Basic to understanding the thought of verses 14 and 15 is Paul’s idea of the union of the believer with Christ. Though Paul does not state here in these two verses that believers are “in Christ” in the sense of being “in union with Christ,” this concept lies behind the thought expressed in these two verses.

The love of Christ: grammatically this may be either Christ’s love for us or our love for Christ. Nearly all interpreters, however, choose the first option, “Christ’s love” (so New International Version, God’s New Covenant, Knox, and Anchor Bible). Contemporary English Version is even more specific: “Christ’s love for us.”

The verb translated controls has a wide range of meanings in Greek, but the basic meanings may be grouped under the idea of restraint or compulsion (New International Version “compels”), or general control (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant). New English Bible translates this verb “leaves us no choice.” Note that several English translations turn the sentence around to make it passive, as in Good News Translation. But this will not be possible in languages where passive forms present a problem.

Because we are convinced: literally “having judged this….” The causal element is not as strong as Revised Standard Version makes it appear. The verb form of the Greek seems to point to a conclusion reached in the past. Anchor Bible renders this “our decision having been this….” Revised English Bible translates naturally “once we have reached the conclusion….”

The conclusion reached by Paul is stated in a concise theological summary: one person, Jesus Christ, died for all human beings, and the consequence of this is that all human beings are in some sense dead.

Died for all: the meaning of the word for is much debated. Is the basic sense that Christ died “for the benefit of” or “on behalf of” (so God’s New Covenant), or is it “in place of” or “instead of”? Interpreters are divided on the meaning of the preposition for, and the translator’s theology of atonement often seems to affect the translation.

The word therefore introduces the consequence of Christ’s death for everyone. This connecting word is important and should be conveyed in the receptor language.

All have died: the Good News Translation rendering of this seems weak. The meaning is rather “in a sense, they all died” (Phillips). The problem is in understanding in what sense all have died. But it is probably better if translators render the phrase literally and leave this question for the theologians. Implicitly the word all means “all of us” (Contemporary English Version), understanding the pronoun as inclusive of Paul’s readers.

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 .