OET interlinear 1COR 12:17

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / hypo

εἰ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα ὀφθαλμός, ποῦ ἡ ἀκοή? εἰ ὅλον ἀκοή, ποῦ ἡ ὄσφρησις?

if all the body_‹were› /an/_eye where_‹is› the hearing if all_‹were› hearing where_‹is› the smelling

Here Paul is using two hypothetical situations to teach the Corinthians. He wants them to imagine that the whole body was an eye or an ear. He uses these hypothetical situations because it is absurd for an eye or an ear to make up the whole body. Use a natural way in your language to introduce hypothetical situations. Alternate translation: “Suppose the whole body were an eye; where would the hearing be? Suppose the whole were an ear; where would the sense of smell be?”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

ὅλον τὸ σῶμα & ὅλον

all the body_‹were› & all_‹were›

Here Paul is speaking of “bodies” in general, not of one particular body. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this form with a form that refers to “bodies” in general. Alternate translation: “any whole body … any whole”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

ποῦ ἡ ἀκοή? & ποῦ ἡ ὄσφρησις?

where_‹is› the hearing & where_‹is› the smelling

Paul does not ask these questions because he is looking for information about where the senses of hearing and smell are. Rather, he asks them to involve the Corinthians in what he is arguing. The questions assume that the answer is “nowhere.” In other words, a body that is only an eye does not have hearing, and a body that is only an ear does not have smell. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express these questions by stating the ideas with strong negations. Alternate translation: “it would never hear anything. … it would never smell anything.” or “it would not have hearing. … it would not have the sense of smell.”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

(Occurrence 2) ὅλον

all_‹were›

Here Paul omits body because he stated it explicitly in the previous sentence. If your language needs to state body here, you could supply it from the previous sentence. Alternate translation: “the whole body”