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170 lines
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Title = 'The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians';
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<p id="Chapter15" align="center">Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET<br>CHAPTER 15
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<p id="a1Co15_1"><a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,'1-58');">1Cr 15:1-58</a>. THE RESURRECTION PROVED AGAINST THE DENIERS OF IT AT CORINTH.
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<p>Christ's resurrection rests on the evidence of many eye-witnesses, including Paul himself, and is the great fact preached as the groundwork of the Gospel: they who deny the resurrection in general, must deny that of Christ, and the consequence of the latter will be, that Christian preaching and faith are vain.
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<p><b>1. Moreover</b>—"Now" [ALFORD and ELLICOTT].
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<br><br><b>I declare</b>—literally, "I make known": it implies some degree of reproach that it should be now necessary to make it known to them afresh, owing to some of them "not having the knowledge of God" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,34);">1Cr 15:34</a>). Compare <a onclick="return mV('Gal',1,11);">Gal 1:11</a>.
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<br><br><b>wherein ye stand</b>—wherein ye now take your stand. This is your present actual privilege, if ye suffer not yourselves to fall from your high standing.
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<p id="a1Co15_2"><b>2. ye are saved</b>—rather, "ye are being saved."
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<br><br><b>if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you</b>—Able critics, BENGEL and others, prefer connecting the words thus, "I declare unto you the Gospel (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,1);">1Cr 15:1</a>) in what words I preached it unto you." Paul reminds them, or rather makes known to them, as if anew, not only the fact of the Gospel, but also <i>with what words,</i> and <i>by what arguments,</i> he preached it to them. Translate in that case, "if ye hold it fast." I prefer arranging as <i>English Version,</i> "By which ye are saved, if ye hold fast (in memory and personal appropriation) <i>with what speech</i> I preached it unto you."
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<br><br><b>unless</b>—which is impossible, your faith is vain, in resting on Christ's resurrection as an objective reality.
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<p id="a1Co15_3"><b>3. I delivered unto you</b>—A short creed, or summary of articles of faith, was probably even then existing; and a profession in accordance with it was required of candidates for baptism (<a onclick="return mV('Act',8,37);">Act 8:37</a>).
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<br><br><b>first of all</b>—literally, "among the foremost points" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',6,2);">Hbr 6:2</a>). The atonement is, in Paul's view, of primary importance.
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<br><br><b>which I...received</b>—from Christ Himself by special revelation (compare <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',11,23);">1Cr 11:23</a>).
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<br><br><b>died for our sins</b>—that is, to atone FOR them; <i>for</i> taking away <i>our sins</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Jo',3,5);">1Jo 3:5</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Gal',1,4);">Gal 1:4</a>): "gave Himself for our sins" (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',53,5);">Isa 53:5</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',5,15);">2Cr 5:15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Tts',2,14);">Tts 2:14</a>). The "for" here does not, as in some passages, imply vicarious substitution, but "in behalf of" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',5,3);">Hbr 5:3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Pe',2,24);">1Pe 2:24</a>). It does not, however, mean merely "on account of," which is expressed by a different <i>Greek</i> word (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',4,25);">Rom 4:25</a>), (though in <i>English Version</i> translated similarly, "for").
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<br><br><b>according to the scriptures</b>—which "cannot be broken." Paul puts the testimony of <i>Scripture</i> above that of those who saw the Lord after His resurrection [BENGEL]. So our Lord quotes <a onclick="return mV('Isa',53,12);">Isa 53:12</a>, in <a onclick="return mV('Luk',22,37);">Luk 22:37</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Psa',22,15);">Psa 22:15</a>, etc. <a onclick="return mV('Dan',9,26);">Dan 9:26</a>.
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<p id="a1Co15_4"><b>4. buried...rose again</b>—His burial is more closely connected with His resurrection than His death. At the moment of His death, the power of His inextinguishable life exerted itself (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',27,52);">Mat 27:52</a>). The grave was to Him not the destined receptacle of corruption, but an apartment fitted for entering into life (<a onclick="return mV('Act',2,'26-28');">Act 2:26-28</a>) [BENGEL].
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<br><br><b>rose again</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "hath risen": the state thus begun, and its consequences, still continue.
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<p id="a1Co15_5"><b>5. seen of Cephas</b>—Peter (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',24,34);">Luk 24:34</a>).
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<br><br><b>the twelve</b>—The round number for "the Eleven" (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',24,33,36);">Luk 24:33, 36</a>). "The Twelve" was their ordinary appellation, even when their number was not full. However, very possibly Matthias was present (<a onclick="return mV('Act',1,22,23);">Act 1:22-23</a>). Some of the oldest manuscripts and versions read, "the Eleven": but the best on the whole, "the Twelve."
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<p id="a1Co15_6"><b>6. five hundred</b>—This appearance was probably on the mountain (Tabor, according to tradition), in Galilee, when His most solemn and public appearance, according to His special promise, was vouchsafed (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',26,32);">Mat 26:32</a> "appointed" this place, as one remote from Jerusalem, so that believers might assemble there more freely and securely. ALFORD'S theory of <i>Jerusalem</i> being the scene, is improbable; as such a multitude of believers could not, with any safety, have met in one place in the metropolis, after His crucifixion there. The number of disciples (<a onclick="return mV('Act',1,15);">Act 1:15</a>) at Jerusalem shortly after, was one hundred and twenty, those in Galilee and elsewhere not being reckoned. Andronicus and JUNIUS were, perhaps, of the number (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',16,7);">Rom 16:7</a>): they are said to be "among the apostles" (who all were witnesses of the resurrection, <a onclick="return mV('Act',1,22);">Act 1:22</a>).
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<br><br><b>remain unto this present</b>—and, therefore, may be sifted thoroughly to ascertain the trustworthiness of their testimony.
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<br><br><b>fallen asleep</b>—in the sure hope of <i>awaking</i> at the resurrection (<a onclick="return mV('Act',7,60);">Act 7:60</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_7"><b>7. seen of James</b>—the Less, the brother of our Lord (<a onclick="return mV('Gal',1,19);">Gal 1:19</a>). The Gospel according to the Hebrews, quoted by JEROME [<i>On Illustrious Men,</i> p. 170 D.], records that "James swore he would not eat bread from the hour that he drank the cup of the Lord, till he should see Him rising again from the dead."
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<br><br><b>all the apostles</b>—The term here includes many others besides "the Twelve" already enumerated (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,5);">1Cr 15:5</a>): perhaps the seventy disciples (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',10,1);">Luk 10:1</a>) [CHRYSOSTOM].
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<p id="a1Co15_8"><b>8. One born out of due time</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "the one abortively born": the abortion in the family of the apostles. As a child <i>born before the due time</i> is puny, and though born alive, yet not of the proper size, and scarcely worthy of the name of man, so "I am <i>the least</i> of the apostles," scarcely "meet to be called an apostle"; a supernumerary taken into the college of apostles out of regular course, not led to Christ by long instruction, like a natural birth, but by a sudden power, as those prematurely born [GROTIUS]. Compare the similar image from childbirth, and by the same spiritual power, the resurrection of Christ (<a onclick="return mV('1Pe',1,3);">1Pe 1:3</a>). "<i>Begotten again</i> by the <i>resurrection</i> of Jesus." Jesus' appearance to Paul, on the way to Damascus, is the one here referred to.
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<p id="a1Co15_9"><b>9. least</b>—The name, "Paulus," in <i>Latin,</i> means "<i>least.</i>"
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<br><br><b>I persecuted the church</b>—Though God has forgiven him, Paul can hardly forgive himself at the remembrance of his past sin.
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<p id="a1Co15_10"><b>10. by...grace...and his grace</b>—The repetition implies the prominence which God's <i>grace</i> had in his mind, as the sole cause of his marvellous conversion and subsequent labors. Though "not meet to be called an apostle," grace has given him, in Christ, the meetness needed for the office. Translate as the <i>Greek,</i> "His grace which was (showed) <i>towards</i> me."
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<br><br><b>what I am</b>—occupying the honorable office of an apostle. Contrast with this the self-sufficient prayer of another Pharisee (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',18,11);">Luk 18:11</a>).
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<br><br><b>but I laboured</b>—by God's grace (<a onclick="return mV('Phl',2,16);">Phl 2:16</a>).
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<br><br><b>than they all</b>—than any of the apostles (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,7);">1Cr 15:7</a>).
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<br><br><b>grace of God...with me</b>—Compare "the Lord working with them" (<a onclick="return mV('Mar',16,20);">Mar 16:20</a>). The oldest manuscripts omit "which was." The "not I, but grace," implies, that though the human will concurred <i>with</i> God when brought by His Spirit into conformity with His will, yet "grace" so preponderated in the work, that his own co-operation is regarded as nothing, and grace as virtually the sole agent. (Compare <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,9);">1Cr 3:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',10,20);">Mat 10:20</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',6,1);">2Cr 6:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Phl',2,12,13);">Phl 2:12-13</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_11"><b>11. whether it were I or they</b>—(the apostles) who "labored more abundantly" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,10);">1Cr 15:10</a>) in preaching, such was the substance of our preaching, namely, the truths stated in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,3,4);">1Cr 15:3-4</a>.
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<p id="a1Co15_12"><b>12. if</b>—Seeing that it is an admitted fact that Christ is announced by us eye-witnesses as having risen from the dead, how is it that some of you deny that which is a necessary consequence of Christ's resurrection, namely, the general resurrection?
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<br><br><b>some</b>—Gentile reasoners (<a onclick="return mV('Act',17,32);">Act 17:32</a> would not believe it because they did not see "how" it could be (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,35,36);">1Cr 15:35-36</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_13"><b>13.</b> If there be no general resurrection, which is the consequent, then there can have been no resurrection of Christ, which is the antecedent. The head and the members of the body stand on the same footing: what does not hold good of them, does not hold good of Him either: His resurrection and theirs are inseparably joined (compare <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,'20-22');">1Cr 15:20-22</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',14,19);">Jhn 14:19</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_14"><b>14. your faith...vain</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,11);">1Cr 15:11</a>). The <i>Greek</i> for "vain" here is, <i>empty, unreal:</i> in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,17);">1Cr 15:17</a>, on the other hand, it is, <i>without use, frustrated.</i> The principal argument of the first preachers in support of Christianity was that God had raised Christ from the dead (<a onclick="return mV('Act',1,22);">Act 1:22</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rom',1,4);">Rom 1:4</a>). If this fact were false, the faith built on it must be false too.
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<p id="a1Co15_15"><b>15. testified of God</b>—that is, concerning God. The rendering of others is, "against God" [<i>Vulgate,</i> ESTIUS, GROTIUS]: the <i>Greek</i> preposition with the genitive implies, not direct antagonism (as the accusative would mean), but <i>indirect</i> to <i>the dishonor of</i> God. <i>English Version</i> is probably better.
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<br><br><b>if so be</b>—as they assert. It is not right to tell untrue stories, though they are told and seem for the glory of God (<a onclick="return mV('Job',13,7);">Job 13:7</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_16"><b>16.</b> The repetition implies the unanswerable force of the argument.
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<p id="a1Co15_17"><b>17. vain</b>—Ye are, by the very fact (supposing the case to be as the skeptics maintained), <i>frustrated</i> of all which "your faith" appropriates: Ye are still under the everlasting condemnation of your sins (even in the <i>disembodied</i> state which is here referred to), from which Christ's resurrection is our justification (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',4,25);">Rom 4:25</a>): "saved <i>by his life</i>" (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',5,10);">Rom 5:10</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_18"><b>18. fallen asleep in Christ</b>—in communion with Christ as His members. "In Christ's case the term used is <i>death,</i> to assure us of the reality of His suffering; in our case, <i>sleep,</i> to give us consolation: In His case, His resurrection having actually taken place, Paul shrinks not from the term death; in ours, the resurrection being still only a matter of hope, he uses the term <i>falling asleep</i>" [PHOTIUS, <i>Quaestiones Amphilochiae,</i> 197].
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<br><br><b>perished</b>—Their souls are lost; they are in misery in the unseen world.
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<p id="a1Co15_19"><b>19.</b> If our hopes in Christ were limited to this life only, we should be, of all men, most to be pitied; namely, because, while others live unmolested, we are exposed to every trial and persecution, and, after all, are doomed to bitter disappointment in our most cherished hope; for all our hope of salvation, even of the soul (not merely of the body), hangs on the resurrection of Christ, without which His death would be of no avail to us (<a onclick="return mV('Eph',1,19,20);">Eph 1:19-20</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Pe',1,3);">1Pe 1:3</a>). The heathen are "without hope" (<a onclick="return mV('Eph',2,12);">Eph 2:12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Th',4,13);">1Th 4:13</a>). We should be even worse, for we should be also without present enjoyment (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',4,9);">1Cr 4:9</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_20"><b>20. now</b>—as the case really is.
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<br><br><b>and become</b>—omitted in the oldest manuscripts.
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<br><br><b>the first-fruits</b>—the earnest or pledge, that the whole resurrection harvest will follow, so that our faith is not vain, nor our hope limited to this life. The time of writing this Epistle was probably about the Passover (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',5,7);">1Cr 5:7</a>); the day after the Passover sabbath was that for offering <i>the first-fruits</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Lev',23,10,11);">Lev 23:10-11</a>), and the same was the day of Christ's resurrection: whence appears the appropriateness of the image.
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<p id="a1Co15_21"><b>21. by man...by man</b>—The first-fruits are of the same nature as the rest of the harvest; so Christ, the bringer of life, is of the same nature as the race of men to whom He brings it; just as Adam, the bringer of death, was of the same nature as the men on whom he brought it.
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<p id="a1Co15_22"><b>22. in Adam all</b>—in union of nature with Adam, as representative head of mankind in their fall.
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<br><br><b>in Christ...all</b>—in union of nature with Christ, the representative head of mankind in their recovery. The life brought in by Christ is co-extensive with the death brought in by Adam.
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<p id="a1Co15_23"><b>23. But every man in his own order</b>—rather, "rank": the <i>Greek</i> is not in the abstract, but concrete: image from troops, "each in his own regiment." Though all shall rise again, let not any think all shall be saved; nay, each shall have his proper place, Christ first (<a onclick="return mV('Col',1,18);">Col 1:18</a>), and after Him the godly who die in Christ (<a onclick="return mV('1Th',4,16);">1Th 4:16</a>), in a separate band from the ungodly, and then "the end," that is, the resurrection of the rest of the dead. Christian churches, ministers, and individuals seem about to be judged first "at His coming" (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',25,'1-30');">Mat 25:1-30</a>); then "all the nations" (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',25,'31-46');">Mat 25:31-46</a>). Christ's own flock shall share His glory "at His coming," which is not to be confounded with "the end," or general judgment (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,'4-6');">Rev 20:4-6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,'11-15');">Rev 20:11-15</a>). The latter is not in this chapter specially discussed, but only the first resurrection, namely, that of the saints: not even the judgment of Christian hollow professors (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',25,'1-30');">Mat 25:1-30</a>) at His coming, is handled, but only the glory of them "that are Christ's," who alone in the highest sense "obtain the resurrection from the dead" (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',14,14);">Luk 14:14</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,11);">Phl 3:11</a>; see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Phl/Phl003.html#Php3_11">Php 3:11</a>). The second coming of Christ is not a mere <i>point</i> of time, but a <i>period</i> beginning with the resurrection of the just at His appearing, and ending with the general judgment. The ground of the universal resurrection is the union of all mankind in nature with Christ, their representative Head, who has done away with death, by His own death in their stead: the ground of the resurrection of believers is not merely this, but their personal union with Him as <i>their</i> "Life" (<a onclick="return mV('Col',3,4);">Col 3:4</a>), effected <i>causatively</i> by the Holy Spirit, and <i>instrumentally</i> by faith as the <i>subjective,</i> and by ordinances as the <i>objective</i> means.
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<p id="a1Co15_24"><b>24. Then</b>—after that: next in the succession of "orders" or "ranks."
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<br><br><b>the end</b>—the general resurrection, and final judgment and consummation (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',25,46);">Mat 25:46</a>).
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<br><br><b>delivered up...kingdom to... Father</b>—(Compare <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',13,3);">Jhn 13:3</a>). Seeming at variance with <a onclick="return mV('Dan',7,14);">Dan 7:14</a>, "His dominion is an <i>everlasting</i> dominion which <i>shall not pass away.</i>" <i>Really,</i> His giving up of the <i>mediatorial</i> kingdom to the Father, when the end for which the mediatorial economy was established has been accomplished, is altogether in harmony with its continuing everlastingly. The change which shall then take place, shall be in the <i>manner</i> of administration, not in the <i>kingdom</i> itself; God shall then come into <i>direct</i> connection with the earth, instead of mediatorially, when Christ shall have fully and finally removed everything that severs asunder the holy God and a sinful earth (<a onclick="return mV('Col',1,20);">Col 1:20</a>). The glory of God is the final end of Christ's mediatorial office (<a onclick="return mV('Phl',2,10,11);">Phl 2:10-11</a>). His co-equality with the Father is independent of the latter, and prior to it, and shall, therefore, continue when its function shall have ceased. His manhood, too, shall everlastingly continue, though, as now, subordinate to the Father. The <i>throne of the Lamb</i> (but no longer mediatorial) as well as of God, shall be in the heavenly city (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,3);">Rev 22:3</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',3,21);">Rev 3:21</a>). The unity of the Godhead, and the unity of the Church, shall be simultaneously manifested at Christ's second coming. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Zep',3,9);">Zep 3:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Zec',14,9);">Zec 14:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',17,'21-24');">Jhn 17:21-24</a>. The oldest manuscripts for "<i>shall have</i> delivered up," read, "<i>delivereth</i> up," which suits the sense better. It is "when He <i>shall have</i> put down all rule," that "He <i>delivereth</i> up the kingdom to the Father."
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<br><br><b>shall have put down all rule</b>—the effect produced during the millennary reign of Himself and His saints (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',110,1);">Psa 110:1</a> "all" and "until," of the Psalmist: a proof of verbal inspiration of Scripture (compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',2,26,27);">Rev 2:26-27</a>). Meanwhile, He "rules in the midst of His enemies" (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',110,2);">Psa 110:2</a>). He is styled "the King" when He takes His great power (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',25,34);">Mat 25:34</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',11,15,17);">Rev 11:15, 17</a>). The <i>Greek</i> for "put down" is, "<i>done away with,</i>" or "brought to naught." "All" must be subject to Him, whether openly opposed powers, as Satan and his angels, or kings and angelic principalities (<a onclick="return mV('Eph',1,21);">Eph 1:21</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_25"><b>25. must</b>—because Scripture foretells it.
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<br><br><b>till</b>—There will be no further need of His mediatorial kingdom, its object having been realized.
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<br><br><b>enemies under his feet</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',19,27);">Luk 19:27</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eph',1,22);">Eph 1:22</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_26"><b>26. shall be</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>is</i> done away with" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,14);">Rev 20:14</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',1,18);">Rev 1:18</a>). It is to believers especially this applies (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,'55-57');">1Cr 15:55-57</a>); even in the case of unbelievers, death is done away with by the general resurrection. Satan brought in <i>sin,</i> and <i>sin</i> brought in <i>death!</i> So they shall be destroyed (rendered utterly powerless) in the same order (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,56);">1Cr 15:56</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,14);">Hbr 2:14</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',19,20);">Rev 19:20</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_27"><b>27. all things</b>—including death (compare <a onclick="return mV('Eph',1,22);">Eph 1:22</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,21);">Phl 3:21</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,8);">Hbr 2:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Pe',3,22);">1Pe 3:22</a>). It is said, "<i>hath</i> put," for what God has said is the same as if it were already done, so sure is it. Paul here quotes <a onclick="return mV('Psa',8,6);">Psa 8:6</a> in proof of his previous declaration, "For (it is written), '<i>He hath put all things under His feet.</i>'"
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<br><br><b>under his feet</b>—as His footstool (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',110,1);">Psa 110:1</a>). In perfect and lasting subjection.
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<br><br><b>when he</b>—namely, God, who by His Spirit inspired the Psalmist.
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<p id="a1Co15_28"><b>28. Son...himself...subject</b>—not as the creatures are, but as a Son <i>voluntarily subordinate</i> to, though co-equal with, the Father. In the mediatorial kingdom, the Son had been, in a manner, distinct from the Father. Now, His kingdom shall merge in the Father's, with whom He is one; not that there is thus any derogation from His honor; for the Father Himself wills "that all should honor the Son, as they honor the Father" (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',5,22,23);">Jhn 5:22-23</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',1,6);">Hbr 1:6</a>).
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<br><br><b>God...all in all</b>—as Christ is all in all (<a onclick="return mV('Col',3,11);">Col 3:11</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Zec',14,9);">Zec 14:9</a>). <i>Then,</i> and not till then, "<i>all</i> things," without the least infringement of the divine prerogative, shall be subject to the Son, and the Son subordinate to the Father, while co-equally sharing His glory. Contrast <a onclick="return mV('Psa',10,4);">Psa 10:4</a> saints do not fully realize God as their "all" (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',73,25);">Psa 73:25</a>) now, through desiring it; then each shall feel, <i>God is all to me.</i>
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<p id="a1Co15_29"><b>29. Else</b>—if there be no resurrection.
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<br><br><b>what shall they do?</b>—How wretched is their lot!
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<br><br><b>they...which are baptized for the dead</b>—third person; a class distinct from that in which the apostle places himself, "we" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,30);">1Cr 15:30</a>); first person. ALFORD thinks there is an allusion to a practice at Corinth of baptizing a living person <i>in behalf of</i> a friend who died unbaptized; thus Paul, without giving the least sanction to the practice, uses an <i>ad hominem</i> argument from it against its practicers, some of whom, though using it, denied the resurrection: "What account can they give of their practice; why are they at the trouble of it, if the dead rise not?" [So Jesus used an <i>ad hominem</i> argument, <a onclick="return mV('Mat',12,27);">Mat 12:27</a> ]. But if so, it is strange there is no direct censure of it. Some Marcionites adopted the practice at a later period, probably from taking this passage, as ALFORD does; but, generally, it was unknown in the Church. BENGEL translates, "over (immediately upon) the dead," that is, who will be gathered to the dead <i>immediately after</i> baptism. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Job',17,1);">Job 17:1</a>, "the graves are ready for me." The price they get for their trouble is, that they should be gathered to the dead for ever (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,13,16);">1Cr 15:13, 16</a>). Many in the ancient Church put off baptism till near death. This seems the better view; though there may have been some rites of symbolical baptism at Corinth, now unknown, perhaps grounded on Jesus' words (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',20,22,23);">Mat 20:22-23</a>), which Paul here alludes to. The best punctuation is, "If the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized <i>for them</i>" (so the oldest manuscripts read the last words, instead of "for the dead")?
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<p id="a1Co15_30"><b>30. we</b>—apostles (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,9);">1Cr 15:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',4,9);">1Cr 4:9</a>). A gradation from those who could only for a little time enjoy this life (that is, those baptized at the point of death), to <i>us,</i> who could enjoy it longer, if we had not renounced the world for Christ [BENGEL].
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<p id="a1Co15_31"><b>31. by your rejoicing</b>—<i>by the glorying which I have concerning you,</i> as the fruit of my labors in the Lord. Some of the earliest manuscripts and fathers read "our," with the same sense. BENGEL understands "your rejoicing," to be the <i>enjoyable state of the Corinthians,</i> as contrasted with his dying daily to give his converts <i>rejoicing</i> or <i>glorying</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',4,8);">1Cr 4:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',4,12,15);">2Cr 4:12, 15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Eph',3,13);">Eph 3:13</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Phl',1,26);">Phl 1:26</a>). But the words, "which I have," favor the explanation—"<i>the rejoicing which I have over you.</i>" Many of the oldest manuscripts and <i>Vulgate</i> insert "brethren" here.
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<br><br><b>I die daily</b>—This ought to stand first in the sentence, as it is so put prominently forward in the <i>Greek.</i> I am day by day in sight of death, exposed to it, and expecting it (<a onclick="return mV('2Cr',4,11,12);">2Cr 4:11-12</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_32"><b>32.</b> Punctuate thus: "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," etc. [BENGEL]. If "<i>merely as a man</i>" (with the mere human hope of the present life; not with the Christian's hope of the resurrection; answering to "If the dead rise not," the parallel clause in the next sentence), I have fought with men resembling savage beasts. Heraclitus, of Ephesus, had termed his countrymen "wild beasts" four hundred years before. So Epimenides called the Cretians (<a onclick="return mV('Tts',1,12);">Tts 1:12</a>). Paul was still at Ephesus (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',16,8);">1Cr 16:8</a>), and there his life was daily in danger (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',4,9);">1Cr 4:9</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',1,8);">2Cr 1:8</a>). Though the tumult (<a onclick="return mV('Act',19,29, 30);">Act 19:29-30</a>) had <i>not yet taken place</i> (for after it he set out <i>immediately</i> for Macedonia), this Epistle was written evidently just before it, when the storm was gathering; "many adversaries" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',16,9);">1Cr 16:9</a>) were already menacing him.
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<br><br><b>what advantageth it me?</b>—seeing I have renounced all that, "<i>as a mere man,</i>" might compensate me for such sufferings, gain, fame, etc.
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<br><br><b>let us eat,</b> etc.—Quoted from the <i>Septuagint,</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',22,13);">Isa 22:13</a>), where the prophet describes the reckless self-indulgence of the despisers of God's call to mourning, Let us enjoy the good things of life now, for it soon will end. Paul imitates the language of such skeptics, to reprove both their theory and practice. "If men but persuade themselves that they shall die like the beasts, they soon will live like beasts too" [SOUTH].
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<p id="a1Co15_33"><b>33. evil communications corrupt good manners</b>—a current saying, forming a verse in MENANDER, the comic poet, who probably took it from Euripides [SOCRATES, <i>Ecclesiastical History,</i> 3.16]. "Evil communications" refer to intercourse with those who deny the resurrection. Their notion seems to have been that the resurrection is merely spiritual, that sin has its seat solely in the body, and will be left behind when the soul leaves it, if, indeed, the soul survive death at all.
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<br><br><b>good</b>—not only <i>good-natured,</i> but <i>pliant.</i> Intimacy with the profligate society around was apt to corrupt the principles of the Corinthians.
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<p id="a1Co15_34"><b>34. Awake</b>—literally, "<i>out of the sleep</i>" of carnal intoxication into which ye are thrown by the influence of these skeptics (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,32);">1Cr 15:32</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Joe',1,5);">Joe 1:5</a>).
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<br><br><b>to righteousness</b>—in contrast with "sin" in this verse, and <i>corrupt manners</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,33);">1Cr 15:33</a>).
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<br><br><b>sin not</b>—Do not give yourselves up to sinful pleasures. The <i>Greek</i> expresses a continued state of abstinence from sin. Thus, Paul implies that they who live in sinful pleasures readily persuade themselves of what they wish, namely, that there is to be no resurrection.
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<br><br><b>some</b>—the same as in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,12);">1Cr 15:12</a>.
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<br><br><b>have not the knowledge of God</b>—<i>and so know not His power</i> in the resurrection (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',22,29);">Mat 22:29</a>). Stronger than "are ignorant of God." An habitual <i>ignorance:</i> wilful, in that they prefer to keep their sins, rather than part with them, in order to <i>know God</i> (compare <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',7,17);">Jhn 7:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Pe',2,15);">1Pe 2:15</a>).
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<br><br><b>to your shame</b>—that you Corinthian Christians, who boast of your <i>knowledge,</i> should have among you, and maintain intercourse with, those so practically ignorant of God, as to deny the resurrection.
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<p id="a1Co15_35"><b>35. How</b>—It is folly to deny a fact of REVELATION, because we do not know the "<i>how.</i>" Some measure God's power by their petty intelligence, and won't admit, <i>even on His assurance,</i> anything which they cannot explain. Ezekiel's <i>answer of faith</i> to the question is the truly wise one (<a onclick="return mV('Eze',37,3);">Eze 37:3</a>). So Jesus argues not on principles of philosophy, but wholly from "the power of God," as declared by the Word of God (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',19,26);">Mat 19:26</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mar',10,27);">Mar 10:27</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',18,27);">Luk 18:27</a>).
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<br><br><b>come</b>—The dead are said to <i>depart,</i> or to be <i>deceased:</i> those rising again to <i>come.</i> The objector could not understand <i>how</i> the dead are to rise, and with <i>what kind of a body</i> they are to come. Is it to be the same body? If so, how is this, since the resurrection bodies will not eat or drink, or beget children, as the natural bodies do? Besides, the latter have mouldered into dust. <i>How</i> then can they rise again? If it be a different body, how can the personal identity be preserved? Paul answers, In one sense it will be the same body, in another, a distinct body. It will be a body, but a spiritual, not a natural, body.
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<p id="a1Co15_36"><b>36. fool</b>—with all thy boasted philosophy (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',14,1);">Psa 14:1</a>).
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<br><br><b>that which thou</b>—"thou," emphatical: appeal to the objector's <i>own</i> experience: "The seed which <i>thou thyself</i> sowest." Paul, in this verse and in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,42);">1Cr 15:42</a>, answers the question of <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,35);">1Cr 15:35</a>, "How?" and in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,'37-41', 43);">1Cr 15:37-41, 43</a>, the question, "With <i>what kind</i> of body?" He converts the very objection (the death of the natural body) into an argument. Death, so far from preventing <i>quickening,</i> is the necessary prelude and prognostication of it, just as the seed "is not quickened" into a new sprout with increased produce, "except it die" (except a dissolution of its previous organization takes place). Christ by His death for us has not given us a reprieve from death as to the life which we have from Adam; nay, He permits the law to take its course on our fleshly nature; but He brings from Himself new spiritual and heavenly life out of death (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,37);">1Cr 15:37</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_37"><b>37. not that body that shall be</b>—a <i>body</i> beautiful and no longer a "bare grain" [BENGEL]. No longer without stalk or ear, but clothed with blade and ears, and yielding many grains instead of only one [GROTIUS]. There is not an identity of all the particles of the old and the new body. For the perpetual transmutation of matter is inconsistent with this. But there is a hidden germ which constitutes the identity of body amidst all outward changes: the outward accretions fall off in its development, while the germ remains the same. Every such germ ("seed," <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,38);">1Cr 15:38</a>) "shall have its own body," and be instantly recognized, just as each plant now is known from the seed that was sown (see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/1Cr/1Cr006.html#a1Co6_13">1Co 6:13</a>). So Christ by the same image illustrated the truth that His death was the necessary prelude of His putting on His glorified body, which is the ground of the regeneration of the many who believe (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',12,24);">Jhn 12:24</a>). Progress is the law of the spiritual, as of the natural world. Death is the avenue not to mere <i>revivification</i> or <i>reanimation,</i> but to <i>resurrection</i> and <i>regeneration</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',19,28);">Mat 19:28</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,21);">Phl 3:21</a>). Compare "<i>planted,</i>" etc., <a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,5);">Rom 6:5</a>.
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<p id="a1Co15_38"><b>38. as it hath pleased him</b>—at creation, when He gave <i>to each of the</i> (kinds of) <i>seeds</i> (so the <i>Greek</i> is for "to every seed") <i>a body of its own</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',1,11);">Gen 1:11</a>, "after its kind," suited to its species). So God can and will give to the blessed at the resurrection <i>their own</i> appropriate <i>body,</i> such <i>as it pleases Him,</i> and such as is suitable to their glorified state: a body peculiar to the individual, substantially the same as the body sown.
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<p id="a1Co15_39"><b>39-41.</b> Illustrations of the suitability of bodies, however various, to their species: the flesh of the several species of animals; bodies celestial and terrestrial; the various kinds of light in the sun, moon, and stars, respectively.
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<br><br><b>flesh</b>—animal organism [DE WETTE]. He implies by the word that our resurrection bodies shall be in some sense really flesh, not mere phantoms of air [ESTIUS]. So some of the oldest creeds expressed it, "I believe in the resurrection of the <i>flesh.</i>" Compare as to Jesus' own resurrection body, <a onclick="return mV('Luk',24,39);">Luk 24:39</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',20,27);">Jhn 20:27</a>; to which <i>ours shall be made like,</i> and therefore shall be <i>flesh,</i> but not of animal organism (<a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,21);">Phl 3:21</a>) and liable to corruption. But <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,50);">1Cr 15:50</a> below implies, it is not "flesh and blood" in the animal sense we now understand them; for these "shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
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<br><br><b>not the same</b>—not flesh of the same nature and excellency. As the kinds of flesh, however widely differing from one another, do not cease to be flesh, so the kinds of bodies, however differing from one another, are still bodies. All this is to illustrate the difference of the new celestial body from its terrestrial seed, while retaining a substantial identity.
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<br><br><b>beasts</b>—quadrupeds.
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<br><br><b>another of fishes...another of birds</b>—Most of the oldest manuscripts read thus, "another FLESH of <i>birds</i>...another of <i>fishes</i>": the order of nature.
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<p id="a1Co15_40"><b>40. celestial bodies</b>—not the sun, moon, and stars, which are first introduced in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,41);">1Cr 15:41</a>, but <i>the bodies of angels,</i> as distinguished from the bodies of earthly creatures.
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<br><br><b>the glory of the celestial</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',9,26);">Luk 9:26</a>).
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<br><br><b>glory of...terrestrial</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',6,28,29);">Mat 6:28-29</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Pe',1,24);">1Pe 1:24</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_41"><b>41. one glory of...sun...another ...of...moon</b>—The analogy is not to prove different degrees of glory among the blessed (whether this may be, or not, <i>indirectly</i> hinted at), but this: As the various fountains of <i>light,</i> which is so similar in its aspect and properties, differ (the sun from the moon, and the moon from the stars; <i>and even</i> one star from another star, though all seem so much alike); so there is nothing unreasonable in the doctrine that <i>our present bodies</i> differ from <i>our resurrection bodies,</i> though still continuing <i>bodies.</i> Compare the same simile, appropriate especially in the clear Eastern skies (<a onclick="return mV('Dan',12,3);">Dan 12:3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',13,43);">Mat 13:43</a>). Also that of <i>seed</i> in the same parable (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',13,24);">Mat 13:24</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',6,7,8);">Gal 6:7-8</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_42"><b>42. sown</b>—Following up the image of <i>seed.</i> A delightful word instead of <i>burial.</i>
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<br><br><b>in corruption</b>—<i>liable to corruption: corruptible:</i> not merely a prey <i>when dead</i> to corruption; as the contrast shows, "raised in incorruption," that is, <i>not liable to corruption: incorruptible.</i>
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<p id="a1Co15_43"><b>43. in dishonour</b>—answering to "our <i>vile</i> body" (<a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,21);">Phl 3:21</a>); literally, "our body of humiliation": liable to various humiliations of disease, injury, and decay at last.
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<br><br><b>in glory</b>—the garment of incorruption (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,42,43);">1Cr 15:42-43</a>) like His glorious body (<a onclick="return mV('Phl',4,21);">Phl 4:21</a>), which we shall put on (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,49,53);">1Cr 15:49, 53</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',5,'2-4');">2Cr 5:2-4</a>).
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<br><br><b>in weakness</b>—liable to infirmities (<a onclick="return mV('2Cr',13,4);">2Cr 13:4</a>).
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<br><br><b>in power</b>—answering to a "spiritual body" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,44);">1Cr 15:44</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Luk',1,17);">Luk 1:17</a>, "Spirit and power"). Not liable to the weaknesses of our present frail bodies (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',33,24);">Isa 33:24</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,4);">Rev 21:4</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_44"><b>44. a natural body</b>—literally, "<i>an animal body,</i>" a body moulded in its organism of "flesh and blood" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,50);">1Cr 15:50</a>) to suit the animal soul which predominates in it. The Holy Spirit <i>in the spirit</i> of believers, indeed, is an earnest of a superior state (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',8,11);">Rom 8:11</a>), but meanwhile <i>in the body</i> the animal soul preponderates; hereafter the Spirit shall predominate, and the animal soul be duly subordinate.
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<br><br><b>spiritual body</b>—a body wholly moulded by the Spirit, and its organism not conformed to the lower and animal (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',20,35,36);">Luk 20:35-36</a>), but to the higher and spiritual, life (compare <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',2,14);">1Cr 2:14</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Th',5,23);">1Th 5:23</a>).
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<br><br><b>There is,</b> etc.—The oldest manuscripts read, "IF there is a natural (or <i>animal-souled</i>) body, there is <i>also</i> a spiritual body." It is no more wonderful a thing, that there should be a body fitted to the capacities and want of man's highest part, his spirit (which we see to be the case), than that there should be one fitted to the capacities and wants of his subordinate part, the animal soul [ALFORD].
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<p id="a1Co15_45"><b>45. so</b>—in accordance with the distinction just mentioned between the natural or <i>animal-souled</i> body and the <i>spiritual</i> body.
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<br><br><b>it is written</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',2,7);">Gen 2:7</a>); "Man became (was made to become) a living soul," that is, endowed with <i>an animal soul,</i> the living principle of his body.
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<br><br><b>the last Adam</b>—the LAST Head of humanity, who is to be fully manifested in <i>the last day,</i> which is <i>His</i> day (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',6,39);">Jhn 6:39</a>). He is so called in <a onclick="return mV('Job',19,25);">Job 19:25</a>; see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Job/Job019.html#Job19_25">Job 19:25</a> (compare <a onclick="return mV('Rom',5,14);">Rom 5:14</a>). In contrast to "the last," Paul calls "man" (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',2,7);">Gen 2:7</a>) "the FIRST Adam."
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<br><br><b>quickening</b>—not only living, but <i>making alive</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',5,21);">Jhn 5:21</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rom',8,11);">Rom 8:11</a>). As the <i>natural</i> or <i>animal-souled</i> body (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,44);">1Cr 15:44</a>) is the fruit of our union with the first Adam, an <i>animal-souled</i> man, so the <i>spiritual</i> body is the fruit of our union with the second Adam, who is the quickening Spirit (<a onclick="return mV('2Cr',3,17);">2Cr 3:17</a>). As He became representative of the whole of humanity in His union of the two natures, He exhausted in His own person the sentence of death passed on all men, and giveth spiritual and everlasting life to whom He will.
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<p id="a1Co15_46"><b>46. afterward</b>—Adam had a soul not necessarily mortal, as it afterwards became by sin, but "a <i>living</i> soul," and destined to live for ever, if he had eaten of the tree of life (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',3,22);">Gen 3:22</a>); still his body was but an <i>animal-souled</i> body, not a <i>spiritual</i> body, such as believers shall have; much less was he a "life-giving spirit," as Christ. His soul had the germ of the Spirit, rather than the fulness of it, such as man shall have when restored "body, soul, and spirit," by the second Adam (<a onclick="return mV('1Th',5,23);">1Th 5:23</a>). As the first and lower Adam came before the second and heavenly Adam, so the animal-souled body comes first, and must die before it be changed into the spiritual body (that is, that in which the Spirit predominates over the animal soul).
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<p id="a1Co15_47"><b>47. of the earth</b>—inasmuch as being sprung from the earth, he is "earthy" (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',2,7);">Gen 2:7</a> <i>upon</i> the earth, but <i>terrene,</i> or <i>of earth;</i> literally, "of <i>heaped</i> earth" or clay. "Adam" means <i>red earth.</i>
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<br><br><b>the Lord</b>—omitted in the oldest manuscripts and versions.
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<br><br><b>from heaven</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',3,13,31);">Jhn 3:13, 31</a>). Humanity in Christ is generic. In Him man is impersonated in his true ideal as God originally designed him. Christ is the representative man, the federal head of redeemed man.
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<p id="a1Co15_48"><b>48. As is the earthy</b>—namely, Adam.
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<br><br><b>they...that are earthy</b>—All Adam's posterity in their <i>natural</i> state (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',3,6,7);">Jhn 3:6-7</a>).
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<br><br><b>the heavenly</b>—Christ.
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<br><br><b>they...that are heavenly</b>—His people in their regenerate state (<a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,20,21);">Phl 3:20-21</a>). As the former precedes the latter state, so the <i>natural bodies</i> precede the <i>spiritual bodies.</i>
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<p id="a1Co15_49"><b>49. as</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "even as" (see <a onclick="return mV('Gen',5,3);">Gen 5:3</a>).
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<br><br><b>we shall also bear</b>—or wear as a garment [BENGEL]. The oldest manuscripts and versions read, "We must also bear," or "let us also bear." It implies the divine appointment (compare "must," <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,53);">1Cr 15:53</a>) and faith assenting to it. An exhortation, and yet implying a promise (so <a onclick="return mV('Rom',8,29);">Rom 8:29</a>). The conformity to the image of the heavenly Representative man is to be begun here in our souls, in part, and shall be perfected at the resurrection in both bodies and souls.
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<p id="a1Co15_50"><b>50.</b> (See on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/1Cr/1Cr015.html#a1Co15_37">1Co 15:37</a>; JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/1Cr/1Cr015.html#a1Co15_39">1Co 15:39</a>). "Flesh and blood" of the same animal and corruptible nature as our present (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,44);">1Cr 15:44</a>) <i>animal-souled</i> bodies, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore the believer acquiesces gladly in the unrepealed sentence of the holy law, which appoints the death of the present body as the necessary preliminary to the resurrection body of glory. Hence he "dies daily" to the flesh and to the world, as the necessary condition to his regeneration here and hereafter (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',3,6);">Jhn 3:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',2,20);">Gal 2:20</a>). As the being <i>born of the flesh</i> constitutes a child of Adam, so the being <i>born of the Spirit</i> constitutes a child of God.
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<br><br><b>cannot</b>—Not merely is the change of body <i>possible,</i> but it is <i>necessary.</i> The spirit extracted from the dregs of wine does not so much differ from them, as the glorified man does from the mortal man [BENGEL] of mere animal flesh and blood (<a onclick="return mV('Gal',1,16);">Gal 1:16</a>). The resurrection body will be still a body though spiritual, and substantially retaining the personal identity; as is proved by <a onclick="return mV('Luk',24,39);">Luk 24:39</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',20,27);">Jhn 20:27</a>, compared with <a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,21);">Phl 3:21</a>.
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<br><br><b>the kingdom of God</b>—which is not at all merely animal, but altogether spiritual. <i>Corruption</i> doth not <i>inherit,</i> though it is the way to, <i>incorruption</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,36,52,53);">1Cr 15:36, 52-53</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_51"><b>51. Behold</b>—Calling attention to the "mystery" heretofore hidden in God's purposes, but now revealed.
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<br><br><b>you</b>—emphatical in the <i>Greek;</i> I show (<i>Greek,</i> "tell," namely, <i>by the word of the Lord,</i> <a onclick="return mV('1Th',4,15);">1Th 4:15</a>) YOU, who think you have so much knowledge, "a mystery" (compare <a onclick="return mV('Rom',11,25);">Rom 11:25</a>) which your reason could never have discovered. Many of the old manuscripts and Fathers read, "We shall all sleep, but we shall not all be changed"; but this is plainly a corrupt reading, inconsistent with <a onclick="return mV('1Th',4,15,17);">1Th 4:15, 17</a>, and with the apostle's argument here, which is that a <i>change</i> is necessary (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,53);">1Cr 15:53</a>). <i>English Version</i> is supported by some of the oldest manuscripts and Fathers. The <i>Greek</i> is literally "We all shall not sleep, but," etc. The putting off of the corruptible body for an incorruptible by an instantaneous <i>change</i> will, in the case of "the quick," stand as equivalent to death, appointed to all men (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',9,27);">Hbr 9:27</a>); of this Enoch and Elijah are types and forerunners. The "we" implies that Christians in that age and every successive age since and hereafter were designed to stand waiting, as if Christ might come again in their time, and as if they might be found among "the quick."
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<p id="a1Co15_52"><b>52. the last trump</b>—at the sounding of the trumpet <i>on the last day</i> [VATABLUS] (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',24,31);">Mat 24:31</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Th',4,16);">1Th 4:16</a>). Or the Spirit by Paul hints that the other trumpets mentioned subsequently in the Apocalypse shall precede, and that this shall be the <i>last</i> of all (compare <a onclick="return mV('Isa',27,13);">Isa 27:13</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Zec',9,14);">Zec 9:14</a>). As the law was given with the sound of a trumpet, so the final judgment according to it (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,19);">Hbr 12:19</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,16);">Exd 19:16</a>). As the Lord ascended "with the sound of a trumpet" (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',47,5);">Psa 47:5</a>), so He shall descend (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',11,15);">Rev 11:15</a>). The trumpet was sounded to convoke the people on solemn feasts, especially on the first day of the seventh month (the type of the <i>completion</i> of time; <i>seven</i> being the number for <i>perfection;</i> on the tenth of the same month was the atonement, and on the fifteenth the feast of tabernacles, commemorative of completed salvation out of the spiritual Egypt, compare <a onclick="return mV('Zec',14,18,19);">Zec 14:18-19</a>); compare <a onclick="return mV('Psa',50,'1-7');">Psa 50:1-7</a>. Compare His calling forth of Lazarus from the grave "with a loud voice," <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',11,43);">Jhn 11:43</a>, with <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',5,25,28);">Jhn 5:25, 28</a>.
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<br><br><b>and</b>—immediately, in consequence.
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<p id="a1Co15_53"><b>53. this</b>—pointing to <i>his own</i> body and that of those whom he addresses.
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<br><br><b>put on</b>—as a garment (<a onclick="return mV('2Cr',5,2,3);">2Cr 5:2-3</a>).
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<br><br><b>immortality</b>—Here only, besides <a onclick="return mV('1Ti',6,16);">1Ti 6:16</a>, the word "immortality" is found. Nowhere is the immortality of the <i>soul,</i> distinct from the body, taught; a notion which many erroneously have derived from heathen philosophers. Scripture does not contemplate the anomalous state brought about by death, as the consummation to be earnestly looked for (<a onclick="return mV('2Cr',5,4);">2Cr 5:4</a>), but the resurrection.
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<p id="a1Co15_54"><b>54. then</b>—not before. Death has as yet <i>a sting</i> even to the believer, in that his <i>body</i> is to be under its power till the resurrection. But then the sting and power of death shall cease for ever.
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<br><br><b>Death is swallowed up in victory</b>—In <i>Hebrew</i> of <a onclick="return mV('Isa',25,8);">Isa 25:8</a>, from which it is quoted, "<i>He</i> (Jehovah) <i>will swallow up</i> death in victory"; that is, <i>for ever:</i> as "in victory" often means in <i>Hebrew</i> idiom (<a onclick="return mV('Jer',3,5);">Jer 3:5</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Lam',5,20);">Lam 5:20</a>). Christ will swallow it up <i>so altogether victoriously</i> that it shall never more regain its power (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',6,2);">Hsa 6:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',5,4);">2Cr 5:4</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,14,15);">Hbr 2:14-15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,14);">Rev 20:14</a>.
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<p id="a1Co15_55"><b>55.</b> Quoted from <a onclick="return mV('Hsa',13,14);">Hsa 13:14</a>, substantially; but freely used by the warrant of the Spirit by which Paul wrote. The <i>Hebrew</i> may be translated, "O death, where are thy plagues? Where, O Hades, is thy destruction?" The <i>Septuagint,</i> "Where is thy victory (literally, <i>in a lawsuit</i>), O death? Where is thy sting, O Hades? ...Sting" answers to the <i>Hebrew</i> "plagues," namely, a poisoned <i>sting</i> causing <i>plagues.</i> Appropriate, as to the old serpent (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',3,14,15);">Gen 3:14-15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Num',21,6);">Num 21:6</a>). "Victory" answers to the <i>Hebrew</i> "destruction." Compare <a onclick="return mV('Isa',25,7);">Isa 25:7</a>, "<i>destroy</i>...veil ...over all nations," namely, <i>victoriously destroy</i> it; and to "in victory" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,54);">1Cr 15:54</a>), which he triumphantly repeats. The "where" implies their past victorious destroying power and sting, now gone for ever; obtained through Satan's triumph over man in Eden, which enlisted God's law on the side of Satan and death against man (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',5,12,17,21);">Rom 5:12, 17, 21</a>). The souls in Hades being freed by the resurrection, death's sting and victory are gone. For "O grave," the oldest manuscripts and versions read, "O death," the second time.
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<p id="a1Co15_56"><b>56.</b> If there were no sin, there would be no death. Man's transgression of the law gives death its lawful power.
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<br><br><b>strength of sin <i>is</i> the law</b>—Without the law sin is not perceived or imputed (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',3,20);">Rom 3:20</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rom',7,'8-10');">Rom 7:8-10</a>). Christ's people are no longer "under the law" (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',6,14);">Rom 6:14</a>).
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<p id="a1Co15_57"><b>57. to God</b>—The victory was in no way due to ourselves (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',98,1);">Psa 98:1</a>).
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<br><br><b>giveth</b>—a present certainty.
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<br><br><b>the victory</b>—which death and Hades ("the grave") had aimed at, but which, notwithstanding the opposition of them, as well as of the law and sin, we have gained. The repetition of the word (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,54,55);">1Cr 15:54-55</a>) is appropriate to the triumph gained.
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<p id="a1Co15_58"><b>58. beloved</b>—Sound doctrine kindles Christian <i>love.</i>
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<br><br><b>steadfast</b>—not turning aside from the faith of the resurrection <i>of yourselves.</i>
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<br><br><b>unmovable</b>—not turned aside <i>by others</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,12);">1Cr 15:12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Col',1,23);">Col 1:23</a>).
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<br><br><b>the work of the Lord</b>—the promotion of Christ's kingdom (<a onclick="return mV('Phl',2,30);">Phl 2:30</a>).
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<br><br><b>not in vain</b>—as the deniers of the resurrection would make it (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,14,15);">1Cr 15:14-15</a>).
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<br><br><b>in the Lord</b>—applying to the whole sentence and its several clauses: Ye, as being in the Lord by faith, know that your labor in the Lord (that is, labor according to His will) is not to be without its reward in the Lord (through His merits and according to His gracious appointment).
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