2 Corinthians 3:11

3:11 For if what was made ineffective ¹  came with ²  glory, how much more has what remains ³  come in glory!

2 Corinthians 4:1

Paul’s Perseverance in Ministry

4:1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, ⁴  we do not become discouraged. ⁵ 

2 Corinthians 8:3

8:3 For I testify, they gave according to their means and beyond their means. They did so voluntarily, ⁶ 

2 Corinthians 8:17

8:17 because he not only accepted our request, but since he was very eager, ⁷  he is coming ⁸  to you of his own accord. ⁹ 

2 Corinthians 8:21

8:21 For we are concerned about what is right not only before the Lord but also before men. ¹⁰ 

2 Corinthians 11:1

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!

2 Corinthians 11:30

11:30 If I must boast, ¹¹  I will boast about the things that show my weakness. ¹² 

2 Corinthians 11:33

11:33 but I was let down in a rope-basket ¹³  through a window in the city wall, and escaped his hands.

2 Corinthians 12:4

12:4 was caught up into paradise ¹⁴  and heard things too sacred to be put into words, ¹⁵  things that a person ¹⁶  is not permitted to speak.

¹ tn Or “what was fading away.” See note on “which was made ineffective” in v. 7.

² tn Or “through” (διά, dia).

³ tn Or “what is permanent.”

⁴ tn Grk “just as we have been shown mercy”; ἠλεήθημεν (hlehqhmen) has been translated as a “divine passive” which is a circumlocution for God as the active agent. For clarity this was converted to an active construction with God as subject in the translation.

⁵ tn Or “we do not lose heart.”

⁷ tn Or “spontaneously.”

¹⁰ tn The comparative form of this adjective is used here with elative meaning.

¹¹ tn This verb has been translated as an epistolary aorist.

¹² tn Or “of his own free will.”

¹³ sn An allusion to Prov 3:4.

¹⁶ tn Grk “If boasting is necessary.”

¹⁷ tn Or “about the things related to my weakness.”

¹⁹ tn In Acts 9:25 the same basket used in Paul’s escape is called a σπυρίς (spuri"), a basket larger than a κόφινος (kofinos). It was very likely made out of rope, so the translation “rope-basket” is used.

²² sn In the NT, paradise is mentioned three times. In Luke 23:43 it refers to the abode of the righteous dead. In Rev 2:7 it refers to the restoration of Edenic paradise predicted in Isa 51:3 and Ezek 36:35. The reference here in 2 Cor 12:4 is probably to be translated as parallel to the mention of the “third heaven” in v. 2. Assuming that the “first heaven” would be atmospheric heaven (the sky) and “second heaven” the more distant stars and planets, “third heaven” would refer to the place where God dwells. This is much more likely than some variation on the seven heavens mentioned in the pseudepigraphic book 2 Enoch and in other nonbiblical and rabbinic works.

²³ tn Or “things that cannot be put into words.”

²⁴ tn Grk “a man.”