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 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 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33
OET (OET-LV) and being_present with you_all and having_been_deficient, not I_burdened of_no_one, because/for the need of_me replenishing the brothers having_come from Makedonia, and in everything unburdensome myself to_you_all I_kept and I_will_be_keeping.
OET (OET-RV) and when I was with you and needed something, I wasn’t a burden to anyone, because the believers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. Thus I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will keep doing so.
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)
And when I was with you and in need,
And when I was with you and was in want, (RSV)
And when I was there with you(plur) and had no money to buy things I needed,
in need: This phrase refers to lacking money to buy the things Paul needed for daily living. Other ways to translate this phrase are:
in want (RSV)
needed money (GNT)
didn’t have enough to live on (NLT)
I was not a burden to anyone;
I did not trouble any of you for money/help,
I did not cause difficulty for anyone among you by asking him for support,
I was not a burden to anyone: The word burden refers figuratively to causing difficulty for someone. Here it refers to needing money. If Paul asked for money, the believers might have lacked money for their own needs. Other ways to translate this clause are:
I did not become a financial burden to anyone (NLT)
I did not trouble any of you (NCV)
I still did not bother any of you by asking you to help/support me
anyone: Here this word refers to any believer in Corinth. Other ways to translate this are:
any of you (NCV)
any of you believers in Corinth
for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs.
for brothers came from Macedonia and fully supplied my needs.
because the fellow-believers who came from Macedonia brought enough money for me to buy everything I needed to live on.
for: This conjunction introduces an explanation of why Paul was not a burden to anyone in Corinth (11:9b).
the brothers: Here the word brothers refers to believers in Jesus. The word indicates a close relationship, because all believers become children of God. See how you translated this word in 1:1 or 9:5. Here the word probably refers only to men.
Macedonia: This name refers to a Roman province that today would include the northern part of the country of Greece and the land a bit farther north.
In some languages people are not familiar with this name. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain it here. For example:
the province of Macedonia (GW)
However, if you explained in 1:16a or 8:1b that the name Macedonia refers to a province, you may not want to explain again here.
supplied my needs: This phrase refers to the believers from Macedonia giving Paul enough money so he could buy the things he needed. The Greek verb implies fully supplying his needs. For example:
fully supplied my needs (NET)
gave me everything that I lacked
I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way,
I avoided being any trouble to you in any way,
In every way I prevented myself from being a difficulty to you,
and I will continue to do so.
and I will continue to do that.
and I will continue to prevent myself from being a difficulty to you.
I have refrained from being a burden: Paul used the word refrained to refer to preventing himself from being a burden. Either Paul worked to earn money or believers from Macedonia helped him. In either case, he was not a burden to the believers in Corinth. Other ways to translate this clause are:
I refrained…from burdening you (RSV)
I did not allow myself to depend on you (NCV)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ὑστερηθεὶς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παρών πρός ὑμᾶς καί ὑστερηθείς οὒ κατενάρκησα οὐθενός τό γάρ ὑστέρημα μού προσανεπλήρωσαν οἱ ἀδελφοί ἐλθόντες ἀπό Μακεδονίας καί ἐν παντί ἀβαρῆ ἐμαυτόν ὑμῖν ἐτήρησα καί τηρήσω)
Here Paul implies that he lacked or did not have enough of what he needed to live, including things like food and clothes. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make the idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [having lacked what is necessary for life] or [having lacked basic necessities]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
οὐ κατενάρκησα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παρών πρός ὑμᾶς καί ὑστερηθείς οὒ κατενάρκησα οὐθενός τό γάρ ὑστέρημα μού προσανεπλήρωσαν οἱ ἀδελφοί ἐλθόντες ἀπό Μακεδονίας καί ἐν παντί ἀβαρῆ ἐμαυτόν ὑμῖν ἐτήρησα καί τηρήσω)
Here Paul speaks of asking for money as if it were a heavy burden that he would have asked the Corinthians to carry for him. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable figure of speech or plain language. Alternate translation: [I did not trouble] or [I did not ask for money and so harass]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
οἱ ἀδελφοὶ
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παρών πρός ὑμᾶς καί ὑστερηθείς οὒ κατενάρκησα οὐθενός τό γάρ ὑστέρημα μού προσανεπλήρωσαν οἱ ἀδελφοί ἐλθόντες ἀπό Μακεδονίας καί ἐν παντί ἀβαρῆ ἐμαυτόν ὑμῖν ἐτήρησα καί τηρήσω)
Although the term brothers is masculine, Paul may not only be referring to men. It is possible that he is referring only to men, but he may also include women. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a phrase that makes this clear. Alternate translation: [the siblings] or [the brothers and sisters]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
οἱ ἀδελφοὶ
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παρών πρός ὑμᾶς καί ὑστερηθείς οὒ κατενάρκησα οὐθενός τό γάρ ὑστέρημα μού προσανεπλήρωσαν οἱ ἀδελφοί ἐλθόντες ἀπό Μακεδονίας καί ἐν παντί ἀβαρῆ ἐμαυτόν ὑμῖν ἐτήρησα καί τηρήσω)
Paul is using the term brothers to mean people who share the same faith. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [the believers]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἀβαρῆ ἐμαυτὸν ὑμῖν ἐτήρησα καὶ τηρήσω
unburdensome (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παρών πρός ὑμᾶς καί ὑστερηθείς οὒ κατενάρκησα οὐθενός τό γάρ ὑστέρημα μού προσανεπλήρωσαν οἱ ἀδελφοί ἐλθόντες ἀπό Μακεδονίας καί ἐν παντί ἀβαρῆ ἐμαυτόν ὑμῖν ἐτήρησα καί τηρήσω)
Here, just as at the beginning of the verse, the burden refers to asking for money. Express the idea as you did at the beginning of the verse. Alternate translation: [I did not and will continue not to trouble you] or [I did not and will continue not to ask for money and so harass you]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐτήρησα καὶ τηρήσω
˱I˲_kept (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί παρών πρός ὑμᾶς καί ὑστερηθείς οὒ κατενάρκησα οὐθενός τό γάρ ὑστέρημα μού προσανεπλήρωσαν οἱ ἀδελφοί ἐλθόντες ἀπό Μακεδονίας καί ἐν παντί ἀβαρῆ ἐμαυτόν ὑμῖν ἐτήρησα καί τηρήσω)
Here Paul is indicating that he was not a burden to them when he visited them in the past, and he promises that he will never be a burden to them in the future. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a form that expresses this idea clearly. Alternate translation: [I have kept and will always keep] or [in the past I kept and in the future will keep]
11:8-9 Paul had been accepting . . . contributions . . . from Macedonia—i.e., Philippi (Phil 4:15-19). Paul’s apparent inconsistency made the Corinthians suspicious of his motives or doubtful of his love toward them (2 Cor 11:11).
OET (OET-LV) and being_present with you_all and having_been_deficient, not I_burdened of_no_one, because/for the need of_me replenishing the brothers having_come from Makedonia, and in everything unburdensome myself to_you_all I_kept and I_will_be_keeping.
OET (OET-RV) and when I was with you and needed something, I wasn’t a burden to anyone, because the believers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. Thus I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will keep doing so.
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.