2 Corinthians 1:18

1:18 But as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”

2 Corinthians 6:7

6:7 by truthful ¹  teaching, ²  by the power of God, with weapons of righteousness both for the right hand and for the left, ³ 

2 Corinthians 11:6

11:6 And even if I am unskilled ⁴  in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way.

2 Corinthians 2:17

2:17 For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit, ⁵  but we are speaking in Christ before ⁶  God as persons of sincerity, ⁷  as persons sent from God.

2 Corinthians 10:10-11

10:10 because some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is weak ⁸  and his speech is of no account.” ⁹  10:11 Let such a person consider this: What we say ¹⁰  by letters when we are absent, we also are in actions when we are present.

2 Corinthians 4:2

4:2 But we have rejected ¹¹  shameful hidden deeds, ¹²  not behaving ¹³  with deceptiveness ¹⁴  or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.

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 ¹⁵  the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 8:7

8:7 But as you excel ¹⁶  in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in all eagerness and in the love from us that is in you ¹⁷  – make sure that you excel ¹⁸  in this act of kindness ¹⁹  too.

¹ tn Grk “by the word of truth”; understanding ἀληθείας (alhqeias) as an attributive genitive (“truthful word”).

² 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.

³ 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).

¹ sn Unskilled in speaking means not professionally trained as a rhetorician.

¹ tn The participle καπηλεύοντες (kaphleuonte") refers to those engaged in retail business, but with the negative connotations of deceptiveness and greed – “to peddle for profit,” “to huckster” (L&N 57.202). In the translation a noun form (“hucksters”) has been used in combination with the English verb “peddle…for profit” to convey the negative connotations of this term.

² tn Or “in the presence of.”

³ tn Or “persons of pure motives.”

¹ tn Or “unimpressive.”

² tn Or “is contemptible”; Grk “is despised.”

¹ tn Grk “what we are in word.”

¹ tn L&N 13.156; the word can also mean “to assert opposition to,” thus here “we have denounced” (L&N 33.220).

² tn Grk “the hidden things [deeds] of shame”; here αἰσχύνης (aiscunh") has been translated as an attributive genitive.

³ tn Or “not conducting ourselves”; Grk “not walking” (a common NT idiom for conduct, way of life, or behavior).

⁴ tn Or “craftiness.”

¹ tn Or “he has entrusted to us.”

¹ tn Grk “as you abound.”

² tc The reading “the love from us that is in you” is very difficult in this context, for Paul is here enumerating the Corinthians’ attributes: How is it possible for them to excel “in the love from us that is in you”? Most likely, because of this difficulty, several early scribes, as well as most later ones (א C D F G Ψ [33] Ï lat), altered the text to read “your love for us” (so NIV; Grk ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἀγάπῃ [ex Jumwn en Jhmin agaph]). The reading ἐξ ἡμῶν ἐν ὑμῖν ἀγάπῃ (ex Jhmwn en Jumin agaph) is found, however, in excellent and early witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ B 0243 6 104 630 1175 1739 1881 co). As the harder reading it explains the rise of the other reading. What, then, is the force of “in the love from us that is in you”? Most likely, Paul is commending the Corinthians for excelling in deriving some inspiration from the apostles’ love for them.

³ tn Grk “you abound.”

⁴ tn Grk “this grace.”