1 Corinthians 15:30-58
Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour? ( τ κα ημεις κινδυνευομεν πασαν ωραν? ). We also as well as those who receive baptism which symbolizes death. Old verb from κινδυνος (peril, danger), in N.T. only here and Lu 8:23. Paul's Epistles and Acts (especially chapter Ac 19) throw light on Paul's argument. He was never out of danger from Damascus to the last visit to Rome. There are perils in Ephesus of which we do not know (2Co 1:8f.) whatever may be true as to an Ephesian imprisonment. G. S. Duncan (St. Paul's Ephesian Ministry, 1930) even argues for several imprisonments in Ephesus. The accusative of time ( πασαν ωραν ) naturally means all through every hour (extension).I protest by that glorying in you ( νη την υμετεραν καυχησιν ). No word for "I protest." Paul takes solemn oath by the use of νη (common in Attic) with the accusative. Only here in N.T., but in LXX (Ge 42:15f.). For other solemn oaths by Paul see 2Co 1:18, 23; 11:10f.,31; Ro 9:1. For καυχησις see on 1Th 2:19. The possessive pronoun ( υμετεραν ) is objective as εμην in 1Co 11:24.
I die daily ( καθ' ημεραν αποθνησκω ). I am in daily peril of death (2Co 4:11; 11:23; Ro 8:36).
After the manner of men ( κατα ανθρωπον ). Like men, for applause, money, etc. (4:9ff.; Php 3:7).
If I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus ( ε εθηριομαχησα εν Εφεσω ). Late verb from θηριομαχος, a fighter with wild beasts. Found in inscriptions and in Ignatius. Those who argue for an Ephesian imprisonment for Paul and Ephesus as the place where he wrote the imprisonment epistles (see Duncan's book just mentioned) take the verb literally. There is in the ruins of Ephesus now a place called St. Paul's Prison. But Paul was a Roman citizen and it was unlawful to make such a one be a θηριομαχος. If he were cast to the lions unlawfully, he could have prevented it by claiming his citizenship. Besides, shortly after this Paul wrote II Corinthians, but he does not mention so unusual a peril in the list in 2Co 11:23f. The incident, whatever it was, whether literal or figurative language, took place before Paul wrote I Corinthians.
What doth it profit me? ( τ μο το οφελοσ? ). What the profit to me?
Let us eat and drink ( φαγωμεν κα πιωμεν ). Volitive second aorist subjunctives of εσθιω and πινω. Cited from Isa 22:13. It is the outcry of the people of Jerusalem during the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians. At Anchiale near Tarsus is a statue of Sardanapalus with the inscription: "Eat, drink, enjoy thyself. The rest is nothing." This was the motto of the Epicureans. Paul is not giving his own view, but that of people who deny the resurrection.
Be not deceived ( μη πλανασθε ). Do not be led astray ( πλαναω ) by such a false philosophy of life.
Evil company ( ομιλια κακα ). Evil companionships. Old word, ομιλια, from ομιλος (a crowd, gang, bunch). Only here in N.T. Good manners ( ηθη ). Old word (kin to εθος ) custom, usage, morals. Good morals here. This line of poetry (iambic) occurs in Menander. It may be a current proverb. Paul could have gotten it from either source.
Awake up righteously ( εκνηψατε δικαιως ). Wake up as if from drunkenness. Εκνηφω, only here in N.T. sin not ( μη αμαρτανετε ). Stop sinning.
No knowledge of God ( αγνωσιαν θεου ). Old word for ignorance, in N.T. only here and 1Pe 2:15. Ignorance of God, agnosticism. Some today (agnostics) even take pride in it instead of shame ( εντροπην, turning in on oneself). See on 6:5 for εντροπη.
But some one will say ( αλλα ερε τις ). Paul knows what the sceptics were saying. He is a master at putting the standpoint of the imaginary adversary.
How ( πως ). This is still the great objection to the resurrection of our bodies. Granted that Jesus rose from the dead, for the sake of argument, these sceptics refuse to believe in the possibility of our resurrection. It is the attitude of Matthew Arnold who said, "Miracles do not happen." Scientifically we know the "how" of few things. Paul has an astounding answer to this objection. Death itself is the way of resurrection as in the death of the seed for the new plant (verses 36f.).
With what manner of body ( ποιω σωματ ). This is the second question which makes plainer the difficulty of the first. The first body perishes. Will that body be raised? Paul treats this problem more at length (verses 38-54) and by analogy of nature (Cf. Butler's famous Analogy). It is a spiritual, not a natural, body that is raised. Σωμα here is an organism.
Flesh ( σαρξ ) is the σωμα for the natural man, but there is spiritual ( πνευματικον ) σωμα for the resurrection.
Thou foolish one ( αφρων ). Old word ( α privative, φρην ), lack of sense. It is a severe term and justified by the implication "that the objector plumes himself on his acuteness" (Robertson and Plummer). Proleptic position of συ (thou) sharpens the point. Sceptics (agnostics) pose as unusually intellectual (the intelligentsia), but the pose does not make one intelligent.
Except it die ( εαν μη αποθανη ). Condition of third class, possibility assumed. This is the answer to the "how" question. In plant life death precedes life, death of the seed and then the new plant.
Not the body which shall be ( ου το σωμα το γενησομενον ). Articular future participle of γινομα, literally, "not the body that will become." The new
body ( σωμα ) is not yet in existence, but only the seed ( κοκκος, grain, old word, as in Mt 13:31).
It may chance ( ε τυχο ). Fourth class condition as in 14:10 which see. Paul is rich in metaphors here, though usually not so (Howson, Metaphors of St. Paul). Paul was a city man. We sow seeds, not plants (bodies). The butterfly comes out of the dying worm.
A body of its own ( ιδιον σωμα ). Even under the microscope the life cells or germ plasm may seem almost identical, but the plant is quite distinct. On σπερμα, seed, old word from σπειρω, to sow, see on Mt 13:24f.
The same flesh ( η αυτη σαρξ ). Paul takes up animal life to show the great variety there is as in the plant kingdom. Even if evolution should prove to be true, Paul's argument remains valid. Variety exists along with kinship. Progress is shown in the different kingdoms, progress that even argues for a spiritual body after the body of flesh is lost.
Of beasts ( κτηνων ). Old word, from κταομα, to possess, and so property. See Lu 10:34.
Of birds ( πτηνων ). Old word from πετομα, to fly, winged, flying. Only here in N.T.
Celestial ( επουρανια ). Old word, from επ, upon, ουρανος, heaven, existing in heaven. Paul now rises higher in the range of his argument, above the merely
terrestrial ( επιγεια, upon earth, επι, γε ) bodies. He has shown differences in the bodies here on earth in plants and in the animal kingdom and now he indicates like differences to be seen in the heavens above us.
Is one ( ετερα μεν )
--is another ( ετερα δε ). Antithesis that admits glory for bodies on earth and bodies in the heavens. Experience does not argue against a glory for the spiritual body (Php 3:21).
For one star differeth from another star in glory ( αστηρ γαρ αστερος διαφερε εν δοξη ). A beautiful illustration of Paul's point. Αστερος is the ablative case after διαφερε (old verb διαφερω, Latin differo, our differ, bear apart). On αστηρ see Mt 2:7 and αστρον Lu 21:25. Stars differ in magnitude and brilliancy. The telescope has added more force to Paul's argument.
In glory ( εν δοξη ). Old word from δοκεω, to think, to seem. So opinion, estimate, then the shekinah glory of God in the LXX, glory in general. It is one of the great words of the N.T. Jesus is termed the glory in Jas 2:1.
So is the resurrection of the dead ( ουτως κα η αναστασις των νεκρων ). Paul now applies his illustrations to his argument to prove the kind of body we shall have after the resurrection. He does it by a series of marvellous contrasts that gather all his points. The earthly and the risen beings differ in duration, value, power (Wendt).
It is sown ( σπειρετα ). In death, like the seed (37).
In incorruption ( εν αφθαρσια ). Late word from α privative and φθειρω, to corrupt. In LXX, Plutarch, Philo, late papyrus of a Gnostic gospel, and quotation from Epicurus. Vulgate incorruptio. The resurrection body has undergone a complete change as compared with the body of flesh like the plant from the seed. It is related to it, but it is a different body of glory.
In weakness ( εν ασθενεια ). Lack of strength as shown in the victory of death.
In power ( εν δυναμε ). Death can never conquer this new body, "conformed to the body of His glory" (Php 3:21).
A natural body ( σωμα ψυχικον ). See on 2:14 for this word, a difficult one to translate since ψυχη has so many meanings. Natural is probably as good a rendering as can be made, but it is not adequate, for the body here is not all ψυχη either as soul or life. The same difficulty exists as to a spiritual body ( σωμα πνευματικον ). The resurrection body is not wholly πνευμα. Caution is needed here in filling out details concerning the ψυχη and the πνευμα. But certainly he means to say that the "spiritual body" has some kind of germinal connection with the "natural body," though the development is glorious beyond our comprehension though not beyond the power of Christ to perform (Php 3:21). The force of the argument remains unimpaired though we cannot follow fully into the thought beyond us.
If there is ( ε εστιν ). "If there exists" ( εστιν means this with accent on first syllable), a condition of first class assumed as true.
There is also ( εστιν κα ). There exists also.
Became a living soul ( εγενετο εις ψυχην ζωσαν ). Hebraistic use of εις in predicate from LXX. God breathed a soul ( ψυχη ) into "the first man."
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit ( ο εσχατος Αδαμ εις πνευμα ζωοποιουν ). Supply εγενετο (became). Christ is the crown of humanity and has power to give us the new body. In Ro 5:12-19 Paul calls Christ the Second Adam.
Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural ( αλλ' ου πρωτον το πνευματικον, αλλα το ψυχικον ). Literally, "But not first the spiritual, but the natural." This is the law of growth always.
Earthly ( χοικος ). Late rare word, from χους, dust.
The second man from heaven ( ο δευτερος ανθρωπος εξ ουρανου ). Christ had a human ( ψυχικον ) body, of course, but Paul makes the contrast between the first man in his natural body and the Second Man in his risen body. Paul saw Jesus after his resurrection and he appeared to him "from heaven." He will come again from heaven.
As is the earthly ( οιος ο χοικος ). Masculine gender because of ανθρωπος and correlative pronouns ( οιοσ, τοιουτο ) of character or quality. All men of dust ( χοικο ) correspond to "the man of dust" ( ο χοικος ), the first Adam.
As is the heavenly ( οιος ο επουρανιος ). Christ in his ascended state (1Th 4:16; 2Th 1:7; Eph 2:6, 20; Php 3:20f.).
We shall also bear ( φορεσομεν κα ). Old MSS. (so Westcott and Hort) read φορεσωμεν κα. Volitive aorist active subjunctive, Let us also bear. Ellicott strongly opposes the subjunctive. It may be merely the failure of scribes to distinguish between long o and short o. Paul hardly means to say that our attaining the resurrection body depends on our own efforts! A late frequentative form of φερω.
Cannot inherit ( κληρονομησα ου δυναντα ). Hence there must be a change by death from the natural body to the spiritual body. In the case of Christ this change was wrought in less than three days and even then the body of Jesus was in a transition state before the Ascension. He ate and could be handled and yet he passed through closed doors. Paul does not base his argument on the special circumstances connected with the risen body of Jesus.
A mystery ( μυστηριον ). He does not claim that he has explained everything. He has drawn a broad parallel which opens the door of hope and confidence.
We shall not all sleep ( παντες ου κοιμηθησομεθα ). Future passive indicative of κοιμαομα, to sleep. Not all of us shall die, Paul means. Some people will be alive when he comes. Paul does not affirm that he or any then living will be alive when Jesus comes again. He simply groups all under the phrase "we all."
But we shall all be changed ( παντες δε αλλαγησομεθα ). Second future passive indicative of αλλασσω. Both living and dead shall be changed and so receive the resurrection body. See this same idea at more length in 1Th 4:13-18.
In a moment ( εν ατομω ). Old word, from α privative and τεμνω, to cut, indivisible: Scientific word for atom which was considered indivisible, but that was before the day of electrons and protons. Only here in N.T.
In the twinkling of an eye ( εν ριπη οφθαλμου ). Old word ριπη from ριπτω, to throw. Only here in N.T. Used by the Greeks for the flapping of a wing, the buzz of a gnat, the quivering of a harp, the twinkling of a star.
At the last trump ( εν τη εσχατη σαλπιγγ ). Symbolical, of course. See on 1Th 4:16; Mt 24:31.
Must put on ( δε ενδυσασθα ). Aorist (ingressive) middle infinitive, put on as a garment.
Immortality ( αθανασιαν ). Old word from αθανατος, undying, and that from α privative and θνησκω, to die. In N.T. only here and 1Ti 6:16 where God is described as having immortality.
Shall have put on ( ενδυσητα ). First aorist middle subjunctive with οταν whenever, merely indefinite future, no futurum exactum, merely meaning, "whenever shall put on," not "shall have put on."
Is swallowed up ( κατεποθη ). First aorist passive indicative of καταπινω, old verb to drink down, swallow down. Perfective use of κατα- where we say "up," "swallow up." Timeless use of the aorist tense. Paul changes the active voice κατεπιεν in Isa 25:8 to the passive. Death is no longer victory. Theodotion reads the Hebrew verb (bulla, for billa,) as passive like Paul. It is the "final overthrow of the king of Terrors" (Findlay) as shown in Heb 2:15.
Victory ( νικος ). Late form of νικη.
O death ( θανατε ). Second instance. Here Paul changes Hades of the LXX for Hebrew Sheol (Hos 13:14) to death. Paul never uses Hades.
Thy sting ( σου το κεντρον ). Old word from κεντρεω, to prick, as in Ac 26:14. In Re 9:10 of the sting of locusts, scorpions. The serpent death has lost his poison fangs.
The power of sin ( η δυναμις της αμαρτιας ). See Ro 4:15; 5:20; 6:14; 7; Ga 2:16; 3:1-5:4 for Paul's ideas here briefly expressed. In man's unrenewed state he cannot obey God's holy law.
But thanks be to God ( τω δε θεω χαρις ). Exultant triumph through Christ over sin and death as in Ro 7:25.
Be ye steadfast, unmovable ( εδραιο γινεσθε, αμετακινητο ). "Keep on becoming steadfast, unshaken." Let the sceptics howl and rage. Paul has given rational grounds for faith and hope in Christ the Risen Lord and Saviour. Note practical turn to this great doctrinal argument.
Work ( εργον ),
labour ( κοπος, toil). The best answer to doubt is work.
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