1 Corinthians 15:16
New International Version
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.

New Living Translation
And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.

English Standard Version
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

Berean Standard Bible
For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised.

Berean Literal Bible
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.

King James Bible
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

New King James Version
For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

New American Standard Bible
For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised;

NASB 1995
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;

NASB 1977
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;

Legacy Standard Bible
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

Amplified Bible
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised, either;

Christian Standard Bible
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised.

American Standard Version
For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised:

Contemporary English Version
So if the dead won't be raised to life, Christ wasn't raised to life.

English Revised Version
For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Certainly, if the dead don't come back to life, then Christ hasn't come back to life either.

Good News Translation
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.

International Standard Version
For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised,

Majority Standard Bible
For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised.

NET Bible
For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised.

New Heart English Bible
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.

Webster's Bible Translation
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

Weymouth New Testament
For if none of the dead are raised to life, then Christ has not risen;

World English Bible
For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
for if dead persons do not rise, neither has Christ risen,

Berean Literal Bible
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised.

Young's Literal Translation
for if dead persons do not rise, neither hath Christ risen,

Smith's Literal Translation
For if the dead are not raised, neither was Christ raised up:
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
For if the dead rise not again, neither is Christ risen again.

Catholic Public Domain Version
For if the dead do not rise again, then neither has Christ risen again.

New American Bible
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,

New Revised Standard Version
For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
For if the dead rise not, then neither did Christ rise:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
For if those who have died do not live again, not even The Messiah is alive.
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised;

Godbey New Testament
But if the dead rise not, neither is Christ risen.

Haweis New Testament
For if the dead are not raised, neither is Christ risen:

Mace New Testament
for if the dead are not raised, then was not Christ raised:

Weymouth New Testament
For if none of the dead are raised to life, then Christ has not risen;

Worrell New Testament
For, if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised;

Worsley New Testament
For if the dead rise not, then Christ is not raised:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Resurrection of the Dead
15In that case, we are also exposed as false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead, but He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.…

Cross References
Romans 6:5
For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.

1 Thessalonians 4:14
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. / And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Romans 8:11
And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

Philippians 3:10-11
I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death, / and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

2 Corinthians 4:14
knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.

Acts 17:31
For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

John 5:28-29
Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice / and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Colossians 2:12
And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Romans 4:24-25
but also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. / He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.

Matthew 22:31-32
But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you: / ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

Daniel 12:2
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.

Ezekiel 37:12-14
Therefore prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O My people, I will open your graves and bring you up from them, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. / Then you, My people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. / I will put My Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.’”

Isaiah 26:19
Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.


Treasury of Scripture

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

Jump to Previous
Christ Dead Either Life Persons Possible Raised Rise Risen
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Christ Dead Either Life Persons Possible Raised Rise Risen
1 Corinthians 15
1. By Christ's resurrection,
12. he proves the necessity of our resurrection,
16. against all such as deny the resurrection of the body.
21. The fruit,
35. and the manner thereof;
51. and of the resurrection of those who shall be found alive at the last day.














For if the dead are not raised
This phrase introduces a conditional statement that is central to Paul's argument about the resurrection. The Greek word for "if" (εἰ) sets up a hypothetical scenario that Paul uses to challenge the Corinthians' doubts about the resurrection. The term "the dead" (νεκροί) refers to those who have physically died, emphasizing the universal human experience of death. The concept of being "raised" (ἐγείρονται) is crucial in Christian theology, signifying not just a return to life but a transformation into a glorified state. Historically, the belief in bodily resurrection was a point of contention between different Jewish sects, such as the Pharisees, who affirmed it, and the Sadducees, who denied it. Paul, a Pharisee by training, affirms the resurrection as a cornerstone of Christian hope, linking it directly to the resurrection of Christ.

then not even Christ has been raised
This phrase underscores the logical consequence of denying the resurrection of the dead. The word "then" (ἄρα) indicates a conclusion drawn from the previous condition. "Not even" (οὐδὲ) emphasizes the severity of the implication—if there is no resurrection for humanity, then Christ's resurrection is also nullified. The name "Christ" (Χριστός) refers to Jesus as the Messiah, the anointed one, whose resurrection is the foundation of Christian faith. The verb "has been raised" (ἐγήγερται) is in the perfect tense, indicating a completed action with ongoing significance. This highlights the permanence and importance of Christ's resurrection as a historical and spiritual reality. In the broader scriptural context, Christ's resurrection is seen as the "firstfruits" (1 Corinthians 15:20), a guarantee of the future resurrection for all believers. This statement by Paul is not just a theological assertion but a call to faith, urging believers to hold fast to the truth of the resurrection as the basis for their hope and salvation.

(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 who accepted it, is vain. He now turns to a different line of argument--a reductio ad absurdum. He maintains the doctrine of the resurrection by showing the incredible absurdities to which a belief in the contrary must lead. If you do not believe in a resurrection, you must believe--(1) That Christ is not raised, and that your faith, therefore, being false, has no result--that you are still slaves of sin. This you know by personal experience to be false. As well might a living man try to believe that he is a corpse. (2) That all who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished; that is, that the noblest and most unselfish perish like brutes. (3) That God gives men a good hope in Christ, and that it, not being fulfilled here, is never to be fulfilled. In other words, if there be no resurrection, the only alternative is atheism, for otherwise you have to believe that, though there is a God who is wise and just, yet that the purest and greatest life ever lived is no better in the end than the life of a dog; that those who have lived the most unselfish lives have perished like beasts; and that God aroused a hunger and thirst of the purest kind in some souls, only that the hunger should never be satisfied, and the thirst never be quenched.

Verse 16. - This verse is a repetition of Ver. 13, to emphasize the argument that the Christian faith in the Resurrection rests not on philosophic theory, but on an historic fact.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
For
γὰρ (gar)
Conjunction
Strong's 1063: For. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason.

if
Εἰ (Ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

[the] dead
νεκροὶ (nekroi)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3498: (a) adj: dead, lifeless, subject to death, mortal, (b) noun: a dead body, a corpse. From an apparently primary nekus; dead.

are not raised,
ἐγείρονται (egeirontai)
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 1453: (a) I wake, arouse, (b) I raise up. Probably akin to the base of agora; to waken, i.e. Rouse.

then not even
οὐδὲ (oude)
Adverb
Strong's 3761: Neither, nor, not even, and not. From ou and de; not however, i.e. Neither, nor, not even.

Christ
Χριστὸς (Christos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5547: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ. From chrio; Anointed One, i.e. The Messiah, an epithet of Jesus.

has been raised.
ἐγήγερται (egēgertai)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1453: (a) I wake, arouse, (b) I raise up. Probably akin to the base of agora; to waken, i.e. Rouse.


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NT Letters: 1 Corinthians 15:16 For if the dead aren't raised neither (1 Cor. 1C iC 1Cor i cor icor)
1 Corinthians 15:15
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