2 Corinthians 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 Corinthians 4:2

4:2 But we have rejected ⁶  shameful hidden deeds, ⁷  not behaving ⁸  with deceptiveness ⁹  or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.

Acts 20:20

20:20 You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming ¹⁰  to you anything that would be helpful, ¹¹  and from teaching you publicly ¹²  and from house to house,

Acts 20:27

20:27 For I did not hold back from ¹³  announcing ¹⁴  to you the whole purpose ¹⁵  of God.

Hebrews 11:27

11:27 By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.

¹ tn Or “for boasting.”

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.

³ tn Grk “pure motives and sincerity of God.”

⁴ tn Or “not by worldly wisdom.”

⁵ tn Or “and especially.”

⁶ tn L&N 13.156; the word can also mean “to assert opposition to,” thus here “we have denounced” (L&N 33.220).

⁷ tn Grk “the hidden things [deeds] of shame”; here αἰσχύνης (aiscunh") has been translated as an attributive genitive.

⁸ tn Or “not conducting ourselves”; Grk “not walking” (a common NT idiom for conduct, way of life, or behavior).

⁹ tn Or “craftiness.”

¹¹ tn Or “declaring.”

¹² tn Or “profitable.” BDAG 960 s.v. συμφέρω 2.b.α has “τὰ συμφέροντα what advances your best interests or what is good for you Ac 20:20,” but the broader meaning (s.v. 2, “to be advantageous, help, confer a benefit, be profitable/useful”) is equally possible in this context.

¹³ tn Or “openly.”

¹⁶ tn Or “did not avoid.” BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 2.b has “shrink from, avoid implying fear…οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι I did not shrink from proclaiming Ac 20:27”; L&N 13.160 has “to hold oneself back from doing something, with the implication of some fearful concern – ‘to hold back from, to shrink from, to avoid’…‘for I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God’ Ac 20:27.”

¹⁷ tn Or “proclaiming,” “declaring.”

¹⁸ tn Or “plan.”