Paul has defended his integrity in the preceding verses, and now he defends the integrity of his gospel.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ: Paul rarely refers to Jesus as “Son of God.” Revised Standard Version maintains the focus of the Greek text by placing Jesus Christ in apposition to the Son of God. Good News Translation unnecessarily shifts the focus to the name “Jesus Christ” rather than keeping the focus on the title “the Son of God.” But in some languages it is considered more natural to give a person’s name before his or her title. In such cases it will be better to say “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Whom we preached among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I: literally “who among you by us was preached, through me and Silvanus and Timothy.” Many translations in English change the order of the names and place Paul after Silvanus and Timothy, since English etiquette requires that the speaker mention himself or herself last. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation fail to reflect a subtle but important aspect of the Greek sentence: by mentioning himself first, Paul emphasizes his own role. Anchor Bible captures this well: “who was preached among you by us—by myself, and also by Silvanus and Timothy.” Translators are encouraged to follow the order of the names in the Greek (as in the 1984 German revision of the Luther translation [Luther 1984], Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).
Further, the Greek sentence suggests that the listing of the names was something of an afterthought, intended to clarify the words “by us.” Good News Translation (also Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) unnecessarily smooths out the sentence. By inserting the words “that is,” New Jerusalem Bible shows that the names are intended to clarify: “who was proclaimed to you by us, that is, by me and by Silvanus and Timothy.” But translators should not structure this phrase in an unnatural way in the receptor language simply to try to reflect the form of the Greek. And in languages where it is not possible to reflect the passive of the original and Good News Translation, one may translate actively along the lines of Revised Standard Version, whom we preached among you ….
Revised Standard Version transliterates the Greek name Silvanus, which Good News Translation always changes to “Silas,” the form better known from the book of Acts. Paul always uses the name “Silvanus,” and Acts, the name “Silas.” There is little doubt that the same person is referred to.
Was not Yes and No: or, in keeping with the translation of the Yes-No statements above, one may translate “he did not come with two hearts [or, minds]” or “he does not agree and refuse at the same time.”
In him it is always Yes: the translation of this clause should also conform to the rendering to the above Yes–No statements. Here one may consider the following models: “he always has only one heart [or, mind]” or “he always agrees.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .