18:6a

they opposed and insulted him: The Greek words are literally “they opposing and slandering.” Both verbs refer to what the Jews did to Paul. Other ways to translate this clause are:

they opposed him and said evil things about him (Good News Translation)
-or-
they turned against him and started to insult him (New Jerusalem Bible)

insulted him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as insulted him refers to saying things about someone in order to hurt their reputation. Other ways to translate the Greek word are:

reviled (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
slandered

18:6b

he shook out his garments: Paul shook out the garments he was wearing. At the time Jews wore loose fitting clothes.

This is a symbolic action that indicates breaking a relationship. The Jews in Corinth rejected Paul and his message about Jesus, so he in turn indicated here that he was finished with them. In particular, he was finished trying to convince them that Jesus was the Christ. He would no longer go to the synagogue.

In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Translate the clause literally and explain the meaning in a footnote. An example footnote is:

This is a symbolic action that indicates breaking the relationship between Paul and the Jews.
-or-
This was a warning to show that Paul was finished talking to the Jews in that city. (New Century Version)
-or-
The meaning is, “I am done with you!” (NET Bible)

• Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:

he shook out his clothes in protest (New International Version)
-or-
he shook out his clothes ⌊to indicate he was giving up talking to them⌋
-or-
he shook out ⌊the dust from⌋ his clothes ⌊to show he was ending his relationship with them⌋

• Translate the symbolic meaning. For example:

he indicated that he had given up talking to them
-or-
he showed them that he was ending his relationship with them

You may then want to indicate the literal words in a footnote. For example:

Literally: “he shook out his clothes.”

This is similar to the symbolic action of “shaking the dust from their feet” that Paul and Barnabas did in 13:51.

18:6c

Your blood be on your own heads: The phrase blood be on your…heads is metaphor that refers to being guilty of someone’s death. Here the judgment the Jews will receive will be a result of their own actions and not Paul’s, because they rejected his teaching.

In some languages a literal translation would not have the correct meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Translate the words literally and explain it in a footnote. An example footnote is:

This refers to them rejecting the message about Jesus. God will judge them guilty and send them to hell for that.

• Translate the meaning of the metaphor. For example:

you are guilty before God ⌊for your rejection of Jesus⌋

You may then want to indicate the literal words. For example:

Literally: “Your blood be on your own heads.”

• Use a metaphor or idiom in your language that means “being guilty of your own death.”

I am innocent of it: The Greek words are literally “I (am) clean.” By saying this Paul declared that God will not call him guilty for causing the judgment they will receive, because they rejected his teaching about Jesus. Other ways to translate this Greek word are:

I am innocent. (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
I am not to blame (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
I have done all I can do! (New Century Version)

18:6d

From now on I will go to the Gentiles: This clause indicates that in Corinth Paul would only preach to the non-Jews from that time forward. For example:

From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles. (New Living Translation (2004))

This clause does not imply that Paul would ignore Jews or shun them. His aim was to now preach to the Gentiles. But if a Jew was interested, Paul would talk to him about Jesus.

Paul’s plan was to always tell the gospel to the Jews as well as to other people (19:8–10). But here he tells the Jews in Corinth that he would stop telling the gospel to them. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly imply that Paul would not preach to the Jews in other cities either. If that is true in your language, indicate that this statement refers only to this visit in this city. For example:

For the rest of the time ⌊I am in Corinth,⌋ I will ⌊only⌋ go ⌊and preach the message about Jesus⌋ to the Gentiles.

Gentiles: The word Gentiles refers to non-Jewish people. Some ways to translate this word are:

• Use a descriptive phrase. For example:

non-Jews
-or-
those who were not Jewish (New Century Version)

• Use the common language word. This may be an appropriate option if many people are already familiar with the term.

See how you translated this word in 4:27 or 15:19.

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.