In the Greek the first phrase of this verse is “each day I die.” This reflects the final clause of verse 30: “we are in danger every hour.” It is likely, then, that these verbs have approximately the same meaning. I die, of course, is not to be taken literally, nor is Paul referring to the natural process of aging. The context, especially verse 32, shows that Paul has in mind the risk of a violent death. Good News Bible‘s “I face death” is therefore a more natural translation.

I protest (Good News Bible “declare”) translates a Greek word used to introduce a solemn and emphatic statement; New International Version has “I mean that”; New Jerusalem Bible and Revised English Bible “I swear.” Another way to express this is “I declare (or, state) solemnly (or, strongly).”

By my pride in you: Paul is swearing here, not by God, but by his own pride, which is something distinctively human. Neither the text nor the language is entirely clear. Good News Bible has the support of most commentators in taking the words to refer, not to the Corinthians’ boasting about Paul, but to Paul’s pride in the church he helped to found. Paul emphasizes that this is not human pride but pride in union with Christ Jesus our Lord. Translators would do well, then, to translate this phrase in a similar way to that in Good News Bible “The pride I have in you … makes me declare this.”

It is unusual for Paul to use the word brethren in the middle of a sentence. In other parts of 1 Corinthians the word has always introduced a new theme. Here it is omitted in certain Greek manuscripts. The UBS Greek text has “brothers” in square brackets. Brethren, of course, refers to fellow Christians.

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 .

The first part of this verse raises various problems.

(1) Fought with beasts is a single verb in Greek, not used elsewhere in the Bible. Most scholars agree that the beasts are human beings acting like wild beasts, and that the “fighting” is figurative too. That is why Good News Bible puts “wild beasts” in quotation marks and adds “as it were.” Related words are used to describe human beings as “evil beasts” in a quotation in Titus 1.12, and in speaking of “fighting” (Good News Bible‘s “quarrels”) in 2 Cor 7.5. However, the strong language used in previous verses (“in peril,” verse 30; “I die,” verse 31) suggests that in the present verse the “fighting” must have involved some physical risk. Roman citizens such as Paul were not punished by being set to fight with wild beasts. However, before we exclude a literal meaning for fought with beasts, let us examine the following questions.

(2) A majority of commentators believe that the conditional clause beginning If … refers to some conflict in which Paul was actually engaged. It is, however, grammatically possible to understand this clause as an unfulfilled condition: “if I were to fight with wild beasts.” In this case the objection that Paul could not legally undergo such a punishment would lose much of its force. If this argument is correct, “wild beasts” is more likely to be figurative.

(3) Humanly speaking may be connected either with I fought or with beasts. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible choose the first option, which implies “I fought for my life like someone who expects no life after death”; compare New Revised Standard Version “with merely human hopes” (similarly Revised English Bible); New Jerusalem Bible “in a purely human perspective.” The second option would probably mean “I fought with people who can only be described, in human language, as ‘wild beasts.’ ” This would be Paul’s way of softening his otherwise hard language. It is difficult to choose between these two options, since in the Greek “I-fought-with-wild-beasts” is a single word. However, the first is probably better.

What do I gain…?: this rhetorical question implies “if I have no resurrection to hope for, there would be no point in my living such a hard and dangerous life.”

The words “as it were” (Good News Bible) are implied and have the same function as the quotation marks around “wild beasts” in Good News Bible.

At Ephesus: Good News Bible adds “here,” since Paul is writing from Ephesus (see 16.8).

Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die is an exact quotation from Isa 22.13.

Good News Bible‘s “as the saying goes” is implicit. The words are added to make it clear that the following words are a quotation. Isa 22.13 is part of scripture, but the quoted words are spoken by people whom the prophet condemns. Therefore, to introduce them by “as the scripture says,” as Good News Bible did in 10.26, might misleadingly suggest that Paul approves the attitude expressed in the quotation. The phrase “as the saying goes” may also be rendered as “as people often say” or “according to the popular saying.”

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 .

Do not be deceived: in this verse the bad influence of other people is suggested. Perhaps one may translate “Do not let people deceive you.”

The words Bad company ruins good morals are found in a play by Menander (4th–3rd century B. C.) but may well have become a common saying by Paul’s time.

The word translated company sometimes means “conversation” but has also the wider meaning of company. Good News Bible makes this word more concrete with the translation “Bad companions.”

Some languages will have proverbs that have a meaning equivalent to the saying in this verse. For example, Thai Common Language Version has a proverb in the form of a poetic couplet that says literally “Associate bad people—mischievously lead to badness.”

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 .

Come to your right mind suggests a return to a more balanced way of life; literally “Come to your senses rightly.” The adverb translated right commonly means “righteously” but has apparently no theological meaning here. Barrett uses a slightly different metaphor here: “wake up properly”; Revised English Bible “wake up.” Possibly one may translate “Get control of yourself.”

Come (Good News Bible‘s “Come back”) is an order to perform a single action. Sin no more, on the other hand, suggests action over a period of time: “continue to avoid sins.” The context suggests that the period of not sinning includes present and future rather than past and present time. So “stop your sinful ways” (Good News Bible) is probably more appropriate than sin no more.

Some, as Good News Bible shows, is better rendered as “some of you.”

Knowledge in the Bible frequently refers to an intimate personal relationship with someone. No knowledge in this context presumably refers to a sinful condition that prevents a right relationship with God. Another way to render the clause is “For some among you do not have a right relationship with God” or “… have not been put right with God.”

I say this to your shame is virtually a separate sentence in Greek and is emphasized because of its position at the end of the verse. This clause may be rendered “You ought to be ashamed because of this” or “This lack of knowledge should make you lose face.” Some languages, as in English, may need to put this clause at the beginning of the verse and stress it in a way similar to Good News Bible; for example, “Some of you should feel very ashamed that you do not know God.”

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 .

The strong But with which the verse opens appears to have a double function. (1) It marks the transition between the resurrection itself and how it would happen. (2) It may also imply a narrower contrast between “some of you” in verse 34, who are absolutely condemned, and others at Corinth who have genuine difficulties. Function (1) is fulfilled by the section heading and the paragraphing of a modern translation. Function (2) is adequately expressed by the repetition of “some” in verse 34 and this verse, referring to two separate groups of people. Good News Bible uses “Someone” for the second occurrence of “some.” Paul, however, almost certainly has no particular individual in mind. He is simply answering a typical objection. One may also translate some in the present verse as “other people.” As the punctuation note in the UBS text, third edition, shows, it is uncertain whether the rest of the verse consists of one or two questions. By placing the two questions side by side, without any connecting “and,” Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible imply, probably rightly, that the two questions are similar in meaning, the second making the first more specific.

Revised Standard Version‘s translation How are the dead raised? seems more accurate than Good News Bible‘s “How can the dead be raised to life?” Paul is asking a hypothetical question about the means used in raising the dead, not casting doubt on whether it is possible for the dead to be raised. Other possible renderings are “Someone will ask, ‘How are dead people raised to life?’ ” or “… ‘How will God raise dead people to life?’ ” or “… ‘In what way will God…?’ ”

Body: see comments on 5.3. In this verse Paul is speaking of a literal body. Paul does not intend a contrast between body in verses 35-38, 40-44, and “flesh” in verse 39. In some languages it may be necessary to translate both terms in the same way. On the other hand, in other languages translations will need separate terms for the body of a human being, an animal, a plant, and “celestial bodies” such as the sun. A footnote may then be added stating that only one term is used in Greek.

Do they come: the future is implied. It is uncertain whether Paul means “come out of these tombs” or “go up to heaven.” Therefore Good News Bible‘s neutral translation “What kind of body will they have?” is appropriate.

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 .

You foolish man! is unusually blunt for Paul, but the same language is used in Luke 11.40; 12.20; similar language in Eph 5.17; and an equally strong expression in Matt 15.14. It should be remembered that Paul is addressing, not a real individual, but a typical objector, who grammatically may be male or female, so Revised Standard Version‘s man is unnecessary. Some translations use softer expressions: Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “how can you ask such a question?”; New Jerusalem Bible has “how foolish!”;Revised English Bible “What stupid questions.”

Man means “person.”

The second you is singular and emphatic, meaning not “someone” but “you who are asking the question.”

Sow in Greek simply refers to scattering seed on the surface, as in Mark 4.3 and the following verses. However, “plant a seed” (Good News Bible) will in many languages be a better picture, especially in the light of a bare kernel (Good News Bible‘s “bare seed”) in verse 37.

Does not come to life unless it dies may be expanded as “unless it first dies, it will not come to life again as a plant.” Dies is what the text says, and therefore what must be translated. Paul does not write as a modern botanist; he means that the seed must cease to exist as a seed before it can become a plant. A similar thought is expressed in John 12.24.

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 .

And correctly leads the reader to expect that the theme of sowing will be continued, and also that something new will be said about it. In fact, it is in this verse that Paul begins to turn to the central theme of contrast between the earthly body and the risen body.

Body: see comment on verse 35.

Not the body which is to be (Good News Bible “not the full-bodied plant”) can be rendered as “not the full-grown plant.”

Bare means literally “naked.” However, in some languages it may be unnatural to speak of a “bare seed” (Good News Bible) or a “naked seed,” in which case an expression meaning “just a seed” may be chosen.

Some other grain: grain is implied. New English Bible has “some other kind,” New International Version “something else,” but Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible are clearer.

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 .

In this verse Paul makes a statement that can be applied equally to illustrations from the natural world and to that which they are chosen to illustrate, namely the resurrection.

The clause God gives it … may be expanded to “God gives that seed a body which he has chosen for it.”

He has chosen is literally “he wished.” The meaning is that God first decided which kind of organism was appropriate to each type of seed and then gave it to the seed in question. However, the two events “choosing” and “giving” are not sharply distinguished. So rather than raising questions about when God did the choosing or deciding, it is better to use a present tense for both verbs, as in Good News Bible. The language, and to some extent the thought, recalls 12.18.

The two halves of the verse are connected in Greek by and, but Good News Bible rightly omits this word, since the second statement contains little new information.

“He gives” in Good News Bible is implied, and so is the word “proper.” This latter word emphasizes the word own. The final clause can be also rendered as “he gives to each seed the body that is most suited to it.”

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 .