1 Corinthians 15:7 Commentary and Bible Study

We know James, the half-brother of Jesus, and long-term pastor at Jerusalem for thirty years. We know he had seen the risen Lord, but this is the only direct reference to it. ‘Then, of all the apostles.’ Maybe that refers to the following Lord’s Day, when he appeared to all the remaining apostles, including Thomas. It may refer to a subsequent time when more were gathered, since we remember that there were seventy people sent out by the Lord as disciples, and they might loosely have been called apostles, though they were not apostles by office, strictly speaking. This is unlikely however because Paul is speaking of other apostles who were in the same category as himself – those who were apostles by office. He is speaking of the twelve again, because the point of this is that Paul is an apostle just as they are, even though he was called late to this office.