ris3n's Apologetics Codex
1 Corinthians 15.32
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Passage

1 Corinthians 15.32

Book: 1 Corinthians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

30. why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour? 31. I protest by that glorying in you, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

32. If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.

  1. Be not deceived: Evil companionships corrupt good morals. 34. Awake to soberness righteously, and sin not; for some have no knowledge of God: I speak this to move you to shame. (1 Corinthians 15:30-34, ASV)
WEB

30. Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour? 31. I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

32. If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

  1. Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.” 34. Wake up righteously, and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. (1 Corinthians 15:30-34, WEB)
KJV

30. And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? 31. I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. your: some read, our

32. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. after: or, to speak after the manner of men

  1. Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 34. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. (1 Corinthians 15:30-34, KJV)
YLT

30. why also do we stand in peril every hour? 31. Every day do I die, by the glorying of you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord:

32. if after the manner of a man with wild beasts I fought in Ephesus, what the advantage to me if the dead do not rise? let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die!

  1. Be not led astray; evil communications corrupt good manners; 34. awake up, as is right, and sin not; for certain have an ignorance of God; for shame to you I say [it]. (1 Corinthians 15:30-34, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the apostle, with Sosthenes named as co-sender (1:1)
  • Audience: The church at Corinth, which Paul had founded (Acts 18:1-11), writing in reply to reports and to a letter from them (1:11; 7:1)
  • Location: Ephesus, where Paul planned to stay "until Pentecost" (16:8)
  • Time period: C. AD 53-55, during Paul's long ministry in Ephesus on his third missionary journey (Acts 19)

Theological reading

"If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die."

The argument from practice. In 15:29-34 Paul argues from the way Christians actually live. Why would anyone be baptized for the dead (15:29), stand "in jeopardy every hour" (15:30), or "die daily" (15:31), if the dead are not raised? Verse 19 has already said it: "If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable" (ASV).

Beasts at Ephesus. "Fought with beasts" (Strong's G2341) occurs only here in the New Testament. Most interpreters take it figuratively, of savage human opposition in Ephesus (compare 16:9, "there are many adversaries"), since Paul does not list such an ordeal among his sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 and a Roman citizen would not normally be sent to the arena. "After the manner of men" may itself mark the phrase as a figure of speech. Some take it literally.

Two quotations. "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die" is word for word Isaiah 22:13, where the people of Jerusalem feast instead of repenting as the city faces destruction. The next verse, "Evil companionships corrupt good morals" (15:33, ASV), is a line from the Greek comic poet Menander's play Thais. Paul is quoting the voice of people who expect nothing after death.

What Paul is and is not saying. The Atheism vs the Christian God comparison cites this verse. Paul is not claiming that people who deny the resurrection must become pleasure-seekers, and many atheists live disciplined and generous lives. Atheist writers often argue that meaning is chosen rather than given, and that a finite life makes each choice more precious. Paul's point is narrower: his own life of danger and self-denial for the gospel makes sense only if the dead are raised. If they are not, the sensible course is the one Isaiah condemned. See Resurrection, Moral Argument and Argument from Desire.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.