OET interlinear 1COR 5:6

uW Translation Notes:

οὐ καλὸν τὸ καύχημα ὑμῶν

not good_‹is› the boast ˱of˲_you_all

Alternate translation: [Your boasting is bad]

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

μικρὰ ζύμη, ὅλον τὸ φύραμα ζυμοῖ

/a/_little leaven all the lump /is/_leavening

In 5:6–8, Paul speaks about yeast and “dough.” Verses 7–8 clarify that Paul is thinking about the “Passover.” In this Jewish festival, people would remove all the yeast from their houses and only bake dough that was not fermented (“unleavened bread”). See Exodus 12:1–28. In this verse, then, the yeast does not represent a good thing. Rather, it is supposed to be removed from the house, but any yeast that is left will still “leaven” a whole loaf. If your language would not consider yeast to be a bad thing when mixed into dough, you could include a word or phrase that indicates that the yeast is not wanted in the dough. Alternate translation: [a little yeast leavens a whole loaf that is meant to be unleavened]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι μικρὰ ζύμη, ὅλον τὸ φύραμα ζυμοῖ?

not ˱you_all˲_/have/_known that /a/_little leaven all the lump /is/_leavening

Paul does not ask this question because he is looking for information or for agreement or disagreement. Rather, he asks it to involve the Corinthians in what he is arguing by reminding them of something that they should already know. The question assumes that the answer is “yes.” If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind this question with an emphatic statement. Alternate translation: [You know that a little yeast leavens the whole loaf]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / exmetaphor

μικρὰ ζύμη, ὅλον τὸ φύραμα ζυμοῖ

/a/_little leaven all the lump /is/_leavening

Here, yeast refers to anything that is added to bread dough to make it ferment and rise. This could be yeast itself or dough that is already fermented (“leaven”). Paul here uses this metaphor to indicate that, just like even a little bit of yeast will “leaven” the whole loaf, so a little bit of sin, or one person who sins, will affect the whole church. Therefore, the Corinthians believers should not “boast,” since the one person who is sinning among them denigrates the whole church. Since this metaphor is based on material from the Old Testament, you should try to preserve the form in your language. You could use a simile, or if necessary, you could use a comparable metaphor. Alternate translation: [sin is like yeast: a little yeast leavens the whole loaf] or [one bad apple spoils the whole barrel]