I urged Titus: see the similar expression in 8.6.

To go, that is, “to visit you” (Contemporary English Version).

Sent: if chapters 10–13 are originally part of the same letter as chapters 1–9, then the verb sent is possibly an epistolary aorist (see 8.17) and may be translated as “I am sending.” That is, the trip of 8.17 has not yet begun at the time Paul writes this letter, and 12.18 refers to the same upcoming trip. It is also possible that sent refers to an earlier visit than the one mentioned in 8.17, and should therefore be translated with the past tense as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. If chapters 10–13 were written later than chapters 1–9 and formed part of a separate letter, then Paul is indeed referring to a past action, and the past tense sent should be used. On the question of whether chapters 10–13 were part of a separate and later letter from chapters 1–9, see “Translating 2 Corinthians,” page 3.

Since Paul mentions only one brother here, it may be that 12.18 refers to an early trip by Titus and one other person, and does not refer to the trip that Titus and two brothers are about to make to Corinth (chapter 8). If an earlier trip is being referred to here, then the verb should be translated in the past tense, sent.

The brother does not have a possessive pronoun in Greek. Languages that must have a possessive pronoun may say “our [not including the readers] brother.” Revised English Bible says “I sent our friend,” but the English is ambiguous as to whether “our” includes the readers also. The brother is not identified, but he may be the brother mentioned in 8.16-19. Surely the Corinthians knew this Christian brother, especially if he had already been sent to Corinth earlier. So Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente correctly says “that other brother whom you know.”

We: in this case the first person plural pronoun refers to Paul and Titus. It is probably better translated “he and I” in this context.

Same spirit: the reference here is probably not to the Holy Spirit (compare Rom 8.4 and Gal 5.16) but to the way of thinking of the two men, as in 7.13, where the word used here is translated “mind.”

As in the previous verse, Paul’s questions here are all rhetorical. He knows that Titus did not take advantage of them, that he acted in the same spirit as Titus did, and that he behaved in the same way as Titus did. If this series of questions is transformed to emphatic statements, they may read something like this: “Titus certainly did not take advantage of you. He and I acted in the same way and with the same motive.” Or it may be possible to provide the answer to the question in translation, as New Century Version does: “Titus did not cheat you, did he? No, you know that Titus and I did the same thing and with the same spirit.”

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 .