1 Corinthians 15:8

Contextual Overview

¹Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ¹Now boys, y'all don't go forgettin' what I've told y'all about the good news. I know y'all have tied hard and fast to this message and it changed your lives. ¹ Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, ¹Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, ¹ Now I am going to make clear to you, my brothers, what the good news was which I gave to you, and which you took, and on which your faith is based, ¹ But I make known to you, brethren, the glad tidings which I announced to you, which also ye received, in which also ye stand, ¹ Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. ¹ Now I declare to you, brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also ye received, and wherein ye stand:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he was: 1 Corinthians 9:1, Acts 9:3-5, Acts 9:17, Acts 18:9, Acts 22:14, Acts 22:18, Acts 26:16, 2 Corinthians 12:1-6

one born out of due time: or, an abortive

Reciprocal: Numbers 12:12 - of whom Job 3:16 - an hidden Job 42:6 - I Psalms 66:16 - and I will Daniel 2:30 - this secret Matthew 15:27 - Truth Acts 8:19 - General Acts 9:27 - how he had seen Romans 1:1 - called 2 Corinthians 12:11 - though Galatians 1:23 - he which 2 John 1:8 - that we receive

Cross-References

Genesis 15:2
But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD , what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"

Genesis 15:2
But Abram said, "Sovereign Lord , what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"

Genesis 15:2
And Abram said, "O Lord Yahweh, what will You give me, as I go on being childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"

Genesis 15:2
Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"

Genesis 15:2
And Abram sayde: Lorde God what wylt thou geue me when I go chyldelesse, the chylde of the stewardship of my house is this Eleazer of Damasco?

Genesis 15:2
But Abram said, "Lord God , there is nothing you can give me that will make me happy, because I have no son. My slave Eliezer from Damascus will get everything I own after I die."

Genesis 15:2
But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Elie'zer of Damascus?"

Genesis 15:2
And Abram seide, Lord God, what schalt thou yyue to me? Y schal go with oute fre children, and this Damask, sone of Elieser, the procuratour of myn hous, schal be myn eir.

Genesis 15:2
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou giue me, seeing I goe childlesse? and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus.

Genesis 15:2
And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And last of all he was seen of me also,.... Either when the apostle was caught up into the third heaven; or when he was in a trance in the temple at Jerusalem; or rather at the time of his conversion, when he not only heard the voice of Christ, but saw him in the human nature; for he expressly says, that he appeared unto him, and he calls it the heavenly vision, Acts 26:16. This was a sight of Christ in heaven, not on earth, such an one as Stephen had, and was a corporeal one; otherwise it would have been impertinent to have mentioned it, with the rest of the ocular testimonies of Christ's resurrection. Not that this was the last time that Christ was seen, or to be seen, for he was seen after this by the Apostle John in a visionary way, and will be corporeally seen by all the saints at the last day; but Paul was the last of the apostles and brethren before named, and he had his vision of Christ after them all; and perhaps it might be a more clear, full, and distinct one than any of the rest, as the last things are sometimes the most excellent. The apostle adds, as of

one born out of due time: or "as an abortive"; not that he was really one, but like one: several learned interpreters think the apostle refers to a proverbial way of speaking among the common people at Rome, who used to call such supernumerary senators in the times of Augustus Caesar, who got into the senate house by favour or bribery, "abortives" i, they being generally very unworthy persons; and therefore calls himself by this name, as being in his own opinion a supernumerary apostle, and very unworthy of that office: though others rather think that he refers to a "posthumous" birth, to one that is born after the death of his father; because that the rest of the apostles were all chosen, and called, and sent forth, whilst Christ, their everlasting Father, was living on earth, but he not till after his death, resurrection from the dead, and ascension to heaven: but it seems best to understand him of an abortion, a miscarriage, or birth before its time; and may respect either the manner of his conversion, which was done both suddenly, immediately, and at once, by a sudden light from heaven, when he little thought of it, and had no expectation of it, which is commonly the case of abortions; and also powerfully and irresistibly, being effected by mighty and efficacious grace, as births before the full time are often occasioned by blows or outward force, and are violent extrusions of the foetus; or else the state and condition in which he was when Christ was first seen by him: as to his bodily state, as soon as ever he saw the light about him, and the object by it, he was struck blind, and continued so some days, like an hidden untimely birth, and like an infant that never saw light, Job 3:16. And as to his spiritual estate, his soul was like an unshapen foetus, Christ being not yet formed in him, his image stamped on him, and his grace implanted in him; yea, it may be applied to the present apprehensions he had of himself, and which he expresses without a figure in the next verse, though in a beautiful manner, with a view to what he here says, when he observes that he was "the least of the apostles, and not meet to be called" one; as an abortive, or one born before its time, is imperfect in one respect or another, is not come to its proper size and shape, and scarcely is to be reckoned in the class and number of men.

i Vid. Sueton. in Vita August. c. 35.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And last of all - After all the other times in which he appeared to people; after he had ascended to heaven. This passage proves that the apostle Paul saw the same Lord Jesus, the same “body” which had been seen by the others, or else his assertion would be no proof that he was risen from the dead. It was not a fancy, therefore, that he had seen him; it was not the work of imagination; it was not even a “revelation” that he had risen; it was a real vision of the ascended Redeemer.

He was seen of me also - On the way to Damascus, see Acts 9:3-6, Acts 9:17.

As of one born out of due time - Margin, Or, “an abortive.” Our translation, to most readers, probably, would not convey the real meaning of this place. The expression, “as of one born out of due time,” would seem to imply that Paul meant to say that there was some unfitness “as to the time” when he saw the Lord Jesus; or that it was “too late” to have as clear and satisfactory a view of him as those had who saw him before his ascension. But this is by no means the idea in the passage. The word used here (ἔκτρωμα ektrōma) properly means an abortion, one born prematurely. It is found no where else in the New Testament; and here it means, as the following verse shows, one that was “exceedingly unworthy;” that was not worth regard; that was unfit to be employed in the service of the Lord Jesus; that had the same relation to that which was worthy of the apostolic office which an abortion has to a living child. The word occurs (in the Septuagint) in Job 3:16; Ecclesiastes 6:3, as the translation of נפל nephel, an abortion, or untimely birth. The expression seems to be proverbial, and to denote anything that is vile, offensive, loathsome, unworthy; see Numbers 12:11. The word, I think, has no reference to the mode of “training” of the apostle, as if he had not had the same opportunity as the others had, and was therefore, compared with their advantages, like an untimely child compared with one that had come to maturity before its birth, as Bloomfield supposes; nor does it refer to his diminutive stature, as Wetstein supposes; but it means that he felt himself “vile,” guilty, unworthy, abominable as a persecutor, and as unworthy to be an apostle. The verse following shows that this is the sense in which the word is used.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 15:8. And last of all - of me also — It seems that it was essential to the character of a primitive apostle that he had seen and conversed with Christ; and it is evident, from the history of Saul's conversion, Acts 9:4-7, where see the notes, that Jesus Christ did appear to him; and he pleaded this ever after as a proof of his call to the apostleship. And it does not appear that, after this time, Jesus ever did make any personal discovery of himself to any one.

As of one born out of due time. — The apostle considers himself as coming after the time in which Jesus Christ personally conversed with his disciples; and that, therefore, to see him at all, he must see him in this extraordinary way. Some have entered into a very disgusting detail on the figure used here by the apostle. The words, ωσπερει τω εκτρωματι, signify not merely one born out of due time, but one born before his time; and consequently, not bidding fair for vigour, usefulness, or long life. But it is likely that the apostle had a different meaning; and that he refers to the original institution of the twelve apostles, in the rank of whom he never stood, being appointed not to fill up a place among the twelve, but as an extra and additional apostle. Rosenmuller says that those who were beyond the number of twelve senators were termed abortivi, abortives; and refers to Suetonius in Octavio, cap. 35. I have examined the place, but find no such epithet. According to Suetonius, in that place, they were called orcini-persons who had assumed the senatorial dignity after the death of Julius Caesar, pretending that they had derived that honour from him.