1 Corinthians 15:23

Contextual Overview

²⁰But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²⁰But Christ did ride back from the grave. He was the first and the rest of his cowboys will follow. ²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. ²⁰But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²⁰ But now Christ has truly come back from the dead, the first-fruits of those who are sleeping. ²⁰ (But now Christ is raised from among [the] dead, first-fruits of those fallen asleep. ²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. ²⁰ But now is Christ risen from the dead, the first-fruit of them that slept.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

every: 1 Corinthians 15:20, Isaiah 26:19, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

they: 1 Corinthians 3:23, 2 Corinthians 10:7, Galatians 3:29, Galatians 5:24

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 26:2 - That thou shalt Malachi 3:17 - they shall Mark 9:41 - because Acts 4:2 - preached Romans 8:9 - he is Romans 14:8 - we live therefore 1 Corinthians 4:5 - until 1 Corinthians 11:26 - till Colossians 1:13 - the kingdom 1 Thessalonians 2:19 - in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 - at the 1 Thessalonians 4:14 - God 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - and the 1 John 2:28 - at his

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But every man in his own order,.... Not of time, as if the saints that lived in the first age of the world should rise first, and then those of the next, and so on to the end of the world; nor of dignity, as that martyrs should rise first in the order of martyrs, and preachers of the word in the order of preachers, and private Christians in the order and rank of private Christians; or of age, as the elder first, and then the younger; or of state and condition, as married persons in the order of married persons, and virgins in the order of virgins; these are all foreign from the sense of the words; the order regarded is that of head and members, the firstfruits and the harvest. There seems to be an allusion to the ranging and marshalling of the Israelites, everyone by his "own standard"; which both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render על טקסיה, "by or according to his own order": and so the Septuagint κατα ταγμα, the word here used; and the sense is, that every man shall be raised from the dead, according to the head under which he is ranged and marshalled. Christ the head is risen first; next all those that are under him, as an head, will rise from the dead; the dead in Christ will rise first; and then a thousand years after that, those who are only in their natural head, by whom death came to them, and have lived and died in a natural estate, will rise last; but as the apostle is only upon the resurrection of the saints, he carries the account and observes the order no further than as it concerns Christ and his people:

Christ the firstfruits; he rose first in order of time, dignity, causality and influence; :-.

afterwards they that are Christ's; not immediately after; for now almost two thousand years are elapsed since the resurrection of Christ, and yet the saints are not raised; and how many more years are to run out before that, is not to be known; but as there was an interval between the firstfruits, and the ingathering of the harvest; so there is a considerable space of time between the resurrection of Christ as the firstfruits, and the resurrection of his people, which will be the harvest; and that will be at the end of the world, according to Matthew 13:39 the persons who shall rise first and next after Christ, are they that are his; who were chosen in him before the foundation of the world, and were given to him by his Father as his spouse, his children, his sheep, his portion, and his jewels; who were purchased and redeemed by his blood, are called by his grace and regenerated by his Spirit, and who give up themselves to him, and are possessed by him: and the interest that Christ has in them here expressed, carries in it a strong argument of their resurrection; which may be concluded from their election in Christ, which can never be made void; from the gift of their whole persons to Christ by his Father, with this declaration of his will, that he should lose nothing of them, but raise it up at the last day; from his redemption of their bodies as well as their souls; from the union of both unto him; and from the sanctification of both, and his Spirit dwelling in their mortal bodies as well as in their souls: the time when they will be raised by Christ is,

at his coming; at his second and personal coming at the last day; then the dead in Christ will rise first, and immediately; and he will judge the quick and dead, those that will be found alive, and those that will be then raised from the dead: when this will be no man knows; yet nothing is more certain, than that Christ will come a second time; and his coming will be speedy and sudden; it will be glorious and illustrious, and to the joy and salvation of his people; since their bodies will then be raised and reunited to their souls, when they, soul and body, shall be for ever with the Lord. The Vulgate Latin reads the words thus, "they that are Christ's, who have believed in his coming"; both in his first and second coming; but there is nothing in the Greek text to encourage and support such a version and sense.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But every man - Everyone, including Christ as well as others.

In his own order - In his proper order, rank, place, time. The word τάγμα tagma usually relates to military order or array; to the arrangement of a cohort, or band of troops; to their being properly marshalled with the officers at the head, and every man in His proper place in the ranks. Here it means that there was a proper “order” to be observed in the resurrection of the dead. And the design of the apostle is, probably, to counteract the idea that the resurrection was passed already, or that there was no future resurrection to be expected. The “order” which is here referred to is, doubtless, mainly that of “time;” meaning that Christ would be first, and then that the others would follow. But it also means that Christ would be first, because it was “proper” that he should be first. He was first in rank, in dignity, and in honor; he was the leader of all others, and their resurrection depended on his. And as it was proper that a leader or commander should have the first place in a march, or in an enterprise involving peril or glory, so it was proper that Christ should be first in the resurrection, and that the others should follow on in due order and time.

Christ the first-fruits - Christ first in time, and the pledge that they should rise; see the note on 1 Corinthians 15:20.

Afterward - After he has risen. Not before, because their resurrection depended on him.

They that are Christ’s - They who are Christians. The apostle, though in 1 Corinthians 15:22 he had stated the truth that “all” the dead would rise, yet here only mentions Christians, because to them only would the doctrine be of any consolation, and because it was to them particularly that this whole argument was directed.

At his coming - When he shall come to judge the world, and to receive his people to himself. This proves that the dead will not be raised until Christ shall re-appear. He shall come for that purpose; and he shall assemble all the dead, and shall take his people to himself; see Matthew 25:0. And this declaration fully met the opinion of those who held that the resurrection was past already; see 2 Timothy 2:18.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 23. But every man in his own order — The apostle mentions three orders here:

1. Christ, who rose from the dead by his own power.

2. Them that are Christ's; all his apostles, martyrs, confessors, and faithful followers.

3. Then cometh the end, when the whole mass shall be raised.

Whether this order be exactly what the apostle intends, I shall not assert. Of the first, Christ's own resurrection, there can be no question. The second, the resurrection of his followers, before that of the common dead, is thought by some very reasonable. "They had here a resurrection from a death of sin to a life of righteousness, which the others had not, because they would not be saved in Christ's way. That they should have the privilege of being raised first, to behold the astonishing changes and revolutions which shall then take place, has nothing in it contrary to propriety and fitness;" but it seems contrary to 1 Corinthians 15:52, in which all the dead are said to rise in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. "And, thirdly, that all the other mass of mankind should be raised last, just to come forward and receive their doom, is equally reasonable:" but it is apparently inconsistent with the manner in which God chooses to act; see 1 Corinthians 15:53. Some think that by them that are Christ's at his coming, "we are to understand Christ's coming to reign on earth a thousand years with his saints, previously to the general judgment;" but I must confess I find nothing in the sacred writings distinctly enough marked to support this opinion of the millennium, or thousand years' reign; nor can I conceive any important end that can be answered by this procedure.

We should be very cautious how we make a figurative expression, used in the most figurative book in the Bible, the foundation of a very important literal system that is to occupy a measure of the faith, and no small portion of the hope, of Christians. The strange conjectures formed on this very uncertain basis have not been very creditable either to reason or religion.