2 Korintus 1:12

Paul Defends His Changed Plans

1:12 For our reason for confidence ¹  is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives ²  and sincerity which are from God ³  – not by human wisdom ⁴  but by the grace of God – we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more ⁵  toward you.

2 Korintus 2:17

2:17 For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit, ⁶  but we are speaking in Christ before ⁷  God as persons of sincerity, ⁸  as persons sent from God.

2 Korintus 11:3

11:3 But I am afraid that ⁹  just as the serpent ¹⁰  deceived Eve by his treachery, ¹¹  your minds may be led astray ¹²  from a sincere and pure ¹³  devotion to Christ.

2 Korintus 11:6

11:6 And even if I am unskilled ¹⁴  in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way.

2 Korintus 11:13-15

11:13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful ¹⁵  workers, disguising themselves ¹⁶  as apostles of Christ. 11:14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself ¹⁷  as an angel of light. 11:15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves ¹⁸  as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions. ¹⁹ 

[1:12]  ¹ tn Or “for boasting.”

[1:12]  ² 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 mss provides excellent evidence for authenticity, but because of the internal evidence listed above, ἁπλότητι is to be preferred, albeit only slightly.

[1:12]  tn Or “sincerity.” The two terms translated “pure motives” (ἁπλότης, Japloth") and “sincerity” (εἰλικρίνεια, eilikrineia) are close synonyms.

[1:12]  ³ tn Grk “pure motives and sincerity of God.”

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Or “not by worldly wisdom.”

[1:12]  ⁵ tn Or “and especially.”

[2:17]  ⁶ tn The participle καπηλεύοντες (kaphleuonte") refers to those engaged in retail business, but with the negative connotations of deceptiveness and greed – “to peddle for profit,” “to huckster” (L&N 57.202). In the translation a noun form (“hucksters”) has been used in combination with the English verb “peddle…for profit” to convey the negative connotations of this term.

[2:17]  ⁷ tn Or “in the presence of.”

[2:17]  ⁸ tn Or “persons of pure motives.”

[11:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “I fear lest somehow.”

[11:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the snake.”

[11:3]  ¹¹ tn Or “craftiness.”

[11:3]  ¹² tn Or “corrupted,” “seduced.”

[11:3]  ¹³ tc Although most mss (א² H Ψ 0121 0243 1739 1881 Ï) lack “and pure” (καὶ τῆς ἁγνότητος, kai th" Jagnothto"; Grk “and purity”) several important and early witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א* B D^[2] F G 33 81 104 pc ar r co) retain these words. Their presence in such mss across such a wide geographical distribution argues for their authenticity. The omission from the majority of mss can be explained by haplography, since the -τητος ending of ἁγνότητος is identical to the ending of ἁπλότητος (Japlothto", “sincerity”) three words back (ἁπλότητος καὶ τῆς ἁγνότητος); further, since the meanings of “sincerity” and “purity” are similar they might seem redundant. A copyist would scarcely notice the omission because Paul’s statement still makes sense without “and from purity.”

[11:6]  ¹⁴ sn Unskilled in speaking means not professionally trained as a rhetorician.

[11:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “dishonest.”

[11:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “workers, masquerading.”

[11:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “Satan himself masquerades.”

[11:15]  ¹⁸ tn Or “also masquerade.”

[11:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “their works.”