1 Corinthians 15:55
New International Version
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

New Living Translation
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

English Standard Version
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Berean Standard Bible
“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”

Berean Literal Bible
"Where O death, is your victory? Where O death is your sting?"

King James Bible
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

New King James Version
“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

New American Standard Bible
WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY? WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?”

NASB 1995
“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”

NASB 1977
“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”

Legacy Standard Bible
O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”

Amplified Bible
O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”

Christian Standard Bible
Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?

American Standard Version
O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?

Contemporary English Version
Where is its victory? Where is its sting?"

English Revised Version
O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?"

Good News Translation
"Where, Death, is your victory? Where, Death, is your power to hurt?"

International Standard Version
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

Majority Standard Bible
“Where, O Death, is your sting? Where, O Hades, is your victory?”

NET Bible
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

New Heart English Bible
"Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?"

Webster's Bible Translation
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Weymouth New Testament
"Where, O death, is thy victory? Where, O death, is thy sting?"

World English Bible
“Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Where, O Death, your sting? Where, O Death [[or Hades]], your victory?”

Berean Literal Bible
"Where O death, is your victory? Where O death is your sting?"

Young's Literal Translation
where, O Death, thy sting? where, O Hades, thy victory?'

Smith's Literal Translation
Where thine, death, the sting? where thine, hades, the victory.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?

Catholic Public Domain Version
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

New American Bible
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

New Revised Standard Version
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Where is your sting, oh death? Where is your victory, oh, Sheol?
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
Death, where is thy sting? Hades, where is thy victory?

Godbey New Testament
O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?

Haweis New Testament
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Mace New Testament
"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

Weymouth New Testament
"Where, O death, is thy victory? Where, O death, is thy sting?"

Worrell New Testament
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?

Worsley New Testament
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Where, O Death, is Your Victory?
54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.…

Cross References
Hosea 13:14
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.

Isaiah 25:8
He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.

Revelation 20:14
Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:4
‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Romans 6:9
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.

2 Timothy 1:10
And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,

Hebrews 2:14-15
Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, / and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. / And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, / neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Philippians 3:21
who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.

2 Corinthians 5:4
For while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.

John 5:24
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.

Romans 5:17
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Revelation 1:18
the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.

Matthew 16:18
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.


Treasury of Scripture

O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?

O death.

Hosea 13:14
I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

sting.

Acts 9:5
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Revelation 9:10
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

grave.

Luke 16:23
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Acts 2:27
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Revelation 20:13,14
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works…

is thy victory.

Job 18:13,14
It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength…

Psalm 49:8-15
(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) …

Psalm 89:48
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

Jump to Previous
Death Grave Hades Pains Power Sting Victory
Jump to Next
Death Grave Hades Pains Power Sting Victory
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.














Where, O death
The phrase begins with a rhetorical question that challenges the power and finality of death. In the Greek, "death" is "thanatos," which signifies not just physical death but also spiritual separation from God. Historically, death was seen as the ultimate enemy, a force that no human could overcome. However, in the context of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is addressing the Corinthian church with the triumphant message of Christ's resurrection, which has fundamentally altered the believer's relationship with death. The question "Where?" implies that death's power has been nullified, a revolutionary concept in both Jewish and Greco-Roman thought.

is your victory?
The Greek word for "victory" is "nikos," which denotes conquest or triumph. In ancient times, victory was often associated with military conquest or athletic success. Here, Paul uses it to describe the ultimate triumph over death through Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Christ is the pivotal event that has secured this victory, rendering death powerless over those who are in Christ. This assurance of victory is a cornerstone of Christian hope, emphasizing that death does not have the final say.

Where, O death, is your sting?
The word "sting" in Greek is "kentron," which refers to a sharp point, like that of a scorpion or a bee. It symbolizes the pain and fear associated with death. In the ancient world, the sting of death was seen as inevitable and inescapable. However, Paul is declaring that through Christ's resurrection, the sting has been removed. Theologically, this points to the idea that sin, which gives death its sting, has been dealt with through the atoning work of Jesus. The imagery here is powerful, suggesting that what once caused fear and suffering has been rendered harmless.

(55) O death, where is thy sting?--In the prophet Hosea, where these words originally occur, the passage reads thus--"Where is thy victory, O death? Where is thy sting, O hell?"--the word "hell" referring, not to the place of torment, but to the Hades of departed spirits. This difference between St. Paul's words and those of the prophet has given rise to a variety of readings in the Greek text here. The weight of evidence is in favour of the reading, "Where is thy sting, O death? Where is thy victory, O death?" the word "Hades," or "grave," not being introduced at all. The passage is not a quotation, but the adaptation of the form of a familiar Old Testament phrase.

Verse 55. - O death, where is thy sting? A triumphantly fervid exclamation of the apostle, loosely cited from Hosea 13:14. The apostles and evangelists, not holding the slavish and superstitious fetish worship of the dead letter, often regard it as sufficient to give the general sense of the passages to which they refer. O grave, where is thy victory? In the best attested reading (A, B, C, D, E, F, G), "death" is repeated, and in the best manuscripts this clause precedes the last. But if the reading, "O Hades," were correct, our translators, since they held it here impossible in accordance with their views to render it by "hell," ought to have taken warning, and seen the pernicious inapplicability of that rendering in other places where they have used it to express this same Greek word. Here "Hades" has probably been introduced into the Greek text from the LXX., which uses it for the Sheol of the original.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
“Where,
Ποῦ (Pou)
Adverb
Strong's 4226: Genitive case of an interrogative pronoun pos otherwise obsolete; as adverb of place; at what locality.

O death,
θάνατε (thanate)
Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2288: Death, physical or spiritual. From thnesko; death.

[is] your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

victory?
νῖκος (nikos)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3534: Victory. From nike; a conquest, i.e. triumph.

Where,
ποῦ (pou)
Adverb
Strong's 4226: Genitive case of an interrogative pronoun pos otherwise obsolete; as adverb of place; at what locality.

O death,
θάνατε (thanate)
Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2288: Death, physical or spiritual. From thnesko; death.

[is] your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

sting?”
κέντρον (kentron)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 2759: A sting, goad; met: of death. From kenteo; a point, i.e. A sting or goad.


Links
1 Corinthians 15:55 NIV
1 Corinthians 15:55 NLT
1 Corinthians 15:55 ESV
1 Corinthians 15:55 NASB
1 Corinthians 15:55 KJV

1 Corinthians 15:55 BibleApps.com
1 Corinthians 15:55 Biblia Paralela
1 Corinthians 15:55 Chinese Bible
1 Corinthians 15:55 French Bible
1 Corinthians 15:55 Catholic Bible

NT Letters: 1 Corinthians 15:55 Death where is your sting? Hades where (1 Cor. 1C iC 1Cor i cor icor)
1 Corinthians 15:54
Top of Page
Top of Page