Bible Answer

Who was the first person in the Bible that was raised from the dead?

Who was the first person in the Bible that was raised from the dead?

The first resurrection of a person into a new, eternal body was Christ Himself, as Paul writes:

1Cor. 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1Cor. 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,

Paul calls Jesus the “first fruits” of the resurrection, meaning He is the first to receive an eternal body. So Christ is the first to be resurrected into an eternal body. 

In prior times, certain individuals died and were brought back to life by miraculous works, including works done by Elijah, Elisha and even Jesus Himself, however these were not resurrections because the individuals still had to die later. While we might say the person was “resurrected” because he returned to life, nevertheless the person still occupied a natural, corrupt body, and therefore the person was condemned to die again. This is not the resurrection into eternal life that the Bible promises believers, and therefore, these moments were not true resurrections. 

So to this point in history, only one Person, Jesus, has been resurrected. The next resurrections to take place will be the church, according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.