The verb translated give away is related to the noun used in John 13.26, 27, 30 to mean a small piece of bread. The meaning of the verb may vary according to the context between “feed” and “distribute,” implying the distribution of food to the poor. In this verse the idea of selling possessions and distributing the proceeds seems to predominate. With this in mind, one may translate all I have as “all my possessions.”

And if I deliver my body to be burned: as the Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible footnotes show, the text of this clause is uncertain and so is its meaning. All modern translations that we consulted, except An American Translation, and most commentators prefer the text to be burned. Any translation that indicates any variations in the Greek should give this variation in a footnote. In languages that do not favor passives, one may translate “even let them burn my body.”

I gain nothing: Bijbel in Gewone Taal has “it helps me nothing”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “all is useless.” Another possible rendering is “it is of no use to me at all.”

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 .