2 Corinthians 4
Having this service as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart — we have renounced the hidden things, do not adulterate the word, and commend ourselves by the manifestation of the truth. If the gospel is covered, it is among those perishing — the god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers so that the illumination of the gospel of Christ’s glory might not dawn. We proclaim not ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord. The God who said light shall shine out of the dark has shone in our hearts. This treasure in earthen vessels — so that the excess of the power may be God’s. Pressed but not hemmed in, at a loss but not utterly, persecuted but not forsaken, thrown down but not perishing. Always carrying the dying of Jesus in the body so that his life too may be manifested — death works in us, life in you. We believed, therefore we speak; he who raised Jesus will raise us. The outer man is destroyed, the inner renewed day by day. A momentary light affliction works out an eternal weight of glory — the things seen are temporary, the things not seen eternal.
Why this rendering
2Cor.4.4 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἐν οἷς ὁ θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἐτύφλωσεν τὰ νοήματα τῶν ἀπίστων εἰς τὸ μὴ αὐγάσαι τὸν φωτισμὸν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ — among whom the god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers, so that the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, might not dawn. θεός carries the article and the genitive ‘of this age’; the text gives no name. αὐγάσαι (once in the New Testament; ⸀ in the base text) can be read without an object as ‘dawn/shine’ or as ‘see’ — the Received Text adds a dative pronoun and closes it toward ‘shine on them’. φωτισμός (vv.4 and 6 — two places in the New Testament) is the noun of φωτίζω, ‘give light to’ (1 Cor 4:5). In v.3 κεκαλυμμένον is the verb of the κάλυμμα of chapter 3, and in v.6 λάμψει is a future (⸀ — the Received Text reads an infinitive).
Rendering options · 3
Basis The base text has no dative pronoun, so the accusative τὸν φωτισμόν can stand as subject of the infinitive; this follows the primary sense (shine, dawn) and supplies no subject the text lacks.
Basis The transitive reading that supplies the unbelievers as subject — most modern translations.
Rejected It supplies a subject the text lacks and drops the primary sense of αὐγάζω; that both readings stand is recorded as a loss.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected αἰών is ‘age’ (1 Cor 1:20; Rom 12:2); ‘world’ merges it with κόσμος.
Lost in translation
φωτισμός (vv.4, 6) ↔ φωτίζω (1 Cor 4:5) — ‘illumination / give light to’ do not share a root in English.
κεκαλυμμένον (v.3) ↔ κάλυμμα (3:13-16) — ‘covered / veil’ break the root the Greek keeps.
αὐγάσαι — the text leaves ‘dawn’ and ‘see’ both open; ‘might not dawn’ closes it to one side.
Why this rendering
2Cor.4.7 Observation
Syntactic observation
Ἔχομεν δὲ τὸν θησαυρὸν τοῦτον ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν, ἵνα ἡ ὑπερβολὴ τῆς δυνάμεως ᾖ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ μὴ ἐξ ἡμῶν — But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excess of the power may be of God and not from us. ὀστράκινος (two places in the New Testament — here and once in 2 Timothy) sits on σκεῦος, ‘vessel’ (Acts 9:15; Rom 9:21). ὑπερβολή comes five times in this letter (1:8; 4:7; 4:17 twice; 12:7) — the noun of the καθ’ ὑπερβολήν, ‘exceedingly’, of 1:8, hence ‘excess’. The genitive τοῦ θεοῦ is a predicate of possession (‘of God’) set against ἐξ ἡμῶν (‘from us’).
Rendering options · 3
Basis One word with the ‘exceedingly’ of 1:8 — a single noun for a single noun, without adding a ‘greatness’ the text lacks.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected It adds a noun (‘greatness’) the Greek lacks and cuts the word from 1:8 and 4:17.
Basis The vivid familiar rendering.
Rejected It breaks the thread of σκεῦος, ‘vessel’ (Acts 9:15 ‘a vessel I have chosen’; Rom 9:21).
Lost in translation
‘Excess’ for ὑπερβολή carries a shade of ‘too much’ that the Greek does not have (an addition).
σκεῦος — one word ‘vessel’ with Acts 9:15 (‘a vessel I have chosen’) and Rom 9:21 (‘a vessel for honour’).
θησαυρός — the one word ‘treasure’ of Matt 6:19-21.
Why this rendering
2Cor.4.8 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἐν παντὶ θλιβόμενοι ἀλλ’ οὐ στενοχωρούμενοι, ἀπορούμενοι ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐξαπορούμενοι, διωκόμενοι ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι, καταβαλλόμενοι ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀπολλύμενοι — in every way pressed but not hemmed in, at a loss but not utterly at a loss, persecuted but not forsaken, thrown down but not perishing. Four pairs of present passive participles hang on v.7 with no main verb. The second pair is one verb with ἐκ- added (ἀπορέω · ἐξαπορέομαι — the word of 1:8); the first pairs θλίβω, ‘be pressed’ (1:6), with στενοχωρέομαι (three places in the New Testament, all in this letter — the verb of στενοχωρία, ‘distress’, Rom 2:9). In the third pair ἐγκαταλείπω is the verb of the cry from the cross in Matt 27:46, ‘why have you forsaken me’; in the fourth, ἀπόλλυμι is the word of ‘those who are perishing’ in v.3. καταβάλλω comes twice in the New Testament (here and once in Hebrews).
Rendering options · 3
Basis As fixed at 1:8 — the prefix laid on one verb stays visible as one phrase plus ‘utterly’.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected It breaks the shared root of the pair and the thread to 1:8.
Basis Binding the first pair by sound.
Rejected στενοχωρέομαι is the word for being driven into a narrow place; ‘crushed’ repeats θλίβω and cuts the verb from στενοχωρία (Rom 2:9; 2 Cor 6:4).
Lost in translation
ἀπορέω / ἐξαπορέομαι — the prefix stays visible in ‘at a loss / utterly at a loss’.
στενοχωρέομαι ↔ στενοχωρία (Rom 2:9; 2 Cor 6:4) — ‘hemmed in / distress’ do not share a root in English.
The ‘narrow’ of στενός (Matt 7:13-14) is not a word inside ‘hemmed in’, though the picture of a narrow place survives.
ἐγκαταλείπω — one word ‘forsake’ with the cry of Matt 27:46, ‘why have you forsaken me’.
Why this rendering
2Cor.4.10 Observation
Syntactic observation
πάντοτε τὴν νέκρωσιν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματι περιφέροντες, ἵνα καὶ ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματι ἡμῶν φανερωθῇ· ἀεὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες εἰς θάνατον παραδιδόμεθα διὰ Ἰησοῦν … ὥστε ὁ θάνατος ἐν ἡμῖν ἐνεργεῖται, ἡ δὲ ζωὴ ἐν ὑμῖν — always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body; for we who live are always being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake … so death works in us, but life in you. νέκρωσις (two places in the New Testament — Rom 4:19 and here) is in Romans the ‘deadness’ of Sarah’s womb (a state) and here the ‘dying’ of Jesus (an event) — recorded as a rendering that differs by place. πάντοτε (v.10) and ἀεί (v.11) are two different words. In v.11 θνητῇ σαρκί takes θνητός, ‘mortal’, from Rom 6:12. Verse 12 crosses subject and place (death in us · life in you) and drops the verb in its second half. The τοῦ of v.10 carries the base text’s ⸀.
Rendering options · 3
Basis The action noun of the family of νεκρός, ‘dead’ — kept distinct from θάνατος, ‘death’, in vv.11-12.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected It merges the word with θάνατος in vv.11-12, which the Greek keeps apart.
Basis Keeping the one rendering fixed at Rom 4:19.
Rejected ‘Carrying about the deadness of Jesus’ does not stand; that one Greek word carries both state and event is recorded as a loss.
Lost in translation
νέκρωσις — one word for a state (Rom 4:19, Sarah’s womb) and an event (the dying of Jesus), split into ‘deadness / dying’.
πάντοτε (v.10) ↔ ἀεί (v.11) — two Greek words, one English ‘always’.
περιφέρω — one word with Mark 6:55, where the sick are carried; ‘carry about’ keeps ‘carry’.
v.12 ἡ δὲ ζωὴ ἐν ὑμῖν — the verbless second half stands verbless: ‘but life in you’.
Why this rendering
2Cor.4.17 Observation
Syntactic observation
τὸ γὰρ παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν καθ’ ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν αἰώνιον βάρος δόξης κατεργάζεται ἡμῖν — For the momentary lightness of our affliction works out for us, exceedingly unto excess, an eternal weight of glory. The adjective ἐλαφρός (Matt 11:30 ‘my burden is light’) takes the article and becomes a noun, and that ‘lightness’ works out a ‘weight’ (βάρος — Matt 20:12 ‘the weight of the day’): the light producing the heavy, inside one verse. καθ’ ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολήν sets the same noun down twice. παραυτίκα (once in the New Testament) is ‘of the present moment’; in v.18 πρόσκαιρος (Matt 13:21) is ‘temporary’ — two different words. In v.16 ὁ ἔσω ἡμῶν drops ἄνθρωπος (⸂⸃ in the base text; Rom 7:22 ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος).
Rendering options · 3
Basis The doubling is not folded; the same word as ‘exceedingly’ in 1:8 and ‘excess’ in 4:7.
Basis The familiar idiom.
Rejected It folds the doubled noun into one phrase and cuts the thread to 1:8 and 4:7.
Basis Taking the doubling as an adverb of degree.
Rejected The noun of εἰς ὑπερβολήν disappears into an adverb.
Lost in translation
τὸ ἐλαφρόν (4:17) ↔ ἐλαφρία (1:17) — an adjective and a noun, two words, both become ‘lightness’.
ἐλαφρός ↔ βάρος — the opposition ‘lightness / weight’ stands.
βάρος — one word with the ‘burden’ of Acts 15:28; here ‘weight’.
ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ (v.16) — ‘day by day’ keeps the word twice.
v.16 ὁ ἔσω ἡμῶν — the phrase has no noun; ‘man’ is supplied.