The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 15:34 Explained

1 Corinthians 15:34

KJV: Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

YLT: awake up, as is right, and sin not; for certain have an ignorance of God; for shame to you I say it.

Darby: Awake up righteously, and sin not; for some are ignorant of God: I speak to you as a matter of shame.

ASV: Awake to soberness righteously, and sin not; for some have no knowledge of God: I speak this to move you to shame.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Awake  to righteousness,  and  sin  {5720} not;  for  some  have  not the knowledge  of God:  I speak  [this] to  your  shame. 

What does 1 Corinthians 15:34 Mean?

Study Notes

sin
Sin.
sinned
Sin, Summary: The literal meanings of the Heb. and (Greek - ἀλεκτοροφωνία sin," "sinner," etc)., disclose the true nature of sin in its manifold manifestations. Sin is transgression, an overstepping of the law, the divine boundary between good and evil Psalms 51:1 ; Luke 15:29 , iniquity, an act inherently wrong, whether expressly forbidden or not; error, a departure from right; Psalms 51:9 ; Romans 3:23 , missing the mark, a failure to meet the divine standard; trespass, the intrusion of self-will into the sphere of divine authority Ephesians 2:1 , lawlessness, or spiritual anarchy 1 Timothy 1:9 , unbelief, or an insult to the divine veracity John 16:9 .
Sin originated with Satan Isaiah 14:12-14 , entered the world through Adam Romans 5:12 , was, and is, universal, Christ alone excepted; Romans 3:23 ; 1 Peter 2:22 , incurs the penalties of spiritual and physical death; Genesis 2:17 ; Genesis 3:19 ; Ezekiel 18:4 ; Ezekiel 18:20 ; Romans 6:23 and has no remedy but in the sacrificial death of Christ; Hebrews 9:26 ; Acts 4:12 availed of by faith Acts 13:38 ; Acts 13:39 . Sin may be summarized as threefold: An act, the violation of, or want of obedience to the revealed will of God; a state, absence of righteousness; a nature, enmity toward God.

Verse Meaning

The Corinthians needed to think correctly. Rather than living for the present, as their pagan neighbors were undoubtedly encouraging them to do, they needed to stop sinning and fulfill their present purpose, namely, propagating the gospel. It was a shame that they had neighbors who still had no knowledge of God since they had much knowledge of God ( 1 Corinthians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 8:1).
"Since salvation finally has to do with being known by and knowing God ( 1 Corinthians 13:12), what makes the Corinthians" persisting in sin so culpable is that it keeps others from the knowledge of God ( 1 Corinthians 15:34). [1]
It may be that Paul was also using irony to refer to the "spiritual" viewpoint of the Corinthians. The appearance of "knowledge" here again raises that possibility since, as we have seen, "knowledge" fascinated the Corinthians. Paul had also spoken something to their "shame" earlier (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:5). If he meant to be ironic, the apostle was probably putting down those responsible for taking the church in the dangerous direction that it had gone. He would have meant that his readers should sober up and stop sinning because some of them did not have the truth, which was to their shame.
These ad hominem (experiential) arguments do not prove beyond doubt that God will raise the bodies of people from the dead, but they support Paul"s stronger historical ( 1 Corinthians 15:1-11), logical ( 1 Corinthians 15:12-19), and theological ( 1 Corinthians 15:20-28) arguments in the preceding sections. They show that Christians generally and the apostle in particular believed in the Resurrection deeply. It affected the way they lived, as it should. [2]

Context Summary

1 Corinthians 15:29-41 - This Body The Seed Of A Glorious One
The anticipation of the final resurrection enabled the early Christians to endure incredible sufferings. As one rank fell martyred, another was ready to step into its place; and the catechumens, or young believers, took the names of the martyrs, so as to perpetuate their testimony. With this hope in his heart Paul himself had confronted at Ephesus the tumult of the infuriated mob, Acts 19:1-41. Belief in this sublime undoing of the last effects of sin was one of the chief features in the conquering power of Christianity.
In every seed there is the germ of a new and beautiful growth, more elaborate and yet identical; so in each of us there is something which has the capacity and potentiality of furnishing another body, through which the emancipated spirit will be able to express itself more perfectly than it can in this body, which is composed of coarser materials. It is not difficult to believe in this, when we have seen the caterpillar become the butterfly. The world is full of wonderful and beautiful things. God's inventiveness reveals itself in a myriad differing organisms. It is by His will that the golden head of wheat is fairer than the little brown seed cast into the furrow; so it is His pleasure that the body which is to be shall surpass the present in glory. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 15

1  By Christ's resurrection,
12  he proves the necessity of our resurrection,
16  against all such as deny the resurrection of the body
21  The fruit,
35  and the manner thereof;
51  and of the resurrection of those who shall be found alive at the last day

Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 15:34

Awake up righteously [εκνηπσατε δικαιως]
Wake up as if from drunkenness. Εκνηπω — Eknēphō only here in N.T. sin not Stop sinning. [source]
No knowledge of God [αγνωσιαν τεου]
Old word for ignorance, in N.T. only here and 1 Peter 2:15. Ignorance of God, agnosticism. Some today (agnostics) even take pride in it instead of shame See note on 1 Corinthians 6:5 for εντροπη — entropē f0). [source]
Awake [ἐκνήψατε]
Only here in the New Testament. It means to awake from a drunken stupor. Compare Joel 1:5, Sept. The kindred verb ἀνανήφω returnto soberness (A.V. and Rev., recover ), occurs at 2 Timothy 2:26. [source]
Have not the knowledge [ἀγνωσίαν ἔχουσιν]
Lit., have an ignorance. Stronger than ἀγνοεῖν tobe ignorant. They have and hold it. For the form of expression, see on have sorrow, John 16:29. The word for ignorance is found only here and 1 Peter 2:15(see note). [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 15:34

Mark 12:24 That ye know not the scriptures [μη ειδοτες τας γραπας]
The Sadducees posed as men of superior intelligence and knowledge in opposition to the traditionalists among the Pharisees with their oral law. And yet on this very point they were ignorant of the Scriptures. How much error today is due to this same ignorance among the educated!Nor the power of God (μηδε την δυναμιν του τεου — mēde tēn dunamin tou theou). The two kinds of ignorance generally go together (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:34). [source]
Mark 12:24 Nor the power of God [μηδε την δυναμιν του τεου]
The two kinds of ignorance generally go together (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:34). [source]
1 Corinthians 4:14 To shame [ἐντρέπων]
Lit., as shaming. See on Matthew 21:37. The verb means to turn about, hence to turn one upon himself; put him to shame. Compare 2 Thessalonians 3:14; Titus 2:8. Also, in the middle voice, in the sense of reverence; to turn one's self toward another. See Mark 12:6; Luke 18:2. The kindred noun ἐντροπή occurs twice: 1 Corinthians 6:5; 1 Corinthians 15:34. Compare Sophocles: “Think you he will have any regard ( ἐντροπὴν ) for the blind man” (“Oedipus at Colonos,” 299). [source]
1 Corinthians 6:5 I say this to move you to shame [προς εντροπην υμιν λεγω]
Old word εντροπη — entropē from εντρεπω — entrepō to turn in (1 Corinthians 4:14 which see). In N.T. only here and 1 Corinthians 15:34. [source]
2 Timothy 2:26 May recover themselves [ἀνανήψωσιν]
Lit. may return to soberness. N.T.oSee on be sober, 1 Thessalonians 5:6. A similar connection of thought between coming to the knowledge of God and awaking out of a drunken stupor, occurs 1 Corinthians 15:34. [source]
1 Peter 2:15 Ignorance [ἀγνωσίαν]
In classical Greek it is an ignorance arising from not coming into contact with the person or thing to be known. It occurs only once again in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 15:34. Here it signifies not want of acquaintance, but of understanding; a state of ignorance. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 15:34 mean?

Sober up righteously and not sin ignorance for of God some have to [the] shame of you I speak
ἐκνήψατε δικαίως καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε ἀγνωσίαν γὰρ Θεοῦ τινες ἔχουσιν πρὸς ἐντροπὴν ὑμῖν λαλῶ

ἐκνήψατε  Sober  up 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἐκνήφω  
Sense: to return to one’s self from drunkenness, become sober.
δικαίως  righteously 
Parse: Adverb
Root: δικαίως  
Sense: just, agreeably to right.
ἁμαρτάνετε  sin 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἁμαρτάνω  
Sense: to be without a share in.
ἀγνωσίαν  ignorance 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀγνωσία  
Sense: not knowing, ignorance.
Θεοῦ  of  God 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
τινες  some 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: τὶς  
Sense: a certain, a certain one.
ἐντροπὴν  [the]  shame 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: ἐντροπή  
Sense: shame.
ὑμῖν  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
λαλῶ  I  speak 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: ἀπολαλέω 
Sense: to utter a voice or emit a sound.