King James Version
1 Corinthians 15
58 verses with commentary
The Resurrection of Christ
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel</strong> (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, <em>to euangelion</em>)—Paul begins his resurrection apologetic by anchoring it in <em>the gospel</em> he originally preached. The verb <em>gnōrizō</em> (γνωρίζω, "I make known") suggests formal proclamation of authoritative truth. The phrase <strong>wherein ye stand</strong> (<em>en hō hestēkate</em>, ἐν ᾧ ἑστήκατε...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XV.
(1) **Moreover, brethren.**—This chapter is throughout occupied with the DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. The occasion which caused the Apostle to dwell at such length and with such emphasis on this subject was the denial of the resurrection by some members of the Corinthian Church. It has been suggested by some writers that what the Apostle had to combat was a false conception of the...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. keep: or, hold fast what: Gr. by what speech
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>By which also ye are saved</strong> (δι' οὗ καὶ σῴζεσθε, <em>di' hou kai sōzesthe</em>)—The present tense verb indicates ongoing salvation, not merely a past event. Paul connects salvation directly to <strong>keeping in memory</strong> (κατέχετε, <em>katechete</em>), meaning to hold fast, retain firmly. This is not mere intellectual recall but active, persevering faith.<br><br>The phrase <...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **If ye keep in memory what I preached unto you.**—Better, *if ye hold fast with what word I preached the gospel to you, unless you believed in* *vain.* The idea here is not, as implied in the English version, that they were converted, and yet that heretofore no results have followed from their belief; it is the same thought which comes out more fully in 1Corinthians 15:17. They are saved by t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 10
1Co 10:1-33. Danger of Fellowship with Idolatry Illustrated in the History of Israel: Such Fellowship Incompatible with Fellowship in the Lord's Supper. Even Lawful Things Are to Be Forborne, so as Not to Hurt Weak Brethren.
**1. Moreover--**The oldest manuscripts read "for." Thus the connection with the foregoing chapter is expressed. Ye need to exercise self-denying watchfulness n...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I delivered unto you first of all</strong> (παρέδωκα γὰρ ὑμῖν ἐν πρώτοις, <em>paredōka gar hymin en prōtois</em>)—Paul uses technical rabbinic terminology for transmitting authoritative tradition (<em>paradidōmi</em>, παραδίδωμι). The phrase <strong>that which I also received</strong> (ὃ καὶ παρέλαβον, <em>ho kai parelabon</em>) indicates this is not Paul's invention but apostolic trad...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **For I delivered . . .**—Here follows the explanation and illustration of what he meant, in 1Corinthians 15:2, by “with what word I preached the gospel.” We see here what the subject of apostolic teaching was—not indeed all the gospel that the Apostle taught, but what he considered of the first importance, and therefore put in the forefront of his teaching—viz., the historical fact of Christ’...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. And--**"And so" [Bengel].
**baptized unto Moses--**the servant of God and representative of the Old Testament covenant of the law: as Jesus, the Son of God, is of the Gospel covenant (Joh 1:17; He 3:5, 6). The people were led to believe in Moses as God's servant by the miracle of the cloud protecting them, and by their being conducted under him safely through the Red Sea; therefore they are...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And that he was buried</strong> (καὶ ὅτι ἐτάφη, <em>kai hoti etaphē</em>)—The burial confirms the reality of Jesus's death. Ancient docetists denied Christ truly died; Paul's emphasis on burial refutes this. The aorist passive verb <em>etaphē</em> indicates a completed action—Jesus was truly, physically dead and laid in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb.<br><br><strong>And that he rose again the ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **And that he rose again.**—Better, *and that He has been raised again.* The burial of our Lord is dwelt upon and emphasised as the proof of the reality of His death. Similarly in the case of Lazarus, his entombment is brought out strongly as showing that it was from no trance, but from death that he arose. (See John 11)
**According to the scriptures.**—The reiteration with each statement that...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. same spiritual meat--**As the Israelites had the water from the rock, which answered to baptism, so they had the manna which corresponded to the other of the two Christian sacraments, the Lord's Supper. Paul plainly implies the importance which was attached to these two sacraments by all Christians in those days: "an inspired protest against those who lower their dignity, or deny their necess...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And that he was seen of Cephas</strong> (καὶ ὅτι ὤφθη Κηφᾷ, <em>kai hoti ōphthē Kēpha</em>)—The verb <em>ōphthē</em> (ὤφθη, "he appeared, was seen") is divine passive—God caused the appearance. Paul uses Peter's Aramaic name <em>Cephas</em> (Κηφᾶς), connecting to the earliest Jerusalem church tradition. This appearance (Luke 24:34) restored Peter after his denial and commissioned him for a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **That he was seen of Cephas.**—From the indications of sequence here given we may conclude that the appearances here grouped together are arranged in chronological order. We have these appearances:—(1) To Cephas (see Luke 24:34). (2) To the Twelve—the phrase “the Twelve” being used to indicate, not the number of those present, but the group to which they belonged, as Decemviri might be used, ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. drink--**(Ex 17:6). In Nu 20:8, "the beasts" also are mentioned as having drunk. The literal water typified "spiritual drink," and is therefore so called.
**spiritual Rock that followed them--**rather, "accompanied them." Not the literal rock (or its water) "followed" them, as Alford explains, as if Paul sanctioned the Jews' tradition (Rabbi Solomon on Nu 20:2) that the rock itself, or at l...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once</strong> (ἔπειτα ὤφθη ἐπάνω πεντακοσίοις ἀδελφοῖς ἐφάπαξ)—The adverb <em>ephapax</em> (ἐφάπαξ, "at one time, simultaneously") demolishes the hallucination hypothesis—mass hallucinations of this scale are psychologically impossible. Paul provides 500+ eyewitnesses, many still living when he wrote (AD 55), inviting verification.<...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Fallen asleep.**—The same word is used of Stephen’s death (see Acts 7:60), so also in 1Corinthians 15:18.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. But--**though they had so many tokens of God's presence.
**many of them--**rather, "the majority of them"; "the whole part." All except Joshua and Caleb of the first generation.
**not--**in the Greek emphatically standing in the beginning of the sentence: "Not," as one might have naturally expected, "with the more part of them was," &c.
**God--**whose judgment alone is valid.
**fo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>After that, he was seen of James</strong> (ἔπειτα ὤφθη Ἰακώβῳ)—This is James the Just, Jesus's half-brother (Galatians 1:19), who did not believe during Jesus's earthly ministry (John 7:5) but became a pillar of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15, Galatians 2:9). This appearance, unrecorded in canonical Gospels but detailed in the Gospel of the Hebrews, converted James from skeptic to martyr. H...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. were--**Greek, "came to pass as."
**our examples--**samples to us of what will befall us, if we also with all our privileges walk carelessly.
**lust--**the fountain of all the four other offenses enumerated, and therefore put first (Jas 1:14, 15; compare Psa 106:14). A particular case of lust was that after flesh, when they pined for the fish, leeks, &c., of Egypt, which they had left...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. one: or, an abortive
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And last of all he was seen of me also</strong> (ἔσχατον δὲ πάντων ὡσπερεὶ τῷ ἐκτρώματι ὤφθη κἀμοί)—Paul includes himself in the resurrection witness list, though last and least. The word <em>ektróma</em> (ἔκτρωμα) means "untimely birth, miscarriage, abortion"—shockingly harsh self-description. Paul sees his Damascus Road encounter (Acts 9) as abnormal, violent spiritual birth, unlike the ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.**—Better, *Last of all, as to an untimely born one he appeared also to me.* The Apostle here distinctly states that he saw the Lord at the time of his conversion as really as St. Peter and others had seen him, though with touching pathos and strongly marked emphasis he adds that it was not at the same time as the “firstborn” had seen Him, ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. idolaters--**A case in point. As the Israelites sat down (a deliberate act), ate, and drank at the idol feast to the calves in Horeb, so the Corinthians were in danger of idolatry by a like act, though not professedly worshipping an idol as the Israelites (1Co 8:10, 11; 10:14, 20, 21; Ex 32:6). He passes here from the first to the second person, as they alone (not he also) were in danger of i...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-13**
Christ fulfilled the prophecies and promises relating to the Jews, and the Gentile converts could have no excuse for despising them. The Gentiles, being brought into the church, are companions in patience and tribulation. They should praise God. Calling upon all the nations to praise the Lord, shows that they shall have knowledge of him. We shall never seek to Christ till we tr...
Read full commentary →For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I am the least of the apostles</strong> (ὁ ἐλάχιστος τῶν ἀποστόλων, <em>ho elachistos tōn apostolōn</em>)—The superlative <em>elachistos</em> means "smallest, least significant." Paul's humility stems not from false modesty but sober assessment: <strong>I am not meet to be called an apostle</strong> (οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς καλεῖσθαι ἀπόστολος). The word <em>hikanos</em> (ἱκανός) means "suffic...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **For I am the least of the apostles.**—*Paulus Minimus.* Here the mention of his conversion—the thought of what he had been before, what he had become since—leads the Apostle into a digression, occupying this and the next two verses. The two thoughts of his own inherent nothingness and of his greatness by the grace of God are here mingled together in expressions of intense personal feeling. W...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. fornication--**literally, Fornication was generally, as in this case (Nu 25:1-18), associated at the idol feasts with spiritual fornication, that is, idolatry. This all applied to the Corinthians (1Co 5:1, 9; 6:9, 15, 18; 1Co 8:10). Balaam tempted Israel to both sins with Midian (Re 2:14). Compare 1Co 8:7, 9, "stumbling-block," "eat ... thing offered unto ... idol."
**three and twenty thous...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-13**
Christ fulfilled the prophecies and promises relating to the Jews, and the Gentile converts could have no excuse for despising them. The Gentiles, being brought into the church, are companions in patience and tribulation. They should praise God. Calling upon all the nations to praise the Lord, shows that they shall have knowledge of him. We shall never seek to Christ till we tr...
Read full commentary →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 laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But by the grace of God I am what I am</strong> (χάριτι δὲ θεοῦ εἰμι ὅ εἰμι)—This phrase echoes God's self-revelation to Moses: "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). Paul's identity, ministry, and transformation are entirely <em>chariti</em> (χάριτι, "by grace")—not merit, pedigree, or achievement. The emphatic repetition of <em>eimi</em> ("I am") underscores grace as the sole explanation for Pau...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **But by the grace of God I am what I am.**—This whole verse is full of that maintenance of official dignity as an Apostle and a labourer, and of personal humility, which were characteristic of St. Paul.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. tempt Christ--**So the oldest versions, Irenæus (264), and good manuscripts read. Some of the oldest manuscripts read "Lord"; and one manuscript only "God." If "Lord" be read, it will mean Christ. As "Christ" was referred to in one of the five privileges of Israel (1Co 10:4), so it is natural that He should be mentioned here in one of the five corresponding sins of that people. In Nu 21:5 it ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-13**
Christ fulfilled the prophecies and promises relating to the Jews, and the Gentile converts could have no excuse for despising them. The Gentiles, being brought into the church, are companions in patience and tribulation. They should praise God. Calling upon all the nations to praise the Lord, shows that they shall have knowledge of him. We shall never seek to Christ till we tr...
Read full commentary →Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach</strong> (εἴτε οὖν ἐγὼ εἴτε ἐκεῖνοι, οὕτως κηρύσσομεν)—Paul unifies the apostolic witness. The verb <em>kēryssomen</em> (κηρύσσομεν, "we herald, proclaim") indicates authoritative public proclamation, not private opinion. Despite differences in background (Paul the former persecutor, Peter the denier, James the former skeptic), the apostoli...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Therefore whether . . .**—Better, *Whether, therefore, it were I or they.* Such (see 1Corinthians 15:3-4) was and is our teaching, such was your belief. It matters not from whom it came, whether from the greatest or least of the Apostles, the gospel was preached, and was accepted by you. These words thus recall the reader from the strong personal feeling shown in the preceding verse to the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. some of them ... murmured--**upon the death of Korah and his company, who themselves were murmurers (Nu 16:41, 49). Their murmurs against Moses and Aaron were virtually murmurs against God (compare Ex 16:8, 10). Paul herein glances at the Corinthian murmurs against himself, the apostle of Christ.
**destroyed--**fourteen thousand seven hundred perished.
**the destroyer--**THE same destroy...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-13**
Christ fulfilled the prophecies and promises relating to the Jews, and the Gentile converts could have no excuse for despising them. The Gentiles, being brought into the church, are companions in patience and tribulation. They should praise God. Calling upon all the nations to praise the Lord, shows that they shall have knowledge of him. We shall never seek to Christ till we tr...
Read full commentary →The Resurrection of the Dead
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead</strong> (Εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς κηρύσσεται ὅτι ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγήγερται)—Paul begins his logical argument. The perfect tense <em>egēgertai</em> (ἐγήγερται, "has been raised") indicates completed action with ongoing results. Christ's resurrection is the foundation of apostolic preaching (<em>kēryssō</em>, κηρύσσω, "to herald").<br><br><strong>How say ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **If** **Christ be preached that he rose from the dead.**—Better, *is being preached.* It has been proved as a matter of historical fact that a man has risen from the dead; it is therefore illogical to say that there is no resurrection of the dead.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. Now ... these things ... ensamples--**resuming the thread of 1Co 10:6. The oldest manuscripts read, "by way of example."
**the ends of the world--**literally, "of the ages"; the New Testament dispensation in its successive phases (plural, "ends") being the winding up of all former "ages." No new dispensation shall appear till Christ comes as Avenger and Judge; till then the "ends," being m...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-13**
Christ fulfilled the prophecies and promises relating to the Jews, and the Gentile converts could have no excuse for despising them. The Gentiles, being brought into the church, are companions in patience and tribulation. They should praise God. Calling upon all the nations to praise the Lord, shows that they shall have knowledge of him. We shall never seek to Christ till we tr...
Read full commentary →But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But if there be no resurrection of the dead</strong> (εἰ δὲ ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν οὐκ ἔστιν)—Paul constructs a *reductio ad absurdum* argument. He assumes the opponents' premise (no resurrection) and demonstrates it leads to absurd, unacceptable conclusions. This is sophisticated Greco-Roman logical argumentation, showing Paul's rhetorical training.<br><br><strong>Then is Christ not risen</stro...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. thinketh he standeth--**stands and thinks that he stands [Bengel]; that is, stands "by faith ... well pleasing" to God; in contrast to 1Co 10:5, "with many of them God was not well pleased" (Ro 11:20).
**fall--**from his place in the Church of God (compare 1Co 10:8, "fell"). Both temporally and spiritually (Ro 14:4). Our security, so far as relates to God, consists in faith; so far as rela...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-13**
Christ fulfilled the prophecies and promises relating to the Jews, and the Gentile converts could have no excuse for despising them. The Gentiles, being brought into the church, are companions in patience and tribulation. They should praise God. Calling upon all the nations to praise the Lord, shows that they shall have knowledge of him. We shall never seek to Christ till we tr...
Read full commentary →And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain</strong> (εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς οὐκ ἐγήγερται, κενὸν ἄρα τὸ κήρυγμα ἡμῶν)—The word <em>kenon</em> (κενόν, "empty, void") appears twice. Paul's entire ministry—<em>kērygma</em> (κήρυγμα, "proclamation")—rests on resurrection. If false, apostolic preaching is <em>kenon</em>, devoid of content and power. Christianity is not moral philosophy or re...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **If Christ be not risen.**—Better, *but if Christ be not raised;* and so all through this passage.
**Then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.**—The Apostles had preached a risen Christ, their converts had believed in a risen Christ, but now the proposition is, There is no resurrection; therefore Christ is not risen; therefore the preaching and the faith which are based on the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
13. Consolation to them, under their temptation; it is none but such as is "common to man," or "such as man can bear," "adapted to man's powers of endurance" [Wahl].
**faithful--**(Psa 125:3; Is 27:3, 8; Re 3:10). "God is faithful" to the covenant which He made with you in calling you (1Th 5:24). To be led into temptation is distinct from running into it, which would be "tempting God" (1Co 10:9;...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The apostle was persuaded that the Roman Christians were filled with a kind and affectionate spirit, as well as with knowledge. He had written to remind them of their duties and their dangers, because God had appointed him the minister of Christ to the Gentiles. Paul preached to them; but what made them sacrifices to God, was, their sanctification; not his work, but the work o...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God</strong> (εὑρισκόμεθα δὲ καὶ ψευδομάρτυρες τοῦ θεοῦ)—The term <em>pseudomartyres</em> (ψευδομάρτυρες, "false witnesses") is devastating. This echoes the Ninth Commandment (Exodus 20:16) and Jewish law requiring death for false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:20). Paul and the apostles would be worse than mistaken—they'd be blasphemous liars claiming di...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Yea, and we are found false witnesses.**—Not mistaken witnesses, but witnesses testifying to what they know to be false. This is another result involved in a denial of the doctrine of the resurrection, that the Apostles must be regarded as false witnesses—not deceived, but deceivers. The suppressed part of the argument here is the absurdity of the Apostles being such. There was no motive fo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14. Resuming the argument, 1Co 10:7; 1Co 8:9, 10.
**flee--**Do not tamper with it by doubtful acts, such as eating idol meats on the plea of Christian liberty. The only safety is in wholly shunning whatever borders on idolatry (2Co 6:16, 17). The Holy Spirit herein also presciently warned the Church against the idolatry, subsequently transferred from the idol feast to the Lord's Supper itself, i...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The apostle was persuaded that the Roman Christians were filled with a kind and affectionate spirit, as well as with knowledge. He had written to remind them of their duties and their dangers, because God had appointed him the minister of Christ to the Gentiles. Paul preached to them; but what made them sacrifices to God, was, their sanctification; not his work, but the work o...
Read full commentary →For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if the dead rise not</strong> (εἰ γὰρ νεκροὶ οὐκ ἐγείρονται)—Paul repeats his premise, driving home the logical connection. The verb <em>egeirontai</em> (ἐγείρονται, "are raised") is present passive, indicating ongoing divine action. Resurrection is God's action upon the dead, not self-generated resuscitation.<br><br><strong>Then is not Christ raised</strong> (οὐδὲ Χριστὸς ἐγήγερται)—T...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **For if the dead rise not.**—Better, *if the dead be not raised.* The Apostle has in the previous verse completed the argument as to the historical fact of Christ’s resurrection, which proves that the denial of the doctrine of the resurrection cannot be maintained unless it can be shown that the Apostles are wilfully bearing false testimony, and that their preaching, and the faith of those w...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
15. Appeal to their own powers of judgment to weigh the force of the argument that follows: namely, that as the partaking of the Lord's Supper involves a partaking of the Lord Himself, and the partaking of the Jewish sacrificial meats involved a partaking of the altar of God, and, as the heathens sacrifice to devils, to partake of an idol feast is to have fellowship with devils. We cannot divest o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The apostle was persuaded that the Roman Christians were filled with a kind and affectionate spirit, as well as with knowledge. He had written to remind them of their duties and their dangers, because God had appointed him the minister of Christ to the Gentiles. Paul preached to them; but what made them sacrifices to God, was, their sanctification; not his work, but the work o...
Read full commentary →And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain</strong> (εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς οὐκ ἐγήγερται, ματαία ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν)—Paul uses <em>mataia</em> (ματαία, "vain, futile, empty") instead of v. 14's <em>kenē</em>. While <em>kenē</em> means "empty of content," <em>mataia</em> means "worthless, without result or purpose." Faith in a dead messiah accomplishes nothing—it's not merely empty but useless, imp...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. The cup of blessing--**answering to the Jewish "cup of blessing," over which thanks were offered in the Passover. It was in doing so that Christ instituted this part of the Lord's Supper (Mt 26:27; Lu 22:17, 20).
**we bless--**"we," not merely ministers, but also the congregation. The minister "blesses" (that is, consecrates with blessing) the cup, not by any priestly transmitted authority...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The apostle was persuaded that the Roman Christians were filled with a kind and affectionate spirit, as well as with knowledge. He had written to remind them of their duties and their dangers, because God had appointed him the minister of Christ to the Gentiles. Paul preached to them; but what made them sacrifices to God, was, their sanctification; not his work, but the work o...
Read full commentary →Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished</strong> (ἄρα καὶ οἱ κοιμηθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ ἀπώλοντο)—The perfect participle <em>koimēthentes</em> (κοιμηθέντες, "having fallen asleep") is the Christian euphemism for death, implying temporary sleep before resurrection awakening. But if no resurrection, this language is cruel deception. The verb <em>apōlonto</em> (ἀπώλοντο, "per...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. one bread--**rather, "loaf." One loaf alone seems to have been used in each celebration.
**and one body--**Omit "and"; "one loaf [that is], one body." "We, the many (namely, believers assembled; so the Greek), are one bread (by our partaking of the same loaf, which becomes assimilated to the substance of all our bodies; and so we become), one body" (with Christ, and so with one another).
...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The apostle was persuaded that the Roman Christians were filled with a kind and affectionate spirit, as well as with knowledge. He had written to remind them of their duties and their dangers, because God had appointed him the minister of Christ to the Gentiles. Paul preached to them; but what made them sacrifices to God, was, their sanctification; not his work, but the work o...
Read full commentary →If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If in this life only we have hope in Christ</strong> (εἰ ἐν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ ἐν Χριστῷ ἠλπικότες ἐσμέν μόνον)—The perfect participle <em>ēlpikotes</em> (ἠλπικότες, "having hoped") with <em>monon</em> (μόνον, "only") indicates hope confined to earthly existence. If Christianity offers merely improved mortality—better ethics, religious feelings, community—without defeating death, it's pathetic.<...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. Israel after the flesh--**the literal, as distinguished from the spiritual, Israel (Ro 2:29; 4:1; 9:3; Ga 4:29).
**partakers of the altar--**and so of God, whose is the altar; they have fellowship in God and His worship, of which the altar is the symbol.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The apostle was persuaded that the Roman Christians were filled with a kind and affectionate spirit, as well as with knowledge. He had written to remind them of their duties and their dangers, because God had appointed him the minister of Christ to the Gentiles. Paul preached to them; but what made them sacrifices to God, was, their sanctification; not his work, but the work o...
Read full commentary →But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But now is Christ risen from the dead</strong> (Νυνὶ δὲ Χριστὸς ἐγήγερται ἐκ νεκρῶν)—The emphatic <em>nyni</em> (Νυνί, "But now!") signals the glorious turn from reductio ad absurdum to triumphant affirmation. The perfect tense <em>egēgertai</em> (ἐγήγερται) indicates completed action with ongoing results: Christ was raised and remains risen. This is historical fact, not wishful thinking. ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **But now . . .**—From the hopeless and ghastly conclusion in which the hypothetical propositions of the previous verse would logically land us, the Apostle turns, with the consciousness of truth, to the hopeful faith to which a belief in the resurrection leads. It cannot be so. Now *is* Christ risen from the dead. And that is no isolated fact. As the firstfruits were typical of the whole har...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-20. What say I then?--**The inference might be drawn from the analogies of the Lord's Supper and Jewish sacrifices, that an idol is really what the heathen thought it to be, a god, and that in eating idol-meats they had fellowship with the god. This verse guards against such an inference: "What would I say then? that a thing sacrificed to an idol is any real thing (in the sense that the heath...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The apostle was persuaded that the Roman Christians were filled with a kind and affectionate spirit, as well as with knowledge. He had written to remind them of their duties and their dangers, because God had appointed him the minister of Christ to the Gentiles. Paul preached to them; but what made them sacrifices to God, was, their sanctification; not his work, but the work o...
Read full commentary →For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
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<strong>For since by man came death</strong> (ἐπειδὴ γὰρ δι' ἀνθρώπου θάνατος)—Paul introduces Adam-Christ typology, developed further in Romans 5:12-21. The preposition <em>dia</em> (διά, "through, by means of") indicates agency—death entered human experience <em>through</em> Adam's sin (Genesis 3:19, Romans 5:12). <em>Thanatos</em> (θάνατος, "death") encompasses physical death, spiritual separat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **For since by man . . .**—The image of the firstfruits is followed up by an explanation of the unity of Christ and Humanity. The firstfruit must be a sample of the same kind as that which it represents. That condition is fulfilled in the case of the firstfruits of the resurrection.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-20. What say I then?--**The inference might be drawn from the analogies of the Lord's Supper and Jewish sacrifices, that an idol is really what the heathen thought it to be, a god, and that in eating idol-meats they had fellowship with the god. This verse guards against such an inference: "What would I say then? that a thing sacrificed to an idol is any real thing (in the sense that the heath...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-21**
The apostle was persuaded that the Roman Christians were filled with a kind and affectionate spirit, as well as with knowledge. He had written to remind them of their duties and their dangers, because God had appointed him the minister of Christ to the Gentiles. Paul preached to them; but what made them sacrifices to God, was, their sanctification; not his work, but the work o...
Read full commentary →For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For as in Adam all die</strong> (ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντες ἀποθνῄσκουσιν)—The phrase <em>en tō Adam</em> ("in Adam") indicates federal headship and representative union. All humanity is <em>in Adam</em>—connected to him as branches to root, represented by him as citizens by ruler. His sin becomes ours; his death penalty we inherit. The present tense <em>apothnēskousin</em> (ἀποθνῄσκουσιν...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **As in Adam . . .**—Better, *as in the Adam all die, so in the Christ shall all be made alive.* The first Adam and the second Adam here stand as the heads of Humanity. All that is fleshly in our nature is inherited from the Adam; in every true son of God it is dying daily, and will ultimately die altogether. All that is spiritual in our nature we inherit from the Christ; it is immortal, is r...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord--**really and spiritually; though ye may outwardly (1Ki 18:21).
**cup of devils--**in contrast to the cup of the Lord. At idol feasts libations were usually made from the cup to the idol first, and then the guests drank; so that in drinking they had fellowship with the idol.
**the Lord's table--**The Lord's Supper is a feast on a table, not a sacrifice...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-29**
The apostle sought the things of Christ more than his own will, and would not leave his work of planting churches to go to Rome. It concerns all to do that first which is most needful. We must not take it ill if our friends prefer work which is pleasing to God, before visits and compliments, which may please us. It is justly expected from all Christians, that they should promo...
Read full commentary →But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But every man in his own order</strong> (Ἕκαστος δὲ ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ τάγματι)—The word <em>tagma</em> (τάγμα) is military terminology meaning "rank, division, order of battle." Paul envisions resurrection as sequential military campaign, not single event. God's redemptive plan unfolds in ordered stages, not chaos. The phrase <strong>every man</strong> (<em>hekastos</em>, ἕκαστος) indicates indiv...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **But every man in his own order.**—Or, literally, *in his own troop.* There is to be a sequence in the resurrection of the dead, and St. Paul explains this by the three groups:—(1) Christ Himself, the firstfruits; (2) the faithful in Christ at His coming; (3) all the rest of mankind at the end, when the final judgment takes place. The interval between these latter two, as to its duration, or...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?--**by dividing our fellowship between Him and idols (Eze 20:39). Is it our wish to provoke Him to assert His power? De 32:21 is before the apostle's mind [Alford], (Ex 20:5).
**are we stronger?--**that we can risk a contest with Him.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-29**
The apostle sought the things of Christ more than his own will, and would not leave his work of planting churches to go to Rome. It concerns all to do that first which is most needful. We must not take it ill if our friends prefer work which is pleasing to God, before visits and compliments, which may please us. It is justly expected from all Christians, that they should promo...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then cometh the end</strong> (εἶτα τὸ τέλος)—The word <em>telos</em> (τέλος) means "end, goal, completion, consummation." This is the eschaton, the end of the current age and the inauguration of the eternal state. The sequence is: (1) Christ's resurrection, (2) believers' resurrection at the parousia, (3) the end/consummation.<br><br><strong>When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to G...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24-28) **When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father**.—The Apostle carries on the thought of a triumph which the use of the word “troop” in the previous verse had commenced or suggested. There rises before the prophetic vision of St. Paul the final triumph of Christ over all evil, over all power, and the Son giving up to the Father (not His humanity, which is “for ever an...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. All things are lawful for me, &c.--**Recurring to the Corinthian plea (1Co 6:12), he repeats his qualification of it. The oldest manuscripts omit both times "for me."
**edify not--**tend not to build up the spiritual temple, the Church, in faith and love. Paul does not appeal to the apostolic decision (Ac 15:1-29), which seems to have been not so much regarded outside of Palestine, but...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-29**
The apostle sought the things of Christ more than his own will, and would not leave his work of planting churches to go to Rome. It concerns all to do that first which is most needful. We must not take it ill if our friends prefer work which is pleasing to God, before visits and compliments, which may please us. It is justly expected from all Christians, that they should promo...
Read full commentary →For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For he must reign</strong> (δεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν βασιλεύειν)—The verb <em>dei</em> (δεῖ, "it is necessary, must") indicates divine necessity, not mere possibility. Christ's reign is God's ordained plan, fulfilling Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-16). The present infinitive <em>basileuein</em> (βασιλεύειν, "to reign") indicates ongoing royal authority.<br><br><strong>Till he hath put all enemies u...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **He must reign.**—It is a moral consequence. God must triumph, and so the Son must reign and conquer till that triumph be complete. Some suggest that the force of these words is that He must reign, &c., because it has been prophesied (Ps. ex.); but the more obvious truth is that it was prophesied because it is morally necessary.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
24. (1Co 10:33; 1Co 13:5; Ro 15:1, 2).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-29**
The apostle sought the things of Christ more than his own will, and would not leave his work of planting churches to go to Rome. It concerns all to do that first which is most needful. We must not take it ill if our friends prefer work which is pleasing to God, before visits and compliments, which may please us. It is justly expected from all Christians, that they should promo...
Read full commentary →The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
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<strong>The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death</strong> (ἔσχατος ἐχθρὸς καταργεῖται ὁ θάνατος)—The word <em>eschatos</em> (ἔσχατος, "last") indicates death is the final enemy remaining after all others are defeated. The present passive verb <em>katargeitai</em> (καταργεῖται, "is being destroyed, nullified") can be translated as futuristic present—death's destruction is so certain Paul wri...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**25. shambles--**butchers' stalls; the flesh market.
**asking no question--**whether it has been offered to an idol or not.
**for conscience' sake--**If on asking you should hear it had been offered to idols, a scruple would arise in your conscience which was needless, and never would have arisen had you asked no questions.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-29**
The apostle sought the things of Christ more than his own will, and would not leave his work of planting churches to go to Rome. It concerns all to do that first which is most needful. We must not take it ill if our friends prefer work which is pleasing to God, before visits and compliments, which may please us. It is justly expected from all Christians, that they should promo...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For he hath put all things under his feet</strong> (πάντα γὰρ ὑπέταξεν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ)—Paul quotes Psalm 8:6, originally about humanity's dominion in creation (Genesis 1:28). The verb <em>hypotassō</em> (ὑποτάσσω, "to subject, subordinate") indicates God's action placing all things under Christ's authority. Hebrews 2:6-9 uses the same psalm to show Christ as true human, fulfilling Ad...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **For he hath put all things under his feet.**—1Corinthians 15:26 is a parenthesis, and the “for” with which this verse commences goes back to 1Corinthians 15:25. The connection is, Christ must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. Christ must triumph, *for* according to the statement in Psalm 8:6 (see also Psalm 110:1), God hath put all things under man, and in a higher sense un...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
26. The ground on which such eating without questioning is justified is, the earth and all its contents ("the fulness thereof," Psa 20:1; 50:12), including all meats, belong to the Lord, and are appointed for our use; and where conscience suggests no scruple, all are to be eaten (Ro 14:14, 20; 1Ti 4:4, 5; compare Ac 10:15).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-29**
The apostle sought the things of Christ more than his own will, and would not leave his work of planting churches to go to Rome. It concerns all to do that first which is most needful. We must not take it ill if our friends prefer work which is pleasing to God, before visits and compliments, which may please us. It is justly expected from all Christians, that they should promo...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And when all things shall be subdued unto him</strong> (ὅταν δὲ ὑποταγῇ αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα)—The aorist passive subjunctive <em>hypotagē</em> (ὑποταγῇ, "shall be subjected") indicates future certainty. Christ's victory over all hostile powers is guaranteed, not merely possible. The phrase <em>ta panta</em> ("all things") is comprehensive—nothing escapes Christ's lordship.<br><br><strong>Then sha...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **That God may be all in all.**—In these words are expressed the complete redemption both of the race and of the individual. It is the great and sublime conclusion to which the moral enthusiasm and the earnest logic of the previous argument has necessarily brought us.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. ye be disposed to go--**tacitly implying, they would be as well not to go, but yet not forbidding them to go (1Co 10:9) [Grotius]. The feast is not an idol feast, but a general entertainment, at which, however, there might be meat that had been offered to an idol.
**for conscience' sake--**(See on 1Co 10:25).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-29**
The apostle sought the things of Christ more than his own will, and would not leave his work of planting churches to go to Rome. It concerns all to do that first which is most needful. We must not take it ill if our friends prefer work which is pleasing to God, before visits and compliments, which may please us. It is justly expected from all Christians, that they should promo...
Read full commentary →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?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead?</strong> (Ἐπεὶ τί ποιήσουσιν οἱ βαπτιζόμενοι ὑπὲρ τῶν νεκρῶν;)—This is one of the New Testament's most puzzling verses. The phrase <em>baptizomenoi hyper tōn nekrōn</em> (βαπτιζόμενοι ὑπὲρ τῶν νεκρῶν, "being baptized on behalf of the dead") has spawned dozens of interpretations. Paul likely references a Corinthian practice ("they," n...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Else.**—We can well imagine the Apostle pausing, as it were, to take breath after the splendid outburst of mingled rhetoric and logic which we find in 1Corinthians 15:23-28; or perhaps even postponing until some other day the further dictation of his Epistle, when he could calmly resume his purely logical argument in favour of the doctrine of the Resurrection. Then there will not appear suc...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28. if any man--**a weak Christian at table, wishing to warn his brother.
**offered in sacrifice unto idols--**The oldest manuscripts omit "unto idols." At a heathen's table the expression, offensive to him, would naturally be avoided.
**for conscience' sake--**not to cause a stumbling-block to the conscience of thy weak brother (1Co 8:10-12).
**for the earth is the Lord's, &c.--**not ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 22-29**
The apostle sought the things of Christ more than his own will, and would not leave his work of planting churches to go to Rome. It concerns all to do that first which is most needful. We must not take it ill if our friends prefer work which is pleasing to God, before visits and compliments, which may please us. It is justly expected from all Christians, that they should promo...
Read full commentary →And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
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<strong>And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?</strong> (τί καὶ ἡμεῖς κινδυνεύομεν πᾶσαν ὥραν;)—Paul shifts from "they" (v. 29) to "we"—now he's speaking of apostolic experience. The verb <em>kindyneuomen</em> (κινδυνεύομεν, "we are in danger") indicates constant peril. The phrase <em>pasan hōran</em> (πᾶσαν ὥραν, "every hour") emphasizes unrelenting danger—not occasional persecution but daily t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **And why stand we in jeopardy** **every hour**?—This is the same kind of argument now applied to the Apostles themselves. Their conduct also would be illogical if they did not believe in a resurrection. Notice the strong contrast between “them,” in the previous verse, and “we” in this verse.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. Conscience ... of the other--**the weak brother introduced in 1Co 10:28.
**for why is my liberty judged off another man's conscience?--**Paul passes to the first person, to teach his converts by putting himself as it were in their position. The Greek terms for "the other" and "another" are distinct. "The other" is the one with whom Paul's and his Corinthian converts' concern is; "another" ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-33**
Let us learn to value the effectual fervent prayers of the righteous. How careful should we be, lest we forfeit our interest in the love and prayers of God's praying people! If we have experienced the Spirit's love, let us not be wanting in this office of kindness for others. Those that would prevail in prayer, must strive in prayer. Those who beg the prayers of others, must n...
Read full commentary →I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily . your: some read, our
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord</strong> (καθ' ἡμέραν ἀποθνῄσκω, νὴ τὴν ὑμετέραν καύχησιν, ἀδελφοί, ἣν ἔχω ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν)—The phrase <em>nē tēn hymeteran kauchēsin</em> (νὴ τὴν ὑμετέραν καύχησιν) is an oath formula, "I swear by your boasting/rejoicing." Paul takes an oath by his legitimate pride in the Corinthian church—they are his <em>kau...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **I** **protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus.**—Better, *I protest by your boast* *which I have in Christ Jesus.* His converts are his boasting (2Corinthians 9:3), and by the fact that they are his in the Lord, he utters the solemn assertion, “I die daily.” Such a life as St. Paul’s, both as regards the spiritual battles in his own soul and the ceaseless conflict with enemie...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**30. For--**The oldest manuscripts omit "For."
**by grace--**rather, "thankfully" [Alford].
**I ... be partaker--**I partake of the food set before me.
**evil spoken of--**by him who does not use his liberty, but will eat nothing without scrupulosity and questioning whence the meat comes.
**give thanks--**which consecrates all the Christian's acts (Ro 14:6; 1Ti 4:3, 4).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-33**
Let us learn to value the effectual fervent prayers of the righteous. How careful should we be, lest we forfeit our interest in the love and prayers of God's praying people! If we have experienced the Spirit's love, let us not be wanting in this office of kindness for others. Those that would prevail in prayer, must strive in prayer. Those who beg the prayers of others, must n...
Read full commentary →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. after: or, to speak after the manner of men
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus</strong> (εἰ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον ἐθηριομάχησα ἐν Ἐφέσῳ)—The verb <em>ethērioachēsa</em> (ἐθηριομάχησα, "I fought with wild beasts") could be literal gladiatorial combat or metaphorical for brutal opposition. The phrase <em>kata anthrōpon</em> ("according to human perspective, for human motives") suggests the latter—Paul faced savage...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **If after the manner of** **men . . .**—These words imply here, as elsewhere (1Corinthians 3:3), “merely from a human point of view.” What is the advantage or necessity of my incurring daily risks, if I am merely a human being, with a life limited by what we see, and no immortality and resurrection awaiting me?
**I have fought with beasts at Ephesus.**—The question here arises, Are these wor...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
31. Contrast Zec 7:6; the picture of worldly men. The godly may "eat and drink," and it shall be well with him (Jr 22:15, 16).
**to the glory of God--**(Col 3:17; 1Pe 4:11)--which involves our having regard to the edification of our neighbor.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-33**
Let us learn to value the effectual fervent prayers of the righteous. How careful should we be, lest we forfeit our interest in the love and prayers of God's praying people! If we have experienced the Spirit's love, let us not be wanting in this office of kindness for others. Those that would prevail in prayer, must strive in prayer. Those who beg the prayers of others, must n...
Read full commentary →Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners</strong> (Μὴ πλανᾶσθε· φθείρουσιν ἤθη χρηστὰ ὁμιλίαι κακαί)—Paul quotes Greek poet Menander's comedy *Thais* (4th century BC), showing his cultural literacy. The verb <em>planaō</em> (πλανάω, "deceive, lead astray") warns against intellectual seduction. <em>Homiliai kakai</em> (ὁμιλίαι κακαί, "evil associations, bad company") refers...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **Be** **not deceived.**—The previous words are spoken with sarcasm. *That* is what you must come to if this life be all. The solemn thought then occurs to the Apostle that perhaps these words do only too truly describe the actual state of some of the Corinthians. They had become tainted by the bad moral atmosphere in which they lived and which was impregnated with the teaching of that false ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**32. Give none offence--**in things indifferent (1Co 8:13; Ro 14:13; 2Co 6:3); for in all essential things affecting Christian doctrine and practice, even in the smallest detail, we must not swerve from principle, whatever offense may be the result (1Co 1:23). Giving offense is unnecessary, if our own spirit cause it; necessary, if it be caused by the truth.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 30-33**
Let us learn to value the effectual fervent prayers of the righteous. How careful should we be, lest we forfeit our interest in the love and prayers of God's praying people! If we have experienced the Spirit's love, let us not be wanting in this office of kindness for others. Those that would prevail in prayer, must strive in prayer. Those who beg the prayers of others, must n...
Read full commentary →Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Awake to righteousness, and sin not</strong> (ἐκνήψατε δικαίως καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε)—The verb <em>eknēpsate</em> (ἐκνήψατε, "sober up, wake up") uses metaphor of drunkenness—the Corinthians are intoxicated with false teaching, need to sober up. The adverb <em>dikaiōs</em> (δικαίως, "righteously, justly") indicates moral awakening, not merely intellectual clarity. The present imperative <em>mē...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(34) **Awake to righteousness, and sin not.**—Literally, *Awake to soberness in a righteous manner,* With this earnest call to arouse from the sleep of indulgence and of death, the Apostle completes this section of the chapter, and the direct proofs of the doctrine of the resurrection. The exhortation is needed, for there are some who call themselves Christians and still have “an ignorance” regard...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**33. I please--**I try to please (1Co 9:19, 22; Ro 15:2).
**not seeking mine own--**(1Co 10:24).
**many--**rather as Greek, "THE many."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →The Resurrection Body
But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But some man will say, How are the dead raised up?</strong> (Ἀλλὰ ἐρεῖ τις, Πῶς ἐγείρονται οἱ νεκροί;)—Paul anticipates the skeptic's objection: resurrection is mechanistically impossible. The verb <em>egeirontai</em> (ἐγείρονται, "are raised") uses passive voice—God raises the dead; they don't self-resurrect. The question <em>pōs</em> (πῶς, "how") demands mechanism, process, explanation.<...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(35) **But some man will say, How are the** **dead raised up?**—The proof of the truth of the doctrine of the resurrection is concluded in the last verse. The truth of it is, in the early part of this chapter, maintained—(1) by the historical fact of Christ’s resurrection; (2) by a *reductio ad absurdum,* showing the consequences logically involved in a denial of it; (3) by an *argumentum ad homin...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou fool</strong> (ἄφρον)—The word <em>aphrōn</em> (ἄφρων, "senseless, foolish") is harsh but not cruel. In Hebrew wisdom literature, the <em>fool</em> is morally and intellectually deficient, refusing God's truth (Psalm 14:1). Paul's rebuke targets willful blindness to observable natural analogies that answer the objection.<br><br><strong>That which thou sowest is not quickened, except i...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(36) **Thou** **fool.**—Better, *Fool,* or more literally, *Senseless one.* The word in the Greek has not the sense of opprobrium conveyed in the word translated “fool” in Matthew 5:22; Matthew 23:17; Matthew 23:19. You who with your own hand sow seed, ask such a question as that! The Apostle now proceeds to show, by the analogies in Nature, how a resurrection of a body is possible, how substantia...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 11
1Co 11:1-34. Censure on Disorders in Their Assemblies: Their Women Not Being Veiled, and Abuses at the Love-Feasts.
1. Rather belonging to the end of the tenth chapter, than to this chapter.
**followers--**Greek, "imitators."
**of Christ--**who did not please Himself (Ro 15:3); but gave Himself, at the cost of laying aside His divine glory, and dying as man, for us (Ep 5:2; Php ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →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:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be</strong> (καὶ ὃ σπείρεις, οὐ τὸ σῶμα τὸ γενησόμενον σπείρεις)—Paul emphasizes radical transformation. The seed you plant (<em>speireis</em>, σπείρεις) is not the plant that will emerge (<em>to sōma to genesomenon</em>, τὸ σῶμα τὸ γενησόμενον, "the body that will come into being"). An acorn looks nothing like an oak; a grai...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(37, 38) **God giveth** **it a** **body.**—Here it is implied that, though the seed grows up, as we say, “in the ordinary course of Nature,” it is God who not only has originally established but continually sustains that order. Each seed rises with its own “body;” a corn seed grows up into corn, an acorn into an oak. All through this passage the word “body” is used in a general sense for “organism...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
2. Here the chapter ought to begin.
**ye remember me in all things--**in your general practice, though in the particular instances which follow ye fail.
**ordinances--**Greek, "traditions," that is, apostolic directions given by word of mouth or in writing (1Co 11:23; 15:3; 2Th 2:15). The reference here is mainly to ceremonies: for in 1Co 11:23, as to the Lord's Supper, which is not a mere cer...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him</strong> (ὁ δὲ θεὸς δίδωσιν αὐτῷ σῶμα καθὼς ἠθέλησεν)—The verb <em>didōsin</em> (δίδωσιν, "gives") is present tense, indicating God's ongoing creative activity in every seed's germination. God sovereignly determines (<em>kathōs ēthelēsen</em>, καθὼς ἠθέλησεν, "according as He willed") each seed's form. The resurrection body isn't chance produ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
3. The Corinthian women, on the ground of the abolition of distinction of sexes in Christ, claimed equality with the male sex, and, overstepping the bounds of propriety, came forward to pray and prophesy without the customary head-covering of females. The Gospel, doubtless, did raise women from the degradation in which they had been sunk, especially in the East. Yet, while on a level with males as...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>All flesh is not the same flesh</strong> (οὐ πᾶσα σὰρξ ἡ αὐτὴ σάρξ)—Paul expands from plants to animals, demonstrating God's creative diversity. The word <em>sarx</em> (σάρξ, "flesh") refers to material embodiment. The fourfold classification—<strong>one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds</strong>—demonstrates that physical embodiment tak...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(39) **All flesh is not the same flesh.**—Better, *There is no flesh the same flesh.* All organisms have the same basis; there is a “structural unit” in all animal life; but God gives this a vast variety of form in man, in beast, in fish. The same divine prescience which gives to all flesh here the form suited to its condition and surroundings can give hereafter another form to it suitable to the ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. praying--**in public (1Co 11:17).
**prophesying--**preaching in the Spirit (1Co 12:10).
**having--**that is, if he were to have: a supposed case to illustrate the impropriety in the woman's case. It was the Greek custom (and so that at Corinth) for men in worship to be uncovered; whereas the Jews wore the Talith, or veil, to show reverence before God, and their unworthiness to look on Him...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial</strong> (καὶ σώματα ἐπουράνια, καὶ σώματα ἐπίγεια)—Paul extends analogy from earthly life to cosmic bodies. <em>Epourania sōmata</em> (ἐπουράνια σώματα, "heavenly bodies") refers to sun, moon, stars; <em>epigeia sōmata</em> (ἐπίγεια σώματα, "earthly bodies") to humans and animals. The word <em>sōma</em> (σῶμα, "body") applies to both...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(40) **There are also celestial bodies, and bodies** **terrestrial.**—It is held by many that this is a distinct illustration from that which occurs in the next verse, and that the “celestial bodies” here spoken of are the bodies of angels, whose appearances on earth are accompanied (see Matthew 28:3; Acts 12:7) by a blaze of glory or light. It is better, perhaps, to regard it as a general stateme...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. woman ... prayeth ... prophesieth--**This instance of women speaking in public worship is an extraordinary case, and justified only by the miraculous gifts which such women possessed as their credentials; for instance, Anna the prophetess and Priscilla (so Ac 2:18). The ordinary rule to them is: silence in public (1Co 14:34, 35; 1Ti 2:11, 12). Mental receptivity and activity in family life ar...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars</strong> (ἄλλη δόξα ἡλίου, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα σελήνης, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων)—Paul distinguishes even within celestial bodies. Sun, moon, stars all have <em>doxa</em> (δόξα, "glory"), but different <em>doxa</em>. The sun's brilliance exceeds the moon's reflected light; stars' twinkling differs from both...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(41) **For one star . . .**—Better, *for star differeth from star in glory.* It is not only that the heavenly bodies differ from earthly, but they differ from each other—sun from moon, moon from stars. And there is a further variety still—even amid the stars themselves there is variety. The word “glory” is naturally used as intimating the aspect in which the difference of the heavenly bodies strik...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6. A woman would not like to be "shorn" or (what is worse) "shaven"; but if she chooses to be uncovered (unveiled) in front, let her be so also behind, that is, "shorn."
**a shame--**an unbecoming thing (compare 1Co 11:13-15). Thus the shaving of nuns is "a shame."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So also is the resurrection of the dead</strong> (οὕτως καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις τῶν νεκρῶν)—Paul applies the analogies (vv. 36-41) to resurrection. The word <em>houtōs</em> (οὕτως, "so, thus, in this manner") indicates the seed-plant and terrestrial-celestial comparisons explain resurrection. What follows are four contrasts describing transformation from earthly to resurrection body.<br><br><stron...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(42) **So also is the resurrection of the dead.**—Here follows the application of these analogies to the subject in hand. As there is in the vegetable growth, in the varieties of animal life, and in the diversities of form assumed by inorganic matter, an identity preserved amid ever-varying form or variety of “body,” so a change in the form or glory of our organism which we call our “body” is comp...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. Argument, also, from man's more immediate relation to God, and the woman's to man.
**he is ... image ... glory of God--**being created in God's "image," first and directly: the woman, subsequently, and indirectly, through the mediation of man. Man is the representative of God's "glory" this ideal of man being realized most fully in the Son of man (Psa 8:4, 5; compare 2Co 8:23). Man is decla...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory</strong> (σπείρεται ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ, ἐγείρεται ἐν δόξῃ)—The word <em>atimia</em> (ἀτιμία, "dishonor, humiliation, disgrace") describes the indignity of death and burial—bodily functions cease, decay begins, corpse must be hidden in earth. <em>Doxa</em> (δόξα, "glory, radiance, splendor") describes resurrection body sharing Christ's glory (Philippian...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. Argument, also, from man's more immediate relation to God, and the woman's to man.
**he is ... image ... glory of God--**being created in God's "image," first and directly: the woman, subsequently, and indirectly, through the mediation of man. Man is the representative of God's "glory" this ideal of man being realized most fully in the Son of man (Psa 8:4, 5; compare 2Co 8:23). Man is decla...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body</strong> (σπείρεται σῶμα ψυχικόν, ἐγείρεται σῶμα πνευματικόν)—This is the crucial contrast. The word <em>psychikon</em> (ψυχικόν, "natural, soulish") derives from <em>psychē</em> (ψυχή, "soul, life, natural life"). <em>Sōma psychikon</em> describes the body animated by <em>psychē</em>, natural life suitable for earthly existence—requ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(44) **It is sown a natural body.**—Here is a further and different application of the three analogies. It is not only that there is a variety of body in these illustrations, but there is also an adaptability. The “body” which a plant has when it is in the form of seed is suited to the condition in which seed is placed; the “body” which it has when grown into a plant is suited to the changed condi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. Argument, also, from man's more immediate relation to God, and the woman's to man.
**he is ... image ... glory of God--**being created in God's "image," first and directly: the woman, subsequently, and indirectly, through the mediation of man. Man is the representative of God's "glory" this ideal of man being realized most fully in the Son of man (Psa 8:4, 5; compare 2Co 8:23). Man is decla...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul</strong> (οὕτως καὶ γέγραπται, Ἐγένετο ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος Ἀδὰμ εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν)—Paul quotes Genesis 2:7 (LXX). God breathed <em>neshamah</em> (נְשָׁמָה, "breath of life") into Adam, who became <em>nephesh chayyah</em> (נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, "living soul/being"), <em>psychēn zōsan</em> (ψυχὴν ζῶσαν) in Greek. Adam's life was <em>psychi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(45) **And so it is written.**—Better, *And so it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul: the last Adam became a quickening spirit.* The quotation which follows here is from Genesis 2:7, and it is the latter part of that verse which is quoted. The Rabbinical explanation of that passage was—that God breathed into man the breath of life originally, but that man became (not “was made”) o...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. power on her head--**the kerchief: French couvre chef, head-covering, the emblem of "power on her head"; the sign of her being under man's power, and exercising delegated authority under him. Paul had before his mind the root-connection between the Hebrew terms for "veil" (radid), and "subjection" (radad).
**because of the angels--**who are present at our Christian assemblies (compare Psa ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural</strong> (ἀλλ' οὐ πρῶτον τὸ πνευματικὸν ἀλλὰ τὸ ψυχικόν)—Paul establishes God's temporal order: <em>psychikon</em> ("natural") precedes <em>pneumatikon</em> ("spiritual"). This refutes any view that spiritual realm is inherently superior or prior to material creation. Creation begins with physical/natural realm (Genes...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(46) **Howbeit that was not first which is** **spiritual.**—Here a further thought is introduced. There is not only a variety of bodies—and that variety regulated by adaptability to their state of existence—but there is an ordered sequence in that variety. As the Adam was first from whom we derive the natural body and soul, and the Adam was last from whom comes our spiritual nature, so there will ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. Yet neither sex is insulated and independent of the other in the Christian life [Alford]. The one needs the other in the sexual relation; and in respect to Christ ("in the Lord"), the man and the woman together (for neither can be dispensed with) realize the ideal of redeemed humanity represented by the bride, the Church.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The first man is of the earth, earthy</strong> (ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος ἐκ γῆς χοϊκός)—The word <em>choikos</em> (χοϊκός, "dusty, made of dust") echoes Genesis 2:7: Adam formed from <em>aphar</em> (עָפָר, "dust"). <em>Ek gēs</em> (ἐκ γῆς, "from earth") indicates Adam's origin and nature—earthly, terrestrial, mortal. Humans in Adam share his earthy nature: mortal, subject to decay, limited to ear...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(47) **The second man is the Lord from heaven.**—Better, *the second man is from heaven.* The words “the Lord,” which occur in the English version, are not in the best Greek MSS. The word which is twice rendered “of” in this verse has the force of “from,” “originating from,” in the Greek. The first representative man was from the earth, the second representative man was from heaven; and as was the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. As the woman was formed out of (from) the man, even so is man born by means of woman; but all things (including both man and woman) are from God as their source (Ro 11:36; 2Co 5:18). They depend mutually each on the other, and both on him.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy</strong> (οἷος ὁ χοϊκός, τοιοῦτοι καὶ οἱ χοϊκοί)—The demonstrative pronouns <em>hoios</em> (οἷος, "such as") and <em>toioutoi</em> (τοιοῦτοι, "such, of such kind") indicate likeness and correspondence. All humanity "in Adam" shares his earthy, mortal nature. We bear his image (Genesis 5:3)—not merely physical resemblance but shared natur...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
13. Appeal to their own sense of decorum.
**a woman ... unto God--**By rejecting the emblem of subjection (the head-covering), she passes at one leap in praying publicly beyond both the man and angels [Bengel].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And as we have borne the image of the earthy</strong> (καὶ καθὼς ἐφορέσαμεν τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ)—The verb <em>ephoresamen</em> (ἐφορέσαμεν, "we bore, wore") uses clothing metaphor. <em>Eikōn</em> (εἰκόνα, "image") connects to Genesis 1:26-27—humans are created in God's image but after the fall bear Adam's fallen image: mortality, sinfulness, corruption. We've "worn" Adam's nature like a ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(49) **We shall also bear the image of the heavenly.**—Better, *let us bear also the image of the heavenly.* Such is the reading of the best MSS. The words transport the thoughts of the reader to the future glory, and, at the same moment, show a light on present duty. The resurrection life is to be begun in us even now. “If by any means we can attain to the resurrection of the dead” (2Corinthians ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14. The fact that nature has provided woman, and not man, with long hair, proves that man was designed to be uncovered, and woman covered. The Nazarite, however, wore long hair lawfully, as being part of a vow sanctioned by God (Nu 6:5). Compare as to Absalom, 2Sa 14:26, and Ac 18:18.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →Victory Over Death
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God</strong> (τοῦτο δέ φημι, ἀδελφοί, ὅτι σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύναται)—The phrase <em>sarx kai haima</em> (σὰρξ καὶ αἷμα, "flesh and blood") is Hebraic idiom for mortal human nature (Matthew 16:17, Galatians 1:16, Ephesians 6:12). Paul doesn't disparage embodiment but indicates present mor...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(50) **Now this I say.**—This is the phrase with which the Apostle is wont to introduce some statement of profound significance. (See 1Corinthians 1:12; 1Corinthians 7:29.) The statement so introduced here is that flesh and blood, being corruption, cannot enter into the heavenly state, which is incorruption. This is still part of the answer to the question, “With what bodies do they come?” but the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. her hair ... for a covering--**Not that she does not need additional covering. Nay, her long hair shows she ought to cover her head as much as possible. The will ought to accord with nature [Bengel].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, I shew you a mystery</strong> (ἰδοὺ μυστήριον ὑμῖν λέγω)—The word <em>mystērion</em> (μυστήριον, "mystery, secret") refers to truth previously hidden, now revealed by God (Romans 16:25, Ephesians 3:3-6). The imperative <em>idou</em> (ἰδού, "behold, look") demands attention. Paul unveils something startling: not all believers will die before resurrection.<br><br><strong>We shall not...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(51) **Behold, I shew you a mystery.**—It is better to take these words as referring to what follows rather than (as some have done) to the preceding statement. A mystery means something which up to this time has been kept concealed, but is now made manifest (Romans 11:25; Ephesians 3:3-5).
**We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be Changed.**—There are here a considerable variety of readings i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16. A summary close to the argument by appeal to the universal custom of the churches.
**if any ... seem--**The Greek also means "thinks" (fit) (compare Mt 3:9). If any man chooses (still after all my arguments) to be contentious. If any be contentious and thinks himself right in being so. A reproof of the Corinthians' self-sufficiency and disputatiousness (1Co 1:20).
**we--**apostles: or we o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye</strong> (ἐν ἀτόμῳ, ἐν ῥιπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ)—The phrase <em>en atomō</em> (ἐν ἀτόμῳ) means "in an indivisible unit of time, instantly"—the word <em>atomos</em> (ἄτομος) means "uncuttable," from which English "atom" derives. <em>En rhipē ophthalmou</em> (ἐν ῥιπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ, "in a twinkling of an eye") describes the fastest movement observable—an eye's blink. T...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(52) **The last trump.**—The trumpet was used to summon an assembly (Exodus 20:18; Psalm 81:3; Isaiah 18:3; Isaiah 27:13) or to sound a warning. The last trumpet is the one which concludes a series which have already been sounding at intervals in notes of warning to the nations (Psalm 47:5; Isaiah 27:13; Jeremiah 51:27). This verse states with reiterated emphasis that this change shall not be a pr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. in this--**which follows.
**I declare--**rather, "I enjoin"; as the Greek is always so used. The oldest manuscripts read literally "This I enjoin (you) not praising (you)."
**that--**inasmuch as; in that you, &c. Here he qualifies his praise (1Co 11:2). "I said that I praised you for keeping the ordinances delivered to you; but I must now give injunction in the name of the Lord, on a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For this corruptible must put on incorruption</strong> (δεῖ γὰρ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσασθαι ἀφθαρσίαν)—The verb <em>dei</em> (δεῖ, "it is necessary, must") indicates divine necessity. The clothing metaphor <em>endysasthai</em> (ἐνδύσασθαι, "to put on, clothe oneself") depicts transformation as putting on new garment over the old. <em>To phtharton</em> (τὸ φθαρτόν, "the corruptible") must b...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(53) **For this corruptible must . . .**—Here again is repeated the truth of 1Corinthians 15:50, which shows the absolute necessity for a change in the nature *of the* resurrection body. There is, however, an additional thought introduced here. Not only must the resurrection body be suited to the condition but also to the duration of the new life. As a spiritual body, it will be adapted to the nee...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. first of all--**In the first place. The "divisions" (Greek, "schisms") meant, are not merely those of opinion (1Co 1:10), but in outward acts at the love-feasts (Agapæ), (1Co 11:21). He does not follow up the expression, "in the first place," by "in the second place." But though not expressed, a second abuse was in his mind when he said, "In the first place," namely, THE ABUSE OF SPIRITUAL G...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality</strong> (ὅταν δὲ τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσηται ἀφθαρσίαν καὶ τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύσηται ἀθανασίαν)—The temporal conjunction <em>hotan</em> (ὅταν, "when, whenever") with aorist subjunctive indicates future certainty—not "if" but "when." Paul envisions the moment of transformation/resurrection...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(54) **So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption.**—The Apostle now transports himself in thought to the time when there shall be the actual accomplishment of that for which there then is this absolute and moral necessity. These words bring before us with vivid power the intensity of the Apostle’s own belief in what he is teaching.**
Death is swallowed up in victory.**—These words, o...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. heresies--**Not merely "schisms" or "divisions" (1Co 11:18), which are "recent dissensions of the congregation through differences of opinion" [Augustine, Con. Crescon. Don. 2.7, quoted by Trench, Greek Synonyms of the New Testament], but also "heresies," that is, "schisms which have now become inveterate"; "Sects" [Campbell, vol. 2, pp. 126, 127]: so Ac 5:17; 15:5 translate the same Greek. ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? grave: or, hell
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?</strong> (ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέντρον; ποῦ σου, ᾅδη, τὸ νῖκος;)—Paul quotes Hosea 13:14, transforming it from threat to taunt. The word <em>kentron</em> (κέντρον, "sting, goad") refers to a scorpion's or insect's venomous stinger—death's power to kill. The word <em>nikos</em> (νῖκος, "victory") in manuscripts varies with <em>Hadēs...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(55) **O death, where is thy sting?**—In the prophet Hosea, where these words originally occur, the passage reads thus—“Where is thy victory, O death? Where is thy sting, O hell?”—the word “hell” referring, not to the place of torment, but to the Hades of departed spirits. This difference between St. Paul’s words and those of the prophet has given rise to a variety of readings in the Greek text he...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. When ... therefore--**Resuming the thread of discourse from 1Co 11:18.
**this is not to--**rather, "there is no such thing as eating the Lord's Supper"; it is not possible where each is greedily intent only on devouring "HIS OWN supper," and some are excluded altogether, not having been waited for (1Co 11:33), where some are "drunken," while others are "hungry" (1Co 11:21). The love-feast ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The sting of death is sin</strong> (τὸ δὲ κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου ἡ ἁμαρτία)—Paul explains death's venom: <em>hamartia</em> (ἁμαρτία, "sin"). Death's power derives from sin—"the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23, Genesis 2:17). Sin gives death its lethal authority. Without sin, death has no claim on humanity. Christ's atonement removes sin, thus neutralizing death's sting. Justified believer...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(56) **The sting of death is sin.**—Death is pictured as a monster, and it is armed with a sting. Its sting is sin. If there were no sin, death would not be capable of inflicting pain, and the strength of sin springs from the fact that it is the violation of God’s law. (See this thought fully brought out, Romans 5:12; Romans 7:7.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. one taketh before other--**the rich "before" the poor, who had no supper of their own. Instead of "tarrying for one another" (1Co 11:33); hence the precept (1Co 12:21, 25).
**his own supper--**"His own" belly is his God (Php 3:19); "the Lord's Supper," the spiritual feast, never enters his thoughts.
**drunken--**The one has more than is good for him, the other less [Bengel].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ</strong> (τῷ δὲ θεῷ χάρις τῷ διδόντι ἡμῖν τὸ νῖκος διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ)—The word <em>charis</em> (χάρις, "grace, thanks") is doxological exclamation. The present participle <em>didonti</em> (διδόντι, "giving") indicates God's ongoing gift of victory—not merely past or future but present reality. T...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(57) **But thanks be to** **God.**—The future is so certain that the Apostle speaks of it as a subject for present thanksgiving; the victory is one which God gives now through Jesus Christ. His resurrection is the pledge of our resurrection. His death is the power by which we are enabled to conquer that lower self, from whose crucifixion and death we shall rise to the higher incorruptible life of ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**22. What!--**Greek, "For."
**houses--**(compare 1Co 11:34)--"at home." That is the place to satiate the appetite, not the assembly of the brethren [Alford].
**despise ye the church of God--**the congregation mostly composed of the poor, whom "God hath chosen," however ye show contempt for them (Jas 2:5); compare "of God" here, marking the true honor of the Church.
**shame them that have no...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore, my beloved brethren</strong> (Ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου ἀγαπητοί)—The conjunction <em>hōste</em> (Ὥστε, "therefore, so then") draws practical conclusion from resurrection doctrine (vv. 1-57). The affectionate address <em>adelphoi mou agapētoi</em> (ἀδελφοί μου ἀγαπητοί, "my beloved brothers") shows pastoral warmth after intense theological argument.<br><br><strong>Be ye stedfast, unmove...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(58) **Therefore.**—Because all this is so—because there is a life hereafter—let this life here be worthy of it. You might grow weak and faint-hearted if you could think that all your work for God and truth here might be wasted; but it is not so. It cannot be “in vain if it be “in the Lord.” It is very striking and very expressive of the real spirit of the gospel that a chapter which leads us step...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
23. His object is to show the unworthiness of such conduct from the dignity of the holy supper.
**I--**Emphatic in the Greek. It is not my own invention, but the Lord's institution.
**received of the Lord--**by immediate revelation (Ga 1:12; compare Ac 22:17, 18; 2Co 12:1-4). The renewal of the institution of the Lord's Supper by special revelation to Paul enhances its solemnity. The similarit...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 15
Chapter Outline
Directions how to behave towards the weak.(1-7)
All to receive one another as brethren.(8-13)
The writing and preaching of the apostle.(14-21)
His purposed journeys.(22-29)
He requests their prayers.(30-33)
**Verses 1-7**
Christian liberty was allowed, not for our pleasure, but for the glory of God, and the good of others. We must please our...
Read full commentary →