Besought: the verb so translated here is elsewhere in this letter rendered as “beg” (2.8), “entreat” (6.1 and 10.1), and “urge” (8.6 and 9.5). Most English versions seem to prefer “begged” or “appealed” in this context, but since the object is the Lord, it may legitimately be translated “prayed” as in Good News Translation.

Though Paul normally prays to God the Father through Christ rather than directly to Christ, the Lord in this verse is probably “the Lord Jesus,” as in 12.1 (see 1 Cor 1.2; 1 Thes 3.12-13)

About this, that it should leave me: Contemporary English Version says “Three times I begged the Lord to make this suffering go away.” In some languages restructuring will be required to make the translation more natural: “I begged the Lord [Jesus] three times to take this problem away from me.”

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 .