As the paragraph division in Good News Bible, New English Bible, and other translations shows, the last part of this verse makes a sudden but natural transition from farming to building. This image of building is developed in verses 9b-17. There is, however, no grammatical break in the Greek, which is literally “for of-God field, of-God building you-are.” Translators need to decide carefully whether in their languages they tend to put such transitional statements with the preceding or the following section of the text. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, for example, treats the whole of this verse as an introduction to the following paragraph, while Revised Standard Version and other translations take it as the conclusion to verses 5-9. Good News Bible makes the break sharper than it is in Greek by putting 9a at the end of the previous paragraph, and letting 9b begin a new paragraph. In these comments we shall follow Good News Bible, which reflects natural English usage.
Revised Standard Version‘s For is a weak conjunction that is often omitted in translation. Here it introduces the conclusion to this part of Paul’s argument. It is also possible that For links 9a with verse 8a, leaving 8b as an aside that anticipates verses 10b-15. If this is so, it would be possible to restructure verses 8 and 9 as follows, taking Good News Bible as a base: “There is no difference between the man who plants and the one who waters, for we are partners working together for God, and God will reward each one according to the work he has done.”
The pronoun we in this verse is exclusive, referring only to Paul and Apollos.
There are two main ways of understanding the first part of this verse: (1) “we are God’s fellow-workers” (Revised English Bible footnote) or (2) “we are fellow-workers in God’s service” (Revised English Bible text). Barclay refuses to choose between these two options, and translates “we work together and we work for God”; similarly New Revised Standard Version “we are God’s servants working together.” In favor of (1) it may be said that it largely includes (2) and adds something extra that gives a more precise meaning that fits in well with the context.
In place of the metaphor God’s field, some translators may prefer to use a simile; for example, “like a field that God is working in.”
It would be possible to translate God’s building as “the building on which God is working,” but in verse 16, even immature Christians are described as being already God’s temple. Good News Bible‘s paragraphing shows that Paul introduces here a new thought, which he will develop in verses 10-17.
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 .