The transition to the second part of the comparison that began in verse 26 is marked by a strong but, which Good News Bible omits; New Jerusalem Bible translates “No, …”; Revised English Bible “Yet.” Many languages will need to retain the but or use, for example, the equivalent of “however.” This second part of the comparison is much longer than the first, and contains more repetition within itself, as Revised Standard Version shows. Translators should ask themselves whether in their languages such repetition produces effective emphasis or just a heavy, boring sentence. Good News Bible weakens the effect of this repetition by adding the word “purposely,” which is also implied in the second half of the sentence.
In verses 27-28 the Greek is literally “the foolish things … the weak things … the strong things … the low and despised things … the things that are.” But in contrast, verse 27 talks about “the wise people.” The reason appears to be that wisdom is essentially a characteristic that belongs to people. Translators may wish to follow Good News Bible at this point but add the word “people” and say, for example, “so-called wise people.”
In the world may mean “that part of the world that consists of foolish, weak, low, and despised things (or, people),” but is more likely to mean the same as “worldly standards” in verse 26. The word what may be rendered as “the things that.”
Purpose and result are closely related in both the Old and the New Testament, and the same Greek conjunction can be used to introduce either purpose or result. The Greek word appears three times in verses 27-28, and again in verse 31. It is a question of whether it should be translated “in order that” or “with the result that.” “In order that” is more appropriate in verses 27-28, and probably “with the result that” in verse 31. In verses 27-28 Paul is speaking of a process that has already begun, but which will be completed at the last judgment. In that judgment human values are turned upside down. The keywords in Paul’s description of this process are to shame and its opposite “to boast” (verse 29), looking forward to the phrase “bring to nothing” in verse 28 and the Old Testament quotation in verse 31. It is also likely that these words are looking back to the word “destroy” in the quotation in verse 19, where a different Greek word is used. Paul’s linking of these four words confirms that shame is not just an inward feeling of humiliation; it is the state of being “publicly humiliated” or “reduced in status.” Many languages can express this idea in an idiomatic way; for example, “lose face,” “lose eye.”
An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• God purposely chose the things that humans consider foolish in order to shame so-called wise people, and he chose the things that humans consider weak to shame powerful people.
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 .