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, Hipparchus or Ptolemy. The work of classifying stars by magnitude was already underway in antiquity: that is one reason why I find Hipparchus 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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