2 Corinthians 6:11--7:16

6:11 We have spoken freely to you, ¹  Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide to you. 6:12 Our affection for you is not restricted, ²  but you are restricted in your affections for us. 6:13 Now as a fair exchange – I speak as to my ³  children – open wide your hearts to us ⁴  also.

Unequal Partners

6:14 Do not become partners ⁵  with those who do not believe, for what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 6:15 And what agreement does Christ have with Beliar? ⁶  Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever? 6:16 And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are ⁷  the temple of the living God, just as God said, “I will live in them ⁸  and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” ⁹  6:17 Therefore “come out from their midst, and be separate,” says the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing, ¹⁰  and I will welcome ¹¹  you, ¹²  6:18 and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” ¹³  says the All-Powerful Lord. ¹⁴ 

Self-Purification

7:1 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves ¹⁵  from everything that could defile the body ¹⁶  and the spirit, and thus accomplish ¹⁷  holiness out of reverence for God. ¹⁸  7:2 Make room for us in your hearts; ¹⁹  we have wronged no one, we have ruined no one, ²⁰  we have exploited no one. ²¹  7:3 I do not say this to condemn you, for I told you before ²²  that you are in our hearts so that we die together and live together with you. ²³ 

A Letter That Caused Sadness

7:4 I have great confidence in you; I take great pride ²⁴  on your behalf. I am filled with encouragement; ²⁵  I am overflowing with joy in the midst of ²⁶  all our suffering. 7:5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our body ²⁷  had no rest at all, but we were troubled in every way – struggles from the outside, fears from within. 7:6 But God, who encourages ²⁸  the downhearted, encouraged ²⁹  us by the arrival of Titus. 7:7 We were encouraged ³⁰  not only by his arrival, but also by the encouragement ³¹  you gave ³²  him, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, ³³  your deep concern ³⁴  for me, so that I rejoiced more than ever. 7:8 For even if I made you sad ³⁵  by my letter, ³⁶  I do not regret having written it ³⁷  (even though I did regret it, ³⁸  for ³⁹  I see that my letter made you sad, ⁴⁰  though only for a short time). 7:9 Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad, ⁴¹  but because you were made sad to the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God intended, ⁴²  so that you were not harmed ⁴³  in any way by us. 7:10 For sadness as intended by God produces a repentance that leads to salvation, leaving no regret, but worldly sadness brings about death. 7:11 For see what this very thing, this sadness ⁴⁴  as God intended, has produced in you: what eagerness, what defense of yourselves, ⁴⁵  what indignation, ⁴⁶  what alarm, what longing, what deep concern, ⁴⁷  what punishment! ⁴⁸  In everything you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 7:12 So then, even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong, or on account of the one who was wronged, but to reveal to you your eagerness on our behalf ⁴⁹  before God. 7:13 Therefore we have been encouraged. And in addition to our own encouragement, we rejoiced even more at the joy of Titus, because all of you have refreshed his spirit. ⁵⁰  7:14 For if I have boasted to him about anything concerning you, I have not been embarrassed by you, ⁵¹  but just as everything we said to you was true, ⁵²  so our boasting to Titus about you ⁵³  has proved true as well. 7:15 And his affection for you is much greater ⁵⁴  when he remembers the obedience of you all, how you welcomed him with fear and trembling. 7:16 I rejoice because in everything I am fully confident in you.

[6:11]  ¹ tn Grk “our mouth has been open to you,” an idiom for openness in communication.

[6:12]  ² tn Grk “You are not restricted by us.”

[6:13]  ³ tn The word “my” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[6:13]  ⁴ tn The words “to us” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[6:14]  ⁵ tn Or “Do not be mismatched.”

[6:15]  ⁶ sn The Greek term Βελιάρ (Beliar) is a spelling variant for Βελιάλ (Belial, see Judg 20:13 LXX). It occurs only here in the NT. Beliar is a reference to Satan.

[6:16]  ⁷ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (Ì⁴⁶ א² C D² F G Ψ 0209 Ï lat sy Tert), read ὑμεῖς…ἐστε (Jumei"…este, “you are”) instead of ἡμεῖς…ἐσμεν (Jhmei"…esmen, “we are”) here, but several other early and important mss (א* B D* L P 0243 6 33 81 326 365 1175 1739 1881 2464 co Cl Or) have ἡμεῖς…ἐσμεν. The external evidence is somewhat in favor of the first person pronoun and verb; the internal evidence weighs in even stronger. In light of the parallel in 1 Cor 3:16, where Paul uses ἐστε (“you are the temple of God”), as well as the surrounding context here in which the second person verb or pronoun is used in vv. 14, 17, and 18, the second person reading seems obviously motivated. The first person reading can explain the rise of the other reading, but the reverse is not as easily done. Consequently, the first person reading of ἡμεῖς…ἐσμεν has all the credentials of authenticity.

[6:16]  ⁸ tn Or “live among them,” “live with them.”

[6:16]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Lev 26:12; also similar to Jer 32:38; Ezek 37:27.

[6:17]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 52:11.

[6:17]  ¹¹ tn Or “will receive.”

[6:17]  ¹² sn A paraphrased quotation from Ezek 20:41.

[6:18]  ¹³ sn A paraphrased quotation from 2 Sam 7:14 and Isa 43:6.

[6:18]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally, “the Lord Almighty.” BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…κύριος π. (oft. LXX) 2 Cor 6:18.”

[7:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “purify ourselves.”

[7:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “from every defilement of the flesh.”

[7:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “accomplishing.” The participle has been translated as a finite verb due to considerations of contemporary English style, and “thus” has been supplied to indicate that it represents a result of the previous cleansing.

[7:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “in the fear of God.”

[7:2]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase “in your hearts” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[7:2]  ²⁰ tn “We have ruined no one” may refer to financial loss (“we have caused no one to suffer financial loss”) but it may also refer to the undermining of faith (“we have corrupted no one’s faith,”). Both options are mentioned in L&N 20.23.

[7:2]  ²¹ tn Or “we have taken advantage of no one.”

[7:3]  ²² sn See 2 Cor 1:4-7.

[7:3]  ²³ tn The words “with you” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[7:4]  ²⁴ tn Grk “great is my boasting.”

[7:4]  ²⁵ tn Or “comfort.”

[7:4]  ²⁶ tn Grk “I am overflowing with joy in all our suffering”; the words “in the midst of” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to clarify that Paul is not rejoicing in the suffering itself, but in his relationship with the Corinthians in the midst of all his suffering.

[7:5]  ²⁷ tn Grk “our flesh.”

[7:6]  ²⁸ tn Or “comforts,” “consoles.”

[7:6]  ²⁹ tn Or “comforted,” “consoled.”

[7:7]  ³⁰ tn Because of the length and complexity of this Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the phrase “We were encouraged.”

[7:7]  ³¹ tn Or “comfort,” “consolation.”

[7:7]  ³² tn Grk “by the encouragement with which he was encouraged by you.” The passive construction was translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the repeated word “encouraged” was replaced in the translation by “gave” to avoid redundancy in the translation.

[7:7]  ³³ tn Or “your grieving,” “your deep sorrow.”

[7:7]  ³⁴ tn Or “your zeal.”

[7:8]  ³⁵ tn Grk “if I grieved you.”

[7:8]  ³⁶ sn My letter. Paul is referring to the “severe” letter mentioned in 2 Cor 2:4.

[7:8]  ³⁷ tn Grk “I do not regret”; direct objects in Greek must often be supplied from the context. Here one could simply supply “it,” but since Paul is referring to the effects of his previous letter, clarity is improved if “having written it” is supplied.

[7:8]  ³⁸ tn Grk “I did regret”; the direct object “it” must be supplied from the context.

[7:8]  ³⁹ tc A few important mss (Ì^46c B D* it sa) lack γάρ (gar, “for”), while the majority of witnesses have it (א C D¹ F G Ψ 0243 33 1739 1881 Ï sy bo). Even though Ì^46* omits γάρ, it has the same sense (viz., a subordinate clause) because it reads the participle βλέπων (blepwn, “seeing”; the Vulgate does the same). A decision is difficult because although the overwhelming external evidence is on the side of the conjunction, the lack of γάρ is a significantly harder reading, for the whole clause is something of an anacoluthon. Without the conjunction, the sentence reads more harshly. This would fit with Paul’s “vehemence of spirit” (A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament, 435) that is found especially in 2 Corinthians and Galatians. However, the mss that omit the conjunction are prone to such tendencies at times. In this instance, the conjunction should probably stand.

[7:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “my letter grieved you.”

[7:9]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “were grieved” (so also twice later in the verse).

[7:9]  ⁴² tn Grk “corresponding to God,” that is, corresponding to God’s will (κατὰ θεόν, kata qeon). The same phrase occurs in vv. 10 and 11.

[7:9]  ⁴³ tn Grk “so that you did not suffer loss.”

[7:11]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “this very thing, to be grieved.”

[7:11]  ⁴⁵ tn The words “of yourselves” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[7:11]  ⁴⁶ sn What indignation refers to the Corinthians’ indignation at the offender.

[7:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “what zeal.”

[7:11]  ⁴⁸ sn That is, punishment for the offender.

[7:12]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “but in order that your eagerness on our behalf might be revealed to you.”

[7:13]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “all of you have put his mind at ease.”

[7:14]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “I have not been put to shame”; the words “by you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[7:14]  ⁵² tn Grk “just as we spoke everything to you in truth.”

[7:14]  ⁵³ tn The words “about you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[7:15]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “is all the more.”