2 Korintus 1:12--2:4

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. 1:13 For we do not write you anything other than what ⁶  you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completely ⁷  1:14 just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours ⁸  in the day of the Lord Jesus. ⁹  1:15 And with this confidence I intended to come to you first so that you would get a second opportunity to see us, ¹⁰  1:16 and through your help to go on into Macedonia and then from Macedonia to come back ¹¹  to you and be helped on our way into Judea by you. 1:17 Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I? ¹²  Or do I make my plans ¹³  according to mere human standards ¹⁴  so that I would be saying ¹⁵  both “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 1:18 But as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us – by me and Silvanus ¹⁶  and Timothy – was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him. 1:20 For every one of God’s promises are “Yes” in him; therefore also through him the “Amen” is spoken, to the glory we give to God. 1:21 But it is God who establishes ¹⁷  us together with you in Christ and who anointed us, ¹⁸  1:22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment. ¹⁹ 

Why Paul Postponed His Visit

1:23 Now I appeal to God as my witness, ²⁰  that to spare ²¹  you I did not come again to Corinth. ²²  1:24 I do not mean that we rule over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because by faith you stand firm. ²³  2:1 So ²⁴  I made up my own mind ²⁵  not to pay you another painful visit. ²⁶  2:2 For if I make you sad, who would be left to make me glad ²⁷  but the one I caused to be sad? 2:3 And I wrote this very thing to you, ²⁸  so that when I came ²⁹  I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours. 2:4 For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you. ³⁰ 

[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.”

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “than the things.”

[1:13]  ⁷ tn Grk “to the end,” a Greek idiom for “fully,” “totally,” “completely.”

[1:14]  ⁸ tn Grk “that we are your boast even as you are our boast.”

[1:14]  ⁹ tc ‡ On the wording “the Lord Jesus” (τοῦ κυρίου ᾿Ιησοῦ, tou kuriou Ihsou) there is some variation in the extant witnesses: ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “our”) is found after κυρίου in several significant witnesses (א B F G P 0121 0243 6 33 81 1739 1881 2464 al lat co); the pronoun is lacking from Ì^46vid A C D Ψ Ï. Although in Paul “our Lord Jesus Christ” is a common expression, “our Lord Jesus” is relatively infrequent (cf., e.g., Rom 16:20; 2 Cor 1:14; 1 Thess 2:19; 3:11, 13; 2 Thess 1:8, 12). “The Lord Jesus” occurs about as often as “our Lord Jesus” (cf. 1 Cor 11:23; 16:23; 2 Cor 4:14; 11:31; Eph 1:15; 1 Thess 4:2; 2 Thess 1:7; Phlm 5). Thus, on balance, since scribes would tend to expand on the text, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic. NA²⁷ places the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[1:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “a second grace,” “a second favor” (used figuratively of a second visit by Paul).

[1:16]  ¹¹ tn Grk “come again.”

[1:17]  ¹² tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative answer. This is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question “did I?” at the end of the sentence.

[1:17]  ¹³ tn Grk “the things that I plan, do I plan (them).”

[1:17]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “according to the flesh.”

[1:17]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “so that with me there should be.”

[1:19]  ¹⁶ sn Silvanus is usually considered to be the same person as Silas (L&N 93.340).

[1:21]  ¹⁷ tn Or “strengthens.”

[1:21]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “But he who establishes us together with you in Christ and anointed us is God.”

[1:22]  ¹⁹ tn Or “first installment,” “pledge,” “deposit.”

[1:22]  sn Down payment. The Greek word ἀρραβών (arrabwn) denotes the first payment or first installment of money or goods which serves as a guarantee or pledge for the completion of the transaction. In the NT the term is used only figuratively of the Holy Spirit as the down payment of the blessings promised by God (it occurs later in 2 Cor 5:5, and also in Eph 1:14). In the “already – not yet” scheme of the NT the possession of the Spirit now by believers (“already”) can be viewed as a guarantee that God will give them the balance of the promised blessings in the future (“not yet”).

[1:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “I call upon God as witness against my soul.” Normally this implies an appeal for help (L&N 33.176).

[1:23]  ²¹ tn Here φειδόμενος (feidomeno") has been translated as a telic participle.

[1:23]  ²² sn Paul had promised to come again to visit (see 2 Cor 1:15, 24) but explains here why he had changed his plans.

[1:23]  map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[1:24]  ²³ tn Or “because you stand firm in the faith.”

[2:1]  ²⁴ tc Although usually δέ (de, “now”; found in א A C D¹ F G Ψ 0285 Ï lat) should take precedent over γάρ (gar) in textually disputed places in the corpus Paulinum, the credentials for γάρ here are not easily dismissed (Ì⁴⁶ B 0223 0243 33 1739 1881 al); here it is the preferred reading, albeit slightly.

[2:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “I decided this for myself.”

[2:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “not to come to you again in sorrow.”

[2:1]  sn Paul was not speaking absolutely about not making another visit, but meant he did not want to come to the Corinthians again until the conflict he mentioned in 2 Cor 2:4-11 was settled.

[2:2]  ²⁷ tn Or “to cheer me up.” L&N 25.131 translates this “For if I were to make you sad, who would be left to cheer me up?”

[2:3]  ²⁸ tn The words “to you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[2:3]  ²⁹ sn So that when I came. Regarding this still future visit by Paul, see 2 Cor 12:14; 13:1.

[2:4]  ³⁰ tn Or “the love that I have in great measure for you.”