Bible Strands
1 Corinthians 15:55
“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Corinthian church while concluding his argument about the resurrection of the dead. He poses rhetorical questions to personified Death immediately after declaring that mortality has put on immortality.
The words — The Greek ποῦ (pou) means "where" and νῖκος (nikos) means "victory." Paul uses these terms to question the claimed power of Death after its defeat.
The thread — The text directly quotes Hosea 13:14, where God promises to ransom people from Sheol and ask where Death's plagues are. The passage also connects to the surrounding context in 1 Corinthians 15:54 and 56 regarding the swallowing of death and the sting of sin.
Why it lands — The verse demands a reader acknowledge that Death's power has been nullified by the resurrection. It requires abandoning fear of mortality and recognizing that the law and sin no longer hold ultimate authority over life.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Cross-references
- Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
- Psalms 89:48 What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
- Romans 5:14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the way that Adam transgressed. He is a pattern of the One to come.
- Acts 2:27 because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
- Psalms 49:8 For the redemption of his soul is costly, and never can payment suffice,
- Ecclesiastes 2:15 So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.
- Acts 9:5 “Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.
- Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
- Revelation 20:13 The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.
- Ecclesiastes 8:8 As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.