2 Corinthians 11:1-8

Paul and His Opponents

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 

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 mss (א2 H Ψ 0121 0243 1739 1881 Ï) lack “and pure” (καὶ τῆς ἁγνότητος, kai th" Jagnothto"; Grk “and purity”) several important and early witnesses (Ì46 א* B D[2] F G 33 81 104 pc ar r co) retain these words. Their presence in such mss across such a wide geographical distribution argues for their authenticity. The omission from the majority of mss can be explained by haplography, since the -τητος ending of ἁγνότητος is identical to the ending of ἁπλότητος (Japlothto", “sincerity”) three words back (ἁπλότητος καὶ τῆς ἁγνότητος); further, since the meanings of “sincerity” and “purity” are similar they might seem redundant. A copyist would scarcely notice the omission because Paul’s statement still makes sense without “and from purity.”

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).