Offscouring and refuse: these two words in their Hebrew forms occur nowhere else in the Old Testament. The first seems to mean “what is scraped off,” and the second “what is rejected.” So the two together suggest something dirty and useless that is scraped off and thrown away. The writer of 1 Corinthians 4.13 does not use the wording used in verse 45 by the Septuagint, but his description of the apostles as “the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things” clearly echoes this description of the people of Jerusalem.

Among the peoples refers to the other nations, probably those surrounding Israel. In most areas where there are large cities and smoldering refuse dumps, the translation of offscouring and refuse may not be difficult. In remote areas unfamiliar with such things, the idea may be less well known. However, we may sometimes say, for example, “You have made us like dirt scraped from our feet” or “You have made us like a pile of dung.” In nonfigurative language we may say “Everyone has seen how much you have humiliated us.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on Lamentations. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .