2 Corinthians 11:26-33

11:26 I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, ¹  in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, ²  in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers, 11:27 in hard work and toil, ³  through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing. ⁴  11:28 Apart from other things, ⁵  there is the daily pressure on me of my anxious concern ⁶  for all the churches. 11:29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, ⁷  and I do not burn with indignation? 11:30 If I must boast, ⁸  I will boast about the things that show my weakness. ⁹  11:31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying. 11:32 In Damascus, the governor ¹⁰  under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus ¹¹  in order to arrest ¹²  me, 11:33 but I was let down in a rope-basket ¹³  through a window in the city wall, and escaped his hands.

[11:26]  ¹ tn Or “bandits.” The word normally refers more to highwaymen (“robbers”) but can also refer to insurrectionists or revolutionaries (“bandits”).

[11:26]  ² tn Or “desert.”

[11:27]  ³ tn The two different words for labor are translated “in hard work and toil” by L&N 42.48.

[11:27]  ⁴ tn Grk “in cold and nakedness.” Paul does not mean complete nakedness, however, which would have been repugnant to a Jew; he refers instead to the lack of sufficient clothing, especially in cold weather. A related word is used to 1 Cor 4:11, also in combination with experiencing hunger and thirst.

[11:28]  ⁵ sn Apart from other things. Paul refers here either (1) to the external sufferings just mentioned, or (2) he refers to other things he has left unmentioned.

[11:28]  ⁶ tn “Anxious concern,” so translated in L&N 25.224.

[11:29]  ⁷ tn Or “who is caused to stumble.”

[11:30]  ⁹ tn Grk “If boasting is necessary.”

[11:30]  ¹⁰ tn Or “about the things related to my weakness.”

[11:32]  ¹¹ tn Grk “ethnarch.”

[11:32]  ¹² tn Grk “the city of the Damascenes.”

[11:32]  ¹³ tn Or “to seize,” “to catch.”

[11:33]  ¹³ tn In Acts 9:25 the same basket used in Paul’s escape is called a σπυρίς (spuri"), a basket larger than a κόφινος (kofinos). It was very likely made out of rope, so the translation “rope-basket” is used.