1 Corinthians 15:52

Contextual Overview

⁵¹Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵¹But listen to this! Here's a secret, not all of us will die, but we will all be changed. ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵¹Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵¹ See, I am giving you the revelation of a secret: we will not all come to the sleep of death, but we will all be changed. ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵¹ Listen! I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a moment: Exodus 33:5, Numbers 16:21, Numbers 16:45, Psalms 73:19, 2 Peter 3:10

last: Exodus 19:16, Exodus 20:18, Numbers 10:4, Isaiah 18:3, Isaiah 27:13, Ezekiel 33:3, Ezekiel 33:6, Zechariah 9:14, Revelation 8:2, Revelation 8:13, Revelation 9:13, Revelation 9:14

for: Matthew 24:31, John 5:25, 1 Thessalonians 4:16

the dead: 1 Corinthians 15:42, 1 Corinthians 15:50

Reciprocal: Exodus 19:13 - when the trumpet Leviticus 23:24 - In the seventh Leviticus 25:28 - he shall Numbers 10:10 - in the day Judges 7:8 - trumpets Judges 7:20 - blew Job 14:14 - will I wait Psalms 47:5 - sound Psalms 88:10 - shall Hosea 8:1 - the trumpet Hosea 13:14 - O death Luke 4:5 - in Luke 20:36 - they are Acts 2:27 - to see 1 Thessalonians 4:17 - we which Hebrews 12:19 - the sound 1 Peter 1:4 - incorruptible 1 Peter 4:5 - that

Gill's Notes on the Bible

In a moment,.... Or point of time, which is very short indeed; what a moment is, according to the Jewish doctors,

:-.

In the twinkling of an eye; these two the Jews not only put together as here, but make one to be as the other; so they say k, כהרף עין

הרגע, "a moment is as the twinkling of an eye". This phrase, as the twinkling of an eye, is frequently used in Jewish writings l, to signify how speedily ard suddenly anything is done, and which is the design of it here; and the apostle's meaning is, that the change upon the bodies of living saints will be so quick, that it will be done in a trice, before a man can shut his eyes and open them again; so that it will be as it were imperceptible, and without the least sensation of pain; this may also be referred to the resurrection, which will be quick, and done at once; though it seems rather, and chiefly, to respect the change of the living; what follows, indeed, favours the other sense also; for all will be quick and sudden, the coming of Christ, the raising of the dead, and the change of the living:

at the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall sound; or "by the last trumpet", as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it; that is, by means of it, through the sounding of that:

and the dead shall be raised incorruptible; free from all frailty, mortality, and corruption, when the trumpet shall sound:

and at the same time also,

we shall be changed; the saints that will be found alive; the apostle speaks in the first person, because of the uncertainty of Christ's coming, and of the blowing of the last trumpet, he not knowing but it might be in his time; what this last trumpet will be, is not easy to say; it can hardly be thought to be a material one: the Jews m have a notion, that a trumpet will be blown at the time of the resurrection of the dead, as at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai; which will quicken the dead, as they say it then did; and that this will be blown by Michael the archangel n: it seems very likely to be the same with the shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God, 1 Thessalonians 4:16 all which may be no other than the voice of Christ; at the hearing of which, the dead will rise; but whether this will be an articulate one, as at the raising of Lazarus, or is only expressive of his power, which will then be put forth, is not material, nor a point to be determined: and what if by all this should be meant some violent claps of thunder, as at Mount Sinai, which will shake the whole earth; and when almighty power will be put forth to raise the dead: since such are by the Jews o called the voices of the son of David, and are expected by them, a little before his coming? This is called the "last" trumpet, not so much with respect to those that go before, much less to the seven trumpets in the Revelations, of which as yet there was no revelation made, but because there will be none after it; see:

"And the trumpet shall give a sound, which when every man heareth, they shall be suddenly afraid.'' (2 Esdras 6:23)

i Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 11. fol. 202. 3. k T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 2. 4. Eeha Rabbati, fol. 54. 4. l T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 2. 2. Sabbat, fol. 34. 2. Zohar in Gen, fol. 38. 4. & 39. 1. & 65. 4. Caphtor, fol. 75. 2. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 77. fol. 67. 4. m Targum. Jon. in Exod. xx. 18. & Kettoreth Hassammim in ib. Abarbinel. Mashmia Jeshua, fol. 11. 4. n Abkath Rochel, p. 138. o T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 97. 1. & Gloss. in ib. Vid. Megilla, fol. 17. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In a moment - (ἐν ἀτόμῳ en atomō). In an “atom,” scil. of time; a point of time which cannot be cut or divided (α a, the alpha privative (“not”) and τομη tomē, from τέμνω temnō, “to cut”). A single instant; immediately. It will be done instantaneously.

In the twinkling of an eye - This is an expression also denoting the least conceivable duration of time. The suddenness of the coming of the Lord Jesus is elsewhere compared to the coming of a thief in the night; 2 Peter 3:10. The word rendered “twinkling” (ῥιπῆ ripē, from ῥίπτω rhiptō, “to throw, cast”) means “a throw, cast, jerk,” as of a stone; and then “a jerk of the eye,” that is, “a wink” - Robinson.

At the last trump - When the trumpet shall sound to raise the dead. The word “last” here does not imply that any trumpet shall have been before sounded at the resurrection, but is a word denoting that this is the consummation or close of things; it will end the economy of this world; it will be connected with the last state of things.

For the trumpet shall sound - See the note at Matthew 24:31.

And the dead shall be raised - See the note at John 5:25.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 52. In a moment — ενατομω. In an atom; that is, an indivisible point of time. In the twinkling of an eye; as soon as a man can wink; which expressions show that this mighty work is to be done by the almighty power of God, as he does all his works, He calls, and it is done. The resurrection of all the dead, from the foundation of the world to that time, and the change of all the living then upon earth, shall be the work of a single moment.

At the last trump — This, as well as all the rest of the peculiar phraseology of this chapter, is merely Jewish, and we must go to the Jewish writers to know what is intended. On this subject, the rabbins use the very same expression. Thus Rabbi Akiba: "How shall the holy blessed God raise the dead? We are taught that God has a trumpet a thousand ells long, according to the ell of God: this trumpet he shall blow, so that the sound of it shall extend from one extremity of the earth to the other. At the first blast the earth shall be shaken; at the second, the dust shall be separated; at the third, the bones shall be gathered together; at the fourth, the members shall wax warm; at the fifth, the heads shall be covered with skin; at the sixth, the souls shall be rejoined to their bodies; at the seventh, all shall revive and stand clothed." See Wetstein. This tradition shows us what we are to understand by the last trump of the apostle; it is the seventh of Rab. Akiba, when the dead shall be all raised, and, being clothed upon with their eternal vehicles, they shall be ready to appear before the judgment seat of God.

For the trumpet shall sound — By this the apostle confirms the substance of the tradition, there shall be the sound of a trumpet on this great day; and this other scriptures teach: see Zechariah 9:14; Matthew 24:31; John 5:25; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, in which latter place, the apostle treats this subject among the Thessalonians, as he does here among the Corinthians. See the notes there.

Shall be raised incorruptible — Fully clothed with a new body, to die no more.

We shall be changed. — That is, those who shall then be found alive.