The verse begins in Greek with words meaning “But if,” suggesting that Paul is about to move to another question. He may be referring to a situation that has already arisen at Corinth, perhaps similar to that implied in verse 5, except that the couple in question in verses 36-38 are not yet married.

Thinks (Good News Bible‘s “feels”) involves a judgment or decision rather than emotion.

Not … properly is an adjective that is related to “good order” in verse 35. This phrase may be expressed as “acting in a way he should not” or “behaving in a wrong way toward.”

His betrothed (“the young woman,” Good News Bible) is literally “his virgin”—a rather strange expression, especially if a daughter is meant as in explanation (A) above. However, “his virgin” could mean “his beloved” or “his sweetheart.”

The Greek does not tell us whether the subject of are strong is the passions of the man or of the woman. The problem is that in Greek an adjective is used which, if applied to a woman, commonly means that she is beyond the prime in age—namely that she is no longer young. However, the word may also be applied to a person, especially a man, who has strong sexual impulses. The situation is similar to that described in verse 9.

The thought of the last part of verse 36, let them marry …, is similar to that of verse 28a but is more fully developed.

The clause it is no sin is literally “(he) does not sin.”

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 words repeat the opening sentence of verse 12b, but Paul is once more speaking in his name alone.

Made … use of: this is the same verb that Paul used in 12b.

Rights is implicit in the Greek text, though it is expressed in verse 12. In this verse the Greek has simply “none of these things.”

Nor am I writing: the Greek is literally “neither have I written,” but this does not mean that Paul is referring to an earlier letter. It was normal in Greek to refer in the past tense to a letter (in this case 1 Corinthians) which, from the readers’ point of view, would have been written in the past. The natural English equivalent is “I am writing,” and Good News Bible emphasizes this fact by adding “now.” However, translators should carefully consider how they use verb tenses and other grammatical devices in letter writing. These may be quite different from English.

This is literally “these things,” probably meaning not the whole letter, but the argument of chapter 9.

The phrase to secure any such provision is more tactful than Good News Bible‘s “in order to claim such rights myself.” Revised Standard Version‘s rendering reflects the Greek more closely. Barrett’s translation, “in order that in my case things may be done in this way,” gives the flavor of the Greek but expands it a little. All three of these translations are possible, though Good News Bible and Barrett have better English style.

The rest of the second sentence is violently broken off. It is literally “for it is good for me rather to die than—no one will empty my boasting.” Some manuscripts and almost all translations attempt to make the break less abrupt in some way. Such broken sentences probably reflect Paul’s great emotion and are quite common in his writings.

In the literal translation above there is a great deal of overlap between “good” and “rather,” and these may be combined. The clause I would rather die may be expressed as “It would be better for me to die than do this.” Any one does not refer to any particular person or group. And Paul is not suggesting that anyone was trying to make him accept payment. In many languages this will be translated in a similar way to Good News Bible as “There is no person who….”

Deprive me of my ground for boasting can be translated as “take away my reason for boasting.” This is almost the last time in the letter that Paul develops the theme of boasting, expressed as a contrast between the Corinthians wrong boasting (5.6) and the right kind of “boasting” in the Lord (1.31). In the present context this theme is closely linked with the idea of reward mentioned in verses 17-18 (see the comments on verse 12b). From a human point of view Paul has a right to boast, for he has not accepted payment for his work as an apostle.

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 .

Paul completes his argument with two more rhetorical questions. The first can be expressed as a statement, “If you do this, it can only be because you are trying to arouse Christ’s (or, the Lord’s) righteous anger.”

Provoke the Lord to jealousy is a common translation of a verb that in Deut 32.16 is used to express the thought of making God angry, provoking him, or making him bitter or jealous. Jealousy in such a context implies resentment against those who do not give God the total loyalty that they have promised in the covenant. It is stronger than mere “envy” of another individual. Revised English Bible has “Are we to provoke the Lord?” We can expand Revised English Bible a little to “Are we to provoke the Lord without his punishing us?”

The verb translated provoke … to jealousy may be understood as a future indicative, “shall we…?” or as a present subjunctive, “are we to…?” There is little difference in meaning. Since the following verb is in the present tense, the present subjunctive is slightly more likely.

In verse 22b Good News Bible rightly adds “Do we think that” to bring out the meaning “do we think that we are strong enough to defy the Lord without being punished?”

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 verses 23b-24 many translations agree with Good News Bible in having a series of main verbs—“took,” “gave thanks,” “broke,” and “said”—as in the Greek of Mark 6.41. However, Revised Standard Version‘s more literal translation shows that giving thanks to God is a preliminary act closely related to breaking the loaf. The connection between the other actions of Jesus is less close. Perhaps one can begin a new sentence with verse 24: “… took a loaf of bread. Then when he had given thanks….”

He had given thanks: “to God” (Good News Bible) is implied as in 10.16 (see the comments). The same word is used in Luke 22.19. Mark 14.22 and Matt 26.26 have “bless,” but the meaning is much the same. Jerusalem Bible makes the meaning even more explicit by translating “thanked God for it,” that is, for the loaf.

Broke it: An American Translation emphasizes this by adding “in pieces,” and this may make the meaning clearer in some languages.

For you: some manuscripts add “broken” as in King James Version, “given” as in Luke 22.19, and one manuscript even has a strong verb meaning “broken in pieces.” The weight of manuscript evidence is on the side of the shorter text for you, followed by New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version text, and Revised English Bible. However, one can fill out the meaning, as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has done by rendering this phrase as “which is sacrificed for you.”

The pronoun This occurs twice in verse 24 and twice more in verse 25. The second time in verse 25, Good News Bible translates “so” to stress the importance of performing this ritual regularly. Do this in remembrance of me may also be rendered as “Eat this bread to make you remember me.”

In remembrance of me: the Greek word has the meaning of a memorial or reminder. As the rest of the verse shows, Paul’s thought is turned at least as much to the future as to the past. The Jews and the first Christians thought of sacred meals as events by which later generations were identified with historic events of the past, such as the exodus on the one hand, and the death and resurrection of Christ on the other. New English Bible has “as a memorial of me.” Barclay brings out the meaning using a verb: “to make you remember me.”

An alternative translation for this verse is:
• When he had thanked God, he broke the bread and said, “This is my body which is for you. Eat this bread to make you remember me.”

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 .

Brethren begins a new paragraph. It refers to “fellow Christians,” not actual family members. The connection with what precedes this word is not entirely clear, but Paul appears to mean that the Corinthian Christians were “immature” in giving too much importance to speaking in tongues. This first sentence may be rephrased as “Fellow Christians, do not think like children” or “… like immature people.”

The verb translated be babes is not related in form to children in the first part of the verse, but the meaning is the same. As elsewhere, Paul, a good writer, varies his language where possible. This sentence may be translated in some languages as “you must be innocent like babies in the ways of evil.”

The word for evil refers to general activity that is wrong or sinful, rather than to evil persons or things. The sentence be babes in evil may be rendered in some languages as “You must be innocent like children in the ways of evil” or “… in not knowing evil doings.”

Mature or “grown up” (Good News Bible) was translated “spiritually mature” (Good News Bible) in 2.6, and that is what mature means here. If verse 20b stood alone, it could be translated “become grown up…,” but this translation is not possible in verse 20a, so be mature is correct.

The whole verse may thus be translated: “My brothers, do not think in a spiritually immature way; you must be innocent like children, as far as evil is concerned, but think as people who are spiritually mature.”

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 .

Verses 12, 13, and 14 begin in the same way in Greek: “if,” followed by a Greek word that has a range of meanings including “and” and “but.” In verse 12 this word marks the introduction to a new thought, so it should be translated “Now,” as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible. But in verses 13-14 the word introduces further links in Paul’s chain of argument and thus is translated differently. See the comments on verses 13 and 14. In certain languages translators will find it helpful to express this connecting word as “So” or “Therefore.”

Paul begins this verse with the common and basic Christian belief that Christ was raised and is still alive (see comments on 1 Cor. 15.4). The verb is preached, then, implies a preaching that is done by any Christian evangelist.

Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead may be rendered as “Now since people preach that God has raised Christ from the dead.”

How can some of you say: some is slightly emphasized; Moffatt has “certain individuals among you.”

There is no resurrection of the dead is a literal translation of the Greek. Most languages will need to use a verb for resurrection to show that it is an event or action. Good News Bible‘s “the dead will not be raised to life” is a good translation. However, in languages that do not have a passive, one may say “the dead will not receive life again.”

This verse makes it clear that Paul is discussing the resurrection in reply to false teaching in Corinth. Outside this chapter Paul uses the word for resurrection only in speaking of Christ, except in Phil 3.11, and 2 Tim 2.18. Normally he uses a different verb translated “raised.” In the passive this verb usually indicates the activity of God.

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 .

Not … first in this context refers in one sense to time; we have an earthly body and then a body filled with God’s Spirit. But first in this verse may also imply “less important.” Jewish interpreters of the Old Testament had a saying: “A new act of God supersedes the old.” Paul may have meant something similar, where the two items are in order of increasing importance. Translation models reflecting this idea are the following: “The physical comes first and then the spiritual,” or “For the physical comes first and then the spiritual replaces it.”

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 .