1 Corinthians 15:5

Was seen. Or, “appeared,” in which case the action would be credited to the risen Lord rather than to the unprepared Peter. Paul is still listing the major points of the gospel he had delivered to the Corinthians (v. 3).

Cephas. Gr. kephas, a transliteration of the Aramaic name Kepha’, which is translated into Greek as Petros whence, Peter (see on Matt. 4:18). For Christ’s appearance to Peter see on Luke 24:34. Paul here appeals to the witness of those who had firsthand knowledge of the resurrection, and particularly to those who still lived to attest its truth. Seeing that he was merely refreshing their minds regarding the doctrine he had previously preached to them, he did not attempt to reproduce all the available evidence, but simply summarized what they already knew.

Twelve. There is slight textual evidence (cf. p. 10) for the reading “eleven,” which is doubtless an attempt to harmonize this verse with the number of the apostles who remained after the death of Judas and before the election of Matthias (cf. Acts 1:26). At Christ’s first appearance to His apostles, only ten were present, since Thomas was absent from the group (John 20:24). But Paul was doubtless using the title “twelve” as an official designation of the apostolic group; hence there is no vital discrepancy between this verse and historical facts.