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1 Corinthians 15:56

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

KJV

τὸ δὲ κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἡ δὲ δύναμις τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ νόμος.

Greek NT

Stimulus autem mortis peccatum est : virtus vero peccati lex.

Vulgate

The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law:

ASV

Now the sting of death is sin: and the power of sin is the law.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

7 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

δέ
de
conjunction · 2781×
δύναμις
dunamis
noun · 119×
θάνατος
thanatos
noun · 120×
κέντρον
kentron
noun · 4×
νόμος
nomos
noun · 196×
ἁμαρτία
amartia
noun · 173×
o
article · 19778×

Historic Christian voices

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

Chapter 5.—As the Wicked Make an Ill Use of the Law, Which is Good, So the Good Make a Good Use of Death, Which is an Ill. The apostle, wishing to show how hurtful a thing sin is, when grace does not aid us, has not hesitated to say that the strength of sin is that very law by which sin is prohibited. “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.”583583 1 Cor.…

Cross-references

  • Gal 3:10 — For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
  • Gen 2:17 — But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
  • Gen 3:17 — And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sak
  • Heb 9:27 — And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
  • John 8:21 — Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
  • John 8:24 — I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
  • Prov 14:32 — The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
  • Ps 90:3 — Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
  • Rom 3:19 — Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
  • Rom 4:15 — Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
  • Rom 4:15 — Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
  • Rom 5:12 — Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
  • Rom 5:13 — (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
  • Rom 5:15 — But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded un
  • Rom 5:17 — For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
  • Rom 5:20 — Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
  • Rom 6:23 — For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  • Rom 7:5 — For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
  • Rom 7:5 — For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
  • Rom 7:7 — What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
  • Rom 7:8 — But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.