1 Corinthians 15:19 (GNV)

Passage

If in this life onely wee haue hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable.

Nearby Context

1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vaine: ye are yet in your sinnes.

1 Corinthians 15:18 And so they which are a sleepe in Christ, are perished.

1 Corinthians 15:19 If in this life onely wee haue hope in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable.

1 Corinthians 15:20 But nowe is Christ risen from the dead, and was made the first fruites of them that slept.

1 Corinthians 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "life", "onely", "haue", "hope", "christ", "most", and "miserable". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "life" and "onely", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "And so they which are a sleepe..." into verse 20's "But nowe is Christ risen from the...", so "life" and "onely" belong inside that flow. In 1 Corinthians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "life" and "onely" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.