Paul has defended his integrity in the preceding verses, and now he defends the integrity of his gospel.

The Son of God, Jesus Christ: Paul rarely refers to Jesus as “Son of God.” Revised Standard Version maintains the focus of the Greek text by placing Jesus Christ in apposition to the Son of God. Good News Translation unnecessarily shifts the focus to the name “Jesus Christ” rather than keeping the focus on the title “the Son of God.” But in some languages it is considered more natural to give a person’s name before his or her title. In such cases it will be better to say “Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Whom we preached among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I: literally “who among you by us was preached, through me and Silvanus and Timothy.” Many translations in English change the order of the names and place Paul after Silvanus and Timothy, since English etiquette requires that the speaker mention himself or herself last. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation fail to reflect a subtle but important aspect of the Greek sentence: by mentioning himself first, Paul emphasizes his own role. Anchor Bible captures this well: “who was preached among you by us—by myself, and also by Silvanus and Timothy.” Translators are encouraged to follow the order of the names in the Greek (as in the 1984 German revision of the Luther translation [Luther 1984], Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible).

Further, the Greek sentence suggests that the listing of the names was something of an afterthought, intended to clarify the words “by us.” Good News Translation (also Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) unnecessarily smooths out the sentence. By inserting the words “that is,” New Jerusalem Bible shows that the names are intended to clarify: “who was proclaimed to you by us, that is, by me and by Silvanus and Timothy.” But translators should not structure this phrase in an unnatural way in the receptor language simply to try to reflect the form of the Greek. And in languages where it is not possible to reflect the passive of the original and Good News Translation, one may translate actively along the lines of Revised Standard Version, whom we preached among you ….

Revised Standard Version transliterates the Greek name Silvanus, which Good News Translation always changes to “Silas,” the form better known from the book of Acts. Paul always uses the name “Silvanus,” and Acts, the name “Silas.” There is little doubt that the same person is referred to.

Was not Yes and No: or, in keeping with the translation of the Yes-No statements above, one may translate “he did not come with two hearts [or, minds]” or “he does not agree and refuse at the same time.”

In him it is always Yes: the translation of this clause should also conform to the rendering to the above Yes–No statements. Here one may consider the following models: “he always has only one heart [or, mind]” or “he always agrees.”

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 .

Indeed: the transition, again omitted by Good News Translation, introduces a further development of Paul’s argument. In some languages this kind of clarification may be introduced by something like “Truly” or “In fact” (Contemporary English Version). Moffatt takes the whole verse as parenthetical but introduces it with “Indeed.”

In this case: literally “in this part.” These words apparently refer to the preceding statement of verses 7-9. Many languages will say “in this matter.”

What once had splendor has come to have no splendor is literally “what has had splendor has not had splendor.” Paul refers here to the Law of Moses. The splendor that surpasses it refers to the glory of the gospel.

Contemporary English Version serves as a good model translation of this verse: “In fact, the new agreement is so wonderful that the Law is no longer glorious at all.” Another model says “In truth, the glory of the old covenant does not look like glory at all any longer because of the brightness of the present glory.”

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 .

So: this verse begins in Greek with the word “Therefore” (so New American Bible and New International Version), which ties this verse to 4.16a and to 4.1, as well as to the immediately preceding verses.

Good courage translates a word that here carries the idea of quiet confidence. Revised English Bible, for example, has “we are always confident.” Some other renderings are: “this makes us confident” (Phillips); “we continue to be confident” (New American Bible); and “we always have courage” (Translator’s New Testament).

At home in the body means “alive here on earth.” Some other models may be “as long as we remain in this human body” or “as long as this body is our home” (Barclay).

We are away from the Lord: the Lord here is “the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul is not stating that while we live on earth we have no spiritual relationship with the Lord. Anchor Bible inserts several words to make the sense clear: “while we are at home in the body we are away from our home with the Lord” (so also Good News Translation). Another way of saying this may be “while we are in this human body, we remain a long way from being in the presence of the Lord.”

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 .

Verse 17 continues to quote from words of God in the Old Testament, Isa 52.11 (6.17abc) and Ezek 20.34, 41 in the Septuagint (6.17d). Since the quotation does not continue from the same place in the Old Testament as the quotation in verse 16, God’s New Covenant adds the words “as we also find in scripture” at the beginning of verse 17. By transposing the words inserted by Paul, “And so the Lord says,” Good News Translation likewise indicates that the quotation in verse 17 does not follow directly the quotation in verse 16. Paul also adds the logical connector Therefore, which is not found in the Old Testament text but is important to the New Testament argument. In Paul’s thinking it is because of what he cited in verse 16 that the appeal of verse 17 can be made. The Good News Translation rendering seems weak. One may prefer to translate “Therefore the Lord also says….”

In the Old Testament context the Israelite people are called upon to leave the city of Babylon, where they have been living in captivity. As Paul applies these quotations to the church, believers are to separate themselves from the immoral behavior and influence of nonbelievers (from them). In some languages it will be necessary to render the pronoun explicitly as “those who do not believe.”

The Lord in this verse is clearly “the Lord God” and not “the Lord Jesus.”

Unclean had a cultic sense in the passage from Isaiah, “not fit for use in worship.” For Paul the word unclean has primarily an ethical sense, “dirty because of sin.”

Then I will welcome you: God’s acceptance of his people depends upon their becoming separate from unbelievers. Revised Standard Version expresses this connection with the word then. Similarly New Jerusalem Bible and Moffatt. In the Septuagint text of Ezek 20.34, 41, God’s promise to welcome his people refers to welcoming or receiving them back from exile to the land that he had given them. For Paul, the meaning is that God will “accept” his 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 .

The Greek noun thanks has no explicit subject (see also 9.15). Good News Translation uses a verb (“thank”) with the exclusive pronoun “we” as the subject. Revised English Bible makes Paul alone the subject of the verb: “I thank God.” The expression thanks be to God is typically Pauline, occurring also in Rom 6.17; 7.25; 1 Cor 15.57; 2 Cor 2.14; 9.15, although the word order in Greek varies in two cases.

The same …: Paul does not state the complete comparison when he writes that Titus has the same concern. To whom is Titus’ concern compared? Probably to the concern that Paul himself has for the Corinthians (see verse 17). Good News Translation and Revised English Bible make this comparison explicit: “as eager as we are.” New Revised Standard Version makes Paul alone the point of comparison: “the same eagerness for you that I myself have.” It is also possible, but less likely in light of verse 17, that the comparison is between Titus’ zeal and the zeal of the Corinthians (7.11; 8.7) and of the Macedonians (8.8).

Earnest care translates the same Greek word translated in Revised Standard Version as “earnestness” in 7.11; 8.7, 8; and “zeal” in 7.12.

On the heart as the center of one’s will, rational activity, and moral choice, see comments on 1.22; 3.3, 15. In this context the idea of God’s putting concern into the heart of Titus may be expressed by a causative verb form in some languages. In others translators may wish to say something like “I thank God because he gave Titus the same love for you that I have” (New Century Version) or “I am grateful that God made Titus care as much about you as we do” (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 .

I would not seem to be frightening you: as the Good News Translation rendering indicates, this is no tentative observation on the part of Paul. Rather it shows clearly that he wanted to avoid any appearance of trying to cause fear in the Corinthians by writing letters. New Revised Standard Version says “I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters.” Another model is “I do not want you to get the idea that I am the kind of person who would try to scare you…” (Barclay).

As verse 10 makes clear, letters are letters from Paul sent to the Corinthians. Translators may want to make this clear by adding the word “my” (Good News Translation, New Revised Standard Version, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

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 answer to the question at the beginning of this verse is slightly different from the ones given in the previous verse. In verse 22 the answer was “also I,” but here it is “more so I.” In the first case the idea of “more” may have to be translated “better,” as in “I am a better servant of Christ” or “I serve Christ better….”

I am talking like a madman: the word translated madman here is related to but stronger than “fool” in verse 21 above. If there are not two different degrees of madness in the receptor language, this progression from bad to worse may be reflected by the use of an additional adverb, “now I am really talking like a fool,” or by some other means. As in verse 21, this parenthetical statement may fit better at the end of the verse rather than following the structure of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

Far greater labors: this is not intended to indicate the greatness or importance of the work done, but rather the volume of work accomplished or the intensity with which Paul worked. Many modern versions speak of his having “worked harder.” Some languages will naturally require that the comparison be made explicit: “I worked harder than they have” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy) or “I surpassed my enemies in work.” This is also the case with far more imprisonments, which is likewise a comparison with Paul’s opponents. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente says “I have been in prison more than they have.”

The Greek word translated as countless in Revised Standard Version may indicate the number of beatings (Revised Standard Version, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or the severity of the beatings, that is, beaten “more severely” (New International Version, Revised English Bible). The beatings is a rather general term. Two specific kinds of beatings are mentioned in the verses that follow: thirty-nine lashes by the Jews (verse 24), and the whipping by Roman authorities (verse 25).

Often near death: literally “in deaths often.” These words follow a series of comparisons in which Paul has claimed that his qualifications are better than those of the “superapostles.” Therefore many translations and interpreters understand these words to mean by implication that Paul had “been near death more often” than those to whom he is comparing himself (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). In some languages near death may be understood to mean “near a dead person.” But the meaning here is clearly that Paul himself was “nearly dead” or “in serious danger of dying.” Some may therefore prefer to translate “I have almost died many times.”

As noted above, the Greek does not have a word in this last phrase of verse 23 corresponding to the English word “more” as in Good News Translation. The UBS Greek New Testament places a period at the end of verse 23, and all translations follow this punctuation. Ellingworth suggests, however, that a period should be placed after the words with countless beatings and a new sentence begin with the words often near death (Ellingworth 1992). In other words, these final three Greek words “in deaths often” are the beginning of a new stage in the argument, in which Paul will stress the number of times he has suffered in various ways. If translators follow Ellingworth’s suggestion, the translation will look something like this: “many times near death, 24 five times….” Ellingworth’s suggested punctuation is certainly possible, and it takes account of the fact that the final words of verse 23 in Greek do not contain the words “more often.”

In the context, however, Paul probably intended the words “in deaths often” to imply that he had been near death more often than the “superapostles.” Good News Translation therefore remains a good model.

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 .

Those who sinned before refers to people who had sinned prior to Paul’s second visit to Corinth and who heard his warning during his second visit. In some languages it may be necessary to say explicitly “those who were doing wrong before my last visit.”

All the others refers to any other people who have sinned since his second visit, either by immoral behavior or by supporting the “false apostles.” The warning is that Paul “will not be lenient” (New American Bible) with offenders when he comes for the third time.

Some manuscripts add the words “I write” after the words “being absent now” in Greek, and King James Version and Reina-Valera revisada follow this reading: “and being absent now I write to them.” Though the original Greek almost certainly did not include the word translated “I write,” the addition does not change the meaning.

That if I come again I will not spare them: the word that may introduce an indirect quotation as in Revised Standard Version, or it may be the equivalent of quotation marks: “I said, ‘The next time I come, nobody will escape punishment’ ” (similarly Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, New International Version).

If I come again: the Greek probably means nothing more than “when I come again” (see Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, New International Version), and more than likely it does not mean that Paul had doubt about whether he would visit the Corinthian church again.

I will not spare them: Paul will not hesitate to exercise strong discipline against the offenders. The verb translated spare is the same as in 1.23 as well as 12.6, where it is translated “refrain” in Revised Standard Version. Here the idea is to refrain from punishing the guilty persons, although there is no expressed object in Greek. The pronoun them has been added by Revised Standard Version. But Translator’s New Testament adds the pronoun “you.” New Revised Standard Version revises to say “I will not be lenient,” while New Jerusalem Bible reads “I shall have no mercy.”

The structure of this verse may have to be simplified in certain languages. The first verb indicates something that Paul did on his previous visit, his second to Corinth. Translators may change the order of the statements as follows:
• On my second visit with you I warned those who did wrong and everyone else to stop doing wrong. Now that I am far away from you, I am giving you the same warning. When I come again, no one who does wrong will be able to avoid discipline.

Another possible model, putting the quotation first, may read as follows:
• This is what I say: “When I come again, no one who does wrong will escape discipline.” On my second visit to you I warned those who did wrong and all others to stop acting that way. Now that I am far from you, I am giving the same warning again.

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 .