Translation & Sermon by
Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 9 August
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:
I have become silly [through
bragging]; it was y’all who compelled me. For, as for myself, I
ought to have been endorsed by y’all, because there was nothing
that I lacked in comparison with the most-eminent of apostles,
although nothing is what I am. Indeed, the signs of my apostleship
were executed among y’all with all perseverance by signs and
portents and miracles. Now, in what way is it that y’all were
worsted beyond the rest of the churches, except that I myself did
not sponge-off of y’all? Graciously-forgive me of this “wrong”!
See, I stand ready this third time to come to y’all, and I will
not sponge-off of y’all, because I am not seeking after your
things but rather after y’all. For, children are not supposed to
save up for their parents, but rather the parents for their
children! So, as for myself, I will most-gladly spend and be
expended for the sake of your souls, even if I am loved worse for
loving y’all more abundantly. But let it be. As for me, I did not
weigh y’all down. Instead, since I subsist as a “crafty man,”
I got y’all by means of a “trick.”
The apostles1 of Judaism who followed Paul to Corinth conducted a smear-campaign against Paul, but they had nothing on Paul. Paul was as solid a theologian as they come, and his doctrine, preserved in the New Testament, should be prioritized over all other teachers who didn’t make it into the Bible. There was no reason for the Corinthian Christians to change course in their faith and church-life based on what these new teachers in town were saying. Paul has already mentioned this in the previous chapter:
2 Corinthians 11:1 “I wish that y'all were putting up with me a little in my silliness, yet y'all are indeed putting up with me… 5 however, I reckon I've lacked nothing compared to the most-eminent apostles… 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. 23 Are they servants of the Anointed One? (I am speaking insanely!) I am moreso. In labors more-abundantly, in wounds exceedingly, in imprisonments more-abundantly, and in mortal-dangers often.” (NAW, cf. 5:12-13)
Our own church has also gotten a bad reputation in some circles.
Some of it from visitors who didn’t take the time to understand us,
Some of it from folks who came into our church hoping to change our philosophy of ministry and who left disgruntled when they couldn’t,
Some of it from folks we tried to disciple who were hiding secret sin that later became public and scandalous,
Some of it from members who posted unwise things on social media which mis-represented the values of our church publicly,
And some of it from my own immaturity and muddle-headedness as a teacher and pastor.
As a result, I have had to spend many hours over the last 20 years defending myself and our church from slander. On the one hand, that is just part of a pastor’s job, but on the other hand, I would appreciate all the help you can give to defend the values and reputation of our church.
Matthew Henry commented on the obligation Paul speaks-of here in verse 11 to counteract gossip and slander: “It is a debt we owe to good men to stand up in the defense of their reputation; and we are under special obligations to those we have received benefit by, especially spiritual benefit, to own them as instruments in God's hand of good to us, and to vindicate them when they are calumniated by others.”
All the same, Paul isn’t looking to be held up on a pedestal. In fact, by saying that the new super-apostles are no better than him and then saying (at the end of v. 11) that he is “nothing/a nobody,” he is calling-out the super-apostles for trying to be something more than they should be.
Back in 1 Corinthians 15:9, Paul wrote: “For I am the least of the apostles. I am not one who is fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God, but by God's grace, I am what I am [and, as Paul said in the very first verse of both his letters to the Corinthians, he was indeed an “apostle”], and His grace which came into me did not become void, but rather I toiled harder than all of them (yet not I, but the grace of God which is with me)…” (NAW)
Paul’s ministry among the Corinthians was real and un-pretentious, and the Corinthians should have been loyal to him as the apostle who brought the good news of Jesus to them. Paul should not have had to come back later and to prove his apostleship with endorsements from other famous persons.
The way Paul saw himself as nobody special – just a sinner saved by grace who was trying to do what God told him to do, takes a burden off of a church. Can you imagine the burden of responsibility you’d feel if your pastor was world-famous and wanted to be treated as special? Leaders who act that way are a burden to support.
In my first full-time ministry position I had a boss who rented a separate limousine for himself and a passenger van for the rest of us staff when we would travel together. He used money we raised to pay for those limousines, and He would browbeat us when we did not raise enough money for him. It was an intolerable burden, trying to support a leader who thought he was SOMEbody. That ministry didn’t last long.
In previous verses, Paul has pointed to other proofs of his apostleship, such as the risks he took to preach the Gospel to unreached nations and the visions and revelations which God had given him. Back in 1 Corinthians 9:1-2 Paul had written, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I myself seen Jesus our Lord? Aren't you yourselves my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, nevertheless I still am to you, for you yourselves are my seal of apostleship in the Lord!” (NAW)
Now, in 2 Corinthians 12:12, Paul points to the miracles God did through him as further proof his his apostleship.
The adjective describing “apostle” in this Greek verse is actually the definite article “the.” Most English versions switched-out the original Greek word “the” for the English word “true” or the indefinite article “an.” I believe, however, that the original Greek definite article here is best translated pronominally as “the signs of my apostleship were wrought/accomplished/performed/ done among you.” Paul owns his apostleship.
What were those “signs/things that mark a true apostle”? Paul lists three: “signs, wonders, and miracles/mighty deeds.”
Signs/σημείοις2:
Biblical “signs” sometimes involved miracles of healing, like the healing of the lame man in Acts 4, but the point was not so much the healing as it was a confirmation of the gospel message that Jesus is the Messiah (John 4:48).
On other occasions, Biblical “signs” were more like illustrations or patterns which predicted what God would do, such as Jesus’ use of first-century weather-prediction science and the story of Jonah in Matthew 16 as “signs” to the Jewish religious leaders to help them recognize that He was their Messiah3.
Then, after His resurrection, Jesus said in Mark 16:17-18 “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So, in addition to exorcisms, miracles, and healings, the speaking of foreign languages was also a “sign” (1 Cor. 14:224), and one which Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:185 that he did “more than anybody” else in Corinth.
The second word, Wonders/τέρασι,
is the main Greek word used throughout the Greek Pentateuch, Psalms, and Jeremiah to describe the miracles and plagues which Moses performed before Pharaoh as part of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt.
In other uses6 (especially in the New Testament) it is a prediction or portent with a miraculous fulfillment which proves that a prophet or apostle is from the true God.
These two words (“signs and wonders”) are attributed to Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14:1 “Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” (NKJV)
and Acts 15:12 “Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.” (NKJV) Note that it was God who “granted” and “worked” these “signs” and “wonders,” not the Apostles themselves, because what they were intended to demonstrate was that God was there, speaking through these apostles.
The third and last word in v.12 denoting the authentication of Paul’s apostleship is Miracles/Mighty deeds/δυνάμεσι:
Paul uses this same word again in Romans 15:18-19 “... from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ… [with] mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God...” (NKJV)
Once again, this is not a human strength, but a power which comes from God’s Holy Spirit to do what is impossible for a natural human being – whether that be praying down miracles or suffering extraordinary hardships cheerfully for the sake of sharing the good news about Jesus.
Paul also mentions “extraordinary perseverance/patience” as a mark of an apostle at the end of verse 12.
He has mentioned it before in 2 Corinthians 6:4 “… we are recommending ourselves as servants of God in much perseverance…” (NAW)
Often, popular teachers haven’t been around long enough to demonstrate whether they have patience and perseverance. This trait takes years of ministry to prove.
Chrysostom commented, “[C]onsider how many prisons, how many stripes, how many dangers, how many conspiracies, how many sleet-showers of temptations, how many civil, how many foreign wars, how many pains, how many attacks he [Paul] has implied here in that word, ‘patience!’ And by ‘signs’ again, how many dead raised, how many blind healed, how many lepers cleansed, how many devils cast out! Hearing these things, let us learn if we happen upon a necessity for such recitals to cut our good deeds short, as he too did.”
The mention of “patience” raises another point of application. An impatient leader is a burdensome leader.
(I can’t say that without wincing because I know that I struggle with impatience.) But when a spiritual leader is impatient, he stops trying to work at the pace that God is working in the lives of his parishioners and starts pushing them to do things in their own human strength and will, and that is a dangerous thing.
A good shepherd has a good, big-picture plan for the development of each sheep, and is working toward goals with each of his charges, but if he gets frustrated and even gives up too easily, he’s not a good shepherd.
Whether you’re a parent, “raising [a child] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4), or a church-officer “watching over souls” (Heb. 13:17), or a boss trying to provide the workers under you with what is “fair and right” (Col. 4:1), draw upon the fruit of patience which comes from the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22) so that you do not become harsh and burdensome to the souls whom God has given you to lead!
In verse 13, ‘ηττηθητε/‘ησσωθητε is a verb form of the Greek adjective for “worse,” which is why I translated it “worsted.” The NASB and ESV were correct in making it passive. Apparently the false apostles were accusing Paul of treating the Corinthians as “inferior/less-favored than other churches.”
It is a common tactic of swindlers to play up a sense of inferiority on the part of their victims, because if they can get you worrying about not being adequate in some areas, they can manipulate you more easily into paying for their product or service.
The original Greek text intensifies the unfavorable comparison with the preposition hyper, which means “beyond” – even worse than the “awful” way they treated the “rest of the churches.”
At such a ridiculously-false accusation, Paul resorts to sarcasm, saying that the only harm he did to the church in Corinth was not to be a “burden” to them.
The Greek word for “burdensome” is compound of the Greek root words for “down” and “numb” – picturing a parasitic sucking of vitality out of a host until the host is weak and sagging.
This obviously refers to Paul’s decision not to ask the Christians in Corinth for money to provide for his daily needs.
This was a policy Paul outlined in 2 Corinth. 11:7-9 “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 sponge-off of 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.” (NAW, cf. 1 Cor. 9, Acts 20)
In a very real sense, Paul’s financial policy had deprived the Christians in Corinth of the opportunity to repay with material resources the spiritual benefits which Paul had brought to them with the Gospel. It had deprived them of the blessings which come from giving.
In verse 14, Paul says he stands ready for a third visit to Corinth.
The Greek grammar here is consistent with the fact that he’s been planning it for a while, but has been holding off, waiting until he is assured that the visit will be a pleasant one.
He’s already mentioned it twice before (at the end of 1 Corinthians and at the beginning of 2 Corinthians), and he will mention it again at the end of 2 Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 16:5 “Now, I will come to y'all whenever I go through Macedonia – for I am going through Macedonia…” (NAW)
2 Corinthians 13:1 “This will be the third time I am coming to you. ‘By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.’ I have told you before, and foretell as if I were present the second time, and now being absent I write to those who have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare.” (NKJV)
2 Corinthians 1:15 “Now, it was under this impression that I was wanting to come to y'all first (in order that y'all might have a double grace)…” (NAW)
Paul goes on to assure the church that he would not sponge-off of them because, he says, “I am not seeking after your things/possessions/what is yours, but rather after y’all.”
Back in verse 13, Paul had said that on his previous visit he WAS NOT a burden (or a mooch) and now in verse 14 he says in the future tense, I WILL NOT be a burden or sponge-off of them on this next visit either.
This is because his goal is to be a blessing to the Christians in Corinth; it is not his goal to make money off of them.
That’s what he said to the church in Corinth in his first letter: 1 Corinthians 10:24 & 33 “No one should continue to seek what is for himself, but rather what is for the other... just as I myself also am pleasing all men in all things, not seeking the bearing together of myself but rather that of the many, in order that they might be saved.” (NAW)
Paul said the same thing to the church in Ephesus in Acts 20:33 “I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.” (NKJV)
and to the church in Philippi: Philippians 4:17 “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.” (NKJV)
This fits with the Old Testament principle brought out by the Prophet Ezekiel 34:2 “...Thus says the Lord GOD... ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?’” (NKJV)
At the end of v.14, Paul underscores his no-fundraising policy in Corinth by stating a proverb that Parents should save up for their children (not vice versa).
This comes from Proverbs 19:14 “Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers...” and Proverbs 13:22 “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children...” (NKJV)
It used to be that parents provided land and a house for each of their sons.
This may come as a bit of a shock to Americans living in the twenty-first century. Our economy has been so heavily gutted by corruption that most parents are not able to provide much of an inheritance for their children in our generation.
Most of us are on our own when it comes to buying a house, so we spend the first half of our adult lives spending most of our disposable income on college, home, and car loans, and, once we get those paid off, we spend the rest of our life saving to pay for the outrageous costs of retirement homes. The grandchildren get a little money for college when the grandparents pass and their house is sold, but that’s about it.
If we can ever get out of our debt-based economy – that is oriented around spending money faster than we can make it, perhaps we could establish this Biblical ideal again!
Be that as it may, Paul argues from this ideal that as a spiritual father (1 Cor. 4:15)9 who helped them be born again, his attitude should be that of giving to the church all he can rather than of taking from the church all he can. This was apparently a key difference between him and the false apostles. They were “on the take;” he was not.
This does not mean, by the way, that it would have been unethical for Paul to receive gifts (or even salary) from the church (1 Cor. 9, 1 Tim. 5:17). It’s just that children aren’t supposed to support their parents until later when they become adults10 (and even then it should be out of love and appreciation rather than grudging obligation).
Paul didn’t think that the church in Corinth was at that maturity-level yet, so he continued to pour himself into them, as though they were children, even as he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:8&11 “So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us... as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children…” (NKJV)
Paul continues to describe his love for the church in verse 15.
This is a love which God has given Paul for the church, characterized by generous self-sacrifice for the sake of whatever is good for their souls11, and which is not dependent on whether he is loved in return. He says “I will gladly spend my self even if/though I am loved worse/less for loving y’all more abundantly.”
The original Greek manuscripts do not have any punctuation.
Traditional Bibles end verse 15 with a period,
but some contemporary Bibles12 phrase the last clause as a question which gets at the same idea: “If I love you more, will you love me less?”
Paul has already mentioned his love for the Corinthian church back in chapter 11 verse 1113.
He added in Philippians 2:17 “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.” (NKJV, cf. Col. 1:24)
and he wrote in 2 Timothy 2:10 “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” (NKJV, cf. Rom. 9:3)
Has God given you that kind of love for your church, for your family, for the world, to be willing to “spend” until you are “spent-out,” and to do it “gladly,” “come what may” (as he says in v. 16), whether or not they show any appreciation for it?
Matthew Henry commented, “[I]f others be wanting in their duty to us, it does not follow therefore that we may neglect our duty to them.”
May “God’s love be poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (as Romans 5:5 says) for us to be able to love like that!
Verse 16 is puzzling to translate because, on the face of it, Paul seems to be saying that he was dishonest in his relationship with the Corinthians: “since I am crafty, I took you in by deceit/trickery/cunning/guile.”
The ESV added the words “you say” to interpret it as Paul quoting what the Corinthians falsely accused him of doing.
That was the way all the commentaries I read14 explained it, and indeed the use of the word “deceit/guile/trickery” does seem to be in favor of that interpretation.
P.E. Hughes explained, “Paul assumes that those to whom he is writing grant his point ... that … [he] did not make [him]self a financial burden... There is, however, yet another despicable calumny which his opponents have whispered in the ears of the Corinthians: ‘The very fact that he remained independent of your support when with you is suspicious’, they suggest; ‘it was a device to make you believe that he is a man of integrity: but, crafty fox that he is by nature, he has trapped you in another way, for it is obvious enough that, of the money you have sacrificed for the Jerusalem church, a sizeable sum will go into his own pocket. So he won't be any the poorer for his independence!’ ...The fact was that [Paul’s opponents] would dearly have liked to get their own fingers on that money; but, being unable to do this, they did the next most damaging thing, which was to ascribe to the one whose authority they wished to destroy the designs of their own evil hearts.”
But Paul expressly denied in 1 Thessalonians 2:3 that he used such a strategy: “For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.” (NKJV)
Another possible interpretation is that Paul is using terms which are not necessarily describing sin, but are just basically saying, “Hey, I threw you off, didn’t I, by not being a financial burden on you. And it worked! I caught you with the Gospel, and aren’t we all glad I did!!”
In favor of that interpretation is that 93% of the other uses of this Greek word for “crafty” in the Greek Bible are in the Proverbs describing the “prudent” man.
Although some English versions used the English word “burden” back in verse 14, that was a completely different Greek word from the one that now appears in verse 16.
The one in v.14 (καταναρκήσω – from which we get the word “narcotics”) literally meant to “numb down;” this one in v. 16 (κατεβάρησα – from which we get the phrase “barometric pressure”) literally means to “weigh down.” Paul didn’t suck the converts at his mission stations dry, nor did he add burdens to them.
2 Corinthians 11:9 uses both Greek words: “And when I was alongside y'all and was in need, I did not sponge-off 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...” (NAW)
Paul also wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:9, “For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God…” and in 2 Thessalonians 3:8, “nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you...” (NKJV)
It is part of Christian charity and kindness to consider whether or not we are putting too much of a burden on our fellow church members.
Paul’s assessment of the situation at that time in Corinth was that it would be asking too much of the Corinthian church to get them to financially support him – perhaps not so much for economic reasons as for social reasons that might strain the credibility of his Gospel message.
Paul provides a good example for all of us to assess our situations and consider whether we are being to much of a strain on others.
For instance, when you visit other people’s homes, are you overstaying your welcome? Some hosts enjoy living with a totally open-door policy. Others identify more with the saying that “guests are like fish, both start to stink before long.” If we are to heed the command of Hebrews 10:24 “Let us also take cognizance of one another towards the provocation of love and of good works…” we had best gather ‘intel’ on whether our visit is provoking a host “to love and good works” or whether our visit is beginning to interfere with other “good works” that our host is supposed to be doing and provoking them to irritation instead.
Another application might be in asking for help. We should admit our weaknesses and ask each other for help, but still we should do this with consideration. Are we asking too much or not enough? As Paul wrote in Philippians 2:3 “do nothing selfishly… but rather humbly consider one another as more important than yourself.”
May God give us His grace to follow the example of the Apostle Paul and
Humbly not make more of our selves than we should,
Patiently work at God’s pace in the lives of others,
Kindly build others up rather than trying to get everything you can from them,
Generously seek to give the blessings of the good news of Jesus Christ,
Unconditionally show God’s love, and
Prudently consider the needs of others above yourself.
ByzantineB |
NAW |
KJVC |
RheimsD |
MurdockE |
CopticF |
11 Γέγονα ἄφρωνG [καυχώμενοςH]· ὑμεῖς με ἠναγκάσατε. ἐγὼ γὰρ ὤφειλονI ὑφ᾿ ὑμῶν συνίστασθαι· οὐδὲν γὰρ ὑστέρησα τῶν ὑπερλίαν ἀποστόλων, εἰ καὶJ οὐδέν εἰμι. |
11 I have become silly [through bragging]; it was y’all who compelled me. For, as for myself, I ought to have been endorsed by y’all, because there was nothing that I lacked in comparison with the most-eminent of apostles, although nothing is what I am. |
11 I am become a fool in glorying; ye X have compelled me: for I X ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. |
11
I am become
foolish.
You |
11
Behold, I have become foolish in my glorying, [for]
ye compelled
me. For |
11
I became foolish: ye, ye compelled
me; for me, {I ought (imperf.)B/ |
12 τὰ μὲνK σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλουL κατειργάσθηM ἐν ὑμῖν ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομονῇ, [ἐνN] σημείοις [τεO] καὶ τέρασιP καὶ δυνάμεσιQ. |
12 Indeed, the signs of my apostleship were executed among y’all with all perseverance by signs and portents and miracles. |
12
|
12 Yet the signs of [my] apostleshipR have been wrought on you, in all patience, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. |
12 |
12
ButB/XS the signs of the apostleship {were
workedB/ |
13 τί γάρS ἐστιν ὃT ἡττήθητεU ὑπὲρV τὰς λοιπὰς ἐκκλησίας, εἰ μὴ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἐγὼ οὐ κατενάρκησαW ὑμῶν; χαρίσασθέX μοι τὴν ἀδικίαν ταύτην. |
13 Now, in what way is it that y’all were worsted beyond the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not sponge-off of y’all? Graciously-forgive me of this “wrong”! |
13
For what is it wherein
ye
were X
inferior
|
13
For what is there that
you
|
13
For in what X X
X fell
ye short |
13
For what is that in which
ye were deficient |
14a ᾿Ιδοὺ τρίτονZ [τοῦτοAA] ἑτοίμως ἔχωAB ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ οὐ καταναρκήσω ὑμῶνAC· οὐ γὰρ ζητῶ τὰ ὑμῶν, ἀλλ᾿ ὑμᾶς. οὐ γὰρ ὀφείλει τὰ τέκνα τοῖς γονεῦσι θησαυρίζειν, ἀλλὰ᾿ οἱ γονεῖς τοῖς τέκνοις. |
14 See, I stand ready this third time to come to y’all, and I will not sponge-off of y’all, because I am not seeking after your things but rather after y’all. For, children are not supposed to save up for their parents, but rather the parents for their children! |
14 Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. |
14
Behold
|
14 Behold, this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not burden you; for I seek not yours, but you: for children ought not to lay up treasures for the parents, but the parents for their children. |
14
X This is (the) third
time that I am preparing [myself]B/ preparedS
to come to you; and I shall not be burdensome to you: for I
|
15 ἐγὼ δὲ ἥδισταAD δαπανήσωAE καὶ ἐκδαπανηθήσομαι ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶνAF ὑμῶν, εἰ καὶAG περισσοτέρωςAH ὑμᾶς ἀγαπῶν ἧττονAI ἀγαπῶμαιAJ. |
15 So, as for myself, I will most-gladly spend and be expended for the sake of your souls, even if I am loved worse for loving y’all more abundantly. |
15 And I X will very gladly spend and be spent for X X X you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. |
15 But I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls: although loving you moreX, I be loved less. |
15
And cheerfully
will I [both]
pay my
expenses,
and [also]
giveX |
15
But I {myself am well-pleased toB/readily
IS} spend and {to X |
16 ῎Εστω δέ, ἐγὼ οὐ κατεβάρησαAK ὑμᾶς, ἀλλ᾿ ὑπάρχωνAL πανοῦργοςAM δόλῳAN ὑμᾶς ἔλαβον. |
16 But let it be. As for me, I did not weigh y’all down. Instead, since I subsist as a “crafty man,” I got y’all by means of a “trick.” |
16 But be it [so], I X did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. |
16 But be it [so]: I X did not burthen you: but being crafty, I caught you by guile. |
16
But |
16 But be it (so), I myself [put] not burden upon you, but being crafty I took you with [a] subtlety. |
1The original Greek text does not actually distinguish whether “super/eminent/distinguished-apostles” refers to the false apostles or to the original 12 apostles. With the exception of the NIV, the translation “these super-apostles” did not make its way into English Bibles until the 21st century. Chrysostom (c. 390) and Calvin (1546) interpreted it as the original 12 apostles, Hughes (1962) interpreted it as the Judiazer “super-apostles.” What Paul says is true in either case.
2P. E. Hughes added to this list the “sign” of genuine conversions as a result of his ministry and the “sign” of Paul’s personal ethical integrity over time, but the things I listed flow more directly from the Biblical uses of the word.
3Matthew 16:1-3 “Then the Pharisees and Sadducees approached and tested Him, requesting that He show a sign out of the sky to them. But He, in answer said to them, ‘After it has become late, y'all say, “It'll be good weather, for the sky is fiery-red,” and when it's morning, “Storm today, for the sky is fiery-red and overcast.” [Hypocrites,] on the one hand, y'all know how to assess the appearance of the sky, but on the other hand y'all are not able [to assess] the signs of the appointed times. An evil and adulterous generation is searching for a sign, yet a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah [the prophet].’ And He left them behind and went away.” (NAW)
4“Thus the foreign-languages are for a sign, not to believers, but rather to the unbelieving…” (NAW)
5“I am giving thanks to God that I make utterance in foreign-languages more than all of you...” (NAW)
6Deut. 13:1-2, 1 Ki. 13:3-5, Isa. 20, Ezek. 12 & 24, Matt. 24:24; Mk. 13:22; Jn. 4:48; Acts 2:22, 43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 14:3; 15:12; Rom. 15:19; Heb. 2:4
7J. Calvin (1546), Andrew Fuller (1785?), and M. Vincent (1886) called this verse “ironic,” A. T. Robertson (1933) “consummate irony,” and G. Wilson (1979) “cutting irony.”
8J. Chrysostom (c. 390) left open the possibility that they really could have felt wronged, and P. E. Hughes (1962) wrote, “Paul is not (as some commentators suggest) resorting to the weapon of sarcasm.” He admitted, however, that it could be “affectionate irony.”
91 Cor. 4:14-15 “I am writing these things, not shaming you, but rather admonishing, as you are my beloved children. For if y'all had 10,000 tutors in Christ, y’all would not however have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus through the good news I myself begot y'all.” (NAW)
10cf. 1 Timothy 5:4 & 8 “[I]f any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God. … But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (NKJV)
11Strangely, the KJV, NIV, and NLT omit “souls,” even though the word is in all the Greek manuscripts and in all the ancient versions!
12RV/ESV, ASV/NASB, NIV, & NET Bible, following most of the modern editions of the Greek New Testament (Tischendorf, Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland, and UBS, but notably not Tregelles). On the other hand, Holman and Christian Standard Bibles, as well as NLT , Geneva, and KJV/NKJV followed the traditional Greek editions by making this a statement.
132 Cor. 11:11 “For what reason? Because I do not love y'all?? God knows.” (NAW)
14Calvin, Fuller, Vincent, Robertson, Hughes, and G. Wilson being the only ones who commented explicitly on this.
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.
GChrysostom noted that Paul speaks with greater directness in this verse than in previous verses saying “I became a fool” instead of “consider me as a fool” and “I am not a whit behind them” instead of “I reckon that I am not a whit behind...”
HThis is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest being from the 9th century) and thus of the Textus Receptus and Greek Orthodox editions of the Greek New Testament, and of the ancient Peshitta version. All five known Greek manuscripts from before the 9th century, however, omit this word, as do about a dozen later Greek manuscripts and the ancient Vulgate and the Coptic versions, so contemporary critical Greek New Testament editions do not include the word. It seems to be an editorial insert which is agreeable to Paul’s meaning.
IAlthough Turner saw no special meaning in the Imperfect tense of this verb, Henry, Robertson (Word Pictures), Blass & Debrunner and Hanna saw it as marking an unfulfilled obligation in the past. Hughes ably parries Plummer’s hypothesis (that the Corinthians’ being Paul’s letter of recommendation, a la 2 Cor. 3:2, proves that this passage in chapter 12 is from a completely different letter carelessly conflated into 2 Corinthians) by saying that it is perfectly consistent for the author who sees them AS his endorsement to exhort them TO endorse him.
JBurton, in his Moods and Tenses of N. T. Greek labeled this conjunctive phrase as concessive – “although.”
KKJV, NASB, and ESV interpreted this according to L&N semantic domain #91.6 (“indeed/truly/certainly”), while NIV, and apparently the Vulgate, Peshitta, and Coptic versions interpreted it according to L&N semantic domain #91.3b (as a weak conjunction – “and/but/yet” or untranslated). Whatever it is, it is not disjunctive from the previous verse but explanatory of it. And, whatever it is, it is not an adjective describing “apostle.” The adjective describing “apostle” in this Greek verse is actually the definite article “the.” (Why all the standard English versions ignored that and made “apostle” indefinite is a mystery to me!)
LA. T. Robertson noted in his Grammar, “The articular noun... refers to the whole class of apostles.” Unfortunately, all the standard English versions turned it into an indefinite article. The English translation of Chrysostom’s commentary reads “my apostleship,” however.
MMarvin Vincent (Word Studies Of The N. T.) commented that the prefix on this verb denotes that “The testimony was decisive. They were ‘fully wrought out.’”
NThis reading with the explicit pronoun “in” is that of the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest being from the 9th century) and thus of the Textus Receptus and Greek Orthodox editions of the Greek New Testament. However, all five known Greek manuscripts from before the 9th century do not contain the explicit pronoun, although two of them have been corrected by a later hand to insert the preposition. The Vulgate does not contain the explicit pronoun either. (The Peshitta, not having the case endings that Latin and Greek have, can’t really be considered.) The dative case of the next Greek word creates the meaning “in/with signs” without there needing to be an explicit pronoun like “in,” and so it makes no difference in meaning. This variant has more to do with stylistic developments to Greek grammar over the course of centuries.
OThis compound conjunction, found in the 1904 Patriarchal Greek Orthodox, Tischendorf, Nestle-Aland, and UBS editions of the Greek New Testament, is only found in 7 Greek manuscripts, but one of them is the oldest-known. The majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest of which is dated to the 5th century, although it is found as a correction to the 4th century Sinaiticus manuscript) read with just a simple kai conjunction (which does not effectively mean anything different) and was followed by the Textus Receptus, St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox, and Tregelles editions, as well as the ancient Vulgate, Peshitta, and Coptic versions.
PThis word is the main Greek word used to describe the miracles and plagues which Moses performed before Pharaoh throughout the Greek Pentateuch, Psalms, and Jeremiah. In other uses (Deut. 13:1-2, 1 Ki. 13:3-5, Isa. 20, Ezek. 12 & 24, Matt. 24:24; Mk. 13:22; Jn. 4:48; Acts 2:22, 43; 4:30; 5:12; 6:8; 14:3; 15:12; Rom. 15:19; Heb. 2:4) it is a prediction or portent with a miraculous fulfillment which proves that a prophet is from the true God (sometimes performed by false prophets to deceive people into thinking they were from God - 2 Thess. 2:9).
QAll three words occur in relation to Paul only elsewhere in Romans 15:19, but two of them (“signs and wonders”) are predicated of Paul in Acts 14:1 and 15:12.
RThe Vulgate actually reads “yet signs of apostles were done.” The pluralization of apostoli was not accurate to the Greek, but the Rheims translation (“my apostleship”) is accurate to the Greek since a Greek definite article can be interpreted pronominally (semantic domain #92.11a in the Supplement to the Louw & Nida Lexicon).
SMost English versions translated this causally (L&N#89.23 - “For”), but I think this instead starts a new direction of thought (L&N#91.1 – “Now/So...”)
TRobertson considered this demonstrative pronoun “the neuter accusative with the passive verb,” and Moule agreed (Idiom Book of N. T. Greek) calling it an “accusative of respect... ‘What is there in regard to which you came off worse.’”
UThis is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest original being the 5th century Alexandrinus, but the 4th century Sinaiticus contains a correction with the majority spelling), so it is the reading of the Textus Receptus and Greek Orthodox editions of the GNT. However, the three oldest-known Greek manuscripts spell three of the letters differently as ησσωθητε (compare with the majority spelling ηττηθητε), so all the contemporary critical GNT’s go with the older spelling. However, in the only other verses in the Greek Bible where this word occurs again (2 Pet. 2:19-20), all the Greek manuscripts spell it with tau’s instead of sigmas. Both words are parsed as Aorist Passive Indicative 2nd plural, and both appear to mean the same thing, considering the various English translations which used the two different variants. So it appears to be a spelling change, especially since no Greek manuscript copied after the 9th century contains the older spelling. There are many English words which have evolved in their spelling over hundreds of years, so this is a normal pattern for languages. The same spelling change shows up in v. 15 as well, where the adverbial form of this word occurs, translated “less” in all standard versions. As for meaning, it is a verb form of the adjective “worse” (comparative of “bad”).
VLouw & Nida do not list “to” (KJV, NASB, NIV) or “than” (ESV) as a meaning for this word, but they do list the meaning “beyond” (#78.29), which intensifies the unfavorable comparison.
WThis word only occurs the Greek Bible here and in 2 Cor. 11:9. It is different from the Greek root bary- for “weight/burden,” rather it is based on the root words for “down” and “numb” – picturing a parasitic sucking of vitality out of a host until the host is weak and sagging.
XThe other time this verb is used in 2 Corinthians is in 2:7&10 regarding “forgiving” the excommunicated offender. This is not the standard word for forgive in Greek (aphiemi); rather it is a word which emphasizes unearned grace.
YThe Latin is actually ceteris “and the rest” (“other” is a different root in Latin – alt- or ali-).
ZHughes ably outlines the debate over whether Paul had actually been to Corinth twice before, saying that “Beza, Grotius, Paley, Stanley, and others... maintain... that it is the third time that he has been ready to come to Corinth, but that this proposed visit would, if it came off, actually be only his second visit…” but Plummer has shown that the Greek word order does not support this, Alford has pointed out that a merely planned visit is not possible to be “burdensome,” and Lightfoot has concluded that it is “inexplicable under any other hypothesis” than that he had already paid two visits to Corinth. To these, Hughes adds that “mere intentions which (ex hypothesi) are uncertain of fulfilment would, moreover, be out of character with the whole tenor of this epistle,” that Paul’s earlier list of hardships makes it obvious that Luke omitted some of the events of Paul’s life in his book of Acts, and finally, that there is evidence in 2:1 and 12:21 that Paul had indeed made a visit with the Corinthians which was recent, brief, and discouraging – none of which could have been describing his first visit.
AAThis is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest original being from the 9th century), so it is the reading of the Textus Receptus and Greek Orthodox editions of the GNT. (Surprisingly, it is followed not only by the KJV, but also by the NIV, NET, and ESV!) However, all five Greek manuscripts dated before the 9th century (plus about 17 more Greek manuscripts and the ancient Vulgate, Peshitta and Coptic versions) add the word τουτο (“this”) here, so all the contemporary critical GNT editions read with that additional word, thus it is in the RV and ASV/NASB.
ABMoule’s Idiom Book of New Testament Greek explained that “I have” + “readily” “express[es] a state or condition, ‘I am ready.’” The verb is not actually “am” but rather “have,” which is why I translated it “stand ready,” partly because Paul could have visited earlier, but he has been holding off until he is assured that it is the right time.
AC“to you” is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest known being dated to the 6th century, although it is supported by the Peshitta and Vulgate from the 4th century) and of the Textus Receptus and Greek Orthodox editions of the GNT and of all the ancient versions and most of the modern English versions. The ESV stands alone in not making “you” the object of “I will burden,” but it does so on the basis of all the contemporary critical editions of the GNT which followed the reading of all four Greek manuscripts which date before the 6th century (plus about 5 more Greek manuscripts) instead of the majority.
AD“Elative superlative” according to Blass & Debrunner (“very/most gladly”). The only other occurrences of this word in the Greek Bible are Prov. 3:24, 9:17, Mk. 6:20, 12:37, and 2 Cor. 11:19, & 12:9.
AERelatively rare verb only in the canonical Greek Bible here and in Mk. 5:26, Lk. 15:14, Acts 21:24, and Jas. 4:3 (plus a dozen more in the Apocrypha). The next occurrence of this root later in this verse with the ek- prefix is found nowhere else in the Greek Bible.
AFStrangely, the KJV, NIV, and NLT omit “souls,” even though the word is in all the Greek manuscripts and in all the ancient versions!
AGThis compound conjunction (“although/even if”) is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest being from the 9th century, but supported by the Vulgate and Peshitta versions from the 4th century and earlier) and thus of the Textus Receptus and Greek Orthodox editions of the Greek New Testament. However, the four oldest-known Greek manuscripts from before the 6th century only contain the simple “if” (although two of them have been corrected by a later hand to read like the majority).
AHAs late as 1961, Blass & DeBrunner reflected the traditional interpretation of “more abundantly” (comparative form of “abundant”), suggesting that the word “especially” be used to capture its “strong force,” but English translations from that time on (except for the NKJV) translated it with the simple word “more,” following the Vulgate, Peshitta, and Coptic versions, even though there is no known Greek manuscript which dropped out the root-word “abundantly.”
AIThis is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts (the oldest original being from the 9th , although the 4th century Sinaiticus and 7th century Beza contain corrections with the majority spelling), so it is the reading of the Textus Receptus, Tischendorf, and Greek Orthodox editions of the GNT. However, all five Greek manuscripts dated before the 9th century (plus about 7 more) spell two of the letters differently as ησσον (compare with the majority spelling ηττον), so the Nestle-Aland, UBS, and Tregelles GNT editions go with the older spelling. Both words are parsed as Accusative Neuter Singular adjectives, and both appear to mean the same thing, considering the different English translations which used the two different variants. (Blass & Debrunner, however, labeled it as an adverb and translated it “less.”) It appears to reflect a change in spelling conventions over centuries, especially since only 4 Greek manuscripts copied after the 9th century contain the older spelling. There are many English words which have evolved in their spelling over hundreds of years, so this is a normal pattern for languages. The same spelling change shows up in v. 13 as well in the verbal form of this word, where English versions generally translate it “inferior.” “Inferior” is also Brenton’s English translation of the Septuagint where it occurs in 1 Sam. 30:24, Job 5:4, 13:10, 20:10, and Isa. 23:8, but in the only other occurrence in the Greek New Testament, 1 Cor. 11:17, it is generally translated “worse.” Of those occurrences in the LXX, Job 5 and Isa. 23 are spelled with the double sigma variant, and all the rest (plus Isa. 8:9; 13:15; 19:1; 20:5; 30:31; 31:4, 8-9; 33:1; 51:7; 54:17) are spelled with the double tau. Elsewhere in the GNT, the double tau spelling form shows up in noun form translated “failure/loss/defeat” in Rom. 11:12 and 1 Cor. 6:7, and in the deponent verb variant in 2 Pet. 2:19-20 (translated “overcome/defeated”), so the variation of spelling between sigmas and taus was present during during the time of the writing of the New Testament, and neither one can be considered wrong or inauthentic.
AJEvery
known Greek manuscript spells this verb passively in the
first person, but for some strange reason, the Peshitta,
Sahidic, NIV, and NLT spelled this verb actively in the
second person!
It should also be noted that, although
there is no punctuation in the original manuscripts, the Textus
Receptus, Greek Orthodox, Robinson-Pierpont, Hodges-Farstad, and
Tregelles editions of the GNT end with a period, whereas the editors
of the Tischendorf, Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland and UBS editions of
the GNT interpreted this as a question ending with a question mark.
No interrogative word is present, however.
AKWith the kata- prefix, this is a Hapex legomenon, but the root without the prefix is found in similar statements throughout Paul’s correspondence: 2 Cor. 1:8, 11:9, Gal. 6:2, 1 Thess. 2:9, and 2 Thess. 3:8.
ALMoule interpreted this participle as having a causal meaning, like I did.
AMThis is the only instance of this adjective in the GNT, but it occurs once in Job 5:12 to mean “crafty” and over a dozen times in Proverbs to mean “prudent/wise” (Prov. 12:16; 13:1, 16; 14:8, 15, 18, 24; 15:5; 19:25; 21:11; 22:3; 27:12; 28:2). The noun form, however shows up in 2 Cor. 4:2 and 11:3 translated “unscrupulous/cunning.”
ANMoffatt placed “guile” in quotation marks like I did.