51. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
A mystery; something revealed, and which could not otherwise be known, Matt. 13, 11. 1 Cor. 4, 1, and often else- where. What is here expressed by saying, I show you a mystery, is in 1 Thess. 4, 15 expressed by saying, 'This I say unto you by the word of the Lord^ i. e. by divine revelation. The revelation which Paul now declares, and to which he calls special attention by the word, Behold ! is, that all are not to die, but all are to be changed, i. e, so changed that their cor- ruptible body shall be rendered incorruptible. The common text is, TravTcs />t€v ov Kot/ar/^Tyo-o/Ac^a, the negative being con- nected with the verb, so that the literal sense would be, all are not to die. This is said of all whom Paul addressed. The apostle tells them all that they are not to die. To avoid this impossible sense, for Paul certainly did not mean to assure the Corinthians that it had been revealed to him that none of them should die, most of the older commentators assume in com- mon with our translators a not unusual trajection of the nega- tive particle, Traj/res ov standing for ov Travrcs. Others explain the verse thus : ' We all — shall indeed not die (before the resurrection) — but we shall all be changed.' It is said this is contrary to the context, inasmuch as being changed is some- thing peculiar to those who should be alive at the coming of Christ, and is not affirmed of the dead. This, however, is con- trary to the fact. Paul had said, v. 50, that flesh and blood could not inherit the kingdom of God. All, therefore, who enter that kingdom, whether they die before the second ad- vent or survive the coming of Christ, must be changed. And that is the fact which Paul says had been revealed to him. Those who died before the advent would not fail of the bless- ings of Christ's kingdom, and those who should be alive when he came, would not be left in their corruptible bodies. Both should be changed, and thus prepared for the heavenly state.*
* The difficulty, however, attending the common text, has given rise to a great variety of readings in the MSS. and versions. A. C. F. G. have Trai'Tcr \xkv K0i\xy\^(T6^t.ihu., oh iroLVTis Se aWayqtroixe^a, voe shall indeed ail die, hut. we shall not all he changed. D. and the Vulgate have : iravTcs fieu auam-qao- m^a, oh irdvTfs Se a\\ay7](r6iJ.€^a, we shall all rise, but we shall not all be changed. There are several kss important variations. These are all explained as at- tempts on the part of transcribers to escape making the apostle say that the Christians of that generation were not to die. But as the common text docs not make him say that, there is no necessity for departing from it.