The Greek and Hebrew that is often translated into English as “(the two) shall become one flesh” is translated as “become just one” in Copainalá Zoque and San Mateo del Mar Huave or with existing idiomatic equivalents such as “become one blood” in Mitla Zapotec, “become the complement of each other’s spirit” in Tzeltal (source for this and above Bratcher / Nida), “become one body” in Uab Meto (source: P. Middelkoop in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 208ff. ), “tie with wife as one, so that they tie one insides” in Luang (source: Kathy and Mark Taber in Kroneman [2004], p. 539), or “become like one body-entity” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).
In Tataltepec Chatino it is translated as “the two shall accompany each other so that they no longer seem two but are like one person,” in Choapan Zapotec as “when the man and woman live together in front of God, it is as if just one person,” and in Mezquital Otomi as “they aren’t two, it is as though they are one.” (Source: B. Moore / G. Turner in Notes on Translation 1967, p. 1ff.)
In the German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999) it is translated with bilden eine neue Sippe or “form a new clan.” They explain (p. 417): “Usually ‘become one flesh.’ This is clearly not correct from a biological point of view. In the Old Testament, ‘flesh’ in such contexts means: ‘kinship, clan, family.’ So the idea is that the man gives up his clan and forms a new clan together with the married woman.”
The Greek, Latin, and Hebrew that is typically translated as “prostitute” in English (in some, mostly earlier translation also as “harlot” or “whore”) is translated in the 2024 revision of the inter-confessional LatvianJauna Pārstrādāta latviešu Bībele as netikle or “hussy.” This replaced the previous translation mauka or “whore.” Nikita Andrejevs, editor of the Bible explains the previous and current translations: “The translators at the time felt that this strong word best described the thought contained in the main text. Many had objections, as it seemed that this word would not be the most appropriate for public reading in church.” (Source: Updated Bible published in Latvia ).
Other translations include:
Bariai: “a woman of the road” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “a woman who sells her body” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Uma: “a woman whose behavior is not appropriate” or “a loose woman” (source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “a bad woman” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a woman who make money through their reputation” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “a woman who makes money with her body” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “a woman whose womanhood is repeatedly-bought” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 6:16:
Uma: “Don’t you know, a person who is friends with [euphemism] a loose one actually becomes one-body connected with that loose one? For in the Holy Book is written like this: ‘ When a man and woman couple [word used of marrying, having sexual union], the two of them become just like one-person.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Don’t you don’t know that if a man lies with a bad woman they are one body already? For it is written in the holy-book, it says, ‘If a man and a woman lie with each other they are one body.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Certainly you know that a man who sleeps with a woman whose activity is filthy, their two bodies become just one body. Because there is a written word of God about a man and a woman who are married which says, ‘As for those two, they become just one body.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Don’t you know that if a man sleeps-with a woman like that, they become one body? Because there is that which God caused-to-be-written which says, ‘The two, they will become one.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “Do you not know that the one who avails himself of (lit. trespasses on) a woman like that, they become one body-entity? Because it says in the writings, ‘The two of them, they are now one body-entity.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “You know that when a man, upon going with a woman who is a prostitute, they being two people can be said to be one person only, because their lives come together. It is written in the Holy Book the word which says: ‘Two persons who marry become of one body because their lives join.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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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).
Some manuscripts have “Or” (see Good News Bible) at the beginning of this verse, while others omit it. In the UBS Greek text “or” is in square brackets. Scribes may have added it because of the influence of verses 2, 9, and 19, in order to smooth the transition from Do you not know…? in verse 15 to the present verse. Many translations, including Revised Standard Version, omit the word; whether they do this for textual or translational reasons is difficult to say.
Good News Bible‘s “perhaps” is implied.
The rhetorical question Do you not know…? is not a request for information, but Paul asks this question to emphasize his argument. One may translate this question as a statement; for example, “You ought to be aware of the fact that…” or “You should know that….”
Joins himself here means “has sexual relations with” and may be translated this way in certain languages.
A prostitute is literally “the prostitute,” meaning “any prostitute,” just as “the body” in verse 13 probably meant “anyone’s body.”
Becomes one body is a literal translation of the Greek. Good News Bible uses “physically one” to avoid repeating the word “body.”
With her is not in the Greek but is required in English and other languages to fill out the meaning.
This verse ends with an exact quotation from the Septuagint of Gen 2.24. The literal equivalent of as it is written is simply “for, says,” meaning either “scripture says” (Good News Bible) or “God says.” “Scripture” is probably the meaning since God is not mentioned in the immediate context. In many languages one cannot talk about scripture “saying” or “speaking,” but one may say, for example, “we read in the scriptures.” Good News Bible‘s “quite plainly” is implied.
The two may be rendered “the man and the woman.”
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 .
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
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