1 Corinthians 15:19

Amplified Bible

If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hoped only in this life [and this is all there is], then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
If our hope in Christ is only for this life here on earth, then people should feel more sorry for us than for anyone else.

Revised Standard Version
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
If in this lyfe only we beleve on christ then are we of all men the miserablest.

Hebrew Names Version
If we have only hoped in Messiah in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

International Standard Version
If we have set our hopes on Christ in this life only, we deserve more pity than any other people.2 Timothy 3:12;">[xr]

New American Standard Bible
If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied.

New Century Version
If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone else in the world.

Update Bible Version
If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

Webster's Bible Translation
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

English Standard Version
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

World English Bible
If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are more miserable than all men.

Weymouth's New Testament
If in this present life we have a *hope* resting on Christ, and nothing more, we are more to be pitied than all the rest of the world.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
If in this life oneli we ben hoping in Crist, we ben more wretchis than alle men.

English Revised Version
If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable.

Berean Standard Bible
If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men.

Contemporary English Version
If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else.

American Standard Version
If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

Bible in Basic English
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most unhappy.

Complete Jewish Bible
If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in the Messiah, we are more pitiable than anyone.

Darby Translation
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are [the] most miserable of all men.

Etheridge Translation
And if in this life only we hope in the Meshiha, more miserable are we than all men.

Murdock Translation
And if, in this life only, we have hope in the Messiah, we are the most miserable of all men.

King James Version (1611)
If in this life only we haue hope in Christ, wee are of all men most miserable.

New Living Translation
And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

New Life Bible
If we have hope in Christ in this life only, we are more sad than anyone else.

New Revised Standard
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Geneva Bible (1587)
If in this life onely wee haue hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable.

George Lamsa Translation
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, then we are of all men most miserable.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
If, in this life, in Christ, we have hoped - and that is all, we are, of all men, most to be pitied.

Douay-Rheims Bible
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
If in this lyfe only we haue hope on Christe, then are we of all men moste miserable.

Good News Translation
If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.

Christian Standard Bible®
If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

King James Version
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

Lexham English Bible
If we have put our hope in Christ in this life only, we are of all people most pitiable.

Literal Translation
If we only have hope in Christ in this life, we are of all men most miserable.

Young's Literal Translation
if in this life we have hope in Christ only, of all men we are most to be pitied.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf in this life onely we hope on Christ, then are we of all men the most miserable.

Mace New Testament (1729)
if our expectations as christians all terminate in this life, we of all men are most to be pitied.

New English Translation
For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.

New King James Version
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Simplified Cowboy Version
And if all we get for riding for the brand is a little bit of inspiration in this life, then we are a sorry lot.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Legacy Standard Bible
If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Contextual Overview

¹²Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how is it that some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain [useless, amounting to nothing], and your faith is also vain [imaginary, unfounded, devoid of value and benefit—not based on truth]. ¹⁵We are even discovered to be false witnesses [misrepresenting] God, because we testified concerning Him that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised, either; ¹⁷and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless and powerless [mere delusion]; you are still in your sins [and under the control and penalty of sin]. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹If we who are [abiding] in Christ have hoped only in this life [and this is all there is], then we are of all people most miserable and to be pitied.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

this: Psalms 17:14, Ecclesiastes 6:11, Ecclesiastes 9:9, Luke 8:14, Luke 21:34, 1 Corinthians 6:3, 1 Corinthians 6:4, 2 Timothy 2:4

hope: Ephesians 1:12, Ephesians 1:13, 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 2 Timothy 1:12, 1 Peter 1:21

of all: 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, Matthew 10:21-25, Matthew 24:9, John 16:2, John 16:33, Acts 14:22, 2 Timothy 3:12, Revelation 14:13

Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 2:20 - General Romans 15:12 - in him Colossians 1:5 - the hope 1 Thessalonians 4:13 - which have

Cross-References

Genesis 15:21
the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If in this life only we have hope in Christ,.... The object of a believer's hope is not any creature, man, or angel; nor any creature enjoyment, as gold and silver; nor any creature righteousness, moral, legal, and civil; nor any external privilege, or profession of religion; but Christ alone as a surety, Saviour, and Redeemer; his person, blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and fulness: and what they hope for in him are, all grace, and the supplies of it; the forgiveness of their sins, the justification of their persons, eternal life and salvation; grace here, and glory hereafter; for all which they have great reason and encouragement to hope in him; but if their hope in him was only in this life, or whilst this life lasts; if they had not hope in death, that they should live again, and after death for the resurrection of their bodies; or if they hoped in Christ only for the things of this life, or as the Arabic version renders it, "if we from Christ, and by him, expect happiness in this world only"; if our hope in him is bounded with this life, and confined to the things of it, and does not reach to the things of another life, the things of eternity, the invisible glories of another world, to be enjoyed in soul and body;

we are of all men the most miserable; which may have respect not only to the apostles, though eminently true of them, who had little of the comforts of this life, being continually exposed to hardships and persecution for the sake of Christ; were set forth as a spectacle to angels and men; were accounted the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things; and suffered many indignities, and great reproach and affliction, and that for asserting the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead; but is also true of all others that hope in Christ, and believe in him; for these not only deny themselves the pleasures, honours, and profits of this world, but are exposed continually to the hatred, reproach, and persecution of it; they are chastised by God as other men are, that they may not be condemned with the world, and yet they must be condemned, if Christ is not risen; they are harassed and distressed by Satan, who follows them with his temptations and suggestions, which are so many fiery darts, which give them great pain and uneasiness, when others are unmolested by him; they groan under a body of sin they carry about with them, and desire and long to be unclothed, that they might be clothed upon with glory and immortality; and yet these very desires and earnest longings after a blessed eternity do but add to their misery, if there is no foundation for them, and they will at last be frustrated: these are the sad conclusions, and wretched absurdities that must follow, upon the denial of the resurrection of the dead, and of Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If in this life only we have hope in Christ - If our hope in Christ shall not be followed by the resurrection of the dead and future glory, and if all our hopes shall be disappointed.

We are ... - Doddridge, Macknight, Grotius, and some others, suppose that this refers to the apostles only, and that the sense is, that if there was no resurrection, they, of all people would be most to be pitied, since they had exposed themselves to such a variety of dangers and trials, in which nothing could sustain them but the hope of immortality. If they failed in that they failed in everything. They were regarded as the most vile of the human family; they suffered more from persecution, poverty, and perils than other people; and if, after all, they were to be deprived of all their hopes, and disappointed in their expectation of the resurrection, their condition would be more deplorable than that of any other people. But there is no good reason for supposing that the word “we,” here, is to be limited to the apostles. For:

1. Paul had not mentioned the apostles particularly in the previous verses; and,
2. The argument demands that it should be understood of all Christians, and the declaration is as true, substantially, of all Christians as it was of the apostles.

Of all men most miserable - More to be pitied or commiserated than any other class of people. The word used here (ἐληινότεροι elēinoteroi) means, properly, more deserving of pity, more pitiable. It may mean sometimes, more wretched or unhappy; but this is not necessarily its meaning, nor is it its meaning here. It refers rather to their condition and hopes than to their personal feeling; and does not mean that Christians are unhappy, or that their religion does not produce comfort, but that their condition would be most deplorable; they would be more deserving of pity than any other class of people. This would be:

(1) Because no other people had so elevated hopes, and, of course, no others could experience so great disappointment.

(2) They were subjected to more trials than any other class of people. They were persecuted and reviled, and subjected to toil, and privation, and want, on account of their religion; and if, after all, they were to be disappointed, their condition was truly deplorable.

(3) They do not indulge in the pleasures of this life; they do not give themselves, as ethers do, to the enjoyments of this world. They voluntarily subject themselves to trial and self-denial; and if they are not admitted to eternal life, they are not only disappointed in this but they are cut off from the sources of happiness which their fellow-men enjoy in this world - Calvin.

(4) On the whole, therefore, there would be disappointed hopes, and trials, and poverty, and want, and all for nothing; and no condition could be conceived to be more deplorable than where a man was looking for eternal life, and for it subjecting himself to a life of want, and poverty, persecution, and tears, and should be finally disappointed. This passage, therefore, does not mean that virtue and piety are not attended with happiness; it does not mean that, even if there were no future state, a man would not be more happy if he walked in the paths of virtue than if he lived a life of sin; it does not mean that the Christian has no happiness in “religion itself” - in the love of God, and in prayer, and praise, and in purity of life. In all this he has enjoyment and even if there were no heaven, a life of virtue and piety would be more happy than a life of sin. But it means that the condition of the Christian would be more “deplorable” than that of other people; he would be more to be pitied. All his high hopes would be disappointed. Other people have no such hopes to be dashed to the ground; and, of course, no other people would be such objects of pity and compassion. The “argument” in this verse is derived from the high hopes of the Christian. “Could they believe that all their hopes were to be frustrated? Could they subject themselves to all these trials and privations, without believing that they would rise from the dead? Were they prepared, by the denial of the doctrine of the resurrection, to put themselves in the condition of the most miserable and wretched of the human family - to “admit” that they were in a condition most to be deplored?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 19. If in this life only we have hope — It would be better to translate and point this verse as follows:-

And, if in this life we have hoped in Christ only, we are more to be pitied than all men. If, in this life, we have no other hope and confidence but in Christ, (and if he be still dead, and not yet risen,) we are more to be pitied than any other men; we are sadly deceived; we have denied ourselves, and been denied by others; have mortified ourselves, and been persecuted by our fellow creatures on account of our belief and hope in One who is not existing, and therefore can neither succour us here, nor reward us hereafter. Bishop Pearce.