Verses 32-34 use a verb four times meaning “concern oneself” or “be anxious,” and once a related adjective meaning “unconcerned” or “not worrying.” The problem in translating these terms is that they seem to be used in a good sense when it is a question of the affairs of the Lord, and in a bad sense when referring to wives or husbands. Paul uses this word positively in 12.25 and Phil 2.20, and negatively only in Phil 4.6, where Good News Bible has “don’t worry about.”
Revised Standard Version‘s word anxious, which is used throughout the passage, is not the best English equivalent. On the other hand, it may be difficult to find a neutral term like Good News Bible‘s “concerns,” which is effective in English; New Jerusalem Bible has “gives his mind to.” In that case it is better to use different or even unrelated words than to distort the meaning.
In some languages it may be necessary in this passage to state explicitly that the married and unmarried people whom Paul refers to are Christians. One may say, for example, “the unmarried Christian man,” and so on. One may also show in some way that Paul is not speaking of married and unmarried people in general. In this respect, one may say at the beginning of the second sentence, “Among Christians, an unmarried man….”
The phrase to be free from anxieties may be expressed as “not to be worried at all” or “not to have any worries (or, anxieties) at all.”
When we contrast this verse with verse 33, it is clear that unmarried is the correct translation, no matter what meaning is given in verse 8. Paul obviously means “unmarried man” here (Good News Bible), because it is contrasted with unmarried woman in verse 33. “The unmarried man,” like similar phrases in this passage, means “the (typical) unmarried Christian man,” “any unmarried Christian man.” In contrast to verse 8, this verse seems to refer to all unmarried Christians, not just widowers or widows. In some languages unmarried in this context will be expressed as “men without wives,” or “men who do not yet have a family.”
The affairs of the Lord is literally “the (things) of the Lord,” so Revised English Bible and Barclay translate “the Lord’s business.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch combines this phrase with what follows, and translates “to live in a way pleasing to the Lord.” Whichever translation is chosen, the translator should, if possible, make this phrase a contrasting parallel to the phrase “worldly affairs” in verses 33 and 34, as the Greek in those verses, “the affairs of the world,” is very similar in form to the affairs of the Lord.
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 .