2 Corinthians 11:1-21

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. 11:21 (To my disgrace³⁸ I must say that we were too weak for that!)³⁹ But whatever anyone else dares to boast about⁴⁰ (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing.⁴¹

[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.

[11:21] ³⁸tn Or “my shame.”

[11:21] ³⁹sn It seems best, in context, to see the statement we were too weak for that as a parenthetical and ironic comment by Paul on his physical condition (weakness or sickness) while he was with the Corinthians (cf. 2 Cor 12:7-10; Gal 4:15).

[11:21] ⁴⁰tn The words “to boast about” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, and this phrase serves as the direct object of the preceding verb.

[11:21] ⁴¹tn Grk “I also dare”; the words “to boast about the same thing” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, and this phrase serves as the direct object of the preceding verb.