Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible transfer the phrase in the Lord from the end of the Greek sentence to the beginning in English, since Paul’s use of the word Nevertheless (Good News Bible‘s “however”) implies that there is a contrast between the category of creation (Gen 1-2), about which Paul has been speaking until now, and the new order established by Christ, to which Paul now turns. Revised English Bible makes this contrast clearer by translating in the Lord as “in the Lord’s fellowship” (New English Bible “in Christ’s fellowship”). One could also translate this as “as we live our lives in fellowship with the Lord.”

Nevertheless represents a strong and rather unusual Greek expression in Paul’s writings. He uses it elsewhere to indicate that he is returning to the main point of his argument after a digression (see Eph 5.33 “however”; Phil 3.16 “Only”; 4.14 “Yet”). He does the same thing here. For most of this section Paul has been speaking about the distinct obligations of men and especially those of women. However, he had begun in verse 3 by placing this discussion in the setting of relations between men, women, Christ, and God. This wider perspective reappears in verses 11-12, following the reference to angels, and the more positive status recognized for women in verse 10. So in English some expression such as Nevertheless or “However that may be” may be appropriate. In terms of context, verses 11 and 12 may therefore be understood as the climax of the argument, though Paul returns to the lower level of man-woman relationships in verses 13-15.

This same interpretation is conveyed in various ways by modern translations; for example, Revised English Bible has “Yet in the Lord’s fellowship woman is as essential to man as man to woman”; Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente renders it as “However, before the Lord, woman does not exist without man or man without woman.” If verse 11 stood alone it would be possible to translate “wife” and “husband,” but the context, especially verse 12, speaks more generally of women and men, so this is probably the meaning of verse 11 also.

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 .