1 Corinthians 15:29

If these things are not so, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them?

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

ASV

Else what shall they do that are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?

YLT

Seeing what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? why also are they baptized for the dead?

DBT

Since what shall the baptised for the dead do if [those that are] dead rise not at all? why also are they baptised for them?

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Commentary voices

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Voices7

On this verse

For if "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," [1 Corinthians 15:22] their vivification in Christ must be in the flesh, since it is in the flesh that arises their death in Adam. "But every man in his own order," because of course it will be also every man in his own body. For the order will be arranged severally, on account of the individual merits.

Tertullian· On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Chapter 48, 220patristic

Related commentary

Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead,.... The apostle here returns to his subject, and makes use of new arguments to prove the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, and reasons for it from the baptism of some persons; but what is his sense, is not easy to be understood, or what rite and custom, or thing, or action he refers to; which must, be either Jewish baptism, or Christian baptism literally taken, or baptism in a figurative and metaphorical sense.

John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed

Else what shall they do ... - The apostle here resumes the argument for the resurrection which was interrupted at 1Co 15:19. He goes on to state further consequences which must follow from the denial of this doctrine, and thence infers that the doctrine must be true. There is, perhaps, no passage of the New Testament in respect to which there has been a greater variety of interpretation than this; and the views of expositors now by no means harmonize in regard to its meaning.

Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical

Else--if there be no resurrection. what shall they do?--How wretched is their lot! they . . . which are baptized for the dead--third person; a class distinct from that in which the apostle places himself, "we" (1Co 15:30); first person.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed

Who are baptized for the dead - Perhaps baptized in hope of blessings to be received after they are numbered with the dead. Or, "baptized in the room of the dead" - Of them that are just fallen in the cause of Christ: like soldiers who advance in the room of their companions that fell just before their face.

John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755evangelical

He answers an objection against this truth, and takes occasion thence to show what a vast change will be made in the bodies of believers at the resurrection,

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

But it is, I believe, and instance perfectly singular for hoi nekroi to mean no more than one dead person; it is a signification which the words have nowhere else. And the hoi baptizomenoi ( the baptized ) seem plainly to mean some particular persons, not Christians in general, which yet must be the signification if the hoi nekroi ( the dead ) be understood of our Saviour.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

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Cross-references

6 linked verses

The verses this one reaches6

Matthew 28:19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
John 11:25
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
Romans 6:3–4
Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
1 Corinthians 15:16
For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised.
1 Corinthians 15:32
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
Matthew 20:22
“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” the brothers answered.

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Original language

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Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

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About this book

The Crucifixion — 'Christ crucified' (1 Cor 2:2) — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

1 Corinthians — A pastoral letter answering a long list of questions and problems — unity, ethics, worship, and the resurrection — written to a gifted but divided church.

Canon: New Testament
Author: Paul, with Sosthenes (1:1)
Date: c. AD 55, from Ephesus

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Corinthians 15:32
If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
leads to
- Isaiah 22:13
  But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
- Luke 12:19
  Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
- Isaiah 56:12
  “Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”
Through
Matthew 20:22
“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” the brothers answered.
leads to
- Luke 22:42
  “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
- Matthew 26:42
  A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”
- John 18:11
  “Put your sword back in its sheath!” Jesus said to Peter. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given Me?”
- Matthew 26:39
  Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
- Mark 14:36
  “Abba, Father,” He said, “all things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.”

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

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