I was let down: in languages where an active formulation is required, one may say “some people let me down” or “my friends lowered me.”

The basket in which Paul was let down through the wall was apparently large enough to hold an adult man and may have been made out of braided ropes.

The wall refers to the wall that surrounded the city of Damascus. Translators should understand that dwellings were built into the city wall so that in some cases the window of a house would look out over the countryside surrounding the city. In this way it was possible to escape from the city without passing through the closely guarded gates. In some languages the word window may have to be translated “an opening [or, hole] in the wall.”

Escaped his hands: the word hands is, of course, used figuratively. See Good News Translation “escaped from him.” The idea is that Paul escaped from the forces of the governor. Moffatt, An American Translation, and Revised English Bible speak of escaping from “his clutches.”

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 .