2 Corinthians 3:1

A Living Letter

3:1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? We don’t need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we? ¹ 

2 Corinthians 5:12

5:12 We are not trying to commend ²  ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, ³  so that you may be able to answer those who take pride ⁴  in outward appearance ⁵  and not in what is in the heart.

2 Corinthians 12:21

12:21 I am afraid that ⁶  when I come again, my God may humiliate me before you, and I will grieve for ⁷  many of those who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practiced.

2 Corinthians 13:2

13:2 I said before when I was present the second time and now, though absent, I say again to those who sinned previously and to all the rest, that if I come again, I will not spare anyone, ⁸ 

2 Corinthians 1:16

1:16 and through your help to go on into Macedonia and then from Macedonia to come back ⁹  to you and be helped on our way into Judea by you.

2 Corinthians 11:16

Paul’s Sufferings for Christ

11:16 I say again, let no one think that I am a fool. ¹⁰  But if you do, then at least accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.

2 Corinthians 1:23

Why Paul Postponed His Visit

1:23 Now I appeal to God as my witness, ¹¹  that to spare ¹²  you I did not come again to Corinth. ¹³ 

2 Corinthians 2:1

2:1 So ¹⁴  I made up my own mind ¹⁵  not to pay you another painful visit. ¹⁶ 

2 Corinthians 5:15

5:15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised. ¹⁷ 

2 Corinthians 1:10

1:10 He ¹⁸  delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him ¹⁹  that ²⁰  he will deliver us yet again,

2 Corinthians 10:7

10:7 You are looking at outward appearances. ²¹  If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should reflect on this again: Just as he himself belongs to Christ, so too do we.

2 Corinthians 11:23

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.

2 Corinthians 8:4

8:4 begging us with great earnestness for the blessing and fellowship of helping ²²  the saints.

2 Corinthians 4:9

4:9 we are persecuted, but not abandoned; ²³  we are knocked down, ²⁴  but not destroyed,

2 Corinthians 11:6

11:6 And even if I am unskilled ²⁵  in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way.

2 Corinthians 12:19

12:19 Have you been thinking all this time ²⁶  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. ²⁷ 

2 Corinthians 8:17

8:17 because he not only accepted our request, but since he was very eager, ²⁸  he is coming ²⁹  to you of his own accord. ³⁰ 

2 Corinthians 1:14

1:14 just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours ³¹  in the day of the Lord Jesus. ³² 

2 Corinthians 7:2

7:2 Make room for us in your hearts; ³³  we have wronged no one, we have ruined no one, ³⁴  we have exploited no one. ³⁵ 

¹ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply (“No, we do not”) which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ at the end, “do we?”

² tn The present tense of συνιστάνομεν (sunistanomen) has been translated as a conative present.

³ tn Or “to boast about us.”

⁴ tn Or “who boast.”

⁵ tn Or “in what is seen.”

³ tn The words “I am afraid that” are not repeated in the Greek text from v. 20, but are needed for clarity.

⁴ tn Or “I will mourn over.”

⁴ tn The word “anyone” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

⁵ tn Grk “come again.”

⁶ tn Or “am foolish.”

⁷ tn Grk “I call upon God as witness against my soul.” Normally this implies an appeal for help (L&N 33.176).

⁸ tn Here φειδόμενος (feidomeno") has been translated as a telic participle.

⁹ sn Paul had promised to come again to visit (see 2 Cor 1:15, 24) but explains here why he had changed his plans.

⁸ tc Although usually δέ (de, “now”; found in א A C D¹ F G Ψ 0285 Ï lat) should take precedent over γάρ (gar) in textually disputed places in the corpus Paulinum, the credentials for γάρ here are not easily dismissed (Ì⁴⁶ B 0223 0243 33 1739 1881 al); here it is the preferred reading, albeit slightly.

⁹ tn Or “I decided this for myself.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “not to come to you again in sorrow.”

⁹ tn Or “but for him who died and was raised for them.”

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ tn Grk “deliver us, on whom we have set our hope.”

¹² 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.

¹¹ tn The phrase is close to a recognized idiom for judging based on outward appearances (L&N 30.120). Some translators see a distinction, however, and translate 2 Cor 10:7a as “Look at what is in front of your eyes,” that is, the obvious facts of the case (so NRSV).

¹² tn Or “of ministering to.”

¹³ tn Or “forsaken.”

¹⁴ tn Or “badly hurt.” It is possible to interpret καταβαλλόμενοι (kataballomenoi) here as “badly hurt”: “[we are] badly hurt, but not destroyed” (L&N 20.21).

¹⁴ sn Unskilled in speaking means not professionally trained as a rhetorician.

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ tn Or “for your strengthening”; Grk “for your edification.”

¹⁶ tn The comparative form of this adjective is used here with elative meaning.

¹⁷ tn This verb has been translated as an epistolary aorist.

¹⁸ tn Or “of his own free will.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “that we are your boast even as you are our boast.”

¹⁸ tc ‡ On the wording “the Lord Jesus” (τοῦ κυρίου ᾿Ιησοῦ, tou kuriou Ihsou) there is some variation in the extant witnesses: ἡμῶν (Jhmwn, “our”) is found after κυρίου in several significant witnesses (א B F G P 0121 0243 6 33 81 1739 1881 2464 al lat co); the pronoun is lacking from Ì^46vid A C D Ψ Ï. Although in Paul “our Lord Jesus Christ” is a common expression, “our Lord Jesus” is relatively infrequent (cf., e.g., Rom 16:20; 2 Cor 1:14; 1 Thess 2:19; 3:11, 13; 2 Thess 1:8, 12). “The Lord Jesus” occurs about as often as “our Lord Jesus” (cf. 1 Cor 11:23; 16:23; 2 Cor 4:14; 11:31; Eph 1:15; 1 Thess 4:2; 2 Thess 1:7; Phlm 5). Thus, on balance, since scribes would tend to expand on the text, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic. NA²⁷ places the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

¹⁸ tn The phrase “in your hearts” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

¹⁹ tn “We have ruined no one” may refer to financial loss (“we have caused no one to suffer financial loss”) but it may also refer to the undermining of faith (“we have corrupted no one’s faith,”). Both options are mentioned in L&N 20.23.

²⁰ tn Or “we have taken advantage of no one.”