vineyard

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “vineyard” in English is translated in Noongar as boodjer-djildjiyang, lit. “land for fruit.” (Source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).

complete verse (1 Corinthians 9:7)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 9:7:

  • Uma: “No soldier pays his own salary to go to war. A person who farms, it is fitting he eat the fruit of his farming. A person who herds sheep, it is fitting they drink the milk of their herd.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For example, is there a soldier in the army who is not given his living expenses? Is there a person who plants (farmer) and has no authority to eat the fruit of what he planted? And the person looking after animals has he no authority to get his share?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For example, a soldier — is it possible that he’s not given his ration? It cannot be. It also cannot be that the one who owns the plants cannot eat of the fruit of his plants; and in the same way also, the one who watches over a flock because he also is able to receive his share.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Kindly think whether there is a soldier who is responsible for his own expenses and wages. Is there also perhaps a farmer who has no right to eat what he harvests? Or is there someone who takes-care-of sheep who has no right to drink-some of their milk if he so desires? There-is-none.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For which soldier serves at his own expense? Which farmer cannot avail himself of the fruit of his plants that he took-devoted-care-of? Which shepherd of sheep cannot avail himself of the milk of those which he is looking after? None, of course.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “How about a soldier, doesn’t he get what he needs from the work he works at, or does he have to earn money separately to pay his expenses? How about a man who makes a grape garden, can’t he eat what comes out of that work? How about a man who cares for sheep, can’t he drink the milk from milking them?” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:7

An apostle has a right to be supported by the churches. Paul illustrates this right by comparisons with various kinds of secular work. The form of each part of the verse is generally similar to the others, though the second and third resemble one another more closely than the first and are linked by “or” in Greek.

In the first part of the verse, the word translated expense in New Testament times generally meant “wages”; but in this context the idea of “expenses” is preferable.

The sentence does not explicitly use the words “soldiers,” “farmers” or “their own” (Good News Bible), or speak explicitly about the owner of a flock of sheep. Instead Paul uses verbs meaning “to soldier,” “to plant,” and “to shepherd.” Good News Bible uses plural forms to avoid the masculine pronoun “his,” though women soldiers were not known in ancient Israel (see also verse 10). In the second and third parts of the verse, Paul is probably thinking of a farm worker and a shepherd, that is, people employed by someone else; he does not seem to be thinking of a landowner. Such an interpretation would make a better parallel to 7a: Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Bible en français courant brings out this possibility: “Did you ever hear of a soldier serving in the army at his own expense? or a man not eating the grapes from the vineyard he has planted? or a shepherd not taking milk from the flock he is looking after?”

The word translated getting (Good News Bible‘s “use”) is literally “eat.” Paul may be including the thought of eating solid products made from milk, but this is not clearly expressed. Therefore a more general word such as “use” is preferable in translation, unless there is a word for “eat” that can mean both eating and drinking.

Some Greek manuscripts omit the “or” that links the second and third questions in this verse. It is part of the UBS Greek text but may be omitted in translation, as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible, if it is not good style.

In many languages translators will prefer to translate the three rhetorical questions in this verse as statements. For example, the first question may be rendered as “a soldier never has to pay his own expenses.”

The expressions Who serves as a soldier, Who plants a vineyard, and Who tends a flock are difficult to translate in some languages. In such cases one may say “Does any soldier…” and so on.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:
• A soldier never has to pay his own expenses. A person who plants a vineyard expects to eat some of its fruit. And a shepherd expects to drink the milk from his own sheep.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .