in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
Parallel Translations
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in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
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and that in a moment and in the twinclinge of an eye at the sounde of the last trompe. For the trompe shall blowe and the deed shall ryse incorruptible and we shalbe chaunged.
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In a moment, in the twinckling of an eye at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall blow, and the dead shalbe raysed vp incorruptible, and we shalbe changed.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (22)
Passages linked to 1 Corinthians 15:52 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.
- Matthew 24:31 He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
- John 5:28 Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice,
- John 5:25 Most certainly I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live.
- Isaiah 27:13 It will happen in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who were outcasts in the land of Egypt, shall come; and they will worship Yahweh in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
- 1 Corinthians 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable.
- 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
- Zechariah 9:14 Yahweh will be seen over them; and his arrow will go flash like lightning; and the Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet, and will go with whirlwinds of the south.
- Isaiah 18:3 All you inhabitants of the world, and you dwellers on the earth, when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, look! When the trumpet is blown, listen!
- Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn’t blow the trumpet, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes, and takes any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’
- 1 Corinthians 15:50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.
- Revelation 9:13-14 The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!”
- Revelation 8:13 I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe for those who dwell on the earth, because of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, who are yet to sound!”
- Exodus 19:16 On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
- Ezekiel 33:3 if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blows the trumpet, and warns the people;
- Revelation 8:2 I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
- Exodus 20:18 All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance.
- Psalms 73:19 How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
- Exodus 33:5 Yahweh had said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up among you for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do to you.’ ”
- Numbers 10:4 If they blow just one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.
- Numbers 16:21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!”
- Numbers 16:45 “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He showeth us that the time shall be very…
He showeth us that the time shall be very short.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an…
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Ver. 52. The trumpet shall sound] As at the giving of the law it did, Exo 19:16. If the law were thus given (saith a divine), how shall it be required? If such were the proclamation of God’s statutes, what shall the sessions be? I see and tremble at the resemblance; the trumpet of the angel called to the one; the trumpet of the archangel shall summon us to the other. In the one the mount only was on a flame; all the world shall be so in the other. To the one Moses says, God came with ten thousands of his saints; in the other thousand thousands shall minister to him, and ten thousand thousands shall stand before him.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This change will be on the sudden, in a…
This change will be on the sudden, in a moment; either upon the will and command of Christ, which shall be as effectual to call persons out of their graves, as a trumpet is to call persons together; or rather, upon a sound made like to the sound of a trumpet, as it was at the giving of the law upon Sinai, Exo 19:16. We read of this last trump, Mat 24:31; 1Th 4:16. There shall (saith the apostle) be such a sound made; and upon the making of it, the saints, that are dead, shall be raised out of their graves; not with such bodies as they carried thither, (which were corruptible), but with such bodies as shall be no more subject to corruption; and those who at that time shall be alive, shall one way or another be
changed, and be also put into an incorruptible state.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain O death, where is thy sting?.... These words, with…
O death, where is thy sting?.... These words, with the following clause, are taken out of Hos 13:14 and that they belong to the times of the Messiah, the ancient Jews acknowledge; and the Chaldee paraphrase interprets them of the Logos, or Word of God, rendering them thus,
"my Word shall be among them to kill, and my Word to destroy;''
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wherefore the apostle is not to be charged with a misapplication of them, nor with a perversion of them, as he is by the Jew (s): in the prophet they are thus read, "O death, I will be thy plagues, O grave, I will be thy destruction"; between which, and the apostle's citation of them, there is some difference; the word which we render in both clauses, "I will be", the apostle translates "where", and that very rightly, and so it should be rendered there; and so it is by the Septuagint interpreters, who render the whole as he, with a little variation, "where is thy revenge, O death? where is thy sting, O grave?" and so the Arabic version of Hosea still nearer the apostle, "where is now thy victory, O death?" or "where is thy sting, O grave?" and even the Chaldee paraphrase on Hos 13:14 renders the same word "where"; for instead of, "I will be thy king", the Targum reads, , "where is thy king?" and Aben Ezra, a Jewish writer of great note, on Hos 13:14 observes, that there are some that say the word is to be inverted as if it was "where", and he adds, and it is right; a like observation he makes on those words in Co1 15:14 and that that is the true sense of the word in both verses, is attested by Ebn Jannahius Tanchuma (t); so that the apostle is thus far to be justified, in his citation of this passage: it is further to be observed, that instead of "thy plagues", he reads, "thy sting"; and I doubt not, but that among the many things which signifies, as it must be owned it does signify the plague, or pestilence, see Psa 90:6 and which perhaps is so called, from the venomous nature of it, and the poisonous sting that is in it, so likewise a sting, though there is no instance of it; certain it is, that bees are called and as Cocceius (u) observes, from their sting; and so in the Chaldee and Arabic languages, a bee, or a wasp, is called and it is to such sort of creatures, that the allusion is here made; who having lost their stings, can do no hurt; and which will be the case of death in the resurrection morn, when risen saints will insult over it in this triumphant manner; having nothing more to fear from it, any more than a man has to be afraid of any animal whatever, that has lost its sting: and in the following clause,
O grave, where is thy victory? instead of "destruction", as it must be allowed the word signifies, see Psa 90:6 the apostle reads victory; but then there is no difference in the sense; for the grave gets its victory over its thousands, and ten thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousands, and millions of millions, by the destruction of them, which now it glories in, and boasts of; but in the resurrection morn, when its destruction will be at an end, the triumphant saints may reasonably ask, where is its boasted victory, since it can destroy no longer.
(s) R. lsaac Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 87. p. 463. (t) Apud Pocock. Not. Miscellan. ad Port. Mosis, p. 69, 70. (u) Lex. Heb. in rad.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain In a moment - Amazing work of omnipotence! And…
In a moment - Amazing work of omnipotence! And cannot the same power now change us into saints in a moment? The trumpet shall sound - To awaken all that sleep in the dust of the earth.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 52. In a moment] ενατομω. In an atom;…
Verse 52. In a moment] ενατομω. In an atom; that is, an indivisible point of time. In the twinkling of an eye; as soon as a man can wink; which expressions show that this mighty work is to be done by the almighty power of God, as he does all his works, He calls, and it is done. The resurrection of all the dead, from the foundation of the world to that time, and the change of all the living then upon earth, shall be the work of a single moment.
At the last trump] This, as well as all the rest of the peculiar phraseology of this chapter, is merely Jewish, and we must go to the Jewish writers to know what is intended. On this subject, the rabbins use the very same expression. Thus Rabbi Akiba: "How shall the holy blessed God raise the dead? We are taught that God has a trumpet a thousand ells long, according to the ell of God: this trumpet he shall blow, so that the sound of it shall extend from one extremity of the earth to the other. At the first blast the earth shall be shaken; at the second, the dust shall be separated; at the third, the bones shall be gathered together; at the fourth, the members shall wax warm; at the fifth, the heads shall be covered with skin; at the sixth, the souls shall be rejoined to their bodies; at the seventh, all shall revive and stand clothed." See Wetstein. This tradition shows us what we are to understand by the last trump of the apostle; it is the seventh of Rab. Akiba, when the dead shall be all raised, and, being clothed upon with their eternal vehicles, they shall be ready to appear before the judgment seat of God.
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For the trumpet shall sound] By this the apostle confirms the substance of the tradition, there shall be the sound of a trumpet on this great day; and this other scriptures teach: see Zec 9:14; Mt 24:31; Joh 5:25; 1Th 4:16, in which latter place, the apostle treats this subject among the Thessalonians, as he does here among the Corinthians. See the notes there.
Shall be raised incorruptible] Fully clothed with a new body, to die no more.
We shall be changed.] That is, those who shall then be found alive.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain In a moment - (ἐν ἀτόμῳ en atomō). In…
In a moment - (ἐν ἀτόμῳ en atomō). In an “atom,” scil. of time; a point of time which cannot be cut or divided (α a, the alpha privative (“not”) and τομη tomē, from τέμνω temnō, “to cut”). A single instant; immediately. It will be done instantaneously.
In the twinkling of an eye - This is an expression also denoting the least conceivable duration of time. The suddenness of the coming of the Lord Jesus is elsewhere compared to the coming of a thief in the night; 2Pe 3:10. The word rendered “twinkling” (ῥιπῆ ripē, from ῥίπτω rhiptō, “to throw, cast”) means “a throw, cast, jerk,” as of a stone; and then “a jerk of the eye,” that is, “a wink” - Robinson.
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At the last trump - When the trumpet shall sound to raise the dead. The word “last” here does not imply that any trumpet shall have been before sounded at the resurrection, but is a word denoting that this is the consummation or close of things; it will end the economy of this world; it will be connected with the last state of things.
For the trumpet shall sound - See the note at Mat 24:31.
And the dead shall be raised - See the note at Joh 5:25.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain In a moment, &c. By the power of the…
In a moment, &c. By the power of the Almighty all shall rise again in their bodies, either to a happy or a miserable resurrection. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the last trump--at the sounding of the trumpet on…
the last trump--at the sounding of the trumpet on the last day [VATABLUS] (Mat 24:31; Th1 4:16). Or the Spirit by Paul hints that the other trumpets mentioned subsequently in the Apocalypse shall precede, and that this shall be the last of all (compare Isa 27:13; Zac 9:14). As the law was given with the sound of a trumpet, so the final judgment according to it (Heb 12:19; compare Exo 19:16). As the Lord ascended "with the sound of a trumpet" (Psa 47:5), so He shall descend (Rev 11:15). The trumpet was sounded to convoke the people on solemn feasts, especially on the first day of the seventh month (the type of the completion of time; seven being the number for perfection; on the tenth of the same month was the atonement, and on the fifteenth the feast of tabernacles, commemorative of completed salvation out of the spiritual Egypt, compare Zac 14:18-19); compare Psa 50:1-7. Compare His calling forth of Lazarus from the grave "with a loud voice," Joh 11:43, with Joh 5:25, Joh 5:28.
and--immediately, in consequence.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 52. In a moment—Εν ατομω. In an atom of…
52. In a moment—Εν ατομω. In an atom of time; in an indivisible instant. In the twinkling (literally, stroke) of the eye. Quick as a jerk of the eyelash.
The last trump—See note, 1Th_4:6.
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We… changed—St. Paul’s present we conceptually includes not quite the same as the first we of 1Co_15:51, but all the living in the body at the parousia.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 52. in a moment] The literal meaning of the…
52. in a moment] The literal meaning of the word here used is, that which is so small as to be actually indivisible.
in the twinkling of an eye] Some MSS. read ῥοπῇ for ῥιπῇ, i.e. the downward motion of the eyelid (literally, the inclination of the scale), for the rapid movement suggested by the word twinkling. The latter suits the context best.
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at the last trump] Some have referred this to the last of the seven trumpets in Revelation 8-11. See especially Rev_10:7. But this cannot be, since the visions recorded in that book had not yet been seen. It must therefore mean the trumpet which will sound on the last day. Cf. St Mat_24:31 and 1Th_4:16.
and we shall be changed] The we is emphatic; therefore the Apostle here expresses once more his belief that he will be alive at the coming of Christ; for, “since the last times were already come, the saints expected that day from hour to hour.” Calvin.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (52) The last trump.—The trumpet was used to summon…
(52) The last trump.—The trumpet was used to summon an assembly (Exo_20:18; Psa_81:3; Isa_18:3; Isa_27:13) or to sound a warning. The last trumpet is the one which concludes a series which have already been sounding at intervals in notes of warning to the nations (Psa_47:5; Isa_27:13; Jer_51:27). This verse states with reiterated emphasis that this change shall not be a protracted process, but a sudden and momentary alteration in the condition of our bodies.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The trumpet shall sound. The Lord, he says, in…
The trumpet shall sound. The Lord, he says, in 1Th_4:16, "shall descend from heaven with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." The trumpet is, of course, only a natural symbol. It is also found in rabbinic writers, and in the Old Testament, (Zec_9:14) as well as in Rev_11:15. We shall be changed. The dead shall be changed by resurrection, the living by transition, into a glorified body. St. Paul, dealing with the essence of the question as it bore on the difficulties of his readers, says nothing here
(1) of those who will arise to judgment, or
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(2) of any intermediate condition.
As to the former question, he scarcely ever alludes to it with any definiteness, but seems with deliberate choice to contemplate the final and absolute triumph of good. (Rom_8:19-23 Rom_11:30-36) To the intermediate state he does not here allude. He is here only speaking of death and glorious resurrection. In 2Co_5:1-4 he says all that he has to say on this latter question. It was not prominent in the minds of the early Christians, who, as Calvin says, were awaiting the return of Christ "from hour to hour."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 52. In a moment. The change will be instantaneous.…
52. In a moment. The change will be instantaneous. At the last trump. See 1 Thess. 4:16. The trumpet shall sound. This signal for the close of all earthly things. See Matt. 24:31.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 52. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an…
52. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” The case is very clear here that Paul is speaking of the rapture of the saints, as there is no allusion whatever to the wicked. In the final resurrection the wicked as well as all the righteous not identified with the Bridehood will rise about the same time, perhaps even then a short interval between the righteous and the wicked. Hence we see from this Scripture that the living saints at the sound of the trumpet will all be translated instantaneously. This is beautifully corroborated in 1Th 4:13-18; 1Th 5:1-11, including a large paragraph devoted to this subject. There we learn that, when the Lord descends with a shout and with the trump of the archangel, the buried saints will first leap out of their graves all round the world. Then, “we who are alive, having been left, shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall be forever with the Lord.” Hence we see that the interval between the resurrection of the saints and the translation of the living will be very brief; because the latter will fly right up, and along with the former meet the Lord in the air. The most inspiring privilege of the Lord’s people, is to be living on the earth when He returns, and thus honored with the translation. Hence we have here the two distinct methods by which the Lord’s saints will enter the glorified state, i. e., translation and resurrection. In either case we pass into the transfiguration glory of our risen and ascended Lord.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,…
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed .
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain Resurrection, Summary:
raised
Resurrection, Summary:
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(1) The resurrection of the dead was believed by the patriarchs Gen 22:5; Heb 11:19; Job 19:25-27 and revealed through the prophets; Isa 26:19; Dan 12:2; Dan 12:13; Hos 13:14 and miracles of the dead restored to life are recorded in the O.T.; 2Ki 4:32-35; 2Ki 13:21.
(2) Jesus Christ restored life to the dead Mat 9:25; Luk 7:12-15; Joh 11:43; Joh 11:44 and predicted His own resurrection; Joh 10:18; Luk 24:1-8.
(3) A resurrection of bodies followed the resurrection of Christ Mat 27:52; Mat 27:53 and the apostles raised the dead; Act 9:36-41; Act 20:9; Act 20:10.
(4) Two resurrections are yet future, which are inclusive of "all that are in the graves" Joh 5:28. These are distinguished as "of life"; 1Co 15:22; 1Co 15:23; 1Th 4:14-17; Rev 20:4 and "of judgment"; Joh 5:28; Joh 5:29; Rev 20:11-13. They are separated by a period of one thousand years Rev 20:5. The "first resurrection," that "unto life," will occur at the second coming of Christ 1Co 15:23 the saints of the O.T. and church ages meeting Him in the air 1Th 4:16; 1Th 4:17 while the martyrs of the tribulation, who also have part in the resurrection Rev 20:4 are raised at the end of the great tribulation.
(5) The mortal body will be related to the resurrection body as grain sown is related to the harvest 1Co 15:37; 1Co 15:38 that body will be incorruptible, glorious, powerful, and spiritual 1Co 15:42-44; 1Co 15:49.
(6) The bodies of living believers will, at the same time, be instantaneously changed 1Co 15:50-53; Php 3:20; Php 3:21. This "change" of the living, and resurrection of the dead in Christ, is called the "redemption of the body"; Rom 8:23; Eph 1:13; Eph 1:14.
(7) After the thousand years the "resurrection unto judgment" Joh 5:29 occurs. The resurrection-body of the wicked dead is not described. They are judged according to their works, and cast into the lake of fire. Rev 20:7-15.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 We will be changed
We will be changed
This can be stated in active form. AT: "God will change us" (See: Active or Passive)
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in the twinkling of an eye
It will happen as fast as it takes for a person to blink his or her eye.
at the last trumpet
"when the last trumpet sounds"
the dead will be raised
This can be translated in active form. AT: "God will raise the dead" (See: Active or Passive)
raised
"caused to live again"
imperishable ... this perishable body ... is imperishable
"in a form that cannot rot ... this body that can rot ... cannot rot." See how similar phrases are translated in 1 Corinthians 15:42.
must put on
Paul is speaking of God making our bodies so they will never die again as if God were putting new clothes on us. (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
trumpet
raise
die
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 15:52 Cp. 1 Thes 4:13-17.
15:52 Cp. 1 Thes 4:13-17.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.