1 Corinthians 15:6

“After that He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, and some are fallen asleep.”

The ἔπειτα, thereafter, separates more forcibly than the εἶτα, then, of 1 Corinthians 15:5; it makes the following appearance a new step in the series, and rightly so. This appearance took place considerably later, and certainly in Galilee. Already before His death Jesus had told His disciples that after His resurrection He would go before them into Galilee (Matthew 26:32; Mark 14:28). The angel and Jesus Himself (according to Matthew 28:10) had repeated this promise to the women on the day of His resurrection (Mark 16:7 and Matthew 28:7). Moreover, Matthew 28:16, mention is made of a command which Jesus gave to His disciples to gather together on a certain mountain in Galilee all the believers of that country. No doubt Matthew, in relating the appearance so solemnly prepared for, speaks only of the Eleven; but if it was, as it is impossible to doubt, that which the angel and, according to Matthew, Jesus Himself announced to the women on the morning of the resurrection, this gathering must have embraced all the followers of Jesus, and not only men, but also women. This is what explains a gathering together in a given place, at a certain time fixed beforehand. It must therefore be held that the appearance mentioned in our 1 Corinthians 15:6 is no other than that related by Matthew at the end of his gospel, and in which Jesus took leave of all His Galilean followers, that is to say, of His Church. The Eleven were there in the foremost rank, and it was to them in particular that the command was addressed to begin the mission to the whole world (Matthew 28:18-20). This is no doubt the reason why Matthew mentions them only. We should not be surprised that the apostle so expressly mentions this testimony. It was that of the whole Church, the apostles included; what a difference between it and a simple private testimony! The word ἐπάνω, more than; above, is not a preposition, but an adverb; as a preposition it would govern the genitive (Mark 14:5). The word ἐφάπαξ does not here signify, as often, once for all, but at one time.

The words five hundred and still live have evidently, in the apostle's view, an apologetic bearing: “You can go and ask them, if you like: there they are, still, and in great numbers.” Here we have a striking example of the small value which in criticism belongs to the argument taken from silence. Here is a fact of public notoriety, quoted in a writing the authenticity of which is indisputable, by a witness whose declaration is above suspicion; and the fact is omitted in our four Gospel narratives, or, if it appears in one of them, it is devoid of the circumstances which render it so striking in the narrative of it given by St. Paul. After this, what is to be thought of arguing against the reality of an act or saying of Jesus because it is mentioned only in one Gospel and not in the others!

The apostle now passes to a third group.