2 Corinthians 1:10

1:10 He ¹  delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him ²  that ³  he will deliver us yet again,

2 Corinthians 2:16

2:16 to the latter an odor ⁴  from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? ⁵ 

2 Corinthians 1:9

1:9 Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, ⁶  so that we would not trust in ourselves ⁷  but in God who raises the dead.

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 ⁸  – came with glory, so that the Israelites ⁹  could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face ¹⁰  (a glory ¹¹  which was made ineffective), ¹² 

[1:10]  ¹ 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.

[1:10]  ² tn Grk “deliver us, on whom we have set our hope.”

[1:10]  ³ 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.

[2:16]  ⁴ tn The same Greek word (ὀσμή, osmh) translated “odor” here (in relation to the stench of death) has been translated “fragrance” in 2:14 and in the next phrase of the present verse. The word itself can describe a smell or odor either agreeable or disagreeable depending on the context (L&N 79.45).

[2:16]  ⁵ sn These things refer to the things Paul is doing in his apostolic ministry.

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “we ourselves had the sentence of death within ourselves.” Here ἀπόκριμα (apokrima) is being used figuratively; no actual official verdict had been given, but in light of all the difficulties that Paul and his colleagues had suffered, it seemed to them as though such an official verdict had been rendered against them (L&N 56.26).

[1:9]  ⁸ tn Or “might not put confidence in ourselves.”

[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.