The appearance of the risen Christ to “more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time” (1 Cor 15:6) stands as one of the most cited pieces of evidence in early Christian resurrection apologetics. Yet a foundational assumption embedded in nearly all scholarly and popular treatments of this passage has gone unexamined: that the adverb ἐφάπαξ (ephapax, “at one time” or “at once”) implies not only simultaneity of timing but co-location, meaning that all five hundred witnesses were gathered in a single place. This paper argues that the text specifies neither geography nor gathering, that the co-location reading has been assumed rather than argued, and that an alternative interpretation, namely simultaneous appearances across multiple dispersed locations, is not only equally valid on textual grounds but arguably more coherent within the theological framework Paul himself constructs in 1 Corinthians 15. Specifically, a multi-location simultaneous appearance better demonstrates the transformed nature of the resurrection body Paul describes, strengthens rather than weakens his apologetic argument, and provides a more compelling foundation for the personal courage demonstrated by early believers under persecution. The paper does not claim certainty but invites serious scholarly engagement with a question the tradition has not yet paused to ask.
Parum Papum (Sat,) studied this question.