2 COR 11:13 Interlinear View

1. Greek word
2. Greek lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. οἱ
2. ho
3. the
4. -
5. 35880
6. E····NMP
7. ¬the
8. ¬the
9. -
10. Y60
11. 124524
1. Γάρ
2. gar
3. For/Because
4. because
5. 10630
6. C·······
7. for
8. for
9. S
10. Y60
11. 124525
1. τοιοῦτοι
2. toioutos
3. such are
4. -
5. 51080
6. R····NMP
7. such ‹are›
8. such ‹are›
9. -
10. Y60; R124514
11. 124526
1. ψευδαπόστολοι
2. pseudapostolos
3. false emissaries
4. false
5. 55700
6. N····NMP
7. false_emissaries
8. false_emissaries
9. -
10. Y60
11. 124527
1. ἐργάται
2. ergatēs
3. workers
4. -
5. 20400
6. N····NMP
7. workers
8. workers
9. -
10. Y60
11. 124528
1. δόλιοι
2. dolios
3. deceitful
4. deceitful
5. 13860
6. A····NMP
7. deceitful
8. deceitful
9. -
10. Y60
11. 124529
1. μετασχηματιζόμενοι
2. metasχēmatizō
3. masquerading themselves
4. themselves
5. 33450
6. VPPM·NMP
7. masquerading ‹themselves›
8. masquerading ‹themselves›
9. -
10. Y60; R124514
11. 124530
1. εἰς
2. eis
3. for
4. -
5. 15190
6. P·······
7. for
8. for
9. -
10. Y60
11. 124531
1. ἀποστόλους
2. apostolos
3. ambassadors
4. ambassadors
5. 6520
6. N····AMP
7. ambassadors
8. ambassadors
9. -
10. Y60
11. 124532
1. Χριστοῦ
2. χristos
3. of chosen one messiah
4. -
5. 55470
6. N····GMS
7. ˱of˲ chosen_one/messiah
8. ˱of˲ Christ
9. WN
10. Y60; Person=Jesus
11. 124533

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 11:1–15: Paul spoke against the false teachers

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)

11:13a

For such men are false apostles,

For people like that are lying when they say they are apostles.
Such men claim to be chosen messengers of Jesus Christ but lie.

For: This conjunction introduces an explanation. Here Paul explained why he would continue not to accept money from the believers in Corinth.

Many English versions translate the Greek conjunction as For. In some languages it is more natural to allow the context to indicate the connection and omit the conjunction.

men: The Greek word here can refer to both men and women. For example:

people (NJB)

But in the culture at that time, probably only men came to Corinth with false teachings.

false apostles: The term false apostles refers to people who claim to be apostles but are lying. They may act like true apostles and expect people to respect them as if they were apostles, but they teach lies and false doctrine. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

those who claim to be apostles but are not

those who lie saying they are apostles

apostles: The Greek word that the BSB translates as “apostle” means “ambassador” or “messenger.” Here an “apostle” is a person whom Jesus sends to represent him and teach his message with authority. The word or phrase for “apostle” in your language should indicate a position of trust and authority. See how you translated this word in 1:1 or 11:5.

11:13b

deceitful workers,

They lie about working for Christ and seek to deceive people,
They falsely claim to be Christ’s workmen, but are only treacherous people.

deceitful workers: Here the word workers implies doing God’s work such as evangelizing, preaching, and teaching. These men pretended to be true workers of Jesus, but their goal was to deceive people. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

who lie about their work (GNT)

those who falsely claim to be Christ’s workmen and deceive people

those who lie saying they are workers for Christ but only try to deceive people

11:13c

masquerading as apostles of Christ.

and they disguise themselves to look like apostles of Christ.
Outwardly they pretend to be chosen messengers of Jesus Christ, but they are only lying.

masquerading as: The word masquerading refers to pretending to be something you are not. The false teachers pretended to be apostles of Christ, but in reality they taught lies and false doctrine. Other ways to translate this word are:

disguising themselves as (RSV)

They only pretend to be (CEV)

falsely claiming to be

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

γὰρ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: οἱ Γάρ τοιοῦτοι ψευδαπόστολοι ἐργάται δόλιοι μετασχηματιζόμενοι εἰς ἀποστόλους Χριστοῦ)

Here, the word For introduces a further explanation of what Paul said in the previous verse ([9:15](../09/15.md)) about people who desire to be equal in boasting with him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different word or phrase that introduces further explanation, or you could leave For untranslated. Alternate translation: [Indeed,]

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

οἱ & τοιοῦτοι

¬the & such_‹are›

The pronoun ones refers to the people Paul mentioned in the previous verse who desire to be equal in boasting to Paul. If this is not clear for your readers, you could refer to these people more explicitly. Alternate translation: [people of that kind] or [the ones who desire that]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

μετασχηματιζόμενοι εἰς ἀποστόλους

masquerading_‹themselves› for ambassadors

Here Paul means that these false apostles intentionally look and act like true apostles, even though they are not. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea in another way. Alternate translation: [posing as true apostles] or [acting as if they were apostles]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

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.

OET interlinear 2 COR 11:13

SR Greek word order

Section 11:1–15: Paul spoke against the false teachers

11:13a

11:13b

11:13c

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

OET interlinear 2 COR 11:13

SR Greek word order

Section 11:1–15: Paul spoke against the false teachers

11:13a

11:13b

11:13c

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

OET interlinear 2 COR 11:13