Experts disagree about how these verses are related to their context. The problem centers on the meaning of For at the beginning of verse 8. Revised Standard Version treats this verse as an aside and follows Moffatt in putting the whole of these two verses in round brackets (parentheses); other translations do not. Good News Bible, however, not only keeps For in the translation but links verse 8 to verse 7b, contrary to the UBS text. But verse 10 appears to follow more closely from verse 7b than do verses 8-9. It is even possible to see man’s relation to God (verse 7a) as being, for Paul, in some way parallel to women’s relation with the “angels” (see the comments on verse 10). Most translations, then, begin a new sentence at verse 8. Many omit the first For; and some, such as Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, make a distinct break: “in fact, man was not taken from woman.” Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente also brings out the full meaning of from woman and from man by using terms that more clearly refer to the story of how God made Eve from Adam’s rib.

In languages that do not use the passive, a translator may restructure these verses as follows: “For God did not create man from woman, but created woman from man. Nor did God create man for woman, but rather created woman for man.” For man (Good News Bible “for man’s sake”) suggests that Paul is saying that woman is inferior to man. The meaning, though, seems to be “to meet his [man’s] needs.” One may not be too specific here.

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 .