2 Corinthians 8:21

8:21 For we are concerned about what is right not only before the Lord but also before men. ¹ 

2 Corinthians 3:2

3:2 You yourselves are our letter, ²  written on our hearts, known and read by everyone,

2 Corinthians 12:4

12:4 was caught up into paradise ³  and heard things too sacred to be put into words, ⁴  things that a person ⁵  is not permitted to speak.

2 Corinthians 4:16

4:16 Therefore we do not despair, ⁶  but even if our physical body ⁷  is wearing away, our inner person ⁸  is being renewed day by day.

2 Corinthians 5:11

The Message of Reconciliation

5:11 Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, ⁹  we try to persuade ¹⁰  people, ¹¹  but we are well known ¹²  to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too.

2 Corinthians 12:3

12:3 And I know that this man (whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows)

2 Corinthians 4:2

4:2 But we have rejected ¹³  shameful hidden deeds, ¹⁴  not behaving ¹⁵  with deceptiveness ¹⁶  or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.

2 Corinthians 12:2

12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven.

[8:21]  ¹ sn An allusion to Prov 3:4.

[3:2]  ² tn That is, “letter of recommendation.”

[12:4]  ³ sn In the NT, paradise is mentioned three times. In Luke 23:43 it refers to the abode of the righteous dead. In Rev 2:7 it refers to the restoration of Edenic paradise predicted in Isa 51:3 and Ezek 36:35. The reference here in 2 Cor 12:4 is probably to be translated as parallel to the mention of the “third heaven” in v. 2. Assuming that the “first heaven” would be atmospheric heaven (the sky) and “second heaven” the more distant stars and planets, “third heaven” would refer to the place where God dwells. This is much more likely than some variation on the seven heavens mentioned in the pseudepigraphic book 2 Enoch and in other nonbiblical and rabbinic works.

[12:4]  ⁴ tn Or “things that cannot be put into words.”

[12:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “a man.”

[4:16]  ⁴ tn Or “do not lose heart.”

[4:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “our outer man.”

[4:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “our inner [man].”

[5:11]  ⁵ tn Or “because we know what it means to fear the Lord.”

[5:11]  ⁶ tn The present tense of πείθομεν (peiqomen) has been translated as a conative present.

[5:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is generic here since clearly both men and women are in view (Paul did not attempt to win only men to the gospel he preached).

[5:11]  ⁸ tn Or “clearly evident.” BDAG 1048 s.v. φανερόω 2.b.β has “θεῷ πεφανερώμεθα we are well known to God 2 Cor 5:11a, cp. 11b; 11:6 v.l.”

[4:2]  ⁶ tn L&N 13.156; the word can also mean “to assert opposition to,” thus here “we have denounced” (L&N 33.220).

[4:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “the hidden things [deeds] of shame”; here αἰσχύνης (aiscunh") has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[4:2]  ⁸ tn Or “not conducting ourselves”; Grk “not walking” (a common NT idiom for conduct, way of life, or behavior).

[4:2]  ⁹ tn Or “craftiness.”