For: the transition word may be important in the receptor language. Here it indicates a close causal relationship with what has just been said. A number of translations render the word For explicitly, while others depend on the structure to show this relationship. Still others use words like “indeed” (Phillips), or “in effect” (Bible en français courant and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), or “it is true” (Knox).

We share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings is literally “the sufferings of Christ abound to us.” There are two possible interpretations here: (1) The meaning may be that Paul and Timothy have suffered much because of their preaching about Jesus Christ, and Paul considers this suffering to be a part of the sufferings of Jesus through their union with Christ (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). Or (2) the meaning may be that, as Christ’s suffering was great on behalf of the senders of the letter (Revised English Bible: “extends to us”), so Paul and Timothy’s consolation is great on behalf of the Corinthians (so New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and the reading in the footnote of RSV). New Revised Standard Version says “For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.” Either interpretation seems equally possible in terms of grammatical structure and context. Translators should feel free to choose the interpretation that seems correct to them.

So: because of the difference between sharing in suffering and sharing in comfort, it may be necessary in some languages to use a conjunction marking that contrast at this point. Contemporary English Version, for example, has “but also….”

We share abundantly in comfort too may mean that Paul and Timothy are abundantly comforted by God (Revised Standard Version) or that they themselves give abundant comfort to others (so New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and the reading in the footnote of RSV). Some English versions have taken the word twice translated “abound” or share abundantly as meaning “overflow” (see New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, New English Bible, and the translation by Barclay [Barclay]). The whole verse then yields something like “Because just as the sufferings of Christ are spilling over into our lives, in the same way comfort through Christ is also spilling over to us.” It is, however, equally probable that the last part of the verse may mean “spilling over from us.”

Through Christ: according to verse 4 God is the source of comfort. Christ is the intermediary through whom God comforts.

On the pronoun we see the comments on 2 Cor. 1.4.

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 .