54 But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Then shall be brought to pass the saying This is not merely an amplification, (epexergasia,) [1] but a confirmation, too, of the preceding statement. For what was foretold by the Prophets must be fulfilled. Now this prediction will not be fulfilled, until our bodies, laying aside corruption, will put on incorruption Hence this last result, also, is necessary. To come to pass, is used here in the sense of being fully accomplished, for what Paul quotes is now begun in us, and is daily, too, receiving further accomplishment; but it will not have its complete fulfillment until the last day. It does not, however, appear quite manifest, from what passage he has taken this quotation, for many statements occur in the Prophets to this effect. Only the probability is, that the first clause is taken either from Isaiah 25:8, where it is said that death will be for ever destroyed by the Lord, [2] or, (as almost all are rather inclined to think,) from Hosea 13:14, where the Prophet, bewailing the obstinate wickedness of Israel, complains that he was like an untimely child, that struggles against the efforts of his mother in travail, that he may not come forth from the womb, and from this he concludes, that it was owing entirely to himself, that he was not delivered from death. I will ransom them, says he, from the power of the grave: I will rescue them from death. It matters not, whether you read these words in the future of the indicative, or in the subjunctive [3] for in either way the meaning amounts to this -- that God was prepared to confer upon them salvation, if they would have allowed the favor to be conferred upon them, and that, therefore, if they perished, it was their own fault. He afterwards adds, I will be thy destruction, O death! thy ruin, O grave! In these words God intimates, that he accomplishes the salvation of his people [4] only when death and the grave are reduced to nothing. For no one will deny, that in that passage there is a description of completed salvation. As, therefore, we do not see such a destruction of death, it follows, that we do not yet enjoy that complete salvation, which God promises to his people, and that, consequently, it is delayed until that day. Then, accordingly, will death be swallowed up, that is, it will be reduced to nothing, [5] that we may have manifestly, in every particular, and in every respect, (as they say,) a complete victory over it. [6] As to the second clause, in which he triumphs over death and the grave, it is not certain whether he speaks of himself, or whether he meant there also to quote the words of the Prophet. For where we render it, "I will be thy destruction, O death! -- thy ruin, O grave!" the Greeks have translated it, "Where, O death, is thy suit? [7] where, O grave, thy sting?" Now although this mistake of the Greeks is excusable from the near resemblance of the words, [8] yet if any one will attentively examine the context, he will see that they have gone quite away from the Prophet's intention. The true meaning, then, will be this -- that the Lord will put an end to death, and destroy the grave. It is possible, however, that, as the Greek translation was in common use, Paul alluded to it, and in that there is nothing inconsistent, though he has not quoted literally, for instead of victory he has used the term action, or law-suit. [9] I am certainly of opinion, that the Apostle did not deliberately intend to call in the Prophet as a witness, with the view of making a wrong use of his authority, but simply accommodated, in passing, to his own use a sentiment that had come into common use, as being, independently of this, of a pious nature. [10] The main thing is this -- that Paul, by an exclamation of a spirited nature, designed to rouse up the minds of the Corinthians, and lead them on, as it were, to a near view of the resurrection. Now, although we do not as yet behold the victory with our eyes, and the day of triumph has not yet arrived, (nay more, the dangers of war must every day be encountered,) yet the assurance of faith, as we shall have occasion to observe ere long, is not at all thereby diminished.
1 - "Vne declaration ou amplification;" -- "A declaration or amplification."
2 - "The words, as alleged by Paul," (from Isaiah 25:8,) "are found in the version of Theodotion, with which the Targum and Syriac agree, in reading the verb as a passive, kl in Piel, as here, commonly signifies to destroy, destroy utterly; in Kal, the more usual signification is that of swallowing, which most of the versions have unhappily adopted, lntsch the Greek translators render by; ischusas, eis telos, eis nikos; attaching to the term the idea of what is overpowering, durable, complete. The significations of the Hebrew root ntsch, used only in Niphal and Piel, are -- to shine, lead, lead on, be complete; in Chald. to surpass; excel, vanquish; hence the idea of victory, eternity, etc., attaching to ntsch, and of completely, entirely, for ever, etc., to lntsch ntsch. The words are therefore equivalent to ho thanatos ouk estai eti -- (Death shall be no longer,) Revelation 21:4, where there seems to be an evident allusion to our text; and where the subject is, as here, not the millennial state of the Church, but the state of glory after the resurrection of the body. It will be then only, that a period shall be put to the reproachful persecutions of the righteous, which Isaiah likewise predicts." -- Henderson on Isaiah. -- Ed.
3 - "Ie les eusse rachetez -- ie les eusse deliurez;" -- "I could have ransomed them -- I could have rescued them."
4 - "Lors vrayement et a bon escient il sauue les fideles;" -- "He then truly and effectually saves believers."
5 - "This victory will not be gradual only, but total and entire. Every thing of mortality, that was hanging about these glorious victors, shall be swallowed up in perfect and endless life. Death is unstung first -- disarmed -- and then easily overcome. Its sting is said to be sin -- the deadliest thing in death. A plain farther proof, by the way, the Apostle intended death also in the moral sense. And the insulting inquiry, where is it?' implies tis not any where to be found; and signifies a total abolition of it, and, by consequence, must infer that every thing of death besides must, as to them, for ever cease and be no more. Which also the phrase of swallowing up doth with great emphasis express." -- Howe's Works, (Lond. 1834,) page 1035. -- Ed.
6 - "En sorte que nons aurons plene et parfaite victoire a Pencontre d'elle;" -- "So that we shall have a full and complete victory over it."
7 - "Ou est ton plaid, c'est a dire, le proces que tu intentes contre nons, o mort?" -- "O death, where is thy suit -- that is to say, the process that thou carriest on against us?"
8 - "The passage (says Dr. Bloomfield) is from Hosea 13:14, and the Apostle's words differ only by the transposition of nikos (victory) and kentron, (sting,) from the ancient versions; except that for nikos the Sept. has dikn (law-suit.)" It is noticed, however, by Granville Penn, that "in the most ancient of all the existing MSS. (Vat. and Ephr.) there is no transposition of thanatos (death) and kentron, (sting;) and the Apostle's sentence preserves the same order as in the Greek of Hosea; so that the transposition lies wholly at the door of those MSS. which are more recent than those ancient copies." The Vat. version has neikos; instead of nikos, but from the circumstance that in that version neikos is used in the 54th verse manifestly instead of nikos, it abundantly appears that it is a mere difference of spelling. The words to which Calvin refers, as having been mistaken for each other from their near resemblance, are, dike (law-suit) and nikos, (or nike,) victory. -- Ed.
9 - "Car en lieu du mot dike, qui signifie plaid ou proces, il a mis nikos, qui signifie victoire;" -- "For in place of the word dike, which signifies an action or law-suit, they have used nikos, which signifies victory."
10 - "Bonne et saincte;" -- "Good and holy,"
So when - In that future glorious world, when all this shall have been accomplished.
Then shall be brought to pass - Then shall be fully accomplished; these words shall then receive their entire fulfillment; or this event shall meet all that is implied in these words.
The saying that is written - What is written, or the record which is made. These words are quoted from Isaiah 25:8; and the fact that Paul thus quotes them, and the connection in which they stand, prove that they had reference to the times of the gospel, and to the resurrection of the dead. Paul does not quote directly from the Hebrew, or from the Septuagint, but gives the substance of the passage.
Death - Referring here, undoubtedly, to death in the proper sense; death as prostrating the living, and consigning them to the grave.
Is swallowed up - Κατεπόθη Katepothē (from katapinō, to drink down, to swallow down) means to absorb Revelation 12:16; to overwhelm, to drown Hebrews 11:29; and then to destroy or remove. The idea may be taken from a whirlpool, or maelstrom, that absorbs all that comes near it; and the sense is, that he will abolish or remove death; that is, cause it to cease from its ravages and triumphs.
In victory - (εἰς νῖκος eis nikos. Unto victory; so as to obtain a complete victory. The Hebrew Isaiah 25:8 is לנצח laanetsach, The Septuagint often renders the word נצח drow netsach which properly means "splendor, purity, trust, perpetuity, eternity, perfection," by νῖκος nikos, "victory"; Job 36:7; Lamentations 3:18; Lamentations 5:20; Amos 1:1-15; Amos 2; Amos 8:7. The Hebrew word here may be rendered either "unto the end, that is," to completeness or perfection, or unto victory, with triumph. It matters little which is the meaning, for they both come to the same thing. The idea is, that the power and dominion of death shall be entirely destroyed, or brought to an end.
Death is swallowed up in victory - Κατεποθη ὁ θανατος εις νικος. These words are a quotation from Isaiah 25:8, where the Hebrew is בלע המות לנצח billa hammaveth lanetsach: He (God) hath swallowed up death in victory; or, for ever. These words in the Septuagint are thus translated: κατεπιεν ὁ θανατος ισχυσας· Death having prevailed, or conquered, hath swallowed up. But in the version of Theodotion, the words are the same with those of the apostle. The Hebrew לנצח lanetsach the Septuagint sometimes translate εις νικος, in victory, but most commonly εις τελος, for ever; both, as Bishop Pearce observes, in such kind of phrases, signifying the same thing, because eternity conquers all things; and accordingly, in 2-Samuel 2:26, where the Septuagint have μη εις νικος καταφαγεται ἡ ῥομφαια, our English version has, Shall the sword devour For Ever? And the same may be seen in Job 36:7; Lamentations 5:20; Amos 1:11; Amos 8:7; from which authority the bishop translates the clause here, Death is swallowed up For Ever.
Death is here personified and represented as a devouring being, swallowing up all the generations of men; and by the resurrection of the body and the destruction of the empire of death, God is represented as swallowing him up; or that eternity gulps him down; so that he is endlessly lost and absorbed in its illimitable waste. How glorious a time to the righteous, when the inhabitant shall no more say, I am sick; when God shall have wiped away all tears from off all faces, and when there shall be no more death. This time must come. Hallelujah! The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,.... As at the coming of Christ, both the bodies of living saints, and of dead ones being raised, will: and this
mortal shall have put on immortality; which will be the case, in the resurrection morn:
then shall be brought to pass that saying that is written; then that passage will have its full accomplishment, which stands in Isaiah 25:8 where it is read,
he will swallow up death in victory, or "for ever". That is, the Messiah shall by his death, and resurrection from the dead, obtain such an entire victory over death, not only for himself, but for all his people, that in the resurrection morn, when they will be all raised from the dead, death will be so swallowed up, that it will be no more: the Jews acknowledge that this prophecy belongs to the times of the Messiah; so they say (p), that
"the Messiah shall descend from Pharez, and in his day the holy blessed God will cause death to be swallowed up, as it is said, Isaiah 25:8 "he shall swallow up death in victory":''
and again (q),
"when the King Messiah comes, the holy blessed God will raise up those that sleep in the dust, as it is written, he shall swallow up death in victory:''
they also say (r), that this passage refers to future time, and to the world to come. The prophet expresses it actively, it being a prediction of what was to be done by the Messiah; the apostle cites it passively, as being accomplished by him after the resurrection, and considered as a part of the song sung by the risen saints; to which is added,
(p) Shemot Rabba, sect. 20. fol. 131. 4. (q) Zohar in Genesis. fol. 73. 1. (r) Zohar in, Exod. fol. 108. 1, 2, 4. Misn. Moed Katon. c. 3. sect. 9. Zohar iu Leviticus. fol. 46. 3. Yade Mose in Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 20. 1. Echa Rabbati, fol. 48. 2.
then--not before. Death has as yet a sting even to the believer, in that his body is to be under its power till the resurrection. But then the sting and power of death shall cease for ever.
Death is swallowed up in victory--In Hebrew of Isaiah 25:8, from which it is quoted, "He (Jehovah) will swallow up death in victory"; that is, for ever: as "in victory" often means in Hebrew idiom (Jeremiah 3:5; Lamentations 5:20). Christ will swallow it up so altogether victoriously that it shall never more regain its power (compare Hosea 6:2; Hosea 13:14; 2-Corinthians 5:4; Hebrews 2:14-15; Revelation 20:14; Revelation 21:4).
Death is swallowed up in victory - That is, totally conquered, abolished for ever.
*More commentary available at chapter level.