2 Corinthians 4:5

4:5 For we do not proclaim ¹  ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves ²  for Jesus’ sake.

2 Corinthians 4:14

4:14 We do so ³  because we know that the one who raised up Jesus ⁴  will also raise us up with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence.

2 Corinthians 5:8

5:8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away ⁵  from the body and at home with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 11:17

11:17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence ⁶  I do not say the way the Lord would. ⁷  Instead it is, as it were, foolishness.

[4:5]  ¹ tn Or “preach.”

[4:5]  ² tn Traditionally, “servants.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[4:14]  ³ tn Grk “speak, because.” A new sentence was started here in the translation, with the words “We do so” supplied to preserve the connection with the preceding statement.

[4:14]  ⁴ tc ‡ Several important witnesses (א C D F G Ψ 1881), as well as the Byzantine text, add κύριον (kurion) here, changing the reading to “the Lord Jesus.” Although the external evidence in favor of the shorter reading is slim, the witnesses are important, early, and diverse (Ì⁴⁶ B [0243 33] 629 [630] 1175* [1739] pc r sa). Very likely scribes with pietistic motives added the word κύριον, as they were prone to do, thus compounding this title for the Lord.

[5:8]  ⁵ tn Or “be absent.”

[11:17]  ⁷ tn 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]  ⁸ tn Or “say with the Lord’s authority.”