While God is the one to be Blessed, the Greek does not make explicit who does the blessing. In Hebrew thought, human beings blessed God by praising him (Gen 14.20; Psa 28.6). But in many languages God cannot be the object of the verb “to bless.” So the translation will have to use a verb like “praise,” “honor,” or “glorify,” as seen in many modern English versions. This formula is repeated in Eph 1.3 and 1 Peter 1.3. Good News Translation makes the subject explicit, “Let us give thanks…,” that is, Paul, Timothy, and the Corinthian readers.

There are two ways to understand the Greek words translated by Revised Standard Version as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1) God is both the God and the father of Jesus Christ. This interpretation is reflected in both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. (2) The words of our Lord Jesus Christ qualify only the word Father. This interpretation is reflected in Anchor Bible: “Blessed is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (so also Barrett). If this second interpretation is followed, some will prefer to say something like “God who is the Father of…” or “the Father God….”

The structure of the Greek favors the first interpretation. On the other hand, while Paul frequently refers to God as the Father of Jesus, only in Eph 1.17 is God called the God of Jesus. If translators follow the first interpretation (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation), they must be careful not to give the impression that Paul is referring to two different beings.

Our Lord: our includes the readers.

The Father of mercies: this has been rendered “the all-merciful Father” (New English Bible [New English Bible], Revised English Bible [Revised English Bible]) and “a gentle Father” (Jerusalem Bible), but New Jerusalem Bible and Knox have simply “the merciful Father.” In some languages it may be necessary to use a verbal expression like “the Father who feels pity” or “the Father who cares very much.” The description of God as the Father of mercies and God of all comfort finds expression in the Old Testament also (see Psa 103.13; Isa 51.12; 66.13). In the context of 2 Corinthians, this description is especially appropriate for Paul’s own situation. God is the one who acts with mercy and who provides comfort for his people.

Comfort: this word occurs as a verb or noun ten times in verses 3-7 and again several times in chapters 2, 7, and 13. The Greek word has several components of meaning, including the idea of consoling someone in trouble or sorrow and the idea of giving active help or encouragement. It comes from the same root as the name given to the Holy Spirit in John (14.16, 26; 15.26; 16.7), translated “Counselor” in Revised Standard Version. Good News Translation has emphasized the aspect of active help (“from whom all help comes”). New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible emphasize the idea of consoling (“the God of all consolation”).

Since some languages may require verbal expressions for the noun phrases in this verse, the following model is suggested: “Let us praise God, who is the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Father who has mercy on us; he is the God who always puts an end to the sadness of people.”

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 .

Troas was an important seaport city on the northwest coast of the Roman province of Asia Minor (see comments on 1.8). Paul was probably traveling from Ephesus, a city about 200 kilometers southeast of Troas. In some languages it will be wise to add a classifier term like “city” or “port.”

To preach the gospel of Christ is literally “for the gospel of Christ” (New American Bible). New Jerusalem Bible says “for the sake of the gospel of Christ.” Though the Greek may mean nothing more than “for the sake of the gospel” (see 1 Cor 9.23), nearly all interpreters understand the Greek to mean to preach the gospel of Christ. Of Christ means “about Christ.” And the gospel, of course, means “the Good News” (see Mark 1.1, 14, for example).

A door was opened for me in the Lord is metaphorical language (see 1 Cor 16.9). The door refers to the opportunity to preach the gospel. Revised English Bible says “an opening awaited me for serving the Lord.” Some other models may be “the Lord had already prepared the way” (Contemporary English Version), avoiding the passive, or “there was an obvious God-given opportunity” (Phillips).

The Greek for in the Lord may be translated as “by the Lord” or “in the Lord.” If the former, the meaning is that the Lord was the one who opened the door (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). If the latter, the meaning is that Paul’s opportunity for work was “in the Lord,” that is, an opportunity “for serving the Lord” (so Revised English Bible, Nueva Biblia Española, God’s New Covenant). Either interpretation is grammatically possible, but the meaning “by the Lord” is probably to be preferred.

Some translations use a word such as “sir,” “chief,” or “master” to translate Lord, and they sometimes need to add “God” or “Jesus” after “the Lord,” to make clear that an ordinary human master or chief is not intended. In 2 Cor 1.2, 3, 14, Jesus is called “Lord.” In this verse it is not immediately clear whether the reference is to the Lord God or the Lord Jesus. But if translators are forced to choose, it is probably better to say “the Lord Jesus.”

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 .

Persecuted, but not forsaken: the exact sense of these verbs is not clear. The imagery may be that from the sports arena: “We are pursued but not overtaken.” New Jerusalem Bible says “we are pursued but never cut off.” Most interpreters understand the first Greek verb here in the specific sense of being persecuted. As in the previous verse, the passive idea may have to be translated actively: “they persecute us…” or “people torment us….”

But not forsaken: the Greek does not indicate the agent of this passive verb. Who does not forsake them? The “friend” of Good News Translation may be either a human friend or God. This verb in the Septuagint is often used to claim that God will not forsake or abandon his people. The implicit agent of this verb is no doubt “God.” Contemporary English Version says “In times of trouble, God is with us.” Or translators may consider saying something like “people cause us to suffer, but God does not abandon us.”

The words struck down and destroyed translate two Greek verbs based on the same root word. Phillips preserves the play on words: “knocked down, but not knocked out” (similarly also Barclay).

Struck down: the Greek word has a wide range of possible meanings: struck down physically by a blow or a weapon, abused or bullied, rejected, stricken with an illness. All of these make sense in the context. It is not clear whether the words are to be understood in a literal physical sense or in an emotional sense. If the receptor language has a general term which can be understood in a wide variety of ways, it is probably the most suitable one to use here.

Destroyed: as with the preceding verb, it is not clear whether Paul is referring to literal death (Revised English Bible “never killed”), or whether the sense is that the opponents are not able to destroy the work of Paul’s apostolic ministry.

The passive idea of the four verbs in this verse will have to be rendered actively in some languages. Here is a possible model: “we have many enemies, but we also have friends; they [indefinite] make us suffer, but they do not kill us.” However, if God is understood as the agent, this will have to be reworded something like this: “we have many enemies, but God is our friend; our enemies make us suffer, but they do not kill us.” Another language says “they [indefinite] persecute us, but God does not abandon us; they cause us to fall, but we do not 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 .

The pronoun he refers to God (verse 1). Good News Translation substitutes the noun “God” for the pronoun (so also Bible en français courant and Barclay).

This quotation comes from the Septuagint Greek translation of Isa 49.8, not from the original Hebrew. In the Old Testament context the verse refers to God’s help to the people of Israel. Paul uses this text to emphasize the urgent nature of his appeal to the Corinthians.

He says: Paul applies these words to the present time as if God were speaking these words directly to the Corinthians. Revised English Bible‘s “He has said” indicates that Paul is quoting from words that God had already spoken. The present tense of this verb in Greek indicates the permanent validity of Scripture. Helen Barrett Montgomery’s The New Testament in Modern English has “For he said,” which fails to show the continuing validity of what God said. Translators may wish to make explicit where God has said these words: “in the Scriptures” (so Bible en français courant and Contemporary English Version).

The acceptable time: though some interpreters understand this to mean “acceptable by human beings,” most understand this to be the time acceptable by God to show his favor to his people (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

The Greek contains a play on words that Revised Standard Version keeps but Good News Translation does not. In 6.1 Paul says “to accept the grace of God”; and in 6.2 he speaks of the acceptable time. Good News Translation brings in from verse 1 the idea that the acceptable time is the time for God’s grace to be shown. While Paul uses two related words, both of which are translated acceptable, experts in the Greek language make no distinction in meaning, and translators should not feel that they have to look for two different words in their own language.

I have listened to you: God heard the people’s prayers. The sense is not merely that God listened impassively to their prayers, but that he answered them favorably. Both New Jerusalem Bible and Revised English Bible use the verb “answered” here.

The second person pronouns in this quotation are singular in Greek, and in the Old Testament they are taken as referring to the Servant of the Lord. This passage may have come to Paul’s mind because of a similarity with his own situation. But in the appeal that follows, the application is broadened to include the Corinthians. Nevertheless the receptor language rendering should reflect the singular pronouns of the original quotation.

The day of salvation: God is the implicit agent of the noun salvation. The meaning is that God helped his people “when the day arrived for me to save you” (Good News Translation).

The structure of the Old Testament quotation will have to be changed in some languages to make it more natural. It may read “I heard you at the right time; yes, I helped you on the day of salvation.” The translation should not give the impression of two separate and distinct events. Rather, this is an example of parallelism where the two elements refer to a single event.

The last sentence in this verse is Paul’s comment on the passage from Isaiah. Translators should take care to insure that this is not taken as a part of the Old Testament quotation. This may be very difficult in those languages that do not use quotation marks. Translators in some languages will naturally say something like “That is what he said” at the end of a quotation. In those languages it will be clear for those who hear this verse read that the last part of the verse is not a part of the quotation.

Behold: as in 5.17 (as well as 6.9), this particle serves to call special attention to what follows. Good News Translation attempts to render this with “Listen!” but does not repeat it in the second instance. Other versions use only the exclamation mark (New American Bible).

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 .

Paul’s expression of joy and confidence is implicitly in contrast with the concern and anxiety he had concerning the Corinthian church prior to Titus’ coming. Revised English Bible makes this contrast explicit by inserting the word “now”: “How happy I am now.”

Confidence translates the same Greek word translated in Revised Standard Version as “having courage” in 5.6, 8. The context here favors the meaning “confidence.” The adjective perfect is literally “all.” For this reason Good News Translation uses the adverb “completely.” Other versions read “I can repose such full confidence in you” (Knox); “I can trust you fully” (New Century Version); “I trust you utterly” (New American Bible). Some languages may have to say “I put my heart in you in all things.”

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 .

As it is written: Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Revised English Bible make explicit that this quotation comes from the “scripture” (see also 3.16; 8.15; 10.17; 13.1). Paul is quoting directly from the Septuagint translation of Psa 112.9. But since the quotation is not from the Hebrew original, the receptor language translation of this verse need not look exactly like the rendering of the verse in the Psalms.

He … his: the referent of these two pronouns is debated by scholars. Though some understand the reference to be to God (Contemporary English Version “God freely gives…”), it is unlikely that God is the intended subject of the verb scatters, or that the later reference is to God’s righteousness. It is more likely that, as is clearly the case in Psalm 112, the righteousness is that of a person who fears the Lord (see verse 1 of that psalm).

Scatters abroad … gives to the poor: these two verbs are rendered by a single verb in several English translations (Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version, for example). The first is the opposite of “gathering in” but does not necessarily imply the sowing of seed. Here it probably means “be liberal or generous.” For this reason it may be translated by an adverb such as “generously” (Good News Translation) or “freely” (Translator’s New Testament). Revised English Bible includes this idea in the verb: “he lavishes his gifts on the needy.” Perhaps a more difficult problem is to decide whether the verb tenses should be present (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Contemporary English Version) or past (New International Version, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Anchor Bible). Though the verbs scatters and gives are past tense in Greek, they may be translated in the present tense or by habitual verb forms in many languages. Greek often used past tense verbs in axioms and proverbial statements.

Here in Hebrew parallelism righteousness perhaps means “acts of almsgiving.” In Hebrew the word for righteousness came to mean “almsgiving” in some contexts. Revised English Bible translates as “his benevolence lasts for ever.” Since this verse contains Hebrew parallelism, it is not likely that righteousness here has the sense of upright character in general, as it sometimes has in other contexts.

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 .

Besought: the verb so translated here is elsewhere in this letter rendered as “beg” (2.8), “entreat” (6.1 and 10.1), and “urge” (8.6 and 9.5). Most English versions seem to prefer “begged” or “appealed” in this context, but since the object is the Lord, it may legitimately be translated “prayed” as in Good News Translation.

Though Paul normally prays to God the Father through Christ rather than directly to Christ, the Lord in this verse is probably “the Lord Jesus,” as in 12.1 (see 1 Cor 1.2; 1 Thes 3.12-13)

About this, that it should leave me: Contemporary English Version says “Three times I begged the Lord to make this suffering go away.” In some languages restructuring will be required to make the translation more natural: “I begged the Lord [Jesus] three times to take this problem away from me.”

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 .