2 Corinthians 10:1

Paul’s Authority from the Lord

10:1 Now I, Paul, appeal to you ¹  personally ²  by the meekness and gentleness ³  of Christ (I who am meek ⁴  when present among ⁵  you, but am full of courage ⁶  toward you when away!) –

Galatians 5:22

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit ⁷  is love, ⁸  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ⁹ 

Titus 3:2

3:2 They must not slander ¹⁰  anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people.

James 3:17

3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, ¹¹  full of mercy and good fruit, ¹²  impartial, and not hypocritical. ¹³ 

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

[10:1]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “who lack confidence.”

[10:1]  ⁵ tn Or “when face to face with.”

[10:1]  ⁶ tn Or “but bold.”

[5:22]  ⁷ tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

[5:22]  ⁸ sn Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.

[5:22]  ⁹ tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

[3:2]  ¹³ tn Or “discredit,” “damage the reputation of.”

[3:17]  ¹⁹ tn Or “willing to yield,” “open to persuasion.”

[3:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit.”

[3:17]  ²¹ tn Or “sincere.”