2 Korintus 12:14--13:14

12:14 Look, for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you, because I do not want your possessions, but you. For children should not have ¹  to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 12:15 Now I will most gladly spend and be spent for your lives! ²  If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 12:16 But be that as it may, I have not burdened you. Yet because I was a crafty person, I took you in by deceit! 12:17 I have not taken advantage of you through anyone I have sent to you, have I? ³  12:18 I urged Titus to visit you ⁴  and I sent our ⁵  brother along with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? ⁶  Did we not conduct ourselves in the same spirit? Did we not behave in the same way? ⁷  12:19 Have you been thinking all this time ⁸  that we have been defending ourselves to you? We are speaking in Christ before God, and everything we do, dear friends, is to build you up. ⁹  12:20 For I am afraid that somehow when I come I will not find you what I wish, and you will find me ¹⁰  not what you wish. I am afraid that ¹¹  somehow there may be quarreling, jealousy, intense anger, selfish ambition, ¹²  slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. 12:21 I am afraid that ¹³  when I come again, my God may humiliate me before you, and I will grieve for ¹⁴  many of those who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practiced.

Paul’s Third Visit to Corinth

13:1 This is the third time I am coming to visit ¹⁵  you. By the testimony ¹⁶  of two or three witnesses every matter will be established. ¹⁷  13:2 I said before when I was present the second time and now, though absent, I say again to those who sinned previously and to all the rest, that if I come again, I will not spare anyone, ¹⁸  13:3 since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He ¹⁹  is not weak toward you but is powerful among you. 13:4 For indeed he was crucified by reason of weakness, but he lives because of God’s power. For we also are weak in him, but we will live together with him, because of God’s power toward you. 13:5 Put yourselves to the test to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize regarding yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you – unless, indeed, you fail the test! ²⁰  13:6 And I hope that you will realize that we have not failed the test! ²¹  13:7 Now we pray to God that you may not do anything wrong, not so that we may appear to have passed the test, ²²  but so that you may do what is right ²³  even if we may appear to have failed the test. ²⁴  13:8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the sake of the truth. 13:9 For we rejoice whenever we are weak, but you are strong. And we pray for this: that you may become fully qualified. ²⁵  13:10 Because of this I am writing these things while absent, so that when I arrive ²⁶  I may not have to deal harshly with you ²⁷  by using my authority – the Lord gave it to me for building up, not for tearing down!

Final Exhortations and Greetings

13:11 Finally, brothers and sisters, ²⁸  rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. 13:12 ²⁹  Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. 13:13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship ³⁰  of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

13:14 [[EMPTY]] ³¹ 

[12:14]  ¹ tn Grk “children ought not,” but this might give the impression that children are not supposed to support sick or aging parents in need of help. That is not what Paul is saying. His point is that children should not have to pay their parent’s way.

[12:15]  ² tn Grk “souls.”

[12:17]  ³ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative answer, indicated by the ‘tag’ question “have I?” at the end of the clause. The question is rhetorical.

[12:18]  ⁴ tn The words “to visit you” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, and must be supplied for the modern reader.

[12:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “the.”

[12:18]  ⁶ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative answer, indicated by the ‘tag’ question “did he?” at the end of the clause.

[12:18]  ⁷ tn Grk “[Did we not walk] in the same tracks?” This is an idiom that means to imitate someone else or to behave as they do. Paul’s point is that he and Titus have conducted themselves in the same way toward the Corinthians. If Titus did not take advantage of the Corinthians, then neither did Paul.

[12:19]  ⁸ tc The reading “all this time” (πάλαι, palai) is found in several early and important Alexandrian and Western witnesses including א* A B F G 0243 6 33 81 365 1175 1739 1881 lat; the reading πάλιν (palin, “again”) is read by א² D Ψ 0278 Ï sy bo; the reading οὐ πάλαι (ou palai) is read by Ì⁴⁶, making the question even more emphatic. The reading of Ì⁴⁶ could only have arisen from πάλαι. The reading πάλιν is significantly easier (“are you once again thinking that we are defending ourselves?”), for it softens Paul’s tone considerably. It thus seems to be a motivated reading and cannot easily explain the rise of πάλαι. Further, πάλαι has considerable support in the Alexandrian and Western witnesses, rendering it virtually certain as the original wording here.

[12:19]  ⁹ tn Or “for your strengthening”; Grk “for your edification.”

[12:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and I will be found by you.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation.

[12:20]  ¹¹ tn The words “I am afraid that” are not repeated in the Greek text, but are needed for clarity.

[12:20]  ¹² tn Or “intense anger, hostility.”

[12:21]  ¹³ tn The words “I am afraid that” are not repeated in the Greek text from v. 20, but are needed for clarity.

[12:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “I will mourn over.”

[13:1]  ¹⁵ tn The word “visit” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[13:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “By the mouth.”

[13:1]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 19:15 (also quoted in Matt 18:16; 1 Tim 5:19).

[13:2]  ¹⁸ tn The word “anyone” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[13:3]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[13:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “unless indeed you are disqualified.”

[13:6]  ²¹ tn Or “that we are not disqualified.”

[13:7]  ²² tn Or “that we may appear to be approved.”

[13:7]  ²³ tn Or “what is good.”

[13:7]  ²⁴ tn Or “even if we appear disapproved.”

[13:9]  ²⁵ tn Or “fully equipped.”

[13:10]  ²⁶ tn Grk “when I am present,” but in the context of Paul’s third (upcoming) visit to Corinth, this is better translated as “when I arrive.”

[13:10]  ²⁷ tn The words “with you” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[13:11]  ²⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:8.

[13:12]  ²⁹ sn The versification of vv. 12 and 13 in the NET Bible (so also NRSV, NLT) is according to the versification in the NA²⁷ and UBS⁴ editions of the Greek text. Some translations, however, break the material up into three verses, i.e., 12-14 (NKJV, NASB, NIV). The same material has been translated in each case; the only difference is the versification of that material.

[13:13]  ³⁰ tn Or “communion.”

[13:14]  ³¹ tc Most witnesses, especially later ones (א² D Ψ Ï lat sy bo), conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”), while several early and important mss (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B F G 0243 6 33 630 1175 1739 1881 pc sa) lack the particle. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. That so many diverse witnesses lacked the word here is strong testimony to its absence for the original text of 2 Corinthians.