The emphatic I makes a contrast with “your call” (Good News Bible‘s “what you were”) in 1.26. Not only are the Corinthian readers weak, but even Paul himself is weak from the human point of view. Paul may also be contrasting himself in an indirect way with false preachers in Corinth. This idea is possibly even stronger in verse 3, which begins with the same emphatic I.

When I came … I did not come repeats the Greek verb for “come.” Good News Bible and Revised English Bible (not New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible) remove this repetition completely, and other translations simplify it; for example, Jerusalem Bible (Jerusalem Bible): “When I came to you, it was not….” Some translators may need to expand the clause When I came to “When I came to visit you.”

Brethren should be translated “fellow Christians” or “fellow believers” in languages where the word “brother” only refers to an actual family member. In certain languages, though, this word may be rendered in an idiomatic way; for example, “elders and youngers.” (See comments on brother in 1.1.)

It is not certain whether Paul wrote the testimony of God or “God’s secret truth” as in Good News Bible. Good News Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and New Revised Standard Version translate the Greek word for “mystery” (musterion), while Revised Standard Version, and New International Version translate the word for “testimony” (marturion); these Greek words can be easily confused with each other. The manuscript evidence is evenly divided; Nestle-Aland 25th edition has “testimony,” while the UBS text and Nestle-Aland 26th edition have “mystery.” Commentators and translators are similarly divided. “Testimony” is preferred by Revised Standard Version, Bijbel in Gewone Taal, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, ITCL, New English Bible, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, and “mystery” by Good News Bible, Bible en français courant, Translator’s New Testament, Moffatt, An American Translation, Phillips, Barclay, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. Many translations give the alternative reading in a note. Scribes may have changed “mystery” to testimony because they were looking back to 1.6. Less probably, they may have changed testimony to “mystery” because they were looking forward to 2.7. A good reason to pick “mystery” is that Paul usually speaks of the Christian “mystery” as something that is revealed. He uses such language here: “preaching,” verse 1; “demonstration,” verse 4 (see the comments). For these reasons we choose the reading of the UBS text, which the Good News Bible text follows.

If “mystery” is chosen as the text, it may be “a secret truth belonging to God,” “a secret truth that comes from God,” or “a secret truth about God.” The first two are more likely since, as the context shows, Christ is the content of this secret truth.

Revised Standard Version‘s I did not come proclaiming is more literally “I came not according to superiority of word or wisdom preaching to you….” The meaning is “when I came, it was not to proclaim….” Good News Bible‘s “big words” should not be understood literally as meaning that Paul used only short and simple words. The term that is translated words means “message,” as in 1.18. Here it may have the added meaning of “argument” or “reasoning.” There is a close connection between words and wisdom, as in 1.17. The Greek for words or wisdom means “message, that is, wisdom” (see the Detailed Comment at 1.5). It is for this reason that Good News Bible replaces or with “and.”

Revised Standard Version‘s lofty, which Good News Bible renders as “big,” translates a Greek noun that may mean simply “prominence” or “authority,” as in 1 Tim 2.2. But in the present verse Paul may be comparing himself with other preachers. The Translator’s New Testament (Translator’s New Testament) takes this latter view: “I came to you with no superiority in speech or wisdom.”

Good News Bible‘s “use … great learning” can also be rendered “show off my education”; Bible en français courant has “… impressive education.”

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 .

Any one will be rendered in many languages as “any person.”

It is by no means certain that the verb that is translated destroy has the same meaning in the first and second clauses. The Greek word has the general meaning destroy, but sometimes has the narrower meanings “corrupt (morally),” “ruin (financially),” or “seduce (sexually).” None of these last three meanings is possible in the second clause, since God is the subject; but the meaning of the two clauses may well be “If anyone corrupts God’s temple, God will destroy him.” Bijbel in Gewone Taal uses different words having the same meaning, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch uses the same words to show the play on words in the Greek. “Corrupts” would make a good connection with the thought that God’s temple is holy. Compare 2 Cor 6.14-7.1. Another way to express this is “If anyone causes God’s temple to become defiled (or, unclean), God will destroy that person.”

Him is emphatic; literally “that one” or “that person” (New Revised Standard Version). Good News Bible restructures the sentence to avoid using the masculine pronoun him.

For will destroy, some Greek manuscripts have “destroys,” but this is less likely to be what Paul wrote.

God’s temple is holy really means “God’s temple belongs to him alone.” See comment on 1.2.

And that temple you are is literally “which [plural] you [emphasized] are.” The meaning is “you individually make up God’s temple,” not “you yourselves are holy.”

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 .

Boasting: see the comment on 4.18.

Not good: the text also suggests the meaning “not pleasant (to listen to).”

Other ways of rendering Your boasting is not good are “You should not be proud” or “You have no reason to be proud.”

Do you not know…? or “Don’t you know…?” is a phrase that Paul often used in reminding his readers of what they had already been taught (see 3.16; 6.2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 19). This rhetorical question is equivalent to a strong statement: “Surely you know…,” “Surely you have heard what is said in the past,” or “I am sure that you are familiar with the saying….”

Some biblical metaphors or figures of speech may be changed if necessary in translation, but the metaphor of leaven or “yeast” (Good News Bible) is so deeply rooted in Old Testament events and traditions that it must be kept here. If necessary the translator may have a footnote or a note in a glossary explaining this metaphor. A good example is the note on “yeast” in the Good News Bible Word List. Paul refers to some of these Jewish traditions in verses 7 and 8. In this passage, one aspect of the metaphor “yeast” suggests another aspect. In verses 6b, 7a, 7b, and 8, four different ideas are expressed with the language of “yeast” as the only link between them. Verse 6b, which may have been a proverb (compare Gal 5.9), contrasts the small amount of yeast with the much larger lump of dough that it causes to rise. The next verses go on to show that this effect is bad (contrast Matt 13.33 and Luke 13.20-21, which give a good meaning to the effect of yeast).

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 .

I wish is probably better than Good News Bible‘s “I would prefer” or Revised English Bible‘s “I should like.” A strong verb is required here—the equivalent of the English “I really would prefer,” “I want,” or “It would make my heart very happy.”

In the Greek the transition from verse 6 is uncertain. Some manuscripts have “for,” others “but.” The word “but” that Good News Bible translates as “actually” expresses a strong contrast, which is probably the case in this verse. Paul is indicating a change to a fresh aspect of the theme, or more precisely, he is returning in verse 7 to what he said in verse 1. In both verses he is speaking quite generally, so all includes both men and women. Good News Bible‘s “of you” is not in the Greek text, but verse 7b shows that all must refer to Christians.

As I myself am implies “unmarried,” as Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible make explicit in verse 8, where the Greek is the same. As I … am may also be expressed as “were in the same state as I am” or “were in the same condition….”

The but that introduces the second half of the sentence is strong and means almost “nevertheless” or “however”; for example, “However, each one has….”

Each can be rendered as “each person” or “each one of you.”

Translators should consider how to express in their own language the double change of direction that is indicated by the words Good News Bible translates “actually” and “but.” Verse 7a echoes verse 1; verse 7b makes a transition between the previous discussion of marriage and the following advice to the unmarried and widows. The Greek, however, is too general to suggest that the phrase of one kind (Good News Bible‘s “this gift”) should be identified with marriage, and that of another (Good News Bible‘s “that gift”) be identified with celibacy. Good News Bible shows the contrast quite clearly.

In languages that do not use the passive, the clause each has his own special gift from God may be expressed as “God gives a special ability to each one.”

The final two clauses may be rendered “one person has a certain ability, and another one has a different ability.”

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 .

Is bound is the verb that was used in verse 27, Are you bound to a wife? One may expand this phrase slightly; for example, “is not free to marry” or “is not allowed to remarry.”

Dies is literally “falls asleep,” which is a common New Testament metaphor for death, especially the death of Christians.

Only in the Lord: Good News Bible and most other translations take this to mean that the other partner must be a Christian; thus Good News Bible‘s rendering “but only if he is a Christian.” This interpretation is almost certainly implied in the Greek, but the direct meaning of the phrase is more probably “only (it must be) as a Christian” or “within the Lord’s fellowship” (Revised English Bible). A possible translation would be “it must be a Christian marriage.”

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 .

The words For and free indicate a connection with 1 Cor. 9.4 (see the comments). From this point to the end of the chapter, Paul links together the two main aspects of his defense covered in verses 4-12a and 12b-18.

I am free from all men: men is implicit in the Greek, as in 1 Cor. 9.1 (see the comments on that verse). Other common language translations agree with Good News Bible in giving the meaning in two contrasting statements. Another possibility is to express free from all negatively, as for example in Translator’s New Testament, “Although I am no man’s slave…,” contrasting with the following words, “I have made myself every man’s slave.” This is no doubt what Paul means.

The word all, corresponding to Good News Bible‘s “nobody,” may mean either “all people” or “all things.” The context shows that Paul is talking about people.

The exact meaning of win is uncertain. The meaning “to win as Christians,” suggested by Barrett, fits verses 20 and 21 later in this chapter, where Paul talks about “winning Jews” and winning “those under the law.” But if we applied this meaning to verse 22 also, the “weak” (“weak in faith”) would have a more general meaning than that in 8.7-13 and would include those who were already Christians. Win could also mean “to make and keep people as Christians to the end,” and this would fit in well with chapter 10. It is probably better to leave this phrase ambiguous, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible have done.

The more should probably be rendered “as many people as possible,” as in Good News Bible.

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 .