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OET (OET-RV) But instead, one believer goes to court against another, and it’s in front of unbelievers!
In this section Paul discussed another problem in the church in Corinth. At least one of the believers had taken another believer to a pagan/civil court to settle a dispute. Paul told the Corinthian believers that this was unwise and harmful to the church. He taught them what they as believers should do if another believer wronged them.
Here are some other possible section headings:
Believers should not go to law before unbelievers
Christians should not sue other Christians in pagan courts
Advice about lawsuits
In this paragraph Paul told the Corinthian believers how foolish they were to take disputes among themselves to be settled before unbelievers. He gave them some reasons why they should not have unbelievers judge between them. Paul used sarcasm and rhetorical questions to show the Corinthians how serious the situation in their church was. He wanted them to feel ashamed of themselves. They should settle disputes between believers themselves.
Instead, one brother goes to law against another,
But instead of appointing such a person, one of you has gone to a public/government judge/court and accused another believer of doing wrong.
But as it is, when two of you argue about a matter, one of the two goes to a judge to ask him to decide who is right.
and this in front of unbelievers!
And the judges whom you ask to judge/decide your case are not believers!
Even worse, you accuse one another and argue while judges who do not believe in Jesus listen.
You go to judges who are not believers. This is very bad/improper.
Instead, one brother goes to law against another, and this in front of unbelievers!: There are several ways of understanding how this sentence should be punctuated:
It is an exclamation. For example:
6aInstead, one Christian goes to court against another 6band lets unbelievers judge the case! (GNT) (BSB, GNT, NIV, NCV, NLT)
It is part of the rhetorical question in 6:5. For example:
5bCan it be that there is no man among you wise enough to decide between members of the brotherhood, 6abut brother goes to law against brother, 6band that before unbelievers? (RSV) (RSV, ESV, NASB, NJB)
It is a separate question. For example:
Must Christian go to law with Christian—and before unbelievers at that? (REB) (REB, CEV, NET)
It is a statement. For example:
Instead, one believer goes to court against another believer, and this happens in front of unbelievers. (GW) (KJV, GW)
Punctuate these verse parts in a way that is natural for making strong statements. In this verse, Paul strongly rebuked them because when they had disagreements among themselves, they went for trial in front of unbelievers.
one brother goes to law against another: The word brother here refers to a believer, a Christian. Here is another way to translate this:
a believer goes to court against a believer (NRSV)
goes to law against: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as goes to law against here means to take someone to court to try to cause him to be punished. Other ways to translate it include:
sue (NET)
goes to court against (GNT)
in front of unbelievers: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as in front of unbelievers here indicates that the arguing believers went to have their disputes settled by judges who were not believers. They accused one another in front of pagan judges/courts.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
ἀδελφὸς μετὰ ἀδελφοῦ κρίνεται, καὶ τοῦτο ἐπὶ ἀπίστων?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀλλά ἀδελφός μετά ἀδελφοῦ κρίνεται καί τοῦτο ἐπί ἀπιστῶν)
Paul does not ask this question because he is looking for information. Rather, he asks it to involve the Corinthians in what he is arguing. The question assumes that there will be no verbal answer. Rather, the question is supposed to make the Corinthians feel ashamed. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind this question with a statement that expresses shock or condemnation. Alternate translation: [brother really goes to court against brother, and this before unbelievers!]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
ἀδελφὸς & ἀδελφοῦ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀλλά ἀδελφός μετά ἀδελφοῦ κρίνεται καί τοῦτο ἐπί ἀπιστῶν)
Although the words translated brother are masculine, Paul is using these words to refer to any believer, whether man or woman. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express brother with non gendered words or refer to both genders. Alternate translation: [a brother or sister … a brother or sister]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
καὶ τοῦτο ἐπὶ ἀπίστων
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀλλά ἀδελφός μετά ἀδελφοῦ κρίνεται καί τοῦτο ἐπί ἀπιστῶν)
In this clause, Paul has omitted some words that might be necessary to make a complete thought in your language. If your language needs these words, you could include what action is happening. Alternate translation: [and they do this before unbelievers] or [and they go to court before unbelievers]
6:1-11 When serious differences arise between two Christians, they are not to be settled by a secular court, but by other believers.
OET (OET-RV) But instead, one believer goes to court against another, and it’s in front of unbelievers!
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.