1 Corinthians 15:19

1 Corinthians 15:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
• New International Version (NIV)If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
• English Standard Version (ESV)If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Context of 1 Corinthians 15:19

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. 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. 20But now [as things really are] Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, [and He became] the first fruits [that is, the first to be resurrected with an incorruptible, immortal body, foreshadowing the resurrection] of those who have fallen asleep [in death]. 21For since [it was] by a man that death came [into the world], it is also by a Man that the resurrection of the dead has come.

1 Corinthians 15:19 word by word

εἰ ἐν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ ἐν Χριστῷ ἠλπικότες ἐσμὲν μόνον, ἐλεεινότεροι πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐσμέν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ifεἰei · ifG1487
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• thisοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• lifeὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
• onlyμόνονmonon · onlyG3440
• we haveεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• hopeἐλπίζωelpizō · to hope/expectG1679
• ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
• of allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• menἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• most miserableἐλεεινόςeleeinos · pitifulG1652

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 15:19

• Psalms 17:14From men with Your hand, O Lord, From men of the world [these moths of the night] whose portion [of enjoyment] is in this life—idle and vain, And whose belly You fill with Your treasure; They are satisfied with children, And they leave what they have left [of wealth] to their children.
• Ecclesiastes 6:11For there are many other words that increase futility. What then is the advantage for a man?
• Ecclesiastes 9:9Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given you under the sun—all the days of vanity and futility. For this is your reward in life and in your work in which you have labored under the sun.
• Luke 8:14The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, but as they go on their way they are suffocated with the anxieties and riches and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.
• Luke 21:34“But be on guard, so that your hearts are not weighed down and depressed with the giddiness of debauchery and the nausea of self-indulgence and the worldly worries of life, and then that day [when the Messiah returns] will not come on you suddenly like a trap;
• 1 Corinthians 6:3Do you not know that we [believers] will judge angels? How much more then [as to] matters of this life?
• 2 Timothy 2:4No soldier in active service gets entangled in the [ordinary business] affairs of civilian life; [he avoids them] so that he may please the one who enlisted him to serve.
• Ephesians 1:12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ [who first put our confidence in Him as our Lord and Savior] would exist to the praise of His glory.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:3recalling unceasingly before our God and Father your work energized by faith, and your service motivated by love and unwavering hope in [the return of] our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 2 Timothy 1:12This is why I suffer as I do. Still, I am not ashamed; for I know Him [and I am personally acquainted with Him] whom I have believed [with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in the truth of His deity], and I am persuaded [beyond any doubt] that He is able to guard that which I have entrusted to Him until that day [when I stand before Him].
• 1 Peter 1:21and through Him you believe [confidently] in God [the heavenly Father], who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are [centered and rest] in God.
• 1 Corinthians 4:9For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles at the end of the line, like men sentenced to death [and paraded as prisoners in a procession], because we have become a spectacle to the world [a show in the world’s amphitheater], both to angels and to men.
• Matthew 10:21“Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; and children will rise up and rebel against their parents and cause them to be put to death.
• Matthew 24:9“Then they will hand you over to [endure] tribulation, and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
• John 16:2They will put you out of the synagogues and make you outcasts. And a time is coming when whoever kills you will think that he is offering service to God.
• Acts 14:22strengthening and establishing the hearts of the disciples; encouraging them to remain firm in the faith, saying, “It is through many tribulations and hardships that we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 15:19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19If 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19If 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-19Verses 12-19 Having shown that Christ was risen, the apostle answers those who said there would be no resurrection. There had been no justification, or salvation, if Christ had not risen. And must not faith in Christ be vain, and of no use, if he is still among the dead? The proof of the resurrection of the body is the resurrection of our Lord. Even those who died in the faith, had perished in their sins, if Christ had not risen. All who believe in…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19Without eternal life, faithful believers deserve pity more than anyone else because they face persecution and hardship. However, they find joy in looking forward to what comes after this life, just like Jesus (see Hebrews 12:2) and Paul (see 2 Corinthians 4:16–18; Philippians 1:21–23; 3:7–11).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1919. If our hopes in Christ were limited to this life only, we should be, of all men, most to be pitied; namely, because, while others live unmolested, we are exposed to every trial and persecution, and, after all, are doomed to bitter disappointment in our most cherished hope; for all our hope of salvation, even of the soul (not merely of the body), hangs on the resurrection of Christ, without which His death would be of no avail to us (Ep 1:19, 20; 1Pe…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 15:19

• Body
• Hope
• Immortality
• Jesus Continued
• Resurrection
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• Christ, Messiah
• Awake
• Corrupt
• Corruptible
• Die
• Differ
• Flesh
• Immortality
• Incorruption

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings