1 Corinthians 13:3, “body to be burned,” or “that I may boast”?
1 Corinthians 13:3 is read either as “though I give my body to be burned” or as “give up my body that I may boast.” The difference is one Greek letter: fire or boasting.
The APB text at this verse
The manuscripts, editions, and versions
The committee record at this verse
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Since revision 3.5, the places where the manuscripts disagree are decided before translation by three readers, Grok 4.3, GPT-6 Astra, and Claude Fable 5.1, who see the readings and the witnesses by age and class but never a reference or a manuscript name. Whatever was done at this verse was done on the language and the evidence alone, and the record is public.
1 Corinthians 13:3: a reading other than the base text adopted.
“The base text reads (nothing). The copies also carry καυχήσωμαι, [early greek manuscript tradition]; the committee kept the base text. The early support for the omission is slightly broader than for καυχήσωμαι,, and the internal evidence favors the harder reading the omission.”
“The base text reads ⸂καὶ ἐὰν⸃; the committee adopted κἂν on the evidence of the copies. The default reading is supported only by the late majority line, while the early witnesses agree on κἂν, and the copying habit of expanding contractions to match neighboring καὶ ἐὰν accounts neatly for the later form.”
“The base text reads ⸄καὶ ἐὰν⸅. The copies also carry κἂν [early greek manuscript tradition]; the committee kept the base text. The evidence favors ⸄καὶ ἐὰν⸅ but the margin is modest because only one extra early witness supports it.”
“The base text reads καυθήσομαι. The copies also carry καυθήσωμαι [early greek manuscript tradition; later majority tradition], καυχήσωμαι [early greek manuscript tradition]; the committee kept the base text. The evidence is close; another reader might reasonably prefer καυχήσωμαι on external grounds alone.”
The APB 3.5 decision records “a reading other than the base text adopted.” For the burning/boasting unit, its textual note says, “The base text reads καυθήσομαι.” The committee kept that base text while listing καυθήσωμαι and καυχήσωμαι among the copies. Its published text therefore reads, “if I hand over my body in order that I may be burned but have not love, I gain nothing.” The note concludes: “The evidence is close; another reader might reasonably prefer καυχήσωμαι on external grounds alone.”
The argument for each reading
If “burned”
The case for A begins with the editions that print a burning reading: Tregelles and Robinson-Pierpont read καυθήσωμαι, while the Greek text underlying the NIV reads καυθήσομαι. The latter differs in form, “I will be burned,” but remains the verb of burning. The supplied apparatus sets καυθήσομαι against both καυθήσωμαι and καυχήσωμαι, so the fire wording has more than one Greek form in its support. Tregelles and the Byzantine text are also identified as preserving the reading behind the King James's “though I give my body to be burned.” On this reading, the costly act named in the sentence is handing over the body for burning; the surrounding APB wording still places love and gain in view.
If “boast”
The case for B rests on Westcott-Hort and Nestle-Aland 28, both of which print καυχήσωμαι, “that I may boast.” The packet describes Westcott-Hort as printing this reading with the earliest manuscripts, including the oldest papyrus of Paul. The textual-decision note likewise identifies καυχήσωμαι as carried by an early greek manuscript tradition. This reading changes the stated point of handing over the body: the phrase concerns boasting rather than burning. The difference is visually slight, theta versus chi, yet it changes the image from a martyr's fire to a claim of self-display. The committee's own note says the evidence is close and explicitly allows that another reader might prefer this form on external grounds alone.
The evidence supplied here leaves a real choice between burning and boasting, as well as between two forms of the burning verb. The variant changes the purpose or result attached to handing over the body; it does not remove the verse's explicit reference to love or its statement that gain is absent without love. The surrounding APB text also says that love “does not envy or boast,” which gives the boast wording a nearby verbal context without settling the variant. Most doctrines rest on many passages, and no doctrine is decided by this one-letter difference.
Common questions
Does 1 Corinthians 13:3 say burned or boast?
The supplied editions divide. Tregelles, Robinson-Pierpont, and the Greek text underlying the NIV support burning forms; Westcott-Hort and Nestle-Aland 28 read καυχήσωμαι, “that I may boast.”
What is the Greek difference in 1 Corinthians 13:3?
The principal difference is καυθήσωμαι, “that I may be burned,” versus καυχήσωμαι, “that I may boast”: theta versus chi.
What did the APB committee print at 1 Corinthians 13:3?
Its printed text says, “if I hand over my body in order that I may be burned but have not love, I gain nothing.” Its decision note also says the evidence is close.
Related entries
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. The page does not declare which reading is original.
The registry gives no verdict
The registry does not say which reading is original. Each page lists the witnesses, shows what the committee did with the same text, and leaves the judgment to the reader.