2 Corinthians 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 Corinthians 1:19

1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us – by me and Silvanus ⁴  and Timothy – was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him.

2 Corinthians 3:3

3:3 revealing ⁵  that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, ⁶  written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets ⁷  but on tablets of human hearts.

2 Corinthians 3:14

3:14 But their minds were closed. ⁸  For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. ⁹  It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. ¹⁰ 

2 Corinthians 4:4

4:4 among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe ¹¹  so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel ¹²  of Christ, ¹³  who is the image of God.

2 Corinthians 4:6

4:6 For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” ¹⁴  is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge ¹⁵  of God in the face of Christ. ¹⁶ 

2 Corinthians 5:10

5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, ¹⁷  so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil. ¹⁸ 

2 Corinthians 5:19

5:19 In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us ¹⁹  the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 9:13

9:13 Through the evidence ²⁰  of this service ²¹  they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing ²²  with them and with everyone.

2 Corinthians 10:1

Paul’s Authority from the Lord

10:1 Now I, Paul, appeal to you ²³  personally ²⁴  by the meekness and gentleness ²⁵  of Christ (I who am meek ²⁶  when present among ²⁷  you, but am full of courage ²⁸  toward you when away!) –

2 Corinthians 11:3

11:3 But I am afraid that ²⁹  just as the serpent ³⁰  deceived Eve by his treachery, ³¹  your minds may be led astray ³²  from a sincere and pure ³³  devotion to Christ.

2 Corinthians 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 Corinthians 12:9

12:9 But ³⁴  he said to me, “My grace is enough ³⁵  for you, for my ³⁶  power is made perfect ³⁷  in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly ³⁸  about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in ³⁹  me.

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 sn Silvanus is usually considered to be the same person as Silas (L&N 93.340).

⁷ tn Or “making plain.”

⁸ tn Grk “cared for by us,” an expression that could refer either to the writing or the delivery of the letter (BDAG 229 s.v. διακονέω 1). Since the following phrase refers to the writing of the letter, and since the previous verse speaks of this “letter” being “written on our [Paul’s and his companions’] hearts” it is more probable that the phrase “cared for by us” refers to the delivery of the letter (in the person of Paul and his companions).

⁹ sn An allusion to Exod 24:12; 31:18; 34:1; Deut 9:10-11.

¹⁰ tn Grk “their minds were hardened.”

¹¹ tn Grk “the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant”; the phrase “they hear” has been introduced (“when they hear the old covenant read”) to make the link with the “Israelites” (v. 13) whose minds were closed (v. 14a) more obvious to the reader.

¹² tn Or “only in Christ is it eliminated.”

¹³ tn Or “of unbelievers.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “the gospel of the glory”; δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

¹⁵ tn Or “so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ would not be evident to them” (L&N 28.37).

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 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.

¹⁹ sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a common item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city. Use of the term in reference to Christ’s judgment would be familiar to Paul’s 1st century readers.

²⁰ tn Or “whether good or bad.”

²² tn Or “he has entrusted to us.”

²⁵ tn Or “proof,” or perhaps “testing” (NRSV).

²⁶ tn Or “ministry.”

²⁷ tn Or “your partnership”; Grk “your fellowship.”

²⁸ tn The Greek pronoun (“you”) is plural.

²⁹ tn The word “personally” is supplied to reflect the force of the Greek intensive pronoun αὐτός (autos) at the beginning of the verse.

³⁰ 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.”

³¹ tn Or “who lack confidence.”

³² tn Or “when face to face with.”

³³ tn Or “but bold.”

³¹ tn Grk “I fear lest somehow.”

³² tn Or “the snake.”

³³ tn Or “craftiness.”

³⁴ tn Or “corrupted,” “seduced.”

³⁵ 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.”

³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” because of the contrast implicit in the context.

³⁵ tn Or “is sufficient.”

³⁶ 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.

³⁷ tn Or “my power comes to full strength.”

³⁸ tn “Most gladly,” a comparative form used with superlative meaning and translated as such.

³⁹ tn Or “may rest on.”