1 Corinthians 15:56

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
sting	κέντρον kentron	G2759	a point ("centre") · noun — nominative singular neuter
death	θανάτου thanatou	G2288	(properly · noun — genitive singular masculine
sin	ἁμαρτία, hamartia	G266	a sin (properly abstract) · noun — nominative singular feminine
and	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
strength	δύναμις dunamis	G1411	force (literally or figuratively) · noun — nominative singular feminine
sin	ἁμαρτίας hamartias	G266	a sin (properly abstract) · noun — genitive singular feminine
law	νόμος.¶ nomos	G3551	law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — nominative singular masculine

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

Romans 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
Galatians 3:10-13 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things whi…
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 7:5-13 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Romans 5:12-13 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
John 8:21 Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:51-57

To confirm what he had said of this change, I. He here tells them what had been concealed from or unknown to them till then - that all the saints would not die, but all would be changed. Those that are alive at our Lord's coming will be caught up into the clouds, without dying, Th1 4:11. But it is plain from this passage that it will not be without changing from corruption to incorruption. The frame of their living bodies shall be thus altered, as well as those that are dead; and this in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, Co1 15:52. What cannot almighty power effect? That power that calls the dead into life can surely thus soon and suddenly change the living; for changed they must be as w…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:56

If there were no sin, there would be no death. Man's transgression of the law gives death its lawful power. strength of sin is the law--Without the law sin is not perceived or imputed (Rom 3:20; Rom 4:15; Rom 5:13). The law makes sin the more grievous by making God's will the clearer (Rom 7:8-10). Christ's people are no longer "under the law" (Rom 6:14).

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:56

The sting of death is sin - The apostle explains himself particularly here: death could not have entered into the world if sin had not entered first; it was sin that not only introduced death, but has armed him with all his destroying force; the goad or dagger of death is sin; by this both body and soul are slain. The strength of sin is the law - The law of God forbids all transgression, and sentences those who commit it to temporal and eternal death. Sin has its controlling and binding power from the law. The law curses the transgressor, and provides no help for him; and if nothing else intervene, he must, through it, continue ever under the empire of death.

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 15:56

The sting of death is sin,.... Death has a sting, and which was originally in it, and that is sin; sin is the cause of death, it is what has given rise and being to it; it entered into the world by it, and is supported in its empire through it; it gives it its resistless power, which reaches to all sorts of persons, young and old, rich and poor, high and low, bond and free; it gives it all its bitterness, agonies, and miseries; and it is by that it does all the hurt and mischief it does; and it may fitly be compared to a sting, for its poisonous and venomous nature: and the strength of sin is the law; not that the law of God is sinful, or encourages sin: it forbids it under the severest pen…

The Church Fathers

By that sting, the human race first wounded itself unto death in such a way that he made death also pass to and through his offspring.
— Fulgentius of Ruspe, LETTER 35, TO SCARILA

Nothing could be truer. For a prohibition always increases an illicit desire so long as the love of and joy in holiness is too weak to conquer the inclination to sin. So without the aid of divine grace it is impossible for man to love and delight in sanctity.
— Augustine of Hippo, City of God 13.5

By "law" here Paul simply means either what inheres in the flesh or what is added to it. His point is that sin is taken away along with death and that the law ceases to exist once we have become immortal and are governed by the grace of the Spirit.
— Theodore of Mopsuestia, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

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

Death — May be simply defined as the termination of life. It is represented under a variety of aspects in Scripture: (1.) “The dust shall return to the earth as it was” (Eccl. 12:7). (2.) “Thou takest away…
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.…
Resurrection · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Sin · Described as: The sting of death — Described as: The sting of death

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Corinthians 15:56

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:51-57

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:56

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:56

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 15:56

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Corinthians 15:56

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 15:51-57

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 15:56

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 15:56

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 15:56

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 15:51–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 15:55