http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC_YIjlH5oc

I am still convinced there is modern idiom in the boxing/training world that we are simply over looking for these phrases.

1) to blacken and eye, give a black eye, strike in the face. Here they think Luke 18:5 is a good example of this usage (Judge worried about getting a black eye from a desperate woman).

2) to bring someone to submission by constant annoyance, wear down. Here they reference Lk 18:5 again but feel the denouement lacks punch as the Judge has already been worn down and doesn’t want it to get worse. In this case it’s probably more like browbeating.

3) to put under strict discipline, punish, treat roughly, torment. Here Bauer references the verse you are working on, 1 Cor 9:27 noting Paul’s self-imposed discipline and sees that the expression is taken from the language of prize fighting in v. 26.

So, I suppose, a possible rendering (very loosely) (following BDAG) would be I do not flail aimlessly but rather I discipline my body, forcing it into submission, so I won’t become disqualified by the same thing I tell others not to do.

Feel free to enlighten me though, or buy me a copy.

Why did Paul write this? Is it to receive a prize, or to safeguard his witness, legitimize his message, all of the above? I think this is the part of this passage that is the most vital and that I could use the most help in understanding (either in Greek or English).

Some of us rather like your hyperbolic passion in “rather I black my eyes, bringing my body into subjection.” You don’t have to follow Aristotle’s advice (but do look at his two black eyes, in my comment at Doug’s blog.)

I wonder what the other guys think!