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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT ESA WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
1 Cor C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16
1 Cor 3 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V23
OET (OET-LV) whether Paulos, or Apollōs, or Kaʸfas, or the_world, or life, or death, or having_presented, or coming, all things of_you_all are,
OET (OET-RV) Don’t boast about Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future. All of them belong to you,
In this section Paul told the believers in Corinth that they had not become spiritually mature. That was why they were dividing into separate groups and arguing with one another about teachers. They needed to learn about God’s plan for Christian workers and leaders. Christian workers and leaders all belong to God and are all building God’s church together.
Other possible section headings include:
Paul and all the other apostles were the Lord’s servants
All believers belong to the Lord and should remain united
Paul summarized what he had been saying in this section (3:1–3:23) by giving two warnings. First, no one should follow the wisdom of this world. Second, no one should boast about following one teacher or another. This could cause divisions in the church. God in his wisdom sent Christ to be the only leader of his people. All the teachers should agree with Christ in their teaching.
In verse 22, Paul listed eight things that belonged to the Corinthian Christians because of their relationship with Christ. In the Greek these eight things are listed in an “either-or” relationship. They could also be put into a coordinate (“and”) statement such as:
Paul, Apollos, and Peter; the world, life, death, the present, and the future—all these belong to you. (NCV)
Paul, Apollos, and Peter; this world, life and death, the present and the future—all these are yours. (GNT)
You should express these eight things in a way that is natural for your language.
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas
including I Paul and Apollos and Peter.
Apollos and Peter and I belong to you.
God has given/sent you teachers/leaders like me and Apollos and Cephas/Peter.
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas: See the notes on 1:12b, 1:12c, and 1:12d. Because the Corinthian Christians were in Christ, Paul and Apollos and Cephas belonged to them. These leaders “belonged” to the Corinthians in the sense that God’s purpose in giving them these leaders was that the leaders would serve the Corinthians and help them become strong in faith. In some languages it may not be possible to say that these leaders “belonged” to the Corinthians. This might convey the wrong meaning that they were slaves. So it may be necessary to say something like:
Paul and Apollos and Cephas, all serve you
Paul and Apollos and Cephas live/work for your sake/good
God has given/sent you Paul and Apollos and Cephas to help you
In some languages it may not be natural for Paul to mention himself first. Put this list of names in the order that is natural in your language.
Paul: In some languages it may be necessary for Paul to speak of himself using the first-person pronoun:
I Paul
I
Cephas: Cephas is another name for Jesus’ disciple Simon Peter. You may wish to follow the GNT and use the better-known name Peter here.
or the world
It/This includes the whole world,
The world belongs to you.
or life or death
life and death,
Life belongs to you. Death belongs to you.
or the present or the future.
whatever happens during this present time and whatever happens in the future time.
The things that are happening now belong to you. The things that will happen in the future belong to you.
the world or life or death or the present or the future: In this verse part Paul listed five things that now “belonged” to the Corinthians. They are things that people often fear and do not understand. But when people are joined to Christ, these things belong to them and serve them. They can understand that God is using all these things for good in their lives. Other ways to translate this include:
this world or this life or dying or what is happening now or what will happen later
this world and our living and dying, and events that take place now and in the future
All of them belong to you,
All these belong to you.
All those people and all those things are for your sake.
God causes all those things to serve/help you.
All of them belong to you: The words All of them belong to you are almost the same as 3:21b, “All things are yours.” In your translation you can make 3:21b and 3:22e exactly the same, or you can make them a little different, depending on what sounds natural in your language. For example:
All these things are yours
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
εἴτε Παῦλος, εἴτε Ἀπολλῶς, εἴτε Κηφᾶς, εἴτε κόσμος, εἴτε ζωὴ, εἴτε θάνατος, εἴτε ἐνεστῶτα, εἴτε μέλλοντα;
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or ˓the˒_world or or or or (Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἴτε Παῦλος εἴτε Ἀπολλῶς εἴτε Κηφᾶς εἴτε κόσμος εἴτε ζωή εἴτε θάνατος εἴτε ἐνεστῶτα εἴτε μέλλοντα παντᾶ ὑμῶν)
Paul assumes that his readers will understand that he does not want his readers to think that this list tells the Corinthians everything that they have. Rather, he uses the list to give examples. If it would be helpful in your language, you could include a word or phrase that shows that the list gives examples. Alternate translation: [including Paul and Apollos and Cephas and the world and life and death and things present and things to come]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
εἴτε ζωὴ, εἴτε θάνατος
whether or or or or or or or (Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἴτε Παῦλος εἴτε Ἀπολλῶς εἴτε Κηφᾶς εἴτε κόσμος εἴτε ζωή εἴτε θάνατος εἴτε ἐνεστῶτα εἴτε μέλλοντα παντᾶ ὑμῶν)
When Paul says that life and death are theirs, he means that neither life nor death has control over the Corinthians. Rather, they have control over life and death. What this means is that they can live their lives without being afraid of what will happen while they are alive or afraid of losing their lives when they die. If it would be helpful in your language, you could add some words that clarify the meaning of life and death. Alternate translation: [or confidence in life or peace in death]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
εἴτε ἐνεστῶτα, εἴτε μέλλοντα
whether or or or or or or ˓having˒_presented or coming
Here Paul refers to things present because it refers to what was happening at the time when Paul wrote this letter. On the other hand, things to come refers to what is going to happen in the future, specifically when Jesus comes back. The things present is the way the world works right now. The things to come is the way the world will work when Jesus returns. If it would be helpful in your language, you could add some words that clarify the meaning of these phrases. Alternate translation: [or the current order or the order that Jesus will bring] or [or what happens now or what will happen soon]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure
πάντα ὑμῶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἴτε Παῦλος εἴτε Ἀπολλῶς εἴτε Κηφᾶς εἴτε κόσμος εἴτε ζωή εἴτε θάνατος εἴτε ἐνεστῶτα εἴτε μέλλοντα παντᾶ ὑμῶν)
Here Paul uses the same phrase he used at the end of [3:21](../03/21.md): all things are yours. He repeats the phrase here to explain that the list provides examples of all things and also to introduce the point he is about to make in the next verse. Because all things are yours ends the list and also introduces the next idea, the ULT begins a new sentence with all things are yours. Use whatever form in your language most clearly identifies a conclusion that also introduces the next statement. Alternate translation: [Thus, all things are yours,]
OET (OET-LV) whether Paulos, or Apollōs, or Kaʸfas, or the_world, or life, or death, or having_presented, or coming, all things of_you_all are,
OET (OET-RV) Don’t boast about Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future. All of them belong to you,
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.