ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Corinthians 15.28

Book: 1 Corinthians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

26. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death. 27. For, He put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things unto him.

28. And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.

  1. Else what shall they do that are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them? 30. Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour? (1 Corinthians 15:26-30, ASV)
WEB

26. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27. For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.

28. When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.

  1. Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead? 30. Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour? (1 Corinthians 15:26-30, WEB)
KJV

26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

28. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

  1. Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? 30. And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? (1 Corinthians 15:26-30, KJV)
YLT

26. the last enemy is done away, death; 27. for all things He did put under his feet, and, when one may say that all things have been subjected, [it is] evident that He is excepted who did subject the all things to him,

28. and when the all things may be subjected to him, then the Son also himself shall be subject to Him, who did subject to him the all things, that God may be the all in all.

  1. Seeing what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? why also are they baptized for the dead? 30. why also do we stand in peril every hour? (1 Corinthians 15:26-30, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle, with Sosthenes named as co-sender
  • Audience: the church at Corinth, a divided congregation in a wealthy Roman colony
  • Location: written from Ephesus during the third missionary journey
  • Time period: c. AD 53-55

Theological reading

When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

The verse that carries the weight of the subordination question, treated in its sequence at 1 Corinthians 15.24-28.

The interpretive key is what kind of subjection is in view. Read as an ontological statement it makes the Son lesser in nature, which is the Arian reading. Read as the conclusion of a mediatorial commission it describes the incarnate Son handing back an office whose purpose is complete, which is the classical reading and which fits the future tense and the passage's stated goal.

"That God may be all in all" is the clause the whole chapter drives toward, and it is a statement about the removal of every competing rule rather than about the dissolution of distinctions within God.

The verse should be quoted in full when the doctrine is discussed rather than avoided; an objector who raises it is raising something real.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Lexicon:

Guides:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.