This verse suggests that the Corinthians thought that the body had nothing to do with morals. Some translations take the first part of this verse to be another Corinthian slogan, or even part of the quotation in verse 11. Bible en français courant and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente introduce it by “You also say.” Barrett understands the whole of this sentence, including and God will destroy both, to be a quotation; but translations that we consulted do not agree. It seems better to see verses 12 and 13 as following the same pattern: first there is a quotation, then Paul’s but or and introduces a comment. The sentence makes it quite clear that the stomach is thought of as the organ of digestion. However, it is often associated also with sex, as indirectly in this passage (see, for example, Sirach 23.6). The Greek makes it clear that the word both in both one and the other refers to stomach and food. The clause God will destroy both one and the other may be expressed as “God will destroy both of them.”

Good News Bible‘s “to be used” is implicit in the Greek. Many translators will find it helpful to use this phrase instead of Revised Standard Version‘s meant. In languages that do not employ the passive, the phrase “not to be used” may be translated as “you should not use.”

Immorality is the word used in 5.1. It clearly refers to “sexual immorality” (Good News Bible) and is related to the word for a “prostitute” used in verses 15-16. In some languages it may be helpful to translate this clause as, for example, “the body should not be used for prostitutes.” This would make a better contrast with the Lord, which refers to “Christ,” as verse 14 makes clear. At this point in the argument, it seems likely that Paul is using body to mean the individual Christian.

The clause but for the Lord can be expressed as “but you should use your body to serve the Lord.” It may be helpful to make the final clause a new sentence; for example, “It is the Lord who provides for the body.”

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 .