1 Corinthians 15:30

And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

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.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:20-34 All that are by faith united to Christ, are by his resurrection assured of their own. As through the sin of the first Adam, all men became mortal, because all had from him the same sinful nature, so, through the resurrection of Christ, shall all who are made to partake of the Spirit, and the spiritual nature, revive, and live for ever. There will be an order in the resurrection. Christ himself has been the first-fruits; at his coming, his redeemed people will be raised before others; at the last the wicked will rise also. Then will be the end of this present state of things. Would we triumph in that solemn and important season, we must now submit to his rule, accept his salvation, and live to his glory. Then shall we rejoice in the completion of his undertaking, that God may receive the whole glory of our salvation, that we may for ever serve him, and enjoy his favour. What shall those do, who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Perhaps baptism is used here in a figure, for afflictions, sufferings, and martyrdom, as Mt 20:22,23. What is, or will become of those who have suffered many and great injuries, and have even lost their lives, for this doctrine of the resurrection, if the dead rise not at all? Whatever the meaning may be, doubtless the apostle's argument was understood by the Corinthians. And it is as plain to us that Christianity would be a foolish profession, if it proposed advantage to themselves by their faithfulness to God; and to have our fruit to holiness, that our end may be everlasting life. But we must not live like beasts, as we do not die like them. It must be ignorance of God that leads any to disbelieve the resurrection and future life. Those who own a God and a providence, and observe how unequal things are in the present life, how frequently the best men fare worst, cannot doubt as to an after-state, where every thing will be set to rights. Let us not be joined with ungodly men; but warn all around us, especially children and young persons, to shun them as a pestilence. Let us awake to righteousness, and not sin.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And why stand we in jeopardy - Why do we constantly risk our lives, and encounter danger of every kind? This refers particularly to Paul himself and the other apostles, who were constantly exposed to peril by land or by sea in the arduous work of making known the gospel. The argument here is plain. It is, that such efforts would be vain, useless, foolish, unless there was to be a glorious resurrection. They had no other object in encountering these dangers than to make known the truths connected with that glorious future state; and if there were no such future state, it would be wise for them to avoid these dangers. "It would not be supposed that we would encounter these perils constantly, unless we were sustained with the hope of the resurrection, and unless we had evidence which convinced our own minds that there would be such a resurrection."

Every hour - Constantly; compare 2 Corinthians 11:26. So numerous were their dangers, that they might be said to occur every hour. This was particularly the case in the instance to which he refers in Ephesus, 1 Corinthians 15:32.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

30. we—apostles (1Co 15:9; 1Co 4:9). A gradation from those who could only for a little time enjoy this life (that is, those baptized at the point of death), to us, who could enjoy it longer, if we had not renounced the world for Christ [Bengel].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

We are the veriest fools in nature, if there be no resurrection of believers unto life; for it is in the firm belief and hopes of that, that we are in danger of our lives, and all that we have, every hour of our lives.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? Not only they that have suffered martyrdom for the faith of Christ, and for this article of it, have acted very injudiciously and indiscreetly; but we, also, who are on the spot, whether ministers or private Christians, must be highly blameworthy, who continually expose ourselves to dangers, and are for Christ's sake killed all the day long, are every moment liable to innumerable injuries, tortures and death; who in his senses would act such a part, if there is no resurrection of the dead? such, as they must be of all men the most miserable, so of all men the most stupid.

Geneva Study Bible

{16} And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

(16) The sixth argument: unless there is a resurrection of the dead, why should the apostles so daily cast themselves into danger of so many deaths?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

1 Corinthians 15:30. How preposterously we also are acting in that supposed case!

καί] does not, as some fancy, determine the meaning of the preceding βαπτ. to be that of a baptism of suffering, but it adds a new subject, whose conduct would likewise be aimles.

ἡμεῖς] I and my compeers, we apostolic preachers of the gospel, we apostles and our companions. Paul then, in 1 Corinthians 15:31 f., adduces himself, his own fortunes, in an individualizing way as a proof. The argument is, indeed, only for the continuance of the spirit (comp. Cicero, Tusc. i. 15); but this, when hoped for as blessedness, has with Paul the resurrection as its necessary condition.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

30. And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?] Not only those who were daily being baptized for the dead witnessed to the universal belief among Christians in a resurrection, but the lives of daily peril in which St Paul and the other missionaries of the Gospel lived were sufficient evidence that they did not conceive all their hopes to be summed up in this life.

jeopardy] Pereil, Wiclif. Jeoperty, Tyndal. This word is derived from the French jeu parti, drawn game. It is spelt jupartie by Chaucer, and is mentioned by Ben Jonson as one of three English words only in which the diphthong eo appears. The others are yeoman and people. Leopard was probably a trisyllable in his day. The other derivations, jeu perdu, given by Minsheu in his Ductor in Linguas, published in 1617, and j’ai perdu, seem less agreeable to the meaning of the word, which clearly indicates a position of the utmost danger, in which the chances for death and life are equal. Cf. Shakspeare’s “at the hazard of a die.”

Bengel's Gnomen

1 Corinthians 15:30. Ἡμεῖς, we) apostles, 1 Corinthians 4:9.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 30. - Why stand we in jeopardy every hour? The verb means "Why do we incur peril?" The best comment on it will be found in 2 Corinthians 11:26. Cicero says ('Tusc. Disp.,' 1:15) that "no one would be so mad as to live in labour and perils if our instinctive anticipation of future life were taken away." 1 Corinthians 15:30