The god of this world: or more literally “the god of this age” (so New International Version; similarly New American Bible and Revised English Bible). Though God is said to cause spiritual blindness in Isa 44.18, here the words the god of this world should not be understood as God but as Satan. Good News Translation adds the word “evil” to make clear that Paul is not here talking about God. The reference is to the Devil. Translators may want to make clear the sense in which Satan is the god of this world: “the god who rules this world” (Contemporary English Version). New Century Version says more explicitly “the devil who rules this world.” Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente says “Satan, the god of this world.”
The two parts of this verse are connected in Greek by words that may indicate either purpose or result. If the former is the correct interpretation, the sense is that the devil blinds unbelievers “in order that” they will not see (so Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible). If the latter interpretation is correct, the sense is that the devil blinds them, and the result is that they do not see (so Revised English Bible). Barrett translates “in order that” but acknowledges that the words could equally well be translated “with the result that.” The Anchor Bible translator has chosen to maintain the ambiguity of the Greek, with the translation “so that,” but for many languages it may be necessary to decide between the two alternatives. Perhaps “in order that” is the better choice, but translators may choose either interpretation with equally good reason. It is quite clear that the images of blinding and seeing are figurative and should not be translated in such a way as to be taken literally.
The last part of this verse contains a series of nouns linked by the word of in English. Translators may need to restructure to make the relationships clear among these words. The light of the gospel is the light that comes from the gospel, or possibly light is another way of talking about the gospel. The gospel of the glory of Christ is the gospel about the glory of Christ. The glory of Christ is a way of talking about the saving presence of Christ (see 3.7-11). The central word in this series of four nouns seems to be light. This light is then described in detail as the Good News about the glory of Christ. This is all captured well by Anchor Bible: “the enlightenment coming from the gospel of the splendor of Christ.” But it is rendered in more popular language by Contemporary English Version: “they cannot see the light, which is the good news about our glorious Christ.”
The likeness of God: the English word “image” comes from the Greek noun translated here as likeness. Some languages will find it helpful to use a verbal expression such as “who is like God.” Some other models are “who shows us what God is like” (Contemporary English Version) or “who is exactly like God” (Barclay).
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 .