2 Corinthians 12:19

12:19 Have you been thinking all this time ¹  that we have been defending ourselves to you? We are speaking in Christ before God, and everything we do, dear friends, is to build you up. ² 

2 Corinthians 12:1

Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh

12:1 It is necessary to go on boasting. ³  Though it is not profitable, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

2 Corinthians 2:4

2:4 For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you. ⁴ 

¹ tc The reading “all this time” (πάλαι, palai) is found in several early and important Alexandrian and Western witnesses including א* A B F G 0243 6 33 81 365 1175 1739 1881 lat; the reading πάλιν (palin, “again”) is read by א² D Ψ 0278 Ï sy bo; the reading οὐ πάλαι (ou palai) is read by Ì⁴⁶, making the question even more emphatic. The reading of Ì⁴⁶ could only have arisen from πάλαι. The reading πάλιν is significantly easier (“are you once again thinking that we are defending ourselves?”), for it softens Paul’s tone considerably. It thus seems to be a motivated reading and cannot easily explain the rise of πάλαι. Further, πάλαι has considerable support in the Alexandrian and Western witnesses, rendering it virtually certain as the original wording here.

² tn Or “for your strengthening”; Grk “for your edification.”

³ tn Grk “Boasting is necessary.”

⁴ tn Or “the love that I have in great measure for you.”