Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT ESA WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
2 Cor C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13
2 Cor 11 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33
OET (OET-LV) Not therefore great it_is, if also the servants of_him are_masquerading as servants of_righteousness, whose the end will_be according_to the works of_them.
OET (OET-RV) So then it’s no great surprise if his servants are masquerading as God’s servants, but their end will be the consequence of their actions.
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)
It is not surprising, then,
So, it is no surprise
So then, expect
It is not surprising, then: The Greek word that the BSB translates as then introduces a conclusion. In some languages it is more natural to have the conjunction at the beginning of the verse. For example:
Therefore it is not surprising (NASB)
So it is not strange (RSV)
It is not surprising: The Greek words are literally “(it is) no great thing.” This phrase indicates that people can expect Satan’s servants to masquerade as servants of righteousness. In some languages it is more natural to use a positive saying here. For example:
It is expected
It often happens that
if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.
if his servants also deceitfully change to look like righteous/upright servants.
those who serve Satan also to act like someone who does right things. They do that in order to deceive people.
if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness: The word if is used rhetorically to cause the believers in Corinth to think about when Satan’s servants might masquerade as servants of righteousness.
In some languages using the word if indicates that Satan’s servants do not masquerade in that way. If that is true in your language, indicate the correct meaning. One way is to use the word “when” instead of if. For example:
when his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness
if his servants masquerade: The Greek here includes the word that means “also” here. Satan’s servants copy his behavior. For example:
if his servants also disguise themselves (RSV)
servants of righteousness: The word of indicates here that the servants do things that God considers right to do. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
agents of good (REB)
servants who work for what is right (NCV)
Their end will correspond to their actions.
Their final place of residence will be appropriate to their deeds.
Their destiny will be in accordance with what they do.
In the end, God will punish them as they deserve for their actions.
Their end will correspond to their actions: The word end refers to the final outcome for them. Since they follow Satan, God will send them to hell, just as he will send Satan there. Other ways to translate this clause are:
But their fate will match their deeds. (REB)
But in the end they will be punished for what they do. (NCV)
whose end will correspond to their action (NET)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
οὐ μέγα & εἰ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὒ μέγα οὖν εἰ καί οἱ διάκονοι αὐτοῦ μετασχηματίζονται ὡς διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης ὧν τό τέλος ἔσται κατά τά ἔργα αὐτῶν)
Here, the clause it is no great thing indicates that what follows is not surprising or shocking but should be expected. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different clause that expresses this idea. Alternate translation: [it should be no shock if]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / litotes
οὐ μέγα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὒ μέγα οὖν εἰ καί οἱ διάκονοι αὐτοῦ μετασχηματίζονται ὡς διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης ὧν τό τέλος ἔσται κατά τά ἔργα αὐτῶν)
Paul is using a figure of speech here that expresses a strongly positive meaning by using a negative word, no, together with an expression that is the opposite of the intended meaning, great thing. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the positive meaning. See the UST.
Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-condition-fact
εἰ
if
Paul speaks as if this were a hypothetical situation, but he means that it must be true. If your language does not state something as a condition if it is certain or true, and if your readers might think that what Paul is saying is uncertain, then you could translate his words as an affirmative statement. Alternate translation: [when] or [that]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
μετασχηματίζονται ὡς διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης
˓are˒_masquerading as servants ˱of˲_righteousness
See how you translated the similar phrase at the end of [11:13](../11/13.md). Alternate translation: [pose as servants of righteousness] or [act as if they were servants of righteousness]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης
servants servants ˱of˲_righteousness
Here Paul uses the possessive form to connect servants with righteousness. He could be describing servants: (1) whose goal is righteousness, that is, to make people righteous. Alternate translation: [servants who make people righteous] (2) who serve for the sake of righteousness. Alternate translation: [servants for what is right] (3) who are righteous. Alternate translation: [righteous servants]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης
servants servants ˱of˲_righteousness
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of righteousness, you could express the same idea in another way. Make sure that your translation fits with the interpretation you chose in the previous note. Alternate translation: [servants who make others righteous]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
ὧν τὸ τέλος ἔσται κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν
whose (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Οὒ μέγα οὖν εἰ καί οἱ διάκονοι αὐτοῦ μετασχηματίζονται ὡς διάκονοι δικαιοσύνης ὧν τό τέλος ἔσται κατά τά ἔργα αὐτῶν)
Here Paul refers to how these servants will in the end be judged and punished for their works. He does not make it clear whether he is referring to the end of their lives or to the end of this time, when Jesus comes back. It is recommended that you use a form that refers in general to how people are punished or suffer for the bad things that they do. Alternate translation: [who will in the end get what they deserve] or [who will eventually be punished for what they did]
OET (OET-LV) Not therefore great it_is, if also the servants of_him are_masquerading as servants of_righteousness, whose the end will_be according_to the works of_them.
OET (OET-RV) So then it’s no great surprise if his servants are masquerading as God’s servants, but their end will be the consequence of their actions.
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.