Sunday, February 28, 2021

1 Corinthians 15:41 (Knowledge of Celestial Bodies in Antiquity)

Greek: ἄλλη δόξα ἡλίου, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα σελήνης, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων, ἀστὴρ γὰρ ἀστέρος διαφέρει ἐν δόξῃ. (WH)

Rogers and Rogers:

ESV:
"There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory."

NWT 2013: "The glory of the sun is one sort, and the glory of the moon is another, and the glory of the stars is another; in fact, one star differs from another star in glory."

NET: "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory."

David Garland (BECNT): Mentioning the stars might be intended to bring to mind the glorious state of those resurrected from the dead, who are likened to astral bodies (Dan. 12:2–3; Matt. 13:43; Wis. 3:7; 2 Bar. 51:10; so D. Martin 1995: 118–20).[8] Paul’s point is that the resurrection body is not a reanimated corpse but something of a completely different order that is appropriate to celestial existence. Since the Corinthians recognize that heavenly bodies differ from  earthly bodies, they should not expect the resurrected body to be a recycled  earthly body. 

EGF: The discussion by Anthony Thiselton in his 1 Corinthians commentary merits reading: both he and Garland present some refined points about 1 Cor. 15:41, but hardly anyone I've read says much about Greek astronomy when commenting on the expression, "star differs from star in glory." I sometimes wonder how much Paul knew about ancient Greek astronomy and figures like Aristarchus or Ptolemy. The work of classifying stars according to their magnitude was already under way in antiquity: that is one reason I find Aristarchus to be such a compelling figure.

The works I consulted also point out that 1 Corinthians 15:39-41 likely draws upon Genesis 1. Moreover, notice the syntactical order in verse 41, how Paul goes from sun to moon to stars, and the repeated occurrence of the adjective "one/one sort" or "another."

A.T. Robertson: "The telescope has added more force to Paul's argument."

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