complete verse (1 Corinthians 4:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 4:3:

  • Uma: “So, if there are any of you who want to criticize/talk-about me about whether my work is wrong, I don’t mind. No matter who criticizes my work, it doesn’t matter to me. I myself, I don’t say that my work is good or not.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Me, I am not worried if you (pl.) say whether I am trustworthy or not. I am not worried about what other people say. Even I, I don’t say whether I am trustworthy or not.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, I’m not bothered about what you say or what mere people say about how I carry out the things that God has given me to do. Because you are not the ones to check up on me. It’s also not possible that I am the one to check up on my own work.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But it makes no difference (lit. it has no evil) to me whether you or other people investigate me as to whether my work is well-done or not. Even I, I don’t investigate my own self.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Therefore I don’t take too seriously (lit. store-away in my head) what you or anyone else are saying concerning this serving of mine, as to whether it is good or not. Even I myself, I don’t form-an-opinion as to whether my work is good or bad.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Now about me, who is it that can judge whether I do good or not? I know well that it is not your work to judge me. And not any person is able to judge me whether it is right what I do or not. And not even do I judge myself whether it is right what I do or not.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 4:3

The phrase But with me brings out the suggestion of a contrast more clearly than Good News Bible‘s “I,” which is emphatic in the Greek. If we understand verse 2 correctly, verse 3 implies “Whatever happens here in earthly law courts, I am subject, not to this kind of judgment, but to the higher judgment of Christ.” Paul states this explicitly later in the sentence, which in Greek runs to the end of verse 4. Verse 3 would then not be about Paul’s feelings or his inward state of mind, as Good News Bible‘s “concerned” might suggest. The verse is about Paul’s real status as someone who is responsible to Christ, who appointed him as an apostle. It is possible, then, to translate this sentence as “As for me, whether you or any human court judge me, it is of no importance.”

Verses 3-4 use a verb for “judge” (anakrinō) which comes from the root verb for “judge” (krinō) used in verse 5 (compare 2.14-15; 2 Cor 5.10). Among the possible meanings of anakrinō are (1) “cross-question” (Moffatt), (2) “pass judgment on” (New English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), or more generally (3) “interrogate,” “examine” (Translator’s New Testament “call to account”). The immediate context (especially human court) suggests the latter general meaning of examining a witness or an accused person. In certain languages the expression for judge will be an idiom; for example “cut the words” (Yapese).

By any human court is literally “by a human day.” “Day” was used in 3.13 to refer to the Judgment Day. This sentence may be restructured in a way similar to Good News Bible as “that other people may judge me according to their standards.” One could also combine this sentence with the one which precedes it; for example, “It is not important whether you or anyone else judges me.”

The last few words of the verse move to a fresh aspect of Paul’s theme. Many translations agree with Good News Bible and Revised Standard Version in using the word even, but the text does not necessarily mean that Paul considers his own conscience higher than that of any human court, though this idea was common Stoic teaching in Paul’s time. Since verse 4b expresses the main point that Christ’s judgment is final, it is probably best to leave out even in this verse. Bible en français courant has “nor do I judge myself.” The word “myself” (Good News Bible) is not emphatic as in “I did it myself,” but is rather reflexive as in “I washed myself.”

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 .