complete verse (1 Corinthians 11:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 11:9:

  • Uma: “And also, it was not man who was made to help woman, it was woman [emphatic] who was made to help man.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And the man was not created because of the woman but the woman was created so that she would be a companion for the man.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The reason that God created man was not so that woman might have a companion, but rather he created the woman so that the man might have a companion.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Furthermore God didn’t create the man for the woman but the woman for the man.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And it was not for the benefit and happiness of the woman that God created the man, but rather for the benefit and happiness of man that he created the woman.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Woman was made in order to be a helper for the man, it wasn’t that the man was made in order to be a helper for the woman.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Martu Wangka: “The Father made the man to look after the woman as a boss and he did not make the man so that the woman would look after him as a boss.” (Source: Carl Gross)

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:9

Experts disagree about how these verses are related to their context. The problem centers on the meaning of For at the beginning of verse 8. Revised Standard Version treats this verse as an aside and follows Moffatt in putting the whole of these two verses in round brackets (parentheses); other translations do not. Good News Bible, however, not only keeps For in the translation but links verse 8 to verse 7b, contrary to the UBS text. But verse 10 appears to follow more closely from verse 7b than do verses 8-9. It is even possible to see man’s relation to God (verse 7a) as being, for Paul, in some way parallel to women’s relation with the “angels” (see the comments on verse 10). Most translations, then, begin a new sentence at verse 8. Many omit the first For; and some, such as Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, make a distinct break: “in fact, man was not taken from woman.” Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente also brings out the full meaning of from woman and from man by using terms that more clearly refer to the story of how God made Eve from Adam’s rib.

In languages that do not use the passive, a translator may restructure these verses as follows: “For God did not create man from woman, but created woman from man. Nor did God create man for woman, but rather created woman for man.” For man (Good News Bible “for man’s sake”) suggests that Paul is saying that woman is inferior to man. The meaning, though, seems to be “to meet his [man’s] needs.” One may not be too specific here.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Corinthians 11:9

11:9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.

And ⌊the first⌋ man was not created for the sake of woman. Instead, the ⌊first woman⌋ was created for the sake of man.
-or-
And also ⌊God⌋ created ⌊the first⌋ woman for the sake of ⌊the first⌋ man. He did not create man for the sake of woman.

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