2 Corinthians 6:12-13

6:12 Our affection for you is not restricted, ¹  but you are restricted in your affections for us. 6:13 Now as a fair exchange – I speak as to my ²  children – open wide your hearts to us ³  also.

2 Corinthians 6:2

6:2 For he says, “I heard you at the acceptable time, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” ⁴  Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation!

2 Corinthians 13:1

Paul’s Third Visit to Corinth

13:1 This is the third time I am coming to visit ⁵  you. By the testimony ⁶  of two or three witnesses every matter will be established. ⁷ 

2 Corinthians 1:1-4

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁸  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, ⁹  with all the saints who are in all Achaia. ¹⁰  1:2 Grace and peace to you ¹¹  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Thanksgiving for God’s Comfort

1:3 Blessed is ¹²  the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 1:4 who comforts us in all our troubles ¹³  so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble ¹⁴  with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁵  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, ¹⁶  with all the saints who are in all Achaia. ¹⁷ 

2 Corinthians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁸  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, ¹⁹  with all the saints who are in all Achaia. ²⁰ 

Colossians 4:8-18

4:8 I sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing ²¹  and that he may encourage your hearts. 4:9 I sent him ²²  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ²³  They will tell ²⁴  you about everything here.

4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him). 4:11 And Jesus who is called Justus also sends greetings. In terms of Jewish converts, ²⁵  these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ²⁶  of Christ, ²⁷  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ²⁸  in all the will of God. 4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ²⁹  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 4:14 Our dear friend Luke the physician and Demas greet you. 4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters ³⁰  who are in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets in her ³¹  house. ³²  4:16 And after ³³  you have read this letter, have it read ³⁴  to the church of Laodicea. In turn, read the letter from Laodicea ³⁵  as well. 4:17 And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry you received in the Lord.”

4:18 I, Paul, write this greeting by my own hand. ³⁶  Remember my chains. ³⁷  Grace be with you. ³⁸ 

[6:12]  ¹ tn Grk “You are not restricted by us.”

[6:13]  ² tn The word “my” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[6:13]  ³ tn The words “to us” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[6:2]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 49:8.

[13:1]  ⁵ tn The word “visit” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[13:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “By the mouth.”

[13:1]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 19:15 (also quoted in Matt 18:16; 1 Tim 5:19).

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ⁹ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[1:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “are throughout Achaia.”

[1:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:3]  ¹² tn There is no verb in the Greek text; either the optative (“be”) or the indicative (“is”) can be supplied. The meaning of the term εὐλογητός (euloghtos) and the author’s intention at this point in the epistle must both come into play to determine which is the preferred nuance. εὐλογητός as an adjective can mean either that one is praised or that one is blessed, that is, in a place of favor and benefit. The meaning “blessed” would be more naturally paired with an indicative verb and would suggest that blessedness is an intrinsic part of God’s character. The meaning “praised” would be more naturally paired with an optative verb and would suggest that God ought to be praised. Pauline style in the epistles generally moves from statements to obligations, expressing the reality first and then the believer’s necessary response. When considered as a whole, although a decision is difficult, the general Pauline style of beginning with statements and moving to obligations argues for the indicative. Cf. also Eph 1:3; 1 Pet 1:3.

[1:4]  ¹³ tn Or “our trials”; traditionally, “our affliction.” The term θλῖψις (qliyi") refers to trouble (including persecution) that involves direct suffering (L&N 22.2).

[1:4]  ¹⁴ tn Or “any trials”; traditionally, “any affliction.”

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹⁶ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[1:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “are throughout Achaia.”

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹⁹ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[1:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “are throughout Achaia.”

[4:8]  ²¹ tn Grk “the things concerning us.”

[4:9]  ²² tn The Greek sentence continues v. 9 with the phrase “with Onesimus,” but this is awkward in English, so the verb “I sent” was inserted and a new sentence started at the beginning of v. 9 in the translation.

[4:9]  ²³ tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ²⁴ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”

[4:11]  ²⁵ tn Grk “those of the circumcision.” The verse as a whole is difficult to translate because it is unclear whether Paul is saying (1) that the only people working with him are Jewish converts at the time the letter is being written or previously, or (2) that Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus Justus were the only Jewish Christians who ever worked with him. Verses 12-14 appear to indicate that Luke and Demas, who were Gentiles, were also working currently with Paul. This is the view adopted in the translation. See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 207-8.

[4:12]  ²⁶ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ²⁷ tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ²⁸ tn Or “filled.”

[4:13]  ²⁹ tn Grk “pain.” This word appears only three times in the NT outside of this verse (Rev 16:10, 11; 21:4) where the translation “pain” makes sense. For the present verse it has been translated “worked hard.” See BDAG 852 s.v. πόνος 1.

[4:15]  ³⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

[4:15]  ³¹ tc If the name Nympha is accented with a circumflex on the ultima (Νυμφᾶν, Numfan), then it refers to a man; if it receives an acute accent on the penult (Νύμφαν), the reference is to a woman. Scribes that considered Nympha to be a man’s name had the corresponding masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ here (autou, “his”; so D [F G] Ψ Ï), while those who saw Nympha as a woman read the feminine αὐτῆς here (auth", “her”; B 0278 6 1739^[*^] 1881 sa). Several mss (א A C P 075 33 81 104 326 1175 2464 bo) have αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”), perhaps because of indecisiveness on the gender of Nympha, perhaps because they included ἀδελφούς (adelfou", here translated “brothers and sisters”) as part of the referent. (Perhaps because accents were not part of the original text, scribes were particularly confused here.) The harder reading is certainly αὐτῆς, and thus Nympha should be considered a woman.

[4:15]  ³² tn Grk “the church in her house.” The meaning is that Paul sends greetings to the church that meets at Nympha’s house.

[4:16]  ³³ tn Grk “when.”

[4:16]  ³⁴ tn The construction beginning with the imperative ποιήσατε ἵνα…ἀναγνωσθῇ (poihsate Jina…anagnwsqh) should be translated as “have it read” where the conjunction ἵνα functions to mark off its clause as the direct object of the imperative ποιήσατε. The content of the clause (“reading the letter”) is what Paul commands with the imperative ποιήσατε. Thus the translation “have it read” has been used here.

[4:16]  ³⁵ sn This letter is otherwise unknown, but some have suggested that it is the letter known today as Ephesians.

[4:18]  ³⁶ tn Grk “the greeting by my hand, of Paul.”

[4:18]  ³⁷ tn Or “my imprisonment.”

[4:18]  ³⁸ tc Most witnesses, including a few important ones (א² D Ψ 075 0278 Ï lat sy), conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, the external evidence for the omission is quite compelling (א* A B C F G 048 6 33 81 1739* 1881 sa). The strongly preferred reading is therefore the omission of ἀμήν.