The first part of this verse contains a repetition in the Greek that Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible avoid because it would not be good English style: “But if the unbeliever separates, let him separate” (understood as “… separate from the Christian partner”). For a discussion on separate or “leave” (Good News Bible), see the comments on verse 10.

Partner correctly shows that Paul is now referring to both husbands and wives, though “the unbeliever” is grammatically masculine. Later in the verse Paul goes back to speaking of men and women separately as the brother or sister, meaning in this context “a Christian husband or wife.”

Desires to separate may be translated as “wishes to separate from” or “wishes to leave” (Good News Bible).

The phrase let it be so can be rendered as “he should do so.” But if a language has separate male and female third person pronouns like English, one may say “that person should do so,” to indicate that both sexes are referred to. New Revised Standard Version has “the brother or sister.”

Is not bound is literally “is not enslaved.” A more positive rendering would be Good News Bible‘s “is free to act.” New English Bible expresses this as “is under no compulsion,” and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente has “is free from the marriage bond.” In some languages it may be necessary to complete the sentence by translating “is under no compulsion to stay with him (or, her).”

The last part of the verse, God has called us to peace, becomes suddenly more general. For suggests that Paul introduces a new thought at this point, though the punctuation of the UBS Greek text does not require a new sentence.

There is good manuscript evidence for using us or “we” here (so New International Version), but translations generally agree with the UBS text in preferring “you” (plural; see Good News Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Revised Standard Version). It is difficult though to determine to whom “you” (Good News Bible) refers. Barclay understands “you” to mean the married people to whom Paul is writing. He paraphrases: “God meant marriage to be a perfect human relationship between two people.” Translator’s New Testament, on the other hand, has “you believers,” understanding “you” to refer to Christian partners in mixed marriages. This interpretation seems to suit the context better. The difficulty is not so much that unbelievers were unlikely to read Paul’s letter, nor that Paul should commend peace with non-Christians (compare Heb 12.14), but that called can apply only to Christians.

The phrase to peace may be expressed as “be peaceful people” or “live peaceful lives.” If we adopt the punctuation of the UBS Greek text, the last part of the verse is taken with what precedes it. In that case the meaning may be either (1) “However, let the partners stay together if possible, since God has called you to live in peace,” or (2) “Let them separate without argument, for God has called you to live in peace.” Of the two, (1) fits the Greek better and is adopted by New Jerusalem Bible, Translator’s New Testament, and Phillips.

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 .