“The word ‘offend’ as a translation of the Greek skandalizó seems to cause all sorts of trouble for translators. The difficulty is that the meaning of this word covers such a wide area. The basic meaning of the Greek is ‘to cause to stumble by putting some impediment in the way.’ The present central meaning of English ‘offend’ is often quite different. In some languages there is no metaphorical value in a translation ‘to cause someone to stumble.’ If the language permits no such metaphor, the translator should not attempt to force it. In Highland Totonac, the metaphor ‘to show the wrong road to’ is used in a manner almost exactly parallel to the Greek idiom.” (Source: Nida 1947)
The Greek that is translated in English as “brother” or “brother and sister” (in the sense of fellow believers), is translated with a specifically coined word in Kachin: “There are two terms for brother in Kachin. One is used to refer to a Christian brother. This term combines ‘older and younger brother.’ The other term is used specifically for addressing siblings. When one uses this term, one must specify if the older or younger person is involved. A parallel system exists for ‘sister’ as well. In [these verses], the term for ‘a Christian brother’ is used.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae)
In Matumbi is is translated as alongo aumini or “relative-believer.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
In Martu Wangka it is translated as “relative” (this is also the term that is used for “follower.”) (Source: Carl Gross)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is often translated as Mitchristen or “fellow Christians.”
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 8:13:
Uma: “That’s why I say to you: if for instance because of my character eating meat or whatever, my relative ends up falling, I will no longer eat that meat ever again–I don’t want it to be because of me that my relative fall.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Therefore if I am the reason that my fellow truster in Isa is caused to sin because I eat meat, na, I really will not eat meat as long as I live just-so-that (basta) only my fellow (truster) is not caused to sin.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if it can happen that my fellow believer is successfully tempted through my eating meat, then I will never again at any time eat meat.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore if my fellow believer will sin on account of my eating-for-viand what has been offered to idols, I will not again eat-it-for-viand so that he will not sin because of me.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “That’s why if because of food my sibling in believing could be caused to fall(fig.) into sin, really till forever I will just not eat meat that has been sacrificed so that he won’t be caused to fall into sin.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “Concerning me, if because I eat meat I cause my brother whose faith is not strong to sin, then I cannot eat meat. Because I do not want to cause my brother to sin because of what I eat.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
The Greek in the referenced verses that is typically translated as “age,” “(for)ever / eternity / eternal / permanent,” “of old / long ago” in English is translated in the German translation by Fridolin Stier (1989) consistenty as “world (or: “cosmic”) time” (Weltzeit).
Sarah Ruden (2021, p. lxii) explains the complexities of the translation of aiōn: “Trickiest of all [the words relating to time] is aion, most simply an ‘age’ or ‘era’ but sometimes denoting either the whole present world or the whole world to come. The same word can allude to all the limits of material existence (or to dangerous worldly distractions in particular), or to their absence in the eternal age to come. Looking forward, especially to ‘ages of ages’ (in the pattern of ‘King of Kings’), the meaning is ‘eternity.’”
This verse appears to introduce a more general thought, since it refers to meat in general, not specifically to meat offered to idols. The two words are not related in Greek. It is true that the general word for food has already been used in verse 8. In Rom 14.2, 21 Paul refers to Christians whose conscience forbade them to eat any meat at all. So it is possible that there were similar people in the church in Corinth. Some Christians may have refused to eat any meat in order to be sure of not eating meat that had been dedicated to idols.
The words my brother’s falling and my brother to fall continue the image of destroying someone by making him stumble (compare verse 9). As in verse 12 and elsewhere, Good News Bible‘s “a believer” means “a fellow Christian.”
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 .
8:13a Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to stumble,
So now, if I might cause/lead another believer to do something wrong by my choice of what to eat,
-or-
So if what I choose to eat may harm the faith of a brother or sister in Christ,
8:13b I will never eat meat again,
then I will never eat any kind of meat anymore.
-or-
I personally have decided I will not eat meat again forever.
8:13c so that I will not cause him to stumble.
⌊I will do that⌋ so that I will not cause another believer to sin.
-or-
I do not want to lead another believer to sin by doing what he thinks is wrong.
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.