OET interlinear 1COR 12:23

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

καὶ ἃ δοκοῦμεν ἀτιμότερα εἶναι τοῦ σώματος, τούτοις τιμὴν περισσοτέραν περιτίθεμεν; καὶ τὰ ἀσχήμονα ἡμῶν, εὐσχημοσύνην περισσοτέραν ἔχει;

and which ˱we˲_/are/_supposing less_honorable to_be ˱of˲_the body ˱around˲_these honor more_abundant ˱we˲_/are/_putting_around and the dishonorable ˱of˲_us propriety more_abundant /is/_having

Throughout this verse, Paul is most likely thinking about how we carefully wear clothing that covers our less honorable and unpresentable body parts. He does not specify which body parts these would be, but it is likely that he has genital organs in mind. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state explicitly that Paul has clothing in mind as the way we bestow some body parts with greater honor or give them more dignity. Alternate translation: [and those of the body which we think to be less honorable, we bestow them greater honor by clothing them; and our unpresentable members have more dignity because of the care we take to cover them]

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

ἃ & τοῦ σώματος

which & ˱of˲_the body

Here, those refers back to the “members” in 12:22. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express those with “members” instead. Alternate translation: [the members of the body which]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure

ἃ δοκοῦμεν ἀτιμότερα εἶναι τοῦ σώματος, τούτοις τιμὴν περισσοτέραν περιτίθεμεν

which ˱we˲_/are/_supposing less_honorable to_be ˱of˲_the body ˱around˲_these honor more_abundant ˱we˲_/are/_putting_around

Here Paul identifies what he is talking about first (those of the body which we think to be less honorable) and then refers back to that phrase by using them in his sentence. If your readers would be confused by this structure, you could restructure the sentence and indicate what Paul is talking about in another way. Alternate translation: [we bestow greater honor on those of the body which we think to be less honorable]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

τούτοις τιμὴν περισσοτέραν περιτίθεμεν

˱around˲_these honor more_abundant ˱we˲_/are/_putting_around

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea behind honor, you can express the idea by using a verb such as “honor” or an adverb such as “honorably.” Alternate translation: [we treat them honorably] or [we honor them more]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / euphemism

τὰ ἀσχήμονα ἡμῶν

the dishonorable ˱of˲_us

Here, unpresentable members is a polite way to refer to sexual organs. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express unpresentable members with a comparable polite term. Paul’s euphemism contrasts unpresentable with dignity. If possible, use a euphemism that similarly creates a contrast. Alternate translation: [our private parts]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

εὐσχημοσύνην περισσοτέραν ἔχει

propriety more_abundant /is/_having

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea behind dignity, you can express the idea by using a verb such as “dignify” or an adjective such as “presentable.” Alternate translation: [are more dignified] or [are more presentable]