2 Corinthians

This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, a man sent out by him because God willed it, and from Timothy our brother. We write to the church of God in Corinth, and to all of God's holy people throughout the region of Achaia.

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:

NoteAn apostle is literally "one who is sent": an authorized representative who carries the sender's commission and speaks with the sender's authority. "Our brother" means a fellow believer, not a blood relation. Corinth was a large, wealthy, ethnically mixed port city in southern Greece, and Achaia was the Roman province surrounding it, covering most of southern Greece with Corinth as its capital. "Saints" does not mean an elite class of unusually holy people; it translates a word meaning those set apart for God, and it covers every ordinary member of the congregation.

2May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

2Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Note"Grace" and "peace" rework two ordinary greetings. Greek letters normally opened with a word for "greetings" that closely resembles the word for grace, and the standard Jewish greeting was shalom, peace.

3Praise be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Father who is full of mercy, and the God who gives every kind of comfort.

3Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

NoteThe word translated "comfort" here and repeatedly through this chapter is stronger than the modern English word suggests. It means being called alongside and strengthened, the way an ally, advocate or supporter stands next to someone in trouble, rather than merely being soothed. The related verb and noun appear about ten times in verses 3 to 7.

4He comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort people who are in any kind of trouble, using the same comfort that God gave us.

4Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

5Just as the sufferings of Christ overflow into our lives, so through Christ our comfort also overflows.

5For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

Note"The sufferings of Christ" can be read two ways in the Greek, and the sentence does not settle it: either the sufferings Christ himself underwent, now overflowing into the lives of his followers, or the sufferings his followers undergo for his sake. "Abound" in the King James means to overflow or spill over in excess.

6If we are suffering, it is for your comfort and salvation. That comfort does its work as you patiently endure the same sufferings we go through. And if we are comforted, that too is for your comfort and salvation.

6And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

7Our hope for you is steady. We know that just as you share in the sufferings, you will also share in the comfort.

7And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

8Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. The weight on us was far more than we could bear, so heavy that we gave up any hope of staying alive.

8For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

NoteIn the first century "Asia" was a Roman province covering the western part of what is now Turkey, with Ephesus as its principal city. It does not mean the continent. "Pressed out of measure" translates language of being weighed down beyond what a person can carry; Paul never says here what the trouble actually was.

9In fact, it felt as if the death sentence had already been passed on us. This happened so that we would stop relying on ourselves and rely instead on God, who raises the dead.

9But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Note"The sentence of death" translates a word used for an official verdict or ruling handed down by a court. The image is of the judgment already having been read out, with nothing left but the carrying out of it.

10He rescued us from that deadly danger, and he goes on rescuing us. We have put our hope in him, that he will rescue us again.

10Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

11You help us as you pray for us. Then many people will thank God on our behalf for the kindness shown to us in answer to the prayers of many.

11Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

NoteThe Greek of this verse is compressed and awkward. "By the means of many persons" is literally "from many faces," and it is not clear whether the "many" are the many who prayed or the many who will give thanks; the sentence can be read either way. "The gift bestowed" is the word usually translated grace or favor.

12Here is what we are glad about: our conscience assures us that we have lived in this world, and especially in our dealings with you, with honesty and sincerity that come from God. We did not act by human cleverness, but by God's grace.

12For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

NoteIn 1611 "conversation" meant a person's whole way of life and conduct, not talk. "To you-ward" simply means toward you. "Fleshly wisdom" is Paul's phrase for cleverness operating by merely human calculation. Manuscripts divide here between a word meaning simplicity or single-mindedness and one meaning holiness; the two differ by a single letter in Greek.

13We write nothing to you beyond what you can read and understand. And I hope you will understand us completely, right to the end.

13For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;

NoteThere is a play on words in the Greek that English cannot easily carry. The verb for "read" and the verb for "acknowledge" or "understand" are the same root with different prefixes, so the line runs roughly: nothing but what you read and so can read fully.

14You have already understood us in part. So you can be proud of us, just as we will be proud of you on the day of the Lord Jesus.

14As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Note"Rejoicing" translates a word meaning a boast or a ground for pride, something you can point to with satisfaction. "The day of the Lord Jesus" adapts the Old Testament phrase "the day of the LORD," the day of final reckoning, and applies it to the return of Jesus.

15Because I was sure of this, I planned to come to you first, so that you might be helped twice.

15And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit;

Note"Benefit" translates charis, the word usually rendered "grace": a favor or act of kindness. A second visit would mean a second helping of that kindness. Some manuscripts read "joy" instead of "grace" here, the two words being close in Greek.

16My plan was to stop and see you on my way to Macedonia, then to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea.

16And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.

Note"To be brought on my way" refers to a recognized courtesy of the ancient church: a congregation would send a traveler off equipped with supplies, money and companions for the next stage of the journey. Macedonia was the Roman province of northern Greece, reached from Corinth by land or coastal ship; Judea lay at the far eastern end of the Mediterranean.

17When I made that plan, was I being careless about it? Do I make my plans the way people do who go by merely human standards, saying "Yes, yes" when they really mean "No, no"?

17When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?

Note"Lightness" in 1611 meant fickleness or frivolity, not brightness or lack of weight. "According to the flesh" is Paul's standing phrase for acting by merely human standards and motives. "Yea yea, nay nay" pictures someone saying yes and no in the same breath, a promise with no weight behind it.

18But God is faithful, and just as surely, the message we brought you was not "Yes" and "No" at the same time.

18But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.

Note"As God is true" is an oath formula. Paul stakes the reliability of his own word on the reliability of God's.

19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached to you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was never "Yes" and "No." In him the answer has always been "Yes."

19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.

NoteSilvanus is the Latin form of the name Silas, and Timotheus is Timothy; both had worked with Paul when the Corinthian church was first founded.

20Every promise God has made is "Yes" in him. And so through him we say "Amen," and that brings glory to God.

20For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Note"Amen" is a Hebrew word meaning roughly "firm, reliable, so let it be." In the synagogue and the early church it was the congregation's spoken response confirming a prayer or blessing they had just heard, which is why it appears here as something said out loud.

21Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He is the one who anointed us.

21Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;

Note"Stablisheth" is an older spelling of "establishes," meaning to make firm or secure; in everyday Greek the word was used for confirming or guaranteeing a contract. "Anointed" refers to pouring oil over someone to mark them out for an office, the ceremony used for kings and priests. The title "Christ" means "anointed one," so the verb deliberately echoes the name.

22He has also put his seal of ownership on us, and has given us his Spirit in our hearts as a down payment that guarantees what is still to come.

22Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

NoteA seal was a personal mark pressed into wax or clay with a signet ring, used to show who owned something and to certify that it was genuine and had not been tampered with. "Earnest" translates arrabon, a commercial term for a deposit paid up front, which both forms part of the full price and legally guarantees that the remainder will follow.

23I call on God as my witness, and I stake my life on what I say: the reason I have not yet come back to Corinth was to spare you.

23Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.

Note"I call God for a record upon my soul" is an oath formula. Paul summons God as witness and, in the same breath, invites God to act against his own life if what he says is false.

24We are not trying to rule over your faith. We work alongside you for your joy, because it is by faith that you stand firm.

24Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

Note"Have dominion over" translates a verb meaning to lord it over or master someone, the word ordinarily used of rulers exercising power over subjects.