THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS - Chapter 15 - Verse 54

Verse 54. So when, etc. 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 fulfilment; 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 Isa 25:8; and the fact that Paul thus quotes them, and the connexion 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 Seventy, 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. katepoyh (from katapinw, to drink down, to swallow down) means to absorb, (Re 12:16;) to overwhelm, to drown, (Heb 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, eiv nikov. Unto victory; so as to obtain a complete victory. The Hebrew (Isa 25:8) is

HEBREW.

The Seventy often render the word

HEBREW, which properly means splendour, purity, trust, perpetuity, eternity, perfection, by nikov, victory, 2 Sa 2:26; Job 36:7; La 3:18; 5:20; Am 1:11; 8:7.

The Hebrew word here may be rendered either unto the end, i.e., 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.

{e} "is swallowed up" Isa 25:8