2 Corinthians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, ²  with all the saints who are in all Achaia. ³ 

2 Corinthians 1:4

1:4 who comforts us in all our troubles ⁴  so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble ⁵  with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

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. ⁶ 

2 Corinthians 3:7

The Greater Glory of the Spirit’s Ministry

3:7 But if the ministry that produced death – carved in letters on stone tablets ⁷  – came with glory, so that the Israelites ⁸  could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face ⁹  (a glory ¹⁰  which was made ineffective), ¹¹ 

2 Corinthians 5:10

5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, ¹²  so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil. ¹³ 

2 Corinthians 9:13

9:13 Through the evidence ¹⁴  of this service ¹⁵  they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing ¹⁶  with them and with everyone.

2 Corinthians 10:1

Paul’s Authority from the Lord

10:1 Now I, Paul, appeal to you ¹⁷  personally ¹⁸  by the meekness and gentleness ¹⁹  of Christ (I who am meek ²⁰  when present among ²¹  you, but am full of courage ²²  toward you when away!) –

2 Corinthians 13:10

13:10 Because of this I am writing these things while absent, so that when I arrive ²³  I may not have to deal harshly with you ²⁴  by using my authority – the Lord gave it to me for building up, not for tearing down!

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ² map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[1:1]  ³ tn Or “are throughout Achaia.”

[1:4]  ⁴ tn Or “our trials”; traditionally, “our affliction.” The term θλῖψις (qliyi") refers to trouble (including persecution) that involves direct suffering (L&N 22.2).

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Or “any trials”; traditionally, “any affliction.”

[2:4]  ⁷ tn Or “the love that I have in great measure for you.”

[3:7]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “on stones”; but since this is clearly an allusion to the tablets of the Decalogue (see 2 Cor 3:3) the word “tablets” was supplied in the translation to make the connection clear.

[3:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “so that the sons of Israel.”

[3:7]  ¹² sn The glory of his face. When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the tablets of the Decalogue, the people were afraid to approach him because his face was so radiant (Exod 34:29-30).

[3:7]  ¹³ tn The words “a glory” are not in the Greek text, but the reference to “glory” has been repeated from the previous clause for clarity.

[3:7]  ¹⁴ tn Or “which was transitory.” Traditionally this phrase is translated as “which was fading away.” The verb καταργέω in the corpus Paulinum uniformly has the meaning “to render inoperative, ineffective”; the same nuance is appropriate here. The glory of Moses’ face was rendered ineffective by the veil Moses wore. For discussion of the meaning of this verb in this context, see S. J. Hafemann, Paul, Moses, and the History of Israel (WUNT 81), 301-13. A similar translation has been adopted in the two other occurrences of the verb in this paragraph in vv. 11 and 13.

[5:10]  ¹³ sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a common item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city. Use of the term in reference to Christ’s judgment would be familiar to Paul’s 1st century readers.

[5:10]  ¹⁴ tn Or “whether good or bad.”

[9:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “proof,” or perhaps “testing” (NRSV).

[9:13]  ¹⁷ tn Or “ministry.”

[9:13]  ¹⁸ tn Or “your partnership”; Grk “your fellowship.”

[10:1]  ¹⁹ tn The Greek pronoun (“you”) is plural.

[10:1]  ²⁰ tn The word “personally” is supplied to reflect the force of the Greek intensive pronoun αὐτός (autos) at the beginning of the verse.

[10:1]  ²¹ tn Or “leniency and clemency.” D. Walker, “Paul’s Offer of Leniency of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1): Populist Ideology and Rhetoric in a Pauline Letter Fragment (2 Cor 10:1-13:10)” (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1998), argues for this alternative translation for three main reasons: (1) When the two Greek nouns πραΰτης and ἐπιείκεια (prauth" and ejpieikeia) are used together, 90% of the time the nuance is “leniency and clemency.” (2) “Leniency and clemency” has a military connotation, which is precisely what appears in the following verses. (3) 2 Cor 10-13 speaks of Paul’s sparing use of his authority, which points to the nuance of “leniency and clemency.”

[10:1]  ²² tn Or “who lack confidence.”

[10:1]  ²³ tn Or “when face to face with.”

[10:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “but bold.”

[13:10]  ²² tn Grk “when I am present,” but in the context of Paul’s third (upcoming) visit to Corinth, this is better translated as “when I arrive.”

[13:10]  ²³ tn The words “with you” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.