Any man may refer to either men or women.

Revised Standard Version‘s foundation is not expressed in Greek but is present in the underlying meaning. Good News Bible fills out the meaning at various points even more than Revised Standard Version. For comments on the translation of foundation, see verse 10.

Survives is in the future tense in Greek, referring to the Day of Judgment. The meaning is that only work with good building materials will remain standing after the fire. This initial clause may be rephrased as “If someone builds on that foundation with material that doesn’t burn…,” or the whole verse can be restructured as follows: “God will reward the person who builds on this foundation with material that doesn’t burn.”

Reward: see the comments on 1 Cor. 3.8.

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 .