Verse 8 begins with the word For, which connects the mention of suffering in general in verse 7 with mention of specific suffering in verses 8-10. Revised English Bible translates this word as “In saying this.”
We do not want you to be ignorant: in Greek two negatives are used: “We do not want you not to know.” In English this is expressed more naturally with a positive expression such as “we want you to know,” or “we want you to be quite certain” (New Jerusalem Bible), or more dynamically, “Make no mistake…” (Knox). Contemporary English Version takes this as an epistolary plural and thus translates “I want you to know.” Parallel expressions occur in Rom 1.13; 11.25; 1 Cor 10.1; 12.1; and 1 Thes 4.13, but with a first person singular subject.
Brethren: in his letters Paul frequently addressed his readers with the word “brothers.” The context in many instances supports the view that Paul most likely was addressing both men and women. While there is an unmistakable male bias in most of the biblical books, some modern translations prefer to translate “brothers” with a word that does not exclude women when it seems that Paul was including women along with the men. So Revised English Bible and Contemporary English Version translate “brothers” in this verse as “my friends” (see also 8.1, 23; 9.3, 5; 11.9, 26; 13.11). The English word “siblings” includes both men and women, but this word would sound very unnatural in English translations. Many languages, however, do have a commonly used word that includes women and men; and in the above verses translators may want to use that word rather than a word such as “brothers,” which does not include women. Note that New Revised Standard Version translates “brothers and sisters.” In some languages it will be necessary to add a possessive pronoun and say either “my brothers [and sisters]” or “our brothers [and sisters].”
Though Paul does not indicate here whether the affliction was sickness or external dangers against his life, the latter seems more probable. Affliction may be translated as “trouble” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) or “hardships” (New Jerusalem Bible).
We experienced … we were … we despaired: perhaps Paul is speaking about himself only, using the epistolary plural (so An American Translation: “the distress that I experienced … I was … I despaired”). If translators choose to retain the plural subject, it should be taken as including only Timothy and not the recipients of the letter.
Asia is the Roman province (see Good News Translation and Revised English Bible) of which Ephesus was the chief commercial center. It included most of the western part of Asia Minor. In modern geography Asia Minor corresponds to the peninsula that forms the western half of the country of Turkey. Asia in Paul’s letters should not be confused with the modern continent that we call Asia.
We were so utterly, unbearably crushed: Paul is using figurative language here. The Greek is literally “excessively, beyond [our] power [to cope] we were burdened.” Some possible models for translation into the receptor language may be “we were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure” (New International Version) or “the burdens on us were so heavy that there was no way that we could tolerate them.”
We despaired of life itself: some models other than Good News Bible may be “we lost hope that we could possibly survive” or “we felt certain that we were going to die.”
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 .