complete verse (1 Corinthians 9:20)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 9:20:

  • Uma: “When I carry the Good News to Yahudi people, I behave like a Yahudi, so that many Yahudi people I can bring to Kristus. When I am with people who follow the customs of the Law of Musa, I also follow the customs of the Law of Musa. Actually, I am not bound by those customs, but I follow those customs while I am in the midst of those who follow them, so that many of them I can bring to Kristus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore if I am together with the Yahudi I follow the Yahudi custom in order that I can persuade them to trust in Isa Almasi. And even though I do not have to follow the law of Musa, that which the Yahudi tribe follows, I simply follow (it) in order to persuade some of those following the law of Musa to trust in Isa Almasi.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And because of this, when I am with Jewish people, my customs at that time are also Jewish, so that I might influence them and they might believe. And even though I’m not under the Law which was left behind by Moses for the Jews, I obey it just the same so that I might influence them and they might come to believe in Jesus.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “For-example, if I am teaching Jews and others who follow their law, I also follow their customs and their law so that I will persuade them to believe in Cristo, even though I know that I don’t have to follow that law of theirs.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For when I’m with the Jews, my customs are those of the Jews so that I might-draw-them-to-myself/win-their-confidence. Even though I’m no longer under the jurisdiction of the laws of Moises, I do in fact go along with them as long as I am with those who are still submitting to these laws, so that, just like I said, I might-draw-them-to-myself/win-their-confidence.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When I live where there are Jews, I do like the Jews do in order that perhaps I win their hearts over to believing in Christ. Like those do who do what is said in the law Moses wrote, also I do. Even though I am not forced to do what is said in the law, yet I do it so perhaps to win the people’s hearts over to believing in Christ.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

law

The Greek that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004) and in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).

In Yucateco the phrase that is used for “law” is “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198) and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command.” (wsource: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

See also teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:20

I became as a Jew: some commentators think that Paul is referring to a single event, perhaps the one recorded in Acts 21.23-36, where Paul and his friends go into the Temple to perform a purification ceremony.

The Jews: a definite article is rare in Paul’s writings, and the verb I became usually refers to a single past event. However, it is probable that Paul is writing more generally. In that case, Good News Bible‘s “I live like a Jew” is a preferable English translation and will make the meaning clear in many languages. The present context shows that Paul is thinking of the Jews as a religious group rather than simply as a race. This fact is confirmed by verse 9, where Good News Bible is right to specify that the Law is “the Law of Moses.” This is not explicit in the text here, but in verse 9 Paul has mentioned “the law of Moses.”

Many Greek manuscripts omit the whole phrase translated though not being myself under the law, but there is so much repetition in the Greek text that it would be easy for a scribe’s eye to jump from one occurrence of the phrase under the law to another.

Some translators may prefer to translate under the law as “required to follow (or, obey) the law.”

The final clauses, from to those under the law, can be restructured to “I live as though I were required to obey the Law written by Moses when I work with people who follow that law, in order to win them to Christ.”

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 .