UTN uW Translation Notes:

1 Corinthians 6 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

3. Against sexual immorality (4:16–6:20) * Against public lawsuits (6:1–8) * Sins and salvation (6:9–11) * Flee from sexual immorality (6:12–20)

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Lawsuits

In 6:1–8, Paul speaks about believers taking other believers to court in lawsuits. Paul critiques them for taking their disputes before unbelievers rather than settling them within the church. By the end of the section, Paul says that lawsuits themselves are a “complete defeat” of believers. Paul’s point is that believers will judge angels and the world, so they are quite able to resolve disputes within the church. Therefore, believers should never take other believers to court. In this section, use words and language that describe legal matters in your language. (See: judge)

Sexual immorality

In 6:12–20, Paul discusses “sexual immorality.” This phrase refers generally to any kind of improper sexual activity, and Paul does speak generally in this section. He mentions particularly having sex with prostitutes, but the commands he gives apply to all kinds of sexual activity. The Corinthians seemed to think that they could do whatever they wanted with their bodies, including having sex with anyone. Paul responds that their bodies are united to Christ, and any sexual activity they participate in needs to fit with their union with Christ. Use general words for improper sexual activity in this section. (See: fornication)

Redemption

In 6:20, Paul tells the Corinthians that they have been “bought with a price.” He does not state what the price is or whom God bought the Corinthians from. However, it is clear that Paul is speaking about what we call “redemption” here. Paul thinks of the Corinthians as slaves up for sale, and God buys them from their previous owner by paying a price. The previous owner can be understood as sin, death, and evil powers, while the price is Jesus the Son dying for believers. You should not include all these implications in your translation, but you should use words that can be interpreted in this way. (See: redeem)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

“Members” of Christ or of a prostitute

In 6:15–17, Paul speaks of a person’s connection to Christ and to a prostitute with the language of “members” and “joining.” When he refers to “members,” he is speaking as if the believer were either a body part of Christ or a body part of a prostitute. He shows how bad it is to be “joined” with a prostitute by speaking as if someone cut a body part off of Christ and attached it to a prostitute instead. That is how closely a person is joined either to Christ or to a prostitute. If possible, preserve the body parts language here. (See: member)

Body as temple

In 6:19, Paul speaks as if believers’ bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes he speaks as if the church as a whole is a temple, but here he means that individual believers are all temples. A temple is where a god is specially present, so Paul means that the Holy Spirit is specially present in believers’ bodies. If possible, preserve this metaphor, since it connects to themes throughout the entire Bible. (See: figs-metaphor)

Rhetorical questions

In 6:1–7, 9, 15–16, 19, Paul uses rhetorical questions. He is not asking these questions because he wants the Corinthians to provide him with information. Rather, he is asking these questions because he wants the Corinthians to think about how they are acting and what they are thinking. The questions encourage them to think along with Paul. For ways to translate these questions, look for the notes on each verse that includes these kinds of questions. (See: figs-rquestion)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Words for homosexual behavior

In 6:9, Paul refers to “male prostitutes” and “those who practice homosexuality.” In Paul’s culture, these words refer to both participants in homosexual activity. The words “male prostitutes” refers to those who are penetrated during sexual activity, while “those who practice homosexuality” refer to those who do the penetrating during sexual activity. If your culture has specific words to describe these things, you could use them here. If your culture does not have such specific words, you could use general phrases like the ULT does, or you could combine the two phrases into one phrase that identifies homosexual activity.

Quoting the Corinthians

In 6:12–13, Paul quotes words that the Corinthians have said or that they wrote to him. The ULT indicates these words by putting quotation marks around them. Use a natural way in your language to indicate that an author is quoting someone else. (See: writing-quotations)