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OET (OET-RV) If it’s appropriate to be boasting, what I’d boast about would be my weaknesses.
In this section, Paul first warned the Corinthians that he was not a fool (11:16a). But he wanted them to listen to what he was foolishly going to boast about (11:16b–d). He told them that Jesus would not foolishly boast in this way (11:17). He told them that he would boast in the way that the false teachers were boasting (11:18). Using irony, he rebuked them for accepting people who boasted (11:19), implying that they were wrong to accept the false teachers because the false teachers boasted about themselves. Again using irony, he told them that they should not tolerate the false teachers taking advantage of them (11:20–21a).
In 11:21b Paul began foolishly to boast about things similar to the ones that the false teachers boasted about. Recounting all his hardships, he showed that he was more devoted to serving Jesus than they were (11:23–29).
Then Paul explained the correct kind of boasting (11:30). He gave an example (11:32–33), with an oath to God to indicate he was not lying (11:31).
Other examples for this section heading are:
Paul Boasts About His Sufferings (NIV)
Paul’s Sufferings as an Apostle (ESV)
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness: Here the word If refers to any time that Paul might boast about himself. In some languages using the word If indicates that Paul might not boast. If that is true in your language, you may want to indicate that this sentence refers generally to any time. For example:
Whenever I boast about myself, I will boast of the things that show my weakness
If I must boast,
¶ If it is necessary for me to boast,
¶ Whenever I have to boast about myself,
I must boast: The word must indicates that it is necessary for Paul to boast here. Other ways to translate this clause are:
I have to boast (NJB)
it is necessary for me to boast
I am obliged to brag
you force me to speak boastfully
I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
I will boast about the events that show that I am weak.
I will boast about the ways in which I am weak.
the things that show my weakness: The word things refers to examples of events that showed that Paul was weak. Other ways to translate this are:
all the ways in which I am weak (NJB)
the things that show how weak I am (GW)
the examples/events that show that I am not strong
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-condition-fact
εἰ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εἰ καυχᾶσθαι δεῖ τά τῆς ἀσθενείας μού καυχήσομαι)
Paul speaks as if this were a hypothetical situation, but he means that it is 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 [Because]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
τὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εἰ καυχᾶσθαι δεῖ τά τῆς ἀσθενείας μού καυχήσομαι)
Here, Paul is using the possessive form to describe things about him that are characterized by weakness. If this is not clear in your language, you could express the idea in another way. Alternate translation: [weak things about me] or [the weaknesses I have]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
τὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εἰ καυχᾶσθαι δεῖ τά τῆς ἀσθενείας μού καυχήσομαι)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of weakness, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [things about me that are weak]
OET (OET-RV) If it’s appropriate to be boasting, what I’d boast about would be my weaknesses.
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.