2 Korintus 2:7

2:7 so that now instead ¹  you should rather forgive and comfort him. ²  This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair. ³ 

2 Korintus 4:8-10

4:8 We are experiencing trouble on every side, ⁴  but are not crushed; we are perplexed, ⁵  but not driven to despair; 4:9 we are persecuted, but not abandoned; ⁶  we are knocked down, ⁷  but not destroyed, 4:10 always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, ⁸  so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible ⁹  in our body.

[2:7]  ¹ tn Grk “so that on the other hand.”

[2:7]  ² tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted and must be supplied from the context.

[2:7]  ³ tn Grk “comfort him, lest somehow such a person be swallowed up by excessive grief,” an idiom for a person being so overcome with grief as to despair or give up completely (L&N 25.285). In this context of excessive grief or regret for past sins, “overwhelmed” is a good translation since contemporary English idiom speaks of someone “overwhelmed by grief.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the difficulty of expressing a negative purpose/result clause in English, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:8]  ⁴ tn Grk “we are hard pressed [by crowds] on every side.”

[4:8]  ⁵ tn Or “at a loss.”

[4:9]  ⁶ tn Or “forsaken.”

[4:9]  ⁷ tn Or “badly hurt.” It is possible to interpret καταβαλλόμενοι (kataballomenoi) here as “badly hurt”: “[we are] badly hurt, but not destroyed” (L&N 20.21).

[4:10]  ⁸ tn The first clause of 2 Cor 4:10 is elliptical and apparently refers to the fact that Paul was constantly in danger of dying in the same way Jesus died (by violence at least). According to L&N 23.99 it could be translated, “at all times we live in the constant threat of being killed as Jesus was.”

[4:10]  ⁹ tn Or “may also be revealed.”