1:1 From Paul, 1 an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, 2 with all the saints who are in all Achaia. 3
1:12 For our reason for confidence 10 is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives 11 and sincerity which are from God 12 – not by human wisdom 13 but by the grace of God – we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more 14 toward you.
10:1 Now I, Paul, appeal to you 26 personally 27 by the meekness and gentleness 28 of Christ (I who am meek 29 when present among 30 you, but am full of courage 31 toward you when away!) –
1 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
2 map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.
3 tn Or “are throughout Achaia.”
4 tn Or “our trials”; traditionally, “our affliction.” The term θλῖψις (qliyi") refers to trouble (including persecution) that involves direct suffering (L&N 22.2).
5 tn Or “any trials”; traditionally, “any affliction.”
6 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1., where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
7 tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.
8 tn Grk “we ourselves had the sentence of death within ourselves.” Here ἀπόκριμα (apokrima) is being used figuratively; no actual official verdict had been given, but in light of all the difficulties that Paul and his colleagues had suffered, it seemed to them as though such an official verdict had been rendered against them (L&N 56.26).
9 tn Or “might not put confidence in ourselves.”
10 tn Or “for boasting.”
11 tc Two viable variants exist at this place in the text: ἁγιότητι (Jagiothti, “holiness”) vs. ἁπλότητι (Japlothti, “pure motives”). A confusion of letters could well have produced the variant (TCGNT 507): In uncial script the words would have been written agiothti and aplothti. This, however, does not explain which reading created the other. Overall ἁπλότητι, though largely a Western-Byzantine reading (א2 D F G Ï lat sy), is better suited to the context; it is also a Pauline word while ἁγιότης (Jagioth") is not. It also best explains the rise of the other variants, πραότητι (praothti, “gentleness”) and {σπλάγχνοις} (splancnoi", “compassion”). On the other hand, the external evidence in favor of ἁγιότητι is extremely strong (Ì46 א* A B C K P Ψ 0121 0243 33 81 1739 1881 al co). This diversity of
tn Or “sincerity.” The two terms translated “pure motives” (ἁπλότης, Japloth") and “sincerity” (εἰλικρίνεια, eilikrineia) are close synonyms.
12 tn Grk “pure motives and sincerity of God.”
13 tn Or “not by worldly wisdom.”
14 tn Or “and especially.”
15 sn Silvanus is usually considered to be the same person as Silas (L&N 93.340).
16 sn An allusion to Gen 1:3; see also Isa 9:2.
17 tn Grk “the light of the knowledge of the glory”; δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
18 tc ‡ Most witnesses, including several early and important ones (Ì46 א C H Ψ 0209 1739c Ï sy), read ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Ihsou Cristou, “Jesus Christ”), while other important witnesses, especially of the Western text (D F G 0243 630 1739* 1881 lat Ambst), have Χριστοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ. The reading with just Χριστοῦ is found in A B 33 {sa} Tert {Or Ath Chr}. Even though the witnesses for the shorter reading are not numerous, they are weighty. And in light of the natural scribal proclivity to fill out the text, particularly with reference to divine names, as well as the discrepancy among the witnesses as to the order of the names, the simple reading Χριστοῦ seems to be the best candidate for authenticity. NA27 reads ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ with ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
19 tn Grk “gospel, and not only this, but.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation.
20 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the brother mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21 tn That is, the offering or collection being taken to assist impoverished Christians.
22 tn The words “to help” are not in the Greek text but are implied (see L&N 25.68).
23 tn Or “proof,” or perhaps “testing” (NRSV).
24 tn Or “ministry.”
25 tn Or “your partnership”; Grk “your fellowship.”
26 tn The Greek pronoun (“you”) is plural.
27 tn The word “personally” is supplied to reflect the force of the Greek intensive pronoun αὐτός (autos) at the beginning of the verse.
28 tn Or “leniency and clemency.” D. Walker, “Paul’s Offer of Leniency of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1): Populist Ideology and Rhetoric in a Pauline Letter Fragment (2 Cor 10:1-13:10)” (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1998), argues for this alternative translation for three main reasons: (1) When the two Greek nouns πραΰτης and ἐπιείκεια (prauth" and ejpieikeia) are used together, 90% of the time the nuance is “leniency and clemency.” (2) “Leniency and clemency” has a military connotation, which is precisely what appears in the following verses. (3) 2 Cor 10-13 speaks of Paul’s sparing use of his authority, which points to the nuance of “leniency and clemency.”
29 tn Or “who lack confidence.”
30 tn Or “when face to face with.”
31 tn Or “but bold.”
32 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” because of the contrast implicit in the context.
33 tn Or “is sufficient.”
34 tc The majority of later
tn The pronoun “my” was supplied in the translation to clarify the sense of Paul’s expression.
35 tn Or “my power comes to full strength.”
36 tn “Most gladly,” a comparative form used with superlative meaning and translated as such.
37 tn Or “may rest on.”