Now: the connecting word here is used to show that Paul intends to comment on what has just been said in the previous verse. But in some languages no overt transition word will be required at this point. The word Now is not a reference to the present time. It is rather a kind of logical connector.

The words the Lord is the Spirit are Paul’s exegesis or interpretation of the word “Lord,” from the preceding verse. Good News Translation, which translates 3.16 as a direct quotation from Exo 34.34, adds “in this passage” and puts quotation marks around the words “the Lord.” Rather than rely on quotation marks only, which hearers cannot see, translators may want to add “the word,” as in Bible en français courant: “Now, the word ‘Lord’ means here….” The Revised English Bible translation is similar to Good News Translation, “Now the Lord of whom this passage speaks is the Spirit.” Some languages have a kind of pronoun that points back to a previous word. Here they can perhaps use the equivalent of “that ‘Lord.’ ”

Spirit of the Lord: some languages specify “Lord God” or “Lord Jesus,” since the word for “lord” is the same as that used for a human master or chief. Here Lord may refer to God (3.3) or to Christ (Rom 8.9-10).

The Greek text contains no verb in the second half of this verse. Literally the text says “and where the Spirit of the Lord, freedom.” Translators may need to supply the verb is or “is present,” as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. Or a more dynamic rendering may be required. Translators may consider one of the following: “freedom comes from the Spirit of the Lord,” or “it is the Spirit of the Lord who always gives freedom,” or “the Lord’s Spirit sets us free” (Contemporary English Version).

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 .