1 Corinthians 5

A man has his father’s wife — immorality not even among the nations, and you are puffed up. Absent in body, present in spirit — such a one handed over to Satan for the ruin of the flesh. A little leaven leavens the whole lump — clean out the old leaven; our Passover, Christ, has been slaughtered. Keep the feast with sincerity and truth. Not the immoral of the world but one named a brother — do not even eat with him. Those outside God judges; those inside you judge. Take out the evil one.

Ὅλως ἀκούεται ἐν ὑμῖν πορνεία, καὶ τοιαύτη πορνεία ἥτις οὐδὲ ἐν τοῖς ⸀ἔθνεσιν, ὥστε γυναῖκά τινα τοῦ πατρὸς ἔχειν.

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even among the nations — that someone has his father’s wife.

καὶ ὑμεῖς πεφυσιωμένοι ἐστέ, καὶ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἐπενθήσατε, ἵνα ⸀ἀρθῇ ἐκ μέσου ὑμῶν ὁ τὸ ἔργον τοῦτο ⸀ποιήσας;

And you are puffed up! And did you not rather mourn, so that the one who did this deed might be taken away from among you?

Why this rendering

1Cor.5.2 Observation

Syntactic observation

καὶ ὑμεῖς πεφυσιωμένοι ἐστέ, καὶ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἐπενθήσατε, ἵνα ἀρθῇ ἐκ μέσου ὑμῶν ὁ τὸ ἔργον τοῦτο ποιήσας … ἐξάρατε τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν — you are puffed up … that the one who did this deed might be taken away from among you … take out the evil one from among yourselves. ἀρθῇ in v.2 (αἴρω, take) and ἐξάρατε in v.13 (ἐξαίρω, take out; only here in the New Testament) open and close the chapter on one root — v.13 is the phrase of Deuteronomy 17:7. The base text marks ⸀ἀρθῇ (some manuscripts add the prefix), ⸀ποιήσας (some read πράσσω) and ⸀ἐξάρατε (some read a future). πεφυσιωμένοι (puffed up; 4:6) and ζυμοῖ in v.6 (leaven leavens; Matt 13:33) are two words in English, puffed up / leavens; in Korean both fall on one stem, making a play the text does not have. ἄπειμι in v.3 (be absent) is a different verb from the ἄπειμι of Acts 17:10 (go away), spelled the same as a lemma.

Rendering options · 2

Adopted

“be taken away / take out” — αἴρω and ἐξαίρω on one root

Basis Keeps ‘take’ (αἴρω) in both places; the chapter’s frame is in the word.

“expel / remove”

Basis The familiar renderings.

Rejected ‘Cast out’ is ἐκβάλλω’s word; the link between vv.2 and 13 is cut.

Lost in translation

φυσιόω ↔ ζυμόω — English keeps two words (puffed up / leavens).

Survives in · this edition — 1 of the nine carry it (this language among them)

Ἐγὼ μὲν γάρ, ⸀ἀπὼν τῷ σώματι παρὼν δὲ τῷ πνεύματι, ἤδη κέκρικα ὡς παρὼν τὸν οὕτως τοῦτο κατεργασάμενον

For I, absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged, as though present, the one who has so worked this out:

ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ⸀Ἰησοῦ, συναχθέντων ὑμῶν καὶ τοῦ ἐμοῦ πνεύματος σὺν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ⸁Ἰησοῦ,

in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are gathered together, and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus,

first here Jesus Ἰησοῦς Iēsous

παραδοῦναι τὸν τοιοῦτον τῷ Σατανᾷ εἰς ὄλεθρον τῆς σαρκός, ἵνα τὸ πνεῦμα σωθῇ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ ⸀κυρίου.

to hand such a one over to Satan for the ruin of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

first here Satan Σατανᾶς Satanas

Οὐ καλὸν τὸ καύχημα ὑμῶν. οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι μικρὰ ζύμη ὅλον τὸ φύραμα ζυμοῖ;

Your boast is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

ἐκκαθάρατε τὴν παλαιὰν ζύμην, ἵνα ἦτε νέον φύραμα, καθώς ἐστε ἄζυμοι. καὶ γὰρ τὸ πάσχα ⸀ἡμῶν ἐτύθη Χριστός·

Clean out the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, just as you are unleavened. For our Passover has been slaughtered — Christ.

first here Christ Χριστός Christos

Why this rendering

1Cor.5.7 Observation

Syntactic observation

ἐκκαθάρατε τὴν παλαιὰν ζύμην, ἵνα ἦτε νέον φύραμα, καθώς ἐστε ἄζυμοι. καὶ γὰρ τὸ πάσχα ἡμῶν ἐτύθη Χριστός — clean out the old leaven, so that you may be a new lump, just as you are unleavened; for our Passover has been slaughtered — Christ. τὸ πάσχα ἡμῶν ἐτύθη Χριστός is ‘our Passover has been slaughtered — Christ’. There is no ‘lamb’ (ἀμνός, ἀρνίον) in the text; the word Passover itself here names the animal slaughtered, and θύω is the verb of Luke 15:23, ‘slaughter the fattened calf’ (Acts 14:13 ‘sacrifice’ is a different site). ζύμη, φύραμα, ἄζυμος and πάσχα share one paragraph — ἄζυμος is the word of Luke 22:1, ‘Unleavened Bread’ (the feast), here the adjective ‘unleavened’. παλαιός/νέος is the pair of Matt 9:16 ‘old’ and Mark 2:22 ‘young wine’ — the νέος of the new lump is the newness of ‘freshly made’, not καινός (Rom 6:4 newness).

Rendering options · 2

Adopted

“our Passover has been slaughtered — Christ” — no ‘lamb’ added

Basis No lamb in the text; θύω as fixed in Luke 15:23, ‘slaughter’.

“Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed”

Basis The familiar rendering.

Rejected ‘Lamb’ is not in the text, and ‘sacrifice’ as a noun is σφάγιον’s (Acts 7:42).

Lost in translation

ἄζυμος — ‘Unleavened Bread’ (the feast, Luke 22:1) and ‘unleavened’ here are one word.

Survives in · this edition — 1 of the nine carry it (this language among them)

ὥστε ἑορτάζωμεν, μὴ ἐν ζύμῃ παλαιᾷ μηδὲ ἐν ζύμῃ κακίας καὶ πονηρίας, ἀλλ’ ἐν ἀζύμοις εἰλικρινείας καὶ ἀληθείας.

So let us keep the feast, not with old leaven nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Ἔγραψα ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ μὴ συναναμίγνυσθαι πόρνοις,

I wrote to you in the letter not to mix with the sexually immoral —

⸀οὐ πάντως τοῖς πόρνοις τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ἢ τοῖς πλεονέκταις ⸀καὶ ἅρπαξιν ἢ εἰδωλολάτραις, ἐπεὶ ⸀ὠφείλετε ἄρα ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελθεῖν.

not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and the ravenous, or idolaters, since then you would have to go out of the world.

νῦν δὲ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν μὴ συναναμίγνυσθαι ἐάν τις ἀδελφὸς ὀνομαζόμενος ᾖ πόρνος ἢ πλεονέκτης ἢ εἰδωλολάτρης ἢ λοίδορος ἢ μέθυσος ἢ ἅρπαξ, τῷ τοιούτῳ μηδὲ συνεσθίειν.

But now I have written to you not to mix, if anyone named a brother is sexually immoral or greedy or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or ravenous — with such a one not even to eat.

Why this rendering

1Cor.5.11 Observation

Syntactic observation

ἐάν τις ἀδελφὸς ὀνομαζόμενος ᾖ πόρνος ἢ πλεονέκτης ἢ εἰδωλολάτρης ἢ λοίδορος ἢ μέθυσος ἢ ἅρπαξ, τῷ τοιούτῳ μηδὲ συνεσθίειν — if anyone named a brother is sexually immoral or greedy or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or ravenous — with such a one not even to eat. All six nouns stand on roots this edition already has — πόρνος ← πορνεία (sexual immorality), πλεονέκτης ← πλεονεξία (greed; Mark 7:22), εἰδωλολάτρης ← εἴδωλον (idol) + λατρεύω (serve), λοίδορος ← λοιδορέω (revile; John 9:28), μέθυσος ← μέθη (drunkenness; Luke 21:34), ἅρπαξ (ravenous; Matt 7:15, Luke 18:11). κρίνω comes three times in vv.12-13 with changing subjects — I and you judge, God judges; English keeps one verb, Korean splits by its rule (판단하다 for people, 심판하다 for God; the site rule of Rom 2:16) and loses the triple. συνεσθίω is the verb of Luke 15:2, ‘eats with sinners’.

Rendering options · 2

Adopted

“idolater” — the English word already carries idol + service

Basis Idol-service is visible in the word itself.

“idol-worshipper”

Basis The familiar rendering.

Rejected ‘Worship’ is προσκυνέω’s field; λατρεύω is ‘serve’.

Lost in translation

κρίνω three times in vv.12-13 — judge kept throughout.

Survives in · this edition — 1 of the nine carry it (this language among them)

τί γάρ ⸀μοι τοὺς ἔξω κρίνειν; οὐχὶ τοὺς ἔσω ὑμεῖς κρίνετε,

For what is it to me to judge those outside? Do you not judge those inside,

τοὺς δὲ ἔξω ὁ θεὸς ⸀κρίνει; ⸀ἐξάρατε τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν.

while those outside God judges? Take out the evil one from among yourselves.