THE HOLY BIBLE (Darby Translation) Darby's Notes on 2 Corinthians

1:4a encourages: Parakaleo, as Matt. 2:18; 5:4; Acts 20:12; 1Thess. 3:7. I do not say 'comfort,' as that is rather conveyed in paramutheomai, so translated in 1Thess. 2:11; 5:14; 'console,' John 11:19, 31; and 'consolation,' 1Cor. 14:3. The difference is slight, but here, as in Acts 20, there is the sense of 'cheered,' and this might replace 'encourage' and 'encouragement' if there were a suitable noun.
1:5b Christ: I would take this opportunity of drawing attention to the difference between 'Christ' and 'the Christ.' 'The Christ' is a title, the designation of a condition or office, not a name; 'Christ' is a name. These are not used indifferently, and in the Gospels, where in Greek the word occurs alone, it is almost invariably 'the Christ,' the Messiah, or Anointed; while in the Epistles it is rarely so, but is used as a name. Some cases are doubtful, because the structure of the Greek phrase requires or prefers the article: this is the case here. However, on the whole I believe the article should be inserted here in English. When the article is inserted in this translation, the office or condition is considered to be the prominent thought.
1:9c in: * Lit. 'the God who raises,' &c.
1:12d God: Lit. 'simplicity and sincerity of God.' The force I take to be, 'such as God would have, and God would produce.' As we say, 'That is the stroke of a master,' 'the act of a prince.' 'Godly' seems to me feeble, but not wrong. One cannot say 'of God' here.
1:13e know: Or 'own' (personally). Some would render this 'but what ye read.' The word has this sense also; but it refers here, I think, to what they knew and had learnt of him by his being amongst them.
1:13a recognise: Epiginosko, 'know well,' as Matt. 7:16 and 11:27.
1:19b Silvanus: * i.e. Silas, Acts 18:5.
1:19c *is*: The apostle here changes from the aorist 'did not become' to the perfect tense of the same verb, translated 'is.' He is not speaking of the character of his preaching, but declaring that the verification of all divine truth is in the Person of Christ.
1:20d us: Or 'with' or 'before God, for glory by us.' It may be read thus: 'was not yea and nay, but in him is the yea, (for whatsoever promises of God there are, in him is the yea, and in him the amen,) for glory to God by us.'
1:21e in: Eis: lit. 'unto.' The word translated 'establishes ... in' means 'attaches firmly to,' 'connects firmly with.'
2:3f letter: Some refer this phrase to his first letter. In this case it must be translated, 'and I wrote the very (letter I did).' But I think touto auto can hardly mean that; and in the following words he refers it to the present time, when he was coming. It is evident that, if egrapsa (ver. 4) refers to his first letter, it must be translated 'I wrote;' but ekrina, 'I have judged,' (ver. 1) refers to the general determination of his mind. Egrapsa clearly often refers to what is written in the letter that contains it, and then we must say in English, 'I have written.'
2:4g wrote: This, I think, must refer to the first epistle, as he was now much relieved through the news Titus brought. It is again egrapsa.
2:6h rebuke: Or 'penalty.'
2:6i many: The body at large -- 'the mass,' as ch. 9:2.
2:7k grace: Or 'forgive,' as ver. 10; Luke 7:42.
2:10a forgiven: The perfect tense: he had done it, but it continued as a present thing.
2:15b odour: An allusion to the Roman triumphal processions, in which sweet odours were used, and when often many captives were killed, while others were spared. The 'sweet odour' was therefore unto death or unto life, as the gospel when received is a means of life, but when not received, however sweet it may be, is only a cause for condemnation.
2:17c of: Or 'adulterate:' properly 'to retail.'
3:2d read: The Greek means also 'well known;' a thing read of all, not private. There is a play on words, giving force to the statement: 'read' being a compound of 'know:' see ch. 1:13.
3:3e be: Lit. 'ye being manifested that ye are.'
3:5f competent: I do not particularly prefer 'competent' to 'sufficient,' (as in ch. 2:16) but the sense is lost in ver. 6, if we say 'sufficient' there.
3:6g covenant: The omission of the article makes it characteristic, as in the case of 'letter' and 'spirit;' perhaps it may be rendered 'competent as new covenant ministers.'
3:6h kills: Or 'For letter kills.'
3:7i began: It is not said that the ministry was glorious, but that the system was introduced with glory. It is in contrast with 'subsist in glory' (ver. 8).
3:7k Moses: See Ex. 34:29-35.
3:11a annulled: 'That annulled,' or 'done away,' may appear a little harsh, but the apostle uses it as a formula for the old covenant done away in Christ. If this be borne in mind, the sense will be clearer by the use of it. It contrasts 'that annulled' with 'that which abides:' so vers. 13 and 14.
3:14b darkened: As 'hardened,' Mark 3:5; 'blinded,' Rom. 11:7.
3:14c annulled: I have no doubt that the text is right, and that Moses covered his face while he talked to the people, and that the Hebrew, Ex. 34:33, means nothing else, and ver. 34 proves it.
3:16d away: The parenthesis begins at ver. 7.
3:18e transformed: As Rom. 12:2. From metamorphoo, translated 'transfigured' in Matt. 17:2 and Mark 9:2.
3:18f Spirit: See vers. 6, 17.
4:2g shame: i.e. all that of which one is ashamed and therefore keeps concealed.
4:3h lost: Or 'that perish,' as ch. 2:15.
4:4i forth: I add 'for them' to complete the sense. I have doubted as to this passage. The word translated 'shine forth' is only found here in the New Testament and generally means 'to see,' or 'discern.' If this be the meaning here, we should read 'so that they should not discern the shining forth of the glad tidings of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.'
4:6k God: Or 'it is God.'
4:6l shine: Lit. 'who spoke light to shine out of darkness.'
4:6m forth: 'Shining forth,' or 'radiancy;' the same word as translated 'radiancy' in ver. 4.
4:10n dying: Or 'putting to death.' The word implies the moral character of death, not only the fact of death. The same word is used in Rom. 4:19, 'the deadening' of Sarah's womb.
4:13a written: See Ps. 116:10.
4:15b many: 'Grace abounding through the many.' The grace of God, perfect in itself, multiplies itself in its objects, so that thanksgiving abounds. Paul was delivered, but everything was for the assembly. It was not therefore merely a benefit to him, but still more to all, so that the grace or benefit was multiplied, and caused thanksgiving to abound to God's glory. The form of thought is peculiar, but the sense plain and striking.
4:17c light: Lit. 'the momentary lightness of our.'
4:18d while: 'While' has not the sense of time here. The literal translation, 'we not looking,' would convey a somewhat causative sense, which is not the force of the passage.
5:1e house: 'Tabernacle' is characteristic.
5:2f from: Ek: 'out of.'
5:4g yet: Or 'though meanwhile,' 'yet in such sort that.' It is a necessary condition of the right understanding of ver. 4. 'Clothed' is the same word as 'to have put on' in ver. 2. For 'groan,' vers. 2 and 4, see Mark 7:34.
5:6h know: Lit. 'knowing' (from oida, conscious knowledge). It was their state; confident and knowing.
5:6i present, absent: The Greek words translated 'present' and 'absent' are literally 'at home' and 'away from home.'
5:10k in: 'The things which in their accomplishment have their seat there.'
5:11l been: Or 'are manifested.' It is the perfect tense; what is done and of which the effect continues.
5:12a countenance: As 'appearance,' ch. 10:1.
5:13b God: Or 'for God;' that is, he was as a fool for God's glory. But the sense is, I think, 'If he lost the blessed calculations of love which was his path towards men, it was to be out of himself with God, and for God:' a blessed alternative. His ecstasy was not excitement or folly, but if out of himself it was with God; if sober, it was the calculation of love for their good.
5:14c died: Or 'had died.' It is the aorist, and refers to the state Christ's death proved them to be in, in a state of nature. To make it a consequence of Christ's death is, I judge, an utter blunder.
5:15d them: 'For them' may apply to both 'died' and 'been raised,' but I think 'raised' is supplementary and by itself.
5:16e know, known: Here the first 'know' is 'conscious,' the second and third are objective: see Note, 1Cor. 8:1.
5:18f, 5:19f that: Or simply 'of reconciliation.'
5:20g were: 'As of God beseeching;' 'as though,' or 'as if,' is too much similarity or comparison. God being in Christ, and they Christ's ambassadors, they besought on God's behalf. He was as beseeching by them. The apostle will not say God was beseeching, but softens it by 'as it were:' yet it amounted to that, as done on his behalf. It is difficult to translate, though the sense is most evident and beautiful.
6:1h fellow-workmen: See 1Cor. 3:9. Here literally 'jointly labouring;' the connection is in the word 'beseech.'
6:2i salvation: See Isa. 49:8.
6:4k endurance: Or 'patience.'
6:9l known: Or 'recognized,' as Matt. 7:16.
6:10m grieved: Or 'sorrowful.'
6:11a expanded: I do not say 'enlarged,' because it would lead one to suppose that his heart had been narrow. He had been driven in, as it were, by their evil, and now opened out and expanded.
6:12b affections: Lit. 'bowels.'
6:13c itself: Lit. 'be ye also expanded.'
6:14d diversely: 'Unequally,' as in A.V., is a consequence, but not stated in the text, which says 'diversely,' referring to the Levitical law, which forbade different animals to be yoked together, Deut. 22:10.
6:16e temple: Naos: see 1Cor. 9:13.
6:16f said: See Lev. 26:11-12.
6:17g, 6:18g Lord: 'Lord' is a proper name, answering to Jehovah. God, who in the Old Testament took the name of Jehovah with Israel, and of Shaddai (Almighty) with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, takes the name of Father with us.
6:17h unclean: See Isa. 52:11.
7:1i holiness: Hagiosune: See Note at Rom. 1:4.
7:2k ruined: Or 'corrupted.'
7:8l also, even: 'If also' and 'if even' (twice) in this verse represent the same Greek expression. The first is translated 'if also,' which, while literal, is more delicate, as expression of feeling, than 'though.' 'If even' would here express an extreme case or doubt; 'also' is admitting an additional fact. Hence I put 'if even' for the other cases in the sentence. In the second case he suggests in the way of admission, as the extreme to which he went, i.e. regret: he was right and inspired, but felt the distress individually, and would not leave them ignorant of how far his love went; so in the third case it is the same limitation of their grief. 'Ye were sorry, if even it were only for a time.'
7:11a much: Or 'what.'
7:12b God: Or perhaps 'for the sake of our diligent zeal for you before God being manifested to you.' The reading is uncertain here. It is possible that the true reading is 'your zeal for us.' Its force then would be, 'that you might discern how truly you loved us, though turned aside by false teachers.' Compare ver. 7.
7:13c encouraged: Or 'have been comforted.'
7:13d in: Or 'besides' or 'in addition to.'
7:13e encouragement: Or 'in our comfort.'
7:13f abundantly: 'The rather ... more abundantly.' This is a common Greek idiom, but it is impossible to render it exactly in English. The A.V. translates the expression 'exceedingly the more,' but in English 'the more' supposes more than something, and because of something. I do not think it always merely emphatic; there is an unexpressed motive which is the cause of 'the rather' in the mind. I suspect that ver. 14 gives the clue to the force of it.
7:13g all: It may, perhaps, be translated 'and in (or 'besides') our encouragement we the rather rejoiced more abundantly in the joy of Titus (for his spirit is refreshed by you all), because if I,' &c. There are often examples of the change of 'I' and 'we' in this epistle; it is the case in this very context. But not without a reason in the sense, 'I' being more personal to Paul.
7:15h affections: Lit. 'bowels.'
8:4i grace: The 'grace' here is not the collection, but the grace and favour shown to the poor in the gift. Instead of Paul having to press this grace on the Macedonians, they beg of him the grace and fellowship (koinonia) of the administration; that is, to be the instrument (though an apostle) of its manifestation by them. The 'grace and fellowship' is the active exercise of grace towards the Jewish saints. This they begged of Paul. (See ver. 19.)
8:6k that: 'So that we were led to beg,' 'leading us to beg.' 'So that' states the effect produced; the tendency of the grace among the Macedonians he had been speaking of.
8:6a to: Or 'with.'
8:7b but: 'But,' not 'therefore' (as in A.V.). The apostle means 'but it is,' or 'my object in doing so is,' or 'what I have in my mind in thus sending Titus is.'
8:9c *his*: The 'his' is emphatic: 'the poverty of such a one as he.'
8:12d accepted: Or 'it is accepted.'
8:15e written: See Ex. 16:18.
8:21f provide: As Rom. 12:17.
8:23g companion: Koinonos: see Note, Luke 5:10: 'fellow-labourer,' as 1Cor. 3:9; 'messengers,' apostolos.
9:2h mass: i.e. 'the body,' as ch. 2:6.
9:5a, 9:6a blessing: 'Blessing.' The sense is plain, though the word is unusual. I note it in view of verse 6. It is the spirit in which a man gives: as God gives, freely to bless, so ought we: and such as so give shall so reap from him.
9:5b you: Or 'as covetousness,' from a verb signifying, along with the desire of having, an over-reaching to get.
9:7c grievingly: Or 'not as grieving to do it:' contrast with 'cheerful.'
9:7d giver: Prov. 22:8, LXX.
9:8e gift: 'Every grace' or 'benefit.'
9:9f written: See Ps. 112:9.
9:10g abundant: It is possible to translate: 'now he that supplies seed to the sower shall both supply bread for the eating, and make abundant.'
9:13h communicating: Koinonia, as 'fellowship,' 1Cor. 1:9.
10:4i God: Or 'divinely powerful,' as a Hebraism; or 'in a divine way', before God, in His view; bringing Him in; or 'through God.' Moses was 'beautiful to God' or 'divinely beautiful' (Acts 7:20).
10:5k Christ: Or 'of Christ.'
10:7l appearance: See ver. 1.
10:8a overthrowing: See ch. 13:10.
10:12b intelligent: 'Wise' is not the sense here, at least it seems to give the sense of 'not being wise in doing so,' which is not the force of the Greek expression. The force is 'do not perceive,' whether in capacity or fact. See Matt. 13:13; Mark 4:12; 6:52, 7:14; 8:17, 21; Rom. 3:11; 15:21.
10:13c measure: There is a double meaning in the words here. They signify 'out of measure, immoderately,' but allude also here to the false teachers going where God had not sent them: see ver. 15.
10:17d Lord: See 1Cor. 1:31.
11:3e simplicity: 'Simplicity' here refers, not to a personal trait, but to the doctrine as to Christ; what a faithful heart retained in simplicity, as taught in the truth. To say 'which is in the Christ,' is too much as if it were in Christ himself, not the doctrine.
11:6f simple: As 'uninstructed,' Acts 4:13.
11:6g you: Or 'before you.'
11:8h ministry: Diakonia: see Note, 1Cor. 4:1.
11:23a ministers: Diakonos: see Note. 1Cor. 4:1.
11:23b so: The word here translated 'above measure' is so used constantly by the apostle, though not indeed separated from the word it refers to. But I do not find that it is used adverbially for 'more than;' and the expression 'as being beside myself' seems to refer to the extra-ordinariness of what he was saying, for he felt that to say 'minister of Christ' was to say all that was excellent. Hence he does not repeat 'in folly,' but says 'as being beside myself,' 'wandering quite away from a right mind.' His own heart did not allow him to say he was 'minister of Christ' without judging the expression, though forced to use it for these foolish Corinthians. The word translated 'exceedingly abundant' is not really a comparison, and the words translated 'to excess' and 'oft' show that no comparison with others is instituted. He left his miserable competitor far behind, and his soul turned back with true heartfelt satisfaction to all he had undergone for Christ. His folly is given to us for gain by God. However, if anyone prefer 'more than they' or 'beyond them' to 'above measure,' in result the sense is not altered, though, it seems to me, feebler and more disjointed.
11:24c one: * See Deut. 25:3.
11:27d toil: See same words in 1Thess. 2:9; 2Thess. 3:8.
11:28e burden: 'Burden' here means any solicitude or anxiety, but 'care' misleads, because it conveys the idea of taking care of, which is not the sense. Same word as 'anxious care,' Matt. 13:22, and 'care,' 1Pet. 5:7.
11:32a ethnarch: i.e. the governor of the province.
11:33b by: Or 'through,' dia.
12:2c know: Conscious knowledge; and so all through.
12:2d to: Heos, 'as far as:' see Luke 24:50; Acts 11:22.
12:4e said: Rhema, 'the saying' and thence 'the things said.' It was not merely like heathen mysteries, dreadful forms of speech, but the communications were of things not suited to this lower world and our mortal condition.
12:7f buffet: As Matt. 26:67
12:9g dwell: Or 'power of Christ may tabernacle -- have its dwelling-place -- on me.'
12:16a guile: The apostle is not saying that he did this, but is answering a charge that he had kept up appearances by taking nothing himself, but knew how to indemnify himself by using Titus in order to receive from them. The charge was false, as he proceeds to show.
12:19b supposing: Or 'Ye have of old supposed.'
12:21c to: Or 'amongst you.'
13:1d matter: Rhema, 'utterance:' see Deut. 19:15.
13:3e Christ: I do not put 'the Christ' here, though there be the article, because it is specially connected with the speaking.
13:4f in, by: Ek, characterizing the principle on which it took place.
13:5g yourselves: 'Yourselves' is ambiguous in English; but it is the accusative after 'recognize,' not 'yourselves know' but 'know yourselves.'
13:10h authority: Or 'power;' it is exousia, 'title,' not mere competency: see Note, Matt. 10:1.
13:10i overthrowing: See ch. 10:8.
13:11k rejoice: Or 'farewell.'
13:11l perfected: As 'perfectly united,' 1Cor. 1:10.
13:14m communion: Or 'fellowship,' koinonia, as 1Cor. 1:9.

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