Reported: the verb that Good News Bible translates as “have told … quite plainly” does not necessarily have this strong sense. It more probably means only “report,” “inform,” or “tell” (compare New English Bible; “it has been brought to my notice,” Revised English Bible). Paul is trying to approach this delicate subject very gently, so he uses great tact. The phrase is literally “for it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers.”

The word it in the clause it has been reported is a “dummy subject.” This is a device used in English to create a grammatical subject so that there will be a complete sentence. In many languages translators can change the passive sentence to active and say, for example, “Some people from Chloe’s family have informed me….”

Chloe’s people: no one knows whether Chloe’s people were relatives, or other dependents such as slaves or former slaves. Good News Bible renders this phrase as “Chloe’s family,” but other common language translations are divided on this matter. “Chloe’s group” is a possible translation.

Quarrels here refers to strong arguments between church members as to who their spiritual leader and teacher was (see verse 12). Such quarreling involved only words, not physical violence. If a language requires that one state what the quarreling was about, one may say “that you are quarreling among yourselves as to who your leader is.”

For my brethren, see the discussion on this expression at verse 10. Please note the great affection that is expressed by the word “my” before “brothers” (Good News Bible).

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .