2 Korintus 4:8-18

4:8 We are experiencing trouble on every side, ¹  but are not crushed; we are perplexed, ²  but not driven to despair; 4:9 we are persecuted, but not abandoned; ³  we are knocked down, ⁴  but not destroyed, 4:10 always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, ⁵  so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible ⁶  in our body. 4:11 For we who are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible ⁷  in our mortal body. ⁸  4:12 As a result, ⁹  death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. ¹⁰  4:13 But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in ¹¹  what has been written, “I believed; therefore I spoke,” ¹²  we also believe, therefore we also speak. 4:14 We do so ¹³  because we know that the one who raised up Jesus ¹⁴  will also raise us up with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence. 4:15 For all these things are for your sake, so that the grace that is including ¹⁵  more and more people may cause thanksgiving to increase ¹⁶  to the glory of God. 4:16 Therefore we do not despair, ¹⁷  but even if our physical body ¹⁸  is wearing away, our inner person ¹⁹  is being renewed day by day. 4:17 For our momentary, light suffering ²⁰  is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison 4:18 because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

2 Korintus 6:3-10

6:3 We do not give anyone ²¹  an occasion for taking an offense in anything, ²²  so that no fault may be found with our ministry. 6:4 But as God’s servants, ²³  we have commended ourselves in every way, ²⁴  with great endurance, in persecutions, ²⁵  in difficulties, in distresses, 6:5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, ²⁶  in troubles, ²⁷  in sleepless nights, in hunger, 6:6 by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by benevolence, by the Holy Spirit, ²⁸  by genuine ²⁹  love, 6:7 by truthful ³⁰  teaching, ³¹  by the power of God, with weapons of righteousness both for the right hand and for the left, ³²  6:8 through glory and dishonor, through slander and praise; regarded as impostors, ³³  and yet true; 6:9 as unknown, and yet well-known; as dying and yet – see! – we continue to live; as those who are scourged ³⁴  and yet not executed; 6:10 as sorrowful, but always rejoicing, as poor, but making many rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

2 Korintus 11:23-27

11:23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking like I am out of my mind!) I am even more so: with much greater labors, with far more imprisonments, with more severe beatings, facing death many times. 11:24 Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. ³⁵  11:25 Three times I was beaten with a rod. ³⁶  Once I received a stoning. ³⁷  Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I spent adrift in the open sea. 11:26 I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, ³⁸  in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, ³⁹  in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers, 11:27 in hard work and toil, ⁴⁰  through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing. ⁴¹ 

[4:8]  ¹ tn Grk “we are hard pressed [by crowds] on every side.”

[4:8]  ² tn Or “at a loss.”

[4:9]  ³ tn Or “forsaken.”

[4:9]  ⁴ tn Or “badly hurt.” It is possible to interpret καταβαλλόμενοι (kataballomenoi) here as “badly hurt”: “[we are] badly hurt, but not destroyed” (L&N 20.21).

[4:10]  ⁵ tn The first clause of 2 Cor 4:10 is elliptical and apparently refers to the fact that Paul was constantly in danger of dying in the same way Jesus died (by violence at least). According to L&N 23.99 it could be translated, “at all times we live in the constant threat of being killed as Jesus was.”

[4:10]  ⁶ tn Or “may also be revealed.”

[4:11]  ⁷ tn Or “may also be revealed.”

[4:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “mortal flesh.”

[4:12]  ⁹ tn Or “So then.”

[4:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “death is at work in us, but life in you”; the phrase “is at work in” is repeated in the translation for clarity.

[4:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “spirit of faith according to.”

[4:13]  ¹² sn A quotation from Ps 116:10.

[4:14]  ¹³ tn Grk “speak, because.” A new sentence was started here in the translation, with the words “We do so” supplied to preserve the connection with the preceding statement.

[4:14]  ¹⁴ tc ‡ Several important witnesses (א C D F G Ψ 1881), as well as the Byzantine text, add κύριον (kurion) here, changing the reading to “the Lord Jesus.” Although the external evidence in favor of the shorter reading is slim, the witnesses are important, early, and diverse (Ì⁴⁶ B [0243 33] 629 [630] 1175* [1739] pc r sa). Very likely scribes with pietistic motives added the word κύριον, as they were prone to do, thus compounding this title for the Lord.

[4:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “that is abounding to.”

[4:15]  ¹⁶ tn Or “to abound.”

[4:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “do not lose heart.”

[4:16]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “our outer man.”

[4:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “our inner [man].”

[4:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “momentary lightness of affliction.”

[6:3]  ²¹ tn The word “anyone” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[6:3]  ²² tn Other interpretations of the first part of 2 Cor 6:3 are possible. The phrase could also mean, “not putting an obstacle in the way of anyone” (L&N 22.14), or “giving no one in anything a cause to sin” (L&N 88.307).

[6:4]  ²³ tn Or “ministers.”

[6:4]  ²⁴ tn Or “we have commended ourselves by all things.”

[6:4]  ²⁵ tn Or “in trouble and suffering.”

[6:5]  ²⁶ tn Or “rebellions” (uprisings in open defiance of civil authority).

[6:5]  ²⁷ tn Usually κόποις (kopois) has been translated as “labors” or “hard work,” but see Matt 26:10 where it means “trouble”; “distress” (L&N 22.7). In this context with so many other terms denoting suffering and difficulty, such a meaning is preferable.

[6:6]  ²⁸ tn Or “by holiness of spirit.”

[6:6]  ²⁹ tn Or “sincere.”

[6:7]  ³⁰ tn Grk “by the word of truth”; understanding ἀληθείας (alhqeias) as an attributive genitive (“truthful word”).

[6:7]  ³¹ tn Or “speech.” In this context it is more likely that λόγος (logos) refers to Paul’s message (thus “teaching”) than to his speech in general.

[6:7]  ³² tn The phrase “for the right hand and for the left” possibly refers to a combination of an offensive weapon (a sword for the right hand) and a defensive weapon (a shield for the left).

[6:8]  ³³ tn Or “regarded as deceivers.”

[6:9]  ³⁴ tn Grk “disciplined,” but in this context probably a reference to scourging prior to execution (yet the execution is not carried out).

[11:24]  ³⁵ tn Grk “forty less one”; this was a standard sentence. “Lashes” is supplied to clarify for the modern reader what is meant.

[11:25]  ³⁶ sn Beaten with a rod refers to the Roman punishment of admonitio according to BDAG 902 s.v. ῥαβδίζω. Acts 16:22 describes one of these occasions in Philippi; in this case it was administered by the city magistrates, who had wide powers in a military colony.

[11:25]  ³⁷ sn Received a stoning. See Acts 14:19, where this incident is described.

[11:26]  ³⁸ tn Or “bandits.” The word normally refers more to highwaymen (“robbers”) but can also refer to insurrectionists or revolutionaries (“bandits”).

[11:26]  ³⁹ tn Or “desert.”

[11:27]  ⁴⁰ tn The two different words for labor are translated “in hard work and toil” by L&N 42.48.

[11:27]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “in cold and nakedness.” Paul does not mean complete nakedness, however, which would have been repugnant to a Jew; he refers instead to the lack of sufficient clothing, especially in cold weather. A related word is used to 1 Cor 4:11, also in combination with experiencing hunger and thirst.