Add parallel Print Page Options

Paul’s Change of Plans

12 We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness[a] and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you. 13 Our letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us, 14 even if you don’t understand us now. Then on the day when the Lord Jesus[b] returns, you will be proud of us in the same way we are proud of you.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1:12 Some manuscripts read honesty.
  2. 1:14 Some manuscripts read our Lord Jesus.

Paul Defends His Changed Plans

12 For our reason for confidence[a] is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives[b] and sincerity which are from God[c]—not by human wisdom[d] but by the grace of God—we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more[e] toward you. 13 For we do not write you anything other than what[f] you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completely[g] 14 just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours[h] in the day of the Lord Jesus.[i]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 1:12 tn Or “for boasting.”
  2. 2 Corinthians 1:12 tc Two viable variants exist at this place in the text: ἁγιότητι (hagiotēti, “holiness”) vs. ἁπλότητι (haplotēti, “pure motives”). A confusion of letters could well have produced the variant (TCGNT 507): In majuscule script the words would have been written agiothti and aplothti. This, however, does not explain which reading created the other. Overall ἁπλότητι, though largely a Western-Byzantine reading (א2 D F G M lat sy), is better suited to the context; it is also a Pauline word while ἁγιότης (hagiotēs) is not. It also best explains the rise of the other variants, πραότητι (praotēti, “gentleness”) and σπλάγχνοις (splanchnois, “compassion”). On the other hand, the external evidence in favor of ἁγιότητι is extremely strong (P46 א* A B C K P Ψ 0121 0243 33 81 1739 1881 al co). This diversity of mss provides excellent evidence for authenticity, but because of the internal evidence listed above, ἁπλότητι is to be preferred, albeit only slightly.tn Or “sincerity.” The two terms translated “pure motives” (ἁπλότης, haplotēs) and “sincerity” (εἰλικρίνεια, eilikrineia) are close synonyms.
  3. 2 Corinthians 1:12 tn Grk “pure motives and sincerity of God.”
  4. 2 Corinthians 1:12 tn Or “not by worldly wisdom.”
  5. 2 Corinthians 1:12 tn Or “and especially.”
  6. 2 Corinthians 1:13 tn Grk “than the things.”
  7. 2 Corinthians 1:13 tn Grk “to the end,” a Greek idiom for “fully,” “totally,” “completely.”
  8. 2 Corinthians 1:14 tn Grk “that we are your boast even as you are our boast.”
  9. 2 Corinthians 1:14 tc ‡ On the wording “the Lord Jesus” (τοῦ κυρίου ᾿Ιησοῦ, tou kuriou Iēsou) there is some variation in the extant witnesses: ἡμῶν (hēmōn, “our”) is found after κυρίου in several significant witnesses (א B F G P 0121 0243 6 33 81 1739 1881 2464 al lat co); the pronoun is lacking from P46vid A C D Ψ M. Although in Paul “our Lord Jesus Christ” is a common expression, “our Lord Jesus” is relatively infrequent (cf., e.g., Rom 16:20; 2 Cor 1:14; 1 Thess 2:19; 3:11, 13; 2 Thess 1:8, 12). “The Lord Jesus” occurs about as often as “our Lord Jesus” (cf. 1 Cor 11:23; 16:23; 2 Cor 4:14; 11:31; Eph 1:15; 1 Thess 4:2; 2 Thess 1:7; Phlm 5). Thus, on balance, since scribes would tend to expand on the text, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic. NA28 places the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.