the representative man in his highest state. But—These words may be thus paraphrased: When, at the consummation, God shall have pronounced that all things have actually become subjected to Christ, (in accordance with Psalm 8:6,) it is clear that he (God) who so put all things under Christ is excepted; so that he puts not himself under Christ. As Grotius says, this is that figure of exception mentioned by Greek rhetoricians as necessary in some instances, and is exemplified by the sentence, the sky covers all things, of course excepting the sky itself. This exception, Wordsworth thinks, Paul expressly makes in order to guard his Greek readers against the error of their own mythology, which makes Jupiter subject his own father, Saturn, to himself. Let the reader mark, that at the completion of this verse all things are under Christ, and Christ under the Father. The restoration of the mediatorial kingdom takes not all things from under Christ, as the coming home of the king’s eldest son, and the surrendry of his special temporal viceroyalty, does not diminish his perpetual rank and supremacy over all others, his father excepted. Rather is he higher, in the peaceful order and harmony of the home kingdom, for his temporary absence and victorious expedition. Christ’s kingdom is, therefore, “without end.”
Joseph Agar Beet
Verse 27b. After justifying “when He have brought to nought etc.,” Paul now develops “when He gives up etc.,” in 1 Corinthians 15:24. Thus, as usual, he rises from the Son to the Father. And, in doing so, he strengthens, as we shall see, the argument involved in 1 Corinthians 15:25ff that Christ's people will rise.
When He shall say: when God shall declare that the ancient prophecy is now accomplished, and that all things are at length put under the dominion of man as represented in, and united with, Christ. [The Greek perfect, are-made subject, directs our attention to the abiding effect of God's subjecting all things to Christ.]
It is evident etc.: conspicuous declaration that when the universe will bow to Christ there will be One who will not bow, one exception to the universal homage. This is evident from the words “Thou has put,” (as quoted by Paul, “He has put,”) which are solemnly and conspicuously repeated at the end of 1 Corinthians 15:27, and which imply that the subjection of all things to Christ is a work, not of Christ, but of One other than He.
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
John Wesley
V. 28. The Son also shall be subject-Shall deliver up the mediatorial kingdom.
That the three-one God may be all in all-All things, (consequently all persons,) without any interruption, without the intervention of any creature, without the opposition of any enemy, shall be subordinate to God. All shall say, My God, and my all. This is the end. Even an inspired apostle can see nothing beyond this.
Adam Clarke
Verse 28. The Son also himself be subject] When the administration of the kingdom of grace is finally closed; when there shall be no longer any state of probation, and consequently no longer need of a distinction between the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory; then the Son, as being man and Messiah, shall cease to exercise any distinct dominion and God be all in all: there remaining no longer any distinction in the persons of the glorious Trinity, as acting any distinct or separate parts in either the kingdom of grace, or the kingdom of glory, and so the one infinite essence shall appear undivided and eternal. And yet, as there appears to be a personality essentially in the infinite Godhead, that personality must exist eternally; but how this shall be we can neither tell nor know till that time comes in which we shall SEE HIM AS HE IS. 1 John 3:2.
Joseph Benson
Verse 28. When all things shall be subdued — Or, rather, subjected, (as upotagh properly signifies,) unto him, and there is no longer need of a prophet to teach, nor of a priest to make atonement and intercede, nor of a king to deliver, protect, and govern under God, the Father will resume the government; and then, even the Son himself shall be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God — Or the Godhead; may be all in all — May be over all beings, in all places, and the immediate object of their worship and service. Or rather, may be all things in and to his intelligent creatures, saints, and angels, by a full communication of himself to them, and an intimate union with them. “He saith not,” observes Dr. Whitby, “that the Father, mentioned verse 24, but that God may be all in all; and so he seems to lead us to that interpretation of the Godhead which comprehends Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and then the import of the phrase, that God may be all in all, will be this: That the Godhead may govern all things immediately by himself, without the intervention of a mediator between him and us, to exact our obedience in his name, and convey to us his favours and rewards, we being then to render all our duty immediately to him, and derive all our happiness immediately from him. So that, as now Christ, God-man, is all in all, Colossians 3:11, because the Father hath put all things into his hands; does all things and governs all things by him; when this economy ceases, the Godhead alone will be all in all, as governing and influencing all things by himself immediately.” “On supposition that this is a proper interpretation of the passage, and that the Son or Word, John 1:1, in conjunction with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is to govern, two questions will occur: 1st, How the apostle came to speak of the Son’s subjection to the Father, seeing he is to reign in conjunction with the Father. 2d, How the Son, under the government of the Godhead, can be subject to himself. To remove these difficulties, it is generally said that the Son is to be subject to the Father in his human nature only. In the present state of mankind, it is suitable to the majesty and purity of God, that all his intercourses with them, whether in the way of conferring blessings on them, or of receiving their worship, be carried on by the intervention of a mediator. But after sinners are completely reconciled to God, and made perfect in holiness, and are introduced into heaven, God will bestow his favours on them, and receive their worship, immediately, without the intervention of a mediator. And thus the offices of mediator and king, becoming unnecessary, shall cease. Yet even in this state, the Son in [or in union with] the human nature, though no longer king, [in the sense in which he was king before,] will still retain the glory of having created all things, described Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:2, 3, and the glory of having saved mankind, and of having destroyed the kingdom of Satan, and Satan himself. So that, in respect of personal perfection, and of the veneration due to him for the great things he hath accomplished, he will continue superior to the highest angels, and be acknowledged by them as their superior through all eternity. Now this superiority being considered as a kind of reigning, it is perhaps what the apostle meant when, 2 Timothy 2:12, he said, If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him. See also Revelation 3:21.” — Macknight. So also Doddridge: “The union of the divine and human natures in the person of the great Emmanuel, the incomparable virtues of his character, the glory of his actions, and the relation he bears to his people, with all the texts which assert the perpetuity of his government, prohibit our imagining that he shall ever cease to be illustriously distinguished from all others, whether men or angels, in the heavenly world, through eternal ages.”
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 28. Then shall the Son also himself be subject to Him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. The kingdom in its consummation shall be perfect and glorious, and the will of the people lost in the will of Christ, who in his adorable person shall inherit all “the glory he had with the Father before the world was.” The subjection, comprising the mystical body of Christ, respects no more than the surrender of the mediatorial office, the work being fully completed. It is a surrender only, if we may use the running words of the Greek and Latin fathers. Nempe quatenus homo est, even so far as he is man, that God may be all in all. The last phrase is a frequent idiom of speech. The Romans said, as in Lucan, Omniæ Cæsar erat: Cæsar was all.
Daniel Whedon
28. God… all in all—The first all of the two here, which God may be, is an all of absolute power, pervading the second all things, immediate and without a mediator. For it is power, kingdom, authority, abolition, and subjection, which are the subject of the whole passage; not one word being spoken of reconciliation, communion, or love. This we think entirely decisive against all theories of Restorationism founded on this passage. God is finally all things—in supremacy over and in all things. As the light perfectly pervades the perfectly transparent diamond, so that the diamond itself becomes invisible, being visually dissolved in light, so God, the omnipotent all, is omnipresent in all things. From the very nature of things, that omnipresence is perfectly blissful to every conscious nature accordant with it; but perfectly woful to every conscious nature discordant with it, though perfectly subjected by it. And between the idea of this subjection under power, and this discordance of nature, there is no contradiction.
4. The devastating result of a no-resurrection upon all our Christian hopes and activities, 29-34.
Paul resumes suddenly, and continues, the train of thought interrupted at verse 19 by the apocalypse of 20-28. In 12-19 he had argued that the no-resurrection doctrine contradicts Christianity; he now (29-34) shows how it blights all Christian hope and destroys all Christian heroism.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 28. Having thus prepared the way, Paul now states in another form what he has already stated in 1 Corinthians 15:24, viz. that in the moment of His supreme triumph the Son will bow to the Father. Will-be-made-subject: a suitable expression; for the Son's submission, though embraced willingly and cordially by Him, does not originate in His will, but is obedience to the law of His own eternal existence and corresponds with His essential relation to the Father. This verse suggests that Christ will then become subject to the Father in a sense in which He is not now; and in this it is confirmed by 1 Corinthians 15:24a. We are also told that the Son will be made subject to the Father in order that God may be all things in all. This suggests that the Son's submission is needful for the complete restoration (cp. Colossians 1:20) of the universe to its right relation to the Father. All things in all persons, probably: i.e. in the inner subjective life of each one, God is to fill up the whole place and be recognized as the one source of all we have and are, the one ruler directing our entire conduct, and the one aim of our entire activity. Cp. Colossians 3:11.
The bearing of these last words on the final destiny of those who die unsaved, I hope to discuss elsewhere. That Paul does not say “all men,” (as in Romans 5:12, 18,) and does not refer in 1 Corinthians 15 to those who die without Christ, warns us not to assume that this purpose embraces them.
In this view of the mysterious words of 1 Corinthians 15:24, 28 touching the relation of the Eternal Son to the Eternal Father, rather than speak, the expositor would prefer to bow in silent adoration. But what God has spoken we cannot forbear to re-echo. These verses teach the absolute and eternal submission of the Son to the Father. And, even when receiving the homage of the Son, the Father is spoken of by Paul, not as we should say God the Father as distinguished from God the Son, but simply as God. And to Him the Son bows with the express purpose that thus the Father may be everything in the eyes and thought of all His servants. This absolute subordination of the Son has been already clearly marked in 1 Corinthians 3:23 and 1 Corinthians 8:6; and is recognized throughout the New Testament. But its most complete expression is in this verse.
That from the moment of His final triumph the Son will bow to the Father in a sense in which he does not now, must be expounded in harmony with Luke 1:33, “Of His kingdom there will be no end;” and with Revelation 11:15, “The kingdom of the world has become our Lord's and His Christ's: and He will reign for ever and ever.” In this latter passage the united reign of the Father and Son is described by the remarkable words, “He will reign.” Perhaps the following imperfect human comparison may help to harmonize these apparently contradictory assertions. Conceive a king who never leaves his palace, but commits all public acts of royalty to his son, who performs them in the name, and at the bidding, and according to the will, of his father, whose will his son always approves. Such a son we might call a sharer of his father's throne; and, in another sense, the sole ruler of his father's realm. Conceive now that a province is in rebellion, and that, to bring it into submission, the king invests his son, for the time of rebellion with full royal authority. The son begins in person the war against the rebels; but before its completion he returns to the capital in which his father reigns and directs thence the way until order is completely restored. Even in the presence of his father he exercises the full regal authority given to him for the suppression of the revolt. While the rebellion lasts he seems to be an independent ruler; though really ruling only at the bidding, and to work to the will, and restore the authority, of his father. But, when order is restored, the son gives back to the father this delegated royalty: and even the apparent independence of the son's rule ceases. Henceforth the father reigns with undisputed sway.
The difference between the special authority delegated to the Son for the suppression of the revolt and afterwards laid down and the abiding authority of the Son as the Father's representative, I cannot define. Probably it is connected with the fact that in consequence of sin the Son did what the Father never did, viz. became man and died. May it not be that in consequence of this he exercises now an authority which is specially His own, and which will continue only for a time?
In 1 Corinthians 15:25-27a we found an argument for the resurrection of the people of God. Of this argument Paul has now shown the full force by setting it in the light of that day when Christ will give up to the Father His finished work. For that work cannot be pronounced complete while bodies which were once the temple of God are still held fast by the grave and while the spirits of the saved are still exiles from the world which was created to be their home.
Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
John Wesley
V. 29. Who are baptized for the dead-Perhaps baptized in hope of blessings to be received after they are numbered with the dead. Or, baptized in the room of the dead-Of them that are just fallen in the cause of Christ: like soldiers who advance in the room of their companions that fell just before their face.
Adam Clarke
Verse 29. Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead] This is certainly the most difficult verse in the New Testament; for, notwithstanding the greatest and wisest men have laboured to explain it, there are to this day nearly as many different interpretations of it as there are interpreters. I shall not employ my time, nor that of my reader, with a vast number of discordant and conflicting opinions; I shall make a few remarks: 1. The doctrine of the resurrection of our Lord was a grand doctrine among the apostles; they considered and preached this as the demonstration of the truth of the Gospel. 2. The multitudes who embraced Christianity became converts on the evidence of this resurrection. 3. This resurrection was considered the pledge and proof of the resurrection of all believers in Christ to the possession of the same glory into which he had entered. 4. The baptism which they received they considered as an emblem of their natural death and resurrection. This doctrine St. Paul most pointedly preaches, Romans 6:3-5: Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead, even so we also should walk in newness of life: for, if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in his resurrection. 5. It is evident from this that all who died in the faith of Christ died in the faith of the resurrection; and therefore cheerfully gave up their lives to death, as they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing in themselves that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance, Hebrews 10:34. 6. As is the body, so are the members; those who were properly instructed, and embraced Christianity, believed that as all who had died in the faith of Christ should rise again, so they were baptized in the same faith. 7. As so many of the primitive followers of Christ sealed the truth with their blood, and Satan and his followers continued unchanged, every man who took on him the profession of Christianity, which was done by receiving baptism, considered himself as exposing his life to the most imminent hazard, and offering his life with those who had already offered and laid down theirs. 8. He was therefore baptized in reference to this martyrdom; and, having a regard to those dead, he cheerfully received baptism, that, whether he were taken off by a natural or violent death, he might be raised in the likeness of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, and that of his illustrious martyrs. 9. As martyrdom and baptism were thus so closely and intimately connected, baptizesqai, to be baptized, was used to express being put to a violent death by the hands of persecutors. So Matthew 20:22, 23: “But Jesus answered and said, Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of? &c.” (Can ye go through my sufferings?) “They say unto him, We are able. He saith unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of my cup,” (ye shall bear your part of the afflictions of the Gospel,) “and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with (that is, ye shall suffer martyrdom.) See also Mark 10:38. So Luke 12:50; “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” That is, I must die a violent death for the salvation of men. 10. The sum of the apostle’s meaning appears to be this: If there be no resurrection of the dead, those who, in becoming Christians, expose themselves to all manner of privations, crosses, severe sufferings, and a violent death, can have no compensation, nor any motive sufficient to induce them to expose themselves to such miseries. But as they receive baptism as an emblem of death in voluntarily going under the water, so they receive it as an emblem of the resurrection unto eternal life, in coming up out of the water; thus they are baptized for the dead, in perfect faith of the resurrection. The three following verses seem to confirm this sense.
Joseph Benson
Verses 29, 30. Else, or otherwise, what shall they do — What will become of them? what shall they do to repair their loss, who are exposed to great sufferings in consequence of being baptized for the dead — That is, say some, “In token of their embracing the Christian faith in the room of the dead, who are just fallen in the cause of Christ, but are yet supported by a succession of new converts, who immediately offer themselves to fill up their places, as ranks of soldiers that advance to combat in the room of their companions, who have just been slain in their sight.” Others say, “In hope of blessings to be received after they are numbered with the dead.” Many other interpretations are given of this obscure and ambiguous phrase, uper twn nekrwn, for the dead. But perhaps that of Dr. Macknight is the most probable, who supplies the words thv anastasewv, and reads the clause, who are baptized for the resurrection of the dead, or are immersed in sufferings, because of their believing in, and testifying the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead: for which interpretation he adduces solid reasons. If the dead rise not — If the doctrine I oppose be true, and the dead are not raised at all; why are they then baptized for the resurrection of the dead? And why stand we — The apostles; also in jeopardy — And are exposed to so much danger and suffering; every hour — In the service of a Master from whom, it is evident, we have no secular rewards to expect.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 29. Baptized for the dead. Here a hundred critics stop to deliver their opinion, and give us about a dozen glosses of a custom perfectly understood when St. Paul wrote, but now doubtful. Erasmus, following Chrysostom and Ambrose, says, that men having died without baptism, through neglect, or suddenly, some of their friends were baptized for them. Lightfoot refers the text wholly to the baptism of martyrdom; and St. Paul certainly here connects it with the sufferings of saints. But Beza applies it to ablutions or baptisms practised on the bodies of the dead; and he cites the case of the good women who washed and anointed the body of Tarquin, to prove that this was a patriarchal custom. And most assuredly the decencies of burial, and the monuments which the ancients erected over the dead, implied a belief of the resurrection. Now, if we take it into consideration, that St. Paul was here addressing the infidel gentile, or the doubtful christian, the argument of Erasmus and of Lightfoot would have little weight with them; but this of Beza would confer the weight of high antiquity on the christian doctrine of the resurrection of the body. Heinsius has a very long and learned note on this text. His arguments turn chiefly on the name which persons receive at their baptism, a mark of honour to the deceased; and by consequence to be baptized for the dead is to be baptized in hope of the resurrection of the dead.
Daniel Whedon
29. Else—If this apocalypse of the resurrection be not true. What shall they do—Or say for themselves. Baptized for the dead—Over this passage an interminable battle of commentary is waged. It is admitted by all that the Greek uper, for, signifies either, (1) over, in local position; or,
(2) instead of, as a substitute, but rarely; or, (3) in behalf of, as favourer, sponsor, advocate, or other benefactor. Of the many interpretations fully given by Stanley but two are worth a discussion. 1. The supposed custom of substitutive baptism, by which a living person was baptized in place of a dead person, one or more. 2. The baptism in behalf of the resurrection of the dead.
By the substitutive interpretation (as Tertullian, Grotius, Alford, Hodge) it is maintained that when a catechumen died before baptism, a friend was baptized in his stead, and so was substitutively baptized for the dead. But, 1. There is no reason to believe, outside of the passage itself, that any such practice existed in the apostolic Church. It seems illegitimate to create, for an exegetical purpose, a class of heretics practising a particular superstitious rite, when any other natural meaning exists. There is not the slightest reason to doubt that the practisers of substitutive baptism mentioned by Tertullian and ridiculed by Chrysostom were later than Paul’s day, and based their practice on their interpretation of this verse, as do the modern Mormons. 2. It could hardly be said that such substitutes were baptized universally for the dead; dead being a Greek plural with the article, and so signifying all the dead. Note, ver. 12. The phrase to express this substitutive meaning should be uper nekrou, for a dead person, or nekrwn, without the article, for dead persons. 3. Quoting the condemnable practice of heretics is out of the analogy and line of the argument. Paul has argued that a denial of the resurrection impugns Christ, Christians, and sufferers of persecution, like himself; and then a sudden and transient interpolation of heretical performers of a superstitious rite is incredible. 4. The argument would be without value. It would subject Paul to the reply, What authority for us is an example of a set of heretics practising a false superstition? And this worthlessness would be aggravated if it were true that Paul’s words intimate a disapproval of the practice. Such disapproval, however, does not appear from the proofs Alford furnishes. His first proof is, that baptized is in the present, baptizontai, are being baptized, instead of baptisqentev, were baptized. The present is used, we think, as in the case of stand we in jeopardy, as a matter of vividness. The third person is used because, for the sake of that vividness, Paul speaks of converts being baptized now, rather than of persons, like himself, baptized twenty years ago. In fact, the they of this verse refers to the catechumens, and the we of the next verse to the apostles. 5. For substitution the proper Greek preposition is not uper, but anti. The ordinary sense of in behalf of is the true intrinsic meaning, and should not be surrendered for any reasons that have ever here been produced. The true interpretation is, we believe, that of Chrysostom. The apostolic Christians were baptized into the faith of the resurrection of the dead, and thereby they were sponsors in behalf of the dead, that the dead should rise. Baptism was itself an affirmation in behalf of the dead, who were assailed and condemned to final death by these deniers of their resurrection. In favour of this view, 1. Is Paul’s use of uper, as in behalf of, with an intermediate idea. So above, (verse 3,) in behalf of our sins, that is, of their forgiveness. So also 2 Thessalonians 2:1, in behalf of the parousia, which was involved in error by mistaken believers. So also in behalf of the dead, whose resurrection baptism asserts. 2. It lies in the direct line of the argument. Paul has quoted in favour of the resurrection the Christian preaching, (verse 14,) faith, (17,) the salvation of dead Christians, (18,) the jeopardy of the living, (30); why should he not quote Christian baptism as a pledge in behalf of the dead? These deniers were against the dead; Christian baptism was for the dead. 3. The Church early recognised the connexion between baptism and the resurrection. It has its basis in the words of St. Paul: “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him.” Colossians 2:12. And so Chrysostom says: “When we have instructed the catechumen in the divine mysteries of the Gospel, and are about to baptize him, we command him to say, ‘I believe in the resurrection of the body.’… This is what St. Paul recalls to their memory. If there is no resurrection of the body why are you baptized for the dead?”
4. This accords with the phrase the dead; the baptism being, not for a dead person, or some dead persons, but for the universal dead.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 29. Another argument against the teaching (1 Corinthians 15:12) “that there is no rising up of dead men.” Since it deals with the chief topic of § 28, we need not suppose any special reference to the foregoing words. The force of this argument, we cannot now reproduce with certainty. For, not only is it directed against an error unknown to us except through Paul's refutation, but it rests upon a custom also unknown. We may provisionally accept the hypothesis that the opponents referred to taught that there is no life beyond the grave and that the hope of immortality rests upon the hope of surviving the coming of Christ. See end of § 28. And we can only guess at a custom in the Corinthian church which might be described by the words being baptized on behalf of the dead ones, and to which Paul could point as a witness against the teaching he combats. Chrysostom tells us in his homily on this passage that the followers of the heretic Marcion, “when a catechumen dies among them, hide a living man under the bed of the dead one, and come to the dead man and ask whether he wishes to receive baptism. Then, when he answers nothing, the hidden man says from beneath, instead of him, that he wishes to be baptized. And so they baptize him instead of the deceased.” Epiphanius says (Heresies xxviii. 7) that the followers of Cerinthus “baptized others in the name of those who died without baptism, lest when they rose in the resurrection they should be punished for not having received baptism.” Now we can well conceive that this custom, which lingered only in small sects, was a perversion, both in practice and doctrine, of an innocent and appropriate custom existing at Corinth in Paul's day. We may suppose that, for those who died in faith but not yet baptized, others, either baptized members or catechumens, received the rite, perhaps in some cases at the request of the dying man, as a testimony to the church of his faith; that thus he might have, though dead, a name and a place in the church. If death-bed baptism were not practiced in the apostles' days, (and we have no proof that it was,) this custom of vicarious baptism might easily arise; and would naturally fall into disuse as death-bed baptism became common. Such a custom might easily be described, without supposing any spiritual benefit to the dead man from the rite, as being baptized on behalf of the dead ones. For the rite was performed to supply an omission on their part; and sometimes at their request. And it would be a strong testimony on the part of the dying man, of those who took part in the rite, and of those who approved it, that a happy life beyond death awaits those who died in Christ. For if, as some (1 Corinthians 15:12) said, a place in the future kingdom of God depends on surviving to His coming, the dead believer's faith is made vain, and himself destroyed, by his death. For one who has thus failed by the failure of his earthly life surely no sacred rite would be performed. Such a rite might easily degenerate into the foolish form ridiculed by Chrysostom, and into the false teaching mentioned by Epiphanius. But in itself it would be innocent and appropriate; and might be mentioned by Paul without disapproval. If it was sanctioned by the church at Corinth generally, Paul's argument would be an appeal to the faith of the whole church, as against a minority probably small. Else; introduces a reductio ad absurdum, as in 1 Corinthians 5:10; 7:14. In thought Paul sees men receiving the rite, being baptized on behalf of the dead ones; and asks what they are going to do, what result they will obtain. He gives force to his question by repeating it.
If dead men are not raised, states in full what is implied in else. To-speak-generally declares (cp. 1 Corinthians 5:1) that the words following state a universal truth. Paul asks why men go so far as to be baptized for dead men if these do not rise. No reason can be given. For, as Paul and his readers assume, (see review of DIV. VII.,) if dead men do not rise there is no life beyond death. Consequently, the dead are lost. And their faith has been vain: for by death they have been (1 Corinthians 15:18) separated from Christ. But, if so, to commemorate their faith by receiving baptism for them, is absurd. Thus the custom in question, sanctioned probably by the whole church, attests the faith of the church that their departed brethren are safe and that the dead in Christ will rise. Similarly, Cicero appeals (Tusculan Disputations bk. i. 12) to funeral rites as proof of the general belief of mankind that there is a life beyond the grave.
[Canon Evans, in the Speaker's Commentary, denies to nper any meaning more definite than that conveyed by peri; giving to these words practically the same sense. But this is very unlikely, especially as in the N. T. we never find the local sense of nper with genitive. He confuses the matter by combating in the same breath the wholly different meanings “on behalf of” and “instead of.” This latter sense, I believe, in the N.T. the word never has. But it is always associated with the idea of assistance or benefit or furtherance, an idea suitably conveyed by the rendering on behalf of, cognate with “help.” This idea distinguishes the prepositions. In the N.T. the “mental bending over” is never “mere contemplation and nothing more,” but has always reference to benefit or furtherance. This ever-present idea accounts for the much greater frequency of this preposition with persons than with things or abstract of this preposition with persons than with things or abstract terms. But even with these last the same idea is easily traceable. So in 1 Corinthians 15:3; where Canon Evans has no right to impute inconsistency to Meyer, who renders “on account of our sins, i.e. in order to atone for them.” For Christ thus renders us infinite benefit, by saving us from our sins. (So we sometimes say “Do my cough good,” to denote relief from it.) In Romans 4:24 our sins are differently represented, viz. as a motive (dia with acc.) prompting God to surrender His Son. The idea of assisting and promoting is prominent in 2 Corinthians 12:15, “on behalf of your souls,” i.e. to save them; 2 Corinthians 12:19, “of your edification;” 2 Corinthians 1:6, “of your exhortation and salvation”; 1 Thessalonians 3:2, “of your faith,” i.e. to strengthen and widen it; Romans 1:5, “of the Name of Christ,” i.e. to make it honorably known; John 11:4, “of the glory of God “ explained by the following words. Hence we have thanks on behalf of (2 Corinthians 1:11) benefited persons, or of (1 Corinthians 10:30) benefits received: and hope (2 Corinthians 1:6) for benefits to come. Paul's boasting on behalf of his readers (2 Corinthians 7:4, 14) is represented as a tribute of honor to them. In Philemon 1:13 Paul courteously suggests that by caring for him in prison at Rome, Onesimus would carry out the wishes of Philemon. And in 2 Corinthians 13:8 nper is itself a sufficient contrast to kata. The constancy of this idea compels us to interpret 1 Corinthians 15:29 as meaning that in some way the persons referred to rendered service to, or carried out the wishes of, the dead ones on whose behalf they were baptized.
Canon Evans, following Chrysostom and the Greek Fathers, supposes that nper twn nekrwn, on behalf of the dead ones, means nper anastatewv nekrwn, on behalf of resurrection of dead ones; and that in baptism express confession was made of the resurrection of the dead. If Paul meant this, these very words would have been the most appropriate, and a very crushing, mode of stating it. The repetition on behalf of the dead ones, of them, makes very conspicuous the persons in whose interest, in contrast to those upon whom, the rite was performed. Whereas, practically, the exposition before us makes these identical. For, the hope of resurrection was primarily a hope that the baptized will themselves rise. Moreover, as thus expounded, this would be an appeal to the whole church: for all had been baptized. The third person suggests that Paul refers only to a part of the church. Lastly if there had been, as Chrysostom says, an express confession at baptism of belief in the resurrection, it is not likely that those who denied it would retain their place in the community of the baptized. For their denial would be an explicit disavowal of their baptism. The exposition of the Greek Fathers does not seem to me to account for, and justify, Paul's words. My own exposition is, in the absence of historic proof, simply a suggestion which would account easily for all the facts of the case. Among these last must be counted the customs ridiculed by Chrysostom and Epiphanius. For they must have had an origin. And it is much more likely that heretics would pervert an existing custom than invent a new one. If the custom in question was suggested by the words before us, this would only prove that, in the mind of Greek-speaking Christians of the second century, the words were not fairly accounted for by the existing and ordinary rite of baptism. And this I now say. Certainly the many-sided and far reaching heresy of Marcion cannot be said to have been “founded on this text!”
The exposition I have given is slightly modified from one found in Ambrosiaster. Tertullian twice (Against Marcion bk. v. 10, and On Resurrection ch. 48) quotes this verse; but does not expound it.
And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
John Wesley
V. 30. Why are we-The apostles.
Also in danger every hour-It is plain we can expect no amends in this life.
Adam Clarke
Verse 30. And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?] Is there any reason why we should voluntarily submit to so many sufferings, and every hour be in danger of losing our lives, if the dead rise not? On the conviction of the possibility and certainty of the resurrection, we are thus baptized for the dead. We have counted the cost, despise sufferings, and exult at the prospect of death, because we know we shall have a resurrection unto eternal life.
Joseph Benson
Verses 29, 30. Else, or otherwise, what shall they do — What will become of them? what shall they do to repair their loss, who are exposed to great sufferings in consequence of being baptized for the dead — That is, say some, “In token of their embracing the Christian faith in the room of the dead, who are just fallen in the cause of Christ, but are yet supported by a succession of new converts, who immediately offer themselves to fill up their places, as ranks of soldiers that advance to combat in the room of their companions, who have just been slain in their sight.” Others say, “In hope of blessings to be received after they are numbered with the dead.” Many other interpretations are given of this obscure and ambiguous phrase, uper twn nekrwn, for the dead. But perhaps that of Dr. Macknight is the most probable, who supplies the words thv anastasewv, and reads the clause, who are baptized for the resurrection of the dead, or are immersed in sufferings, because of their believing in, and testifying the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead: for which interpretation he adduces solid reasons. If the dead rise not — If the doctrine I oppose be true, and the dead are not raised at all; why are they then baptized for the resurrection of the dead? And why stand we — The apostles; also in jeopardy — And are exposed to so much danger and suffering; every hour — In the service of a Master from whom, it is evident, we have no secular rewards to expect.
Daniel Whedon
30. We—The apostles, as the I of the next verse specifies the apostle himself. From their sponsorship for the dead in baptism he passes to the baptism of suffering and blood which the apostles underwent in behalf of the same cause.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 30.-31. Why do we also: in contrast to “why are they also baptized etc.,” introducing a new appeal, viz. to the conduct of Paul and his colleagues, in proof of life beyond death. He thus appeals to the respect for himself, which, he knows, still lives, in spite of a factious minority, in the hearts of his readers.
We; cannot be exactly defined. It simply indicates that what Paul says applies to others besides himself. Cp. Romans 1:5. If there be no resurrection of the dead, and therefore no life beyond death, Paul's exposure of himself to peril is infinite folly. For he thus risks in the same moment both the present life and the life to come. If eternal happiness depends upon living till Christ comes, then deadly peril must above all things be avoided.
Every hour: vivid picture of the apostle's constant danger. Cp. Romans 8:36. This danger, 1 Corinthians 15:31 depicts in still darker colors.
I-am-dying: same as “we are always being given up to death,” in 2 Corinthians 4:11. Not that each day he actually dies, but that the process of death is ever going on; as though every day the executioner were already at work putting him to death. In proof of this he appeals to his own exultation (see under Romans 2:17) about the Corinthians. The very joy and gratitude evoked by his thought of them recalls the peril he has endured for their salvation.
Which I have: as though his exultation about them were an enrichment to himself.
In Christ Jesus: only in the inner spiritual life which he lives in contact with his Master Christ, does Paul exult above the Corinthians. Notice the force of this appeal to the heart of his brethren. In spite of many defects, they are precious to him. As he stands before his Master, the thought of them gives him joy. And this joy reminds him, and will remind them, of the peril with which it has been purchased.
I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
John Wesley
V. 31. I protest by your rejoicing, which I have-Which love makes my own.
I die daily-I am daily in the very jaws of death. Beside that I live, as it were, in a daily martyrdom.
Adam Clarke
Verse 31. I protest by your rejoicing] nh thn umeteran kauchsin. By your exaltation or boasting. Dr. Lightfoot understands this of “the boasting of the Corinthians against the apostle; that he considered himself continually trampled on by them; rejected and exposed to infamy and contempt; but that he took this as a part of the reproach of Christ; and was happy in the prospect of death and a glorious resurrection, when all those troubles and wrongs would terminate for ever.” Instead of umeteran, YOUR exultation or boasting, hmeteran, OUR exultation, is the reading of the Codex Alexandrinus, and several others, with the Æthiopic, Origen, and Theophylact. This will lead to an easier sense: I declare by the exultation which I have in Christ Jesus, as having died for my offences, and risen again for my justification, that I neither fear sufferings nor death; and am daily ready to be offered up, and feel myself continually exposed to death. But the common reading is probably to be preferred; for your glorying is the same as glorying on your account: I profess by the glorying or exultation which I have on account of your salvation, that I anticipate with pleasure the end of my earthly race.
I die daily.] A form of speech for, I am continually exposed to death. The following passages will illustrate this. So Philo, p. 990. Flaccus, who was in continual fear of death, says: kaqJ ekasthn hmeran, mallon de wran, proapoqnhskw, pollouv qanatouv upomenwn anqJ enov tou teleutaiou. “Every day, rather every hour, I anticipate death; enduring many deaths before that last one comes.” So Libanius, speaking of his own miseries and those of the people of Antioch, epist. 1320, page 615, says: eti zwntev teqnhkamen. “Though living, we are dead.” Livy has a similar form of expression to signify continual danger, xxix. 17: Quotidie capitur urbs nostra, quotidie diripitur. “Daily is our city taken, daily is it pillaged.”
Joseph Benson
Verses 31-34. I protest by your rejoicing — Greek, nh thn umeteran kauchsin hn ecw, by the boasting concerning you which I have, namely, on account of your faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. So the clause is interpreted by some critics. I die daily — That is, I am daily in danger of death, for bearing testimony to the resurrection of Christ, and to a general resurrection through him. If, to speak after the manner of men — That is, To use a proverbial phrase expressive of the most imminent danger; I have fought with beasts at Ephesus — With the savage fury of a lawless multitude, Acts 19:29, &c. What advantageth it me — What have I gained by such sufferings; if the dead rise not? And I have nothing to expect after death. Let us eat and drink, &c. — We might, on that supposition, as well say, with the Epicureans, Let us make the best of this short life, seeing we have no other portion to expect. Be not deceived — By such pernicious counsels as this. Evil communications corrupt good manners — He opposes to the Epicurean saying a well-known verse of the poet Menander. By evil communications, is meant conversation contrary to faith, hope, or love; or familiar intercourse with worldly and carnal people, which tends to destroy all holiness. Awake — An exclamation full of apostolical majesty. Shake off your lethargy! To righteousness — Evangelical and divine righteousness, flowing from the true knowledge of God, and implying that the whole soul be broad awake and watchful: the righteousness through which grace reigns unto eternal life, Romans 5:21; and sin not — That is, and you will not sin, for sin supposes sleepiness or drowsiness of soul. There is need to press this; for some — Among you; have not the knowledge of God — With all your boasted knowledge, you are ignorant of what it most concerns you to know; I speak this to your shame — For nothing is more shameful than sleepy ignorance of God, and of the word and works of God; to them especially, it was shameful, considering the advantages they had enjoyed.
Daniel Whedon
31. By your rejoicing—Rather, by the boasting of you which I have. He not only affirms his daily death, but he protests it by that which was both its cause and its compensation, his triumph in the conversion of the Corinthians. Die daily—In the purpose of my enemies, and in the just apprehension of my own mind. But God gave him as many lives as his persecutors gave him deaths.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 30.-31. Why do we also: in contrast to “why are they also baptized etc.,” introducing a new appeal, viz. to the conduct of Paul and his colleagues, in proof of life beyond death. He thus appeals to the respect for himself, which, he knows, still lives, in spite of a factious minority, in the hearts of his readers.
We; cannot be exactly defined. It simply indicates that what Paul says applies to others besides himself. Cp. Romans 1:5. If there be no resurrection of the dead, and therefore no life beyond death, Paul's exposure of himself to peril is infinite folly. For he thus risks in the same moment both the present life and the life to come. If eternal happiness depends upon living till Christ comes, then deadly peril must above all things be avoided.
Every hour: vivid picture of the apostle's constant danger. Cp. Romans 8:36. This danger, 1 Corinthians 15:31 depicts in still darker colors.
I-am-dying: same as “we are always being given up to death,” in 2 Corinthians 4:11. Not that each day he actually dies, but that the process of death is ever going on; as though every day the executioner were already at work putting him to death. In proof of this he appeals to his own exultation (see under Romans 2:17) about the Corinthians. The very joy and gratitude evoked by his thought of them recalls the peril he has endured for their salvation.
Which I have: as though his exultation about them were an enrichment to himself.
In Christ Jesus: only in the inner spiritual life which he lives in contact with his Master Christ, does Paul exult above the Corinthians. Notice the force of this appeal to the heart of his brethren. In spite of many defects, they are precious to him. As he stands before his Master, the thought of them gives him joy. And this joy reminds him, and will remind them, of the peril with which it has been purchased.
If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
John Wesley
V. 32. If to speak after the manner of men-That is, to use a proverbial phrase, expressive of the most imminent danger
I have fought with wild beasts at Ephesus-With the savage fury of a lawless multitude, Acts 19:29, &c. This seems to have been but just before.
Let as eat, &c.-We might, on that supposition, as well say, with the Epicureans, Let us make the best of this short life, seeing we have no other portion.
Adam Clarke
Verse 32. If, after the manner of men, &c.] Much learned criticism has been employed on this verse, to ascertain whether it is to be understood literally or metaphorically. Does the apostle mean to say that he had literally fought with wild beasts at Ephesus? or, that he had met with brutish, savage men, from whom he was in danger of his life? That St. Paul did not fight with wild beasts at Ephesus, may be argued, 1. From his own silence on this subject, when enumerating his various sufferings, 2 Corinthians 11:23, &c. 2. From the silence of his historian, Luke, who, in the acts of this apostle, gives no intimation of this kind; and it certainly was too remarkable a circumstance to be passed over, either by Paul in the catalogue of his own sufferings, or by Luke in his history. 3. From similar modes of speech, which are employed metaphorically, and are so understood. 4. From the improbability that a Roman citizen, as Paul was, should be condemned to such a punishment, when in other cases, by pleading his privilege, he was exempted from being scourged, &c. And, 5. From the positive testimony of Tertullian and Chrysostom, who deny the literal interpretation.
On the other hand, it is strongly argued that the apostle is to be literally understood; and that he did, at some particular time, contend with wild beasts at Ephesus, from which he was miraculously delivered. 1. That the phrase kata anqrwpon signifies as men used to do, and never means according to the manner of men, as implying their purpose, or, to use their forms of speech, &c. 2. From the circumstances of the case in Ephesus usually referred to, viz. the insurrection by Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen; where, though Paul would have been in danger had he gone into the theatre, he was in little or none, as he did not adventure himself. 3. From his having endured much greater conflicts at Lystra and at Philippi than at Ephesus, at the former of which he was stoned to death, and again miraculously raised to life: see Clarke’s notes on “Acts 14:19”, &c. And yet he calls not those greater dangers by this name. 4. That it cannot refer to the insurrection of Demetrius and his fellows, for St. Paul had no contention with them, and was scarcely in any danger, though Gaius and Aristarchus were: see the whole of Acts 19. And, 5. As we do not read of any other imminent danger to which he was exposed at Ephesus, and that already mentioned is not sufficient to justify the expression, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, therefore we must conclude that he was at some time, not directly mentioned by his historian or himself, actually exposed to wild beasts at Ephesus. 6. That this is the case he refers to, 2 Corinthians 1:8-10: For we would not, brethren, have you if ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, kaqJ uperbolhn ebarhqhmen uper dunamiv, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead; who delivered us from so great a death: for these expressions refer to some excessive and unprecedented danger, from which nothing less than a miraculous interference could have saved him; and that it might have been an actual exposure to wild beasts, or any other danger equally great, or even greater.
What advantageth it me, if the dead rise not?] I believe the common method of pointing this verse is erroneous; I propose to read it thus: If, after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it advantage me? If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
What the apostle says here is a regular and legitimate conclusion from the doctrine, that there is no resurrection: For if there be no resurrection, then there can be no judgment-no future state of rewards and punishments; why, therefore, should we bear crosses, and keep ourselves under continual discipline? Let us eat and drink, take all the pleasure we can, for tomorrow we die; and there is an end of us for ever. The words, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die, are taken from Isaiah 22:13, as they stand now in the Septuagint; and are a pretty smooth proverbial saying, which might be paralleled from the writings of several epicurean heathens, fagwmen kai piwmen. aurion gar apoqnhskomen. The words of Isaiah are twmn rjm yk wtvr lwka akol reshatho, ki machar namuth: “In eating and drinking, for to-morrow we die ;” i.e. Let us spend our time in eating and drinking, &c. See a similar speech by Trimalchio in Petronius Arbiter, Satiric. cap. xxxvii:—
Heu, heu nos miseros! quam totus homuncio nil est!
Sic erimus cuncti, postquam nos auferet orcus.
Ergo vivamus, dum licet esse bene.
Alas! alas! what wretches we are! all mankind are a worthless pack: thus shall we all be, after death hath taken us away. Therefore, while we may, let us enjoy life.
Joseph Benson
Verses 31-34. I protest by your rejoicing — Greek, nh thn umeteran kauchsin hn ecw, by the boasting concerning you which I have, namely, on account of your faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. So the clause is interpreted by some critics. I die daily — That is, I am daily in danger of death, for bearing testimony to the resurrection of Christ, and to a general resurrection through him. If, to speak after the manner of men — That is, To use a proverbial phrase expressive of the most imminent danger; I have fought with beasts at Ephesus — With the savage fury of a lawless multitude, Acts 19:29, &c. What advantageth it me — What have I gained by such sufferings; if the dead rise not? And I have nothing to expect after death. Let us eat and drink, &c. — We might, on that supposition, as well say, with the Epicureans, Let us make the best of this short life, seeing we have no other portion to expect. Be not deceived — By such pernicious counsels as this. Evil communications corrupt good manners — He opposes to the Epicurean saying a well-known verse of the poet Menander. By evil communications, is meant conversation contrary to faith, hope, or love; or familiar intercourse with worldly and carnal people, which tends to destroy all holiness. Awake — An exclamation full of apostolical majesty. Shake off your lethargy! To righteousness — Evangelical and divine righteousness, flowing from the true knowledge of God, and implying that the whole soul be broad awake and watchful: the righteousness through which grace reigns unto eternal life, Romans 5:21; and sin not — That is, and you will not sin, for sin supposes sleepiness or drowsiness of soul. There is need to press this; for some — Among you; have not the knowledge of God — With all your boasted knowledge, you are ignorant of what it most concerns you to know; I speak this to your shame — For nothing is more shameful than sleepy ignorance of God, and of the word and works of God; to them especially, it was shameful, considering the advantages they had enjoyed.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 32. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, when Demetrius, and the manufacturers of Diana’s shrines, were, like lions, resolved to tear me to pieces, was I not unwise to expose myself to men less merciful than the wild beasts? Acts 19. Why throw away a life which may enjoy many comforts, if there be no life to come? If otherwise, all preaching and all belief are vain.
Daniel Whedon
32. I have fought with beasts—In a single word, I beast-fought. Happily our present Christian civilization needs no such word. The Christians during the pagan persecutions were exposed to lions, but it is not probable that so early as Paul’s writing of this epistle any such exposure had taken place. The best commentators take the words as metaphorical. The words after the manner of men, (literally, according to man,) we doubt not implies this figurative meaning. The word speaking is not, indeed, supplied, for the reason that speaking is implied in the very fact that speaking is what he is doing. According to man may as well mean, according to man in language, as in any other respect. Eat… die—Stoical moralists in Paul’s day, and materialistic moralists of the present day, declare that earthly motives are sufficient for the maintenance of a true virtue. This cannot be. Unless man’s virtue be fastened by some cord to the supernal it has nothing in it of divine. Culture and self-respect may keep a few philosophers at an elevated level, but the mass of men, if cut off from THE ABOVE, and deprived of its hopes and fears for the great future, will sink into animalism, and the apostle has here given voice and utterance to the mere instincts of the animal man in his despair. In ancient poetry, the saddest and most beautiful, and often most disgusting, strains, are the varied expression either of this despair, or this union of licentiousness with despair.
Joseph Agar Beet
Verse 32b. In contrast to his own conduct which is reckless folly if there be no resurrection, Paul now depicts conduct which a denial of the resurrection would justify. And, to reveal the gross impropriety of such conduct, he puts it in the form of advice. “If this teaching be true, it would be right for me to advise you to enjoy the present: for the present is all we have to enjoy.” And the readers would recognize in the words Let us eat … we die an exact quotation of Isaiah 22:13, a description of conduct in Jerusalem which, the prophet declares will be punished with death. That the teaching Paul combats is utterly destructive of a heroism which claims our admiration, and that it prompts to conduct condemned by both man's moral instinct and by the Scriptures, proves the teaching to be untrue.
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
John Wesley
V. 33. Be not deceived-By such pernicious counsels as this. Evil communications corrupt good manners-He opposes to the Epicurean saying, a well-known verse of the poet Menander. Evil communications-Discourse contrary to faith, hope, or love, naturally tends to destroy all holiness.
Adam Clarke
Verse 33. Be not deceived] Do not impose on yourselves, and permit not others to do it.
Evil communications corrupt good manners.] There are many sayings like this among the Greek poets; but this of the apostle, and which according to the best MSS. makes an Iambic verse, is generally supposed to have been taken from Menander’s lost comedy of Thais. fqeirousin hqh crhsqJ omiliai kakai.
Bad company good morals doth corrupt.
There is a proverb much like this among the rabbins: akycrl yvyky ˆrqwa akycr rtw yvyky yrwa yrt
“There were two dry logs of wood,
and one green log; but the dry logs burnt up the green log.” There is no difficulty in this saying; he who frequents the company of bad or corrupt men will soon be as they are. He may be sound in the faith, and have the life and power of godliness, and at first frequent their company only for the sake of their pleasing conversation, or their literary accomplishments: and he may think his faith proof against their infidelity; but he will soon find, by means of their glozing speeches, his faith weakened; and when once he gets under the empire of doubt, unbelief will soon prevail; his bad company will corrupt his morals; and the two dry logs will soon burn up the green one.
The same sentiment in nearly the same words is found in several of the Greek writers; Æschylus, Sept. Theb. ver. 605: en panti pragei d esqJ omiliav kakhv kakiov ouden. “In every matter there is nothing more deleterious than evil communication.”—Diodorus Siculus, lib. xvi. cap. 54: taiv ponhraiv omiliaiv diefqeire ta hqh twn anqrwpwn. “With these evil communications he corrupted the morals of men.” Tauta men outwv isqi. kakoisi de mh prosomilo
Andrasin, allq aiei twn agaqwn eceo.
Kai meta toisin pine kai esqie, kai meta toisin
Ize, kai andane toiv, wn megalh dunamiv.
Esqlwn men gar apJ esqla maqhseai. hn de kakoisi
Summicqhv, apoleiv kai ton eonta noon.
Theogn. Sent., ver. 31-36.
Know this: Thou must not keep company with the wicked, but converse always with good men. With such eat, drink, and associate. Please those who have the greatest virtue. From good men thou mayest learn good things; but if thou keep company with the wicked, thou wilt lose even the intelligence which thou now possessest.
Joseph Benson
Verses 31-34. I protest by your rejoicing — Greek, nh thn umeteran kauchsin hn ecw, by the boasting concerning you which I have, namely, on account of your faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. So the clause is interpreted by some critics. I die daily — That is, I am daily in danger of death, for bearing testimony to the resurrection of Christ, and to a general resurrection through him. If, to speak after the manner of men — That is, To use a proverbial phrase expressive of the most imminent danger; I have fought with beasts at Ephesus — With the savage fury of a lawless multitude, Acts 19:29, &c. What advantageth it me — What have I gained by such sufferings; if the dead rise not? And I have nothing to expect after death. Let us eat and drink, &c. — We might, on that supposition, as well say, with the Epicureans, Let us make the best of this short life, seeing we have no other portion to expect. Be not deceived — By such pernicious counsels as this. Evil communications corrupt good manners — He opposes to the Epicurean saying a well-known verse of the poet Menander. By evil communications, is meant conversation contrary to faith, hope, or love; or familiar intercourse with worldly and carnal people, which tends to destroy all holiness. Awake — An exclamation full of apostolical majesty. Shake off your lethargy! To righteousness — Evangelical and divine righteousness, flowing from the true knowledge of God, and implying that the whole soul be broad awake and watchful: the righteousness through which grace reigns unto eternal life, Romans 5:21; and sin not — That is, and you will not sin, for sin supposes sleepiness or drowsiness of soul. There is need to press this; for some — Among you; have not the knowledge of God — With all your boasted knowledge, you are ignorant of what it most concerns you to know; I speak this to your shame — For nothing is more shameful than sleepy ignorance of God, and of the word and works of God; to them especially, it was shameful, considering the advantages they had enjoyed.
Daniel Whedon
33. Paul now flings out some words of warning against the demoralizing influence of the men who are among them insinuating the non-existence of any human future. Deceived—Beware of error, for evil intercourses, intimacies, corrupt good morals, rather than manners. Bad principles produce bad characters and conduct. The belief that we live but for this world will seduce us into sin.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 33.-34. Be not deceived: in a similar connection, 1 Corinthians 6:9. The solemn earnestness of these words suggests that some at Corinth actually accepted, though perhaps unconsciously, the foregoing practical and immoral inference from this false teaching.
Excellent dispositions, bad companionships corrupt: a line of poetry found in the surviving fragments of the Athenian comic dramatist Meander, who died B.C. 291. Paul rebukes the immoral inferences from the false teaching at Corinth by quoting the words of a pagan. He thus confirms the voice of God (in Isaiah 22:13) by the general moral sense of man. Whether he had read the comedies of Meander, or only quoted this line, as many quote Shakespeare now, from hearsay, we cannot determine. An important coincidence is found in Acts 17:28, where a similar quotation is attributed to Paul. So Titus 1:12.
Bad companionships: intercourse from time to time with bad men. He refers probably, as 1 Corinthians 15:32 suggests, to those who denied the resurrection.
Rouse-up: as though overcome by sleep or intoxication. Same word in Joel 1:5, “Rouse up, drunken ones.” Like be not deceived, it is an appeal to the whole church, whose spiritual sense had become stupefied. Righteously: in a manner corresponding with the principles of right. Sin not: result of rousing thus.
For some etc.; justifies the exhortation by pointing to the need for it. Some: evidently church-members. Otherwise the mention of them would not put the church to shame.
Ignorance of God: interesting coincidence with Matthew 22:29. It leads both to a denial of the resurrection and to practical immorality. Arouse righteously is parallel to be not deceived; ignorance of God etc., to bad companionships. Paul wishes his readers not to be deceived: and then, fearing that deception has already begun, he urges them to arouse from its influence. The men against whom he warns are bad company; because they know not God.
To awaken shame: that they have such men in their midst. This suggests that they ought to be expelled from the church.
The earnestness of 1 Corinthians 15:33, 34 implies that the denial of the resurrection was already producing immoral results. There were men in the church whose presence was a shame to it, because they knew not God. Paul therefore exhorts his readers sharply to arouse from stupor and avoid sin, and warns them that bad company injures even the well-disposed. The immoral maxim in 1 Corinthians 15:32 suggests that the false teachers were bad men. And Paul's concluding rebuke implies that they ought to be no longer in the church. He does not command their expulsion; but leaves this to the Christian sense of the community.
SECTION 28 presents special difficulties. Like all refutations, it can be understood only by understanding first the teaching refuted: but this is known to us only through the arguments we are now seeking to understand. We will therefore attempt to gather from § 28 itself all indications about the false teaching it combats: and we will then build up in our own words its various arguments.
We notice that, although Paul proves at great length that Christ has risen, he simply asserts, and asserts twice, with perfect confidence but without proof, that Christ has risen. From this we infer with certainty that the denial at Corinth was an absolute denial of the possibility of bodily life for those who have died. For, a denial merely based on the dissolution of the body would not cover the case of Christ. The argument of § 29 suggests that some denied the resurrection because our present bodies are unsuitable to the future life. That Paul contents himself with simply asserting that the Corinthian denial involves a denial that Christ has risen, suggests that this logical consequence must have been so clear that it could not escape the deniers themselves; and that, at least in their hearts, they were prepared to accept it. But Paul's silence about any express denial that Christ had risen suggests that this consequence had not been formally stated. That Paul meets the denial by arguments of which some do not prove expressly that the dead will rise, implies that both he and the false teachers held that without resurrection there can be no abiding life beyond death. With this agrees Luke 20:37, where Christ disproves the Sadducean denial of the resurrection by proving that the dead servants of God still live. Contrast the Phaedo of Plato and the Tusculan Disputations of Cicero, where life beyond death is strongly asserted but no hint given of resurrection. Paul and his readers evidently assumed that for beings consisting of spirit and body and created to dwell on earth there could be no abiding future life without a return to earth and a reclothing of the spirit in a human though glorified body. That Paul does not speak expressly of denial of life beyond death, but only of denial of the resurrection, suggests that the former denial was based upon the latter, in some cases probably upon the essential unsuitability of our present bodies for a future life. The assertion that dead men cannot rise, and that therefore there is no life beyond death, Paul meets in § 28 by proving that Christ has risen and by direct proofs that there is a future life; and by showing in § 29 that future bodily life does not imply bodies exactly like we now wear. Probably many Corinthians believed, as did some Greeks in Plato's day, (see quotation in Review of DIV. VII.,) that at the moment of death the spirit ceases to be. Since the deniers of the resurrection were members of a Christian church, we must suppose that, just as the Sadducees of Luke 20:27 were followers of Moses, so they believed in part the Gospel of Christ. We may conceive that they believed that God accepts as righteous through the death of Christ all who believe and gives to them His Holy Spirit, and that Christ will return to judge the world and to receive His people into glory; but that, since resurrection is inconceivable, our hope of glory depends upon surviving to the coming of Christ. Thus they had (1 Corinthians 15:19) hope in Christ, but a hope contingent on present bodily life. That these were their views is made probable by 1 Thessalonians 4:13ff, where we find similar views prevalent in another Gentile church. In this latter case, however, the doubts about the resurrection of dead believers did not involve (see 1 Corinthians 15:14) doubt that Christ had risen: nor had it led to immoral consequences. It was honest doubt, producing sorrow; not confident and outspoken denial, as at Corinth. That the denial we are studying was perilous to morals, suggests that in the deniers even the expectation of Christ's coming had lost power. For this expectation was itself a sufficient motive for sobriety; and is so used in 1 Thessalonians 5:4ff. Probably, they were Christians only in name. In disproof of teaching which clearly involves a denial that Christ has risen, Paul expounds the significance of the facts, historical and spiritual, stated in § 27. He and others had asserted that Christ has risen: and their preaching had been the means of saving many at Corinth from the dominion of their former sins. If Christ had not risen, their testimony was a lie against God. And it could not be conceived that a lie would save men from their sins. Again, the Corinthian denial involves, as all admitted, a denial of life beyond death. Therefore, if true, it implies that those who have died trusting in Christ have, by their peaceful and heroic death, lost all; and that the men who cherish hopes of endless glory, hopes liable to be at any moment destroyed for ever by the hand of death, are indeed to be pitied. Since death is evidently an enemy to the Christian, it is destined by ancient prophecy to be trampled under the feet of Christ. And till this enemy is compelled to give up its prey the Son cannot present to the Father His finished work. The church at Corinth has itself condemned this error, by favoring the vicarious baptism of those who have died unbaptized. And the perils to which the apostle daily and willingly exposes himself are a loud expression of his own belief. In absolute contrast to these perils, a denial of the resurrection would justify immoral maxims condemned both by the Old Testament and by heathen writers. In view of this, Paul bids his readers examine whether the presence in their midst of deniers of the resurrection is not already producing immoral results.
Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
John Wesley
V. 34. Awake-An exclamation full of apostolical majesty. Shake off your lethargy!
To righteousness-Which flows from the true knowledge of God, and implies that your whole soul be broad awake.
And sin not-That is, and ye will not sin. Sin supposes drowsiness of soul. There is need to press this.
For some among you have not the knowledge of God-With all their boasted knowledge, they are totally ignorant of what it most concerns them to know.
I speak this to your shame-For nothing is more shameful, than sleepy ignorance of God, and of the word and works of God; in these especially, considering the advantages they had enjoyed.
Adam Clarke
Verse 34. Awake to righteousness] Shake off your slumber; awake fully, thoroughly, dikaiwv, as ye ought to do: so the word should be rendered; not awake to righteousness. Be in earnest; do not trifle with God, your souls, and eternity.
Sin not] For this will lead to the destruction both of body and soul. Life is but a moment; improve it. Heaven has blessings without end. Some have not the knowledge of God] The original is very emphatic: agnwsian gar qeou tinev ecousi, some have an ignorance of God; they do not acknowledge God. They have what is their bane; and they have not what would be their happiness and glory. To have an ignorance of God-a sort of substantial darkness, that prevents the light of God from penetrating the soul, is a worse state than to be simply in the dark, or without the Divine knowledge. The apostle probably speaks of those who were once enlightened, had once good morals, but were corrupted by bad company. It was to their shame or reproach that they had left the good way, and were now posting down to the chambers of death.
Joseph Benson
Verses 31-34. I protest by your rejoicing — Greek, nh thn umeteran kauchsin hn ecw, by the boasting concerning you which I have, namely, on account of your faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. So the clause is interpreted by some critics. I die daily — That is, I am daily in danger of death, for bearing testimony to the resurrection of Christ, and to a general resurrection through him. If, to speak after the manner of men — That is, To use a proverbial phrase expressive of the most imminent danger; I have fought with beasts at Ephesus — With the savage fury of a lawless multitude, Acts 19:29, &c. What advantageth it me — What have I gained by such sufferings; if the dead rise not? And I have nothing to expect after death. Let us eat and drink, &c. — We might, on that supposition, as well say, with the Epicureans, Let us make the best of this short life, seeing we have no other portion to expect. Be not deceived — By such pernicious counsels as this. Evil communications corrupt good manners — He opposes to the Epicurean saying a well-known verse of the poet Menander. By evil communications, is meant conversation contrary to faith, hope, or love; or familiar intercourse with worldly and carnal people, which tends to destroy all holiness. Awake — An exclamation full of apostolical majesty. Shake off your lethargy! To righteousness — Evangelical and divine righteousness, flowing from the true knowledge of God, and implying that the whole soul be broad awake and watchful: the righteousness through which grace reigns unto eternal life, Romans 5:21; and sin not — That is, and you will not sin, for sin supposes sleepiness or drowsiness of soul. There is need to press this; for some — Among you; have not the knowledge of God — With all your boasted knowledge, you are ignorant of what it most concerns you to know; I speak this to your shame — For nothing is more shameful than sleepy ignorance of God, and of the word and works of God; to them especially, it was shameful, considering the advantages they had enjoyed.
Daniel Whedon
34. Awake, from the influence of these seductions to living righteously, and sin not; for some, whose doctrines I have indicated, though their names I will not utter, have not the knowledge of God; literally, have an ignorance of God. They are really holding fast a part of their old paganism—the evil of matter and the impossibility of a renovation of man’s body. They “err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God” touching the resurrection. Matthew 22:29, 30. Your shame—That these semi-pagan errorists, denying the power of God for a resurrection, and demoralizing the Church, should be still influential among them.
5. By the contrasts in the glory of various classes of material bodies is illustrated the contrast between our bodies, mortal and immortalized, 35-41.
Paul now, through the remainder of the chapter, answers the Gnostic opponent who denies the possibility of the resurrection, based on the vileness of corporeal matter. He shows (35-41) that there are varieties of body, contrasts the mode of our present body with the mode of the future same body, (42-50,) and furnishes an apocalyptic picture affirming by revelation a glorious resurrection of the same body.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 33.-34. Be not deceived: in a similar connection, 1 Corinthians 6:9. The solemn earnestness of these words suggests that some at Corinth actually accepted, though perhaps unconsciously, the foregoing practical and immoral inference from this false teaching.
Excellent dispositions, bad companionships corrupt: a line of poetry found in the surviving fragments of the Athenian comic dramatist Meander, who died B.C. 291. Paul rebukes the immoral inferences from the false teaching at Corinth by quoting the words of a pagan. He thus confirms the voice of God (in Isaiah 22:13) by the general moral sense of man. Whether he had read the comedies of Meander, or only quoted this line, as many quote Shakespeare now, from hearsay, we cannot determine. An important coincidence is found in Acts 17:28, where a similar quotation is attributed to Paul. So Titus 1:12.
Bad companionships: intercourse from time to time with bad men. He refers probably, as 1 Corinthians 15:32 suggests, to those who denied the resurrection.
Rouse-up: as though overcome by sleep or intoxication. Same word in Joel 1:5, “Rouse up, drunken ones.” Like be not deceived, it is an appeal to the whole church, whose spiritual sense had become stupefied. Righteously: in a manner corresponding with the principles of right. Sin not: result of rousing thus.
For some etc.; justifies the exhortation by pointing to the need for it. Some: evidently church-members. Otherwise the mention of them would not put the church to shame.
Ignorance of God: interesting coincidence with Matthew 22:29. It leads both to a denial of the resurrection and to practical immorality. Arouse righteously is parallel to be not deceived; ignorance of God etc., to bad companionships. Paul wishes his readers not to be deceived: and then, fearing that deception has already begun, he urges them to arouse from its influence. The men against whom he warns are bad company; because they know not God.
To awaken shame: that they have such men in their midst. This suggests that they ought to be expelled from the church.
The earnestness of 1 Corinthians 15:33, 34 implies that the denial of the resurrection was already producing immoral results. There were men in the church whose presence was a shame to it, because they knew not God. Paul therefore exhorts his readers sharply to arouse from stupor and avoid sin, and warns them that bad company injures even the well-disposed. The immoral maxim in 1 Corinthians 15:32 suggests that the false teachers were bad men. And Paul's concluding rebuke implies that they ought to be no longer in the church. He does not command their expulsion; but leaves this to the Christian sense of the community.
SECTION 28 presents special difficulties. Like all refutations, it can be understood only by understanding first the teaching refuted: but this is known to us only through the arguments we are now seeking to understand. We will therefore attempt to gather from § 28 itself all indications about the false teaching it combats: and we will then build up in our own words its various arguments.
We notice that, although Paul proves at great length that Christ has risen, he simply asserts, and asserts twice, with perfect confidence but without proof, that Christ has risen. From this we infer with certainty that the denial at Corinth was an absolute denial of the possibility of bodily life for those who have died. For, a denial merely based on the dissolution of the body would not cover the case of Christ. The argument of § 29 suggests that some denied the resurrection because our present bodies are unsuitable to the future life. That Paul contents himself with simply asserting that the Corinthian denial involves a denial that Christ has risen, suggests that this logical consequence must have been so clear that it could not escape the deniers themselves; and that, at least in their hearts, they were prepared to accept it. But Paul's silence about any express denial that Christ had risen suggests that this consequence had not been formally stated. That Paul meets the denial by arguments of which some do not prove expressly that the dead will rise, implies that both he and the false teachers held that without resurrection there can be no abiding life beyond death. With this agrees Luke 20:37, where Christ disproves the Sadducean denial of the resurrection by proving that the dead servants of God still live. Contrast the Phaedo of Plato and the Tusculan Disputations of Cicero, where life beyond death is strongly asserted but no hint given of resurrection. Paul and his readers evidently assumed that for beings consisting of spirit and body and created to dwell on earth there could be no abiding future life without a return to earth and a reclothing of the spirit in a human though glorified body. That Paul does not speak expressly of denial of life beyond death, but only of denial of the resurrection, suggests that the former denial was based upon the latter, in some cases probably upon the essential unsuitability of our present bodies for a future life. The assertion that dead men cannot rise, and that therefore there is no life beyond death, Paul meets in § 28 by proving that Christ has risen and by direct proofs that there is a future life; and by showing in § 29 that future bodily life does not imply bodies exactly like we now wear. Probably many Corinthians believed, as did some Greeks in Plato's day, (see quotation in Review of DIV. VII.,) that at the moment of death the spirit ceases to be. Since the deniers of the resurrection were members of a Christian church, we must suppose that, just as the Sadducees of Luke 20:27 were followers of Moses, so they believed in part the Gospel of Christ. We may conceive that they believed that God accepts as righteous through the death of Christ all who believe and gives to them His Holy Spirit, and that Christ will return to judge the world and to receive His people into glory; but that, since resurrection is inconceivable, our hope of glory depends upon surviving to the coming of Christ. Thus they had (1 Corinthians 15:19) hope in Christ, but a hope contingent on present bodily life. That these were their views is made probable by 1 Thessalonians 4:13ff, where we find similar views prevalent in another Gentile church. In this latter case, however, the doubts about the resurrection of dead believers did not involve (see 1 Corinthians 15:14) doubt that Christ had risen: nor had it led to immoral consequences. It was honest doubt, producing sorrow; not confident and outspoken denial, as at Corinth. That the denial we are studying was perilous to morals, suggests that in the deniers even the expectation of Christ's coming had lost power. For this expectation was itself a sufficient motive for sobriety; and is so used in 1 Thessalonians 5:4ff. Probably, they were Christians only in name. In disproof of teaching which clearly involves a denial that Christ has risen, Paul expounds the significance of the facts, historical and spiritual, stated in § 27. He and others had asserted that Christ has risen: and their preaching had been the means of saving many at Corinth from the dominion of their former sins. If Christ had not risen, their testimony was a lie against God. And it could not be conceived that a lie would save men from their sins. Again, the Corinthian denial involves, as all admitted, a denial of life beyond death. Therefore, if true, it implies that those who have died trusting in Christ have, by their peaceful and heroic death, lost all; and that the men who cherish hopes of endless glory, hopes liable to be at any moment destroyed for ever by the hand of death, are indeed to be pitied. Since death is evidently an enemy to the Christian, it is destined by ancient prophecy to be trampled under the feet of Christ. And till this enemy is compelled to give up its prey the Son cannot present to the Father His finished work. The church at Corinth has itself condemned this error, by favoring the vicarious baptism of those who have died unbaptized. And the perils to which the apostle daily and willingly exposes himself are a loud expression of his own belief. In absolute contrast to these perils, a denial of the resurrection would justify immoral maxims condemned both by the Old Testament and by heathen writers. In view of this, Paul bids his readers examine whether the presence in their midst of deniers of the resurrection is not already producing immoral results.
But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
John Wesley
V. 35. But some one possibly will say, How are the dead raised up, after their whole frame is dissolved? And with what kind of bodies do they come again, after these are mouldered into dust?
Adam Clarke
Verse 35. But some man will say] alla erei tiv. It is very likely that the apostle, by tiv some, some one, some man, means particularly the false apostle, or teacher at Corinth, who was chief in the opposition to the pure doctrine of the Gospel, and to whom, in this covert way, he often refers. The second part of the apostle’s discourse begins at this verse. What shall be the nature of the resurrection body? 1. The question is stated, 1 Corinthians 15:35. 2. It is answered: first, by a similitude, 1 Corinthians 15:36-38; secondly, by an application, 1 Corinthians 15:33-41; and thirdly, by explication, 1 Corinthians 15:42-50.
Joseph Benson
Verse 35. But some man possibly will say, How are the dead raised up — After their whole frame is dissolved? And with what kind of bodies do they come? — From the dead, after these are mouldered into dust. By the apostle’s answer to these inquiries, it appears that he considered the inquirer as not so much desiring to have his curiosity satisfied, respecting the nature and qualities of the bodies raised, as suggesting the impossibility of the resurrection in question taking place. He therefore begins with proving the possibility of the resurrection, by appealing to the power of God displayed in raising grain from seed which is rotted in the ground, and in giving to each of the kinds, when it is grown up, the body proper to it: also in making bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial, each having its own properties by which it is distinguished from all others. And from these instances of the power of God, he infers that the resurrection of the dead is possible, verses 36-42. As to the inquiry, with what kind of bodies men will be raised, his answer is given from the middle of verse 42-54. But what he advances respects only the properties of the bodies of the righteous, which he contrasts with the properties of the bodies which were laid in the grave. And with respect to the righteous, who are found alive on the earth at the coming of Christ, he declares that their bodies will be changed in a moment, and rendered incorruptible and immortal, because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 35, 36. Some will say, how are the dead raised up? Thou fool, afron, a man devoid of mind, unskilled in husbandry, when thou seest whole harvests grow from a few grains of corn; when thou seest the fowl burst the shell, and fly away. Limit not the Holy One of Israel. Is not all nature full of God, and full of mysteries?
Daniel Whedon
35. Some man—One of the some of verses 34 and 12. Both questions deny the possibility of the resurrection (of our present body, note Acts 8:9) by asking the how and the what kind. They fully believe that it is no how and of no kind; for matter is immutably corrupt, and they have no conception that body can be made, even by divine power, any otherwise than corrupt—just because it is matter.
Joseph Agar Beet
I CORINTHIANS
SECTION 29 — OUR RESURRECTION BODIES
WILL BE QUITE DIFFERENT FROM OUR
PRESENT BODIES CH. 15:35-53
But some one will say, How are the dead ones raised? and with what kind of body do they come? A senseless man! Thou, that which thou sowest is not made alive unless it die. And that which thou sowest, not the body which will come into being dost thou sow, but naked grain, of wheat it may be, or of some of the others. But God gives to it a body according as His will was; and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh. But there is one of men, and another flesh of cattle, and another flesh of birds, and another of fishes. And heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But of one kind is the glory of the heavenly ones, and of another kind that of the earthly ones. One glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For star from star differs in glory. So also the resurrection of the dead ones. It is sown in corruption: it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour: it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness: it is raised in power. There is sown a soul-governed body: there is raised a spiritual body. If there is a soul-governed body, there is also a spiritual one. So also it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul,” (Genesis 2:7.) The last Adam, a life-giving Spirit. But not first is the spiritual, but the soul-governed, then the spiritual. The first man is from earth, a man of dust: the second Man is from heaven. Such as the man of dust, such also the men of dust and such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones. And according as we have worn the image of the man of dust, let us wear also the image of the heavenly one. I mean this, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit God's kingdom; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. See, a mystery I tell you. All of us will not sleep: but all of us will be changed; in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For, one will blow a trumpet: and the dead will be raised incorruptible; and we shall be changed. For it must need be that this corruptible thing put on incorruption, and this mortal thing put on immortality.
Ver. 35. Adverse questions which Paul knows some one will ask. With what-kind-of body: expounds how are the dead ones raised, by giving the special point of difficulty in the process of the resurrection. Are raised, do they come: vivid description, as though we saw them now rising and coming out of the grave.
They come: from the standpoint of living men, of those who are coming back to the land of the living. “A senseless one!” in 1 Corinthians 15:36 suggests that these questions are not for information but to raise an objection. That the objection is made, not to Paul's proofs, but to the doctrine proved, viz. that the dead will rise, suggests that this objection had been actually brought and was perhaps one ground of the assertion that there is no resurrection. The objectors evidently thought that resurrection implies that our present bodies or others like them will continue into the future life. This they could not conceive; and therefore said that “dead men do not rise.” But Paul, after disproving this denial in § 28 by proving that Christ has risen and that there is a life beyond death, truths inconsistent with the denial, will now show that the just uncovered ground of the denial is itself a misconception of the nature of the resurrection. In Matthew 22:23ff we have a similar objection to the fact of the resurrection, based on the same crude notion, common even in Christian ages, that the raised bodies will be exactly the same as those laid in the grave. Our Saviour, like Paul, meets it by proving that there is a life beyond the grave, assuming that this implies a resurrection of the dead; and by showing how incorrect are the common ideas about the life of the risen ones.
Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
John Wesley
V. 36. To the inquiry concerning the manner of rising, and the quality of the bodies that rise, the Apostle answers first by a similitude, 1 Corinthians 15:36-42, and then plainly and directly, 1 Corinthians 15:42, 43.
That which thou sowest, is not quickened into new life and verdure, except it die-Undergo a dissolution of its parts, a change analogous to death. Thus St. Paul inverts the objection; as if he had said, Death is so far from hindering life, that it necessarily goes before it.
Adam Clarke
Verse 36. Thou fool] afron. If this be addressed, as it probably is, to the false apostle, there is a peculiar propriety in it; as this man seems to have magnified his own wisdom, and set it up against both God and man; and none but a fool could act so. At the same time, it is folly in any to assert the impossibility of a thing because he cannot comprehend it. That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die] I have shown the propriety of this simile of the apostle in the note on John 12:24, to which I must refer the reader. A grain of wheat, &c., is composed of the body or lobes, and the germ. The latter forms an inconsiderable part of the mass of the grain; the body, lobes, or farinaceous part, forms nearly the whole. This body dies-becomes decomposed, and forms a fine earth, from which the germ derives its first nourishment; by the nourishment thus derived the germ is quickened, receives its first vegetable life, and through this means is rendered capable of deriving the rest of its nourishment and support from the grosser earth in which the grain was deposited. Whether the apostle would intimate here that there is a certain germ in the present body, which shall become the seed of the resurrection body, this is not the place to inquire; and on this point I can with pleasure refer to Mr. Drew’s work on the “Resurrection of the Human Body;” where this subject, as well as every other subject connected with this momentous question, is considered in a very luminous and cogently argumentative point of view.
Joseph Benson
Verses 36-38. Thou fool — Greek, afron, without mind, or
understanding. Or, thou inconsiderate and thoughtless creature, who thinkest a matter impossible, of the possibility of which thou hast an example in the very seed thou sowest. Macknight thinks the apostle here addresses the false teacher at Corinth, “giving him the appellation of fool in the same sense, and for the same reason, that our Lord himself called the Pharisees fools, namely, on account of their ignorance and wickedness, Matthew 22:17.” What thou sowest is not quickened except it die — “To illustrate the possibility of the resurrection, the apostle appeals to a thing which men every day behold, and which is little less wonderful than the resurrection itself, the reproduction of grain from seed sown, which does not grow unless it be rotted in the ground. But after its body is destroyed something springs out of it, which, by a wonderful process, the effect of the power of God, ends in the reproduction of the same kind of grain, not bare as it was sown, but richly adorned with blades, stalk, and ear.” Thomas Paine, in his “Age of Reason,” and some other modern infidels, have maintained, against the apostle, “that the seed does not die in vegetation, because the germe lives and expands itself, and only the extraneous matter corrupts. But in fact the seed, as such, doth die: it ceases to be a grain of corn; though a part of it springs, as it were, into new life, by a process which we can no more comprehend than we can the manner of the resurrection. Even Lucretius, the Epicurean atheist, says, ‘Whatever change transfers a body into a new class of beings, may be justly called the death of the original substance: for what is changed from what it was, that dies.’” — Scott. And that which thou sowest is not the body that shall be — Produced from the seed committed to the ground; but bare, naked, grain — Widely different from that which will afterward rise out of the earth. But God — Not thou, O man, nor the grain itself; giveth it a body — In the course of his natural operations, by certain laws of vegetation, with which thou art entirely unacquainted; as it hath pleased him — With such a variety of parts as he hath thought fit to determine for that particular species; and to each of the seeds — Not only of the fruits and plants, but animals also, to which the apostle rises in the following verse; its own body — Not only a body of the same sort, but that which, by virtue of some connection it had with this or that individual grain, may properly be called its own, though in its form much different, and much more beautiful. It is justly observed by Dr. Macknight here, that, “having such an example of the divine power before our eyes, we cannot think the reproduction of the body impossible, though its parts be utterly dissipated. And although the very numerical body be not raised, which the apostle intimates when he affirms that the grain produced from the seed sown is not the very body which is sown, yet the body is truly raised; because what is raised being united to the soul, there will arise in the man, thus completed, a consciousness of identity, by which he will be sensible of the justice of the retribution which is made to him for his deeds. Besides, this new body will more than supply the place of the old, by serving every purpose necessary to the perfection and happiness of the man in his new state. According to this view of the subject, the objection taken from the scattering of the particles of the body that die, has no place, because it does not seem necessary that the body to be raised should be composed of them; for the Scripture nowhere affirms that the same numerical body is to be raised. In the opinion of some, indeed, the example of the grain which first dies, and then revives, is mentioned to intimate, that in the human body there is a seminal principle, which is not destroyed by death; and which, at the appointed season, will reproduce the body in a more excellent form than before, through the quickening influence of his power. But is a seminal principle any thing different from that power? What occasion then have we to carry our thoughts in this matter beyond God’s power? Besides, as there is no inextinguishable principle in plants, the analogy doth not hold. I therefore suppose this wonderful, though common instance, is mentioned, to show that the resurrection of the body is not beyond the power of God to accomplish; and that it may certainly be expected according to Christ’s promise.”
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 35, 36. Some will say, how are the dead raised up? Thou fool, afron, a man devoid of mind, unskilled in husbandry, when thou seest whole harvests grow from a few grains of corn; when thou seest the fowl burst the shell, and fly away. Limit not the Holy One of Israel. Is not all nature full of God, and full of mysteries?
Daniel Whedon
36. Thou fool—The italic thou is furnished by the translators. Similar was Solomon’s fool, who said in his heart, There is no God. Thou—Yet here, as in Romans 9, the apostle has a conceptual opponent face to face. This thou would be more emphatic in Paul’s Greek than in our English, for the Greek can omit the pronoun, and inserts it only for the keen point. As Dr. Poor (in Lange) pertinently says, “It is the pointed finger aiming at the objector present to the author’s mind—thou.” And fool belongs to this thou, just because his own planting a seed refutes him. When you yourself put a seed in the ground, you know what follows. Quickened—Made alive in the future plant.
Paul here, be it noted, is not dealing in the secrecies of science, but with the bare facts presented to the eye of the seed planter. The three patent ocular facts are, a burial, a death, and a reappearance. The seed goes into the ground, dies, and is “resurrected” in a plant above ground. To Paul’s conception the plant is the same seed reappearing; the same matter in a new form. Yet this sameness is not what he is now illustrating; he is now only showing the Gnostic that as matter is not necessarily inglorious, so the materiality of our present body is no reason for objecting to its future remodelling in glory. Paul’s view is, that the same materiality rises re-organized, and endowed with new properties. It is idem et alter; the same in substance, but different in phenomena; just as the same carbon may be first a charcoal and then a diamond. Except it die—Is it strange to you that corruption, decay, and death should be the antecedent of immortal life? Lo, the seed you plant cannot live until it die. Death is the necessary condition to future life.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 36.-38. A senseless one! Thou etc.; rebukes the folly of the objection underlying these questions by pointing the man to a matter belonging to his own daily life.
Made-alive, die: appropriately chosen to suggest the analogy between the dead Christian and the seed hidden from sight in the ground and there perishing as a seed that it may pass into a more abundant life. This analogy teaches that there may be a continuity and a development of life in spite of the dissolution of its outward form; and that death may itself be the only possible way to a higher life. Thus in the very plants under our feet we have a pattern and a prophecy of our own resurrection, and a rebuke to those who deny its possibility. 1 Corinthians 15:37 adds to the analogy pointed out in 1 Corinthians 15:36 a proof from it that continuity of life does not imply continuity of bodily form. Body; keeps before us the analogy of a dead man.
Naked grain: in contrast to the beautifully clothed plant which will grow from it.
Wheat, or some of the others; suggests the variety of seeds, thus preparing the way for to each of the seeds in 1 Corinthians 15:38. Verse 38 solemnly introduces God as the Maker of the body which will grow.
His-will-was: literally, has-willed: same words and teaching in 1 Corinthians 12:18.
According as etc. The purpose of God, formed in the eternal past, is the eternal archetype with which correspond even the plants growing today. That God gives to the wheat from His Own infinite resources a body corresponding to the mystery of His Own eternal will, is the strongest contrast to sowing the body which will come to be.
Each of the seeds; suggest the immense variety of seeds. Each of these will have a body of its own, a body appropriate to itself. Consequently the variety of vegetable bodies is as great as the variety of seeds.
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:
John Wesley
V. 37. Thou sowest not the body that shall be-Produced from the seed committed to the ground, but a bare, naked grain, widely different from that which will afterward rise out of the earth.
Adam Clarke
Verse 37. Thou sowest not that body that shall be] This is decomposed, and becomes the means of nourishing the whole plant, roots, stalk, leaves, ear, and full corn in the ear.
Joseph Benson
Verses 36-38. Thou fool — Greek, afron, without mind, or
understanding. Or, thou inconsiderate and thoughtless creature, who thinkest a matter impossible, of the possibility of which thou hast an example in the very seed thou sowest. Macknight thinks the apostle here addresses the false teacher at Corinth, “giving him the appellation of fool in the same sense, and for the same reason, that our Lord himself called the Pharisees fools, namely, on account of their ignorance and wickedness, Matthew 22:17.” What thou sowest is not quickened except it die — “To illustrate the possibility of the resurrection, the apostle appeals to a thing which men every day behold, and which is little less wonderful than the resurrection itself, the reproduction of grain from seed sown, which does not grow unless it be rotted in the ground. But after its body is destroyed something springs out of it, which, by a wonderful process, the effect of the power of God, ends in the reproduction of the same kind of grain, not bare as it was sown, but richly adorned with blades, stalk, and ear.” Thomas Paine, in his “Age of Reason,” and some other modern infidels, have maintained, against the apostle, “that the seed does not die in vegetation, because the germe lives and expands itself, and only the extraneous matter corrupts. But in fact the seed, as such, doth die: it ceases to be a grain of corn; though a part of it springs, as it were, into new life, by a process which we can no more comprehend than we can the manner of the resurrection. Even Lucretius, the Epicurean atheist, says, ‘Whatever change transfers a body into a new class of beings, may be justly called the death of the original substance: for what is changed from what it was, that dies.’” — Scott. And that which thou sowest is not the body that shall be — Produced from the seed committed to the ground; but bare, naked, grain — Widely different from that which will afterward rise out of the earth. But God — Not thou, O man, nor the grain itself; giveth it a body — In the course of his natural operations, by certain laws of vegetation, with which thou art entirely unacquainted; as it hath pleased him — With such a variety of parts as he hath thought fit to determine for that particular species; and to each of the seeds — Not only of the fruits and plants, but animals also, to which the apostle rises in the following verse; its own body — Not only a body of the same sort, but that which, by virtue of some connection it had with this or that individual grain, may properly be called its own, though in its form much different, and much more beautiful. It is justly observed by Dr. Macknight here, that, “having such an example of the divine power before our eyes, we cannot think the reproduction of the body impossible, though its parts be utterly dissipated. And although the very numerical body be not raised, which the apostle intimates when he affirms that the grain produced from the seed sown is not the very body which is sown, yet the body is truly raised; because what is raised being united to the soul, there will arise in the man, thus completed, a consciousness of identity, by which he will be sensible of the justice of the retribution which is made to him for his deeds. Besides, this new body will more than supply the place of the old, by serving every purpose necessary to the perfection and happiness of the man in his new state. According to this view of the subject, the objection taken from the scattering of the particles of the body that die, has no place, because it does not seem necessary that the body to be raised should be composed of them; for the Scripture nowhere affirms that the same numerical body is to be raised. In the opinion of some, indeed, the example of the grain which first dies, and then revives, is mentioned to intimate, that in the human body there is a seminal principle, which is not destroyed by death; and which, at the appointed season, will reproduce the body in a more excellent form than before, through the quickening influence of his power. But is a seminal principle any thing different from that power? What occasion then have we to carry our thoughts in this matter beyond God’s power? Besides, as there is no inextinguishable principle in plants, the analogy doth not hold. I therefore suppose this wonderful, though common instance, is mentioned, to show that the resurrection of the body is not beyond the power of God to accomplish; and that it may certainly be expected according to Christ’s promise.”
Daniel Whedon
37. Not… body that shall be—The planter does not sow it a plant and then have it come up a plant. But a seed is sown and a plant is grown. Just so you bury a putrid corpse, and it comes forth an angel-like body. But to the apostle’s legitimate conception the new plant is but a transfiguration of the old seed, and the new body is but a molecular rearrangement of the old corpse. The old corpse is the primitive material out of which the new body is made; just as in the change of verse 52, the old is the material for the new. Bare grain—Naked kernel, not a living stalk, with fresh branches, foliage, and flower; as it is in its upspringing.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 36.-38. A senseless one! Thou etc.; rebukes the folly of the objection underlying these questions by pointing the man to a matter belonging to his own daily life.
Made-alive, die: appropriately chosen to suggest the analogy between the dead Christian and the seed hidden from sight in the ground and there perishing as a seed that it may pass into a more abundant life. This analogy teaches that there may be a continuity and a development of life in spite of the dissolution of its outward form; and that death may itself be the only possible way to a higher life. Thus in the very plants under our feet we have a pattern and a prophecy of our own resurrection, and a rebuke to those who deny its possibility. 1 Corinthians 15:37 adds to the analogy pointed out in 1 Corinthians 15:36 a proof from it that continuity of life does not imply continuity of bodily form. Body; keeps before us the analogy of a dead man.
Naked grain: in contrast to the beautifully clothed plant which will grow from it.
Wheat, or some of the others; suggests the variety of seeds, thus preparing the way for to each of the seeds in 1 Corinthians 15:38. Verse 38 solemnly introduces God as the Maker of the body which will grow.
His-will-was: literally, has-willed: same words and teaching in 1 Corinthians 12:18.
According as etc. The purpose of God, formed in the eternal past, is the eternal archetype with which correspond even the plants growing today. That God gives to the wheat from His Own infinite resources a body corresponding to the mystery of His Own eternal will, is the strongest contrast to sowing the body which will come to be.
Each of the seeds; suggest the immense variety of seeds. Each of these will have a body of its own, a body appropriate to itself. Consequently the variety of vegetable bodies is as great as the variety of seeds.
But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
John Wesley
V. 38. But God-Not thou, O man, not the grain itself, giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, from the time he distinguished the various Species of beings; and to each of the seeds, not only of the fruits, but animals also, (to which the Apostle rises in the following verse,) its own body; not only peculiar to that species, but proper to that individual, and arising out of the substance of that very grain.
Adam Clarke
Verse 38. But God giveth it a body] And is there any other way of accounting for it but by the miraculous working of God’s power? For out of that one bare grain is produced a system of roots, a tall and vigorous stalk, with all its appendages of leaves, &c., besides the full corn in the ear; the whole making several hundred times the quantum of what was originally deposited. There are no proofs that what some call nature can effect this: it will ever be a philosophical as well as a Scriptural truth, that God giveth it a body as it pleaseth him; and so doth he manage the whole of the work, that every seed shall have its own body: that the wheat germ shall never produce barley; nor the rye, oats. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 1:12”.
Joseph Benson
Verses 36-38. Thou fool — Greek, afron, without mind, or
understanding. Or, thou inconsiderate and thoughtless creature, who thinkest a matter impossible, of the possibility of which thou hast an example in the very seed thou sowest. Macknight thinks the apostle here addresses the false teacher at Corinth, “giving him the appellation of fool in the same sense, and for the same reason, that our Lord himself called the Pharisees fools, namely, on account of their ignorance and wickedness, Matthew 22:17.” What thou sowest is not quickened except it die — “To illustrate the possibility of the resurrection, the apostle appeals to a thing which men every day behold, and which is little less wonderful than the resurrection itself, the reproduction of grain from seed sown, which does not grow unless it be rotted in the ground. But after its body is destroyed something springs out of it, which, by a wonderful process, the effect of the power of God, ends in the reproduction of the same kind of grain, not bare as it was sown, but richly adorned with blades, stalk, and ear.” Thomas Paine, in his “Age of Reason,” and some other modern infidels, have maintained, against the apostle, “that the seed does not die in vegetation, because the germe lives and expands itself, and only the extraneous matter corrupts. But in fact the seed, as such, doth die: it ceases to be a grain of corn; though a part of it springs, as it were, into new life, by a process which we can no more comprehend than we can the manner of the resurrection. Even Lucretius, the Epicurean atheist, says, ‘Whatever change transfers a body into a new class of beings, may be justly called the death of the original substance: for what is changed from what it was, that dies.’” — Scott. And that which thou sowest is not the body that shall be — Produced from the seed committed to the ground; but bare, naked, grain — Widely different from that which will afterward rise out of the earth. But God — Not thou, O man, nor the grain itself; giveth it a body — In the course of his natural operations, by certain laws of vegetation, with which thou art entirely unacquainted; as it hath pleased him — With such a variety of parts as he hath thought fit to determine for that particular species; and to each of the seeds — Not only of the fruits and plants, but animals also, to which the apostle rises in the following verse; its own body — Not only a body of the same sort, but that which, by virtue of some connection it had with this or that individual grain, may properly be called its own, though in its form much different, and much more beautiful. It is justly observed by Dr. Macknight here, that, “having such an example of the divine power before our eyes, we cannot think the reproduction of the body impossible, though its parts be utterly dissipated. And although the very numerical body be not raised, which the apostle intimates when he affirms that the grain produced from the seed sown is not the very body which is sown, yet the body is truly raised; because what is raised being united to the soul, there will arise in the man, thus completed, a consciousness of identity, by which he will be sensible of the justice of the retribution which is made to him for his deeds. Besides, this new body will more than supply the place of the old, by serving every purpose necessary to the perfection and happiness of the man in his new state. According to this view of the subject, the objection taken from the scattering of the particles of the body that die, has no place, because it does not seem necessary that the body to be raised should be composed of them; for the Scripture nowhere affirms that the same numerical body is to be raised. In the opinion of some, indeed, the example of the grain which first dies, and then revives, is mentioned to intimate, that in the human body there is a seminal principle, which is not destroyed by death; and which, at the appointed season, will reproduce the body in a more excellent form than before, through the quickening influence of his power. But is a seminal principle any thing different from that power? What occasion then have we to carry our thoughts in this matter beyond God’s power? Besides, as there is no inextinguishable principle in plants, the analogy doth not hold. I therefore suppose this wonderful, though common instance, is mentioned, to show that the resurrection of the body is not beyond the power of God to accomplish; and that it may certainly be expected according to Christ’s promise.”
Daniel Whedon
38. But God giveth it—And it was just because the Gnostical objector had a semi-pagan ignorance of God, (note on verse 34,) that he could not realize that God can reorganize old matter in new glory. Pleased him— For the laws of the resurrection, like the laws of nature, are a mode of the divine volition. The new body is produced by God’s power, and just as he wills. To every (kind of) seed his own body—And so God may modify the resurrection body so as to destroy the objector’s supposition that the same body means a corrupt body.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 36.-38. A senseless one! Thou etc.; rebukes the folly of the objection underlying these questions by pointing the man to a matter belonging to his own daily life.
Made-alive, die: appropriately chosen to suggest the analogy between the dead Christian and the seed hidden from sight in the ground and there perishing as a seed that it may pass into a more abundant life. This analogy teaches that there may be a continuity and a development of life in spite of the dissolution of its outward form; and that death may itself be the only possible way to a higher life. Thus in the very plants under our feet we have a pattern and a prophecy of our own resurrection, and a rebuke to those who deny its possibility. 1 Corinthians 15:37 adds to the analogy pointed out in 1 Corinthians 15:36 a proof from it that continuity of life does not imply continuity of bodily form. Body; keeps before us the analogy of a dead man.
Naked grain: in contrast to the beautifully clothed plant which will grow from it.
Wheat, or some of the others; suggests the variety of seeds, thus preparing the way for to each of the seeds in 1 Corinthians 15:38. Verse 38 solemnly introduces God as the Maker of the body which will grow.
His-will-was: literally, has-willed: same words and teaching in 1 Corinthians 12:18.
According as etc. The purpose of God, formed in the eternal past, is the eternal archetype with which correspond even the plants growing today. That God gives to the wheat from His Own infinite resources a body corresponding to the mystery of His Own eternal will, is the strongest contrast to sowing the body which will come to be.
Each of the seeds; suggest the immense variety of seeds. Each of these will have a body of its own, a body appropriate to itself. Consequently the variety of vegetable bodies is as great as the variety of seeds.
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.
John Wesley
V. 39. All flesh-As if he had said, Even earthy bodies differ from earthy, and heavenly bodies from heavenly. What wonder then, if heavenly bodies differ from earthy? or the bodies which rise from those that lay in the grave?
Adam Clarke
Verse 39. All flesh is not the same flesh] Though the organization of all animals is, in its general principles, the same, yet there are no two different kinds of animals that have flesh of the same flavour, whether the animal be beast, fowl, or fish. And this is precisely the same with vegetables. In opposition to this general assertion of St. Paul, there are certain people who tell us that fish is not flesh; and while their religion prohibits, at one time of the year, the flesh of quadrupeds and fowls, it allows them to eat fish, fondly supposing that fish is not flesh: they might as well tell us that a lily is not a vegetable, because it is not a cabbage. There is a Jewish canon pronounced by Schoettgen which my readers may not be displeased to find inserted here: Nedarim, fol. 40: והגים רגים ככור rwsa ahy הכשר מנ rdwnh He who is bound by a vow to abstain from flesh, is bound to abstain from the flesh of fish and of locusts. From this it appears that they acknowledged that there was one flesh of beasts and another of fishes, and that he was religiously bound to abstain from the one, who was bound to abstain from the other.
Joseph Benson
Verses 39-41. All flesh, &c. — As if he had said, There is an immense variety in the works of God, even in those which fall under the inspection of our senses, feeble and limited as they are, while we dwell in flesh and blood. For we see even earthy bodies differ from earthy, and heavenly bodies from heavenly. What wonder then if heavenly bodies differ from earthy? or the bodies which rise from those that lie in the grave? “As in the preceding verse,” says the author last quoted, “the apostle directs us to consider the greatness of the power of God, displayed in the production of that endless variety of vegetable substances for food to man and beast, with which we are surrounded; so in this verse he directs our attention to the same power of God displayed in that wonderful diversity of animal substances, which it hath formed into different sorts of organized bodies, each with members properly adapted to the instincts of its inhabitant, and to the manner of life for which it is designed;” men, beasts, fishes, fowls. There are also celestial bodies, &c. — As if he had said, The greatness of his power God hath likewise showed, in the formation of other bodies which are inanimate, both celestial, as the sun, moon, and stars, and terrestrial, such as fossils and minerals. But the glory of the celestial is one, &c. — Different indeed is the glory of the one from that of the other, and the brightest lustre which the terrestrial can have, falls very short of that of the celestial. There is one glory of the sun, &c. — Yea, and the heavenly bodies themselves differ from each other. From the whole of these principles, the apostle draws this conclusion; — that since God’s power has been so “gloriously manifested in the greatness and variety of the material substances which he has already formed, and in the diversity of their configuration, that person must be a fool indeed, (verse 36,) who takes upon him to affirm that God cannot raise up bodies for his saints at the last day, in form and use similar to their present bodies, and perfectly adapted to the faculties of their minds, and to the new world in which they are to live.” This last observation is peculiarly worthy the reader’s attention. Our new bodies, what qualities soever they may possess, will doubtless be perfectly adapted to the faculties of our minds, and to the new world in which we shall be placed: as our present bodies are adapted to the faculties we now possess, and to the world in which we now live; and as we see the bodies of all creatures are suited to the instincts God hath given them, and to the element or place in which they have their abode, whether fish in the water, fowls in the air, or cattle and creeping things on or within the dry land. Accordingly, when any living creature is destined to change the place of its abode, it receives a new body, adapted to its new situation: as, for example, the silk-worm, when it is no longer to be confined to the leaves of the mulberry-tree, but to have the freedom and pleasure of roaming at large in the spacious regions of the air, is furnished with a new and winged body, adapted to its new state and element. And here arises a question: Is it not probable that at least one important reason why we are to receive new bodies, and are not always to remain disimbodied spirits, (as we shall be in the intermediate state between death and judgment,) is, because we are destined to remove into a new world, far more perfect and glorious than this fallen and disordered one in which we now are? — a world in which there will be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, and shall see his face. In this new world, God, who never sinks, but always rises to higher and higher perfection in his works, will certainly make a far more glorious display of his wisdom, power, and goodness, and other attributes, than he has done in this present world; and it is therefore necessary that we should have bodies furnished with senses and other members adapted to that world, and enabling us to hold connection and intercourse with it, and to apprehend, enjoy, and be instructed in the further knowledge of our glorious Creator, by the excellences of it, so superior to any we had witnessed in this present earth, the abode of our infancy and childhood. But suffice it at present to have given a hint of this.
Daniel Whedon
39. All… not… same flesh—All are alike matter and flesh; but God’s power is competent to clothe the same matter with varied properties.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 39.-41. Paul now develops a thought suggested by “each of the seeds,” viz. the immense variety, and variety of kinds, of living bodies. Cattle: useful domestic animals, horses, oxen, sheep, etc. Same word in Acts 23:24; Revelation 18:13; Luke 10:34. Heavenly bodies; might denote in itself, the glorified bodies of the inhabitants of heaven. But here it can only denote the sun, moon, and stars. For the glory of the heavenly ones can be no other then the glory of the sun etc. Thus Paul himself defines the heavenly bodies. As in English so sometimes in classic Greek inanimate substances are called bodies. And the vegetable “body” given in 1 Corinthians 15:38 to a grain of wheat opens the way for inorganic bodies here.
Earthly bodies; may, in itself, include all material objects. But 1 Corinthians 15:39 directs and confines our attention to living bodies: just as 1 Corinthians 15:41 limits heavenly bodies to the stars etc. The word bodies puts in comparison the objects which live and move on earth with those brilliant objects which move or seem to move above our heads and infinitely beyond our reach. Paul thus reminds us that not only is there an infinite variety of material and living forms around us but that far above us there are other bodies; and then goes on to say that these heavenly bodies, which by their splendor awaken our rapt admiration, are of altogether another kind, differing entirely from every one of the endless varieties of earthly bodies.
Glory: admiration, or the objective quality which evokes it; see under Romans 1:21. The splendor which excites our admiration of the sun, moon, and stars, is altogether different from the manifold beauty which evokes our admiration of the works of God on earth.
One glory of the sun etc.; carries the proof of variety still further. Not only is there infinite variety in the objects which surround us on earth, and not only are all these entirely different from those which shine in the canopy of heaven, but even in these latter the law of variety is seen. All are glorious: but their glories differ. One step further. If the stars were all alike Paul would probably have written, according to Greek idiom, “another glory of the star,” naming one as representative of all. He therefore justifies the plural stars, by saying that the law of variety holds good even to the utmost limit of the visible creation, and that even stars differ among themselves. This is much better than taking the word stars to include sun and moon. Thus by a graphic delineation Paul has taught us that endless variety is a law of creation; and that amid this endless variety there is nevertheless an infinite distance between the endless varieties around us and the endless varieties above us.
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
John Wesley
V. 40. There are also heavenly bodies-As the sun, moon, and stars; and there are earthy-as vegetables and animals. But the brightest lustre which the latter can have is widely different from that of the former.
Adam Clarke
Verse 40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial] The apostle certainly does not speak of celestial and terrestrial bodies in the sense in which we use those terms: we invariably mean by the former the sun, moon, planets, and stars; by the latter, masses of inanimate matter. But the apostle speaks of human beings, some of which were clothed with celestial, others with terrestrial bodies. It is very likely, therefore, that he means by the celestial bodies such as those refined human bodies with which Enoch, Elijah, and Christ himself, appear in the realms of glory: to which we may add the bodies of those saints which arose after our Lord’s resurrection; and, after having appeared to many, doubtless were taken up to paradise. By terrestrial bodies we may understand those in which the saints now live.
But the glory of the celestial is one] The glory-the excellence, beauty, and perfection. Even the present frail human body possesses an indescribable degree of contrivance, art, economy, order, beauty, and excellence; but the celestial body, that in which Christ now appears, and according to which ours shall be raised, (Philippians 3:21,) will exceed the excellence of this beyond all comparison. A glory or splendour will belong to that which does not belong to this: here there is a glory of excellence; there, there will be a glory of light and effulgence; for the bodies of the saints shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. See Matthew 13:43.
Joseph Benson
Verses 39-41. All flesh, &c. — As if he had said, There is an immense variety in the works of God, even in those which fall under the inspection of our senses, feeble and limited as they are, while we dwell in flesh and blood. For we see even earthy bodies differ from earthy, and heavenly bodies from heavenly. What wonder then if heavenly bodies differ from earthy? or the bodies which rise from those that lie in the grave? “As in the preceding verse,” says the author last quoted, “the apostle directs us to consider the greatness of the power of God, displayed in the production of that endless variety of vegetable substances for food to man and beast, with which we are surrounded; so in this verse he directs our attention to the same power of God displayed in that wonderful diversity of animal substances, which it hath formed into different sorts of organized bodies, each with members properly adapted to the instincts of its inhabitant, and to the manner of life for which it is designed;” men, beasts, fishes, fowls. There are also celestial bodies, &c. — As if he had said, The greatness of his power God hath likewise showed, in the formation of other bodies which are inanimate, both celestial, as the sun, moon, and stars, and terrestrial, such as fossils and minerals. But the glory of the celestial is one, &c. — Different indeed is the glory of the one from that of the other, and the brightest lustre which the terrestrial can have, falls very short of that of the celestial. There is one glory of the sun, &c. — Yea, and the heavenly bodies themselves differ from each other. From the whole of these principles, the apostle draws this conclusion; — that since God’s power has been so “gloriously manifested in the greatness and variety of the material substances which he has already formed, and in the diversity of their configuration, that person must be a fool indeed, (verse 36,) who takes upon him to affirm that God cannot raise up bodies for his saints at the last day, in form and use similar to their present bodies, and perfectly adapted to the faculties of their minds, and to the new world in which they are to live.” This last observation is peculiarly worthy the reader’s attention. Our new bodies, what qualities soever they may possess, will doubtless be perfectly adapted to the faculties of our minds, and to the new world in which we shall be placed: as our present bodies are adapted to the faculties we now possess, and to the world in which we now live; and as we see the bodies of all creatures are suited to the instincts God hath given them, and to the element or place in which they have their abode, whether fish in the water, fowls in the air, or cattle and creeping things on or within the dry land. Accordingly, when any living creature is destined to change the place of its abode, it receives a new body, adapted to its new situation: as, for example, the silk-worm, when it is no longer to be confined to the leaves of the mulberry-tree, but to have the freedom and pleasure of roaming at large in the spacious regions of the air, is furnished with a new and winged body, adapted to its new state and element. And here arises a question: Is it not probable that at least one important reason why we are to receive new bodies, and are not always to remain disimbodied spirits, (as we shall be in the intermediate state between death and judgment,) is, because we are destined to remove into a new world, far more perfect and glorious than this fallen and disordered one in which we now are? — a world in which there will be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, and shall see his face. In this new world, God, who never sinks, but always rises to higher and higher perfection in his works, will certainly make a far more glorious display of his wisdom, power, and goodness, and other attributes, than he has done in this present world; and it is therefore necessary that we should have bodies furnished with senses and other members adapted to that world, and enabling us to hold connection and intercourse with it, and to apprehend, enjoy, and be instructed in the further knowledge of our glorious Creator, by the excellences of it, so superior to any we had witnessed in this present earth, the abode of our infancy and childhood. But suffice it at present to have given a hint of this.
Daniel Whedon
40. Celestial… terrestrial—Celestial bodies might be understood of the stars, or, as they are called, “the heavenly bodies,” but there hardly appear to be any earthly bodies to correspond with them. Hence, very plausibly, they are interpreted by the best modern commentators as angelic bodies and human bodies. This would assume that an angel possesses, or at least assumes whenever he appears to human vision, a spiritual body, verse 44, yet none the less a subtilely material one. The glory of our earthly bodies is indeed a very inferior one at present, yet still possessing traits of the image of God.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 39.-41. Paul now develops a thought suggested by “each of the seeds,” viz. the immense variety, and variety of kinds, of living bodies. Cattle: useful domestic animals, horses, oxen, sheep, etc. Same word in Acts 23:24; Revelation 18:13; Luke 10:34. Heavenly bodies; might denote in itself, the glorified bodies of the inhabitants of heaven. But here it can only denote the sun, moon, and stars. For the glory of the heavenly ones can be no other then the glory of the sun etc. Thus Paul himself defines the heavenly bodies. As in English so sometimes in classic Greek inanimate substances are called bodies. And the vegetable “body” given in 1 Corinthians 15:38 to a grain of wheat opens the way for inorganic bodies here.
Earthly bodies; may, in itself, include all material objects. But 1 Corinthians 15:39 directs and confines our attention to living bodies: just as 1 Corinthians 15:41 limits heavenly bodies to the stars etc. The word bodies puts in comparison the objects which live and move on earth with those brilliant objects which move or seem to move above our heads and infinitely beyond our reach. Paul thus reminds us that not only is there an infinite variety of material and living forms around us but that far above us there are other bodies; and then goes on to say that these heavenly bodies, which by their splendor awaken our rapt admiration, are of altogether another kind, differing entirely from every one of the endless varieties of earthly bodies.
Glory: admiration, or the objective quality which evokes it; see under Romans 1:21. The splendor which excites our admiration of the sun, moon, and stars, is altogether different from the manifold beauty which evokes our admiration of the works of God on earth.
One glory of the sun etc.; carries the proof of variety still further. Not only is there infinite variety in the objects which surround us on earth, and not only are all these entirely different from those which shine in the canopy of heaven, but even in these latter the law of variety is seen. All are glorious: but their glories differ. One step further. If the stars were all alike Paul would probably have written, according to Greek idiom, “another glory of the star,” naming one as representative of all. He therefore justifies the plural stars, by saying that the law of variety holds good even to the utmost limit of the visible creation, and that even stars differ among themselves. This is much better than taking the word stars to include sun and moon. Thus by a graphic delineation Paul has taught us that endless variety is a law of creation; and that amid this endless variety there is nevertheless an infinite distance between the endless varieties around us and the endless varieties above us.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
John Wesley
V. 41. Yea, and the heavenly bodies themselves differ from each other.
Adam Clarke
Verse 41. There is one glory of the sun] As if he had said: This may be illustrated by the present appearance of the celestial bodies which belong to our system. The sun has a greater degree of splendour than the moon; the moon than the planets; and the planets than the stars. And even in the fixed stars, one has a greater degree of splendour than another, which may proceed either from their different magnitudes, or from the comparative proximity of some of them to our earth; but from which of these causes, or from what other cause unknown, we cannot tell, as it is impossible to ascertain the distance of any of the fixed stars; even the nearest of them being too remote to afford any sensible parallax, without which their distances cannot be measured. See the concluding observations.
Joseph Benson
Verses 39-41. All flesh, &c. — As if he had said, There is an immense variety in the works of God, even in those which fall under the inspection of our senses, feeble and limited as they are, while we dwell in flesh and blood. For we see even earthy bodies differ from earthy, and heavenly bodies from heavenly. What wonder then if heavenly bodies differ from earthy? or the bodies which rise from those that lie in the grave? “As in the preceding verse,” says the author last quoted, “the apostle directs us to consider the greatness of the power of God, displayed in the production of that endless variety of vegetable substances for food to man and beast, with which we are surrounded; so in this verse he directs our attention to the same power of God displayed in that wonderful diversity of animal substances, which it hath formed into different sorts of organized bodies, each with members properly adapted to the instincts of its inhabitant, and to the manner of life for which it is designed;” men, beasts, fishes, fowls. There are also celestial bodies, &c. — As if he had said, The greatness of his power God hath likewise showed, in the formation of other bodies which are inanimate, both celestial, as the sun, moon, and stars, and terrestrial, such as fossils and minerals. But the glory of the celestial is one, &c. — Different indeed is the glory of the one from that of the other, and the brightest lustre which the terrestrial can have, falls very short of that of the celestial. There is one glory of the sun, &c. — Yea, and the heavenly bodies themselves differ from each other. From the whole of these principles, the apostle draws this conclusion; — that since God’s power has been so “gloriously manifested in the greatness and variety of the material substances which he has already formed, and in the diversity of their configuration, that person must be a fool indeed, (verse 36,) who takes upon him to affirm that God cannot raise up bodies for his saints at the last day, in form and use similar to their present bodies, and perfectly adapted to the faculties of their minds, and to the new world in which they are to live.” This last observation is peculiarly worthy the reader’s attention. Our new bodies, what qualities soever they may possess, will doubtless be perfectly adapted to the faculties of our minds, and to the new world in which we shall be placed: as our present bodies are adapted to the faculties we now possess, and to the world in which we now live; and as we see the bodies of all creatures are suited to the instincts God hath given them, and to the element or place in which they have their abode, whether fish in the water, fowls in the air, or cattle and creeping things on or within the dry land. Accordingly, when any living creature is destined to change the place of its abode, it receives a new body, adapted to its new situation: as, for example, the silk-worm, when it is no longer to be confined to the leaves of the mulberry-tree, but to have the freedom and pleasure of roaming at large in the spacious regions of the air, is furnished with a new and winged body, adapted to its new state and element. And here arises a question: Is it not probable that at least one important reason why we are to receive new bodies, and are not always to remain disimbodied spirits, (as we shall be in the intermediate state between death and judgment,) is, because we are destined to remove into a new world, far more perfect and glorious than this fallen and disordered one in which we now are? — a world in which there will be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, and shall see his face. In this new world, God, who never sinks, but always rises to higher and higher perfection in his works, will certainly make a far more glorious display of his wisdom, power, and goodness, and other attributes, than he has done in this present world; and it is therefore necessary that we should have bodies furnished with senses and other members adapted to that world, and enabling us to hold connection and intercourse with it, and to apprehend, enjoy, and be instructed in the further knowledge of our glorious Creator, by the excellences of it, so superior to any we had witnessed in this present earth, the abode of our infancy and childhood. But suffice it at present to have given a hint of this.
Daniel Whedon
41. Glory—Visible splendour. The splendours of the luminaries differ in intensity, magnitude, and colour. Against the doctrine of a resurrection it is argued that our bodies are now in a continual process of change; so that, even here, our very material sameness is not a literal, but a successional and historical one. Yet, we reply, this molecular succession is, in fact, now most carefully maintained unbroken; so that the historical continuity and sameness can be traced and sworn to. The murderer of twenty years ago, in spite of all organic changes, is hung to-day. This man at seventy is husband of the wife he married at twenty-five, and heir of the patrimony he inherited in infancy. But we never in life drop our whole body to-day, pass a bodiless period, and then take a whole new body. Nor then would the new body be the same as the old. In order to be the same body next year, the reconstructor must go back and take up the material of the old body into the new. And so in the resurrection, the reorganizer must go back and take up the body that died; otherwise, the successional historical identity which exists in our present life, and which is quoted as a precedent, is wholly abolished.
Dr. Poor theorizes that the “plastic principle” may, at the resurrection, “assimilate new materials of a wholly different kind” from those in our present bodies. What demand for such a supposition? For, 1. There is not known to science, or demanded by reason, any other “plastic principle” than an omnipresent divine power, working under forms of law and finite causations. As Paul says, God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, yet in accordance with the laws of resurrection. 2. When the undressed soul appears before God on the morning of the resurrection, it is by divine power that from somewhere in the wide universe, the particles should gather in accretion upon the soul, to form its body. Now why is it not quite as easy for divine power to order the coming of that set of particles which formed the old body as any other? What demand from science, reason, or Scripture for any new materials? Nay, that divine power may establish such affinity between the soul and the particles of the old organism that it may attract them to itself by a process as truly natural as that by which a magnet draws a mass of iron filings to itself.
Otherwise there is no resurrection, but a new creation and a substitution. The real debate is not between “two theories of the resurrection,” but between the resurrection and something else that is not a resurrection. An anastasis (resurrection) of the dead is an uprising of the body from its fallen position in death, and, normally, the grave. That is the very meaning of the word. And it is that which down-fell which must uprise, and not something else. Or, if it is called in the New Testament an egersis, it is an upraising. What is it that is upraised unless the previous body, the body that fell, and that now lies a prostrate corpse? There must be no legerdemain about it; no slipping in a supposititious body; no substitution; no new creation “out of new materials of a wholly different kind.” If either of those things takes place, it is no resurrection at all, and the doctrine of the resurrection is wholly denied.
This realistic identity is absolutely required by Scripture. Daniel tells us (Daniel 12:2) that they “that sleep in the dust of the earth,” which can be no other than the buried corpses, “shall awake.” Our Lord, almost quoting Daniel’s words, says that it is “they that are in the graves,” which can again mean only the entombed corpses, that “shall come forth.” John 5:28, 29. Wherever death is called a sleep it is the body (certainly not the soul) that is conceived to sleep, and the resurrection is the awakening of that same body. Our Lord’s resurrection—the pattern and model for all—was of his same body from the tomb. In his transfiguration, by which he was assimilated to the resurrection body of Moses and Elijah, that self-same body rose into the resurrection state, and then subsided into its ordinary conditions; unchanged in material throughout. In the change of verses 51, 52 it is this same mortal body; and the change is simply its putting on immortality.
If by divine law there may be a fixed affinity between the soul and its last investiture, that law can secure that the same material shall never be organic in two bodies at death; just as a secret law secures the equality in number of the two sexes.
This modern unscriptural pseudo-resurrection is a Gnostical one. It has “an ignorance of God,” doubting his power to raise the same body. It has the Gnostic abhorrence of matter, demanding “new materials of a wholly different kind,” known as matter now. But it does not deny a future life, like the errorists whom Paul corrects; and so does not shake the foundations of Christianity.
Meyer quotes from Tertullian the following notes as a caution to over-brilliant commentators, verse 40: One flesh of men, that is, servants of God; another of beasts, that is, the heathen; another of birds, that is, the martyrs; another of fish, to whom belongs the water of baptism! Also, verse 41. There is one glory of the sun—Christ; of the moon—The Church; of the stars—The seed of Abraham.
6. With these differences in various bodies, the differences between the buried and risen bodies correspond, 42-50.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 39.-41. Paul now develops a thought suggested by “each of the seeds,” viz. the immense variety, and variety of kinds, of living bodies. Cattle: useful domestic animals, horses, oxen, sheep, etc. Same word in Acts 23:24; Revelation 18:13; Luke 10:34. Heavenly bodies; might denote in itself, the glorified bodies of the inhabitants of heaven. But here it can only denote the sun, moon, and stars. For the glory of the heavenly ones can be no other then the glory of the sun etc. Thus Paul himself defines the heavenly bodies. As in English so sometimes in classic Greek inanimate substances are called bodies. And the vegetable “body” given in 1 Corinthians 15:38 to a grain of wheat opens the way for inorganic bodies here.
Earthly bodies; may, in itself, include all material objects. But 1 Corinthians 15:39 directs and confines our attention to living bodies: just as 1 Corinthians 15:41 limits heavenly bodies to the stars etc. The word bodies puts in comparison the objects which live and move on earth with those brilliant objects which move or seem to move above our heads and infinitely beyond our reach. Paul thus reminds us that not only is there an infinite variety of material and living forms around us but that far above us there are other bodies; and then goes on to say that these heavenly bodies, which by their splendor awaken our rapt admiration, are of altogether another kind, differing entirely from every one of the endless varieties of earthly bodies.
Glory: admiration, or the objective quality which evokes it; see under Romans 1:21. The splendor which excites our admiration of the sun, moon, and stars, is altogether different from the manifold beauty which evokes our admiration of the works of God on earth.
One glory of the sun etc.; carries the proof of variety still further. Not only is there infinite variety in the objects which surround us on earth, and not only are all these entirely different from those which shine in the canopy of heaven, but even in these latter the law of variety is seen. All are glorious: but their glories differ. One step further. If the stars were all alike Paul would probably have written, according to Greek idiom, “another glory of the star,” naming one as representative of all. He therefore justifies the plural stars, by saying that the law of variety holds good even to the utmost limit of the visible creation, and that even stars differ among themselves. This is much better than taking the word stars to include sun and moon. Thus by a graphic delineation Paul has taught us that endless variety is a law of creation; and that amid this endless variety there is nevertheless an infinite distance between the endless varieties around us and the endless varieties above us.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
John Wesley
V. 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead-So great is the difference between the body which fell, and that which rises.
It is sown-A beautiful word; committed, as seed, to the ground. In corruption-Just ready to putrefy, and, by various degrees of corruption and decay, to return to the dust from whence it came. It is raised in incorruption-Utterly incapable of either dissolution or decay.
Adam Clarke
Verse 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead.] That is, the bodies of the dead, though all immortal, shall possess different degrees of splendour and glory, according to the state of holiness in which their respective souls were found. The rabbins have some crude notions concerning different degrees of glory, which the righteous shall possess in the kingdom of heaven. They make out seven degrees:—
“The first of which is possessed by µyqydx tsaddi kim, the just, who observe the covenant of the holy, blessed God, and subjugate all evil affections.”
“The second is possessed by those who are ישרים yesharim, the upright; whose delight it is to walk in the ways of God and please him.”
“The third is for תמימים temimim, the perfect: those who, with integrity, walk in the ways of God, and do not curiously pry into his dispensations.”
“The fourth is for µyvwdq kedoshim, the holy ones; those who are the excellent of the earth, in whom is all God’s delight.” Psalm 16:3.
“The fifth is for תשובה בעלי baaley teshubah, the chief of the penitents; who have broken through the brazen doors, and returned to the Lord.”
“The sixth is for רבנ בית lv twqwnyt tinukoth shel beith raban, the scholars and tender ones; who have not transgressed.” “The seventh is for µydysj chasidim, the godly: and this is the innermost of all the departments.” These seven degrees require a comment by themselves.
There is a saying among the rabbins very like that of the apostle in this and the preceding verse Siphri, in Yalcut Simeoni, page 2, fol. 10: “The faces of the righteous shall be, in the world to come, like suns, moons, the heaven, stars, lightnings: and like the lilies and candlesticks of the temple.”
It is sown in corruption] The body is buried in a state of degradation, decay, and corruption. The apostle uses the word sown to intimate that the body shall rise again, as a seed springs up that has been sown in the earth. It is raised in incorruption] Being no more subject to corruption, dissolution, and death.
Joseph Benson
Verses 42-44. So also is the resurrection of the dead — So great is the difference between the body which fell and that which rises. It is to be observed, that in this and the following verses, the apostle is giving an account of the righteous only. It is sown — A beautiful word; committed as seed to the ground: and the apostle thus expresses the burial of the body, because he had illustrated the possibility of its resurrection, notwithstanding it rots in the grave, or is otherwise destroyed, by the example of grain sown in the earth, which after it rots produces grain of the same kind with itself; a comparison intended to illustrate only the possibility of the resurrection, but not the manner of its being effected. For certainly the body to be raised will not be produced by any virtue in the body buried, as plants are produced by a virtue latent in the seeds that are sown. For we are carefully taught in the Scriptures, that the resurrection of our bodies will be effected merely by the extraordinary and miraculous power of God, and not at all as either plants or animals are produced, in a natural way, from their seeds. In corruption — Just ready to putrefy, and by various degrees of corruption and decay, to return to the dust from whence it came. It is raised in incorruption — Utterly incapable of either dissolution or decay. It is sown in dishonour — Shocking to those who loved it best: human nature in disgrace! It is raised in glory — Clothed with robes of light, fit for those whom the King of heaven delights to honour. See on Matthew 13:23; Philippians 3:21. It is sown in weakness — Deprived even of that feeble strength which it once enjoyed: it is raised in power — Endued with vigour, strength, and activity, such as we cannot now conceive. It is sown in this world a natural body — Or rather, an animal body, as swma yucikon more properly signifies, supported by food, sleep, and air, as the bodies of all animals are: it is raised a spiritual body — Of a more refined contexture, needing none of those animal refreshments, and endued with qualities of a spiritual nature like the angels of God. These alterations to be produced in the contexture of the bodies of the righteous are indeed great and wonderful, but far from being impossible. For, as Dr. Macknight justly observes, “to illustrate great things by small, we have an example of a similar, though very inferior transformation, in the bodies of caterpillars, which in their first state are ugly, weak, and easily crushed, but in their second state become beautifully winged animals, full of life and activity. This shows what God can do in greater instances.”
It may not be improper to add here, what is justly observed by the same author, that, notwithstanding this great difference between the bodies raised, and the bodies committed to the ground, those raised will, in a sound sense, be the same with the bodies that were buried; inasmuch as they will consist of members and organs of sensation in form and use similar to the members and organs of the present body: that is, as far as their new state will admit; a limitation this, absolutely necessary to be made, because the Scripture itself mentions two particulars, and reason suggests others, in which the bodies raised will essentially differ from those which died. 1st, We are told (1 Corinthians 6:13) that God will destroy both the belly, (including both the stomach and bowels,) or the use of that member, and meats. 2d, Our Lord assures us, that they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they are equal to the angels. From these texts it follows, that none of the members necessary to eating, and drinking, and marriage, will make part of the glorified bodies of the saints; and that none of the appetites and passions which are gratified by these members, will have any existence in their minds: consequently, the joys of the heavenly country, though in part they are to arise from bodily senses, will have no affinity with the pleasures of a Mohammedan paradise. 3d, Reason directs us to believe, that to the similarity or sameness of the body which is raised, with the body that was buried, it is by no means necessary that the imperfections in the members of the buried body, should take place in the raised body. On the contrary, the restoration of all the members to their proper form, place, and office in the body, instead of making it a different body, will render it more perfectly the same. 4th, Besides the differences mentioned, there may be other differences likewise in the glorified bodies of the saints, suited to the difference of their state, of which at present we can form no conception. For if the raised body is to be endowed with new powers of action, and new senses, these may require additional members; and notwithstanding the addition, the raised body may, on account of its general similarity to the body that was buried, be still considered as the same. To conclude, the Scripture speaks consistently when, in describing the state of the righteous after the resurrection, it represents them as having their mortal bodies refashioned like to the glorious body of Christ, and informs us, that after their whole persons are thus completed, they shall be carried to a heavenly country, where every object being suited to the nature of their glorified bodies, they shall live unspeakably happy to all eternity.
Daniel Whedon
42. So also—Similar to the difference in these contrasted classes of objects in nature is the difference between the buried and the resurrection body. The words thrice produced—sown, sown, sown—can mean nothing but buried, buried, buried in the grave. And raised, raised, raised, can mean nothing but raised from the grave. And what is or can be raised but the material corpse there buried? And what can be “resurrected,” or immortalized, but that same material which is raised from the grave? And if the corpse is raised from the grave by the resurrection, what need of any other material? Obviously, indeed, both Jesus and Paul select the case of the buried only as the ordinary fact. But that ordinary fact is selected to declare the resurrection of the actually dead body. For what has any substituted body to do with the grave at all?
It… it—The it is not expressed in the Greek, but necessarily implied. For as the subject of both verbs, sown and raised, is the same, so the same subject is buried and “resurrected.” But what is the grammatical antecedent of it? What is it that is sown? None is here expressed, but verse 44 shows that body is implied.
If Jesus, instead of reanimating the putrid corpse of Lazarus by restoring to it its soul, had enshrined his soul in a new body, it would have been, so far as the soul was concerned, a transmigration, and not a resurrection. And so far as the body is concerned, a substitution and not a resurrection. The resurrection, to be a resurrection, must be of the same body; and it must be the same body by being the same substance, particle for particle. But it destroys not the resurrection to endow the body with new properties, and arrange its molecules to a new model.
There are three qualities assigned to the present body—corruption, dishonour, and weakness; and three to the resurrection body— incorruption, honour, and power. Corruption is the quality that arises from the instability of the material particles, by which displacement, decay, and disintegration take place. Incorruption implies that the body, however flexible to every volition, suffers no displacement, disarrangement, or dissolution. Every part and particle retains its place with perfect indissolubleness, health, and durability. Flexible as gossamer, it is unyielding as adamant.
Joseph Agar Beet
Verse 42b.-44a. Expounds “so also,” by four powerful contrasts between the body laid in the grave and that raised from it.
It is sown; recalls the metaphor of 1 Corinthians 15:37f, which overthrew the objection that our present bodies are unfit for the world to come. Conversely, the word “body” in 1 Corinthians 15:37f kept before us the matter for which the metaphor was used.
In corruption: dissolution actually going on while the body is being laid in the grave.
Incorruption: a state which abides undimmed for ever; see under Romans 2:7.
Dishonour: as if of no value. It was a technical term, in the days of free Athens, for a kind of outlawry involving loss of the rights of citizenship and of state protection. And this meaning would doubtless occur to Paul's readers and was perhaps designed by him. Funeral pomp is but a mask hiding the truth that the body carried to the grave has lost the rights of humanity. Instead of the kind attentions rendered to it a few days ago, it is left alone in the dark and silent grave, as the meanest living body would not be. In absolute contrast to this is the splendor, exciting universal admiration, in which Christ's people will rise from the dead. In glory: see Colossians 3:4.
Weakness: the absolute powerlessness of the corpse, so that the once powerful arm can no longer do the slightest work.
In power: the wonderful and various capacity of the resurrection body. Soul-governed: literally soulish, an adjective bearing the same relation to “soul” as Spiritual to “spirit.” Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:45. Same word in 1 Corinthians 2:14. See note below. Paul no longer contrasts the conditions in which the body is buried and raised, but the constitutions of the dead and the rising bodies, derived from the first and the Last Adam. He thus introduces new ideas which he at once develops.
It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
John Wesley
V. 43. It is sown in dishonour-Shocking to those who loved it best, human nature in disgrace!
It is raised in glory-Clothed with robes of light, fit for those whom the King of heaven delights to honour.
It is sown in weakness-Deprived even of that feeble strength which it once enjoyed.
It is raised in power-Endued with vigour, strength, and activity, such as we cannot now conceive.
Adam Clarke
Verse 43. It is sown in dishonour] Being now stripped of all the glory it had as a machine, fearfully and wonderfully made by the hands of God; and also consigned to death and destruction because of sin. This is the most dishonourable circumstance.
It is raised in glory] It is raised a glorious body, because immortal, and for ever redeemed from the empire of death.
It is sown in weakness] The principles of dissolution, corruption, and decay, have prevailed over it; disease undermined it; and death made it his prey.
It is raised in power] To be no more liable to weakness, through labour; decay, by age; wasting, by disease; and dissolution, by death.
Joseph Benson
Verses 42-44. So also is the resurrection of the dead — So great is the difference between the body which fell and that which rises. It is to be observed, that in this and the following verses, the apostle is giving an account of the righteous only. It is sown — A beautiful word; committed as seed to the ground: and the apostle thus expresses the burial of the body, because he had illustrated the possibility of its resurrection, notwithstanding it rots in the grave, or is otherwise destroyed, by the example of grain sown in the earth, which after it rots produces grain of the same kind with itself; a comparison intended to illustrate only the possibility of the resurrection, but not the manner of its being effected. For certainly the body to be raised will not be produced by any virtue in the body buried, as plants are produced by a virtue latent in the seeds that are sown. For we are carefully taught in the Scriptures, that the resurrection of our bodies will be effected merely by the extraordinary and miraculous power of God, and not at all as either plants or animals are produced, in a natural way, from their seeds. In corruption — Just ready to putrefy, and by various degrees of corruption and decay, to return to the dust from whence it came. It is raised in incorruption — Utterly incapable of either dissolution or decay. It is sown in dishonour — Shocking to those who loved it best: human nature in disgrace! It is raised in glory — Clothed with robes of light, fit for those whom the King of heaven delights to honour. See on Matthew 13:23; Philippians 3:21. It is sown in weakness — Deprived even of that feeble strength which it once enjoyed: it is raised in power — Endued with vigour, strength, and activity, such as we cannot now conceive. It is sown in this world a natural body — Or rather, an animal body, as swma yucikon more properly signifies, supported by food, sleep, and air, as the bodies of all animals are: it is raised a spiritual body — Of a more refined contexture, needing none of those animal refreshments, and endued with qualities of a spiritual nature like the angels of God. These alterations to be produced in the contexture of the bodies of the righteous are indeed great and wonderful, but far from being impossible. For, as Dr. Macknight justly observes, “to illustrate great things by small, we have an example of a similar, though very inferior transformation, in the bodies of caterpillars, which in their first state are ugly, weak, and easily crushed, but in their second state become beautifully winged animals, full of life and activity. This shows what God can do in greater instances.”
It may not be improper to add here, what is justly observed by the same author, that, notwithstanding this great difference between the bodies raised, and the bodies committed to the ground, those raised will, in a sound sense, be the same with the bodies that were buried; inasmuch as they will consist of members and organs of sensation in form and use similar to the members and organs of the present body: that is, as far as their new state will admit; a limitation this, absolutely necessary to be made, because the Scripture itself mentions two particulars, and reason suggests others, in which the bodies raised will essentially differ from those which died. 1st, We are told (1 Corinthians 6:13) that God will destroy both the belly, (including both the stomach and bowels,) or the use of that member, and meats. 2d, Our Lord assures us, that they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they are equal to the angels. From these texts it follows, that none of the members necessary to eating, and drinking, and marriage, will make part of the glorified bodies of the saints; and that none of the appetites and passions which are gratified by these members, will have any existence in their minds: consequently, the joys of the heavenly country, though in part they are to arise from bodily senses, will have no affinity with the pleasures of a Mohammedan paradise. 3d, Reason directs us to believe, that to the similarity or sameness of the body which is raised, with the body that was buried, it is by no means necessary that the imperfections in the members of the buried body, should take place in the raised body. On the contrary, the restoration of all the members to their proper form, place, and office in the body, instead of making it a different body, will render it more perfectly the same. 4th, Besides the differences mentioned, there may be other differences likewise in the glorified bodies of the saints, suited to the difference of their state, of which at present we can form no conception. For if the raised body is to be endowed with new powers of action, and new senses, these may require additional members; and notwithstanding the addition, the raised body may, on account of its general similarity to the body that was buried, be still considered as the same. To conclude, the Scripture speaks consistently when, in describing the state of the righteous after the resurrection, it represents them as having their mortal bodies refashioned like to the glorious body of Christ, and informs us, that after their whole persons are thus completed, they shall be carried to a heavenly country, where every object being suited to the nature of their glorified bodies, they shall live unspeakably happy to all eternity.
Daniel Whedon
43. Dishonour—Both in life and in death the mortal body has parts, conditions, operations, and failures that render it a disgust to the contemplation. In death, decay and putrefaction render it unendurable to its fellows. “When the soul departs,” says Xenophon, “men carry out the body of the dearest friend in the quickest way, and put it out of sight.” Glory— Phenomenal properties that attract the wonder and admiration of the beholder. Weakness—With strength of body to effect little; liable to sickness and debility, requiring to be carried by machinery for rapid locomotion. Power—Vigour of body to accomplish the boldest determinations of the will, exemption from fatigue, and ability to pass through space with the rapidity of thought. Grotius adds, “Endowed with a variety of new senses;” which, however true, is not so clearly said.
Joseph Agar Beet
Verse 42b.-44a. Expounds “so also,” by four powerful contrasts between the body laid in the grave and that raised from it.
It is sown; recalls the metaphor of 1 Corinthians 15:37f, which overthrew the objection that our present bodies are unfit for the world to come. Conversely, the word “body” in 1 Corinthians 15:37f kept before us the matter for which the metaphor was used.
In corruption: dissolution actually going on while the body is being laid in the grave.
Incorruption: a state which abides undimmed for ever; see under Romans 2:7.
Dishonour: as if of no value. It was a technical term, in the days of free Athens, for a kind of outlawry involving loss of the rights of citizenship and of state protection. And this meaning would doubtless occur to Paul's readers and was perhaps designed by him. Funeral pomp is but a mask hiding the truth that the body carried to the grave has lost the rights of humanity. Instead of the kind attentions rendered to it a few days ago, it is left alone in the dark and silent grave, as the meanest living body would not be. In absolute contrast to this is the splendor, exciting universal admiration, in which Christ's people will rise from the dead. In glory: see Colossians 3:4.
Weakness: the absolute powerlessness of the corpse, so that the once powerful arm can no longer do the slightest work.
In power: the wonderful and various capacity of the resurrection body. Soul-governed: literally soulish, an adjective bearing the same relation to “soul” as Spiritual to “spirit.” Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:45. Same word in 1 Corinthians 2:14. See note below. Paul no longer contrasts the conditions in which the body is buried and raised, but the constitutions of the dead and the rising bodies, derived from the first and the Last Adam. He thus introduces new ideas which he at once develops.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
John Wesley
V. 44. It is sown in this world a merely animal body-Maintained by food, sleep, and air, like the bodies of brutes: but it is raised of a more refined contexture, needing none of these animal refreshments, and endued with qualities of a spiritual nature, like the angels of God.
Adam Clarke
Verse 44. It is sown a natural body] swma yucikon. An animal body, having a multiplicity of solids and fluids of different kinds, with different functions; composed of muscles, fibres, tendons, cartilages, bones, arteries, veins, nerves, blood, and various juices, requiring continual support from aliment; and hence the necessity of labour to provide food, and skill to prepare it; which food must be masticated, digested, and refined; what is proper for nourishment secreted, brought into the circulation, farther elaborated, and prepared to enter into the composition of every part; hence growth and nutrition; without which no organized body can possibly exist. It is raised a spiritual body.] One perfect in all its parts; no longer dependent on natural productions for its support; being built up on indestructible principles, and existing in a region where there shall be no more death; no more causes of decay leading to dissolution; and consequently, no more necessity for food, nutrition, &c. The body is spiritual, and has a spiritual existence and spiritual support. What the apostle says here is quite consistent with the views his countrymen had on this subject.
In Sohar Chadash, fol. 43, it is said: “So shall it be in the resurrection of the dead; only, the old uncleanness shall not be found.”
R. Bechai, on the law, fol. 14, says: “When the godly shall arise, their bodies shall be pure and innocent; obedient to the instinct of the soul: there shall be no adversary, nor any evil disease.”
Rab. Pinchas says: “The holy blessed God shall make the bodies of the righteous as beautiful as the body of Adam was when he entered into paradise.”
Rab. Levi says: “When the soul is in heaven, it is clothed with celestial light; when it returns to the body, it shall have the same light; and then the body shall shine like the splendour of the firmament of heaven. Then shall men gain the knowledge of what is perfect.” Sohar. Gen., fol. 69. The Jews have an opinion that the os coxendicis, the lower joint of the backbone, survives the corruption of the body; and that it is out of this bone that the resurrection body is formed. In the place last quoted, fol. 70, we have the following teachings on this subject: “Let us borrow an example from what relates to the purifying of silver. First, the ore is cast into the burning furnace, that it may be separated from its earthly impurities; it is then silver, but not perfect silver. They put it into the furnace a second time, and then all its scoriæ are separated from it, and it becomes perfect silver, without any adulteration. Thus does the holy blessed God: he first buries our bodies under the earth, where they putrefy and corrupt, that nothing remains but that one bone: from this a new body is produced, which is indeed a body, but not a perfect body. But in that great day, when all bodies are hidden in the earth, and the soul departs, then even that bone decays, and the body which was formed out of it remains, and is as the light of the sun, and the splendour of heaven. Thus, as the silver was purified, so is the body: and no imperfect mixture remains.” See Schoettgen.
These things must not be treated as rabbinical dotages; the different similes used for the apostle have the same spirit and design: as the seed which is sown in the earth rots, and out of the germ contained in it God in his providence produces a root, stalk, leaves, ear, and a great numerical increase of grains; is it not likely that God, out of some essential parts of the body that now is, will produce the resurrection body; and will then give the soul a body as it pleaseth him; and so completely preserve the individuality of every human being, as he does of every grain; giving to each its own body? 1 Corinthians 15:38. So that as surely as the grain of wheat shall produce wheat after it is cast in the earth, corrupts, and dies; so surely shall our bodies produce the same bodies as to their essential individuality. As the germination of seeds is produced by his wisdom and power, so shall the pure and perfect human body be in the resurrection. Hence he does not say the body is buried, but the body is sown; it is sown in weakness, it is sown in dishonour, &c., &c.
There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.] This very saying is found in so many words, in Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 126: “There are different kinds of men.” אדם ואיה ahmvnd אדם whyad אדם אית apwgr
“There is a spiritual Adam, and there is also a corporeal Adam.”
Joseph Benson
Verses 42-44. So also is the resurrection of the dead — So great is the difference between the body which fell and that which rises. It is to be observed, that in this and the following verses, the apostle is giving an account of the righteous only. It is sown — A beautiful word; committed as seed to the ground: and the apostle thus expresses the burial of the body, because he had illustrated the possibility of its resurrection, notwithstanding it rots in the grave, or is otherwise destroyed, by the example of grain sown in the earth, which after it rots produces grain of the same kind with itself; a comparison intended to illustrate only the possibility of the resurrection, but not the manner of its being effected. For certainly the body to be raised will not be produced by any virtue in the body buried, as plants are produced by a virtue latent in the seeds that are sown. For we are carefully taught in the Scriptures, that the resurrection of our bodies will be effected merely by the extraordinary and miraculous power of God, and not at all as either plants or animals are produced, in a natural way, from their seeds. In corruption — Just ready to putrefy, and by various degrees of corruption and decay, to return to the dust from whence it came. It is raised in incorruption — Utterly incapable of either dissolution or decay. It is sown in dishonour — Shocking to those who loved it best: human nature in disgrace! It is raised in glory — Clothed with robes of light, fit for those whom the King of heaven delights to honour. See on Matthew 13:23; Philippians 3:21. It is sown in weakness — Deprived even of that feeble strength which it once enjoyed: it is raised in power — Endued with vigour, strength, and activity, such as we cannot now conceive. It is sown in this world a natural body — Or rather, an animal body, as swma yucikon more properly signifies, supported by food, sleep, and air, as the bodies of all animals are: it is raised a spiritual body — Of a more refined contexture, needing none of those animal refreshments, and endued with qualities of a spiritual nature like the angels of God. These alterations to be produced in the contexture of the bodies of the righteous are indeed great and wonderful, but far from being impossible. For, as Dr. Macknight justly observes, “to illustrate great things by small, we have an example of a similar, though very inferior transformation, in the bodies of caterpillars, which in their first state are ugly, weak, and easily crushed, but in their second state become beautifully winged animals, full of life and activity. This shows what God can do in greater instances.”
It may not be improper to add here, what is justly observed by the same author, that, notwithstanding this great difference between the bodies raised, and the bodies committed to the ground, those raised will, in a sound sense, be the same with the bodies that were buried; inasmuch as they will consist of members and organs of sensation in form and use similar to the members and organs of the present body: that is, as far as their new state will admit; a limitation this, absolutely necessary to be made, because the Scripture itself mentions two particulars, and reason suggests others, in which the bodies raised will essentially differ from those which died. 1st, We are told (1 Corinthians 6:13) that God will destroy both the belly, (including both the stomach and bowels,) or the use of that member, and meats. 2d, Our Lord assures us, that they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they are equal to the angels. From these texts it follows, that none of the members necessary to eating, and drinking, and marriage, will make part of the glorified bodies of the saints; and that none of the appetites and passions which are gratified by these members, will have any existence in their minds: consequently, the joys of the heavenly country, though in part they are to arise from bodily senses, will have no affinity with the pleasures of a Mohammedan paradise. 3d, Reason directs us to believe, that to the similarity or sameness of the body which is raised, with the body that was buried, it is by no means necessary that the imperfections in the members of the buried body, should take place in the raised body. On the contrary, the restoration of all the members to their proper form, place, and office in the body, instead of making it a different body, will render it more perfectly the same. 4th, Besides the differences mentioned, there may be other differences likewise in the glorified bodies of the saints, suited to the difference of their state, of which at present we can form no conception. For if the raised body is to be endowed with new powers of action, and new senses, these may require additional members; and notwithstanding the addition, the raised body may, on account of its general similarity to the body that was buried, be still considered as the same. To conclude, the Scripture speaks consistently when, in describing the state of the righteous after the resurrection, it represents them as having their mortal bodies refashioned like to the glorious body of Christ, and informs us, that after their whole persons are thus completed, they shall be carried to a heavenly country, where every object being suited to the nature of their glorified bodies, they shall live unspeakably happy to all eternity.
Daniel Whedon
44. Natural body… spiritual body—The word natural, to the English reader, entirely breaks the thread of the apostle’s thought. If we assume a difference between soul and spirit, and coin the word soulical as the antithesis of spiritual, we present his exact idea, and the connexion with the word soul, verse 45, will be immediately made. The Greek word yuch, psyche—soul or life—when used as antithetical to pneuma, pneuma— spirit—signifies that animating, formative, and thinking soul or anima which belongs to the animal, and which man, as animal, shares as his lower nature, with the animals. Its range is within the limits of the five senses, within which limits it is able to think and to reason. Such is the power of the highest animals. Overlying this, is the spirit which man shares with higher natures, by which thought transcends the range of the senses, and man thinks of immensity, eternity, infinity, immortality, the beautiful, the holy, and God. Whether soul and spirit exist in man as two entities distinct from each other, we need not here discuss; yet it is certain that man’s mind possesses both these two classes or sets of thoughts. The lower faculties may exist without the higher; for they do so exist in brutes. The brute has also a higher set of faculties overlying those of the oyster. But it is all-important to note that it is by man’s spiritual faculties that he rises into a supernal region, and shows affinities with celestial natures. When St. Paul says it is sown a soulical body, as in the two preceding cases (verses 42, 43) of the sown, he does not refer to the dead or dying body, but to the body as mortal in life, and sown in death. It is a soulical body while living, and is buried as the vacated frame of a soulical body. The body dies because the animal soul either fuses into surrounding nature, or is borne by the spirit into the spirit region. There is—The anti-resurrectionists of the Corinthian Church seem never to have understood this striking assertion. A soulical body… a spiritual body— But as the soulical body is not all pure soul, so the spiritual body is not pure spirit. For a pure spirit is not a body at all. As the soulical body is soul-pervaded body, so the spiritual body is spirit-pervaded body. But while the soul pervades and gives sensitive life to body alone, the spirit pervades both soul and body, and gives supernal life to both; forming the unit of body, soul, and spirit.
Scholars agree that the true reading here is, If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. By the body’s becoming a “spiritual body” we understand that it will be so subtilized, so adjusted to the pure spirit, and so subjected in every part and particle to the volition and power of the spirit, that while the spirit becomes, so to speak, more substantiated, the personal unit of the two natures possesses all the capabilities that our thought usually attributes to the pure spirit. By volition it passes with lightning rapidity through measureless distances. It clairvoyantly sees, at volition, through a finite immensity. By volition it transforms itself to any shape, and invests itself with a countless variety of properties and phenomenal presentations. It can become as the dark, rolling cloud, the flashing lightning, the solid rock. And yet it will have a normal figure and face which will at once be the true expression of its essential nature, (far more truly than human physiognomy now manifests the character,) and will reveal to the intuition of the fellow-celestials the particular personality, and perhaps the entire past history, of the individual. When asked, Will the glorified bodies have teeth? we reply, If they please; and eat with them, too, as the angels did who visited Abraham. If asked, Will they have hair? we reply, Yes, if they please. And when asked, Where will they get their clothes? we answer, Just where the “two angels” who stood before the apostles at Christ’s ascension, procured their “shining raiment.” it is perfectly clear, we think, that varying phenomenal form and properties are more or less at the command both of the pure spirit and of the unit of spirit and spiritual body. See note on Luke 24:39.
Joseph Agar Beet
Verse 44b repeats for emphasis the assertions of 1 Corinthians 15:44a, in a form which declares that the former assertion implies the latter. The soul-governed body is imperfect: and in the works of God all imperfection is a prophecy of its own consummation. Again, although our body is soul-governed, we ourselves are spiritual: 1 Corinthians 2:14, 15; contrast Jude 1:19. And the soul-governed body of those set free from the moral sway of the animal life reveals the change awaiting their body.
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
John Wesley
V. 45. The first Adam was made a living soul-God gave him such life as other animals enjoy:
but the last Adam, Christ, is a quickening spirit-As he hath life in himself, so he quickeneth whom he will; giving a more refined life to their very bodies at the resurrection. Genesis 2:7
Adam Clarke
Verse 45. The first man Adam was made a living soul] These forms of expression are also common among the Jews: hence we find הראשונ אדם Adam harishon, “Adam the first;” and amdq אדם Adam kadmai, “ Adam the last.” They assert that there are two Adams: 1. The mystical heavenly Adam; and 2. The mystical earthly Adam. See Sohar Exod., fol. 29; and the several examples in Schoettgen. The apostle says this is written: The first man Adam was made a living soul: this is found Genesis 2:7, in the words חיים נשמת nishmath chaiyim, the breath of lives; which the apostle translates yuchn zwsan, a living soul.
The last Adam-a quickening spirit.] This is also said to be written; but where, says Dr. Lightfoot, is this written in the whole sacred book? Schoettgen replies, In the very same verse, and in these words: חיה לנפש האדם ויהי vayehi ha-Adam le-nephesh chaiyah, and Adam became a living soul; which the apostle translates pneuma zwopoioun, a quickening, or life-giving spirit. Among the cabalistic Jews vpn nephesh is considered as implying greater dignity than hmvn nishma. The former may be considered as pointing out the rational, the latter the sensitive soul. All these references to Jewish opinions and forms of speech the apostle uses to convince them that the thing was possible; and that the resurrection of the body was generally credited by all their wise and learned men. The Jews, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, speak frequently of the Spirit of the Messiah; and they allow that it was this Spirit that moved on the face of the waters, Genesis 1:2. And they assert that the Messiah shall quicken those who dwell in the dust.
“It ought not to be passed by,” says the same author, “that Adam, receiving from God the promise of Christ-The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent, and believing it, named his wife hwj Chauvah, that is, life; so the Septuagint, kai ekalesen adam to onona thv gunaikov autou zwh And Adam called the name of his wife, Life. What! Is she called Life that brought death into the world? But Adam perceived ton escaton adam, the last Adam exhibited to him in the promise, to be pneuma zwo, poioun, a quickening or life-giving spirit; and had brought in a better life of the soul; and should at last bring in a better life of the body. Hence is that saying, John 1:4: en autw zwh hn, In HIM was LIFE.”
Some contend that the first Adam and the last Adam mean the same person in two different states: the first man with the body of his creation; the same person with the body of his resurrection. See Clarke on “1 Corinthians 15:49”.
Joseph Benson
Verses 45, 46. And so it is written — With respect to the animal body, Genesis 2:7. The first Adam was made a living soul — God gave him animal life, in many respects resembling that of other animals; the last Adam was made — Rather was, or is, for there is nothing in the original for made; a quickening Spirit — Having life in himself, and quickening whom he will: imparting even a more refined life to men’s bodies at the resurrection, than that which they formerly possessed. Christ is called Adam, because believers receive their sanctified, spiritual nature, and their immortal bodies, from him, (see Ephesians 5:32,) just as mankind have derived their corrupted nature and mortal bodies from the first Adam. He is also called the last Adam, because he is posterior in time to the first Adam, or because there shall be no restorer and head of the human race after him. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, &c. — That is, as the first Adam existed before Christ was sent to assume our nature, and become our Saviour, so must we first wear that animal body, which we derive from the one, before we put on that spiritual body which we receive from the other. Here we are taught that the plan of the divine government is to lead his creatures from a lower to a higher state of perfection. They, therefore, who contend that things should be as perfect at the beginning as at the conclusion of his administration, are wiser than God.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 45. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit, by regeneration, as stated on John 5:25, 26, and by calling the dead to life.
Daniel Whedon
45. So—In accordance with this distinction between the soulical and the spiritual, it is written in Genesis 2:7. Was made a living soul—Paul quotes the words of the Septuagint, which, like those of the Hebrew, are literally rendered became unto, or into, a living soul. From these words, as Dr. Poor truly says, no argument for immortality could be drawn, for our English translation wrongly conceals that in Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, the words severally rendered creature that hath life, living creature, living creature, are in the Hebrew precisely the same as here for living soul, which last is the true translation in every case. Yet a most remarkable difference between the case of the animals who, in the above three verses, become a living soul, and man, who becomes a living soul, is this: that whereas the animals become such in accordance with God’s fiat to nature to bring them forth, man becomes so by the direct breath of the Almighty. Of the antitheses of this verse the clause, the first… soul is Moses’ scripture; the last clause, the last… quickening spirit, is Paul’s; and, as equally inspired, is equally good. Yet it may be Paul’s equivalent for Genesis 2:7, “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,” expressed in form to balance the antithesis. Christ is a quickening, that is, an alive-making, spirit, by the resurrection of men wrought by him.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 45. So also etc.; adds to the assertion of 1 Corinthians 15:44b a quotation from Genesis 2:7 in harmony with it.
First: inserted by Paul to give prominence to the fact that Adam was the beginning of the human race.
Adam: the Hebrew word rendered man in Genesis 2:7. It is added here to direct attention to him who bore it as his proper name. By God personally inbreathing the principle of life into a lifeless but organized body, the man, who before was only a lifeless body, became a living soul. The soul was a result of the entrance of the principle of life into a mortal body. That the word soul is used in Genesis 2:7 to designate the entire man who thus sprang into being, implies that of man thus created the soul, i.e. the animal life, was the distinctive name-giving element. This designation therefore proves that the body of man as first created was a soul-governed body.
The last Adam: Christ, as being, like Adam, head and representative of the race, on whom hang the fortunes of the whole. Ancient Jewish writers give the same title to the expected Messiah. See quotations from Schoettgen given on page xix. Its use here is explained and justified by Romans 5:12-19, with which it is a remarkable coincidence. The last: because after Him there will be no other head of the race; or, more probably, because Paul has in view the final appearance of Christ. Life-giving: an attribute of spirit, the principle of life; as is living of soul, an individual manifestation of life. We may supply either “has become” or “will become:” for the life which Christ will give results from His death and resurrection which have already taken place. 1 Corinthians 15:45b is but a repetition of 1 Corinthians 15:22b. For spirit is the one and only principle of “life.” Therefore, that Christ's return to earth will clothe us in living bodies, proves him to be a life-giving spirit. And the body He will give can be no other than spiritual. For a soul-governed body is imperfect; and therefore inconsistent with final victory. Genesis 2:7 was quoted to prove, by his very designation, that Adam as created was imperfect. This imperfection, by its contrast with what we know will be a perfect state, proves the difference asserted in 1 Corinthians 15:44a between the body laid in the grave and that to be raised from it. Hence, after the quotation Paul simply adds an assertion of his own.
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
Adam Clarke
Verse 46. That was not first which is spiritual] The natural or animal body, described 1 Corinthians 15:44, was the first; it was the body with which Adam was created. The spiritual body is the last, and is that with which the soul is to be clothed in the resurrection.
Joseph Benson
Verses 45, 46. And so it is written — With respect to the animal body, Genesis 2:7. The first Adam was made a living soul — God gave him animal life, in many respects resembling that of other animals; the last Adam was made — Rather was, or is, for there is nothing in the original for made; a quickening Spirit — Having life in himself, and quickening whom he will: imparting even a more refined life to men’s bodies at the resurrection, than that which they formerly possessed. Christ is called Adam, because believers receive their sanctified, spiritual nature, and their immortal bodies, from him, (see Ephesians 5:32,) just as mankind have derived their corrupted nature and mortal bodies from the first Adam. He is also called the last Adam, because he is posterior in time to the first Adam, or because there shall be no restorer and head of the human race after him. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, &c. — That is, as the first Adam existed before Christ was sent to assume our nature, and become our Saviour, so must we first wear that animal body, which we derive from the one, before we put on that spiritual body which we receive from the other. Here we are taught that the plan of the divine government is to lead his creatures from a lower to a higher state of perfection. They, therefore, who contend that things should be as perfect at the beginning as at the conclusion of his administration, are wiser than God.
Daniel Whedon
46. Howbeit—Notwithstanding that it might be supposed that the greatest would be first, the reverse is the case. Afterward… spiritual—God works by progresses and climaxes, bringing out the greatest last. See note on Romans 8:39.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 46. The spiritual: wider than “spiritual body.” Paul asserts a principle, possibly as broad as creation, viz. that God does not begin by creating matter completely under the control of spirit, but under control, more or less, of natural forces and animal life. To conquer matter thus swayed by other forces, and to bring it under its own absolute rule, is the task set before spirit. It was Adam's work to bring into subjection to his own spirit not only (Genesis 1:28) the world around him but his body and its appetites.
Then the spiritual: emphatic statement of the true order.
This verse casts important light on the story of Paradise. Adam was not created full-grown in moral and spiritual life, so that all he had to do was to retain his position. He was fully equipped for conquest: but the victory was not yet won. Paul tells us that it is so always. The task of our life is to gain complete control of our bodies and bodily life. Our reward will be to have resurrection bodies completely controlled, physically and morally, by the spirit within.
The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.
John Wesley
V. 47. The first man was from the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven-The first man, being from the earth, is subject to corruption and dissolution, like the earth from which he came. The second man-St. Paul could not so well say, Is from heaven, heavenly: because, though man owes it to the earth that he is earthy, yet the Lord does not owe his glory to heaven. He himself made the heavens, and by descending from thence showed himself to us as the Lord. Christ was not the second man in order of time; but in this respect, that as Adam was a public person, who acted in the stead of all mankind, so was Christ. As Adam was the first general representative of men, Christ was the second and the last. And what they severally did, terminated not in themselves, but affected all whom they represented.
Adam Clarke
Verse 47. The first man is of the earth] That is: Adam’s body was made out of the dust of the earth; and hence the apostle says he was coikov, of the dust; for the body was made
האדמה מנ rp[ aphar min ha-adamah, dust from the ground;
The second man is-from heaven.] Heavenly, ouraniov, as several good MSS. and versions read. The resurrection body shall be of a heavenly nature, and not subject to decay or death. What is formed of earth must live after an earthly manner; must be nourished and supported by the earth: what is from heaven is of a spiritual nature; and shall have no farther connection with, nor dependence upon, earth. I conceive both these clauses to relate to man; and to point out the difference between the animal body and the spiritual body, or between the bodies which we now have and the bodies which we shall have in the resurrection. But can this be the meaning of the clause, the second man is the Lord from heaven? In the quotation I have omitted o kuriov, the Lord, on the following authorities: MANUSCRIPTS-BCD*EFG, and two others. VERSIONS-Coptic, Æthiopic, Armenian in the margin, Vulgate, and Itala. FATHERS-Origen, who quotes it once and omits it once; Athanasius, Basil, the two Gregories, Nyssen and Nazianzen; Isidore, Cyril, Tertullian, Cyprian, Hilary, Zeno, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrosiaster, Philaster, Leo, Pacianus, Primasius, Sedulius, Bede, and others. See these authorities more at large in Wetstein. Some of the most eminent of modern critics leave out the word, and Tertullian says that it was put in by the heretic Marcion. I do think that the word is not legitimate in this place. The verse is read by the MSS., versions, and fathers referred to, thus: The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is of heaven, heavenly; kuriov being omitted and ouraniov added. The first man and the second man of this verse are the same as the first Adam and the second Adam of 1 Corinthians 15:45, and it is not clear that Christ is meant in either place. Some suppose that there is a reference here to what Eve said when she brought forth Cain: I have gotten a man from the Lord, hwhy ta vya ytynq kanithi ish eth Yehovah, I have possessed or obtained a man, the Lord; that is, as Dr. Lightfoot explains it, that the Lord himself should become man: and he thinks that Eve had respect to the promise of Christ when she named her son; as Adam had when he named his wife. If Eve had this in view, we can only say she was sadly mistaken: indeed the conjecture is too refined. The terms first man of the earth, and second man from heaven, are frequent among the Jews: לעילא אדם the superior Adam; and hatt אדם Adam the inferior; that is, the earthly and the heavenly Adam: Adam before the resurrection, and Adam after it.
Joseph Benson
Verses 47-49. The first man is [was] of the earth, earthy — Being from earth, and having forfeited his immortality by sin, he became subject to corruption and dissolution, like the earth from which he came. The second man is the Lord from heaven — St. Paul could not well say, “is of, or from heaven, heavenly:” because though man owes it to the earth that he is earthy, yet the Lord does not owe it to heaven that he is glorious. He himself made the heavens, and by descending from them, showed himself to us as the Lord. Christ is called the second Adam in this respect, that as Adam was a public person who acted in the stead of all mankind, so was Christ; and as Adam was the first general representative of men, Christ was the second and the last: and what they severally did, terminated not in themselves, but affected all whom they represented. As is the earthy — The first Adam after his fall; such are they also that are earthy — Who continue without any higher principle; they are sinful, mortal, corruptible creatures: such a body as Adam had, have all his posterity while they remain on earth. And as is the heavenly — Man, Christ, at present; such are — Or rather, shall be; they that are heavenly — Who are united to Christ by the quickening and regenerating influences of his Spirit. That they may live with him in heaven, they shall at last have glorious bodies like his. And as we have borne the image of the earthy — As assuredly as we are now sinful, afflicted, and mortal men, like the first Adam; we shall also bear the image of the heavenly — So surely shall we be brought to resemble Christ in holiness, glory, and immortality.
Daniel Whedon
47. Of—Rather, from the earth, as the second man is from heaven. In Genesis 2:7, the same Greek words occur, from the earth. The Lord— This phrase is rejected as spurious by the best scholars; the true reading is the second man is the Lord from heaven. By this antithesis, as by the former, (verses 45 and 49,) Adam is viewed at his creation, and Christ at his second advent, producing our resurrection.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 47.-48. Further contrast of the two heads of the race, determining the nature of the bodies we receive from them respectively.
From earth, a man of dust: so Genesis 2:7, literally rendered, “formed man dust from the earth.” Dust is the finest inorganic material. Adam was a man of dust.
From heaven: whence Christ will come (Philippians 3:20) with all the powers of heaven to be Head of the glorified human race; in contrast to Adam who came from the earth beneath us, with all material infirmities, to be the beginning of a race which could not of itself rise above its source. What Adam was, a man of dust, they are who live a life inherited from him. And what Christ is, such are they who partake His life. This comparison pertains only to those elements which come from the heads of the race. Because Adam's body was soul-governed, so are ours. Christ's glorified body, which will some day return to earth, is purely spirit-governed. And since He, equally with Adam, is Head of the race, we shall have bodies like His.
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
John Wesley
V. 48. They that are earthy-Who continue without any higher principle. They that are heavenly-Who receive a divine principle from heaven.
Adam Clarke
Verse 48. As is the earthy, &c.] As Adam was, who was formed from the earth, so are all his descendants; frail, decaying, and subject to death. As is the heavenly] As is the heavenly state of Adam and all glorified beings, so shall be the state of all those who, at the resurrection, are found fit for glory.
Joseph Benson
Verses 47-49. The first man is [was] of the earth, earthy — Being from earth, and having forfeited his immortality by sin, he became subject to corruption and dissolution, like the earth from which he came. The second man is the Lord from heaven — St. Paul could not well say, “is of, or from heaven, heavenly:” because though man owes it to the earth that he is earthy, yet the Lord does not owe it to heaven that he is glorious. He himself made the heavens, and by descending from them, showed himself to us as the Lord. Christ is called the second Adam in this respect, that as Adam was a public person who acted in the stead of all mankind, so was Christ; and as Adam was the first general representative of men, Christ was the second and the last: and what they severally did, terminated not in themselves, but affected all whom they represented. As is the earthy — The first Adam after his fall; such are they also that are earthy — Who continue without any higher principle; they are sinful, mortal, corruptible creatures: such a body as Adam had, have all his posterity while they remain on earth. And as is the heavenly — Man, Christ, at present; such are — Or rather, shall be; they that are heavenly — Who are united to Christ by the quickening and regenerating influences of his Spirit. That they may live with him in heaven, they shall at last have glorious bodies like his. And as we have borne the image of the earthy — As assuredly as we are now sinful, afflicted, and mortal men, like the first Adam; we shall also bear the image of the heavenly — So surely shall we be brought to resemble Christ in holiness, glory, and immortality.
Daniel Whedon
48. As… earthy, such… earthy—By the universal law of descent, earthly beings inherit the nature of their progenitors. See note, Romans 5:12, on the phrase all have sinned. Heavenly—But the nature of the heavenly is stamped at the resurrection upon the earthy by a direct act of divine power.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 47.-48. Further contrast of the two heads of the race, determining the nature of the bodies we receive from them respectively.
From earth, a man of dust: so Genesis 2:7, literally rendered, “formed man dust from the earth.” Dust is the finest inorganic material. Adam was a man of dust.
From heaven: whence Christ will come (Philippians 3:20) with all the powers of heaven to be Head of the glorified human race; in contrast to Adam who came from the earth beneath us, with all material infirmities, to be the beginning of a race which could not of itself rise above its source. What Adam was, a man of dust, they are who live a life inherited from him. And what Christ is, such are they who partake His life. This comparison pertains only to those elements which come from the heads of the race. Because Adam's body was soul-governed, so are ours. Christ's glorified body, which will some day return to earth, is purely spirit-governed. And since He, equally with Adam, is Head of the race, we shall have bodies like His.
And as we have born the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
John Wesley
V. 49. The image of the heavenly-Holiness and glory.
Adam Clarke
Verse 49. And as we have borne the image of the earthy] As being descendants from Adam we have all been born in his likeness, and subject to the same kind of corruption, disgrace, and death; we shall also be raised to a life immortal, such as he now enjoys in the kingdom of God. This interpretation proceeds on the ground that what is here spoken belongs to Adam in his twofold state: viz. of mortality and immortality; of disgrace and honour; of earth and heaven.
But by many commentators the words are understood to refer to Adam and Christ, in 1 Corinthians 15:46-49. By these, Christ is called the second Adam, the quickening Spirit, the second man, and the heavenly; whose image of righteousness and true holiness we are to bear. But when I consider, 1st. How all these terms are used and applied in the Jewish writings, it appears to me that as this was not their import among them, so it was not the design of Paul; and it would be very difficult to find any place where Jesus Christ is called the second Adam in either Old or New Testament. The discourse of the apostle, Romans 5:14-19, will not prove it, though in those verses there is a comparison drawn between Adam and Christ; but that comparison refers to the extent of the sin and condemnation brought upon all men by the transgression of the first; and the redemption purchased for all men by the sacrifice of the last; and the superabundant grace procured by that sacrifice. But here, the comparison most evidently is between the state of man in this mortal life, and his state after the resurrection. Here, all men are corrupt and mortal, and here, all men die. There, all men shall be incorrupt and immortal, and, whether holy or unholy, shall be eternally immortal.
Of the image of Adam, in his heavenly or paradisaical state, the rabbins talk largely: they say that “God created Adam with a double image, earthly and heavenly; that he was the most perfect of all beings; that his splendour shone from one extremity of the earth to the other; that all feared before him; that he knew all wisdom, both earthly and heavenly; but when he sinned, his glory was diminished, and his wisdom departed from him.” Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 10.
They add farther, that “in the time in which Adam received haly[ hnqwyrk the heavenly image, all creatures came to him, and acknowledged him king of the earth.” Ibid., fol. 21.
2. From all this, and much more might be produced on the subject, (see Schoettgen,) it appears that the apostle follows, as far as it could comport with his design, the sentiments of his countrymen, and that he adopts their very phraseology; and that it is through the medium of these sentiments and this phraseology that he is to be understood and interpreted. Others may understand all these passages differently; and still consider them as a parallel between Adam and Christ, which is the general view of interpreters. The view which I have taken of them appears to me to be much more consistent with the nature of the discourse, and the scope and design of the apostle. The common opinion is orthodox: what I here propose is no heresy. There are many difficulties in the chapter, and not a few in the verses immediately under consideration.
Joseph Benson
Verses 47-49. The first man is [was] of the earth, earthy — Being from earth, and having forfeited his immortality by sin, he became subject to corruption and dissolution, like the earth from which he came. The second man is the Lord from heaven — St. Paul could not well say, “is of, or from heaven, heavenly:” because though man owes it to the earth that he is earthy, yet the Lord does not owe it to heaven that he is glorious. He himself made the heavens, and by descending from them, showed himself to us as the Lord. Christ is called the second Adam in this respect, that as Adam was a public person who acted in the stead of all mankind, so was Christ; and as Adam was the first general representative of men, Christ was the second and the last: and what they severally did, terminated not in themselves, but affected all whom they represented. As is the earthy — The first Adam after his fall; such are they also that are earthy — Who continue without any higher principle; they are sinful, mortal, corruptible creatures: such a body as Adam had, have all his posterity while they remain on earth. And as is the heavenly — Man, Christ, at present; such are — Or rather, shall be; they that are heavenly — Who are united to Christ by the quickening and regenerating influences of his Spirit. That they may live with him in heaven, they shall at last have glorious bodies like his. And as we have borne the image of the earthy — As assuredly as we are now sinful, afflicted, and mortal men, like the first Adam; we shall also bear the image of the heavenly — So surely shall we be brought to resemble Christ in holiness, glory, and immortality.
Daniel Whedon
49. We shall also bear—Instead of the future the subjunctive of the verb has the best authority from MSS. But Alford rejects it, properly, (as well as the subjunctive in Romans 6:1,) as having been introduced from doctrinal reasons. It would then follow, from Alford’s own conclusion, that St. Paul here gives us a we in which it was not fully certain that himself would be included. See note, verse 52.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 49. Image of the man-of-dust: our present human body. Image of the heavenly one: our resurrection body, which will “be conformed to the body of His glory,” Philippians 3:21. Let us wear: so read by all recent editors, except that we shall (A.V. and R.V. text) is in Westcott's margin: a various reading similar to Romans 5:1. The change is in a single letter. In both cases the subjunctive reading is the more difficult, but is supported by preponderate documentary evidence. “We shall wear” would simply announce the coming glory. Let us wear, (or better, let us put on for wear,) reminds us that it depends upon ourselves whether we share that glory, and exhorts us so to act now as to obtain it. Such exhortation is an appropriate corrective to the absolute assertions of 1 Corinthians 15:43-48. The image of the heavenly cannot be the moral image of Christ. For, the image of the man-of-dust can be no other than bodily likeness to Adam: and the whole context refers to the resurrection.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
John Wesley
V. 50. But first we must be entirely changed; for such flesh and blood as we are clothed with now, cannot enter into that kingdom which is wholly spiritual: neither doth this corruptible body inherit that incorruptible kingdom.
Adam Clarke
Verse 50. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom] This is a Hebrew periphrasis for man, and man in his present state of infirmity and decay. Man, in his present state, cannot inherit the kingdom of God; his nature is not suited to that place; he could not, in his present weak state, endure an exceeding great and eternal weight of glory. Therefore, it is necessary that he should die, or be changed; that he should have a celestial body suited to the celestial state. The apostle is certainly not speaking of flesh and blood in a moral sense, to signify corruption of mind and heart; but in a natural sense; as such, flesh and blood cannot inherit glory, for the reasons already assigned.
Joseph Benson
Verses 50-52. Now this I say, brethren — This I offer to your consideration as a great and important truth, that we must first undergo an entire change; for flesh and blood — Such as we are now clothed with; cannot inherit the kingdom of God — Cannot enter that happy place which Christ hath gone to prepare for the reception of his people, (John 14:7,) cannot possess that kingdom which is wholly spiritual, because it affords no objects suited either to the senses or to the appetites of such a body. Neither doth corruption — This corruptible body; inherit incorruption — That incorruptible kingdom. Spirits, clothed with corruptible bodies like our present bodies, cannot enjoy objects that are incorruptible. They are not capable of enjoying the divine vision, nor of performing the exalted services, nor of relishing the pure pleasures, which constitute the glory and felicity of the kingdom of God. Behold, I show you a mystery — A truth hitherto unknown, and not yet fully revealed to any of the sons of men. We — Christians: the apostle considers them all as one in their succeeding generations; shall not die — Suffer a separation of soul and body; but we shall all — Who do not die; be changed — So that this animal body shall become spiritual; in a moment — Amazing work of omnipotence! in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump — Blown by the divine command. For the trumpet shall sound, &c. — At the giving of the law from Sinai, there was heard a great noise, like the sounding of a trumpet, exceeding loud, which sounded long, and waxed louder and louder. In like manner, at the descent of Christ from heaven, a great noise called the trump of God, (1 Thessalonians 4:16,) will be made by the attending angels, as the signal for the righteous to come forth from their graves. And this noise being made at Christ’s command, it is called by himself, his voice, John 5:25. After the righteous are raised, the trumpet shall sound a second time; on which account it is called here the last trumpet. And while it sounds, the righteous who are alive on the earth shall be changed. And the dead shall be raised incorruptible — Though this expression be general, yet, as appears from verse 51, and indeed from the whole latter part of the chapter, it is evident it must be restricted to the dead in Christ, of whom alone the apostle is discoursing. Besides, as appears from 1 Thessalonians 4:16, the wicked are not to be raised at the same time with the righteous.
Daniel Whedon
50. Now—Rather, but. We shall attain the heavenly resurrection image, but not as unchanged flesh and blood. This I say—As the thought really running through all the antitheses, (42-49,) furnishing the full and final answer to the question what body? and negativing the error on which that question was based, that the resurrection implies our corrupt mortal bodies in a future state. Flesh and blood—The perishable amalgam of soul and matter which furnished the basis of the objection against the resurrection. Cannot—Literally, are not able, as vile and putrifying, to inhabit the eternal mansions. They must be as immortal as the heavenly abodes themselves.
7. Apocalyptic picture of the glorious resurrection, 51-53; triumphal pean, 54-57; and admonitory inference, 58.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 50. I mean, or assert: same word in same sense in 1 Corinthians 10:19. Paul now puts into plain words the practical meaning of his teaching in 1 Corinthians 15:44-49 about the soul-governed body of dust, etc. Flesh and blood: Matthew 16:17; Galatians 1:16; Ephesians 6:12; Hebrews 2:14. Bodies such as we now have, consisting of flesh and blood and therefore subject, to the laws of animal life, cannot inherit the kingdom of God: i.e. while wearing them we cannot obtain the royal inheritance (see 1 Corinthians 6:10) belonging to us as sons of God. Cannot; marks the absolute incompatibility of a natural body with the kingdom in which matter is wholly controlled by spirit. After the concrete, flesh and blood, Paul mentions the abstract quality, corrupting, (never absent now where flesh is,) which prevents our present bodies from entering the kingdom of God; in absolute contrast to incorruption, (1 Corinthians 15:42,) which marks all that pertains to that kingdom. Thus 1 Corinthians 15:50b gives a reason for the fact asserted in 1 Corinthians 15:50a.
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
John Wesley
V. 51. A mystery-A truth hitherto unknown; and not yet fully known to any of the sons of men.
We-Christians. The Apostle considers them all as one, in their succeeding generations.
Shall not all die-Suffer a separation of soul and body. But we shall all-Who do not die,
be changed-So that this animal body shall become spiritual.
Adam Clarke
Verse 51. I show you a mystery] That is, a thing which you have never known before. But what is this mystery? Why, that we shall not all sleep; we shall not all die; but we shall all be changed: of this the Jews had not distinct notions. For, as flesh and blood cannot inherit glory, and all shall not be found dead at the day of judgment, then all must be changed-undergo such a change that their bodies may become spiritual, like the bodies of those who shall be raised from the dead.
Joseph Benson
Verses 50-52. Now this I say, brethren — This I offer to your consideration as a great and important truth, that we must first undergo an entire change; for flesh and blood — Such as we are now clothed with; cannot inherit the kingdom of God — Cannot enter that happy place which Christ hath gone to prepare for the reception of his people, (John 14:7,) cannot possess that kingdom which is wholly spiritual, because it affords no objects suited either to the senses or to the appetites of such a body. Neither doth corruption — This corruptible body; inherit incorruption — That incorruptible kingdom. Spirits, clothed with corruptible bodies like our present bodies, cannot enjoy objects that are incorruptible. They are not capable of enjoying the divine vision, nor of performing the exalted services, nor of relishing the pure pleasures, which constitute the glory and felicity of the kingdom of God. Behold, I show you a mystery — A truth hitherto unknown, and not yet fully revealed to any of the sons of men. We — Christians: the apostle considers them all as one in their succeeding generations; shall not die — Suffer a separation of soul and body; but we shall all — Who do not die; be changed — So that this animal body shall become spiritual; in a moment — Amazing work of omnipotence! in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump — Blown by the divine command. For the trumpet shall sound, &c. — At the giving of the law from Sinai, there was heard a great noise, like the sounding of a trumpet, exceeding loud, which sounded long, and waxed louder and louder. In like manner, at the descent of Christ from heaven, a great noise called the trump of God, (1 Thessalonians 4:16,) will be made by the attending angels, as the signal for the righteous to come forth from their graves. And this noise being made at Christ’s command, it is called by himself, his voice, John 5:25. After the righteous are raised, the trumpet shall sound a second time; on which account it is called here the last trumpet. And while it sounds, the righteous who are alive on the earth shall be changed. And the dead shall be raised incorruptible — Though this expression be general, yet, as appears from verse 51, and indeed from the whole latter part of the chapter, it is evident it must be restricted to the dead in Christ, of whom alone the apostle is discoursing. Besides, as appears from 1 Thessalonians 4:16, the wicked are not to be raised at the same time with the righteous.
Daniel Whedon
51. Behold—Lift up your eyes upon the glorious picture I present. Show—Utter. The showing was in language. A mystery—A truth hitherto concealed in the eternal counsels, now revealed to men by me. We—Who are this we? Alford, and other commentators who are earnest to make out that Paul firmly expected the resurrection to occur in his own generation, say that it means Paul and his Corinthian brethren. We think it as comprehensive, at least, as the we of verse 49, including all the candidates for the glorious resurrection—all who have borne the image of the earthy. And this seems to be a complete reply to all argument drawn from both this we and that in 1 Thessalonians 4:15. For it shows that St. Paul’s we may cover a whole class—a class in which he may eventually fail to be one. All—And this all we consider as comprehensive as the all of verse 22. St. Paul is here meeting the question, How will it be with those alive when Christ descends in judgment? Be changed—On this change we may note, 1. That it is a change that comes upon and is of the very body then being; the very same matter and substance: 2. That a change does not mean the bringing in any new material: 3. That verse 53 shows that it consists in the assuming of immortality, with the modifications included therein, upon that very mortal body and no other. We may add that this change illustrates the transition through which man, without sin, would have entered on his full immortality. Death, hades, and the intermediate state, would for him have had no existence. Nay, the “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels,” would have been suffered by devils alone. Man’s great mistake of falling into Satan’s proper inheritance would have been avoided.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 51. Mystery: something unknown had not God revealed it. See note under 1 Corinthians 3:4; cp. Romans 11:25; also 1 Thessalonians 4:15, “This we say to you by the word of the Lord.” This mystery, contained in 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52, explains how we who now dwell in flesh and blood may, in spite of 1 Corinthians 15:50, “inherit the kingdom of God.”
All of us will not sleep; (see Appendix B) cannot mean that all will live till Christ comes. For, with death all around, Paul certainly could not say this. Had he meant this, the error at Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 4:13) would have been his own express teaching. The word not negatives all, not shall sleep. [See Moulton's good note in Winer's Grammar p. 695.] Paul denies that all, an all including himself and his readers, will die; but asserts that, although some will escape death, not one will escape a total bodily change.
All of us; covers in both places the whole race; as suggested by the general term “flesh and blood.” The repetition lays emphasis on the absolute universality of the change.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
John Wesley
V. 52. In a moment-Amazing work of omnipotence! And cannot the same power now change us into saints in a moment?
The trumpet shall sound-To awaken all that sleep in the dust of the earth.
Adam Clarke
Verse 52. In a moment] en atomw. In an atom; that is, an indivisible point of time. In the twinkling of an eye; as soon as a man can wink; which expressions show that this mighty work is to be done by the almighty power of God, as he does all his works, He calls, and it is done. The resurrection of all the dead, from the foundation of the world to that time, and the change of all the living then upon earth, shall be the work of a single moment.
At the last trump] This, as well as all the rest of the peculiar phraseology of this chapter, is merely Jewish, and we must go to the Jewish writers to know what is intended. On this subject, the rabbins use the very same expression. Thus Rabbi Akiba: “How shall the holy blessed God raise the dead? We are taught that God has a trumpet a thousand ells long, according to the ell of God: this trumpet he shall blow, so that the sound of it shall extend from one extremity of the earth to the other. At the first blast the earth shall be shaken; at the second, the dust shall be separated; at the third, the bones shall be gathered together; at the fourth, the members shall wax warm; at the fifth, the heads shall be covered with skin; at the sixth, the souls shall be rejoined to their bodies; at the seventh, all shall revive and stand clothed.” See Wetstein. This tradition shows us what we are to understand by the last trump of the apostle; it is the seventh of Rab. Akiba, when the dead shall be all raised, and, being clothed upon with their eternal vehicles, they shall be ready to appear before the judgment seat of God.
For the trumpet shall sound] By this the apostle confirms the substance of the tradition, there shall be the sound of a trumpet on this great day; and this other scriptures teach: see Zecariah 9:14; Matthew 24:31; John 5:25; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, in which latter place, the apostle treats this subject among the Thessalonians, as he does here among the Corinthians. See the notes there.
Shall be raised incorruptible] Fully clothed with a new body, to die no more.
We shall be changed.] That is, those who shall then be found alive.
Joseph Benson
Verses 50-52. Now this I say, brethren — This I offer to your consideration as a great and important truth, that we must first undergo an entire change; for flesh and blood — Such as we are now clothed with; cannot inherit the kingdom of God — Cannot enter that happy place which Christ hath gone to prepare for the reception of his people, (John 14:7,) cannot possess that kingdom which is wholly spiritual, because it affords no objects suited either to the senses or to the appetites of such a body. Neither doth corruption — This corruptible body; inherit incorruption — That incorruptible kingdom. Spirits, clothed with corruptible bodies like our present bodies, cannot enjoy objects that are incorruptible. They are not capable of enjoying the divine vision, nor of performing the exalted services, nor of relishing the pure pleasures, which constitute the glory and felicity of the kingdom of God. Behold, I show you a mystery — A truth hitherto unknown, and not yet fully revealed to any of the sons of men. We — Christians: the apostle considers them all as one in their succeeding generations; shall not die — Suffer a separation of soul and body; but we shall all — Who do not die; be changed — So that this animal body shall become spiritual; in a moment — Amazing work of omnipotence! in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump — Blown by the divine command. For the trumpet shall sound, &c. — At the giving of the law from Sinai, there was heard a great noise, like the sounding of a trumpet, exceeding loud, which sounded long, and waxed louder and louder. In like manner, at the descent of Christ from heaven, a great noise called the trump of God, (1 Thessalonians 4:16,) will be made by the attending angels, as the signal for the righteous to come forth from their graves. And this noise being made at Christ’s command, it is called by himself, his voice, John 5:25. After the righteous are raised, the trumpet shall sound a second time; on which account it is called here the last trumpet. And while it sounds, the righteous who are alive on the earth shall be changed. And the dead shall be raised incorruptible — Though this expression be general, yet, as appears from verse 51, and indeed from the whole latter part of the chapter, it is evident it must be restricted to the dead in Christ, of whom alone the apostle is discoursing. Besides, as appears from 1 Thessalonians 4:16, the wicked are not to be raised at the same time with the righteous.
Daniel Whedon
52. In a moment—En atomw. In an atom of time; in an indivisible instant. In the twinkling (literally, stroke) of the eye. Quick as a jerk of the eyelash. The last trump—See note, 1 Thessalonians 4:6. We… changed—St. Paul’s present we conceptually includes not quite the same as the first we of verse 51, but all the living in the body at the parousia.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 52. In a moment etc.: cp. 1 Thessalonians 5:3; Matthew 24:44; Luke 17:26ff.
Twinkling of an eye: dwells upon, and intensifies, the idea of suddenness. In the midst of the world's busy life and without any previous warning, Christ will lay His hand upon the wheels of time and they will stop at once and for ever. This warns the readers that the absence of all signs of Christ's coming is no proof that it is not near.
Trumpet: so 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Matthew 24:31. As at Sinai (Exodus 19:16) so the last coming of Christ will be announced by an appeal to the ears of men.
The last trumpet: the last of the many signals during the present age of probation, marking the end of the age. This mention of a trumpet Paul supports, in face of those who denied the supernatural, by declaring that one will blow it, and that then the dead ones will rise and the living be changed.
Incorruptible; keeps before us the difference (1 Corinthians 15:43) between our present and future bodies.
We: 1 Thessalonians 4:15: the living, in contrast to the dead ones. It implies clearly that Paul did not know that long ages would pass before Christ's coming. But, that he confidently expected to survive the Day of Christ, we cannot fairly infer. For, in rhetorical figure he frequently identifies himself with that which he describes: so 1 Corinthians 6:15; 10:22, 29; Romans 3:7; 7:14ff: cp. James 3:9. Probably, in this matter hope and fear alternated with his circumstances and his frame of mind. In 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 he certainly ponders the possibility of his own death. Still, finding himself preserved from day to day amid peril, and not knowing how soon Christ will appear, he would naturally look upon himself as “being left for the coming of Christ,” in contrast to those who had fallen asleep; and might speak of himself, as here, in contrast to those who will die before Christ comes.
Shall-be-changed; refers here only to the survivors: for the dead are already mentioned. But it is true (cp. 1 Corinthians 15:51) of all, both dead and surviving. For the word simply denotes change, whether by death and resurrection or without them. It is used here because change is all that can be asserted of those who will not die. This change is the chief part of the “mystery” which harmonizes 1 Corinthians 15:50 with our entrance into the kingdom of God.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
Adam Clarke
Verse 53. For this corruptible, &c.] Because flesh and blood cannot inherit glory; therefore, there must be a refinement by death, or a change without it.
Joseph Benson
Verses 53, 54. For this corruptible — This human nature, which is corruptible; must — In order to its partaking of the above-mentioned glory; put on incorruption — Be endued with such qualities as shall continue in perpetual vigour, not subject to any alteration; and this mortal must put on immortality — So as to be no longer subject to diseases or death. The word endusasqai, here rendered to put on, literally signifies to go into a place, or metaphorically, to put on, or go into clothes. But the metaphorical meaning must not be insisted on here, as implying that our corruptible body shall have one that is incorruptible put over it for an outward covering. These ideas are incongruous, and therefore the meaning is, the corruptible must be changed into one that is incorruptible, as mentioned verse 51; the righteous, who are alive at the coming of Christ, instead of dying and rising again immortal, shall, by the power of Christ, have their corruptible, mortal bodies, changed in a moment, into incorruptible, immortal bodies, and by that means be fitted for inheriting the kingdom of God, equally with those who are raised from the dead incorruptible. So, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, &c. — When this glorious and long-expected event shall be accomplished; then shall be brought to pass what is written, (Isaiah 25:8,) Death is swallowed up in victory — Is totally conquered or abolished for ever, as the original phrase, eiv nikov, may be translated, being often used by the LXX. in that sense. This circumstance likewise shows, that in this discourse the apostle had the resurrection of the righteous only in view. For it cannot be said of the wicked, who are to suffer the second death, that death is swallowed up in any sense with respect to them, or that God hath given them the victory over it, (verse 57,) by the resurrection.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 53. This corruptible must put on incorruption. This beautiful figure shows how the soul shall leave all its weather-worn array of the desert behind, and put on immortality as a garment. The spiritual body shall need no support from perishable food. Its beauty and perfection shall assume all the forms of unfading glory.
Daniel Whedon
53. This corruptible—The very mortal body that lives at the time of the change. Put on—Literally, shall clothe on; the Greek being the word signifying to put on a garment. On the very self-same mortal body, immortality shall be taken as an investiture, making the mortal immortal. 2 Corinthians 5:2.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 53. Must-needs: since “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”
This corruptible thing: the body. Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:43. Put-on: clothe itself as with a garment. So 2 Corinthians 5:3f. The contrast of corruptible and incorruption marks the greatness of the needed change.
This mortal: so 2 Corinthians 5:4: more definite, and therefore more forceful, than corruptible. Paul lingers, in repetition, over the coming change. The body doomed to decay will clothe itself with absence of decay: and the body doomed to death will clothe itself in deathlessness. He thus concludes § 29 with its chief thought, viz. the necessary difference between our present and future bodies.
SECTION 29 is introduced by a question uncovering an objection to the teaching in § 28 that the dead will rise, an objection based on the supposed impossibility of the process of resurrection. The objection was perhaps prompted by the crude teaching of some Jews that the resurrection body will be exactly the same as that laid in the grave. This objection Paul rebukes by pointing to God's works in nature, to the difference between the seed sown and the plant which perpetuates its life, and between the endless variety of living bodies on earth and the objects which shine and move above us in the sky. He declares that there is a similar difference between our present and future bodies, a difference of which he gives four powerful parallel descriptions. He thus shows that against his teaching the objection of 1 Corinthians 15:35 has no force. The story of Genesis tells us that the human body, even as at first created, and according to a constant divine order, is imperfect. But through our relation to Christ we shall receive bodies like His. In other words, a change is absolutely necessary before we can attain the goal of our being. And it will come. Though all will not die, every one will pass through the needful change from mortality to immortality. Of this teaching Philippians 3:21 is an epitome. This section rebukes the teaching, common in all ages, that our future bodies will consist of the same material particles as those we now wear; and thus removes the objection to the resurrection based on this error. In harmony with this section we must interpret Romans 8:11. Yet our future bodies will have some definite (“each his own body”) but now inconceivable relation to our present bodies. We learn also that Adam as he sprang from the Creator's hands, although unstained by sin, was not, even touching his body, perfect. With him as with us maturity of manhood is the prize of battle and victory.
The word SOUL now claims attention. For the argument of 1 Corinthians 15:44-46 turns evidently upon the difference between soul and “spirit.” (see note under Romans 8:17.) These verses teach that soul is inferior to “spirit,” and bears to our present mortal bodies received from Adam a relation similar to that of spirit to the resurrection body we shall receive from Christ; and that the order in time of our present and future bodies accords (1 Corinthians 15:46) with the nature of soul and spirit respectively. Unfortunately the true sense of the word soul is much obscured by the necessity of rendering it by various English words. In both Testaments and in classic Greek the word soul denotes usually that in which a lifeless object differs from a living one. It is the life; not as a life-giving principle (the spirit) but as that which itself lives. It is rendered life in Matthew 16:25; 2:20; 6:25, and numberless cases. Consequently, the various manifestations of life are attributed to the soul, especially in the Old Testament; e.g. hunger, thirst, need and satiety of food, sensation, desire, and all kinds of emotion. Cp. Proverbs 10:3; 27:7; 25:25; Psalm 31:10. It also denotes living creatures, as themselves manifestations of life. This use is conspicuous in Genesis 1:20-30, where the words “living soul” (A.V. “living creature”) designate the lower creatures, especially fishes and quadrupeds. Similarly, as being the basis of individual life, human as well as animal, it denotes ah individual man: Genesis 2:7; 46:18. Very strangely it is used for a corpse: Numbers 6:6. In Revelation 6:9 we have the disembodied souls of murdered men.
We may therefore define the soul to be the life common to men and animals; the “spirit,” in contrast to the soul, that which is very rarely (e.g. Isaiah 1:14) used of God and the word “spirit” very rarely (Ecclesiastes 3:21) of animals, Spirit is declared to be the essence of God. Spirit is that principle which, entering into an organized material form, gives it life; and thus itself assumes an individual, and in man a personal, existence: the soul is the actual individual life resulting from the entrance of the life-giving spirit into a material form, a life conditioned in its nature and its development by the material form it animates. Hence the order in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. The soul is that which is nearest to the body and in great part ruled by the body, the seat of bodily emotions, sensations, desires. The spirit is that which is nearest to God, and which thinks and knows. On man's spirit the Spirit of God, Himself the bearer of the mind of God, directly acts. The spiritual man is he who obeys the influences which through his own spirit the Spirit of God exerts upon him. The soul-governed man (1 Corinthians 2:14, Jude 1:19) is he who obeys the emotions which the material world, acting on him through his body, evokes in his soul. So far as we obey the Holy Spirit, He imparts to our own spirit (which in the unsaved is very weak) power to control the emotions which arise in the soul, and thus to rule our own body and defy the influences of the world. Thus our whole being becomes spiritual and holy. But, so far as we obey the emotions of the soul, our own spirit, the seat of thought and knowledge, falls under their sway, which is practically the sway of the body, and under subjection to the material world around us. Cp. James 3:15. Animals are altogether soul-governed. For their entire action is determined by emotions excited either by simple sensation, or sensation joined with something like memory. And so far as man is soul-governed does he sink towards the level of animals.
Of the use of the word “spirit” to denote the highest part in man only faith traces (e.g. Aristotle, On the World ch. iv.) are found in classic Greek. Consequently, the word soul there covers the entire domain of man's immaterial nature. But Aristotle, in a most instructive passage, Nic. Ethics bk. i. 13, distinguishes three elements in the human soul, of which the first two and the third correspond very nearly to the soul and spirit in the New Testament. The lowest of these elements man has in common with vegetables, viz. the life which is nourished and grows. Similarly and popularly, in the New Testament “body and soul” denotes sometimes the entire man: Matthew 10:28. In these cases the soul is the whole immaterial part of man, including the spirit. But this popular use does not set aside the plain distinction, here, and 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12, of soul and spirit.
The clumsy rendering “soul-governed” is due to our lack of an adjective corresponding to soul, as “spiritual” corresponds to “spirit.” the control of the soul over the body justifies the imported idea “governed.”
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
John Wesley
V. 54. Death is swallowed up in victory-That is, totally conquered, abolished for ever.
Adam Clarke
Verse 54. Death is swallowed up in victory.] katepoqh o qanatov eiv nikov. These words are a quotation from Isaiah 25:8, where the Hebrew is jxnl twmh [lb billa hammaveth lanetsach: He (God) hath swallowed up death in victory; or, for ever. These words in the Septuagint are thus translated: katepien o qanatov iscusav. Death having prevailed, or conquered, hath swallowed up. But in the version of Theodotion, the words are the same with those of the apostle. The Hebrew jxnl lanetsach the Septuagint sometimes translate eiv nikov, in victory, but most commonly eiv telov, for ever; both, as Bishop Pearce observes, in such kind of phrases, signifying the same thing, because eternity conquers all things; and accordingly, in 2 Samuel 2:26, where the Septuagint have mh eiv nikov katafagetai h romfaia, our English version has, Shall the sword devour FOR EVER? And the same may be seen in Job 36:7; Lamentations 5:20; Amos 1:11; 8:7; from which authority the bishop translates the clause here, Death is swallowed up FOR EVER.
Death is here personified and represented as a devouring being, swallowing up all the generations of men; and by the resurrection of the body and the destruction of the empire of death, God is represented as swallowing him up; or that eternity gulps him down; so that he is endlessly lost and absorbed in its illimitable waste. How glorious a time to the righteous, when the inhabitant shall no more say, I am sick; when God shall have wiped away all tears from off all faces, and when there shall be no more death. This time must come. Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
Joseph Benson
Verses 53, 54. For this corruptible — This human nature, which is corruptible; must — In order to its partaking of the above-mentioned glory; put on incorruption — Be endued with such qualities as shall continue in perpetual vigour, not subject to any alteration; and this mortal must put on immortality — So as to be no longer subject to diseases or death. The word endusasqai, here rendered to put on, literally signifies to go into a place, or metaphorically, to put on, or go into clothes. But the metaphorical meaning must not be insisted on here, as implying that our corruptible body shall have one that is incorruptible put over it for an outward covering. These ideas are incongruous, and therefore the meaning is, the corruptible must be changed into one that is incorruptible, as mentioned verse 51; the righteous, who are alive at the coming of Christ, instead of dying and rising again immortal, shall, by the power of Christ, have their corruptible, mortal bodies, changed in a moment, into incorruptible, immortal bodies, and by that means be fitted for inheriting the kingdom of God, equally with those who are raised from the dead incorruptible. So, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, &c. — When this glorious and long-expected event shall be accomplished; then shall be brought to pass what is written, (Isaiah 25:8,) Death is swallowed up in victory — Is totally conquered or abolished for ever, as the original phrase, eiv nikov, may be translated, being often used by the LXX. in that sense. This circumstance likewise shows, that in this discourse the apostle had the resurrection of the righteous only in view. For it cannot be said of the wicked, who are to suffer the second death, that death is swallowed up in any sense with respect to them, or that God hath given them the victory over it, (verse 57,) by the resurrection.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 54. Death is swallowed up in victory. Our critics have examined these words with care, in the Greek and in the principal versions. Three of the readings claim our notice. The text of Isaiah 25:8, is jxn l la-netsach, “he hath swallowed up death for ever.” It is the same in many other places where that word occurs. Must the sword devour for ever? 2 Samuel 2:26. Will he reserve his anger for ever? Jeremiah 3:5. Lamentations 5:20. Edom kept his wrath for ever. Amos 1:11. Job 36:7. In all the above places, the LXX elegantly read, eiv nikov, “in victory.” — The third reading is with a dipthong: neikov, “contention,” which is the reading of Tertullian, of Ambrose, and of Jerome, designating the long-continued war with sin, and death, and the grave, or hell. Jerome also, in his epistle to John, bishop of Jerusalem, repeats the word, and reads contention also in his comment on Hosea 13:14; where for stimulus, goad, he has aculeus, sting. Theophylact, who is said to be the abbreviator of Jerome, reads, De manu inferni liberabo eos, de morte redimam illos. Ubi causa tua mors, ubi aculeus tuus inferni? I will liberate them from the hand of hades. I will redeem them from death. Where is thy victory, [cause] oh death? Where is thy sting, oh hades? [hell.] — Ed. Basil, 1570.
This is indeed a most interesting passage, and personally interesting to all; for as yet, we are only spectators in dying, but soon must be called to act our part. — To enter into the true spirit of Isaiah, of Hosea, and of Paul, we must regard death as a huge serpent, bearing a crown, and armed with a sting, which catches his prey in his fangs, and swallows it whole, after breaking its bones in his coil, being destitute of grinders for mastication. This boa constrictor swallows the giants; this Saturn devours all the children. He conquers, he reigns, and none can escape his fangs. His jaws, the grave, ever cry, “give, give.” All nations fly before him, and fly in vain, being more afraid of his sting, a guilty conscience, than of his power to destroy. The law, the violated law, gives strength and power to the sheriffs of heaven to pursue the culprits.
But amid his high career of conquest, the world and ages prostrate at his feet, he met with his victor, the woman’s Seed. The serpent trembling seized his prey, and bruised his heel with a mortal wound, but had no strength from the law to detain his sinless victim. The monster, as in Jonah’s case, was obliged, on the third day, to disgorge his prey. The Conqueror rose, put on immortality as a garment, and bruised the serpent’s head. He raised his arm, and gave his fiat, that sin and death should be no more. Oh death, I will be thy plagues. Oh grave, I will be thy destruction. Hosea 13:14.
Daniel Whedon
54. Brought to pass—In a more specific fact, yet justly to be included in the general saying of Isaiah 25:8. The words are the same as the Hebrew, with the active verb made passive. Yet Stanley maintains that the apostle probably still used some Greek translation; other, however, than the Septuagint. Death… victory—The prophet is depicting a blessed future to be brought about by the Messiah; but his pencil does not distinguish in its strokes the hues that belong to the periods before, at, and after, the resurrection. Touches belonging to each separately are blended in the then blessed Messianic future. Isaiah says, that in the great coming time, death shall be swallowed up in victory; Paul says it will be completely done by the resurrection at the parousia. Isaiah says, in the same verse, that “God will wipe away tears from off all faces;” John (Revelation 21:4) says, this shall be beyond the judgment and the casting the wicked into hell, even in the new heavens and earth of eternity.
Joseph Agar Beet
I CORINTHIANS
SECTION 30 — VICTORY! CH. 15:54-58
And when this corruptible thing shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal thing shall have put on immortality, then will take place the word that is written, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (Isaiah 25:8.) Where, Death is thy victory? where, Death, thy sting? The sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the Law. But to God be thanks who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, my beloved brothers, become firm, immovable, abounding in the work of the Lord always, knowing that your labor is not vain in the Lord.
Ver. 54. And when etc.: full and majestic reiteration of the change described in 1 Corinthians 15:53, as of something on which Paul loves to linger.
Then; gives definiteness to the hoped-for moment.
Will-take-place: what is now a written word will then become fact. Swallowed-up: put completely out of sight.
Into victory: when the victory has come, death will have disappeared. This is a quotation, exact in senses. from Isaiah 25:8: “He has swallowed up death for ever.” The word victory was suggested to Paul by an Aramaic word of that meaning similar to the Hebrew word rendered “for ever.” It also recalls 1 Corinthians 15:26. In this quotation lies an argument. For Isaiah's words imply clearly a complete and eternal undoing of the work of death: and this can be only by resurrection of the dead. In the moment when the change from mortality to immortality is complete, and not till then, will Isaiah's words be fulfilled. The latter part of the same prophecy is also quoted in Revelation 7:17, with a similar reference.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
John Wesley
V. 55. O death, where is thy sting?-Which once was full of hellish poison.
O hades, the receptacle of separate souls, where is thy victory-Thou art now robbed of all thy spoils; all thy captives are set at liberty. Hades literally means the invisible world, and relates to the soul; death, to the body. The Greek words are found in the Septuagint translation of Hosea 13:14. Isaiah 25:8
Adam Clarke
Verse 55. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?] pou sou, qanate, to kentron. pou sou, adh, to nikov. These words are generally supposed to be taken from Hosea 13:14, where the Hebrew text stands thus: lwav Ëbcq yha twm Ëyrbd yha ehi debareyca maueth; ehikatabca sheol: which we translate, O death! I will be thy plagues; O grave! I will be thy destruction; and which the Septuagint translate very nearly as the apostle, pou h dikh sou, qante; pou to kentron son, adh; O death, where is thy revenge, or judicial process? O grave, where is thy sting? And it may be remarked that almost all the MSS., versions, and many of the fathers, interchange the two members of this sentence as they appear in the Septuagint, attributing victory to death; and the sting, to hades or the grave; only the Septuagint, probably by mistake or corruption of copyists, have dikh, dike, revenge or a judicial process, for nikov, nikos, victory: a mistake which the similarity of the words, both in letters and sound, might readily produce. We may observe, also, that the yha ehi (I will be) of the Hebrew text the Septuagint, and the apostle following them, have translated pou, where, as if the word had been written hya where, the two last letters interchanged; but yha ehi, is rendered where in other places; and our translators, in the 10th verse of this same chapter (Hosea 13:10) render Ëlm yha ehi malca, “I will be thy king,” but have this note in the margin, “Rather, where is thy king? King Hoshea being then in prison.” The apostle, therefore, and the Septuagint, are sufficiently vindicated by the use of the word elsewhere: and the best Jewish commentators allow this use of the word. The Targum, Syriac, Arabic, Vulgate, and some MSS. of Kennicott and Deuteronomy Rossi, confirm this reading.
Having vindicated the translation, it is necessary to inquire into the meaning of the apostle’s expressions. Both Death and Hades are here personified: Death is represented as having a sting, dagger, or goad, by which, like the driver of oxen, he is continually irritating and urging on; (these irritations are the diseases by which men are urged on till they fall into Hades, the empire of Death;) to Hades, victory is attributed, having overcome and conquered all human life, and subdued all to its own empire. By the transposition of these two members of the sentence, the victory is given to Death, who has extinguished all human life; and the sting is given to Hades, as in his empire the evil of death is fully displayed by the extinction of all animal life, and the destruction of all human bodies. We have often seen a personification of death in ancient paintings-a skeleton crowned, with a dart in his hand; probably taken from the apostle’s description. The Jews represent the angel of death as having a sword, from which deadly drops of gall fall into the mouths of all men. Hades, which we here translate grave, is generally understood to be the place of separate spirits. See Clarke’s note on “Matthew 11:23”.
Joseph Benson
Verse 55. O death, where is thy sting? — Which once was full of hellish poison. O grave — Adhv, O hades, the receptacle of separate souls; where is thy victory? — Thou art now robbed of thy spoils; all thy captives are set at liberty. “The word hades literally signifies the invisible world, or the world where departed spirits, both good and bad, remain till the resurrection, Job 11:8; Psalm 139:9; Isaiah 14:9; and especially Psalm 16:10, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hades. The place where the spirits of the righteous abide, the Jews called paradise; the place where the wicked are shut up they called tartarus, after the Greeks. There many of the fallen angels are said to be imprisoned, 2 Peter 2:4. “In this noble passage the apostle personifies death and the grave, and introduces the righteous after the resurrection, singing a song of victory over both. In this sublime song, death is represented as a terrible monster, having a deadly sting, wherewith it had destroyed the bodies of the whole human race, and the invisible world as an enemy who had imprisoned their spirits. But the sting being torn from death, and the gates of the invisible world set open by Christ, the bodies of the righteous shall rise from the grave, no more liable to be destroyed by death, and their spirits, being brought out of paradise, the place of their abode, shall reanimate their bodies; and the first use of their newly-recovered tongue will be to sing this song, in which they exult over death and hades, as enemies utterly destroyed, and praise God, who hath given them the victory over these deadly foes through Jesus Christ. Milton hath made good use of the apostle’s personification of death, book
2. 50:666.” — Macknight.
Daniel Whedon
55. In this verse, no doubt, Hosea 13:14 was running through St. Paul’s mind, but he does not seem so much to quote as to parallel the prophet. Modern editors, such as Stanley and Alford, find death not only in the first clause, but in the second, instead of hades, rendered, unfortunately, grave. They think that hades has been inserted to conform it to the Septuagint. Wordsworth retains hades, assuming that the copyists substituted death to avoid the pagan-like personification of hades. On esthetic ground we can hardly believe that St. Paul could do so flat a thing as to substitute death repeated, in the place of the Septuagint hades. Sting—Not a goad-point, (see notes, Acts 9:5,) as Stanley insipidly prefers; but a sting as of a scorpion, (Revelation 9:10,) or a serpent, as in Genesis ii, and Numbers 21. Grave—Hades, the abode of the disembodied spirit in the intermediate state. See notes, Luke 16:23; 23:43. Death detains the body in the grave; hades detains the spirit in the intermediate state; the resurrection delivers and unites them both. Over this deliverance St. Paul now peals his pean, as healing the wound made by death’s sting, and spoiling the victory of hades, the detainer from heaven. This adverse view of hades fully shows that it does not signify the glorified heaven, and so demonstrates the reality of an intermediate state.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 55. A shout of victory evoked by the just quoted prophecy, which to Paul's faith is already accomplished.
Where? as though looking round for something which has disappeared. So 1 Corinthians 1:20; Romans 3:27.
Death: vivid personification.
Thy victory: once apparently so complete and universal, and so universally acknowledged and dreaded.
Sting: of an animal, Revelation 9:10; 4 Macc. 14:19: also a human weapon, especially (Acts 26:14) an ox- or horse-goad. The once deadly serpent has lost its sting; and is therefore harmless. These words were evidently suggested by Hosea 13:14, which in LXX. reads “From the hand of Hades I will rescue, and from death I will redeem them. Where is thy righteous claim, O Death? Where is thy sting, O Hades? This ancient prophecy foretells complete deliverance from death. Thus, in what seems to be merely a shout of victory, Paul adds another Scripture proof to the arguments of this chapter. The passage in Hosea accounts for the mistaken reading of the Authorized Version.
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
John Wesley
V. 56. The sting of death is sin-Without which it could have no power. But this sting none can resist by his own strength.
And the strength of sin is the law-As is largely declared, Romans 7:7, &c.
Adam Clarke
Verse 56. The sting of death is sin] The apostle explains himself particularly here: death could not have entered into the world if sin had not entered first; it was sin that not only introduced death, but has armed him with all his destroying force; the goad or dagger of death is sin; by this both body and soul are slain.
The strength of sin is the law.] The law of God forbids all transgression, and sentences those who commit it to temporal and eternal death. Sin has its controlling and binding power from the law. The law curses the transgressor, and provides no help for him; and if nothing else intervene, he must, through it, continue ever under the empire of death.
Joseph Benson
Verses 56-58. The sting of death is sin — Which arms it with its greatest terrors, and is attended with a foreboding of future misery, as the effect of the divine displeasure. And the strength of sin — Which constitutes its malignity, and gives it those killing weapons; is the law — As is largely declared Romans 7:7, &c.; or, that it is a transgression of the divine law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us — Who believe on the Lord Jesus with our hearts unto righteousness; the victory — Over sin, death, and hades; through our Lord Jesus Christ — Through his sacrifice and intercession, and the supplies of his grace; through his dying to atone for sin; his rising again to show us that his atonement was accepted, and that he had obtained justification for believers, the Holy Spirit to raise them to newness of life, and a state of immortal glory. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast — In faith, hope, and love, and in an uninterrupted course of well-doing; Colossians 1:23; Romans 2:7; Galatians 6:9; unmoveable — By any temptations from within or without; from persons or things; from visible or invisible enemies; always abounding in the work of the Lord — In every service you are capable of performing for the glory of God, the good of your fellow-creatures, or your own salvation; the work of faith, or the labour of love to God and man. Forasmuch as ye know — On the surest evidence; that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord — But that you shall receive a full reward in that day of final recompense for whatever ye do for his sake. Let us endeavour, therefore, by cultivating holiness in all its branches, to maintain a lively hope of this felicity in all its spirit and energy, longing for that glorious day when, in the utmost extent of the expression, death shall be swallowed up for ever: and millions of voices, after the long silence of the grave, shall burst out at once into that triumphant song, O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory? And when we shall join in everlasting thanksgivings to God for giving us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Daniel Whedon
56. Sting of death is sin—Before Adam’s sin the destroyer slew the lower orders of creation, but had no sting for man; man would attain the resurrection state without death or hades. Note, verse 51. Strength… the law—The law over Adam, with its “Thou shalt not,” made the act (otherwise irresponsible like those of animals) to be sin, and worthy of death. Thence death, which in the lower orders is simply natural, in man is also judicial and penal.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 56.-57. Thoughts suggested by the sting and the victory. Sin is the sting of death in that but for sin even death (the abstract power personified) could not have pierced us. For death is the punishment of sin. By committing sin we gave our enemy a weapon with which he slew us. But death cannot hurt those saved from sin. For to them death is gain. To them, therefore, death is a serpent which has lost its sting, retaining its outward form but powerless to injure.
Power of sin: interesting coincidence with Romans 7:7ff. But for the Law sin would have been powerless to pierce us. For, had there been no law, the abstract power of sin could not have compelled us to break it and thus to incur its penalty. That the mention of death recalls sin and the Law, shows how deeply inwoven in the mind of Paul was the teaching of Rom.
7. In the moment of victory he remembers that death's terrible weapon came from man's sin, and that but for the Law, in which many Jews trusted for salvation, the power of sin would have been unknown.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
John Wesley
V. 57. But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory-Over sin, death, and hades.
Adam Clarke
Verse 57. But thanks be to God] What the law could not do, because it is law, (and law cannot provide pardon,) is done by the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: he has died to slay death; he has risen again to bring mankind from under the empire of hades. All this he has done through his mere unmerited mercy; and eternal thanks are due to God for this unspeakable gift. He has given us the victory over sin, Satan, death, the grave, and hell.
Joseph Benson
Verses 56-58. The sting of death is sin — Which arms it with its greatest terrors, and is attended with a foreboding of future misery, as the effect of the divine displeasure. And the strength of sin — Which constitutes its malignity, and gives it those killing weapons; is the law — As is largely declared Romans 7:7, &c.; or, that it is a transgression of the divine law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us — Who believe on the Lord Jesus with our hearts unto righteousness; the victory — Over sin, death, and hades; through our Lord Jesus Christ — Through his sacrifice and intercession, and the supplies of his grace; through his dying to atone for sin; his rising again to show us that his atonement was accepted, and that he had obtained justification for believers, the Holy Spirit to raise them to newness of life, and a state of immortal glory. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast — In faith, hope, and love, and in an uninterrupted course of well-doing; Colossians 1:23; Romans 2:7; Galatians 6:9; unmoveable — By any temptations from within or without; from persons or things; from visible or invisible enemies; always abounding in the work of the Lord — In every service you are capable of performing for the glory of God, the good of your fellow-creatures, or your own salvation; the work of faith, or the labour of love to God and man. Forasmuch as ye know — On the surest evidence; that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord — But that you shall receive a full reward in that day of final recompense for whatever ye do for his sake. Let us endeavour, therefore, by cultivating holiness in all its branches, to maintain a lively hope of this felicity in all its spirit and energy, longing for that glorious day when, in the utmost extent of the expression, death shall be swallowed up for ever: and millions of voices, after the long silence of the grave, shall burst out at once into that triumphant song, O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory? And when we shall join in everlasting thanksgivings to God for giving us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 57. Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory, by the atoning sacrifice of Christ for sin; by the joys of remission, which remove the sting of death, and substitute the hope of glory; by uniting us to himself, the everliving head of his body the church; by making his own resurrection the pledge and earnest of ours. We have only to follow the Captain, and take the victory. And if this be the grace, what should be the song?
Daniel Whedon
57. But—There is one who has satisfied the law; has thence taken out the strength of sin; thence destroyed the sting of death; and so wrought the resurrection. This exposition shows that the reference to the law is logically in the straight line of Paul’s argument. It shows, we think, the infelicity of Stanley’s remark: “It seems as if he could not mention sin, without adding that the strength of sin is the law.” As if the apostle’s pen, like a garrulous man’s tongue, ran on its own account in the grooves of habit, loose from brain or thought. Yet it is a pertinent remark of Stanley’s, that this apparently “is the germ of what is afterwards fully developed in Romans 5:12-21; 7:7-24.” And Romans 7:25 is an echo of this verse. The victory—That over hades, in verse 55, by the resurrection, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 57. To God be thanks: sudden transition (cp. 2 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Timothy 1:17; Romans 9:5; 16:25, etc.) from things around to “God who is over all.” As usual, the divine Name is placed first, to make the transition.
The victory: the last victory over death. But this implies all earlier victories. For, only those who conquer sin and the world now will “attain to the resurrection from the dead,” Philippians 3:11. Gives the victory, over death, by giving us day by day victory over sin and the world. For the one victory implies the other.
Through our Lord etc.: Romans 1:5. In 1 Corinthians 15:56, 57 we have an epitome of the Gospel: sin, the Law, death, the gift of salvation from God, through Christ. Similar shout of victory in Romans 8:37ff, summoning up the result of the whole chapter.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
John Wesley
V. 58. Be ye steadfast-In yourselves.
Unmovable-By others; continually increasing in the work of faith and labour of love.
Knowing your labour is not in vain in the Lord-Whatever ye do for his sake shall have its full reward in that day.
Let us also endeavour, by cultivating holiness in all its branches, to maintain this hope in its full energy; longing for that glorious day, when, in the utmost extent of the expression, death shall be swallowed up for ever, and millions of voices, after the long silence of the grave, shall burst out at once into that triumphant song, O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory?
Adam Clarke
Verse 58. Be ye steadfast] eJdraioi, from edra, a seat; be settled; confide in the truth of this doctrine of the resurrection, and every thing that pertains to it, as confidently as a man sits down on a SEAT, which he knows to be solid, firm, and safe; and on which he has often sat. Unmovable] ametakinhtoi, from a, negative, and metakinew, to move away; let nothing shake your faith; let nothing move you away from this hope of the Gospel which is given unto you. What I tell you I receive from God; your false teachers cannot say so: in a declaration of God you may unshakingly confide.
Always abounding in the work of the Lord] The work of the Lord is obedience to his holy word; every believer in Christ is a workman of God. He that works not, to bring glory to God and good to man, is not acknowledged as a servant of Christ; and if he be not a servant, he is not a son; and if not a son, then not an heir. And he must not only work, but abound in that work; ever exceeding his former self; and this, not for a time, but always; beginning, continuing, and ending every act of life to God’s glory and the good of his fellows.
Your labour is not in vain] Your labour in the Lord is not in vain; you must not only work, but you must labour-put forth all your strength; and you must work and labour in the Lord-under his direction, and by his influence; for without him ye can do nothing. And this labour cannot be in vain; you shall have a resurrection unto eternal life: not because you have laboured, but because Christ died and gave you grace to be faithful.
1. THE chapter through which the reader has passed is a chapter of great importance and difficulty; and on its difficulties much has been written in the preceding notes. Though I have used all the helps in my power to guide me in explaining it, I have, upon the whole, been obliged to think for myself, and claim only the praise of severe labour, ever directed by honest intention and an earnest desire to find out the truth.
2. There are many questions connected with the doctrine of the resurrection which I could not introduce here without writing a book instead of short notes on a very long chapter. On such subjects, I again beg leave to direct the reader to Mr. Samuel Drew’s Essay on that subject.
3. One remark I cannot help making; the doctrine of the resurrection appears to have been thought of much more consequence among the primitive Christians than it is now! How is this? The apostles were continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of God to diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness through it. And their successors in the present day seldom mention it! So apostles preached, and so primitive Christians believed; so we preach, and so our hearers believe. There is not a doctrine in the Gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with more neglect!
4. Though all men shall rise again, yet it will be in widely different circumstances: some will rise to glory and honour; others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those alone who here received the salvation of God, and continued faithful unto death, shall have a resurrection to everlasting glory; not every believer, but every loving obedient believer, shall enter into the paradise of God, and have a body fashioned like unto his Lord’s glorious body.
5. All glorified spirits will not have the same degree of glory. Two things will necessarily cause great difference: 1. The quantum of mind; and 2. The quantum of grace.
(1.) It is idle to suppose that God has made all human souls with the same capacities: he has not. There is an infinite diversity; he who has the greatest mind can know most, do most, suffer most, and enjoy most.
(2.) The quantum of grace will be another great cause of diversity and glory. He who received most of Christ here, and was most devoted to his service, shall have the nearest approach to him in his own kingdom. But all equally holy and equally faithful souls shall not have equal degrees of glory; for the glory will be according to the capacity of the mind, as well as the degree of grace and improvement. The greater the capacity, provided it be properly influenced by the grace of Christ, the greater will be the enjoyment.
6. That there will be great diversity in the states of glorified saints is the apostle’s doctrine; and he illustrates it by the different degrees of splendour between the sun, moon, planets, and stars. This needs little application. There are some of the heavenly bodies that give heat, light, and splendour, as the SUN; and are of the utmost service to the world: some that give light, and comparative splendour, without heat, as the MOON; and yet are of very great use to mankind: others, again, which give a steady but not a splendid light, at the PLANETS; and are serviceable in their particular spheres: and lastly, others which twinkle in their respective systems, as the stars of different magnitudes.
7. One star, says the apostle, differs from another in glory, i.e. in splendour, according to what is called their different magnitudes. I will state a remarkable fact: The northern and southern hemispheres of the heavens have been divided into 102 constellations, and in these constellations Professor Bode has set down the places of 17,240 stars; simple, nebulous, conglobate, and double. The stars have been distinguished by their apparent magnitudes or rather splendour, into stars of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, &c., magnitudes: of these 17,240, only sixteen are, by astronomers in general, agreed to be of the first magnitude, all of which are set down in the following catalogue, with some of those that are remarkable in the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth magnitudes. The reader will observe that the name of the constellation or star is first mentioned; the Greek letters, &c., are those by which they are distinguished on maps and globes; and they are, by astronomers, referred to by these letters and numbers. My inferences follow the table.
A TABLE of the most remarkable FIXED STARS, from the
FIRST to the SIXTH MAGNITUDE.
Observations on the preceding Table.
The five stars of the second magnitude in the above list, marked with an asterisk, are by some writers denominated of the first magnitude; and those named of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth magnitudes, (the stars of the last-mentioned order being barely visible to the naked eye,) are such as the moon can occult, or make a near appulse to; except the last sixteen, in the column of stars of the third magnitude, and the last twenty-nine in that of the sixth magnitude, which never set in the latitude of London. The stars Algol and o Ceti are set down according to their brightest appearance; the former varying from the second to the fourth magnitude every two days, 20 hours, 48 minutes, 58 seconds, 18 thirds, and 25 fourths; and the latter, from the second to the seventh, and sometimes to the tenth, every 331 days, 10 hours, and 19 minutes. The stars of the first magnitude, Capella and Lyra, never set in the latitude of London; Acharnar, Canopus, b in Argo, and a in the Cross and Centaur, never rise. Of the stars of the second magnitude in the preceding list, b in Medusa’s head, or Algol, a in Perseus, the two Pointers, the Dragon’s tail, and the Swan’s tail, never set; the head of the Phœnix and the bright star in the Crane never rise. The stars marked with an asterisk in the third column are between the third and fourth magnitudes; and those in the last column with the same mark are between the fifth and sixth magnitudes. Stars fainter than those of the sixth magnitude cannot be discerned without the help of a glass, and are therefore called telescopic. The 2h, and 3h, in Aquarius, are of this last description, both of the seventh magnitude, and such as the moon can occult.
8. This subject, as far as it concerns the present place, admits of few remarks or reflections. It has already been observed, that, of all the stars which our best astronomers have been able to describe and lay down in tables and maps, only sixteen are of the first magnitude; i.e. appear more luminous than any other stars in the firmament: some, indeed, increase the number to twenty-one, by taking in Castor and Pollux, the upper Pointer, Atteer, or Atair, in the Eagle, and b in the ship Argo, which I have placed among those of the second magnitude, because astronomers are not agreed on the subject, some ranking them with stars of the first magnitude, others, with stars of the second.
The reader is probably amazed at the paucity of large stars in the whole firmament of heaven! Will he permit me to carry his mind a little farther, and either stand astonished at or deplore with me the fact, that, out of the millions of Christians in the vicinity and splendour of the eternal Sun of righteousness, how very few are found of the first order! How very few can stand examination by the test laid down in the 13th chapter of this epistle! How very few love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength; and their neighbour as themselves! How few mature Christians are found in the Church! How few are, in all things, living for eternity! How little light, how little heat, and how little influence and activity are to be found among them that bear the name of Christ! How few stars of the FIRST magnitude will the Son of God have to deck the crown of his glory! Few are striving to excel in righteousness; and it seems to be a principal concern with many to find out how little grace they may have, and yet escape hell; how little conformity to the will of God they may have, and yet get to heaven! In the fear of God I register this testimony, that I have perceived it to be the labour of many to lower the standard of Christianity, and to soften down, or explain away, those promises of God that himself has linked with duties; and because they know that they cannot be saved by their good works, they are contented to have no good works at all: and thus the necessity of Christian obedience, and Christian holiness, makes no prominent part of some modern creeds. Let all those who retain the apostolic doctrine, that the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin in this life, press every believer to go on to perfection, and expect to be saved, while here below, into the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus. To all such my soul says, Labour to show yourselves approved unto God; workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth; and may the pleasure of the Lord prosper in your hands!-Amen. I CORINTHIANS
Joseph Benson
Verses 56-58. The sting of death is sin — Which arms it with its greatest terrors, and is attended with a foreboding of future misery, as the effect of the divine displeasure. And the strength of sin — Which constitutes its malignity, and gives it those killing weapons; is the law — As is largely declared Romans 7:7, &c.; or, that it is a transgression of the divine law. But thanks be to God, who giveth us — Who believe on the Lord Jesus with our hearts unto righteousness; the victory — Over sin, death, and hades; through our Lord Jesus Christ — Through his sacrifice and intercession, and the supplies of his grace; through his dying to atone for sin; his rising again to show us that his atonement was accepted, and that he had obtained justification for believers, the Holy Spirit to raise them to newness of life, and a state of immortal glory. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast — In faith, hope, and love, and in an uninterrupted course of well-doing; Colossians 1:23; Romans 2:7; Galatians 6:9; unmoveable — By any temptations from within or without; from persons or things; from visible or invisible enemies; always abounding in the work of the Lord — In every service you are capable of performing for the glory of God, the good of your fellow-creatures, or your own salvation; the work of faith, or the labour of love to God and man. Forasmuch as ye know — On the surest evidence; that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord — But that you shall receive a full reward in that day of final recompense for whatever ye do for his sake. Let us endeavour, therefore, by cultivating holiness in all its branches, to maintain a lively hope of this felicity in all its spirit and energy, longing for that glorious day when, in the utmost extent of the expression, death shall be swallowed up for ever: and millions of voices, after the long silence of the grave, shall burst out at once into that triumphant song, O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory? And when we shall join in everlasting thanksgivings to God for giving us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Daniel Whedon
58. Therefore—The Christian doctrine is a great motive force for the Christian life. All the terrors and glories of death, resurrection, judgment, and eternity, are startling admonitions to steadfast, solemn duty-doing. My beloved brethren—St. Paul’s heart hovers in full affection, in passing from those fearful scenes, over his brethren, as if he would provide for their safety. Steadfast, unmovable—In your faith in the resurrection which the some of verse 12 are endeavouring to overthrow. Steadfast, unmovable, and abounding, form a climax. Steadfast means positive, intrinsic firmness; unmovable implies resistance to the mightiest outward pressures and fiercest onsets; abounding means energetic action. Some Christians appear to do nothing; some to do a little; others abound in every good word and work. Work of the Lord—The conversion of sinners, the upbuilding of the Church, and all the countless forms of Christian activity. Not in vain—As it would be (verses 29-34) were there no resurrection. But there being a resurrection, every deed in faith shall brighten the lustre of the resurrection body. “One star differeth from another star in glory.” This maxim is not, indeed, uttered by the apostle of the differences of personal glory in heaven; but it is, no doubt, applicable. The brighter our earthly Christian character, the more transcendent our heavenly glory. In the Lord—Our labours shall attain their highest reward in Christ, who is all riches.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 58. Practical bearing of the results summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:57.
Firm: better, firmly-seated.
Immovable; suggests forces tending to carry them away. These words refer to unshaken belief of the Gospel, without which there can be no stable Christian character. A close parallel in Colossians 1:23, Work of the Lord: 1 Corinthians 16:10: the work given us by Christ to do.
Abound: Romans 15:13; 2 Corinthians 8:7. Christ's servants must be always at work.
Knowing etc.: motive for Christian firmness and for abundant work. It thus expounds so then.
Labour; suggests the weariness frequently involved in work for Christ. Vain: empty of results.
In the Lord; supports not in vain. For Christ is the element in which we toil: and nothing done in Him can be without result. This verse reminds us how often doubts about doctrine lessen the abundance and the constancy of gospel work. For such work appears useless to those who are not firmly convinced of the truth of the Gospel. All Christian activity flows from fully believed Christian doctrine. Of this, negative proof had probably been already given by the church at Corinth.
The ERRORS at Corinth about THE RESURRECTION, and Paul's
ARGUMENTS against them, we will now try to reproduce.
The opinions of the Pagan Greeks about the dead are known to us by various allusions in classic writers.
HOMER, (Odyssey bk. xi. 489,) in a graphic picture of the departed, which doubtless helped to perpetuate the opinions therein embodied, describes the dead as leading a worthless shadow life, which the greatest of the heroes, Achilles says he would change for the very meanest place on earth. PLATO teaches again and again the endless existence of all souls, in happiness or misery according to their action on earth. See, especially Apology p. 40, Phaedo p. 108, Georgias p. 523. But he says expressly, and the seriousness of his argument implies, that very many around him disbelieved in a future life, while others believed that although the soul might survive the body yet it would ultimately cease to be. So Phaedo p. 70a: “Touching the soul men have much unbelief; fearing lest when it has left the body it is no longer anywhere, but in that day it corrupts and perishes whenever the man dies; and as soon as it is removed from the body it goes forth, scattered like breath or smoke, and goes away flying in different directions and is no longer anywhere.” CICERO (Tusculan Disputations bk. i.) argues at length, but with less confidence than Plato, that the soul exists for ever; yet admits that many believed it to be extinguished at death, and that the Stoics taught its final extinction. Cicero, however, only faintly indicates, while Plato teaches most explicitly, that a man's future happiness or misery depends upon his present conduct. Cp. also Josephus, Wars bk. ii. 8. 11. The arguments both of Plato and Cicero suggest that the common people believed that death was either an extinction of the soul or an entrance into a worthless shadow life. And these views were probably current at Corinth in Paul's day. The Greek and Roman writers seem to have had no conception whatever of a resurrection of the body. Plato taught that sometimes departed spirits return to earth to animate other human or animal bodies. See his Phaedo p. 81 etc., Timaeus p. 42 etc. But this he regarded as but a lengthening of their bondage, and taught that at death the purer spirits were free for ever from material clothing. Of a spiritual body, i.e. one over which the spirit will have complete control and which will be a perfect organ for self-manifestation of the spirit, he had no conception. So complete a victory of spirit over matter was utterly beyond his thought. From Mark 12:18 we learn that the Sadducees, though followers of Moses, denied the resurrection of the dead. In reply to them Christ proves from Exodus 3:6, as Paul proves here, that the dead servants of God still live. That a denial of this was implied in the Sadducean denial of the resurrection, we are told expressly in Acts 23:8; in Josephus, Antiq. bk. xviii. 1. 4, “The souls disappear with the bodies;” and Wars bk. ii. 8. 14. A very instructive parallel to 1 Corinthians 15 is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Paul's earnest announcement that the dead believers, raised from the dead, will in company with the survivors meet Christ in the air, implies that his readers feared that their dead brethren had by their death lost their share in the kingdom Christ was coming to set up, and had fallen into non-existence or into a worthless shadow life. Yet of the piety of the Thessalonicans he speaks in highest terms. Their ignorance is just what we might expect in a church from which Paul was suddenly torn (Acts 17:2, 9} after less than a month's teaching; and is therefore a valuable mark of genuineness. In their case all that was needed was “to supply the deficiencies of their faith,” 1 Thessalonians 3:10. The argument in 1 Thessalonians 4:14 is practically the same as in 1 Corinthians 15:13; except that to the Thessalonicans Paul had no need to adduce proof that Christ had risen.
That in reply to men denying the resurrection Paul brings arguments proving for the more part only that there is a life beyond death, shows that this denial was meant to be a denial of future life. For against Plato's teaching that all souls will exist in happiness or misery without bodies, the arguments of 1 Corinthians 15:19, 29-34 have no force. We must therefore suppose that these Corinthians denied, like the Sadducees, all future existence; or, like Homer, all existence worthy of the name. Yet they were members of the church. Perhaps, like the Thessalonicans, they were looking (1 Corinthians 1:7) for the return of Christ, and thought that their share in the happiness to come depended on their surviving to His coming. At the same time, the warnings of 1 Corinthians 15:32ff seem to imply that even their expectation of Christ's return was losing its moral influence over them. For, even if death were extinction, the prospect of His early appearance was a motive sufficient to restrain men from sin. As such it is used in 1 Thessalonians 5:4ff; Matthew 24:44. The men referred to here were, probably, (cp. 1 Corinthians 15:34,) Christians only in name, ignorant of God, and a disgrace to the church.
That Paul speaks of them as denying, not a future life, but resurrection of the dead, suggests that they assumed, as Paul did, that without resurrection there could be no future life worthy of the name; and that they denied a future life because to them resurrection was incredible. They seem to have had no conception of Plato's doctrine of a bodiless but blessed life to come. Again, that Paul meets their denial of the resurrection by proofs that Christ has risen and by saying that if He has risen so shall we, implies that their denial of the resurrection was so broad that it involved clearly a denial that Christ has risen. Paul's long proof that He has risen suggests that these skeptics, though they had not expressly denied the resurrection of Christ, (else Paul would certainly have said so,) were not unprepared for this logical result of their own denial. This is another indication that they were Christians in little more than name.
The argument of 1 Corinthians 15:35ff suggests that some denied that God's people rise again because they supposed that, if so, they would rise in bodies exactly the same as those laid in the grave, and because the present body seemed to them utterly unfit for the life to come. These denials and objections Paul meets, not by excommunication, but, for the sake of honest doubters, by careful argument. He adduces abundant proof that Christ has risen; leaving his readers to perceive that the presence in heaven of the now glorified bodies cannot pass into the life to come. And he proves by various arguments that there is a life to come. He then cuts away one ground of the denial at Corinth by declaring that the Christian doctrine is, not that our present bodies pass unchanged into endless life, but that in every case, whether or not we survive the coming of Christ, our bodies must be completely changed before they can put on immortality. The completeness and the glory of this change, and the complete victory over death which it implies, force from the apostle a shout of victory. But this gives place at once to practical exhortation to do, unmoved by doubt or contradiction, the work of Christ.
Adam Clarke
Verse 1. The Gospel which I preached unto you] This Gospel is contained in Christ dying for our sins, being buried, and rising again the third day. See the following verses.
Joseph Benson
Verses 1, 2. Moreover, brethren — The resurrection of the body being one of the great objects of the faith and hope of Christians, the apostle in this chapter sets before the Corinthians, and all mankind, the proof by which that joyful event is rendered indubitable, namely, that it is a necessary consequence of the resurrection of Christ. Wherefore, to lay a firm foundation for this proof, he judged it proper to recall to the remembrance of the Corinthians the arguments by which he had proved to their satisfaction the truth of Christ’s resurrection, which is the subject that he first touches upon. I declare — Gnwrizw, I make known; the gospel — The principal doctrines thereof; which I preached unto you — At the very beginning of my ministry among you; which also you received — In faith and love; and wherein you stand — In the faith of which many of you persevere; by which also ye are — Or shall be; saved finally, if ye keep in memory — Ei katecete, if ye hold fast; what I preached unto you — The great truths to which I bore testimony: that is, your salvation is begun, and will be perfected if ye continue in the faith; unless ye have believed in vain — Or rather, rashly, as eikh seems evidently here to signify, denoting the disposition of those who do a thing by chance and lightly, without knowing for what reason or end they do it.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Verse 1, 2. I declare unto you the gospel — by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you. We have here an epitome of the whole gospel, comprising essentially the death of Christ as a sacrifice for sin, and his triumphant resurrection from the dead; these are truths which lie at the foundation of all human hope. The promise of salvation so often repeated to sincere and faithful souls, must always be kept in view. Mark 16:16. Romans 1:16. What consolation can be stronger to the conscious mind? Faith saves because it justifies and sanctifies, it also overcomes the world, and is the presage of eternal life.
Daniel Whedon
IN REPLY TO THE DENIAL OF THE RESURRECTION, 1-58.
This chapter crowns the climax of the epistles with the fullest defence and sublimest description of the resurrection contained in revelation. It forms a response, not to any letter of inquiry of the Corinthians, but to an intelligence received that there were among the Corinthians deniers of the resurrection.
St. Paul answers them by showing that such a denial is a contradiction, and destruction of the very foundations of the Christian system as unanimously stated by the apostles of Christ, and as received by the then Catholic Church: 1. He states the historical doctrines of Christianity, as narrated by the apostles, of Christ’s atoning death, burial, and especially the six resurrection appearances of the risen Christ, as reported by veritable apostolic witnesses, (1-10.) 2. The object of this firm and formal statement is covered, until suddenly (11-19) he arraigns the deniers of the resurrection, and places them at once in uncompromising issue with fundamental historical Christianity, of which the resurrection of Christ is the basis. It is maintained and shown to be a life and death contest. 3. He then eloquently reaffirms Christ’s resurrection, and, by sublime apostolic apocalypse, states the organic position of the universal resurrection and its sequents in God’s system of human destiny, (20-28.) 4. He then retraces, as if in continuance of 1-10, the devastating consequences of denying the resurrection upon all their hopes, and all the motives for their heroic Christianity, (29-35.)
So far the positive argument. It is not “a demonstration of the resurrection” as based upon nature, philosophy, or logic, but a showing that its denial is a deadly contradiction to the very foundations of the Christian system. Christianity or that denial must die.
The second part meets a Gnostic objection based on the inherent evil of matter, and the consequent baseness of our present material body as unworthy of resurrection in any form. To this Paul gives a reply based on nature, showing that matter is not necessarily degraded; but that, composed of the same matter, there may be glorious as well as inglorious bodies, (35-41.) He draws a brilliant contrast, in a series of antitheses, between the body corruptible and the body glorified, admitting in conclusion that it is only by a change in the properties of our present body, from inglorious to glorious, that a resurrection can take place, (42-49.) The third part is another apocalypse, revealing prophetically the glories of the Christian resurrection, and inferring a closing lesson of firmness and energy for his Corinthian brethren, (50-58.)
1. The Christ-history, especially Christ’s Resurrection, as received from apostolic witness, fully and firmly stated, 1-11.
We have here the historical argument for Christ’s resurrection, and so for the truth of Christianity, which was fully expanded into full and unanswerable volume by Paley. It is not the sole argument, but it is the ground argument, for our faith. By it Christianity is not a philosophy, like the teachings of Socrates, but a religion like nothing else in the world. A philosophy springs up from the human mind’s own powers; a religion comes down from above to man, revealing truths above man’s human powers.
1. I declare—I now here state, I recapitulate, spread out before your view. The gospel—The joyful Christ-history, with its doctrines embodied in the history. Note on Matthew’s title, before Matthew 1:1.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 1.-2. Make known to you the Gospel: as though they needed to be told (cp. 1 Corinthians 12:3; Galatians 1:11) what it was they had already believed. Of this virtual promise, § 27 is a fulfillment. Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:11.
The Gospel etc.: “the good news which as good news I announced to you.”
Also … also … also: proof after proof, from their own experience, of the worth of the Gospel. Long ago it so commended itself to them that they received it: today they find in it a firm ground on which morally and spiritually they stand (1 Corinthians 10:12) erect; and by its means they day by day experience deliverance (1 Corinthians 1:18, 21; Ephesians 1:13) from sin and its consequences. (Notice that we stand also (Romans 5:2; 11:20) in the grace of God and by faith: for by faith we receive the good news, which reveals God's favor towards us.) Holding-fast etc.: condition on which hangs the truth of the words you stand, are being saved. It is therefore a warning suggesting self-examination; and is an appeal to the readers; inner consciousness that their spiritual erectness and victory are in proportion to the firmness with which they hold fast Paul's teaching.
The word with which etc.: the verbal form in which Paul preached the Gospel to them.
Except etc.; supports the assertion that, unless they have relaxed their hold upon Paul's teaching, they now stand firm and are now in the way of salvation: for otherwise, the faith they formerly exercised is an empty thing. And, that it is not such, their inmost heart proclaims. This argument is developed in 1 Corinthians 15:17.
Believed: as in Romans 13:11.