The word Now in Revised Standard Version should not be understood as primarily temporal, expressing the idea of “now and not some other time.” The word Now is used here to indicate a transition in subject matter. Anchor Bible translates this transition word “So,” showing its logical rather than temporal character. Moffatt begins this verse with the word “Indeed.”

It is superfluous: the root of the noun used here has to do with surplus or overabundance (see 8.2, 7). It would be something more than necessary for Paul to write about the money the Corinthians planned to give. New Revised Standard Version changes this expression into a negative statement, “it is not necessary.” Another way to say this may be “I can see no reason to…” or “there is no purpose for me to….”

The pronoun you is plural here and throughout chapter 9. It refers to the Corinthian readers in general.

The offering for the saints translates the Greek “ministry [diakonia] for the saints.” Paul is writing specifically about the collection for the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Translators may need to make clear the identification of the “saints.” Good News Translation‘s “God’s people in Judea” is an attempt to make the identification explicit, but this translation is not very precise. “God’s people” may be misunderstood to mean “the Jewish people” or “Christians in general” (including Gentile Christians). Translators may need to be more precise: “the Jewish Christians.” Since Paul states specifically in Rom 15.26 that the collection is for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem, translators may want to add the name “Jerusalem” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) instead of “Judea” (Good News Translation).

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 .