complete verse (2 Corinthians 10:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 10:10:

  • Uma: “For there are some there who are talking about me [this verb has a negative, talking-behind-one’s-back connotation], they say like this: ‘In his letters, how harsh his words and strong his advice, [yet] when he is with us here, he is submissive and doesn’t know how to talk!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “There are some there who say, ‘When Paul writes, what he says is really strong and he knows how to argue, but when he is facing us (incl.) in our presence he has no strength and does not know how to speak.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “However, some say that I Paul, I am very bold to rebuke you when I talk to you by means of a letter, but when I’m there with you they say I’m a coward and I don’t know how to talk.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Some are saying that my letters, they have weight and they show my authority, but if I am there, it’s as if I have no importance while also what I say has no weight.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because some say, ‘If he writes it, his sayings are really stern (lit. heavy), like a person who has authority. But in (people’s) presence, he is scared to speak sternly. Only ineffective words are what he speaks.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Because that is what some people say, saying that when I write a letter to send to you I speak strong. But when I speak personally to you, they say that I speak softly. And they say that concerning the words I say, they are not anything upon hearing them.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:10

For they say is only one word in Greek that introduces a quotation without indicating who said it. It introduces what seems to be a criticism of Paul that was circulating in Corinth, either by an individual or by his opponents there. Good News Translation makes this more hypothetical rather than actual by translating “Someone will say,” but Revised Standard Version is probably to be preferred. Anchor Bible avoids the question of whether this is to be understood as referring to a single individual or more than one person by translating “it is said.” However, the passive formulation will not be helpful in some languages. Moffatt has “my opponent says…”; New Jerusalem Bible “someone said.” Revised Standard Version is correct in taking this as a real situation rather than a hypothetical one (Good News Translation). Though the third person singular verb in Greek may be understood impersonally in the sense of “it is said” or they say, it is perhaps better to use a third person singular subject and verb in translation, as in New Jerusalem Bible: “Someone said, ‘His letters….’ ” Good News Translation uses a singular subject and verb, “someone will say,” but Good News Bible also gives the impression that Paul is speaking about a hypothetical situation. New Jerusalem Bible is probably correct in showing that Paul is referring to a real situation in which an unnamed person has criticized him.

His letters … his bodily presence … his speech: it should be made clear in the receptor language that the third person singular pronouns here refer to Paul. If the accusation is changed from direct to indirect speech, one must translate using first person singular pronouns: “… that my letters are hard, but I am weak when I am with you and my words are worthless.”

Weighty and strong are not to be understood in a physical sense but figuratively as meaning “strict and stern” or “severe and forceful” (New American Bible).

His bodily presence: the Greek is quite literally “the presence of his body,” but the idea is that of nearness or physical presence as opposed to distance or total absence, during which time Paul wrote letters to maintain contact. The contrast may be heightened by saying “when he is not here” when talking about his letters, and “when he is here” or “when he is with us” in this case.

His speech refers specifically to his style of speaking in public, rather than to the content of his speech. Paul does not speak with the highly popular oratorical style of some of the Greek philosophers. See also 11.6.

Of no account: these words reflect a passive verb form that is usually translated “despised.” The meaning is quite strong and means more than merely “a poor orator” (Knox). Anchor Bible and New Revised Standard Version use the word “contemptible,” while Moffatt and Revised English Bible have “beneath contempt.”

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 .