Discovery Box2 Corinthians 10:1-6
Context10:1 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!) – 10:2 now I ask that when I am present I may not have to be bold with the confidence that (I expect) I will dare to use against some who consider us to be behaving 7 according to human standards. 8 10:3 For though we live 9 as human beings, 10 we do not wage war according to human standards, 11 10:4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, 12 but are made powerful by God 13 for tearing down strongholds. 14 We tear down arguments 15 10:5 and every arrogant obstacle 16 that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey 17 Christ. 10:6 We are also ready to punish every act of disobedience, 18 whenever your obedience is complete.
[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.”
[10:2] 7 tn Grk “consider us as walking.”
[10:2] 8 tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
[10:3] 10 tn Grk “in the flesh.”
[10:3] 11 tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
[10:4] 12 tn Grk “are not fleshly [weapons].” The repetition of the word “warfare” does not occur in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.
[10:4] 13 tn Or “but (are) divinely powerful,” “but they have divine power,” or “but are powerful for God’s [service]”; Grk “but are powerful to God.”
[10:4] 14 sn Ultimately Paul is referring here to the false arguments of his opponents, calling them figuratively “strongholds.” This Greek word (ὀχύρωμα, ocurwma) is used only here in the NT.
[10:4] 15 tn Or “speculations.”
[10:5] 16 tn The phrase “every arrogant obstacle” could be translated simply “all arrogance” (so L&N 88.207).
[10:5] 17 tn Grk “to the obedience of Christ”; but since Χριστοῦ (Cristou) is clearly an objective genitive here, it is better to translate “to make it obey Christ.”
