1 Corinthians 15:29

15:29 Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? ¹  If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they baptized for them?

1 Corinthians 15:32

15:32 If from a human point of view I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, ²  what did it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. ³ 

[15:29]  ¹ sn Many suggestions have been offered for the puzzling expression baptized for the dead. There are up to 200 different explanations for the passage; a summary is given by K. C. Thompson, “I Corinthians 15,29 and Baptism for the Dead,” Studia Evangelica 2.1 (TU 87), 647-59. The most likely interpretation is that some Corinthians had undergone baptism to bear witness to the faith of fellow believers who had died without experiencing that rite themselves. Paul’s reference to the practice here is neither a recommendation nor a condemnation. He simply uses it as evidence from the lives of the Corinthians themselves to bolster his larger argument, begun in 15:12, that resurrection from the dead is a present reality in Christ and a future reality for them. Whatever they may have proclaimed, the Corinthians’ actions demonstrated that they had hope for a bodily resurrection.

[15:32]  ² map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[15:32]  ³ sn An allusion to Isa 22:13; 56:12.