This verse contrasts emphatically with verses 1b-4, as Nevertheless (Good News Bible‘s “But even then”) shows. Nevertheless may be expanded to “Even after all this.”

Most of them refers to the group that is translated some of them in verses 7-10. Verse 8 states that it was a large group. The present verse, like verses 1-4, is still concerned with “our ancestors,” and thus it may be helpful to repeat this phrase. For example, “Even after all this, God was not pleased with most of our ancestors.”

God was not pleased may be translated as “God was angry with.” This phrase is possibly a euphemism for “God rejected” or even “God destroyed,” as the rest of the verse implies. Compare the loose quotation of Habakkuk 2.3-4 in Hebrews 10.37-38, and Hebrews’ conclusion in verse 39.

The second half of the verse, beginning with for (Good News Bible‘s “and so”), describes the result of God’s rejection, or the evidence for it. Perhaps the word for could be translated as “as is shown by the fact” or “the result was that.”

The verb translated were overthrown occurs only here in the New Testament and clearly echoes Num 14.16.

Overthrown: the meaning of the Greek is literally “spread out” or “scattered about.” It echoes Num 14.16 and is very close in meaning to “fell” in Heb 3.17. Both verbs imply “were killed,” and it will be necessary to make this clear, as Good News Bible does by expanding they to “their dead bodies.”

The Old Testament passage indicates that they were killed by God, and in some languages it may be better to say so: “and so he (or, God) scattered their dead bodies over the desert” or “… God killed them and scattered their bodies over the desert.”

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 .