1 Corinthians 1:26

1:26 Think about the circumstances of your call, ¹  brothers and sisters. ²  Not many were wise by human standards, ³  not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. ⁴ 

1 Corinthians 12:20

12:20 So now there are many members, but one body.

1 Corinthians 8:5

8:5 If after all there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords),

1 Corinthians 2:3

2:3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling.

1 Corinthians 11:30

11:30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. ⁵ 

1 Corinthians 12:14

12:14 For in fact the body is not a single member, but many.

1 Corinthians 12:22

12:22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential,

1 Corinthians 16:9

16:9 because a door of great opportunity stands wide open for me, ⁶  but there are many opponents.

1 Corinthians 12:12

Different Members in One Body

12:12 For just as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body – though many – are one body, so too is Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:17

10:17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread.

1 Corinthians 4:15

4:15 For though you may have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, because I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

1 Corinthians 10:33

10:33 just as I also try to please everyone in all things. I do not seek my own benefit, but the benefit ⁷  of many, so that they may be saved.

1 Corinthians 16:19

16:19 The churches in the province of Asia ⁸  send greetings to you. Aquila and Prisca ⁹  greet ¹⁰  you warmly in the Lord, with the church that meets in their house.

1 Corinthians 16:12

16:12 With regard to our brother Apollos: I strongly encouraged him to visit you with the other brothers, ¹¹  but it was simply not his intention to come now. ¹²  He will come when he has the opportunity.

¹ tn Grk “Think about your calling.” “Calling” in Paul’s writings usually refers to God’s work of drawing people to faith in Christ. The following verses show that “calling” here stands by metonymy for their circumstances when they became Christians, leading to the translation “the circumstances of your call.”

² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

³ tn Grk “according to the flesh.”

⁴ tn The Greek word ευγενής (eugenh") refers to the status of being born into nobility, wealth, or power with an emphasis on the privileges and benefits that come with that position.

⁵ tn Grk “are asleep.” The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

⁹ tn Grk “for a door has opened wide to me, great and effective.”

¹³ tn Although the Greek word translated “benefit” occurs only once in this verse, the Greek article occurs twice. This indicates an implied repetition of the term, which has been included twice in the translation for the sake of clarity and English style.

¹⁷ tn Grk “the churches of Asia”; in the NT “Asia” always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

¹⁸ sn On Aquila and Prisca see also Acts 18:2, 18, 26; Rom 16:3-4; 2 Tim 4:19. In the NT “Priscilla” and “Prisca” are the same person. The author of Acts uses the full name Priscilla, while Paul uses the diminutive form Prisca.

¹⁹ tc The plural form of this verb, ἀσπάζονται (aspazontai, “[they] greet”), is found in several good mss (B F G 075 0121 0243 33 1739 1881) as well as the Byzantine cursives. But the singular is read by an equally impressive group (א C D K P Ψ 104 2464 pc). This part of the verse is lacking in codex A. Deciding on the basis of external evidence is quite difficult. Internally, however, the singular appears to have given rise to the plural: (1) The rest of the greetings in this verse are in the plural; this one was probably made plural by some scribes for purposes of assimilation; and, more significantly, (2) since both Aquila and Prisca are mentioned as the ones who send the greeting, the plural is more natural. The singular is, of course, not impossible Greek; indeed, a singular verb with a compound subject is used with some frequency in the NT (cf. Matt 13:55; Mark 8:27; 14:1; John 2:2; 3:22; 4:36, 53; Acts 5:29; 16:31; 1 Tim 6:4). This is especially common when “Jesus and his disciples” is the subject. What is significant is that when such a construction is found the emphasis is placed on the first-named person (in this case, Aquila). Normally when these two are mentioned in the NT, Priscilla is mentioned first (Acts 18:18, 26; Rom 16:3; 2 Tim 4:19). Only here and in Acts 18:2 (the first mention of them) is Aquila mentioned before Priscilla. Many suggest that Priscilla is listed first due to prominence. Though that is possible, both the mention of Aquila first here and the singular verb give him special prominence (cf. ExSyn 401-2). What such prominence means in each instance is difficult to assess. Nevertheless, here is a Pauline instance in which Aquila is given prominence. Too much can be made of the word order argument in either direction.

²¹ tn Grk “with the brothers.”

²² tn Grk “it was simply not the will that he come now.”