2 Corinthians 11:1-20

Context

Paul and His Opponents

11:1 I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me! 11:2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband,¹ to present you as a pure² virgin to Christ. 11:3 But I am afraid that³ just as the serpent⁴ deceived Eve by his treachery,⁵ your minds may be led astray⁶ from a sincere and pure⁷ devotion to Christ. 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims⁸ another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed,⁹ or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received,¹⁰ or a different gospel than the one you accepted,¹¹ you put up with it well enough!¹² 11:5 For I consider myself not at all inferior to those “super-apostles.”¹³ 11:6 And even if I am unskilled¹⁴ in speaking, yet I am certainly not so in knowledge. Indeed, we have made this plain to you in everything in every way. 11:7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself¹⁵ so that you could be exalted, because I proclaimed¹⁶ the gospel of God to you free of charge? 11:8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so that I could serve you!¹⁷ 11:9 When¹⁸ I was with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia fully supplied my needs.¹⁹ I²⁰ kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. 11:10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine²¹ will not be stopped²² in the regions of Achaia. 11:11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!²³ 11:12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals²⁴ in the things they boast about. 11:13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful²⁵ workers, disguising themselves²⁶ as apostles of Christ. 11:14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself²⁷ as an angel of light. 11:15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves²⁸ as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions.²⁹

Paul’s Sufferings for Christ

11:16 I say again, let no one think that I am a fool.³⁰ But if you do, then at least accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 11:17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence³¹ I do not say the way the Lord would.³² Instead it is, as it were, foolishness. 11:18 Since many³³ are boasting according to human standards,³⁴ I too will boast. 11:19 For since you are so wise, you put up with³⁵ fools gladly. 11:20 For you put up with³⁶ it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly³⁷ toward you, if someone strikes you in the face.

[11:2] ¹tn That is, to Christ.

[11:2] ²tn Or “chaste.”

[11:3] ³tn Grk “I fear lest somehow.”

[11:3] ⁴tn Or “the snake.”

[11:3] ⁵tn Or “craftiness.”

[11:3] ⁶tn Or “corrupted,” “seduced.”

[11:3] ⁷tc Although most mss (א² H Ψ 0121 0243 1739 1881 Ï) lack “and pure” (καὶ τῆς ἁγνότητος, kai th" Jagnothto"; Grk “and purity”) several important and early witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א* B D^[2] F G 33 81 104 pc ar r co) retain these words. Their presence in such mss across such a wide geographical distribution argues for their authenticity. The omission from the majority of mss can be explained by haplography, since the -τητος ending of ἁγνότητος is identical to the ending of ἁπλότητος (Japlothto", “sincerity”) three words back (ἁπλότητος καὶ τῆς ἁγνότητος); further, since the meanings of “sincerity” and “purity” are similar they might seem redundant. A copyist would scarcely notice the omission because Paul’s statement still makes sense without “and from purity.”

[11:4] ⁸tn Or “preaches.”

[11:4] ⁹tn Grk “another Jesus whom we have not proclaimed.”

[11:4] ¹⁰tn Grk “a different spirit which you did not receive.”

[11:4] ¹¹tn Grk “a different gospel which you did not accept.”

[11:4] ¹²tn Or “you endure it very well.”

[11:5] ¹³tn The implicit irony in Paul’s remark is brought out well by the TEV: “I do not think that I am the least bit inferior to those very special so-called ‘apostles’ of yours!”

[11:6] ¹⁴sn Unskilled in speaking means not professionally trained as a rhetorician.

[11:7] ¹⁵sn Paul is referring to humbling himself to the point of doing manual labor to support himself.

[11:7] ¹⁶tn Or “preached.”

[11:8] ¹⁷sn That is, serve them free of charge (cf. the end of v. 7).

[11:9] ¹⁸tn Grk “you, and when.” A new sentence was started here in the translation.

[11:9] ¹⁹tn If the participle ἐλθόντες (elqonte") is taken as temporal rather than adjectival, the translation would be, “for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, fully supplied my needs” (similar to NASB).

[11:9] ²⁰tn Grk “needs, and I kept.” A new sentence was started here in the translation.

[11:10] ²¹tn That is, that Paul offers the gospel free of charge to the Corinthians (see 2 Cor 11:7).

[11:10] ²²tn Or “silenced.”

[11:11] ²³tn Grk “God knows!” The words “I do” are supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[11:12] ²⁴tn Grk “an opportunity, so that they may be found just like us.”

[11:13] ²⁵tn Or “dishonest.”

[11:13] ²⁶tn Or “workers, masquerading.”

[11:14] ²⁷tn Or “Satan himself masquerades.”

[11:15] ²⁸tn Or “also masquerade.”

[11:15] ²⁹tn Or “their works.”

[11:16] ³⁰tn Or “am foolish.”

[11:17] ³¹tn Grk “with this confidence of boasting.” The genitive καυχήσεως (kauchsew") has been translated as an attributed genitive (the noun in the genitive gives an attribute of the noun modified).

[11:17] ³²tn Or “say with the Lord’s authority.”

[11:18] ³³sn Many is a reference to Paul’s opponents.

[11:18] ³⁴tn Grk “according to the flesh.”

[11:19] ³⁵tn Or “you tolerate.”

[11:20] ³⁶tn Or “you tolerate.”

[11:20] ³⁷tn See L&N 88.212.