hungry

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated in English as “hungry” (or: “famished”) is translated in a number of ways:

  • Noongar: “without stomach” (koborl-wirt) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Kölsch translation (publ. 2017): nix zo Käue han or “have nothing to chew on” and singe Mage hät geknottert wie ne Hungk or “his stomach growled like a dog” (source: Jost Zetzsche)
  • German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Hunger überfiel ihn or “Hunger overtook (lit.: “attacked”) him” (in Matthew 4:2)
  • Kupsabiny: “hunger ate him” (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Mairasi: “feeling tuber pains” (tubers are the main staple) (source Enggavoter 2004)

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (1Cor. 4:11)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form, only referring to Paul and the other apostles.

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (1 Corinthians 4:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 4:11:

  • Uma: “Until this present time, we (excl.) don’t have enough food, not enough drink, not enough clothes. We(excl.) are continually being beaten. We(excl.) have no certain dwelling-place.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Even until now we (excl.) always endure/suffer hunger and thirst. Our (excl.) clothes are old. Often we (excl.) are beaten and there is no place for us (excl.) to stay.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for us, even now we lack food and we lack drink; we are beaten and even proper clothing, we don’t have it; and even a place to live, we don’t have that either.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Up until today/now, we (excl.) have been hungry and thirsty and we (excl.) lack clothes. There are also those who strike-us (excl.) -with-the-fist and we (excl.) have no proper residence.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Really right up to this time, we (excl.) are going hungry and thirsty. It’s like we (excl.) are without clothing, we are experiencing physically-hurt, and we have no certain place to stay.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “In past days we suffered from having nothing to eat. Until now we suffer from hunger. There are times when we are thirsty or when we have nothing to wear. There are times when we suffer from people beating us. And neither are there houses in which to live.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 4:11

As we noted in the introduction to this section, the Greek words translated as To the present hour and now in verse 13 make these verses a distinct subsection. The Greek is longer and more emphatic here than in verse 13, but the meaning is the same. The apostle’s state is described in verses 11-12a by seven expressions, the first six of which are simple verbs in the Greek joined by “and.” Good News Bible‘s expression “To this very moment” is good modern English. In other languages “up to this day” will be an appropriate expression.

Hunger and thirst should be understood literally, not like the phrase which occurs with “after righteousness” in Matt 5.6. Good News Bible‘s “go hungry and thirsty” shows that Paul is talking about a repeated condition. In languages which cannot equal the English expression “go thirsty” or “go hungry,” one may say “we continually feel hungry and thirsty,” or “we are continually hungry and thirsty,” or “we often do not have enough to eat and drink.”

The Greek word for ill-clad commonly means “to be naked” but also has the wider meaning “not to be (properly) dressed.” The latter meaning fits better with the context in this verse. Translators should find a descriptive phrase in their own language which has the meaning of “dressed in worn out clothes”; for example, “wear clothes which are torn and ragged.”

Buffeted (Good News Bible‘s “beaten”) is a rare word in the Greek. In Mark 14.65 and Matt 26.67, Good News Bible translates this term as “slapped” (see also 1 Peter 2.20; the same verb is used figuratively in 2 Cor 12.7). The form of the word suggests hitting with the back of the hand rather than with the fist or the palm. The important points here are that this was an insulting form of beating, and that it was done with the hand rather than with some kind of instrument. Translators in some languages will prefer to use active verbs here; for example, “people beat us” or “people slap us.”

Homeless in the Greek implies primarily that the apostles lead an unsettled life, moving from place to place. Good News Bible‘s rendering “wander from place to place” (also Revised English Bible) is therefore more accurate than that of Revised Standard Version and New International Version. Barclay‘s “homeless vagrants” is a possible rendering.

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 .