1 Cor 15:5: Jesus "was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve" - why "twelve" and not eleven?

Question

In 1 Cor 15:5 Paul speaks about Jesus after His resurrection:

"And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve"

I don't understand how that could have been twelve and not eleven. Judas Iscariot, as seems to follow from the Gospels, committed suicide before Jesus was crucified, and, as follows from the book of Acts, Matthias was chosen to be the twelfth one (instead of Judas) already after Jesus' ascension. That means that throughout the whole time from Jesus's resurrection until His ascension, that is, for 40 days (Acts 1:3), there were always only eleven, not twelve. So why does Paul say "twelve" here?

Answer 1

Background Points

First, Paul is not writing an exact accounting of every instance of Christ being seen in 1 Cor 15:5-8. He does run through an ordered list of instances, which are leading to his point of his own late encounter (v.8).

Second, Paul is writing Corinthians after the selection of Matthias. So at the time of his writing, Matthias, chosen to take Judas Iscariot's place (Act 1:20), had become part of "the twelve" (Act 1:26). Recall that one of the requirements for Matthias joining the eleven was that he was a witness to the resurrected Jesus (Act 1:21-22).

Third, "the twelve" became a title of the core group itself, because of its usage in the Gospels (here is one discussion on it).

A Couple of Possible Solutions

So Paul's reference to "the twelve" can be logically reconciled at least two ways using the above background points:

1. The reference to "the twelve" was intended to include Matthias. If so, Paul is using "the twelve" in reference to the "current twelve," and his statement in 1 Cor 15:5 is saying that all the current twelve saw Jesus before the 500 brethren at once did (1 Cor 15:6). This may or may not have been at the same time as "the eleven," but the reference to Jesus showing himself to "the disciples" (John 20:19) excluded Thomas initially (John 20:24), but also is generic enough to include Matthias, who was a disciple (Act 1:15). The eleven in total actually saw him eight days later when Thomas was included (John 20:26-27; this shows that Paul is not giving an exact and total ordering of appearances in 1 Cor 15), which also was a time when "the disciples" were gathered (John 20:26), and so Matthias may have been there then.

2. The reference to "the twelve" was intended to exclude Matthias, being used as a title for the eleven (probably used in synecdoche)." The title "the twelve" referred to the core group, which was only eleven at the time, but the group is known as "the twelve," and so Paul could be using the title as the reference to the core group. Related to this, the title could figuratively be referring at that point in time to the partial set of the group (the eleven) by the title, using synecdoche of "the whole for the part."

Answer 2

There are no serious manuscript or textual issues with this verse (Jerome's Vulgate notwithstanding). The English translation of “the twelve” appears to represent the original text and the author’s intention.

Commentators have offered various explanations for this number which appears to fail to account for Judas’ death and Thomas’ absence. A popular suggestion is that ‘the Twelve’ is the name by which Jesus’ closest followers were known, not an exact count of their number.

That said, this is just one of several challenges that arise when the resurrection accounts in the gospels, Acts, and 1Cor.15 are compared. These stories are notoriously difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile (that is, for those who think harmonization should be possible, as historians would not). While some apparent discrepancies can be resolved or rationalized, at some point conscientious readers make peace with the differences; e.g. evangelical apologist Josh McDowell. Less honest interpreters ignore the difficulties or even misrepresent the text; one Christian Post writer snubbed Paul's post-resurrection appearance entirely (1Cor.15:8) and actually changed “the twelve” to the “the eleven”, without explanation. Surely the biblical text merits a higher standard of scholarship.

Answer 3

After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. Mark 16:9

As explained here, in Gill's Exposition, this actually has multiple possible meanings, and is 'the eleven' in the Vulgate, but it can mean that more people were present and included in the count (such as Mary or another follower), that the name 'the twelve' was being used as a name for the group.

Answer 4

Is it possible that although Judas was dead at this point, that he was also somehow witness to the risen Christ? I think it could be a possibility if you look at the story of the rich man in Luke 16. Thoughts on this as a possibility??