Translation & Sermon by
Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 14 June
2026
Underlined words in Scripture quotes indicate words that
are in common with the Greek text of the sermon passage. Otherwise,
underlining indicates words to emphasize when reading this transcript
out loud.
Read my translation of the
passage, starting
at v.7:
Or
did I commit a sin when I humbled myself in order that you
yourselves might be exalted, because I preached God’s good news to
y’all for free? It was other churches that I looted, having taken
pay for the sake of ministry for y’all. And when I was alongside
y’all and was in need, I did not exhaust anyone, for the brothers
who came from Macedonia filled up to the brim what I needed, and in
everything I kept (and will keep) myself unburdensome with y’all.
Because this brag is the truth of the Anointed One in me, it will
not be sealed up in me in the climes of Achaia. For what reason?
Because I do not love y’all?? God knows. But what I am doing I
will continue doing, in order that I might cut off the opportunity
from those who want an opportunity, in order that, in what they brag
about themselves, they may be found just as we are also. For such
are false apostles – deceitful workers – who transform
themselves into apostles of the Anointed One. It really shouldn’t
be astonishing because Satan himself transforms himself into an
angel of light, therefore it is no big thing when his servants also
are being transformed as though they are servants of righteousness,
concerning whom their end will be according to their works. I say
again, nobody should reckon me to be silly, but even if [that’s]
not the case, accept me as though I am silly, in order that I myself
might also brag about a little something.
It was recently exposed in political news that the the United States government manipulated social media and news channels to censor information about the COVID virus and its treatment.
We’ve known since the mid-20th century that the Russian and Chinese governments have been engaging in flagrant propaganda efforts to suppress factual news about injustices perpetrated by their Communist leaders.
But what about religious information; should “freedom of religion” extend to allowing any kook to trot out any religious idea they have?
The Medieval mindset – whether Muslim or Christian – seemed to consider blasphemy a civil crime punishable by death.
What does the Bible say about how to deal with false doctrine?
When I preached through Leviticus, I commented on Biblical principles applicable to the civil government.
Here in 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul outlines principles applicable to ecclesiastical government, and that is what we will be focusing on here – how the church should deal with false teaching.
This problem of false teachers/false apostles is a theme of the whole book of 2 Corinthians, and the general strategy of the Apostle Paul is to align the church with the truth
by harping on the core message of the church – that Jesus Christ came to save sinners,
by warning the church about false teachers preaching a different gospel,
by church discipline which removes bad influences from within the church,
and by maintaining genuine and loving personal relationships within the church.
In v.12, Paul states that he is going to continue laboring to offer the Gospel free of charge in hopes that it will cut off opportunities for false apostles to lead the church astray.
In my last sermon, I suggested that v.12 indicates a second reason, which is that, by offering the Gospel for free and being an authentic ambassador of Christ, Paul will prove to be everything that the false apostles boast themselves of being, and that some of the false apostles might even become true representatives of Christ like Paul and Timothy were.
In v.13, Paul warns the church in Corinth of “false apostles/false missionaries” who transform themselves into apostles of Christ, but really it is a deceitful “disguise/masquerade.”
Remember that in Greek, the word “Christ” just means “Anointed One,” just as the Hebrew word “Messiah” also means “Anointed One.”
This has to do with the dispute between adherents of Christianity and adherents of Judaism over who God’s ultimate Prophet, Priest, and King of His people is. Christians say it’s Jesus, but Jews who reject Jesus say it’s somebody else – probably they don’t know who.
Paul is not saying that anybody can actually transform themselves into apostles of Jesus Christ – only God can commission someone to be an apostle by His divine calling. What Paul is saying is that these “false apostles” who claim that Jesus was not the real Messiah may be stumping for somebody else they think is the Messiah, but they are false because it’s not Jesus they are promoting as the ultimate prophet, priest, and king for God’s people.
It is a consistent pattern of false teachers to seek to displace legitimate church authority and to substitute their own authorities in its place.
In this, they reflect their father the Devil, who was the original rebel that attempted to displace God’s legitimate authority.
Jesus said in Matthew 23:9, “Call no man your Father upon the earth…,” but the Roman Catholics call the head of their church “Papa,” which means “father,” and they deny that Jesus Christ is the head of their so-called church.
Radio preacher Harold Camping taught that by 1994, Satan had completely taken over all the churches. God would no longer save anybody through the ministry of any church; true believers should flee the local church and never go back.1 The alternative? Listen to his radio broadcasts instead of your pastor, or join him for worship services at Alameda Bible Fellowship in California! People actually left their local churches because of Harold Camping’s teaching, and that’s just one early example of the hosts of media ministries that have displaced real churches.
John Calvin commented in the 16th century, “deceitful workers … do not discover their wickedness at first view, but artfully insinuate themselves under some fair pretext2... Paul ... unfolds to view the evil that lay hid, because there was a dangerous profanation of virtue in pretending to burn with greater zeal than all the servants of Christ.”
In Paul’s case, it was, “get rid of the old Apostle Paul and start following the new ‘super-apostles’ instead.” Often, throughout church history, good pastors have been kicked out to make way for teachers of falsehood – it happened to many of the apostles and early church fathers like John Chrysostom, many European church reformers, even modern American pastors like Jonathan Edwards and even my father (who was kicked out of his liberal denomination but thankfully not his church). The pastor or elder to whom God’s word has entrusted the teaching and governance of the church is often the one attacked by those who want to take over the God-given mission of teaching and governing the church themselves.
Paul makes it clear that there are persons who will make themselves out to be genuine “ministers/laborers” and “apostles,” even though they are false and deceiving.
This is right in-line with all the warnings in the Old Testament about false prophets3,
and with Jesus’ warnings, such as in Matthew 7:15 “Stay away from the false prophets, which come to y'all in sheep's clothing, but inside they are sheep-snatching wolves.” (NAW)
In Revelation 2:2, Jesus even puts in a good word for the church in Ephesus, saying, “I know... that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars...” (NKJV) Jesus commended them for that.
Throughout the rest of Paul’s writings, there are more warnings to watch out for false teachers:
He told the Galatians: Galatians 1:7 “...there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.” (NKJV)
He told the Philippians, Philippians 3:2 “...beware of evil workers...” (NKJV)
He told the Ephesians, Acts 20:30 “...from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” (NKJV)
He told the Romans, Romans 16:18 “For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive [ἐξαπατῶσι] the hearts of the simple.” (NKJV)
And he told Timothy, 1 Timothy 6:3-5 “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to ... the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud... From such withdraw yourself...” (NKJV)
The same warning is echoed by other Biblical apostles like Peter, John, and Jude:
Jude 1:4 “...certain men have settled in alongside you... ungodly men who are displacing the grace of our God with licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.” (NAW)
2 Peter 2:1 “...there will be false teachers – those who will slip destructive heresies in, even denying the Master Who bought them, thus bringing upon themselves sudden destruction.” (NAW)
1 John 4:1-6 “Loved ones, do not believe in every spirit, but rather, judge the spirits whether they are out of God, because many false prophets have come out into the world … this is the [spirit] of the antichrist, which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is in the world already. YOU are out of God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One in you is greater than the one in the world. THEY are out of the world; on account of this, they are speaking out of the world and the world is listening to them. WE are out of God; the one who knows God is listening to us [Apostles like John]; the one who is not out of God is not listening to us. Out of this we know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.” (NAW)
That was the first Century AD, but things are no different now. There are still teachers of falsehood who are still leading people astray.
They don’t wear black capes and laugh with a witchy cackle; they are good-looking and popular; they sound very good and put on fascinating programs.
The Mormon missionaries who come to you door will be dressed sharply and will have name tags proclaiming that they are with the “Church of Jesus Christ…” But they know that the Jesus they preach is different from the Jesus of Biblical and historic Christianity, so it is purposeful deceit on their part.
But they can be recognized by their disregard for church leadership, disregard for the Bible, minimizing Jesus and the Gospel, and maximizing what is fleshly and worldly.
You can withdraw yourself (and others) from their influence.
The fact that false teachers give out the impression that they are legitimate apostles leads Paul to comment in v.14 on the original false teacher – Satan himself, whose followers continue his rebellion against God. “Satan masquerades/disguises/transforms himself into a messenger/ angel of light.”
The actual phrase “angel of light” doesn’t occur anywhere else in the Bible, but
early on, in the ancient book of Job, Satan was associated with angels who were called “sons of God” and with “morning stars”4:
Job 1:6 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.”
Job 38:4 & 7 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? ... When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (NKJV)
Later on, the prophet Zechariah also described Satan as being with an angel in 3:1 “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.” (NKJV)
And Isaiah, in the middle of a prophecy about God’s judgment on the king of Babylon in chapter 14, spoke these words which sound like a reference to Satan in verses 12-15, “How you are fallen from the heavens, Day-Star, son of Dawn! How you are felled to the earth, prostrator of nations! You! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to the heavens; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' However, you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.” (NAW)
The point is that there are other passages in the Bible which parallel Paul’s description of Satan as an “angel of light,” even if they don’t all use the exact same words.
Jesus is recorded in the Gospels often talking about Satan as though he were a real person (Mat. 12:26; 13:39; 16:23; 25:41, Luke 10:18, 13:16, 22:31, John 8:44, etc.) and is even recorded as speaking TO Satan in Matthew 12:26 and 25:41.
Paul also taught about a personal Devil who leads in rebellion against God:
He explained in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that he was acting strategically in ministry with the church “in order that we may not be gotten-the-best-of by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his thoughts).” (NAW)
He prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders...” (NKJV)
He instructed the church in Ephesians 6:11-12 “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (NKJV)
And he anticipates the possibility that Satan might appear as an angel of light to give misleading messages to mankind in Gal. 1:8 “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (NKJV)
The significance of Paul’s warning is substantiated by history:
Whom did Mohamed in the 7th century claim revealed the Quran to him? An angel (or in Arabic, a jinn).
Whom did Joseph Smith claim revealed the Book of Mormon to him? A bright angel! Mormons put a golden image of that demonic “angel of light” atop their temple.
We even see it in contemporary accounts of New Age practitioners with spirit-guides (as well as persons who claim to have been abducted by aliens); the angel-like beings are described as highly advanced, brilliant, intelligent beings who want to help mankind, but in reality they are demons who want to encourage mankind to rebel against Jesus.
Because deception is a key element to Satan’s strategies, we must be on-guard, even with spiritual influencers who appear to be nice, godly, knowledgeable persons, because, according to v.15, Satan’s ministers follow Satan’s pattern of transforming themselves into something that looks good and right.
The Greek word in v.15 for transform/disguise/masquerade (μετασχηματίζονται) has more to do with outward appearance than with substance (Vincent). Fourth Century church father John Chrysostom commented that, “‘fashioning himself into’ [is] not [the same as] becoming… they take the mask of truth and so enact the drama of error... nothing is so like the Devil as to do things for display.”
Even within the orbit of our local church over the last two decades, I can think of over half a dozen persons who appeared very devout and who presented themselves as teachers or influencers, but who were wolves in sheep’s clothing. They sounded like they were upholding a standard of righteousness which was above-average, but they were frauds.
It is painful to admit this because, as a leader in the church, I’ve never wanted want bad influences to exist in my congregation.
But, just because someone attends (or claims to attend) a good church and talks piously doesn’t necessarily mean they are OK to follow.
In the parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus indicated that, despite our best efforts to maintain the purity of the church (Matt. 16:19, 18:17-18), there will be unfaithful people in the mix who won’t get exposed as frauds until the final judgment. Nevertheless, there will be a final judgment where Jesus sorts us all out perfectly (Matt. 25:32).
Nevertheless, in the mean-time, there is a certain amount that we can discern and guard against. Jesus instructed us in Matthew 7:15-23 “Stay away from the false prophets... You will recognize them by their fruit. They don't gather grapes off brambles, or figs off sand-burs, do they? Likewise, every good tree makes nice fruit, but the rotten tree makes bad fruit. It's not possible for a good tree to make bad fruit or for a rotten tree to make nice fruit. Every tree not making nice fruit gets cut down and thrown into a fire. So then, you will recognize them by their fruit. Not everyone who is saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but rather the one who is doing the will of my Father in the heavens. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, Didn't we prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ And then I will confess to them, ‘Never did I know you; depart from me, workers of lawlessness!’" (NAW) It doesn’t matter if they can do miracles (“many miracles”) or give great speeches that amount to prophecy; if they don’t know and love and obey Jesus, they will lead their followers to hell.
Most trees take years before they bear fruit, but, as John Calvin said, using a different metaphor, “if we are not hasty in forming a judgment, the Lord will order it so that the ears of the animal will be discovered ere long.”
Paul also seems5 to indicate in v.15 that another common characteristic of false teachers is a focus on “righteousness” instead of a focus on Jesus. At least two trends come to mind when I think about false teachers and their relationship to righteousness (besides the fact that they aren’t actually righteous).
One is the shift that happens when teachers claim that they have such a special relationship with God that they can help others be more right with God. That results in followers becoming dependent on the false teacher instead of on Jesus to save them.
In the 1500’s, Martin Luther called out that false teaching about so-called “works of supererogation” by saints in the Roman Catholic Church, which was leading Christians to focus on getting righteousness from saints instead of from Jesus,
and it is still today a common ploy, not only among Roman Catholics6, but also in Hinduism, Buddhism and even many mystical groups that identify with Christianity: they revere certain teachers so much that they try to relate to God through those men instead of through Jesus.
I even see it in some hyper-patriarchal circles that teach that women can only relate to God through their husband.
Folks, you don’t get righteousness from anybody but Jesus!
Another way that false teachers appear to be “ministers of righteousness” is by focusing on the importance of doing certain things the right way rather than focusing on trusting Jesus to save you.
They will measure your spiritual maturity by your hemline, or by your level of independence from public utilities, or even by the number of hours you spend studying the Bible.
At the debate we facilitated between a local Oneness Pentecostal cult leader and a Christian apologist, one of the Oneness Pentecostal members commented to me that they knew my family were fine Christians because of the way we dressed! (Now, of course, there are ways in which trusting and obeying Jesus should affect the way we dress, but the way we dress is not the focus of Christianity; Jesus is.)
The end of verse 15 briefly reassures us that false teachers will get the judgment they deserve in the end. God is watching what’s going on, and, although He allows certain evils to develop at certain times in this world, He can be trusted to bring proper accountability in a timely way.
Asaph confessed his struggles with God’s justice in this matter back in Psalm 73:3 & 17-18 “...I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked… Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end7. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction.” (NKJV)
The Apostle Paul also affirmed in Philippians 3:19 that “[Their] end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame who set their mind on earthly things.” (NKJV)
and in Romans 2:5-6 that there will be a “...day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,who will render to each one according to his deeds…” (NKJV)
Next is the positive command which comes alongside the negative warning about false teachers:
God has provided a true teacher in Paul, and the church should listen to him.
What is it that Paul is “saying again” in v.16?
The words for “a little foolishness/silliness” showed up earlier in verse 1: “I wish that y’all were putting up with me a little in my silliness/foolishness…” (2 Cor. 11:1, NAW),
and in the previous chapter, Paul spoke of himself “boasting/glorying/bragging” and of the Corinthians “thinking/reckoning/taking him for” something he was not: 2 Corinthians 10:8-9 “Yet even if I were to brag any more concerning our authority (which the Lord has given [to us] for edification and not for taking y'all down), I would not be ashamed, lest I might seem as though I am frightening you away through my letters…” (NAW)
Considering the three years that Paul had lived in Corinth, teaching and making disciples, it seems silly for him to have to start all over again with providing credentials and telling them about what God has done in his life. It’s not comfortable for Paul to repeat this, but he feels it is necessary to reassure them of the reasonableness of continuing to follow his teaching, in order to head off a mass exodus from the church he had planted.
Paul says, in effect, “Nobody in their right mind would take me for a fool, and you shouldn’t either, but even if you do, just humor me a little and let me remind you of the way I see things.”
In the next chapter, 2 Corinthians 12:11, we read, “I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you...” (NKJV)
19th Century Bible commentator A. R. Faussett explained that “The Greek [afrona] denotes one who does not rightly use his mental powers; not having the idea of [moral] blame necessarily attached to it...”
Note however, that Paul uses moderation even when forced by circumstances to brag about his credentials. He will only do it “a little8.” (Chrysostom)
Some of the things Paul wrote in the Bible might not make sense to you. You might be like Peter who wrote in his second epistle that some of the stuff in Paul’s letters were kinda “hard to understand9.” Just give him a chance. Read through the New Testament more than just once, and if the Holy Spirit illumines you at all, it will start making sense.
Jesus said in John 14:18 “I will not leave you orphans...” God will not leave His people without at least some good teachers. There will be bad ones you have to ferret out, but in every local church there will be at least one good one because the Holy Spirit gives the gift of teaching in the body of the church (1 Cor. 12:7-8 & 28, Rom. 12:4-8, Eph. 4:11-12). They may seem unattractive, dull, or behind-the-times, but don’t be fooled. “Accept” the teachers God has given you.
Follow these principles of focusing on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and freely sharing the truth (like Paul did), being alert against the deceptive tactics of Satan, and receptive to the good teaching in the Bible and the good teachers the Holy Spirit has placed within your local church, you will be reasonably safe from false teaching.
ByzantineB |
NAW |
KJVC |
RheimsD |
MurdockE |
CopticF |
12 ῝Ο δὲ ποιῶ, καὶ ποιήσω, ἵνα ἐκκόψω τὴν ἀφορμὴνG τῶν θελόντων ἀφορμήν, ἵναH ἐν ᾧ καυχῶνται εὑρεθῶσι καθὼς καὶ ἡμεῖς. |
12 But what I am doing I will continue doing, in order that I might cut off the opportunity from those who want an opportunity, in order that, in what they brag about themselves, they may be found just as we are also. |
12
But what I do, |
12
But what I do, |
12 But what I do, [that] also I will do; that I may cut off occasion, from them who seek occasion: so that in the thing wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. |
12 ButB/XS that which I do, I will do it stillB/ alsoS, that I may cut off (the) pretextB/ occasionS of them who wish {[to find] pretextB/for occasionS}; that they may be found in that in which they boast themselves according as XB/alsoS ourselves. |
13 οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι ψευδαπόστολοι, ἐργάται δόλιοιI, μετασχηματιζόμενοιJ εἰς ἀποστόλους Χριστοῦ. |
13 For such are false apostles – deceitful workers – who transform themselves into apostles of the Anointed One. |
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. |
13 For such false apostles are deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. |
13
For |
13
For |
14 καὶ οὐ θαυμαστόνK· αὐτὸς γὰρ ὁ Σατανᾶς μετασχηματίζεται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτός. |
14 It really shouldn’t be astonishing because Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light, |
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. |
14 And no wonder: for Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of light. |
14
And [in this]
there is nothing |
14
And it is not a wonder.
Satan |
15 οὐ μέγα οὖν εἰ καὶ οἱ διάκονοι αὐτοῦ μετασχηματίζονται ὡς διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης, ὧν τὸ τέλος ἔσται κατὰ τὰ ἔργαL αὐτῶν. |
15 therefore it is no big thing when his servants also are being transformed as though they are servants of righteousness, concerning whom their end will be according to their works. |
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as [the] ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. |
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers X be transformed as [the] ministers of justice, whose end shall be according to their works. |
15
it is no great thing X if
his ministers
X feign
|
15
It is not then a great (thing) if his ministers also {change
|
16 Πάλιν λέγω, μή τίςM με δόξῃN ἄφρονα εἶναι· εἰ δὲ μή γεO, κἂν ὡς ἄφρονα δέξασθέ μεP, ἵνα κἀγὼ μικρόν τι καυχήσωμαι. |
16 I say again, nobody should reckon me to be silly, but even if [that’s] not the case, accept me as though I am silly, in order that I myself might also brag about a little something. |
16 I say again, Let no man think me a fool; X if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I X may boast myself a little. |
16 I say again (Let no man think me to be foolish: otherwise take me X as one foolish, that I also may glory a little): |
16 Again I say, let no one think of me, as being a fool: or if otherwise, receive me X as a fool, that I X may glory a little. |
16
Again I say, {lest by any meansB/ |
1https://www.watchman.org/profiles/pdf/haroldcampingprofile.pdf, quoting Harold Camping, The End of the Church Age…and After, (Oakland: Family Stations, Inc., 2002)
2« S’insinuent finement sans qu’on y prene garde »
3Jer. 5:31, 6:13, 8:10, 14:14, Lam. 2:14, and Mic. 2:11.
4Most of the commentators I read did not attempt to define the meaning of “angel of light,” but of those that did, John Chrysostom (circa 400 AD) concluded (probably from Job) that he “has free liberty to speak, and stands near to God.” G. Wilson (1979 AD) commented (probably based on the fact that angel- means “messenger” in Greek) that it means “as the herald of true knowledge.” Phillip Hughes (1962) translated and quoted Allo (1956) at length, “...taken as an allusion to some pagan theophany (Schmiedel), or to the histories of Satan in the Haggadah (such as the Vita Adami, 9, and the Apocalypse of Moses, 17, v. Strack-Billerbeck). Syncretists like Windisch and others would readily believe this; but, as Plummer, Bachmann, and others rightly observe, there is no need to suppose that Paul is referring to any particular legend or history; his experience as an apostle, gained at Corinth and elsewhere, was sufficient for him to become acquainted with the customary practices of the Enemy”.
5Chrysostom, Calvin, Beza, Henry, and Faussett all took this phrase at face value as speaking of a legitimate minister, but Tasker, Hughes, and G. Wilson saw in it the same implication I did of a shift to some other form of righteousness than Christ’s. Hughes noted that the fact that the source of righteousness was an issue in Paul’s day can be seen in his apologetics for Christ’s righteousness over against that of Judaistic law-keeping in Phil. 3:6,9, Acts 13:39, Gal. 2:21, Rom. 5:21 & 10:3, and 1 Cor. 1:30.
6John Calvin’s commentary on this verse included the following: “These are golden preambles — “Vicar of Christ” — “Successor of Peter” — “Servant of God’s servants,” but let the masks be pulled off, and who and what will the Pope be discovered to be? Scarcely will Satan himself, his master, surpass so accomplished a scholar in any kind of abomination.”
7Ἔσχατα in the LXX, a synonym to τελος in 2 Cor. 11:15, the former focused more on the end of a sequence whereas the latter is more focused on the end-result of a purpose.
8Cf. Calvin, “… ‘for a little’ ... I take this clause as referring to time, so that the meaning is, that Paul did not wish to continue it long...”
92 Peter 3:15-16 “...our beloved brother Paul... wrote to you... in all his epistles… among which are some things that are difficult-to-understand…” (NAW)
AWhen
a translation adds words not in the Greek text, but does not
indicate it has done so by the use of italics or greyed-out text, I
put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a
wording which is different from all the other translations, I
underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my
opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Greek
word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original text,
I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word
which is in the original text, I insert an X. I also place an X at
the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English
translation is singular. I occasionally use colors to help the
reader see correlations between the various editions and versions
when there are more than two different translations of a given word.
NAW is my translation. My original chart includes annotated copies
of the NKJV, NASB, NIV, and ESV, but I erase them from the online
edition so as not to infringe on their copyrights.
BThis Greek New Testament is the 1904 “Patriarchal” edition of the Greek Orthodox Church. As published by E-Sword in 2016. The Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine majority text of the GNT and the Textus Receptus are very similar. The Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland, UBS, and Tregelles editions, however, are a slightly-different family of GNTs developed in the modern era, focusing on the few manuscripts which are older than the Byzantine manuscripts. Even so, the practical differences in the text between these two editing philosophies are minimal.
C1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain. As published by E-Sword in 2019.
DRheims New Testament first published by the English College at Rheims, A.D. 1582, Revised and Diligently Compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner, Published in 1582, 1609, 1752. As published on E-Sword in 2016.
EJames Murdock, A Literal Translation from the Syriac Peshito Version, 1851, Robert Carter & Brothers, New York. Scanned and transcribed by Gary Cernava and published electronically by Janet Magierra at http://www.lightofword.org, and published on E-Sword in 2023.
FThis is my conflation of the English translations of the Northern Bohairic and Southern Sahidic traditions published by Oxford Clarendon Press in 1905 and 1920 respectively, neither of which named the translator or editor. The beginnings and ends of multiple-word variants are marked out with brackets, with a superscript “S” for Sahidic or “B” for Bohairic. The editor of the Sahidic compilation did not have manuscripts for some verses and I have not discovered a published English translation of the subsequently-discovered manuscripts, so variants in that section for that tradition are not listed.
GThis word is also found in the Greek Bible at (3 Mac. 3:2), Prov. 9:9, Ezek. 5:7, Rom. 7:8 & 11, 2 Cor. 5:12, later on in this verse (11:12), Gal. 5:13, and 1 Tim. 5:14.
HThe NASB, NKJV, NIV, NET, ESV, and NLT, following Bengel, Tasker, Allo, Plummer, and Hughes, interpreted this hina clause as indirect discourse related to “opportunity” and thus made the entire verse one purpose clause. Theodoret, Aquinas, Meyer, Alford, and the Geneva Bible, KJV, RV, and ASV interpreted this hina clause as a separate purpose not related to “opportunity,” and the editors of all the Greek New Testament editions support this with a disjunctive punctuation between “opportunity” and “that.” Vincent commented, “I can find no satisfactory explanation of this clause, and will not attempt to add to the hopeless muddle of the commentators,” nevertheless he came down in favor of the latter, saying, “by this course he will not only remove the occasion for attack, but that the result will show both his opponents and himself in their true light.” This agrees with Calvin, “‘They will be found,’ says he, ‘on a level with us in that glorying which they would wish to have for themselves exclusively.’”
IAlthough this is the only adjectival form of this word in the GNT, the noun and verb forms are fairly common, found in in 2 Cor. in 4:2 & 12:16.
JVincent, following Chrysostom, commented that the skema has more to do with outward appearance than with substance. Chrysostom said, “they take the mask of truth and so enact the drama of error... They had only a fashion; the skin of the sheep was but outside clothing.” A. T. Robertson picked up on that theme and commented, “Masquerading as apostles of Christ by putting on the outward habiliments, posing as ministers of Christ (“gentlemen of the cloth,” nothing but cloth).”
KThis adjective form (“marvelous/wonderful”) is in the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest-known dating to the 9th century, although the 4th century Vulgate version also rendered it with an adjective), thus the adjective form is in the Greek Orthodox and Textus Receptus editions of the Greek New Testament. The contemporary critical editions of the GNT, however, omit the last four letters (spelling it as a noun of the same root), because all four known Greek manuscripts from before the 9th century (plus 8 more) read with the abbreviated spelling, and the Coptic versions and every known English version support this. The Peshitta, however, renders it as a verb and adds a pronoun, which speaks strongly against the noun form and not as strongly against the adjective form (since the same pronoun could be modified by the adjectival form). All the same, it makes no difference in meaning.
L“[W]e cannot help suspecting a double entendre in the terminology which the Apostle uses here--a satirical innuendo, suggesting that these intruders, who vaunt themselves as ‘ministers of righteousness’ and lay such emphasis on the necessity of ‘works’ at the expense of free grace, will, as though by a kind of poetic justice, meet with an end ‘in accordance with their works’.” ~Phillip Hughes, 1962.
MThis pronoun is accented as though it were an interrogative (“Who?”) in every edition of the GNT (except the ones that have no accents whatsoever), yet every English version interprets it as though it were an indefinite relative pronoun (“someone”). The spelling is the same; the only difference is whether or not it has an accent, and the original Greek manuscripts had no accents, so the accent is an editorial addition added some time after Paul’s original writing.
NThis is spelled the same as the dative form of “glory,” but here is the aorist subjunctive form of “he might think/seem/ reckon.” Combined with the negative particle, it becomes a prohibitive command (“let him not think”). (Robertson, Grammar, p. 933, “Usual construction in a negative prohibition with mē and the aorist subjunctive doxēi.”) The Vulgate word (putet) is subjunctive, and the Peshitta word (ܢܰܣܒ݁ܰܪ) is an imperfect aphel (causative) participle. Hanna informs us that Blass & Debrunner’s Greek Grammar commented that this was a “hortatory aorist subjunctive… ‘let no one get the idea,’” “with the connotation that no one did, of course, think of Paul as a fool” (Chrysostom disagreed), and that Moulton, in his Grammar also stated that it was “less peremtory [sic] than the imperative.” Zeller noted that the aorist tense in the prohibitive indicates, “Do not start...”
OThis phrase me ge appears in Dan. 3:15, Matt. 6:1, 9:17, and Luke 5:36-37, 10:6, 13:9, & 14:32. Each time it describes an “otherwise” or “if that’s not the case” situation.
PBlass & Debrunner noted that this “me” is emphatic. (Normally it would have been placed before the verb.)