1 Corinthians 15:8 Commentary and Bible Study

Now of course Christ appeared to Paul after the ascension; all the other appearances of the risen Lord were before his ascension. But after his ascension, miraculously, amazingly, he appears to Saul of Tarsus. But it's the last appearance of the risen Lord, and so he calls himself ‘one born out of due time’ – one of untimely birth – a Greek expression is used, which is often used for an aborted foetus. But probably that is not what is intended here. Paul is not referring to himself as an abortion, but as one of untimely birth. In other words, as far as the apostles are concerned, he became an apostle after all them. He was the last. He was ‘one born out of due time’. The way our translators have put it is just perfect.If it is an abortive birth then the apostle Paul would be saying something like this: ‘Oh, when I was born again and made an apostle, it wasn't like the other apostles. For them it was done over a period of three years and they were instructed by the Lord, and then after his death and resurrection, well, then they functioned as apostles. But with me it was like an abortion or a premature birth. Suddenly I was born again, and given by direct revelation all the truth that they had learned over three years. Some commentators in the old days used to take it that way, but much more naturally is the rendering of the King James Version: ‘one born out of due time’, simply meaning, I wasn't made an apostle at the same time as the others, but I am the one and only one who was made an apostle subsequent to the time of the apostles.