What the book is
In 1 Corinthians Paul answers the church’s questions; in 2 Corinthians he lays bare his own heart. Between the two letters his relationship with the church had nearly broken. A painful visit, a letter written “with many tears” (2:4), and the arrival of rival teachers who mocked his weakness had left the Corinthians doubting him. He writes to be reconciled, to explain why his ministry looks so unimpressive, to urge them to complete their gift for the poor in Jerusalem, and finally to confront the rivals he calls “super-apostles”.
Again and again he returns to one paradox: God’s power shows itself in human weakness.
But we hold this treasure in pots made of clay, so that the power, great beyond measure, may be God’s and may not come from us.
Who wrote it, and when
No one doubts that Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, with Timothy named beside him (1:1). He wrote from Macedonia (2:13; 7:5), a year or so after 1 Corinthians, around AD 55–56. Many scholars think the letter as we have it joins two or more letters Paul sent at different times, because of its sharp changes of tone, above all at chapter 10, where reconciliation turns to fierce self-defence; others read it as one letter written over some days, as news came in. The earlier “letter of tears” may be lost, or may be part of chapters 10–13.
How the book is laid out
- Comfort in affliction (1:1–11): the God of all comfort, and Paul’s near-death in Asia.
- The change of plans and the painful letter (1:12–2:13): why Paul did not come, and forgiving the one who caused the grief.
- The ministry of the new covenant (2:14–7:4): the aroma of Christ, a ministry of the Spirit brighter than Moses’ face, treasure in clay pots, the hope of a body from heaven, the new creation, and the ministry of reconciliation.
- Reconciled (7:5–16): Titus’s good news and Paul’s joy.
- The collection for Jerusalem (8–9): the example of the Macedonians, and “God loves a giver who gives gladly”.
- Paul’s defence (10–13): against the “super-apostles”, boasting “in foolishness” of his sufferings, the vision of paradise, the thorn in the flesh, and a final warning before his third visit.
How Open Word Bible translates 2 Corinthians
The triumphal procession (2:14). God “always leads us along in his triumphal procession”: in a Roman triumph, conquered captives were led behind the victor. The draft reads Paul as picturing himself among God’s captives, marks the decision uncertain, and footnotes the readings “God makes us triumph” and “as soldiers sharing in his victory”.
The Lord is the Spirit (3:17–18). Paul writes that “this Lord is the Spirit”, and that believers, seeing the Lord’s glory as in a mirror, are being changed into the same image. The draft explains both lines in decisions, each marked uncertain, with the other readings in footnotes.
New creation (5:17). “If anyone is in Christ, that person is part of a new creation.” The Greek has no verb: it can mean that the person is a new creation, or that there is a new creation, the new world God has begun. The draft holds the two together, and the footnote gives each reading on its own.
Made to be sin (5:21). “God made him to be sin, so that, united with him, we might become God’s righteousness.” Because the Hebrew word for sin can also mean a sin offering, some read “made him a sin offering”. The draft keeps “sin”, as Paul repeats the word, and footnotes the other reading.
The thorn in the flesh (12:7). What Paul’s thorn was, he does not say. The decision says so, and the footnote gives the main guesses: an illness or disability, persecution and opponents, or a temptation. The answer he received is one of the letter’s best-known lines: “My grace is enough for you, for power comes to its fullness in weakness” (12:9).
The blessing (13:13). The SBL text numbers the closing blessing 13:13, where many English Bibles number it 13:14. “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with every one of you.” See The genitive problem for how phrases like “the love of God” and “the love of Christ” (5:14) can be read.