1 Corinthians 15:32

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.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
If	εἰ ei	G1487	if · conditional particle
manner	κατὰ kata	G2596	(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
men	ἄνθρωπον anthrōpon	G444	from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — accusative singular masculine
beasts	ἐθηριομάχησα ethēriomachēsa	G2341	to be a beast-fighter (in the gladiatorial show) · verb — aorist active indicative, 1st person singular
at	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
Ephesus	Ἐφέσῳ, Ephesō	G2181	Ephesus · noun — dative singular feminine, a place
what	τί ti	G5101	an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular neuter
it	ὄφελος; ophelos	G3786	gain · noun — nominative singular neuter
me	μοί moí	G3427	to me
if	εἰ ei	G1487	if · conditional particle
dead	νεκροὶ nekroi	G3498	dead (literally or figuratively · adjective — nominative plural masculine
rise	ἐγείρονται, egeirontai	G1453	to waken (transitively or intransitively) · verb — present passive indicative, 3rd person plural
not	οὐκ ouk	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
eat	φάγωμεν phagōmen	G5315	to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 1st person plural
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
drink	πίωμεν, piōmen	G4095	to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 1st person plural
for	γὰρ gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
morrow	αὔριον aurion	G839	properly · adverb
die	ἀποθνῄσκομεν. apothnēskomen	G599	to die off (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active indicative, 1st person plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 22:13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall…
Isaiah 56:12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abunda…
Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
2 Corinthians 1:8-10 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength,…
2 Peter 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly per…
Acts 18:19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
Jude 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themse…
Malachi 3:14-15 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:20-34

In this passage the apostle establishes the truth of the resurrection of the dead, the holy dead, the dead in Christ, I. On the resurrection of Christ. 1. Because he is indeed the first-fruits of those that slept, Co1 15:20. He has truly risen himself, and he has risen in this very quality and character, as the first-fruits of those who sleep in him. As he has assuredly risen, so in his resurrection there is as much an earnest given that the dead in him shall rise as there was that the Jewish harvest in general should be accepted and blessed by the offering and acceptance of the first-fruits. The whole lump was made holy by the consecration of the first-fruits (Rom 11:16), and the whole body…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:32

Punctuate thus: "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," &c. [BENGEL]. If "merely as a man" (with the mere human hope of the present life; not with the Christian's hope of the resurrection; answering to "If the dead rise not," the parallel clause in the next sentence), I have fought with men resembling savage beasts. Heraclitus, of Ephesus, had termed his countrymen "wild beasts" four hundred years before. So Epimenides called the Cretians (Tit 1:12). Paul was still at Ephesus (Co1 16:8), and there his life was daily in danger (Co1 4:9; compare Co2 1:8). Though the tumult (Act 19:29-30) had not yet…

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Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:32

If, after the manner of men, etc. - Much learned criticism has been employed on this verse, to ascertain whether it is to be understood literally or metaphorically. Does the apostle mean to say that he had literally fought with wild beasts at Ephesus? or, that he had met with brutish, savage men, from whom he was in danger of his life? That St. Paul did not fight with wild beasts at Ephesus, may be argued, 1. From his own silence on this subject, when enumerating his various sufferings, Co2 11:23, etc. 2. From the silence of his historian, Luke, who, in the acts of this apostle, gives no intimation of this kind; and it certainly was too remarkable a circumstance to be passed over, either by…

The Church Fathers

If the prophets were pleasing to such, my (prophets) they were not. Why, then, do not you constantly preach, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die? " just as we do not hesitate manfully to command, "Let us fast, brethren and sisters, lest to-morrow perchance we die.
— Tertullian, On Fasting

He feeds on cruelties; he is punished by abstinence; he hates fasts, and his ministers preach, to that effect, as he declares them to be superfluous, having no hope of the future, and echoing that sentence of the apostle, in which he says, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall, die."
— Pope Anterus,

A third saying let them add, "Let us eat, and drink, and marry, for to-morrow we shall die; " not reflecting that the "woe" (denounced) "on such as are with child, and are giving suck," will fall far more heavily and bitterly in the "universal shaking" of the entire world than it did in the devastation of one fraction of Judaea.
— Tertullian, On Monogamy

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Adam — Red, a Babylonian word, the generic name for man, having the same meaning in the Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent…
Beast — This word is used of flocks or herds of grazing animals (Ex. 22:5; Num. 20:4, 8, 11; Ps. 78:48); of beasts of burden (Gen. 45:17); of eatable beasts (Prov. 9:2); and of swift beasts or dromedaries…
Ephesus — The capital of proconsular Asia, which was the western part of Asia Minor. It was colonized principally from Athens. In the time of the Romans it bore the title of “the first and greatest metropolis…
Games — (1.) Of children (Zech. 8:5; Matt. 11:16). The Jewish youth were also apparently instructed in the use of the bow and the sling (Judg. 20:16; 1 Chr. 12:2). (2.) Public games, such as were common…
Immortality — Perpetuity of existence. The doctrine of immortality is taught in the Old Testament. It is plainly implied in the writings of Moses (Gen. 5:22, 24; 25:8; 37:35; 47:9; 49:29, comp. Heb. 11:13-16; Ex.…
Sin — Is “any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God” (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by…
Animals · Paul contends with — Paul contends with
B · Illustrative of: Persecutors — Illustrative of: Persecutors
Body · Resurrection of — Resurrection of
Epicureans · To Paul — To Paul
Games · Gladiatorial — Gladiatorial
Gladiator · Paul conten

1 Corinthians 15:32

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:20-34

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:32

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:32

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Corinthians 15:32

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:20-34

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:32

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:32

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 15:32

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 15:29-34

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 15:32