Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 15:27
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.
27. For he hath put all things under his feet ] Here the meaning clearly is (see Psa 8:6, and the rest of this verse) that the Father hath put all things under the feet of the Son. “All things are put under His feet,” says Cyril of Alexandria, “because He made all things.” St Joh 1:3; Joh 1:10; Eph 3:9; Col 1:16; Heb 1:1.
it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him ] This passage ought to be compared with the analogous one in Heb 2:7-9. Each of these supplies what is wanting in the other. In the one we have the Son, the manifestation of the Father’s glory and love, bringing everything in this lower world, which the Father has put under Him, into the most complete subjection to, and the most entire union with, His Heavenly Father. In the other we see the Eternal Father, while permitting, for His own wise purposes, the humiliation and suffering of Christ, doing so in order that all things should finally be put in subjection to ‘His Beloved Son, in Whom He was well pleased.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For he hath put – God has put by promise, purpose, or decree.
All things under his feet – He has made all things subject to him; or has appointed him to be head over all things; compare Mat 28:18; Joh 17:2; Eph 1:20-22. It is evident that Paul here refers to some promise or prediction respecting the Messiah, though he does not expressly quote any passage, or make it certain to what he refers. The words hath put all things under his feet are found in Psa 8:6, as applicable to man, and as designed to show the dignity and dominion of man. Whether the psalm has any reference to the Messiah, has been made a question. Those who are disposed to see an examination of this question, may find it in Stuart on the Hebrews, on Heb 2:6-8; and in Excurses ix. of the same work, pp. 568-570. Ed. 1833. In the passage before us, it is not necessary to suppose that Paul meant to say that the psalm had a particular reference to the Messiah. All that is implied is, that it was the intention of God to subdue all things to him; this was the general strain of the prophecies in regard to him; this was the purpose of God; and this idea is accurately expressed in the words of the psalm; or these words will convey the general sense of the prophetic writings in regard to the Messiah. It may be true, also, that although the passage in Psa 8:1-9 has no immediate and direct reference to the Messiah, yet it includes him as one who possessed human nature.
The psalm may be understood as affirming that all things were subjected to human nature; that is, human nature had dominion and control over all. But this was more particularly and eminently true of the Messiah than of any other man. In all other cases, great as was the dignity of man, yet his control over all things was limited and partial. In the Messiah it was to be complete and entire. His dominion, therefore, was a complete fulfillment, that is, filling up ( pleroma) of the words in the psalm. Under him alone was there to be an entire accomplishment of what is there said; and as that psalm was to be fulfilled, as it was to be true that it might be said of man that all things were subject to him, it was to be fulfilled mainly in the person of the Messiah, whose human nature was to be exalted above all things; compare Heb 2:6-9
But when he saith – When God says, or when it is said; when that promise is made respecting the Messiah.
It is manifest – It must be so; it must be so understood and interpreted.
That he is excepted … – That God is excepted; that it cannot mean that the appointing power is to be subject to him. Paul may have made this remark for several reasons. Perhaps:
(1) To avoid the possibility of cavil, or misconstruction of the phrase, all things, as if it meant that God would be included, and would be subdued to him; as among the pagan, Jupiter is fabled to have expelled his father Saturn from his throne and from heaven.
(2) It might be to prevent the supposition, from what Paul had said of the extent of the Sons dominion, that he was in any respect superior to the Father. It is implied by this exception here, that when the necessity for the special mediatorial kingdom of the Son should cease, there would be a resuming of the authority and dominion of the Father, in the manner in which it subsisted before the incarnation.
(3) The expression may also be regarded as intensive or emphatic; as denoting, in the most absolute sense, that there was nothing in the universe, but God, which was not subject to him. God was the only exception; and his dominion, therefore, was absolute over all other beings and things.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. For he hath put all things under his feet] The Father hath put all things under the feet of Christ according to the prophecy, Ps 110:1-7.
He is excepted] i.e. The Father, who hath put all things under him, the Son. This observation seems to be introduced by the apostle to show that he does not mean that the Divine nature shall be subjected to the human nature. Christ, as Messiah, and Mediator between God and man, must ever be considered inferior to the Father: and his human nature, however dignified in consequence of its union with the Divine nature, must ever be inferior to God. The whole of this verse should be read in a parenthesis.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The apostle referreth to Psa 8:6, where the psalmist adoreth God for the privileges given man in his creation; amongst which this is one, that God had put all things under his feet: the psalmist afterward expounds that universal particle, Psa 8:7,8, by all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea. But that that psalm, or some passages at least in it, are to be understood of Christ, appeareth from Heb 2:6-8, where the penman applieth it to him, as doth the apostle here; under whose feet all things are put in a much larger sense, and therefore the apostle expounds the affirmative, Heb 2:8, by a negative, he left nothing that is not put under him. But lest men of perverse minds should conclude, that then the Father also is put under Christ, the apostle addeth, that when he saith, he hath put all things under his feet, the Father himself, who is the person that put all things under him, is not to be included.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. all thingsincluding death(compare Eph 1:22; Phi 3:21;Heb 2:8; 1Pe 3:22).It is said, “hath put,” for what God has said is thesame as if it were already done, so sure is it. Paul here quotes Ps8:6 in proof of his previous declaration, “For (it iswritten), ‘He hath put all things under His feet.‘”
under his feetas Hisfootstool (Ps 110:1). Inperfect and lasting subjection.
when henamely, God,who by His Spirit inspired the Psalmist.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For he hath put all things under his feet,…. This is a reason proving that all enemies, and death itself, shall be put under the feet of Christ, and is taken out of Ps 8:6 which is spoken of one that is styled man, and the son of man; and is to be understood not of Adam in a state of innocence; for the word there used signifies a frail mortal man, which he then was not, nor could he be called the son of man; and though the earth was subdued and subject to him, and he had dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowls of the air, and every living thing that moveth on the earth, yet all creatures were not subject to him in this large sense, in which it is here and elsewhere explained by the apostle; and much less of man in his fallen state, who instead of having all things under his feet, is become like the beasts that perish; many of them: are unsubdued to him, and he is even in fear of them, and he himself is subject to corruption and vanity: but of the man Christ Jesus, who took and bore all the sinless infirmities of human nature; is often called the son of man; of whom God was mindful, and whom lie visited in his state of humiliation, at the time of his death, resurrection, and exaltation; who was made through sufferings of death a little lower, or a little while lower than the angels, but now crowned with glory and honour; in whose days God ordained strength and praise out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, to the confusion of his enemies; and has put all things under his feet, which may elude all things animate and inanimate, the whole creation and universe of things, the world and its fulness, the earth and all that is therein, the beasts of the forest, and the cattle of a thousand hills; he is heir of the world, and has a right to it, and to dispose of it, not merely as the Creator, but as Mediator; it is put in subjection to him to make use of, and what is in it to subserve his mediatorial kingdom and his glory; when his ends are answered by it, the earth and all that is therein shall be burnt up, and a new earth arise out of it, in which Christ and his people will dwell: the air and all that is therein are under him; the fowls of it are at his dispose; he it was that rained feathered fowls as the sand of the sea, about the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness, and commanded the ravens to feed Elijah in distress; and who holds the winds in his fist, lets them loose, calls them in, and commands them at pleasure; as he also does the sea, and the boisterous waves of it, and has dominion over the fishes in it; one of those supplied him with money, to pay his tribute; and multitudes of them, more than once, were gathered together, and taken up by his order and direction; and at the last day, the sea at his command will give up the dead that are in it; yea, this may extend to all rational creatures, angels and men, friends or foes: good angels, principalities and powers, are subject to him, as appears by their attendance on him: at his incarnation, ascension, and second coming; by their ministration to him in the wilderness, and in the garden; by their employment under him, for the good of the heirs of salvation; by their dependence on him, as their Creator and head, and by their adoration of him as their Lord and God. Evil angels, the devils, are also put under his feet, as is evident from his overcoming Satan, and baffling all his temptations; by his dispossessing the devils out of the bodies of men, and giving his disciples also power over them; by his spoiling them at death, and triumphing over them in his ascension; by delivering his people out of their hands, and power, in conversion; and by his binding of Satan during the thousand years, and by casting him and his angels into everlasting fire prepared for them. Elect men are made subject to him, by the power of his grace upon them; and yet their subjection to him, to his Gospel ordinances, and the sceptre of his kingdom; is voluntary and from their hearts; it proceeds from a principle of love to him; and is universal, being a regard unto, and a compliance with all his precepts; and evil men are also under his dominion and control; he rules them with a rod of iron; he disappoints their counsels, restrains their wrath, overrules their evil designs and actions against his people for good; and will one day gather them all before him, pass the righteous sentence on them, and send them into everlasting punishment. Moreover, this may reach to everything that is for the glory of Christ as Mediator, and for the good of his church, and to every enemy of his or theirs, as the world, sin, Satan, and the last enemy, death; to prove the subjection of all which to Christ, this testimony is produced: and respects Christ as Mediator, and the Father’s delivering all things into his hands, and giving him all power in heaven and in earth, and rule over all creatures and things;
but when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him; that is, when David, or the Holy Spirit by him, said the above words, in Ps 8:6 nothing is more clear and evident, than that God the Father, who made all things subject to Christ as Mediator, is himself not subjected to him; since his power as such must be greater than his: this exception is made to secure the government, power, and honour of the Father; for though he has made his firstborn higher than the kings of the earth, yet not higher than himself; and though he has set him his King over his holy hill of Zion, yet not over himself; and though it is his will that all men should honour the Son, as they honour the Father, yet not above him, or more than he; nor has he quitted the government, either in the world or in the church, by subjecting all things to Christ: and this exception is also made to confirm the universal power and empire of Christ, for an exception to a general rule does but the more establish it; and since the Father is only excepted, it is a clear case, that he has left nothing that is not put under him; see Heb 2:8 but it must be observed, that though the Holy Spirit is not mentioned, yet he is equally excepted; since he is the one God with the Father, and was jointly concerned in the mission, unction, and installation of Christ, as Mediator; nor can he be reckoned among the all things put in subjection to Christ, for they regard only creatures, and many of these enemies, with neither of which the Spirit of God can be numbered; and though the gifts and graces of the Spirit are put into Christ’s hands, and are at his dispose, yet the person of the Spirit can never be thought to be put under his feet.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He put (). First aorist active of , to subject. Supply God () as subject (Ps 8:7). See Heb 2:5-9 for similar use. Cf. Ps 8.
But when he saith ( ). Here Christ must be supplied as the subject if the reference is to his future and final triumph. The syntax more naturally calls for God as the subject as before. Either way makes sense. But there is no need to take (second aorist active subjunctive) as a futurum exactum, merely “whenever he shall say.”
Are put in subjection (). Perfect passive indicative, state of completion, final triumph.
It is evident that ( ). Supply (is) before .
He is excepted who did subject ( ). “Except the one (God) who did subject (articular aorist active participle) the all things to him (Christ).”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
When He saith [ ] . God, speaking through the Psalmist (Psa 8:6). Some, however, give a future force to the verb, and render but when He shall have said; i e., when, at the end, God shall have said, “All things are put under Him. The subjection is accomplished.” See Rev., margin.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For he hath put all things under his feet.” (panta gar hupetaksen hupo tous podas autou) “Because all things he (God) subjected under the feet or jurisdiction of him.” This occurred in the purpose of God and has been revealed, Psa 8:6. Man by sin and death lost dominion over all things, but what he lost Christ restores, Heb 2:5-9; Heb 2:14. Christ became the anti-type of Adam for us, Rom 5:9-10.
2) “But when he saith all things are put under him” (hotan de eipe hoti panta hupotetaktai).’Yet whenever he says that all things have been subjected.” This shall be His attestation to the Father of the
fulfillment of Psa 8:6, when death is subdued, Rev 20:14.
3) “It is manifest that he is excepted,” (delon hoti ektos) It is clear that he is excepted or excluded.” That clear to Paul, should be clear to us, “that God the Father was never put under the rule of His Son, but was excluded.”
4) “Which did put all things under him.” (tou hupotaksantos auto ta panta) “The one having placed all things under him.” God the Father, having loved the Son for His love for the universe, committed all things to Him, Joh 3:35.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
27. He hath put all things under his feet Some think that this quotation is taken from Psa 8:6 , and I have no objection to this, though there would be nothing out of place in reckoning this statement to be an inference that is drawn by Paul from the nature of Christ’s kingdom. Let us follow, however, the more generally received opinion. Paul shows from that Psalm, that God the Father has conferred upon Christ the power of all things, because it is said, Thou hast put all things under his feet The words are in themselves plain, were it not that there are two difficulties that present themselves — first, that the Prophet speaks here not of Christ alone, but of the whole human race; and secondly, that by all things he means only those things that have to do with the convenience of the life of the body, as we find in Gen 2:19. The solution of the former difficulty is easy; for as Christ is the first-born of every creature, (Col 1:15,) and the heir of all things, (Heb 1:2,) God, the Father, has not conferred upon the human race the use of all creatures in such a way as to hinder that in the mean time the chief power, and, so to speak, the rightful dominion, remain in Christ’s hands. Farther, we know, that Adam lost the right that had been conferred upon him, so that we can no longer call anything our own. For the earth was cursed, (Gen 3:17,) and everything that it contains; and it is through Christ alone that we recover what has been taken from us. (57) It is with propriety, therefore, that this commendation belongs to Christ personally — that the Father has put all things under his feet, inasmuch as we rightfully possess nothing except in him. For how shall we become heirs of God, if we are not his sons, and by whom are we made his sons but by Christ.
The solution of the second difficulty is as follows — that the Prophet, it is true, especially mentions fowls of heaven, fishes of the sea, and beasts of the field, because this kind of dominion is visible, and is more apparent to the eye; but at the same time the general statement reaches much farther — to the heavens and the earth, and everything that they contain. Now the subjection must have a corrrespondence with the character of him who rules — that is, it has a suitableness to his condition, so as to correspond with it. Now Christ does not need animals for food, or other creatures for any necessity. He rules, therefore, that all things may be subservient to his glory, inasmuch as he adopts us as participants in his dominion. The fruit of this openly appears in visible creatures; but believers feel in their consciences an inward fruit, which, as I have said, extends farther.
All things put under him, except him who put all things under him. He insists upon two things — first, that all things must be brought under subjection to Christ before he restores to the Father the dominion of the world, and secondly, that the Father has given all things into the hands of his Son in such a way as to retain the principal right in his own hands. From the former of these it follows, that the hour of the last judgment is not yet come — from the second, that Christ is now the medium between us and the Father in such a way as to bring us at length to him. Hence he immediately infers as follows: After he shall have subjected all things to him, then shall the Son subject himself to the Father. “Let us wait patiently until Christ shall vanquish all his enemies, and shall bring us, along with himself, under the dominion of God, that the kingdom of God may in every respect be accomplished in us. ”
This statement, however, is at first view at variance with what we read in various passages of Scripture respecting the eternity of Christ’s kingdom. For how will these things correspond — Of his kingdom there will be no end, (Dan 7:14; Luk 1:33; 2Pe 1:11,) and He himself shall be subjected? The solution of this question will open up Paul’s meaning more clearly. In the first place, it must be observed, that all power was delivered over to Christ, inasmuch as he was manifested in the flesh. It is true that such distinguished majesty would not correspond with a mere man, but, notwithstanding, the Father has exalted him in the same nature in which he was abased, and has
given, him a name, before which every knee must bow, etc. (Phi 2:9.)
Farther, it must be observed, that he has been appointed Lord and highest King, so as to be as it were the Father’s Vicegerent in the government of the world — not that he is employed and the Father unemployed (for how could that be, inasmuch as he is the wisdom and counsel of the Father, is of one essence with him, and is therefore himself God?) But the reason why the Scripture testifies, that Christ now holds dominion over the heaven and the earth in the room of the Father is — that we may not think that there is any other governor, lord, protector, or judge of the dead and living, but may fix our contemplation on him alone. (58) We acknowledge, it is true, God as the ruler, but it is in the face of the man Christ. But Christ will then restore the kingdom which he has received, that we may cleave wholly to God. (59) Nor will he in this way resign the kingdom, but will transfer it in a manner from his humanity to his glorious divinity, because a way of approach will then be opened up, from which our infirmity now keeps us back. Thus then Christ will be subjected to the Father, because the vail being then removed, we shall openly behold God reigning in his majesty, (60) and Christ’s humanity will then no longer be interposed to keep us back from a closer view of God. (61)
(57) The reader will find the same difficulties solved by Calvin in his Commentary on the Psalms, vol. 1, pp. 106, 108. — Ed.
(58) “ Mais que nous fichions les yeux de nostre entendement en luy seul;” — “But that we may fix the eyes of our understanding on him alone.”
(59) “The mediatorial kingdom of Christ will end when its design is accomplished; he will cease to exercise an authority which has no longer an object. When all the elect are converted by the truth, and, being collected into one body, are presented to the Father ‘a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;’ when idolatry, superstition, and heresy are overthrown, and all evil is expelled from the kingdom of God; when the plans and efforts of wicked spirits are defeated, and they are shut up in their prison, from which there is no escape; when death has yielded up his spoils, and laid his scepter at the feet of his Conqueror; when the grand assize has been held, his impartial sentence has pronounced the doom of the human race, and their everlasting abodes are allotted to the righteous and the ungodly, nothing will remain to be done by the power with which our Savior was invested at his ascension; and his work being finished, his commission will expire. On this subject we cannot speak with certainty, and are in great danger of error, because the event is future, and our information is imperfect. Here analogy fails, and the utmost caution is necessary in borrowing an illustration from human affairs; but without insinuating that the two cases are exactly similar, may we not say, that as a regent or vicegerent of a King to whom the royal authority has been intrusted for a time, resigns it at the close, and the sovereign himself resumes the reins of government; so our Redeemer, who now sways the scepter of the universe, will return his delegated power to him from whom he received it, and a new order of things will commence under which the dependence of men upon the Godhead will be immediate; and Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one in essence, counsel, and operation, will reign for ever over the inhabitants of heaven. This is the probable meaning of the words, Then shall the Son himself be subject unto him that put all things under him.” — DickTheology, volume 3. — Ed.
(60) “ Nous contemplerons nostre Dieu face a face, regnant en sa maieste;” — “We shall behold our God face to face, reigning in his majesty.”
(61) “ Pour nous empescher de veoir de pres la maieste de Dieu;” — “To keep us back from a near view of the majesty of God.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(27) For he hath put all things under his feet.1Co. 15:26 is a parenthesis, and the for with which this verse commences goes back to 1Co. 15:25. The connection is, Christ must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. Christ must triumph, for according to the statement in Psa. 8:6 (see also Psa. 110:1), God hath put all things under man, and in a higher sense under the Son of Man. (For a similar application of Old Testament statement regarding man to Christ as the Son of Man, see Mat. 21:16; Heb. 2:7.) But when God says that all things are put under Him, He evidently is excepted who did put all things under Him. This leads up logically to the complete triumph of God the Father, expressed in the following verse, which is an expansion of 1Co. 15:24, on which see Note there.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. He (God) hath put all things under his (Christ’s) feet This is a quotation from Psa 8:6; words which are spoken by the psalmist of man as in the earthly image of God; and are applied here, as in Heb 2:8, to Jesus as the representative man in his highest state.
But These words may be thus paraphrased: When, at the consummation, God shall have pronounced that all things have actually become subjected to Christ, (in accordance with Psa 8:6,) it is clear that he (God) who so put all things under Christ is excepted; so that he puts not himself under Christ. As Grotius says, this is that figure of exception mentioned by Greek rhetoricians as necessary in some instances, and is exemplified by the sentence, the sky covers all things, of course excepting the sky itself. This exception, Wordsworth thinks, Paul expressly makes in order to guard his Greek readers against the error of their own mythology, which makes Jupiter subject his own father, Saturn, to himself. Let the reader mark, that at the completion of this verse all things are under Christ, and Christ under the Father. The restoration of the mediatorial kingdom takes not all things from under Christ, as the coming home of the king’s eldest son, and the surrendry of his special temporal viceroyalty, does not diminish his perpetual rank and supremacy over all others, his father excepted. Rather is he higher, in the peaceful order and harmony of the home kingdom, for his temporary absence and victorious expedition. Christ’s kingdom is, therefore, “without end.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘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 did subject all things to him.’
The words are a quotation from Psa 8:6 where man’s destined final triumph is declared. And in Christ as the great representative man this has been accomplished and will be accomplished, and it will be accomplished for Him by the Creator. It will be God Who will finally subject all things under Him.
The Psalmist portrayed a truth beyond his understanding. Somehow he knew that God had destined man, made a little lower than the angels, to be crowned with glory and honour, for had He not made him in the image of God, destined to rule? And he therefore knew that it must be. But he little realised how it would be brought about. We are to have the privilege of seeing the fulfilment of his hope in Christ, (and no doubt he will be standing there with us). Christ, the second man, raised from the dead and accompanied by His people whom He has also raised, is crowned with glory and honour with all things under His feet. He has fulfilled man’s destiny.
But that being so, there is One not put under Him. God alone, in the fullness of His Being, is that One. He is the great Exception. Man is to have total triumph over all things in Jesus Christ, but that triumph is under God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Co 15:27 . ] Proof that death also must be done away. This enemy cannot remain in subsistence, for otherwise God would not have all things , etc. The point of the proof lies in , as in Heb 2:8 .
The words are those of Psa 8:7 , which, as familiar to the reader (comp. on Rom 9:7 ; Gal 3:11 ), Paul makes his own, and in which he, laying out of account their historical sense, which refers to the rule of man over the earth, recognises, as is clear from . . ., a typical declaration of God, which has its antitypical fulfilment in the completed rule of the Messiah (the , 1Co 15:47 ). Comp. Eph 1:22 ; Heb 2:8 .
The subject of (which expresses the subjection ordained by God in the word of God ) is God , as was obvious of itself to the reader from the familiar passage of the psalm. If God has in that passage of Psa 8 subjected all to the might of Christ, then death also must be subdued by Him; otherwise it is plain that one power would be excepted from that divine subjection of all things to Christ, and the would not be warrante.
. . .] leading on, namely, to the confirmation of the giving over of the kingdom to God, for which proof is still to be adduced: “but, when He shall have said that the whole is subjected, then without doubt He will be excepted from this state of subjection, who has subjected the whole to Him.” The subject of is not (de Wette, al. ), but neither is it Christ (Hofmann), but the same as with , therefore God , whose word that passage of the psalm adduced is not as regards its historical connection, but is so simply as a word of Scripture . Comp. on 1Co 6:16 . The aorist is to be taken regularly, not, with Luther and the majority of interpreters: when He says , but, like 1Co 15:24 ; 1Co 15:28 , as futurum exactum: dixerit (Irenaeus, Hilary). So, too, Hofmann rightly. [55] Comp. Luk 6:26 . Plato, Parm . p. 143 C; Ion . p. 535 B; also , 1Co 10:28 , 1Co 12:15 . The point of time of the quando , , is that at which the now still unexecuted shall be executed and completed; hence, also, not again the aorist, but the perfect . The progress of the thought is therefore: “But when God, who in Psa 8:7 has ordained the , shall have once uttered the declaration, that it be accomplished this .” This form of presenting it was laid to the apostle’s hand by the fact that he had just expressed himself in the words of a saying of Scripture (a saying of God). In Heb 1:6 also the aorist is not to be understood as a present, but ( ) as a futurum exactum . See Lnemann in loc.
] Adverbial, in the sense of manifestly, assuredly ; therefore: it (namely, the ) will clearly take place with the exception of Him, who , etc. See regarding this use of , which has to be analysed by means of supplying the preceding predicate, Matthiae, p. 1494; Sturz, Lex. Xen . I. p. 661 f.; Buttmann, ad Plat. Crit . p. 53 A (p. 106). According to Hofmann, is meant as, namely , as it is used likewise in Greek writers, and especially often in grammarians (not Gal 3:11 ); from to is only an explanation interposed, after which the former . . . is shortly resumed by . . . , 1Co 15:28 . See regarding after parentheses or interruptions, Hartung, Partik. I. p. 172 f. But, in the first place, . . . is a very essential point, no mere parenthetic thought in the course of the argument; and, secondly, the resumption after so short and plain an intercalation would be alike uncalled for, and, through the change in the mode of expression (not again with ), obscur.
. ] i.e. with the exception of God ; but Paul designates God as the subjecting subject: “quo clarius in oculos incurreret, rem loqui ipsam,” van Hengel.
[55] Who, however, with his reference of to Christ as its subject gains the conception: “As Christ at the end of His obedience on earth said: , so shall He at the end of His reign within the world say: .” But with what difficulty could a reader light upon the analogy of that ! How naturally, on the contrary, would he be led to think of the subject of , consequently God , as the speaker also in ! This applies also in opposition to Luthardt, l.c. p. 131.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
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.
Ver. 27. All things under his feet ] This,Psa 8:7-8Psa 8:7-8 , spoken of man in general, is properly applied to the man Christ Jesus; in whom also it extendeth to the saints, who are therefore more glorious than heaven, earth, or any creature, and shall have power over all, Rev 2:26 . (Cameron. de Eccles.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
27 .] Scriptural proof of the above declaration .
. viz., from the Psalm, GOD, the Father .
See on the Psalm itself, Heb 2:6 ff. notes.
, scil. , the same subject as . Meyer alone, as it seems to me, gives the right construction of . “The aor. must be rendered regularly, not in the present sense, but as a futurum exactum : see Luk 6:26 ; Plato, Parm. p. 143, c ( , ;), Ion, p. 535, B ( ). The time referred to, is that when the as yet unfulfilled shall be fulfilled and completed: hence it is no longer the aor., but the perf. . The meaning then is: ‘when God, who in Psa 8:6 has announced the , shall hereafter have declared that this is come to pass ,’ This form of expression was suggested to the Apostle by his having already expressed himself in the words of a saying of God .” I render then, But when God shall have declared that all things have been subjected to Him, it is evident that they have been subjected (ellipsis of the predicate of the foregoing sentence after and is common; so Plato, Gorg. p. 475, c, ‘ ,’ ‘ ,’ scil. . Khner, 852, d) with the exception of Him who subjected all things to Him.
1Co 15:27-28 are a supplement to 1Co 15:20-26 . They reaffirm, in new words of Scripture, the unlimited dominion assigned to Christ (1Co 15:25-27 a ), in order to reassert more impressively the truth that only through His absolute victory can the kingdom of God be consummated (24 a , 28 b ). The opening adduces, by way of comment, a prophecy parl [2387] to that cited in 1Co 15:25 and specifically applied in 1Co 15:26 . Psa 8 promised to man complete rule over his domain ( cf. Heb 2:5 ff.); as man Christ here stands forth the countertype of Adam (1Co 15:21 f.) who forfeited our estate, winning for Himself and His own the deliverance from death (Heb 2:9 ; Heb 2:14 f.) which seals His conquest and sets “all things under His feet”. But ( ) this subjection of all things to Christ is no infringement of God’s sovereignty nor alienation of His rights; on the contrary, it is the means to their perfect realisation. Such is the purport of the two sentences, the second of which repeats in another way, after the interposed clause, what the first has announced, furnishing their common apodosis ( cf. 54); so Hf [2388] , R.V. marg., after the Vg [2389] and Lat. interpreters. The two vv. then read as follows: “For ‘all things did He put in subjection under His feet’. But when He hath said, ‘All things are brought to subjection’ (manifestly, with the exception of Him that put all things in subjection to Him) yea, when all things have become subject to Him, then shall (also) the Son Himself become subject to Him that made subject to Him all things, to the end that God may be all in all”. God is the tacit subject of , as supplied by the familiar Ps. and brought out by the ptps. in 1Co 15:27 b , 1Co 15:28 b ; but Christ is subject to not God speaking in Scr., or at the end of the world (so Mr [2390] , Ed [2391] , El [2392] , etc.), nor (D.W [2393] , and others), nor propheta (Bg [2394] ). “All things are subdued!” is the joyful announcement by the Son that the grand promise recorded in the 8th Psalm is fulfilled; “the of God affirms the purpose, the of Christ attests its accomplishment” (Hf [2395] , Hn [2396] ). Thus is simultaneous with (1Co 15:24 ) and . (1Co 15:25 ): Christ proclaims the victory at last achieved; He reports that, with the abolition of death, His commission is ended and the travail of His soul satisfied. For anticipatory sayings of His, giving an earnest of this crowning word, see Mat 11:27 ; Mat 28:18 , Joh 3:35 . . . . (1Co 15:28 ) reassumes objectively, as matter of fact, what was given subjectively in . . . as the verdict of Christ upon His own finished work. Those who read . . . as a principal sentence, the apodosis to the first clause (A.V., Mr [2397] , El [2398] , etc.), borrow from the protasis more strictly or (by zeugma) , after the virtually fut [2399] ( cf. 28 b , 54 b ); this, however, makes a halting sentence: “But when He [God] says, ‘All things have been made subject,’ it is evident [that this will be, or that all things will be subjected] with the exception of Him, etc.” an affirmation of quite subsidiary importance, on which the writer has no need to dwell. The non-inclusion of God in the category of “things subjected” is rather a self-evident assumption made by the way, and serving to prepare for and throw into relief the real apodosis, “then shall the Son Himself also become subject, etc.,” to which both the clauses press forward. The advl [2400] use of (perhaps better written = ), signifying manifestly or to wit (sine dubio , Vg [2401] ), is familiar in Attic Gr [2402] ; no other certain instance occurs in the N.T. The remark that He who gave dominion is not Himself under it, reserves behind the Messianic reign the absolute supremacy of God, to which Christ will conform at the plenitude of His kingship. (equivalent to “the universe”) gathers into a totality the otherwise separate and diverse: cf. Col 1:17 , . (mid [2403] in force, like the 2nd aor [2404] pass [2405] in Rom 10:3 , in consistency with the initiative ascribed to Christ throughout) has often been explained away, to avoid Arian or Sabellian inferences from the text; it affirms no other subjection of the Son than is involved in Sonship (see note on 24). This implies no inferiority of nature, no extrusion from power, but the free submission of love ( , “the Son of His own accord will subject Himself” not in addition to, but in distinction from the ), which is the essence of the filial spirit that actuated Christ from first to last ( cf. Joh 8:29 ; Joh 12:27 , etc.). Whatsoever glory He gains is devoted to the glory and power of the Father (Joh 17:2 , etc.), who glorifies Him in turn (Joh 17:5 ; Phi 2:9 ff.). speaks the closing word of Christ’s mission, as was its opening word (Heb 10:7 ). It is hard to say whether . . . is dependent on (so most commentt.) or on . (so Hf [2406] , and some others). This solemn conclusion most fitly attaches to the princ. vb [2407] ; it expresses the loyal purpose of the Son in His self-subjection, whose submission exhibits the unity of the Godhead ( cf. Joh 10:30-36 ; Joh 17:23 ), and constitutes itself the focus and uniting bond of a universe in which God’s will is everywhere regnant and His being everywhere immanent. neuter , like .
[2387] parallel.
[2388] J. C. K. von Hofmann’s Die heilige Schrift N.T. untersucht , ii. 2 (2te Auflage, 1874).
[2389] Latin Vulgate Translation.
[2390] Meyer’s Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).
[2391] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2
[2392] C. J. Ellicott’s St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians .
[2393].W. De Wette’s Handbuch z. N. T.
[2394] [2395] [2396] C. F. G. Heinrici’s Erklrung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer’s krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).
[2397] Meyer’s Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).
[2398] C. J. Ellicott’s St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians .
[2399] future tense.
[2400]dvl. adverbial
[2401] Latin Vulgate Translation.
[2402] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.
[2403] [2404] aorist tense.
[2405] passive voice.
[2406] J. C. K. von Hofmann’s Die heilige Schrift N.T. untersucht , ii. 2 (2te Auflage, 1874).
[2407] verb
hath put = subjected. Greek. hupotasso. Contrast the first occurance: Luk 2:51.
put under Him = subjected. This quotation is from Psa 8:6.
He is excepted = it is with the exception of Him.
27.] Scriptural proof of the above declaration.
. viz., from the Psalm,-GOD, the Father.
See on the Psalm itself, Heb 2:6 ff. notes.
, scil. , the same subject as . Meyer alone, as it seems to me, gives the right construction of . The aor. must be rendered regularly, not in the present sense, but as a futurum exactum: see Luk 6:26; Plato, Parm. p. 143, c ( , ;),-Ion, p. 535, B ( ). The time referred to, is that when the as yet unfulfilled shall be fulfilled and completed: hence it is no longer the aor., but the perf. . The meaning then is: when God, who in Psa 8:6 has announced the , shall hereafter have declared that this is come to pass, This form of expression was suggested to the Apostle by his having already expressed himself in the words of a saying of God. I render then, But when God shall have declared that all things have been subjected to Him, it is evident that they have been subjected (ellipsis of the predicate of the foregoing sentence after and is common; so Plato, Gorg. p. 475, c, ,- ,-scil. . Khner, 852, d) with the exception of Him who subjected all things to Him.
1Co 15:27. , for all things) not even excepting death. The Psalm [8:] might seem by this syllable, , all things, merely to indicate animals and stars, which it expressly names; but the apostle teaches us, that it has a much more extended application. Good things are made subject to Him in a most joyous condition; bad things in a most sorrowful one: for these latter are destroyed, and are made His footstool.-, subjected) viz. God even the Father; comp. at , Eph 1:22; Php 3:21; Heb 2:8; 1Pe 3:22. He will subject all things, in His own time; He has already subjected them, because He hath said it.- ) not only enemies, but also all other things are put under His feet, Eph 1:22. This phrase is a synecdoche; all things are made subject to Him: and those things, which oppose themselves to Him, and do not wish to be subject, are altogether thrust down under His feet, as a footstool. There is a clear distinction between the expressions being put under His feet and being given into His hands. The former however need not be understood in so harsh a sense as the expression might seem to imply: otherwise, there would be no room for the exception of Him, who subjected them.-, saith) viz. the prophet, Heb 2:6.-, manifest) For the Father is not subject to the Son; but (, 1Co 15:28) the Son is subject to the Father. The apostle with great power and wisdom points out the sum [the main issue] of all things, from the Psalm.
1Co 15:27
1Co 15:27
For, He put all things in subjection under his feet.- These words are found in Psa 8:6, and relate to man in general at the time of his creation (Gen 1:28-30); but as the destiny of man thus declared is not realized, because of his fall, in any one save in the person of the Son of man, it is here applied to him as representative of man in his highest state. (See also Eph 1:22; Heb 2:5-9).
But when he saith, All things are put in subjection, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things unto him. -God did not place himself under Jesus. He is excepted when he said he put all things under him.
Psa 8:6, Mat 11:27, Mat 28:18, Joh 3:35, Joh 13:3, Eph 1:20, Phi 2:9-11, Heb 1:13, Heb 2:8, Heb 10:12, 1Pe 3:22, Rev 1:18
Reciprocal: Dan 7:14 – given Act 10:36 – he is 1Co 11:3 – and the head of Christ Heb 10:29 – trodden
1Co 15:27. The pronouns stand for God and his Son. God has put all things under the feet of Christ except himself. Jesus declared this fact in Mat 28:18, and it was on that basis that He gave to his apostles the Great Commission.
1Co 15:27. For (as it is written, Psa 8:6; Hebrews 7) 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 put all things under him. The Son, as Mediator, is with His own royal hand to put all enemies under His feet. But since even this mediatorial authority of His is an authority delegated to Him by an eternal arrangement for saving purposes (Joh 3:35; Joh 5:22-23; Joh 17:2), this universal subjugation by the Son cannot include the subjugation of the Father to the Son. A strange truism this might seem; but it is only to pave the way for the remarkable piece of information which follows.
Our apostle here proceeds in the argument which he begun at the 24th and 25th verses, that Christ must continue as Mediator to reign till all things are subject to him, and all enemies subdued by him.
This the apostle here proves, because God the Father has put all things, and all persons, under his Son’s feet, as Mediator, himself only excepted; God the Father having reserved to himself his own sovereign empire and supreme authority; he being excepted from this subjection himself, who gave it to his Son. And when all things shall be thus subdued to Christ, then his mediatorial kingdom shall be delivered up to his Father, from whom he received it; yea, the Son himself, as Mediator and Head of the church, shall be subject to the Deity, that God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, may be all in all by a full communication to, and intimate union with, the saints.
Learn hence, 1. That the mediatorial kingdom of Christ was given to him by God the Father, as a reward for his sufferings, He became obedient to the death, wherefore God hath highly exalted him. Php 2:8-9.
2. That this mediatorial kingdom was given to Christ only according to his human nature; seeing the human nature only suffered, and the divine nature is capable of no such exaltation or new dominion, he was thus exalted, because he was the Son of man, Joh 5:27.
Learn, 3. That during the continuance of the mediatorial kingdom of Christ, the Father judges no man, but commits all judgment unto his Son, giving him full power and authority to punish and reward according to his own wisdom, will, and pleasure: and as Lord of all, he gives laws to all.
4. That this mediatorial kingdom, Christ shall certainly lay down; when all things are subdued unto him, the exercise of his kingly power shall cease then; and as Christ is now all in all with relation to his church, the Godhead then will be all in all; and Christ himself, as man, will be subject to his Father, as well as saints and angels are subject to him.
From those words, God shall be all in all, we learn, That all the saints shall be abundantly satisfied in heaven, with the fruition of the Deity alone; there is enough in God alone eternally to fill and satisfy all the blessed souls in heaven, without the addition of any creature comfort. God is complete satisfaction to his children in the absence (I must not say want) of all other enjoyments; we shall want none of them at our journey’s end, for there God will be all in all: as in heaven we shall see God, so we shall there eye nothing but God.
Vv. 27. For He hath put all things under His feet; now when He saith all things are subjected to Him, it is manifest that He is excepted who subjected all things to Him.
The first proposition is laid down as an indisputable truth; because it is taken from Scripture, Psa 8:7. In the Old Testament it relates to man in general, at the time of his creation. But as the destiny of man thus declared is not realized, because of the fall, in any one save in the person of the Son of man, the normal man, the Messiah, it is with good right applied to Him in the New Testament; comp. Eph 1:22; Heb 2:8.
The subject of , subjected, can only be God, as in the Psalm. The verb in the past refers to the Divine decree appointing Christ sovereign of the universe; of course the execution of the decree does not take place without His own co-operation. But why does the apostle insist on expressing the exception relating to God? Who could suppose that God formed part of those: all things, which were to be subjected to the Messiah? In the state of exaltation which prevailed among the Corinthians, had some one advanced the idea that God, considered as the impersonal force which animates the universe, would one day be wholly subject to the Messiah, as the supreme representative of the world? We met in 1Co 12:3 with an opposite eccentricity which is not more startling. But perhaps this remark, introduced by the apostle in the second part of our verse, is meant only to pave the way for the idea of the subordination of Christ to the Father (1Co 15:28).
The subject of seems to me to be simply: God, by the Scripture. Meyer thought that the should rather be applied to the declaration which God will make when the decree subjecting all things to Christ shall be realized, and God shall have proclaimed the fact in the ears of the whole universe. The would require in this case to be regarded as an adverbial form, in the sense of evidently: When God shall have declared that all is subjected to Him, evidently He will Himself remain outside of this universal subjection. But the connection between the two propositions would not be logical; what would be needed would not be: When God shall have said that…, but: When the fact itself shall have taken place. The second proposition gives the impression of a principle, as well as the first, and seems in no wise to refer to a particular time. As to the , Meyer’s meaning is admissible, but not necessary. We mention only as an exegetical curiosity the explanation of Hofmann, who makes the two propositions beginning with , when (1Co 15:27-28), two parallel propositions, the principal one beginning at the , then, of 1Co 15:28. The signifies, according to him, that is to say, and the proposition depending on it is a parenthesis!
The evident fact which Paul wishes to express is, that at the time when all shall be subjected to Christ, voluntarily or involuntarily, only two powers will remain in existence: that of Christ, a power visible and universal, and that of the Father, who gave the Son this sovereign position. But this duality will last only for an instant; it will be immediately terminated by the free act of the Son which will close the development of things:
For [saith the Psalmist], He put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put in subjection [Psa 8:6; Psa 110:1; Psa 2:6-9], it is evident that he [the Father] is excepted who did subject all things unto him.
27. For He subordinated all things beneath His feet; i. e., Christ, our glorious mediatorial King, with a single act of His omnipotence, as indicated by the Greek aorist, put his feet on the devil, sin and the whole problem of rebellion in the Divine empire. This He did the very moment He assumed the mediatorial kingdom, though centuries and ages elapse in the consummation. But when He may say that all things have been subordinated, it is evident that He who subordinated all things is excepted; i. e., as Christ Himself is the omnipotent mediatorial Conqueror who subdues all rule, authority and power, human and Satanic, antagonistical to the Divine administration, of course the consummation of the subordination of all the enemies of the Almighty does not include Himself, as He is really a party in the Divine administration.
Paul saw Jesus Christ as the person who fulfilled the prophecy recorded in Psa 8:7. [Note: See Donald R. Glenn, "Psalms 8 and Hebrews 2 : A Case Study in Biblical Hermeneutics and Biblical Theology," in Walvoord: A Tribute, pp. 44-45; and Martin Pickup, "New Testament Interpretation of the Old Testament: The Theological Rationale of Midrashic Exegesis," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 51:2 (June 2008):353-81.] In the psalm the ruler in view is man, but He will be the Man who regained for humanity all that Adam lost (cf. Psa 110:1). Of course, God Himself will not be under the rule of the Son of God. He is the One who will finally bring all things into subjection to Christ.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)