2 Corinthians 5:14-17

5:14 For the love of Christ ¹  controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ ²  died for all; therefore all have died. 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. ³  5:16 So then from now on we acknowledge ⁴  no one from an outward human point of view. ⁵  Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, ⁶  now we do not know him in that way any longer. 5:17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away ⁷  – look, what is new ⁸  has come! ⁹ 

2 Corinthians 5:1

Living by Faith, Not by Sight

5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, ¹⁰  is dismantled, ¹¹  we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens.

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 ¹²  in the day of the Lord Jesus. ¹³ 

2 Corinthians 4:1-3

Paul’s Perseverance in Ministry

4:1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, ¹⁴  we do not become discouraged. ¹⁵  4:2 But we have rejected ¹⁶  shameful hidden deeds, ¹⁷  not behaving ¹⁸  with deceptiveness ¹⁹  or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God. 4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing,

¹ tn The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ (Jh agaph tou Cristou, “the love of Christ”) could be translated as either objective genitive (“our love for Christ”) or subjective genitive (“Christ’s love for us”). Either is grammatically possible, but with the reference to Christ’s death for all in the following clauses, a subjective genitive (“Christ’s love for us”) is more likely.

² tn Grk “one”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Or “but for him who died and was raised for them.”

⁴ tn Grk “we know.”

⁵ tn Grk “no one according to the flesh.”

⁶ tn Grk “we have known Christ according to the flesh.”

⁷ tn Grk “old things have passed away.”

⁸ tc Most mss have the words τὰ πάντα (ta panta, “all things”; cf. KJV “behold, all things are become new”), some after καίνα (kaina, “new”; D² K L P Ψ 104 326 945 2464 pm) and others before it (6 33 81 614 630 1241 1505 1881 pm). The reading without τὰ πάντα, however, has excellent support from both the Western and Alexandrian texttypes (Ì⁴⁶ א B C D* F G 048 0243 365 629 1175 1739 pc co), and the different word order of the phrase which includes it (“all things new” or “new all things”) in the ms tradition indicates its secondary character. This secondary addition may have taken place because of assimilation to τὰ δὲ πάντα (ta de panta, “and all [these] things”) that begins the following verse.

⁹ tn Grk “new things have come [about].”

¹⁰ sn The expression the tent we live in refers to “our earthly house, our body.” Paul uses the metaphor of the physical body as a house or tent, the residence of the immaterial part of a person.

¹¹ tn Or “destroyed.”

¹² tn Grk “that we are your boast even as you are our boast.”

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ tn Or “we do not lose heart.”

¹⁶ tn L&N 13.156; the word can also mean “to assert opposition to,” thus here “we have denounced” (L&N 33.220).

¹⁷ tn Grk “the hidden things [deeds] of shame”; here αἰσχύνης (aiscunh") has been translated as an attributive genitive.

¹⁸ tn Or “not conducting ourselves”; Grk “not walking” (a common NT idiom for conduct, way of life, or behavior).

¹⁹ tn Or “craftiness.”