Our hope: the possessive pronoun here does not include the Corinthians, since it involves something Paul and Timothy hope for them. The hope to which Paul refers is the hope that the Corinthian Christians will continue in their faith despite the afflictions and suffering that they experience. In English the word hope often suggests a degree of uncertainty. But in the New Testament the sense is more often that of “confidence” or “assurance.” In some languages the noun hope has to be translated by a verbal expression such as “we put our hearts on you…” or something similar.
For you: note, however, that Good News Translation has “in you.” This probably does not reflect a difference in meaning in these two versions. Both indicate confidence that the Corinthian Christians will stand firm in times of trouble and affliction.
Unshaken: another way of saying this is “Our hope for you is certain [or secure, or firmly grounded]” (Anchor Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible), or in some languages it may be necessary to use the adjective “strong.” If a verbal phrase is used to translate hope as suggested above, an adverb like “firmly” or “completely” may be used to translate this word. Note that Contemporary English Version renders this whole clause as “you never disappoint us.”
We know that is literally “knowing that.” Though Good News Translation does not make explicit the relationship between the two parts of this verse, the participle “knowing” introduces the cause or reason that their hope is unshaken. Revised Standard Version adds the word for in order to express clearly this relationship.
Our suffering … our comfort: Paul does not actually say our suffering … our comfort in spite of the renderings of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. The introduction of the possessive pronoun is misleading, according to some commentators (Anchor Bible, page 112). Revised English Bible reads “if you share in the suffering, you share also in the comfort.” But the use of the definite article in Greek (reflected in Revised English Bible) seems to indicate that some particular suffering is in view. So “the suffering” and “the comfort” probably do refer to those of Paul (and Timothy). But the sufferings that Paul mentions are not made specific here. Though the distress may have been caused by a severe illness, the following verses suggest that the suffering was a result of external forces.
As you share in our sufferings: as with the last part of verse 6, the meaning is that they suffer the same kind of suffering as Paul and Timothy. Some languages will require that this be made more explicit by saying something like “when you suffer as we have, you will also receive comfort just as we have.”
You will also share in our comfort: literally “thus also in the comfort.” The meaning may be that the Corinthians will be able to comfort others, but the parallelism with the preceding phrase favors the sense that they will receive the same comfort that Paul and Timothy receive. Following the latter interpretation, translators may want to follow the model of Phillips and make explicit that the help comes from God: “then, like us, you will find the comfort and encouragement of God.”
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 .