2 Korintus 1:1

Salutation

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 

2 Korintus 1:4

1:4 who comforts us in all our troubles ⁴  so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble ⁵  with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Korintus 1:8-9

1:8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, ⁶  regarding the affliction that happened to us in the province of Asia, ⁷  that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of living. 1:9 Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, ⁸  so that we would not trust in ourselves ⁹  but in God who raises the dead.

2 Korintus 1:12

Paul Defends His Changed Plans

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.

2 Korintus 1:19

1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us – by me and Silvanus ¹⁵  and Timothy – was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him.

2 Korintus 4:6

4:6 For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” ¹⁶  is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge ¹⁷  of God in the face of Christ. ¹⁸ 

2 Korintus 8:19

8:19 In addition, ¹⁹  this brother ²⁰  has also been chosen by the churches as our traveling companion as we administer this generous gift ²¹  to the glory of the Lord himself and to show our readiness to help. ²² 

2 Korintus 9:13

9:13 Through the evidence ²³  of this service ²⁴  they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing ²⁵  with them and with everyone.

2 Korintus 10:1

Paul’s Authority from the Lord

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!) –

2 Korintus 12:2

12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven.

2 Korintus 12:9

12:9 But ³²  he said to me, “My grace is enough ³³  for you, for my ³⁴  power is made perfect ³⁵  in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly ³⁶  about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in ³⁷  me.

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ² map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[1:1]  ³ tn Or “are throughout Achaia.”

[1:4]  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).

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Or “any trials”; traditionally, “any affliction.”

[1:8]  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).

[1:8]  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.

[1:9]  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).

[1:9]  ⁹ tn Or “might not put confidence in ourselves.”

[1:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “for boasting.”

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

[1:12]  ¹³ tn Or “not by worldly wisdom.”

[1:12]  ¹⁴ tn Or “and especially.”

[1:19]  ¹⁵ sn Silvanus is usually considered to be the same person as Silas (L&N 93.340).

[4:6]  ¹⁶ sn An allusion to Gen 1:3; see also Isa 9:2.

[4:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the light of the knowledge of the glory”; δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[4:6]  ¹⁸ tc ‡ Most witnesses, including several early and important ones (Ì⁴⁶ א C H Ψ 0209 1739^c 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.

[8:19]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “gospel, and not only this, but.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation.

[8:19]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the brother mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:19]  ²¹ tn That is, the offering or collection being taken to assist impoverished Christians.

[8:19]  ²² tn The words “to help” are not in the Greek text but are implied (see L&N 25.68).

[9:13]  ²³ tn Or “proof,” or perhaps “testing” (NRSV).

[9:13]  ²⁴ tn Or “ministry.”

[9:13]  ²⁵ tn Or “your partnership”; Grk “your fellowship.”

[10:1]  ²⁶ tn The Greek pronoun (“you”) is plural.

[10:1]  ²⁷ tn The word “personally” is supplied to reflect the force of the Greek intensive pronoun αὐτός (autos) at the beginning of the verse.

[10:1]  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.”

[10:1]  ²⁹ tn Or “who lack confidence.”

[10:1]  ³⁰ tn Or “when face to face with.”

[10:1]  ³¹ tn Or “but bold.”

[12:9]  ³² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” because of the contrast implicit in the context.

[12:9]  ³³ tn Or “is sufficient.”

[12:9]  ³⁴ tc The majority of later mss (א² A^c D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï) as well as some versional witnesses include the pronoun “my” here, but the omission of the pronoun has excellent external support (Ì^46vid א* A* B D* F G latt). Scribes probably added the pronoun for clarity, making the obvious referent explicit. This would also make “power” more parallel with “my grace.” Though the original text probably did not include “my,” scribes who added the word were following the sense of Paul’s statement.

[12:9]  tn The pronoun “my” was supplied in the translation to clarify the sense of Paul’s expression.

[12:9]  ³⁵ tn Or “my power comes to full strength.”

[12:9]  ³⁶ tn “Most gladly,” a comparative form used with superlative meaning and translated as such.

[12:9]  ³⁷ tn Or “may rest on.”