TEXT.

28 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.

29 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?

30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

31 I protest, by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

32 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.

33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

PARAPHRASE.

28 excepted, who did subject all things to him. But when all things shall be actually reduced under subjection to him, then, even the Son himself, i. e. Christ and his whole kingdom, he and all his subjects and members, shall be subjected to him, that gave him this kingdom, and universal dominion, that 29 God may immediately govern and influence all. Else, what 30 shall they do, who are baptized for the dead? And why do 31 we venture our lives continually? As to myself, I am exposed,

vilified, treated so, that I die daily. And for this I call to witness your glorying against me, in which I really glory, as 32 coming on me for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake. And particularly, to what purpose did I suffer myself to be exposed to wild beasts at Ephesus, if the dead rise not? If there be no resurrection, it is wiser a great deal to preserve ourselves, as long as we can, in a free enjoyment of all the pleasures of this life; for when death comes, as it shortly will, there is an 33 end of us for ever. Take heed that you be not misled by such discourses: for evil communication is apt to corrupt 34 even good minds. Awake from such dreams, as it is fit you should, and give not yourselves up sinfully to the enjoyments

NOTES.

29 "Else," here relates to ver. 20, where it is said, "Christ is risen:" St. Paul having, in that verse, mentioned Christ being the first-fruits from the dead, takes occasion from thence, now that he is upon the resurrection, to inform the Corinthians of several particularities, relating to the resurrection, which might enlighten them about it, and could not be known but by revelation. Having made this excursion, in the eight preceding verses, he here, in the 29th, reassumes the thread of his discourse, and goes on with his arguments for believing the resurrection.

f What this baptising for the dead was, I confess I know not: but it seems, by the following verses, to be something wherein they exposed themselves to the danger of death.

TEXT.

35 But some man will say, "How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?"

36 Thou fool! that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. 37 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. 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

39 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.

PARAPHRASE.

of this life. For there are some atheistical people among 35 you: this I say to make you ashamed. But possibly it will be asked, "How comes it to pass, that dead men are raised, and with what kind of bodies do they come? Shall they have, at the resurrection, such bodies as they have now?" 36 Thou fool! does not daily experience teach thee, that the

h

seed, which thou sowest, corrupts and dies, before it springs 37 up and lives again? That, which thou sowest, is the bare grain, of wheat, or barley, or the like; but the body, which it has, when it rises up, is different from the seed that is sown. 38 For it is not the seed, that rises up again, but a quite different body, such as God has thought fit to give it, viz. a plant, of a particular shape and size, which God has appointed to each 39 sort of seed. And so, likewise, it is in animals; there are different kinds of fleshi: for the flesh of men is of one kind;

NOTES.

34 May not this, probably, be said to make them ashamed of their leader, whom they were so forward to glory in? For it is not unlikely, that their questioning, and denying the resurrection, came from their new apostle, who raised such opposition against St. Paul.

35 b If we will allow St. Paul to know what he says, it is plain, from what he answers, that he understands these words to contain two questions: First, How comes it to pass, that dead men are raised to life again? Would it not be better they should live on? Why do they die to live again? Secondly, With what bodies shall they return to life? To both these he distinctly answers, viz. That those, who are raised to a heavenly state, shall have other bodies: and next, that it is fit that men should die, death being no improper way to the attaining other bodies. This, he shows, there is so plain and common an instance of, in the sowing of all seeds, that he thinks it a foolish thing to make a difficulty of it; and then proceeds to declare, that, as they shall have other, so they shall have better bodies, than they had before, viz. spiritual and incorruptible. 39 The scope of the place makes it evident, that by "flesh," St. Paul here means bodies, viz. that God has given to the several sorts of animals bodies, in shape, texture, and organization, very different one from another, as he hath thought good; and so he can give to men, at the resurrection, bodies of very different constitutions and qualities from those they had before.

TEXT.

40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 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.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption:

PARAPHRASE.

the flesh of cattle is of another kind; that of fish is different from them both; and the flesh of birds is of a peculiar sort, 40 different from them all. To look yet farther into the difference of bodies, there be both heavenly and earthly bodies; but the beauty and excellency of the heavenly bodies is of one 41 kind, and that of earthly bodies of another. The sun, moon, and stars have each of them their particular beauty and 42 brightness, and one star differs from another in glory. And so shall the resurrection of the dead be: that, which is sown

NOTE.

42 "The resurrection of the dead," here spoken of, is not the resurrection of all mankind, in common, but only the resurrection of the just. This will be evident to any one who observes, that St. Paul, having, ver. 22, declared that all men shall be made alive again, tells the Corinthians, ver. 23, that it shall not be all at once, but at several distances of time. First of all, Christ rose; afterwards, next in order to him, the saints should all be raised; which resurrection of the just is that which he treats, and gives an account of, to the end of this discourse and chapter; and so never comes to the resurrection of the wicked, which was to be the third and last in order: so that from the 23d verse to the end of the chapter, all that he says of the resurrection is a description only of the resurrection of the just, though he calls it here by the general name of the resurrection of the dead. That this is so, there is so much evidence, that there is scarce a verse, from the 41st to the end, that does not evince it.

First, What in this resurrection is raised, St. Paul assures us, ver. 43, is raised in glory; but the wicked are not raised in glory.

Secondly, He says, “we” (speaking in the name of all that shall be then raised) shall bear the image of the heavenly Adam, ver. 49, which cannot belong to the wicked. "We" shall all be changed, that, by putting on incorruptibility and immortality, death may be swallowed up of victory, which God giveth us, through our Lord Jesus Christ, ver. 51, 52, 53, 54, 57, which cannot likewise belong to the damned. And therefore "we," and "us," must be understood to be spoken in the name of the dead, that are Christ's, who are to be raised by themselves, before the rest of mankind.

Thirdly, He says, ver. 52, that when the dead are raised, they, who are alive, shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye. Now, that these dead are only the dead in Christ, which shall rise first, and shall be caught in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, is plain from 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17.

Fourthly, He teaches, ver. 54, that, by this corruptible's putting on incorruption, is brought to pass the saying, that "Death is swallowed up of victory." But I think nobody will say, that the wicked have victory over death: yet

NOTE

that, according to the apostle, here belongs to all those whose corruptible bodies have put on incorruption; which, therefore, must be only those that rise the second in order. From whence it is clear, that their resurrection alone is that which is here mentioned and described.

Fifthly, A farther proof whereof is, ver. 56, 57, in that their sins being taken away, the sting, whereby death kills, is taken away. And hence St. Paul says, God has given "us" the victory, which is the same "us," or "we," who should bear the image of the heavenly Adam, ver. 49. And the same 66 we," who should "all" be changed, ver. 51, 52. All which places can, therefore, belong to none, but those who are Christ's, who shall be raised by themselves, the second in order, before the rest of the dead.

It is very remarkable what St. Paul says, in the 51st verse, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in the twinkling of an eye." The reason he gives for it, ver. 53, is, because this corruptible thing must put on incorruption, and this mortal thing must put on immortality. How? Why, by putting off flesh and blood, by an instantaneous change, because, as he tells us, ver. 50, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; and therefore, to fit believers for that kingdom, those who are alive at Christ's coming shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye; and those, that are in their graves, shall be changed likewise, at the instant of their being raised; and so all the whole collection of saints, all the members of Christ's body, shall be put into a state of incorruptibility, ver. 52, in a new sort of bodies. Taking the resurrection, here spoken of, to be the resurrection of all the dead, promiscuously, St. Paul's reasoning in this place can hardly be understood. But upon a supposition that he here describes the resurrection of the just only, that resurrection, which, as he says, ver. 23, is to be the next after Christ's, and separate from the rest, there is nothing can be more plain, natural, and easy, than St. Paul's reasoning; and it stands thus: "Men alive are flesh and blood; the dead in the graves are but the remains of corrupted flesh and blood; but flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither corruption inherit incorruption, i. e. immortality: therefore, to make all those, who are Christ's, capable to enter into his eternal kingdom of life, as well those of them who are alive, as those of them who are raised from the dead, shall, in the twinkling of an eye, be all changed, and their corruptible shall put on incorruption, and their mortal shall put on immortality: and thus God gives them the victory over death, through their Lord Jesus Christ." This is, in short, St. Paul's arguing here, and the account he gives of the resurrection of the blessed. But how the wicked, who are afterwards to be restored to life, were to be raised, and what was to become of them, he here says nothing, as not being to his present purpose, which was to assure the Corinthians, by the resurrection of Christ, of a happy resurrection to believers, and thereby to encourage them to continue stedfast in the faith, which had such a reward. That this was his design, may be seen by the beginning of his discourse, ver. 12—21, and by the conclusion, ver. 58, in these words: "Wherefore, 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." Which words show, that what he had been speaking of, in the immediately preceding verses, viz. their being changed, and their putting on incorruption and immortality, and their having thereby the victory, through Jesus Christ, was what belonged solely to the saints, as a reward to those who remained stedfast, and abounded in the work of the Lord.

The like use of the like, though shorter, discourse of the resurrection, wherein he describes only that of the blessed, he makes to the Thessalonians, 1 Thess. iv. 13-18, which he concludes thus: "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

Nor is it in this place alone that St. Paul calls the resurrection of the just by

TEXT.

43 It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness,

it is raised in power.

44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

PARAPHRASE.

in this world', and comes to die, is a poor, weak, contemp43 tible, corruptible thing: When it is raised again, it shall be 44 powerful, glorious, and incorruptible. The body, we have here, surpasses not the animal nature. At the resurrection it shall be spiritual. There are both animal and spiritual" 45 bodies. And so it is written, "The first man Adam was made a living soul," i. e. made of an animal constitution, endowed with an animal life; the second Adam was made of a spiritual constitution, with a power to give life to others.

NOTES.

the general name of the resurrection of the dead. He does the same, Phil. iii. 11, where he speaks of his sufferings, and of his endeavours, "if by any means he might attain unto the resurrection of the dead :" whereby he cannot mean the resurrection of the dead in general; which, since he has declared in this very chapter, ver. 22, all men, both good and bad, shall as certainly partake of, as that they shall die, there need no endeavours to attain to it. Our Saviour, likewise, speaks of the resurrection of the just; in the same general terms of the resurrection, Matt. xxii. 30. "And the resurrection from the dead," Luke xx. 35, by which is meant only the resurrection of the just, as is plain from the

context.

42 The time, that man is in this world, affixed to this earth, is his being sown; and not when being dead, he is put in the grave; as is evident from St. Paul's own words. For dead things are not sown; seeds are sown, being alive, and die not, until after they are sown. Besides, he that will attentively consider what follows, will find reason, from St. Paul's arguing, to understand him so. 44 Eaμx Luxxò, which in our Bibles is translated, "a natural body," should, I think, more suitably to the propriety of the Greek, and more conformably to the apostle's meaning, be translated "an animal body:" for that, which St. Paul is doing here, is to show, that as we have animal bodies now, (which we derived from Adam) endowed with an animal life, which, unless supported with a constant supply of food and air, will fail and perish, and at last, do what we can, will dissolve and come to an end; so, at the resurrection, we shall have from Christ, the second Adam, "spiritual bodies," which shall have an essential and natural, inseparable life in them, which shall continue and subsist perpetually of itself, without the help of meat and drink, or air, or any such foreign support; without decay, or any tendency to a dissolution: of which our Saviour speaking, Luke xx. 35, says, "They who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead," cannot die any more; for they are equal to the angels, i. e. of an angelical nature and constitution.

n Vid. Phil. iii. 21.