complete verse (1 Corinthians 6:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 6:7:

  • Uma: “Let’s not even talk about those who bring cases up to non-Kristen people. Even that you have quarrels among yourselves is shameful enough. That shows that you are not behaving like followers of the Lord Yesus. If someone deceives you or defrauds you, just let them, don’t take [the case] up to a judge. It’s better to be deceived! It’s better to be defrauded!” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Why do you go wanting to be judged? That is already your mistake. It would be better for you to simply endure/be patient if there is someone doing bad to you or taking advantage of/cheating you.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for this accusing each other that you do, don’t you know that this is a sign that your trust in God is really lacking? It’s better if you don’t even fight back if someone harms you; it’s better if you lose all your possessions rather than have an accusation against your fellow believer.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Even your filing-cases-against-one-another, it means to say that evil has already defeated you. It would be better (strong rebuke particle) if you put-up-with someone who does wrong to you. Never-mind-if you are cheated, don’t be filing-charges.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “I tell you that when you initiate-legal-proceedings-against your sibling in believing, therein you are like defeated already in the sight of God. What would be good is, just pass up the wrongdoing (against you) and (people’s) deceiving you.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Now the quarrels you have make it apparent that you lack in some way. Why isn’t it that you endure it when someone wrongs you? Why isn’t it that you let yourselves be robbed instead of not enduring even a little bit be lost to you?” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:7

The Greek text begins with a word that Revised Standard Version does not translate. It usually means “already” (so New International Version, New Revised Standard Version), but here the meaning is probably “really” or “indeed” (Revised English Bible). Good News Bible‘s rendering “The very fact” understands the word to be a logical expression, and this is more probable in the present context. The phrase “The very fact” also appears to include a translation of another Greek word that is enclosed in square brackets in the UBS Greek text. A few important manuscripts omit this word. Another way to express this initial sentence is “Since you have disputes among yourselves that must be settled by a judge in court, this shows that you have….”

The Greek word translated lawsuits here is a different one from the word translated “grievance” in verse 1, but both probably refer to “disputes” (Good News Bible).

At all: Revised Standard Version seems to understand the Greek word meaning “completely” as going with the word lawsuits rather than the verb defeat or “fail.” Good News Bible‘s rendering “have failed completely” seems to be the more probable one; New International Version is similar.

The clause To have lawsuits at all with one another can also be rendered as “the fact that you take each other to court to settle your differences…” or “the fact that you try to settle your differences by going to court….”

Is (Good News Bible‘s “shows”) can be rendered as “is good evidence of,” “reveals,” or “indicates.”

Defeat: the Greek may suggest “failure” also (see Good News Bible). “Failure” seems to suit the context better, since Paul has not mentioned any particular opponent.

One may translate the clause is defeat for you as “means that you are not living up to your Christian principles at all” or “you are not acting like Christians at all.”

The rest of the verse consists of two rhetorical questions that are similar in meaning. The repetition Why not rather is emphatic in Greek, but it need not be kept in translation if it would produce a heavy sentence.

The second verb defrauded (Good News Bible‘s “robbed”) has some similarity in meaning to suffer wrong, but it is more specific.

Some translators may prefer to render these two rhetorical questions as statements. In that case one may say, for example, “It would be better for you to let other people wrong you. And it would be better for you to let other people take from you what is yours.”

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 .

formal second person plural pronoun

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese show different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )