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In 11:1, Paul prepared his readers for what he would say in 11:7–10 and 11:16. He described the way he would speak as “foolishness.” Paul used the term “foolishness” here in a special way. In this chapter Paul said he was “foolish” because he praised himself for his own good character, attitudes, and actions. He called this praise “foolish” especially because he had just said in 10:17–18 that believers should not praise themselves.
Paul was very concerned for the believers in Corinth, like a father wanting his daughter to be faithful to the man whom she would marry one day (11:2). In the same way he worried that the false teachers might have led the believers away from following Jesus (11:3–4).
Since the false teachers had deceived some of the believers in Corinth, Paul had to defend himself to the believers (11:5–6). The false teachers had praised themselves and some of the believers had believed them, so Paul had to praise himself. He reminded them that he had not allowed them to support him. He wanted them to know that he was serving them because he truly loved them and wanted to help them, unlike the false teachers.
In Greek culture, a teacher expected those whom he taught to support him. It was an honor to support a well-known teacher. But Paul had not let the believers in Corinth support him. Using irony, Paul asked them if they were upset about his not letting them support him (11:7). Using irony again, he told them that churches in other cities had supported him while he lived in Corinth so that he could serve them full time (11:8–9). But the false teachers probably did the culturally expected thing and accepted money from the believers. Paul explained that he loved the believers in Corinth and therefore had not accepted their money (11:10–11). This example of love showed that the false teachers were not equals with Paul as apostles (11:12). He described the false teachers as claiming to be apostles while actually following Satan (11:13–15).
Other examples for this section heading are:
Paul Contrasts Himself With False Apostles (GW)
Paul and His Opponents (NET)
Why? Because I do not love you?
Why, because I do not love you?(plur)
Why did I not take your money? Did I do that because I do not love you?
Think of the reason why I was not a burden to you! It certainly is not because I do not love you.
Why?: This question probably connects to 11:9d–e and asks: “Why (did I avoid being a burden to you)?” In some languages it may be necessary to include the implied information. For example:
Why was I not a burden to you?
Why did I not take your money?
This is a rhetorical question. It causes the readers to think about a possible reason why Paul did not accept their money. Translate in a way that emphasizes that meaning. Some ways to translate this are:
As a rhetorical question. For example:
Why should it be? (NJB)
And why do I not depend on you? (NCV)
As a command. For example:
Think of the reason why I was not a burden to you!
Because I do not love you?: This question also has implied information. It asks: “(Did I avoid being a burden to you) Because I do not love you?” Paul avoided being a burden to the believers in Corinth for other reasons, not because he did not love them. In some languages it may be necessary to include the implied information. For example:
Was I not a burden to you because I do not love you?
Is it that I do not love you and therefore did not take your money?
This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes the fact that Paul avoided being a burden to the believers because he loved them. Translate these words so that they emphasize that meaning. Some ways to translate this are:
As a rhetorical question. For example:
Does this mean that I do not love you? (JBP)
Do you think it is because I do not love you? (NCV) See also the two examples at the beginning of this note.
As a statement. For example:
And it isn’t because I don’t love you. (CEV)
I certainly did not become a burden to you because I do not love you!
As a command. For example:
Do not think that I was not a burden to you because I do not love you!
God knows I do!
God knows that I do!
God knows that I love you!
God knows I do: Paul emphasized that he loved the believers in Corinth by adding the words God knows. The clause indicates that God knew that Paul loved them.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
διὰ τί
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τί Ὅτι οὐκ ἀγαπῶ ὑμᾶς Ὁ Θεός οἶδεν)
Here Paul asks for the reason why he does not “burden” the Corinthians (See: [11:9](../11/09.md)). If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this connection more explicit. Alternate translation: [Why do I not burden you]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
διὰ τί? ὅτι οὐκ ἀγαπῶ ὑμᾶς?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τί Ὅτι οὐκ ἀγαπῶ ὑμᾶς Ὁ Θεός οἶδεν)
Paul is using the question form to show the Corinthians that his reason for not burdening them was not that he did not love them. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate these two questions as statements or as exclamations, or you could combine them into one statement. Alternate translation: [I have a reason for this. However, it is not that I do not love you!] or [My reason is not that I do not love you.]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ὁ Θεὸς οἶδεν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Διά τί Ὅτι οὐκ ἀγαπῶ ὑμᾶς Ὁ Θεός οἶδεν)
Here Paul states that God knows something. He implies that God knows that Paul does in fact love the Corinthians. The phrase God knows makes the claim stronger, since God is the one who can prove that the claim is true. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make the idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [God himself knows that I love you] or [You can know for sure that I love you, since God knows it]
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.