1 Corinthians 6

Translator Notes

1. The verb tolma ('dares') expresses indignation. The contrast is between tōn adikōn ('the unrighteous' — pagan judges) and tōn hagiōn ('the saints' — fellow believers). In the Roman colony of Corinth, courts were presided over by pagan magistrates. Paul's objection is not to the legal system per se but to believers airing their disputes before outsiders when the community should be capable of internal resolution.

Translator Notes

1. The expectation that saints will judge the world draws on Daniel 7:22 and possibly Jesus's promise to the twelve in Matthew 19:28. Paul's argument moves from the greater to the lesser: if you will judge cosmic matters, surely you can handle small disputes (kritēriōn elachistōn, 'the most trivial courts/cases').
2. [TCR Cross-Reference] Draws on Daniel 7:22. Consult the TCR rendering of that passage for the underlying Hebrew and the rationale for key translation choices.

Translator Notes

1. The claim that believers will judge angels is stated without explanation — Paul treats it as something the Corinthians should already know. The background may be Jewish traditions about the final judgment of fallen angels (cf. Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4). The word biōtika ('matters pertaining to daily life') is dismissive — everyday disputes are trivial compared to the cosmic judgment believers will exercise.

Translator Notes

1. This verse is grammatically ambiguous — kathizete could be indicative ('you appoint') or imperative ('appoint!'). If indicative, Paul is rebuking them for using pagan judges (who have no standing in the church). If imperative, he is sarcastically saying even the least qualified church member would be better than a pagan court. The indicative reading fits the context of rebuke better.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase pros entropēn ('to shame') is ironic — in 4:14 Paul said he was not writing to shame them, but here the issue warrants it. The word sophos ('wise') is pointed: the Corinthians prided themselves on wisdom (1:17-2:16), yet they cannot produce a single person wise enough to arbitrate an internal dispute.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase adelphos meta adelphou krinetai ('brother is judged with brother') emphasizes the family bond being violated. The phrase kai touto epi apistōn ('and this before unbelievers') adds the scandal of public spectacle — the church's dirty laundry is displayed before those outside the faith.

Translator Notes

1. The word hēttēma ('defeat, failure, loss') reveals Paul's perspective: even winning a lawsuit is a loss for the community. The two rhetorical questions echo Jesus's teaching about turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:39-40). Paul suggests it would be better to absorb injustice than to damage the community's witness and unity through litigation.

Translator Notes

1. The twist is devastating: not only are they suing fellow believers, but they are the ones doing the wronging (adikeite) and cheating (apostereite). They are both the perpetrators and the prosecutors. The emphatic hymeis ('you yourselves') and the final phrase kai touto adelphous ('and this to brothers') drive home the moral failure.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. The vice list begins with the warning mē planasthe ('do not be deceived') — some Corinthians apparently believed that grace eliminated moral consequences. The terms malakoi and arsenokoitai are heavily debated. Malakoi (literally 'soft ones') in this context most likely refers to the passive partner in male homosexual intercourse, though some scholars argue for a broader meaning of 'morally weak' or 'self-indulgent.' Arsenokoitai (a compound of arsēn 'male' + koitē 'bed') appears to be coined from the Septuagint of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, referring to the active partner in male homosexual intercourse. Both terms refer to specific sexual behaviors, not to orientation as a modern concept.
2. [TCR Cross-Reference] Echoes Leviticus 18:22. See the TCR's OT rendering for the Hebrew behind this passage and the translation rationale.

Translator Notes

1. The list concludes with five more categories: kleptai ('thieves'), pleonektai ('greedy/covetous'), methysoi ('drunkards'), loidoroi ('verbal abusers, revilers'), harpages ('swindlers, robbers'). The total of ten vices covers sexual, religious, economic, and social sins, suggesting a comprehensive moral vision rather than targeting any single group.

Translator Notes

1. The pivotal conjunction alla ('but') marks the transition from past identity to present reality. Three aorist passive verbs — apelousasthe ('you were washed'), hēgiasthēte ('you were sanctified'), edikaiōthēte ('you were justified') — describe what God has already accomplished. The order is surprising — washing (baptism) comes first, then sanctification, then justification — which does not match later systematic theology but reflects Paul's rhetorical emphasis. The dual agency 'in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God' is implicitly trinitarian.

Translator Notes

1. The phrase panta moi exestin ('all things are lawful/permissible for me') is likely a Corinthian slogan, possibly derived from Paul's own teaching about freedom from the law. Paul quotes it twice and qualifies it twice: first with ou panta sympherei ('not all things are beneficial/profitable'), then with ouk egō exousiasthēsomai hypo tinos ('I will not be dominated by anything'). Freedom that leads to slavery is not true freedom.

Translator Notes

1. Another Corinthian slogan: 'Food for the stomach, stomach for food.' The Corinthians apparently reasoned that just as eating is a morally neutral bodily function, so is sex. Paul agrees that food and stomach are temporary (God will destroy both) but denies the analogy for the body (sōma): the body has an eternal destiny and belongs to the Lord. The stunning reciprocal phrase 'the Lord for the body' (ho kyrios tō sōmati) declares that the Lord is devoted to the body, not indifferent to it.

Translator Notes

1. The bodily resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee of believers' bodily resurrection. The verb exegerei ('will raise') is future — the body has a destiny beyond this life, which is why sexual conduct matters. The Corinthian dismissal of bodily ethics rested on a dualism (body temporary/spirit eternal) that Paul rejects.

Translator Notes

1. Paul's argument rests on the reality of union with Christ — believers' bodies are melē Christou ('members/limbs of Christ'). Sexual union with a prostitute would therefore make Christ's own members part of that union. The exclamation mē genoito ('may it never be!') is Paul's strongest expression of horror and rejection — it occurs fifteen times in his letters.

Translator Notes

1. Paul quotes Genesis 2:24 (via the Septuagint) to argue that sexual union creates a real, ontological bond — not merely a physical act but a union of persons. The verb kollōmenos ('joining, clinging, being united') is the same word used in the Septuagint for the marriage bond in Genesis 2:24. Paul's argument assumes that sexual intercourse, even with a prostitute, creates the 'one flesh' reality that Genesis describes for marriage.
2. [TCR Cross-Reference] Quotes Genesis 2:24. The TCR rendering of that OT passage preserves the Hebrew source text and documents the translation decisions behind it.

Translator Notes

1. The parallel is precise: union with a prostitute creates one body (hen sōma); union with the Lord creates one spirit (hen pneuma). The two unions are incompatible — one cannot simultaneously be united to the Lord in spirit and to a prostitute in body, because the body belongs to the Lord.

Translator Notes

1. The imperative pheugete ('flee!') demands immediate, decisive action — not negotiation or gradual withdrawal. The claim that porneia uniquely sins 'against one's own body' (eis to idion sōma) is debated — other sins also affect the body (drunkenness, gluttony). Paul's point may be that sexual sin uniquely involves the body as the instrument and site of the transgression, creating a union (v. 16) that violates the body's belonging to Christ.

Key Terms

Translator Notes

1. Here the temple language shifts from corporate (3:16, 'you [plural] are God's temple') to individual — each believer's body is a naos ('sanctuary') of the Holy Spirit. The declaration ouk este heautōn ('you are not your own') directly challenges the Corinthian individualism and their slogan 'all things are lawful for me.' Autonomy is replaced by belonging.

Translator Notes

1. The verb ēgorasthēte ('you were bought') is from the marketplace — specifically the slave market. The timē ('price') is not specified here but is elsewhere identified as Christ's blood (cf. Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 1:18-19). The imperative doxasate ton theon en tō sōmati hymōn ('glorify God in/with your body') makes the body the instrument of worship. The SBLGNT does not include the phrase 'and in your spirit, which are God's' found in later manuscripts and the KJV — we follow the shorter, earlier text.