Most modern translations put quotation marks around the phrase All things are lawful to indicate that it was probably a saying used in Corinth. A similar saying was quoted in 6.12, with an additional word in the Greek that Revised Standard Version translates “for me.” The first sentence, then, may be translated as “There is a saying that says, ‘We…’ ” or “Some people say, ‘We…’ ” or “You say ‘We….’ ” Here “We” (Good News Bible) is implicit and may be added in translation to make the meaning clearer. The Greek does not explicitly refer to law, though this Greek word translated lawful is often used where Jewish rules and regulations are involved (see, for example, Mark 6.18; 10.2). The verb means “it is permitted” or “is proper.”

If we understand Paul to be quoting a current saying in Corinth, it may be necessary in translation to state by whom the saying is spoken. Good News Bible has the impersonal “they,” and Bible en français courant has “certain (people).” It is also possible to have “You say….” Such a translation can be justified by Paul’s use of an indirect imperative “Let no one” in verse 24, and a direct imperative “You are free to eat” in verse 25 (see the comments on these verses).

On not all things are helpful, see comments on 6.12.

The second half of the verse closely parallels the first. However, build up (Good News Bible “is helpful”) in this second half probably refers to the act of strengthening the Christian community as a whole. Paul uses here the common metaphor of constructing a building to mean adding strength to the common life of the church. Compare 8.1, 10 where the same word is used in a similar sense. So Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates this as “but not everything helps the (Christian) community.”

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 .