2 Corinthians 6:8-9

6:8 through glory and dishonor, through slander and praise; regarded as impostors, ¹  and yet true; 6:9 as unknown, and yet well-known; as dying and yet – see! – we continue to live; as those who are scourged ²  and yet not executed;

2 Corinthians 10:10

10:10 because some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is weak ³  and his speech is of no account.” ⁴ 

2 Corinthians 10:1

Paul’s Authority from the Lord

10:1 Now I, Paul, appeal to you ⁵  personally ⁶  by the meekness and gentleness ⁷  of Christ (I who am meek ⁸  when present among ⁹  you, but am full of courage ¹⁰  toward you when away!) –

Colossians 4:9-13

4:9 I sent him ¹¹  with Onesimus, the faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. ¹²  They will tell ¹³  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, ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  of Christ, ¹⁶  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ¹⁷  in all the will of God. 4:13 For I can testify that he has worked hard ¹⁸  for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

[6:8]  ¹ tn Or “regarded as deceivers.”

[6:9]  ² tn Grk “disciplined,” but in this context probably a reference to scourging prior to execution (yet the execution is not carried out).

[10:10]  ³ tn Or “unimpressive.”

[10:10]  ⁴ tn Or “is contemptible”; Grk “is despised.”

[10:1]  ⁵ tn The Greek pronoun (“you”) is plural.

[10:1]  ⁶ tn The word “personally” is supplied to reflect the force of the Greek intensive pronoun αὐτός (autos) at the beginning of the verse.

[10:1]  ⁷ tn Or “leniency and clemency.” D. Walker, “Paul’s Offer of Leniency of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1): Populist Ideology and Rhetoric in a Pauline Letter Fragment (2 Cor 10:1-13:10)” (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1998), argues for this alternative translation for three main reasons: (1) When the two Greek nouns πραΰτης and ἐπιείκεια (prauth" and ejpieikeia) are used together, 90% of the time the nuance is “leniency and clemency.” (2) “Leniency and clemency” has a military connotation, which is precisely what appears in the following verses. (3) 2 Cor 10-13 speaks of Paul’s sparing use of his authority, which points to the nuance of “leniency and clemency.”

[10:1]  ⁸ tn Or “who lack confidence.”

[10:1]  ⁹ tn Or “when face to face with.”

[10:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “but bold.”

[4:9]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Grk “is of you.”

[4:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “will make known to you.” This has been simplified in the translation to “will tell.”

[4:11]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Or “filled.”

[4:13]  ¹⁸ 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.