11:1 I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me! 11:2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, 1 to present you as a pure 2 virgin to Christ. 11:3 But I am afraid that 3 just as the serpent 4 deceived Eve by his treachery, 5 your minds may be led astray 6 from a sincere and pure 7 devotion to Christ. 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims 8 another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed, 9 or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received, 10 or a different gospel than the one you accepted, 11 you put up with it well enough! 12 11:5 For I consider myself not at all inferior to those “super-apostles.” 13 11:6 And even if I am unskilled 14 in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way. 11:7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself 15 so that you could be exalted, because I proclaimed 16 the gospel of God to you free of charge? 11:8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so that I could serve you! 17 11:9 When 18 I was with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia fully supplied my needs. 19 I 20 kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. 11:10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine 21 will not be stopped 22 in the regions of Achaia. 11:11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 23 11:12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals 24 in the things they boast about. 11:13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful 25 workers, disguising themselves 26 as apostles of Christ. 11:14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself 27 as an angel of light. 11:15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves 28 as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions. 29
11:16 I say again, let no one think that I am a fool. 30 But if you do, then at least accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 11:17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence 31 I do not say the way the Lord would. 32 Instead it is, as it were, foolishness. 11:18 Since many 33 are boasting according to human standards, 34 I too will boast. 11:19 For since you are so wise, you put up with 35 fools gladly. 11:20 For you put up with 36 it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly 37 toward you, if someone strikes you in the face. 11:21 (To my disgrace 38 I must say that we were too weak for that!) 39 But whatever anyone else dares to boast about 40 (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing. 41
1 tn That is, to Christ.
2 tn Or “chaste.”
3 tn Grk “I fear lest somehow.”
4 tn Or “the snake.”
5 tn Or “craftiness.”
6 tn Or “corrupted,” “seduced.”
7 tc Although most
8 tn Or “preaches.”
9 tn Grk “another Jesus whom we have not proclaimed.”
10 tn Grk “a different spirit which you did not receive.”
11 tn Grk “a different gospel which you did not accept.”
12 tn Or “you endure it very well.”
13 tn The implicit irony in Paul’s remark is brought out well by the TEV: “I do not think that I am the least bit inferior to those very special so-called ‘apostles’ of yours!”
14 sn Unskilled in speaking means not professionally trained as a rhetorician.
15 sn Paul is referring to humbling himself to the point of doing manual labor to support himself.
16 tn Or “preached.”
17 sn That is, serve them free of charge (cf. the end of v. 7).
18 tn Grk “you, and when.” A new sentence was started here in the translation.
19 tn If the participle ἐλθόντες (elqonte") is taken as temporal rather than adjectival, the translation would be, “for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, fully supplied my needs” (similar to NASB).
20 tn Grk “needs, and I kept.” A new sentence was started here in the translation.
21 tn That is, that Paul offers the gospel free of charge to the Corinthians (see 2 Cor 11:7).
22 tn Or “silenced.”
23 tn Grk “God knows!” The words “I do” are supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
24 tn Grk “an opportunity, so that they may be found just like us.”
25 tn Or “dishonest.”
26 tn Or “workers, masquerading.”
27 tn Or “Satan himself masquerades.”
28 tn Or “also masquerade.”
29 tn Or “their works.”
30 tn Or “am foolish.”
31 tn Grk “with this confidence of boasting.” The genitive καυχήσεως (kauchsew") has been translated as an attributed genitive (the noun in the genitive gives an attribute of the noun modified).
32 tn Or “say with the Lord’s authority.”
33 sn Many is a reference to Paul’s opponents.
34 tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
35 tn Or “you tolerate.”
36 tn Or “you tolerate.”
37 tn See L&N 88.212.
38 tn Or “my shame.”
39 sn It seems best, in context, to see the statement we were too weak for that as a parenthetical and ironic comment by Paul on his physical condition (weakness or sickness) while he was with the Corinthians (cf. 2 Cor 12:7-10; Gal 4:15).
40 tn The words “to boast about” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, and this phrase serves as the direct object of the preceding verb.
41 tn Grk “I also dare”; the words “to boast about the same thing” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, and this phrase serves as the direct object of the preceding verb.