complete verse (1 Corinthians 12:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 12:20:

  • Uma: “So, there are many parts of the body, but just one body.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And this our (incl.) body, it has many different things but it is one body.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Our body, which was created by God, has many parts but it’s still just one body.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But the truth of it is, it has many parts, but it is only-one body.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But this is really the truth, there are many parts but just-one body.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But concerning this, even though there are many parts to a person’s body, yet all these parts make up the person’s body.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:20

Verses 17-18 and 19-20 are similar in structure, though not as close as 15-16 are in structure. Verse 17 is also more specific than verse 19. In each pair of verses, an unreal condition is followed by a statement of fact. The transition is clearly made by the words translated as it is, which may also be rendered as “the fact is that.”

Good News Bible‘s “however” after “As it is” in verse 18 is implied.

In verse 17 Paul mentions first two organs, the eye and the ear, and then two senses, hearing and smelling. In Greek the same term means both ear and hearing. In most languages it will be necessary to use two different words.

In verse 18 Paul emphasizes the words each one of them by placing them in a separate phrase. Each language has a different way to show emphasis. For example, in modern English one can add “different” after “every” (“each”), as Good News Bible has done: “every different part.”

The phrase as he chose can be translated as “just as he decided that it should be.”

The form of verse 19 is similar to that of verse 17, though more general. This is a rhetorical question in Greek and translated as a question by Revised Standard Version. However, Good News Bible translates this rhetorical question as a strong negative statement. This is more forceful in English, but there is no change in meaning. In certain languages the “if” clause will appear at the beginning of the sentence: “If there is only one part, there won’t be any body.”

One body is literally “but the body (is) one.” One may also say “but they form one body.” There is no reference here to a number of different complete bodies.

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 .