The change from specific to general teaching is expressed clearly by Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente “with the exception of this case, the directive that I give in each community [that is, local church] is this….” This is a good model for translators in many languages. However, because this verse begins a new section and may be read separately in church from verses 15 and 16, it will be helpful in many languages to include information from verse 16 and say “Except in the case of Christian men or women who are married to unbelievers….”

The words translated Only are literally “If not.” This is the only example in the New Testament of their being used at the beginning of a paragraph, or even a sentence; Gal 1.7 “but I say this” (Good News Bible) is the closest parallel. The meaning is given clearly by Bible en français courant “Except for this case,” namely the possible separation mentioned in the first two parts of verse 15; New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible translate “However that may be….” Every one means, not only each of the partners in a mixed marriage, but also each of the readers.

Lead the life is literally “walk.” “Walk” is a very common biblical expression for what English terms “a way of life.” Some languages can translate this as “should continue walking one’s life.” However, in many languages the translator will need to change this metaphor to a more literal expression such as Good News Bible‘s “go on living.”

The clause which the Lord has assigned to him is literally “to each as the Lord divided,” meaning “to each as the Lord gave him his share.” The metaphor of assigned or “divided” goes back to the Old Testament idea of sharing out the Promised Land. Paul does not, as one might expect, use this verb in chapters 12 and 14 to refer to the sharing of spiritual gifts. He does use it, though, in 2 Cor 10.13 to speak of the sharing out of areas of work. The same idea of fixing boundaries is found in this passage. This phrase may also be expressed as “according to the ability that the Lord has given to him” or “making use of the ability that….”

The Lord, as usual in Paul’s writings, is Jesus, so it may be good to say “the Lord Jesus” here in order to bring out the difference from God in the following clause.

Commentators are uncertain about the tense of the verb translated as assigned. The UBS Greek text has the aorist tense, which indicates that God did this at a particular time in the past (as in 2 Cor 10.13). The perfect, however, meaning “has assigned” as opposed to “assigned,” is read by a few generally reliable manuscripts and by Nestle-Aland, 25th edition, and followed by many commentators and translations, though Fee argues for the aorist. Paul uses both tenses in this passage.

In which (Good News Bible‘s “as he was”) may be expanded slightly; for example, “and he should live his life as he was when God….”

In which God has called him can be expanded to “when God called him to be a Christian” or “… to believe in Jesus.”

This is my rule …: the Greek is literally “and this in all the churches I commanded” (Good News Bible “teach”). This same verb is used in 11.34 where it is translated “give directions” (Good News Bible “settle”). It may mean “set in order” but more probably has the meaning “command” or “lay down.”

The context shows clearly that churches means “local Christian communities”; New English Bible (not Revised English Bible) and Barclay have “congregations.” In some languages it may be more natural to translate “This is the rule that I teach in all the other churches as well as yours.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• Except in the case of Christian men or women who are married to unbelievers, the command that I give to each group of believers (or, church) is this: each one of you should go on living your life making use of the ability that the Lord Jesus has assigned to you; and you should live your life as you were (or, should keep the same marital state as) when God called you to be a Christian.

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 .