2 Corinthians 10:1

Paul’s Authority from the Lord

10:1 Now I, Paul, appeal to you ¹  personally ²  by the meekness and gentleness ³  of Christ (I who am meek ⁴  when present among ⁵  you, but am full of courage ⁶  toward you when away!) –

2 Corinthians 10:1

Paul’s Authority from the Lord

10:1 Now I, Paul, appeal to you ⁷  personally ⁸  by the meekness and gentleness ⁹  of Christ (I who am meek ¹⁰  when present among ¹¹  you, but am full of courage ¹²  toward you when away!) –

2 Corinthians 2:7

2:7 so that now instead ¹³  you should rather forgive and comfort him. ¹⁴  This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair. ¹⁵ 

James 3:17

3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ¹⁶  full of mercy and good fruit, ¹⁷  impartial, and not hypocritical. ¹⁸ 

¹ tn The Greek pronoun (“you”) is plural.

² tn The word “personally” is supplied to reflect the force of the Greek intensive pronoun αὐτός (autos) at the beginning of the verse.

³ 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.”

⁴ tn Or “who lack confidence.”

⁵ tn Or “when face to face with.”

⁶ tn Or “but bold.”

⁷ tn The Greek pronoun (“you”) is plural.

⁸ tn The word “personally” is supplied to reflect the force of the Greek intensive pronoun αὐτός (autos) at the beginning of the verse.

⁹ 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.”

¹⁰ tn Or “who lack confidence.”

¹¹ tn Or “when face to face with.”

¹² tn Or “but bold.”

¹³ tn Grk “so that on the other hand.”

¹⁴ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted and must be supplied from the context.

¹⁵ tn Grk “comfort him, lest somehow such a person be swallowed up by excessive grief,” an idiom for a person being so overcome with grief as to despair or give up completely (L&N 25.285). In this context of excessive grief or regret for past sins, “overwhelmed” is a good translation since contemporary English idiom speaks of someone “overwhelmed by grief.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the difficulty of expressing a negative purpose/result clause in English, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

¹⁶ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

¹⁸ tn Or “sincere.”