2 Corinthians 1:8-10

1:8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, ¹  regarding the affliction that happened to us in the province of Asia, ²  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, ³  so that we would not trust in ourselves ⁴  but in God who raises the dead. 1:10 He ⁵  delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him ⁶  that ⁷  he will deliver us yet again,

2 Corinthians 6:4

6:4 But as God’s servants, ⁸  we have commended ourselves in every way, ⁹  with great endurance, in persecutions, ¹⁰  in difficulties, in distresses,

2 Corinthians 7:5

7:5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our body ¹¹  had no rest at all, but we were troubled in every way – struggles from the outside, fears from within.

2 Corinthians 11:23-30

11:23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking like I am out of my mind!) I am even more so: with much greater labors, with far more imprisonments, with more severe beatings, facing death many times. 11:24 Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. ¹²  11:25 Three times I was beaten with a rod. ¹³  Once I received a stoning. ¹⁴  Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I spent adrift in the open sea. 11:26 I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, ¹⁵  in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, ¹⁶  in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers, 11:27 in hard work and toil, ¹⁷  through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing. ¹⁸  11:28 Apart from other things, ¹⁹  there is the daily pressure on me of my anxious concern ²⁰  for all the churches. 11:29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, ²¹  and I do not burn with indignation? 11:30 If I must boast, ²²  I will boast about the things that show my weakness. ²³ 

¹ 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).

² 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.

³ 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).

⁴ tn Or “might not put confidence in ourselves.”

⁵ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative clause “who delivered us…” was made a separate sentence in the translation.

⁶ tn Grk “deliver us, on whom we have set our hope.”

⁷ tc Several important witnesses, especially Alexandrian (Ì⁴⁶ B D* 0121 0243 1739 1881 pc Did), lack ὅτι ({oti, “that”) here, while others, most notably Western (D¹ F G 104 630 1505 pc ar b sy^h Or Ambst), lack ἔτι (eti, “yet”). Most mss, including important Alexandrians (א A C D² Ψ 33 Ï f t vg), have the full expression ὅτι καὶ ἔτι ({oti kai eti). Although the predominantly Alexandrian reading has much to commend it, the fact that either ὅτι or ἔτι has been dropped, while the καί has been retained, suggests that the original wording had ὅτι καὶ ἔτι, and that either particle dropped out intentionally for stylistic reasons. (F and G have the order καί ὅτι, suggesting that in their archetype the ἔτι was unintentionally dropped due to homoioteleuton.) If, however, ὅτι is not authentic, v. 10b should be translated “We have set our hope on him, and he will deliver us again.” Overall, a decision is difficult, but preference should be given to ὅτι καὶ ἔτι.

⁸ tn Or “ministers.”

⁹ tn Or “we have commended ourselves by all things.”

¹⁰ tn Or “in trouble and suffering.”

¹¹ tn Grk “our flesh.”

¹² tn Grk “forty less one”; this was a standard sentence. “Lashes” is supplied to clarify for the modern reader what is meant.

¹³ sn Beaten with a rod refers to the Roman punishment of admonitio according to BDAG 902 s.v. ῥαβδίζω. Acts 16:22 describes one of these occasions in Philippi; in this case it was administered by the city magistrates, who had wide powers in a military colony.

¹⁴ sn Received a stoning. See Acts 14:19, where this incident is described.

¹⁵ tn Or “bandits.” The word normally refers more to highwaymen (“robbers”) but can also refer to insurrectionists or revolutionaries (“bandits”).

¹⁶ tn Or “desert.”

¹⁷ tn The two different words for labor are translated “in hard work and toil” by L&N 42.48.

¹⁸ tn Grk “in cold and nakedness.” Paul does not mean complete nakedness, however, which would have been repugnant to a Jew; he refers instead to the lack of sufficient clothing, especially in cold weather. A related word is used to 1 Cor 4:11, also in combination with experiencing hunger and thirst.

¹⁹ sn Apart from other things. Paul refers here either (1) to the external sufferings just mentioned, or (2) he refers to other things he has left unmentioned.

²⁰ tn “Anxious concern,” so translated in L&N 25.224.

²¹ tn Or “who is caused to stumble.”

²² tn Grk “If boasting is necessary.”

²³ tn Or “about the things related to my weakness.”