1 Corinthians 15:5

5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

1 Corinthians 15:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 15:5

And that he was seen of Cephas
Or Simon Peter; for Cephas was a name given him by Christ, ( John 1:42 ) . This was not another Cephas, one of the seventy disciples, as Clemens suggests {g}, but the Apostle Peter himself, to whom it is certain the Lord appeared. Not that he was the first person by whom Christ was seen after his resurrection, for he first appeared to Mary Magdalene, ( Mark 16:9 ) but the testimony of the women the apostle omits, and it seems as if Peter was the first of the men that saw Christ when risen, see ( Luke 24:34 ) . Whether he was one of the disciples that went to Emmaus, to whom Christ joined himself, and entered into discourse with, is not certain; it should rather seem, that the appearance here referred to was when he was alone;

then of the twelve;
though there were then but eleven of them, Judas being gone from them, and having destroyed himself; and at the first appearance of Christ to them, there were but ten present, Thomas being absent; and yet because their original number, when first chosen and called, were twelve, they still went by the same name; see ( John 20:24 ) ( Genesis 42:13 ) . The appearance or appearances here referred to are those in ( John 20:19 John 20:26 ) . The Vulgate Latin reads the "eleven"; and so the Claromontane exemplar.


FOOTNOTES:

F7 Apud Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 1. c. 12.

1 Corinthians 15:5 In-Context

3 For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.