2 Corinthians 1:6

1:6 But if we are afflicted, ¹  it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer.

2 Corinthians 1:12

Paul Defends His Changed Plans

1:12 For our reason for confidence ²  is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives ³  and sincerity which are from God ⁴  – not by human wisdom ⁵  but by the grace of God – we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more ⁶  toward you.

2 Corinthians 2:3

2:3 And I wrote this very thing to you, ⁷  so that when I came ⁸  I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours.

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 ⁹  – came with glory, so that the Israelites ¹⁰  could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face ¹¹  (a glory ¹²  which was made ineffective), ¹³ 

2 Corinthians 7:7-8

7:7 We were encouraged ¹⁴  not only by his arrival, but also by the encouragement ¹⁵  you gave ¹⁶  him, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, ¹⁷  your deep concern ¹⁸  for me, so that I rejoiced more than ever. 7:8 For even if I made you sad ¹⁹  by my letter, ²⁰  I do not regret having written it ²¹  (even though I did regret it, ²²  for ²³  I see that my letter made you sad, ²⁴  though only for a short time).

2 Corinthians 7:14

7:14 For if I have boasted to him about anything concerning you, I have not been embarrassed by you, ²⁵  but just as everything we said to you was true, ²⁶  so our boasting to Titus about you ²⁷  has proved true as well.

2 Corinthians 10:12

Paul’s Mission

10:12 For we would not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. ²⁸ 

2 Corinthians 12:6

12:6 For even if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I would be telling ²⁹  the truth, but I refrain from this so that no one may regard ³⁰  me beyond what he sees in me or what he hears from me,

2 Corinthians 12:21

12:21 I am afraid that ³¹  when I come again, my God may humiliate me before you, and I will grieve for ³²  many of those who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practiced.

[1:6]  ¹ tn Or “are troubled.”

[1:12]  ² tn Or “for boasting.”

[1:12]  ³ tc Two viable variants exist at this place in the text: ἁγιότητι (Jagiothti, “holiness”) vs. ἁπλότητι (Japlothti, “pure motives”). A confusion of letters could well have produced the variant (TCGNT 507): In uncial script the words would have been written agiothti and aplothti. This, however, does not explain which reading created the other. Overall ἁπλότητι, though largely a Western-Byzantine reading (א² D F G Ï lat sy), is better suited to the context; it is also a Pauline word while ἁγιότης (Jagioth") is not. It also best explains the rise of the other variants, πραότητι (praothti, “gentleness”) and {σπλάγχνοις} (splancnoi", “compassion”). On the other hand, the external evidence in favor of ἁγιότητι is extremely strong (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B C K P Ψ 0121 0243 33 81 1739 1881 al co). This diversity of mss provides excellent evidence for authenticity, but because of the internal evidence listed above, ἁπλότητι is to be preferred, albeit only slightly.

[1:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “pure motives and sincerity of God.”

[1:12]  ⁵ tn Or “not by worldly wisdom.”

[1:12]  ⁶ tn Or “and especially.”

[2:3]  ³ tn The words “to you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[2:3]  ⁴ sn So that when I came. Regarding this still future visit by Paul, see 2 Cor 12:14; 13:1.

[3:7]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “so that the sons of Israel.”

[3:7]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.

[7:7]  ⁵ tn Because of the length and complexity of this Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the phrase “We were encouraged.”

[7:7]  ⁶ tn Or “comfort,” “consolation.”

[7:7]  ⁷ tn Grk “by the encouragement with which he was encouraged by you.” The passive construction was translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the repeated word “encouraged” was replaced in the translation by “gave” to avoid redundancy in the translation.

[7:7]  ⁸ tn Or “your grieving,” “your deep sorrow.”

[7:7]  ⁹ tn Or “your zeal.”

[7:8]  ⁶ tn Grk “if I grieved you.”

[7:8]  ⁷ sn My letter. Paul is referring to the “severe” letter mentioned in 2 Cor 2:4.

[7:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “I do not regret”; direct objects in Greek must often be supplied from the context. Here one could simply supply “it,” but since Paul is referring to the effects of his previous letter, clarity is improved if “having written it” is supplied.

[7:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “I did regret”; the direct object “it” must be supplied from the context.

[7:8]  ¹⁰ tc A few important mss (Ì^46c B D* it sa) lack γάρ (gar, “for”), while the majority of witnesses have it (א C D¹ F G Ψ 0243 33 1739 1881 Ï sy bo). Even though Ì^46* omits γάρ, it has the same sense (viz., a subordinate clause) because it reads the participle βλέπων (blepwn, “seeing”; the Vulgate does the same). A decision is difficult because although the overwhelming external evidence is on the side of the conjunction, the lack of γάρ is a significantly harder reading, for the whole clause is something of an anacoluthon. Without the conjunction, the sentence reads more harshly. This would fit with Paul’s “vehemence of spirit” (A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament, 435) that is found especially in 2 Corinthians and Galatians. However, the mss that omit the conjunction are prone to such tendencies at times. In this instance, the conjunction should probably stand.

[7:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “my letter grieved you.”

[7:14]  ⁷ tn Grk “I have not been put to shame”; the words “by you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[7:14]  ⁸ tn Grk “just as we spoke everything to you in truth.”

[7:14]  ⁹ tn The words “about you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[10:12]  ⁸ tn Or “they are unintelligent.”

[12:6]  ⁹ tn Or “speaking.”

[12:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “may think of.”

[12:21]  ¹⁰ tn The words “I am afraid that” are not repeated in the Greek text from v. 20, but are needed for clarity.

[12:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “I will mourn over.”