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1 Corinthians 15:55

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

KJV

ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ νῖκος; ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέντρον;

Greek NT

Ubi est mors victoria tua ? ubi est mors stimulus tuus ?

Vulgate

O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?

ASV

O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

6 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

θάνατος
thanatos
noun · 120×
κέντρον
kentron
noun · 4×
νῖκος
nikos
noun · 4×
ποῦ
pou
adverb · 45×
σύ
su
pronoun · 1071×
o
article · 19778×

Intertextual echoes

This verse quotes or alludes to 1 earlier text.

  • Hos 13:14 · adapted
    "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes."
    Hosea: O death where is your sting — Paul taunts death

Textual variants

1 variant unit attested by manuscript witnesses and modern critical editions.

minor
SBLGNT: νῖκος ποῦ σου θάνατε τὸ κέντρον ; , , | WH/Treg/NIV: νῖκος ποῦ σου θάνατε τὸ κέντρον | RP: κέντρον Ποῦ σου ᾍδη τὸ νῖκος
  • νῖκος ποῦ σου θάνατε τὸ κέντρον ; , ,SBLGNT
  • νῖκος ποῦ σου θάνατε τὸ κέντρονWestcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
  • κέντρον Ποῦ σου ᾍδη τὸ νῖκοςRobinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus

Themes

Historic Christian voices

5 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

Chapter 17.—Of the Endless Glory of the Church. “And I saw,” he says, “a great city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them. And God sh…
Gregory presents Christ's death and resurrection as divine deception of death itself. Death swallowed the bait of Christ's humanity but was pierced by the hook of His divinity. Death is swallowed up in victory — "O death, where is your sting?" Christ entered death to destroy it from the inside, bursting its bonds by the power of an indestructible life.

Cross-references

  • 1Cor 15:26 — The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
  • Acts 2:27 — Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
  • Acts 2:27 — Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
  • Acts 9:5 — And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
  • Eccl 2:15 — Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.
  • Eccl 8:8 — There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are
  • Eccl 9:5 — For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
  • Hos 13:14 — I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
  • Isa 51:13 — And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he we
  • Luke 6:48 — He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was foun
  • Matt 16:18 — And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
  • Ps 23:4 — Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
  • Ps 49:8 — (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)
  • Ps 89:48 — What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
  • Rev 6:8 — And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with
  • Rev 20:13 — And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
  • Rom 5:14 — Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.