how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.”
World English Bible
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
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how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.”
World English Bible
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
The Hebrew Bible's wisdom literature and older narrative strata treat death as terminal — the dead go to Sheol, lose consciousness, and do not return. Later texts (Daniel 12, Isaiah 26:19) and the New Testament insist on bodily resurrection and conscious afterlife.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
Theology
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Acts 26:23 and 1 Corinthians 15:20 call Jesus the firstfruits of the resurrection and the first to rise from the dead. But the witch of Endor in 1 Samuel 28:11-14 raises Samuel from the dead centuries earlier, and the Hebrew Bible has Elijah and Elisha raising others (1 Kings 17, 2 Kings 4, 2 Kings 13), as does Jesus himself in the Gospels (Lazarus, Jairus's daughter, the widow of Nain's son).
Critical scholarship: Leans toward reconciliation.
Historical detail
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Acts 26:23 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/acts/26/23?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).