What Does 1 Corinthians 15:1 Mean?
Now I make known to you, brothers, the good news I brought you, which you also took from another's hand, and in which you stand.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;THE KEY
Paul calls the gospel a place to stand, using the same Greek word-family that names resurrection, the central subject of this chapter.
THE MEANING
The good news is something you receive, and it is where you stand now. It is not only a message passing by; it is the ground beneath your present footing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The gospel is only something you once heard, rather than the ground you occupy now.
THE ROOT
ἑστήκατε
hestēkate
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
To stand; to set or establish in place.
The form ἑστήκατε (hestēkate, “you have stood and remain standing”) presents a settled stance: you stand within the message already received. In the same word-family, ἀνάστασις (anastasis, “resurrection; a standing up”) names the rising at the heart of this chapter, so the opening verb quietly echoes its central subject.
ALSO GROWS
stasis: Standing; position or state.
στάσις
This branch makes the verse’s image vivid: the received message is a position you occupy, not merely an idea passing through.
anastasis: Resurrection; a standing up.
ἀνάστασις
It shares the standing word-family, linking the place where you stand in verse 1 to the resurrection the chapter unfolds.
παρελάβετε
parelabete
GROWS FROM
λαμβάνω
lambanō
To take; to receive.
“took from another's hand” in this verse is parelabete. Paul’s verb is παρελάβετε (parelabete, “you received”), from παραλαμβάνω (paralambanō, “receive; take alongside”), built on λαμβάνω (lambanō, “take; receive”). The verse places receiving before standing: what you take in as good news becomes the ground in which you now stand.
ALSO GROWS
paralambanō: To receive; to take alongside.
παραλαμβάνω
This is the verb-family used in the verse: the proclaimed message is received and becomes the place of your stance.
epilambanomai: To take hold of; to grasp.
ἐπιλαμβάνομαι
This related compound carries the same seed of taking, illuminating reception as an active taking-in rather than mere exposure.
THE PATTERN
A word received inwardly becomes a lived ground from which a person acts and stands.
But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.Through whom also we have been drawn near by trust into this favor in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of being clothed in the weight of God.As you have therefore received the Anointed One, Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.THE THREAD
Through whom also we have been drawn near by trust into this favor in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of being clothed in the weight of God.Romans says you stand in favor (χάρις, charis, “favor”), reached through trust (πίστις, pistis, “trust”). Both verses use ἵστημι (histēmi, “to stand; to set in place”), making the received good news and favor places you stand within.
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