Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive is literally “But to whom you forgive anything, I also.” The pronoun I is emphatic. In some languages it will be more natural to say “I also forgive” (so Revised Standard Version) or “I also forgive him.” And it may also be more natural to turn the sentence around, saying something like “I myself will forgive any person whom you forgive.” If the receptor language requires the explicit statement of what is forgiven, one may add “what he has done,” since we do not know exactly what the offense was.

I have forgiven: the use of the perfect tense indicates that the offender is in a continuing state of being forgiven. It apparently serves to show that Paul has already forgiven the offender, although this does not come out in the Good News Translation rendering, which seems to imply a general rule.

The words if I have forgiven anything should not be understood to mean that Paul has doubts about whether he forgave the offender. The sense of these words is that Paul is not even sure that the offense was so serious as to need forgiveness. Martin says “if indeed there was anything to forgive.” By making such a statement Paul was softening his criticism of the offender and helping to bring about reconciliation.

For your sake: some languages will have to say “on your account” or simply “for you.” Others will include this idea in a special form of the verb (a form called “benefactive”).

In the presence of Christ appears to mean that Paul acted with an awareness of what Christ would desire him to do. Paul did not only what would be best for the church but also what would please Christ. Revised English Bible translates these words as “as the representative of Christ,” and Contemporary English Version says “with Christ as my witness.”

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 .

Verses 7-10 form one long sentence in Greek. Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both begin a new sentence with verse 8.

But indicates a contrast with the previous verse. Unlike the glory of God, the Christian messengers are “common clay pots.”

We have: though what Paul says is true of all Christians, including the Corinthian readers, in the context of chapter 4, the pronoun we does not include the readers (see 4.5, 12, 14 for the contrast between “we” and “you”).

The words this treasure refer to the gospel and the task of proclaiming the good news about Jesus Christ. Good News Translation makes explicit the nature of this treasure by adding the word “spiritual.”

Earthen vessels: this is figurative language in which the human body in its weakness and human limitations is compared to fragile “clay pots.” As Good News Translation makes clear, “we … are like common clay pots.” The word translated earthen is found also in 2 Tim 2.20 in the description of ordinary containers as contrasted with those made of precious metals. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Lev 6.28; 14.50), this same expression is used to describe the containers that the priests used in offering certain kinds of sacrifices. These containers were regarded as immediately dispensable, if for some reason they became ritually unclean.

The first part of this verse is sometimes recast as follows: “This is something of great value, but we have it in pots made of earth” (Good News for the World) or “We have this treasure from God. But we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure” (New Century Version).

To show … belongs: literally “in order that … might be.” This indicates the purpose of entrusting the valuable treasure of the gospel to ordinary containers, that is, in weak, fragile human beings. The idea may be expressed in a separate sentence beginning with “This fact demonstrates that….”

The transcendent power: the Greek word translated as transcendent in Revised Standard Version emphasizes the great quality or extent of something. Anchor Bible says “the power which is beyond any comparison.” While Good News for the World does not clearly show the relationship to the preceding section, it does capture the idea of this phrase with “this power is greater than any other power.” But since such a phrase may be too awkward in this context, some have translated simply “the real power” (Contemporary English Version), “the splendid power” (Phillips), or “the supreme power” (Translator’s New Testament).

In view of the above discussion, the second half of this verse may possibly be worded as follows: “This happens in order to show that the truly great power comes from God and not from us” or, as Knox puts it, “it must be God, and not anything in ourselves, that gives it its sovereign power.”

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 first person plural pronouns our and we are inclusive here.

It will be noted that the elements of this verse have been transposed in Good News Translation to make it read more naturally in English. Such restructuring may be necessary in a number of other languages. It will also be necessary to make it clear which persons are referred to by the third person singular masculine pronouns, since they refer to different persons. The pronoun he refers to God, and the pronoun him refers to “Christ” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible).

To be sin: this expression has led to much discussion among interpreters of 2 Corinthians. What does it mean to say that a person (Christ) became an object (sin)? Is Paul using the abstract noun sin for the concrete noun “sinner”? Surely Paul is not saying that Christ became a sinner, for that contradicts the very next words in this verse. Some understand Paul to be saying that God made Christ to be a “sin offering” (Martin, NIV footnote; see also Lev 4.25-29). Perhaps the most likely explanation is that Paul is saying that Christ identified in some way with sinful humanity. Revised English Bible says “made him one with human sinfulness” (similarly God’s New Covenant). Barclay says “God identified Christ … with human sin.” One African language has “God caused him to enter the ranks of sinners in our place….” Another has “God laid the blame for people’s sin on Christ.” Whatever decision seems best for the translator should, if possible, be coordinated with the way in which the other difficult expression is translated, become the righteousness.

The words who knew no sin are a Hebraic expression which means “to have no personal experience with sin.” Paul is stating that Jesus did not sin; he “was without sin” (Good News Translation). Some languages may use a verbal form: “Christ never sinned” (Contemporary English Version).

The words in him usually are understood to mean “in union with him” (Good News Translation), that is, as expressing where we share the righteousness of God. It is also possible to understand the preposition as indicating the means by which God makes us share his righteousness: “by means of [the death of] Christ.”

We might become the righteousness of God: as with the claim that Christ became sin, it seems strange to say that people become an object (righteousness of God). What do these words mean? Good News Translation‘s translation expresses the meaning that God makes Christians righteous with a righteousness that is his own. Some other possible models are “God caused us to enter the ranks of the righteous….” Contemporary English Version translates “so that Christ could make us acceptable to God.”

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 .

For: this word introduces a statement about why Paul was pleased that Titus was so happy.

In Greek this verse begins with the word if. It is clear in the context that Paul is not really expressing doubt about whether he expressed pride in the Corinthians. To avoid a misunderstanding by English readers, Good News Translation and many other versions do not use the “if” construction.

The verb put to shame is in the passive in Greek. Good News Translation uses the active voice and makes the subject explicit: “you have not disappointed me.” Martin says “you did not embarrass me.” Some languages speak of “seeing shame” and so translate “you did not cause me to see shame.”

A few Greek manuscripts have the word “always” rather than everything. The two words are similar in spelling. Revised Standard Version follows the preferred manuscript reading. It is not clear whether Good News Translation (also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nueva Biblia Española) is following the Greek reading “always” here or whether the Good News Bible translator understands everything we said to mean “we have always spoken.”

The tense in Greek (we said) may point to a specific time in the past (Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised English Bible) or to the past as a whole (Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nueva Biblia Española). Also possible but less likely is that the verb is an epistolary aorist (see comments on 8.17), in which a verb in the past tense is used for the present. If the last interpretation is accepted, then Paul is referring to what he has written earlier in this letter (see 1.12-14 and 4.2).

The exact meaning of the words before Titus is not clear. The fact that some Greek manuscripts have the word “to” instead of “before” indicates that some scribes thought the word “before” was ambiguous. Though Good News Translation (and New Revised Standard Version) may be correct in translating these words as “to Titus,” the Greek is ambiguous and may be translated as “before” in the sense of “in the presence of Titus” (Revised English Bible).

Proved true: more literally “became true.” Anchor Bible renders this “turned out to be true.” Or possibly one may translate “people can see that what we boasted to Titus is true [or, not a lie].”

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 .

Though the word Each one is masculine in Greek, Paul is almost certainly addressing both men and women among the Corinthian Christians. New Revised Standard Version accordingly says “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind,” and Anchor Bible says “Let each person contribute as each has decided.”

The first part of this verse is literally “each as he has made up his mind.” Most translations add a verb to specify the action decided upon. Revised Standard Version adds must do, and Good News Translation adds “should give.”

His mind is literally “the heart,” without the possessive pronoun. On the heart as the center of one’s will, see comments on 3.3. In many languages it will be quite natural to say “as each person has decided in his or her [or, the] heart….” And in some the addition of the possessive pronoun may be unnecessary. In many languages the absence of a pronoun in such a context would mean “the heart of a person,” as is apparently the case in Greek.

The words reluctantly (literally “from sorrow” or “from pain”) and under compulsion refer to attitudes of grief or regret upon doing something that one does not want to do, and of being forced either by inner moral conviction or by outer pressure from other people to do something that one does not want to do. These words may be rendered “with no regrets and no coercion” or, using full verb phrases, “be happy to give and do not give simply because someone is pushing you to do so.”

For God loves a cheerful giver: the word order is reversed in Greek: “a cheerful giver God loves.” Knox therefore attempts to preserve the emphasis by translating “it is the cheerful giver that God loves” (similarly Translator’s New Testament). However, the emphasis in this sentence is not a contrast between whom God loves and whom he does not love. The contrast is between the cheerful giver who gives out of a desire to do so, and the giver who gives reluctantly or because he is required to give. These words are a loose quotation from Pro 22.8a in the Septuagint. Here, as frequently in the Old Testament wisdom books, the words God loves mean “God approves” (Nueva Biblia Española) or “God values.” The opposite is not that God hates the person who gives grudgingly, but rather that he disapproves. Note that Contemporary English Version translates “God loves people who love to give.” The adjective cheerful is found only here in all the New Testament, although it is used in the Greek translation of Pro 22.9. It stands in contrast with grumbling or acting only out of a sense of responsibility. Some languages will say simply “with joy” or “in an attitude of happiness.”

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 .

I shall not be a fool: Paul is not talking here about actually being a fool, but rather about acting like a fool by boasting. Actually Paul does not think it foolish, since he is telling the truth. Translator’s New Testament reads “that would not be foolish of me.” Some languages will require a more natural restructuring such as “I would not be acting like a fool if I decided to boast, because I would be telling the truth.” Compare verse 11 below.

I refrain from it: that is, “I refuse to go on boasting”; or, as Contemporary English Version has it, “I will try not to say too much.”

Most translations complete one sentence at the end of verse 6 with the words “hears from me” (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) and begin a new sentence at verse 7. In Greek the first words of verse 7 are “by the abundance of revelations.” Other translations, such as New Jerusalem Bible and Martin, connect the words “by the abundance of revelations” to the end of verse 6. New Jerusalem Bible translates 12.6b-7a as follows: “But I will not go on in case anybody should rate me higher than he sees and hears me to be, because of the exceptional greatness of the revelations” (so also New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Nouvelle version Segond révisée, and the UBS Greek New Testament). According to this second interpretation people would think too highly of Paul because of the abundance of revelations that he has had.

Though the Greek is literally so that no one, Contemporary English Version is surely correct in translating this as “none of you.”

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 .

Verses 12-14 are transition verses from the introductory section (1.1-11) to the theme of Paul’s travel plans and his relationship to the church at Corinth. As the following verses suggest, some people in Corinth thought that Paul was not being honest or straightforward in his relationship with them. In verses 12-13 Paul assures the readers that his conscience is clear, and that he has been guided in his decisions by God’s grace and not by his own human wisdom.

Verse 12 begins in Greek with the word For. Though this word sometimes expresses a causal relationship between two phrases, it may also function as an introductory word without connecting what follows with what precedes. Here the Greek word appears to function only to introduce a new movement of thought. The word may be omitted in some languages (so Good News Translation and Revised English Bible) or translated with an introductory word such as “Now” (Anchor Bible). In some languages the presence of a new section heading serves much the same purpose as this transition word. If the word is translated overtly, the receptor language word or phrase used should be one that serves to introduce an important point or that indicates a point of transition.

Boast: this noun and the related verb are very common in 2 Corinthians and may be considered a key word in this letter. In this context boast may refer to “that which one boasts about” (Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible) or “the reason that one is proud.” The former seems more likely. While it is a noun, it may be better translated by a verbal expression, as in Good News Translation. Here the idea of “boasting” may be expressed in some languages in terms of “pride,” but in other cases it will be necessary to soften this by using an expression like “we must say something good about ourselves…” or “something that makes us feel good about ourselves is….”

Both Nestle-Aland and the UBS Greek New Testament place the words the testimony of our conscience within commas. This punctuation is accepted by Phillips: “Now it is a matter of pride to us—endorsed by our conscience—that our activities….” That is, Paul is stating that he is proud that his life has been ruled by God’s grace, and his conscience agrees with, or endorses, his boast. This interpretation and punctuation are followed also in New Revised Standard Version: “Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience: we have behaved…” (so also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nouvelle version Segond révisée).

On the other hand, both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation make the words the testimony of our conscience a part of that about which Paul boasts, that is, he is proud that his conscience assures him that his life has been ruled by God’s grace (so also Revised English Bible, Spanish common language version [Biblia Dios Habla Hoy], Bible en français courant). Both interpretations make good sense, and the grammar and context do not point more strongly to one interpretation over the other. In most languages it will not be possible to maintain the ambiguity of the Greek, and translators must simply choose one interpretation, knowing that the other is equally possible.

The word conscience presents serious problems for translators in many languages. It occurs in Paul’s speeches in (Acts 23.1 and 24.16) and is used frequently by Paul in his letters—especially to the Corinthian Christians. It is also found in the letter to the Hebrews and in 1 Peter. It involves knowledge based on contemplation of one’s past actions. In some cases it is qualified by the adjectives “good” or “clean” if those actions have been acceptable and as “evil” if they are unacceptable. In 1 Peter 2.19 Revised Standard Version translates the same term “mindful,” and in Heb 10.2 it is rendered “consciousness.” So the meaning is something like “awareness,” either of having done wrong or of having done nothing wrong. In this verse it clearly involved Paul’s feeling that he had done no wrong. It is translated “conscientious conviction” by New Jerusalem Bible. In many languages the nominal expression the testimony of our conscience may be rendered by a verbal expression like “our heart tells us” or something similar.

We have behaved: the verb used here involves a person’s actions and relationships with other people. Some languages may say “our conduct has been…” or “we have lived….”

The words in the world here are not negative, as if the world is an evil place. Paul is simply referring to his daily life among people.

With holiness and godly sincerity is literally “with holiness and sincerity of God.” The words “of God” may modify the second noun only (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version) or both nouns (Good News Translation; New International Version “in the holiness and sincerity that are from God”). Some manuscripts have a word meaning “frankness” in place of holiness here. In Greek the two words are spelled almost the same. In this case the word “frankness” would be virtually synonymous with sincerity. This is reflected in a variety of translations, including King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, and Translator’s New Testament (Translator’s New Testament), as well as Good News Translation. The reading “frankness” is recommended by the editors of the UBS Greek New Testament as the word that fits the context better. “Frankness” may be expressed as “openness,” “absolutely above board” (Phillips), or, in some cases, by a full verbal expression like “we have not hidden anything from you.” The alternative term holiness presents special problems in many languages. If translators follow the texts that have holiness (as in Revised Standard Version, New International Version, and Revised English Bible), it may be necessary to restructure the whole phrase and say something like “we have always lived as those who belong to God [or, in obedience to God] and with a sincerity that comes from God.”

Earthly wisdom: literally “fleshly wisdom” (King James Version). Paul sometimes uses the word “fleshly” to refer to that which is typical of human nature. Some other possible models may be “the wisdom of this world” (Contemporary English Version) or simply “human wisdom” (Translator’s New Testament).

The grace of God: on the term grace see 2 Cor. 1.2 above. The expression “the grace of God” occurs nineteen times in Acts and the New Testament letters. It refers to God’s kindness or goodness to human beings, who can do nothing to earn it. In this context Paul is saying that his good behavior is not due to anything in himself but to God’s goodness to him.

A model for this verse as a whole may be something like the following:
• In our own hearts we know that in everything we have done in this world we have done it all with an honest and pure heart given by God. And this is especially true of what we have done in our relations with you. We are very proud of this. But we have done this by the grace of God and not by human wisdom.

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 .