2 Korintus 9:1--10:18
Konteks9:1 For it is not necessary 1 for me to write you about this service 2 to the saints, 9:2 because I know your eagerness to help. 3 I keep boasting to the Macedonians about this eagerness of yours, 4 that Achaia has been ready to give 5 since last year, and your zeal to participate 6 has stirred up most of them. 7 9:3 But I am sending 8 these brothers so that our boasting about you may not be empty in this case, so that you may be ready 9 just as I kept telling them. 9:4 For if any of the Macedonians should come with me and find that you are not ready to give, we would be humiliated 10 (not to mention you) by this confidence we had in you. 11 9:5 Therefore I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you in advance and to arrange ahead of time the generous contribution 12 you had promised, so this may be ready as a generous gift 13 and not as something you feel forced to do. 14 9:6 My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously 15 will also reap generously. 9:7 Each one of you should give 16 just as he has decided in his heart, 17 not reluctantly 18 or under compulsion, 19 because God loves a cheerful giver. 9:8 And God is able to make all grace overflow 20 to you so that because you have enough 21 of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow 22 in every good work. 9:9 Just as it is written, “He 23 has scattered widely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.” 24 9:10 Now God 25 who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your supply of seed and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow. 9:11 You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous on every occasion, 26 which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, 9:12 because the service of this ministry is not only providing for 27 the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God. 9:13 Through the evidence 28 of this service 29 they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing 30 with them and with everyone. 9:14 And in their prayers on your behalf they long for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown to you. 31 9:15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 32
10:1 Now I, Paul, appeal to you 33 personally 34 by the meekness and gentleness 35 of Christ (I who am meek 36 when present among 37 you, but am full of courage 38 toward you when away!) – 10:2 now I ask that when I am present I may not have to be bold with the confidence that (I expect) I will dare to use against some who consider us to be behaving 39 according to human standards. 40 10:3 For though we live 41 as human beings, 42 we do not wage war according to human standards, 43 10:4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, 44 but are made powerful by God 45 for tearing down strongholds. 46 We tear down arguments 47 10:5 and every arrogant obstacle 48 that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey 49 Christ. 10:6 We are also ready to punish every act of disobedience, 50 whenever your obedience is complete. 10:7 You are looking at outward appearances. 51 If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should reflect on this again: Just as he himself belongs to Christ, so too do we. 10:8 For if I boast somewhat more about our authority that the Lord gave us 52 for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of doing so. 53 10:9 I do not want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters, 10:10 because some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is weak 54 and his speech is of no account.” 55 10:11 Let such a person consider this: What we say 56 by letters when we are absent, we also are in actions when we are present.
10:12 For we would not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who recommend themselves. But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. 57 10:13 But we will not boast beyond certain limits, 58 but will confine our boasting 59 according to the limits of the work to which God has appointed us, 60 that reaches even as far as you. 10:14 For we were not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach as far as you, because we were the first to reach as far as you with the gospel about Christ. 61 10:15 Nor do we boast beyond certain limits 62 in the work 63 done by others, but we hope 64 that as your faith continues to grow, our work may be greatly expanded 65 among you according to our limits, 66 10:16 so that we may preach the gospel in the regions that lie beyond you, and not boast of work already done in another person’s area. 10:17 But the one who boasts must boast in the Lord. 67 10:18 For it is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the person the Lord commends.
[9:1] 1 tn Or “it is superfluous.”
[9:1] 2 tn Or “this ministry,” “this contribution.”
[9:2] 3 tn The words “to help” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
[9:2] 4 tn Grk “concerning which I keep boasting to the Macedonians about you.” A new sentence was started here and the translation was simplified by removing the relative clause and repeating the antecedent “this eagerness of yours.”
[9:2] 5 tn The words “to give” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
[9:2] 6 tn The words “to participate” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
[9:2] 7 sn Most of them is a reference to the Macedonians (cf. v. 4).
[9:3] 8 tn This verb has been translated as an epistolary aorist.
[9:3] 9 tn That is, ready with the collection for the saints.
[9:4] 10 tn Or “be disgraced”; Grk “be put to shame.”
[9:4] 11 tn Grk “by this confidence”; the words “we had in you” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied as a necessary clarification for the English reader.
[9:5] 12 tn Grk “the blessing.”
[9:5] 14 tn Grk “as a covetousness”; that is, a gift given grudgingly or under compulsion.
[9:6] 15 tn Or “bountifully”; so also in the next occurrence in the verse.
[9:7] 16 tn Or “must do.” The words “of you” and “should give” are not in the Greek text, which literally reads, “Each one just as he has decided in his heart.” The missing words are an ellipsis; these or similar phrases must be supplied for the English reader.
[9:7] 18 tn Or “not from regret”; Grk “not out of grief.”
[9:7] 19 tn Or “not out of a sense of duty”; Grk “from necessity.”
[9:8] 21 tn Or “so that by having enough.” The Greek participle can be translated as a participle of cause (“because you have enough”) or means (“by having enough”).
[9:9] 23 sn He in the quotation refers to the righteous person.
[9:9] 24 sn A quotation from Ps 112:9.
[9:10] 25 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:11] 26 tn Grk “in every way for every generosity,” or “he will always make you rich enough to be generous at all times” (L&N 57.29).
[9:12] 27 tn Or “not only supplying.”
[9:13] 28 tn Or “proof,” or perhaps “testing” (NRSV).
[9:13] 30 tn Or “your partnership”; Grk “your fellowship.”
[9:14] 31 tn Grk “the extraordinary grace of God to you”; the point is that God has given or shown grace to the Corinthians.
[9:15] 32 tn “Let us thank God for his gift which cannot be described with words” (L&N 33.202).
[10:1] 33 tn The Greek pronoun (“you”) is plural.
[10:1] 34 tn The word “personally” is supplied to reflect the force of the Greek intensive pronoun αὐτός (autos) at the beginning of the verse.
[10:1] 35 tn Or “leniency and clemency.” D. Walker, “Paul’s Offer of Leniency of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1): Populist Ideology and Rhetoric in a Pauline Letter Fragment (2 Cor 10:1-13:10)” (Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1998), argues for this alternative translation for three main reasons: (1) When the two Greek nouns πραΰτης and ἐπιείκεια (prauth" and ejpieikeia) are used together, 90% of the time the nuance is “leniency and clemency.” (2) “Leniency and clemency” has a military connotation, which is precisely what appears in the following verses. (3) 2 Cor 10-13 speaks of Paul’s sparing use of his authority, which points to the nuance of “leniency and clemency.”
[10:1] 36 tn Or “who lack confidence.”
[10:1] 37 tn Or “when face to face with.”
[10:2] 39 tn Grk “consider us as walking.”
[10:2] 40 tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
[10:3] 42 tn Grk “in the flesh.”
[10:3] 43 tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
[10:4] 44 tn Grk “are not fleshly [weapons].” The repetition of the word “warfare” does not occur in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.
[10:4] 45 tn Or “but (are) divinely powerful,” “but they have divine power,” or “but are powerful for God’s [service]”; Grk “but are powerful to God.”
[10:4] 46 sn Ultimately Paul is referring here to the false arguments of his opponents, calling them figuratively “strongholds.” This Greek word (ὀχύρωμα, ocurwma) is used only here in the NT.
[10:4] 47 tn Or “speculations.”
[10:5] 48 tn The phrase “every arrogant obstacle” could be translated simply “all arrogance” (so L&N 88.207).
[10:5] 49 tn Grk “to the obedience of Christ”; but since Χριστοῦ (Cristou) is clearly an objective genitive here, it is better to translate “to make it obey Christ.”
[10:6] 50 tn Or “punish all disobedience.”
[10:7] 51 tn The phrase is close to a recognized idiom for judging based on outward appearances (L&N 30.120). Some translators see a distinction, however, and translate 2 Cor 10:7a as “Look at what is in front of your eyes,” that is, the obvious facts of the case (so NRSV).
[10:8] 52 tn The word “us” is not in the Greek text but is supplied. Indirect objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, and must be supplied for the modern English reader.
[10:8] 53 tn Grk “I will not be put to shame,” “I will not be ashamed.” The words “of doing so” are supplied to clarify for the reader that Paul will not be ashamed of boasting somewhat more about the authority the Lord gave him (beginning of v. 8).
[10:10] 54 tn Or “unimpressive.”
[10:10] 55 tn Or “is contemptible”; Grk “is despised.”
[10:11] 56 tn Grk “what we are in word.”
[10:12] 57 tn Or “they are unintelligent.”
[10:13] 58 tn Or “boast excessively.” The phrase εἰς τὰ ἄμετρα (ei" ta ametra) is an idiom; literally it means “into that which is not measured,” that is, a point on a scale that goes beyond what might be expected (L&N 78.27).
[10:13] 59 tn The words “will confine our boasting” are not in the Greek text, but the reference to boasting must be repeated from the previous clause to clarify for the modern reader what is being limited.
[10:13] 60 tn Grk “according to the measure of the rule which God has apportioned to us as a measure”; for the translation used in the text see L&N 37.100.
[10:14] 61 tn Grk “with the gospel of Christ,” but since Χριστοῦ (Cristou) is clearly an objective genitive here, it is better to translate “with the gospel about Christ.”
[10:15] 62 tn Or “boast excessively.” The phrase εἰς τὰ ἄμετρα (ei" ta ametra) is an idiom; literally it means “into that which is not measured,” that is, a point on a scale that goes beyond what might be expected (L&N 78.27).
[10:15] 63 tn Or “in the labors.”
[10:15] 64 tn Grk “but we have the hope.”
[10:15] 65 tn Or “greatly enlarged.”
[10:15] 66 tn That is, Paul’s work might be greatly expanded within the area of activity assigned to him by God.
[10:17] 67 tn The traditional translation (“let the one who boasts boast in the Lord”) can be understood as merely permissive by the English reader, but the Greek verb καυχάσθω (kaucasqw) is a third person imperative.
[10:17] sn A quotation from Jer 9:24 (also quoted in 1 Cor 1:31).
