1 Corinthians 15:4

4 that he was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures; ¹

1 Corinthians 15:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 15:4

And that he was buried
That is, according to the Scriptures; for as he died and rose again according to the Scriptures, he was buried according to them; which speak of his being in hell, in "sheol", in the grave, and of his making his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, ( Psalms 16:10 ) ( Isaiah 53:9 ) and which had their accomplishment through Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, who begged the body of Jesus, wrapped in linen, and laid it in his own new tomb. And besides these Scripture prophecies of his burial, Jonah's being three days and three nights in the whale's belly was a type of it, and according to which our Lord himself foretold it, ( Matthew 12:40 ) . Now since this was prophesied of, and typified, and had its actual accomplishment, it was very proper for the apostle to take notice of it, both to confirm the certainty of Christ's death, and the truth of his resurrection, which his death and burial are mentioned, in order to lead on to, and next follows:

and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures:
that he should rise again from the dead was very plainly hinted or expressed in several prophecies which speak of the rising of his dead body, of its not being left in the grave so long as to see corruption; and which therefore could not be in it more than three days; and of his lifting up his head after he had drank of the brook by the way; of his ascension to heaven, and session at the right hand of God, which suppose his resurrection, ( Isaiah 26:19 ) ( Psalms 16:10 ) ( Psalms 68:18 ) ( Psalms 110:1 Psalms 110:7 ) . And that he should rise again the third day, is not only suggested in ( Hosea 6:2 ) but was prefigured by the deliverance of Isaac on the third day after Abraham had given him up for dead, from whence he received him, in a figure of Christ's resurrection; and by Jonah's deliverance out of the whale's belly, after he had been in it three days. The Jews take a particular notice of the third day as remarkable for many things they observe ^F5, as

``of the third day Abraham lift up his eyes, ( Genesis 22:4 ) of the third day of the tribes, ( Genesis 42:18 ) of the third day of the spies, ( Joshua 2:16 ) of the third day of the giving of the law, ( Exodus 19:16 ) of the third day of Jonah, ( Jonah 1:17 ) of the third day of them that came out of the captivity, ( Ezra 8:15 ) of the third day of the resurrection of the dead, as it is written, ( Hosea 6:2 ) "after two days will he revive us, in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight".''

From which passage, it is clear, that they under stood the prophecy in Hosea of the resurrection of the dead; and it is observable, that among the remarkable third days they take notice of, are the two instances of Isaac's and Jonah's deliverances, which were Scripture types of Christ's resurrection. From which observations they establish this as a maxim ^F6, that

``God does not leave the righteous in distress more than three days.''

That Christ did rise again from the dead, in pursuance of those prophecies and types, the apostle afterwards proves by an induction of particular instances of persons who were eyewitnesses of it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Bereshit Rabba, sect. 56. fol. 49. 3.
F6 Mattanot Cehunah in ib.

1 Corinthians 15:4 In-Context

2 That is the gospel, the message that I preached to you. You are saved by the gospel if you hold firmly to it - unless it was for nothing that you believed.

3 I passed on to you what I received, which is of the greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures;

4 that he was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures;

5 that he appeared to Peter and then to all twelve apostles.

6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of his followers at once, most of whom are still alive, although some have died.

Cross References

• 1. 15.4Psalms 16.8-10;Matthew 12.40;Acts 2.24-32.