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OET (OET-LV) Yourselves be_testing whether you_all_are in the faith, yourselves be_approving.
Or not you_all_are_recognizing yourselves, that chosen_one/messiah Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa) in you_all, if surely_not unqualified you_all_are?
OET (OET-RV) Test yourselves to check if you’re living in the faith—you yourselves can decide that. Or can’t you all recognise whether or not Messiah Yeshua is living in you? Surely you’re not that unqualified?
In this section, Paul warned the believers that he would punish anyone who was sinning and refusing to repent (13:1–2). He said he would do that because some believers in Corinth were demanding proof from him that he was a true apostle (13:3a). He told them that he could work powerfully because Jesus is powerful (13:3b). He told them that they were weak in their natural abilities but had God’s power, as Jesus did when he lived on earth (13:4).
Then Paul commanded them to look carefully at themselves to see if they were truly believers or not (13:5). Paul expected that if they studied Paul’s words and deeds, then they would see that he was a true apostle (13:6). Paul told them that he and his coworkers prayed for the believers in Corinth that they would not sin and that they would do what was right (13:7). Paul told them that he and his coworkers worked in accordance with the truth (13:8). He told the believers that he prayed that they would always do as God wanted them to do (13:9). He told them that he wrote about their problems so that they would correct those problems themselves. Then he would encourage them when he went there and would not have to discipline them (13:10).
Other examples for this section heading are:
Examine Yourselves (NASB)
Paul gave final warnings
Final warnings and greetings
test yourselves.
and prove that you have true faith.
and prove it is true by doing the right thing in this regard.
Carefully examine them, do they prove what you claim about your faith?
Examine yourselves…test yourselves: The two Greek verbs that the BSB translates as Examine and test are similar in meaning. The first verb refers to determining the nature of something by testing it. In other words, something is examined to discover its true nature. The second verb refers to checking something to see if it is genuine. In other words, something is examined to see if it is what it claims to be. An example explaining the difference is:
Examine yourselves to discover the true nature of your faith, test yourselves to see if what you say about your faith is true
yourselves…yourselves: Both times this pronoun is used, it is emphasized in the Greek clause. Paul probably emphasized these pronouns because some of the believers were wrongly examining and testing Paul. They were doing that because they doubted that he was a true apostle. Some languages can emphasize the pronoun in a natural way. Some examples in English are:
It is yourselves whom you must examine…it is yourselves whom you must test
You are the ones you need to examine…test yourselves to see if your faith is true/genuine
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith;
¶ Examine yourselves to see if you have true faith
¶ It is you yourselves that you must examine to discover the true nature of your faith
¶ Look at your own ways, do they match the ways of faith?
to see whether you are in the faith: The clause you are in the faith refers to living and believing according to Christian teaching. Paul commanded them here to prove that they were living the proper Christian way. Other ways to translate this are:
to see whether you are holding to your faith (RSV)
to find out whether you are living in faith (GNT)
find out if you really are true to your faith (CEV)
are you living the life of faith? (REB)
Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you actually fail the test?: This is a rhetorical question. Paul expected the believers to answer that they knew that Jesus was in them. But he used the rhetorical question to imply that some of them might not be completely following proper Christian ways (13:5a–b). These words exhort the believers to live according to the fact that Jesus was in them. Translate in a way that indicates that meaning. Some ways to translate this are:
As a rhetorical question. For example:
Do you not recognise yourselves as people in whom Jesus Christ is present?—unless, that is, you fail the test. (NJB)
Don’t you recognize that you are people in whom Jesus Christ lives? Could it be that you’re failing the test? (GW)
Surely you recognize that Jesus Christ is present in you, don’t you? If not, you have failed the test.
As a statement. For example:
You ought to know by this time that Christ is in you, unless you are not real Christians at all. (JBP)
You know that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you fail the test. (NCV)
Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—
Do you not recognize yourselves as people in whom Jesus Christ is present? (NJB)
Certainly you know that Jesus Christ is in you!
Jesus Christ: There is a textual issue here. The Greek manuscripts differ in the order of these two words:
The order of the words is Jesus Christ. For example, see the BSB. (BSB, RSV, NJB, NASB, NABRE, NLT, GW, NET, REB, NCV, ESV, KJV)
The order of the words is Christ Jesus. For example:
Christ Jesus (GNT) (NIV, GNT)
It is recommended that you follow option (1) because the UBS Greek New Testament has that order.The meaning is basically the same in either order. But having “Christ” first emphasizes that Jesus is the Christ.
is in you: This phrase refers to Jesus encouraging, guiding, correcting, and helping the believers, both individually and as a group. The believers experience changes in their lives because they follow Jesus. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
people in whom Jesus Christ is present (NJB)
walks with/guides you
lives in your heart/insides
unless you actually fail the test?
But perhaps you will examine yourselves and find that God has not approved you!
I do not expect many of you to be unable to prove that you truly believe!
unless you actually fail the test: This is irony. To fail the test refers here to not having faith. Paul expected the believers to pass the test. But Paul used irony to encourage them to examine themselves. He probably implied that a few people in the church in Corinth did not truly believe or had sinned greatly. For the irony you may want to:
Translate in a way that clearly shows the irony. For example:
unless you have completely failed (GNT)
Translate the irony with a rhetorical question or a rhetorical “if.” For example:
Could it be that you’re failing the test? (GW)
But if Christ isn’t living in you, you have failed (CEV)
Translate in a way that explains the irony. For example:
I do not expect many of you to fail that test!
you…fail the test: The Greek words here are literally “you are unapproved.” Here it indicates that they were unable to show that they had true faith in Jesus. Other ways to translate this are:
you are unable to prove your faith
you cannot pass the test
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism
ἑαυτοὺς πειράζετε & ἑαυτοὺς δοκιμάζετε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἑαυτούς πειράζετε εἰ ἐστέ ἐν τῇ πίστει ἑαυτούς δοκιμάζετε Ἤ οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκετε ἑαυτούς ὅτι Χριστός Ἰησοῦς ἐν ὑμῖν εἰ μήτι ἀδόκιμοι ἐστέ)
These two phrases mean the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. If your language does not have two ways to say this, you could repeat the same phrase and provide emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [Test yourselves … Indeed, you must test yourselves]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rpronouns
(Occurrence -1) ἑαυτοὺς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἑαυτούς πειράζετε εἰ ἐστέ ἐν τῇ πίστει ἑαυτούς δοκιμάζετε Ἤ οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκετε ἑαυτούς ὅτι Χριστός Ἰησοῦς ἐν ὑμῖν εἰ μήτι ἀδόκιμοι ἐστέ)
The word translated as yourselves is plural, referring to all of the Corinthian believers. However, the meaning is that each believer is to examine himself, not that they should examine each other. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this as singular, as in the UST.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐστὲ ἐν τῇ πίστει
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἑαυτούς πειράζετε εἰ ἐστέ ἐν τῇ πίστει ἑαυτούς δοκιμάζετε Ἤ οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκετε ἑαυτούς ὅτι Χριστός Ἰησοῦς ἐν ὑμῖν εἰ μήτι ἀδόκιμοι ἐστέ)
Here, Paul is speaking of faith as if it were something which the Corinthians could be inside. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [you truly believe in the Messiah] or [you are being faithful to the Messiah]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
ἢ οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκετε ἑαυτοὺς, ὅτι Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν, εἰ μήτι ἀδόκιμοί ἐστε
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἑαυτούς πειράζετε εἰ ἐστέ ἐν τῇ πίστει ἑαυτούς δοκιμάζετε Ἤ οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκετε ἑαυτούς ὅτι Χριστός Ἰησοῦς ἐν ὑμῖν εἰ μήτι ἀδόκιμοι ἐστέ)
Paul is using the question form here to emphasize to the Corinthian believers something that is true: that Jesus Christ does live in them. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or an exclamation. Alternate translation: [You know that it is Jesus Christ himself who lives within you—unless you are not in the faith.]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐν ὑμῖν
in in you_all
Here, in you could mean: (1) Jesus is intimately connected to each believing individual, as if Jesus were living inside each person. Alternate translation: [part of who you are]; (2) Jesus is living among them, part of and the most important member of the group. Alternate translation: [among you]
OET (OET-LV) Yourselves be_testing whether you_all_are in the faith, yourselves be_approving.
Or not you_all_are_recognizing yourselves, that chosen_one/messiah Yaʸsous/(Yəhōshūˊa) in you_all, if surely_not unqualified you_all_are?
OET (OET-RV) Test yourselves to check if you’re living in the faith—you yourselves can decide that. Or can’t you all recognise whether or not Messiah Yeshua is living in you? Surely you’re not that unqualified?
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.
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