Discovery Box2 Corinthians 2:13-17
Context2:13 I had no relief in my spirit, 1 because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye to them 2 and set out 3 for Macedonia.
2:14 But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession 4 in Christ 5 and who makes known 6 through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of him in every place. 2:15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing – 2:16 to the latter an odor 7 from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 8 2:17 For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit, 9 but we are speaking in Christ before 10 God as persons of sincerity, 11 as persons sent from God.
[2:13] 1 tn Or “I had no peace of mind.”
[2:13] 2 tn Or “I took my leave of them.”
[2:13] 3 tn Since this refers to the outset of a journey, the aorist ἐξῆλθον (exhlqon) is taken ingressively.
[2:14] 4 tn Or “who always causes us to triumph.”
[2:14] 5 tn Or “in the Messiah.”
[2:16] 7 tn The same Greek word (ὀσμή, osmh) translated “odor” here (in relation to the stench of death) has been translated “fragrance” in 2:14 and in the next phrase of the present verse. The word itself can describe a smell or odor either agreeable or disagreeable depending on the context (L&N 79.45).
[2:16] 8 sn These things refer to the things Paul is doing in his apostolic ministry.
[2:17] 9 tn The participle καπηλεύοντες (kaphleuonte") refers to those engaged in retail business, but with the negative connotations of deceptiveness and greed – “to peddle for profit,” “to huckster” (L&N 57.202). In the translation a noun form (“hucksters”) has been used in combination with the English verb “peddle…for profit” to convey the negative connotations of this term.
