uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

δὲ

and

Connecting Statement:

Here, Now introduces a new topic. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express Now with a comparable word or leave it untranslated. Alternate translation: [Next,]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure

παρακαλῶ & ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, οἴδατε τὴν οἰκίαν Στεφανᾶ, ὅτι ἐστὶν ἀπαρχὴ τῆς Ἀχαΐας, καὶ εἰς διακονίαν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἔταξαν ἑαυτούς;

˱I˲_/am/_exhorting & you_all brothers ˱you_all˲_/have/_known the house ˱of˲_Stephanas that ˱it˲_is /the/_first-fruit ¬the ˱of˲_Achaia and to /the/_service ˱to˲_the holy_‹ones› ˱they˲_determined themselves

Connecting Statement:

Here Paul begins a sentence with I urge you, brothers. He continues this sentence in the next verse with “that you also would be subject” (See: 16:16). The rest of this verse interrupts that sentence with information about the people that Paul is going to speak about. The ULT indicates this interruption by using parentheses. If your readers would find this interruption confusing, you could use markers that indicate such an interruption in your language, or you could rearrange the verse so that I urge you, brothers goes more directly with the next verse. Alternate translation: [you know the household of Stephanas, that they are the firstfruits of Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you, brothers,]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations

ἀδελφοί

brothers

Connecting Statement:

Although brothers is in masculine form, Paul is using it to refer to any believer, whether man or woman. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express brothers with a non gendered word or refer to both genders. Alternate translation: [brothers and sisters]

Note 4 topic: translate-names

τὴν οἰκίαν Στεφανᾶ

the house ˱of˲_Stephanas

Stephanas is the name of a man. Paul already mentioned his household in 1:16. See how you translated this phrase there.

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἀπαρχὴ

/the/_first-fruit

Here, firstfruits refers to what farmers first gathered from their fields. Often, these firstfruits were offered to God to thank him for providing food. What Paul emphasizes here is that firstfruits are the first products from a field, although the word also implies that there will be more products. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express that Paul uses firstfruits to emphasize that the household of Stephanas were the “first” to believe in Jesus with an analogy or express the idea plainly. Alternate translation: [like the firstfruits since they were the first to believe] or [the first believers]

Note 6 topic: translate-names

Ἀχαΐας

˱of˲_Achaia

Achaia is the name of a province in the southern part of what we call Greece. The city of Corinth is in this province.

Note 7 topic: translate-unknown

εἰς & ἔταξαν ἑαυτούς

to & ˱they˲_determined themselves

Here, they have devoted themselves refers to how these people decided to spend most of their time doing something specific. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express devoted themselves with a word or phrase that refers to how people choose to spend their time doing one thing. Alternate translation: [they have focused on] or [they have dedicated themselves to]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

διακονίαν τοῖς ἁγίοις

/the/_service ˱to˲_the holy_‹ones›

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea behind service, you can express the idea by using a verb such as “help” or “serve.” Alternate translation: [help the saints]