The strong But at the beginning of this verse indicates that Paul is returning to positive statements after a series of negative ones. Please see 1 Cor. 2.6 for comments on we impart. The contrast here is between the “human” wisdom of verse 5 and “God’s … wisdom” (Good News Bible).

Good News Bible‘s “The wisdom I” can be rendered as “This wisdom that I.”

The meaning of the word that Revised Standard Version translates secret may either refer to speaking in a mysterious way, or that God’s wisdom is (or was) itself secret. Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible follow this second interpretation. As we noted on verse 1 of this chapter, the “mystery” of the gospel is usually, for Paul, something that has been revealed. The “secret” is now an open secret, not because people have discovered it for themselves, but because God has revealed it. Translators should take care that the word chosen for secret is not too strong. Otherwise it will seem as if Paul is contradicting himself.

The tense of the verb suggests that the wisdom has been hidden in the past and is still hidden to some. The rest of the verse confirms this. In languages that do not commonly use the passive voice, the phrase hidden wisdom or “hidden from human beings” (Good News Bible) may be restructured as “that he has hidden from humanity.” However, Good News Bible‘s “from human beings” is not in the Greek text and may be too general. What Paul means is that the wisdom was hidden from previous generations, and also from those at the present time who are not “spiritually mature.” In this case one may use a more general statement and say “that he has kept hidden…” or “that he has not revealed previously.”

If translators follow Good News Bible‘s restructuring of this verse, it may be helpful to repeat the information “is the wisdom that he had” after the word “but” in the second half of this verse.

The verb that is translated decreed is used in the New Testament to refer to something that God decided or fixed as part of his eternal plan or purpose (see Acts 4.28; Rom 8.29-30; Eph 1.5, 11). The words God decreed may also be translated as “God decided” or “God set his heart (or, mind) to do.” Good News Bible‘s “chosen” is less exact.

For before the ages, see comments on 1 Cor. 2.6. Good News Bible brings out the meaning.

Glorification or “glory” (Good News Bible, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible), in English and some other languages, is a word that is seldom used outside church circles. Unfortunately, few modern translations can find a better word. Part of its meaning is “what Christians have to boast about” (see 1.29-31). More generally it means living so close to God or Christ that some of the wonder and power of God’s own life is shared with believers. This is the basis for Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch‘s translation: “Already, before God created the world, he formed a plan to give us a share in his glory. But he kept this plan hidden.” Translator’s New Testament has a detailed glossary note on “glory.”

In certain languages it will be helpful to translate this term as “honor.” The final sentence can then be restructured as “But God had already decided before he made the world that this wisdom would bring honor to us,” or “… cause us to receive honor.”

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 translation of this verse should not be difficult, once the translator has examined verses 21b-23 as a whole. Good News Bible‘s “you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God” is clearer English style than Revised Standard Version‘s rendering you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

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 .

Revised Standard Version gives the original order of the four short Greek sentences that make up these two verses. Good News Bible, like other common language translations, changes the order. As Good News Bible shows, two strands of thought are involved. One is a development from the misunderstanding that verses 9-11 have tried to clear up: Christians are not concerned to judge non-Christians. The second reinforces the instructions with which most of chapter 5 is concerned: wrongdoers are not to be tolerated in the Christian community. In the text, Paul moves from the first strand of thought (verse 12a) to the second (verse 12b) and back again (verse 13a). He concludes the second part of the argument with an Old Testament quotation (verse 13b). The line of thought is clearer if these two strands are separated as Good News Bible has done, so that emphasis still falls on verse 13b.

For (Good News Bible‘s “After all”) indicates a shift in Paul’s thinking. He now draws a general principle from the previous discussion of how his earlier instructions had been misunderstood. “After all” may also be rendered as “The truth is.”

The verb judge is the simple form of krinō (see 2.14 for a discussion of this verb and its compounds). In verse 13a it is uncertain whether Paul intended to write God judges or “God will judge” (Good News Bible). The difference between the two Greek words is only one of accents, but the oldest manuscripts do not have these accents. Most translations agree with Good News Bible, including New International Version and New Revised Standard Version; but Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Revised English Bible, and Jerusalem Bible, like Revised Standard Version, have the present tense. This would suggest the meaning “it is not my function, but God’s, to judge those outside.”

Outsiders clearly means “those outside the church,” or “people who are not Christians.” There is nothing in the Greek to suggest a bad meaning (see Mark 4.11; Col 4.5; 1 Thes 4.12).

Good News Bible understands what have I to do with judging outsiders as the negative statement “It is none of my business….” This interpretation is clearly the correct one. Verse 12b, the third sentence in Good News Bible, can be understood in the same way; for example, “It is your business to judge (insiders)” or “It is … to judge your fellow Christians.” However, Paul’s question about yeast in verse 6b suggests that he is not giving new teaching here but reminding the readers of what they have already heard. Verse 12b may therefore be understood more easily as a real question, as in Good News Bible.

The order of verse 13a (the second sentence in Good News Bible) emphasizes God, as in the English “it is God who will judge them.”

Good News Bible makes it clear that the final words of the verse are a quotation by adding “As the scripture says.” Paul’s first readers would have realized immediately that this was scripture, but modern readers may not, so translators should add this phrase. In some languages it may be necessary to say “as one reads in the Scriptures” or “as it is written in the Scriptures.”

The words that Paul quotes come at the end of various sections of Deuteronomy in which sins similar to those mentioned by Paul are condemned; see Deut 13.5 (13.6 in the Septuagint); 17.7; 19.19; 22.24; 24.7. In these Old Testament passages Drive out is a command using a singular verb, addressed to Israel corporately as if to an individual. In this verse the verb is plural, addressed to the church at Corinth. These words that were first addressed to Israel are now applied to the church, but this does not affect the translation. The wicked person in the Old Testament passage means “any evil person who commits this crime.” Paul may be thinking of the particular evil man whom he discussed in verses 1-5, in which case “the section concludes the way it began” (Fee); but in the light of verses 9-12 it may be that Paul now means “any such evil person.”

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 .

Commentators differ on whether to accept the text “If a woman” or “A woman who.” The meaning, though, is almost the same. Paul was not referring to “a particular woman” but to any woman. He is talking about Christian women, so it is advisable to render this phrase as “if any Christian woman.”

Has a husband will be a more natural rendering in many languages than “is married to a man.”

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 .

In this verse Paul is certainly speaking in his own name, perhaps showing that he understands the “weaker brethren” (see verses 7-13) who cannot speak so confidently as the Corinthians who are quoted in verse 4b. In English, Good News Bible‘s “so-called ‘gods’ ” strongly suggests that these gods are not rightly so called; New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, and Revised English Bible also use “so-called,” and New International Version uses quotation marks for “gods” and “lords” (see also New Jerusalem Bible footnote). The Greek, though, may mean simply “even if there are beings that people call gods….” If the translator adopts a rendering like this, it should not be necessary to enclose “gods” and “lords” in quotation marks. Lords refers to nonhuman beings that the Greeks and others in the ancient world considered to be ruling in the area between heaven and earth. Possible renderings are “spiritual rulers” or “powerful spiritual beings.”

The gods and lords were supernatural beings whom the Greeks considered to inhabit the region between heaven and earth. Paul’s argument, though, is that even if such beings exist, God is supreme in the universe.

The first half of this verse may be restructured as follows: “Some people say that there are gods who live in the heaven and earth. Even though there are many of these so-called gods….”

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 first part of this verse echoes verse 24a, but the second part turns aside from the main thought. Athlete translates a Greek word that is more general than “runner” in verse 24 and prepares the way for an illustration about boxing in verse 26b.

Exercises self-control is the same verb used in 7.9 concerning self-control in sexual matters, but in this verse there is no special reference to sexual self-discipline. A phrase such as “disciplines himself very carefully” will be a good translation here.

The word translated wreath can also mean “crown.” Good News Bible brings this meaning out by adding the verb “crowned” where the Greek only has “will receive.” This word has been added because wreaths in many English speaking countries are associated more with funerals than with running competitions. In other parts of the modern world they are placed around the neck, rather than on the head as in Greek custom. The context makes it clear that the text is referring to the prize that a successful athlete receives, not the crown of some ruler.

In Paul’s time, winners of the Isthmian games, held near Corinth, were given a wreath of pine. But in earlier times more perishable materials had been used, and this is the point of Paul’s illustration.

The phrase but we an imperishable will be too abrupt in many languages. Possible translations are “but we do our work to win an imperishable wreath” or “but we run our race to receive a prize that will never fade.”

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 .

Give no offense to follows the Greek quite literally, but Good News Bible‘s expansion, “Live in such a way as to cause no trouble … to,” makes the meaning much clearer in English. Continuous action over a period is implied. The root idea of the word translated no offense is the opposite of causing harm by causing someone to stumble over something. In the New Testament it is used metaphorically, for example, in Acts 24.16, speaking about having “a clear conscience,” and Phil 1.10, where the word has the meaning “undamaged.” In the present verse it means “not causing (moral or spiritual) damage to anyone else.”

Greeks: see comments on 1.22-24.

The church of God: see comments on 1.2. There and in this verse Paul probably means the local Christian community in Corinth.

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 .

This verse and verse 34 partly repeat verses 21-22 and also form a conclusion to the entire argument begun in verse 17.

So then introduces the conclusion, like “therefore” (Good News Bible‘s “it follows”) in verse 27.

My brethren: again this phrase may be translated as “my fellow Christians” or “elders and youngers.” It is referring to fellow believers, not true family members.

When you come together returns to the language and theme of verse 17. There is nothing in the Greek corresponding to the Lord’s Supper. Good News Bible assumes that when the whole Christian community gathered for a meal, this meal would include a celebration of the Lord’s Supper. This is certainly correct and reminds the modern reader that the Lord’s Supper at this time was associated with a real meal.

Wait for one another was made clear in verse 21.

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 .