The if in translations, including Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible, and others, may be misunderstood as meaning that, in contradiction to the rest of the passage, the Lord’s Supper was not a real meal designed to satisfy hunger. What Paul really means is that if someone is so hungry that he cannot wait until everyone has arrived for the common meal (compare verse 33b), he should eat something at home first. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch makes this clear: “anyone who is hungry should eat at home first.”

Lest you … be condemned recalls verse 17, especially in the Greek. In both places Paul is concerned not with the intention of the Corinthians but with the results of their behavior: “in order that when you meet together, you do not behave in such a way that as a result God will condemn you.”

Condemned: see the comments on verse 29. God is probably the one condemning.

The final sentence of this chapter is quite general. We have no means of knowing whether the other things were also related to the Lord’s Supper or not. The other things could mean and could even be translated “the other matters that you wrote about.”

Will give directions: this Greek verb originally had the idea of setting in order; and many translations, including New English Bible‘s and New Jerusalem Bible‘s “arrange,” and Jerusalem Bible‘s “adjust,” think this is the meaning here. Revised English Bible translates “The other matters I will settle….” However, the most common meaning of this verb in the New Testament is “to give orders” or “give instruction.” Although this may sound harsh to modern readers, it is probably closer to Paul’s meaning; compare 7.17, where Paul talks about my rule.

When I come does not suggest any particular time for Paul’s visit or even that he is sure it will take place. In many languages I come needs to be translated by a future tense, since it refers to a future event. Some languages may require an explicit destination, “when I come to you.”

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 .