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 7:12

7:12 To the rest I say – I, not the Lord 5  – if a brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is happy to live with him, he should not divorce her.

1 Corinthians 9:12

9:12 If others receive this right from you, are we not more deserving?

But we have not made use of this right. Instead we endure everything so that we may not be a hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:15-16

12:15 If the foot says, “Since I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that. 12:16 And if the ear says, “Since I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,” it does not lose its membership in the body because of that.

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 sn I, not the Lord. Here and in v. 10 Paul distinguishes between his own apostolic instruction and Jesus’ teaching during his earthly ministry. In vv. 12-16, Paul deals with a situation about which the Lord gave no instruction in his earthly ministry.