OET interlinear 1COR 1:27

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

ἀλλὰ

but

Here Paul uses But to introduce a contrast. He is contrasting God chose the foolish things with what a person might expect about how God would treat foolish and weak people like the Corinthians. He is not contrasting how God chose the foolish things with the statements in the previous verse about the foolishness and weakness of the Corinthians. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this contrast by clarifying that Paul writes But to contrast this statement with what a person might expect about God. Alternate translation: [Despite what might be expected,]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός, ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφούς; καὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός, ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τὰ ἰσχυρά

the foolish_‹things› ˱of˲_the world chose ¬the God in_order_that ˱he˲_/may_be/_disgracing the wise and the weak_‹things› ˱of˲_the world chose ¬the God in_order_that ˱he˲_/may_be/_disgracing the strong

Here Paul makes two very similar statements in which foolish goes with weak and wise goes with strong. These two statements are almost synonymous, and Paul repeats himself to emphasize the point. If it would be helpful in your language, you could combine the two sentences into one. Alternate translation: [God chose the unimportant things of the world in order that he might shame the important things] or [God chose the foolish and weak things of the world in order that he might shame the wise and strong]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου & τὰ ἀσθενῆ τοῦ κόσμου

the foolish_‹things› ˱of˲_the world & the weak_‹things› ˱of˲_the world

Paul uses the possessive form twice to clarify that the foolish things and weak things are only foolish and weak from the perspective of the world. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind this form with a phrase such as “according to the world.” Alternate translation: [things that are foolish according to the world … things that are weak according to the world]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

(Occurrence -1) τοῦ κόσμου

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀλλὰ τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφούς καὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τὰ ἰσχυρά)

When Paul uses the world in this context, he is not referring primarily to everything that God has made. Rather, he uses the world to refer to human beings. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the world with an expression that refers to human beings in general. Alternate translation: [of people … of people]

Note 5 topic: grammar-connect-logic-goal

(Occurrence -1) ἵνα

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀλλὰ τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφούς καὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τὰ ἰσχυρά)

Here, in order that could introduce: (1) the purpose for which God chose the foolish things of the world and the weak things of the world. Alternate translation: [so that … so that] (2) what happened when God chose the foolish things of the world and the weak things of the world. Alternate translation: [with the result that … with the result that]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj

τοὺς σοφούς & τὰ ἰσχυρά

the wise & the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀλλὰ τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφούς καὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ Θεός ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τὰ ἰσχυρά)

Paul uses the adjective wise to describe a group of people, and he uses the adjective strong to describe a group of people and things. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate these two adjectives with noun phrases. Alternate translation: [people who are wise … people and things which are strong]