2 COR 12:12 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 12:11–21: Proof that Paul was an apostle and his concern for the believers

In this section, the attitude of some believers in Corinth forced Paul to act foolishly and boast (12:11a). Paul knew he deserved praise from them and was better than the false teachers even though humanly speaking he deserved nothing (12:11b–d). Paul reminded the believers of all that he had done among them that proved he was an apostle (12:12). He asked them if they were angry at him with a rhetorical question and, using irony, told them that they should not be angry (12:13).

He told them that he would continue to avoid accepting their money for his support and explained why (12:14). He told them of his great love for them (12:15).

Using irony, Paul told them that he had not deceived them (12:16) and that his colleagues had not exploited them either (12:17–18). He explained that he had not been defending himself, but rather he was teaching them to be strong in their faith (12:19). He told them of some of his fears about them (12:20–21).

Other examples for this section heading are:

Paul’s Concern for the Corinthian Church (NRSV)

Paul loved the believers in Corinth

Paul reminded the believers in Corinth about his deeds and explained his worry for them

Paul defended his apostleship and spoke about his concern for the believers

12:12a–c

The true marks of an apostle—signs, wonders, and miracles—were performed among you with great perseverance: The list signs, wonders, and miracles appears at the end of the verse in the Greek. For example:

The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works. (NRSV)

In some languages it is more natural to have the list at the end of the sentence, rather than interrupting the sentence as the BSB does.

12:12a–b

The true marks of an apostle—signs, wonders, and miracles: There are several ways to interpret the connection of these two phrases. Two of the main ones are:

The signs, wonders, and miracles are examples of The true marks of an apostle. For example:
the things that prove I am an apostle—signs, wonders, and miracles (NCV) (BSB, NIV, GNT, NJB, NRSV, NABRE, NLT, GW, CEV, NCV)
The signs, wonders, and miracles are the means of making The true marks of an apostle evident. They are not The true marks of an apostle. For example:
The signs of an apostle were performed among you with great perseverance by signs and wonders and powerful deeds (NASB) (NASB, NET, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).Thrall (p. 837) says “he has produced the recognised signs of apostleship.” Bruce (p. 250) seems to equate “the signs of a true apostle” with “signs and wonders and mighty works.” Hodge (pp. 291–292) says the “signs, wonders, and mighty deeds…are different designations for the same thing” (referring to the “signs of an apostle”).

12:12a

The true marks of an apostle—

Truly/Indeed, the deeds that indicate someone is an apostle,
The characteristic acts of an apostle

12:12a begins with the Greek conjunction that probably means “indeed” here. It emphasizes that Paul did things that apostles do and the believers saw them. Some ways to translate this conjunction are:

Truly (KJV)

certainly (NLT)

Indeed (NET)

In some languages it is more natural to omit the conjunction.

The true marks of an apostle: This phrase refers to deeds that show a person is a true apostle of Jesus. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

The signs of a true apostle (RSV)

the things that prove I am an apostle (NCV)

The characteristic acts of an apostle

In some languages it is more natural to put the list “signs, wonders, and miracles” before the phrase true marks of an apostle. For example:

the signs, wonders, and miracles that mark an apostle’s life/ministry

the signs, wonders, and miracles which prove that I’m an apostle (GW)

12:12b

signs, wonders, and miracles—

for example, miraculous signs, marvels, and miracles,
are things such as deeds/miracles of showing that someone is an apostle, miracles of awe, and miracles of power.

signs, wonders, and miracles: This list includes examples of the things that mark an apostle. It is not a complete list, because Paul lists other examples in other verses. You may want to indicate in your translation that this list offers some (but not all) examples of the things that mark an apostle. For example:

such as signs, wonders, and miracles

for example, signs, wonders, and miracles

signs: The word signs refers to unusual events that people regard as having special meaning. A sign suggests or points to a meaning other than its own. Here the word probably refers to miracles that clearly indicated that Paul was an apostle of Jesus. Other ways to translate this word are:

miraculous signs

miracles of proof

wonders: This word refers to miracles that amaze people. Other ways to translate this word are:

marvels (NJB)

miracles of awe

awesome miracles

miracles: The Greek word that the BSB translates here as miracles is literally “powers.” A miracle is an action that requires great power to accomplish. When a human being does a miracle, he must use greater power than human beings normally have. Paul used God’s power to do miracles, and these miracles demonstrated that God was working through him. Other ways to translate this word are:

mighty works

amazing acts done with/by God’s power

wonderful actions that only God can empower

supernatural deeds

12:12c

were performed among you with great perseverance.

were done with patient endurance when I was with you^(plur).
God did those things among you through me as I was very patient with you.

were performed: The clause “things…were performed” is passive. Paul probably implied that God performed the signs, wonders, and miracles. He did them through Paul. But Paul may be humbly referring to himself by using the passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

God did through me

I did

among you: God (through Paul) did the signs, wonders, and miracles so that the believers in Corinth saw them. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

When I was with you (CEV)

You saw

perseverance: This word refers to continuing to follow God even though there are hardships or opposition. The attitude of patience is included in the meaning. Other ways to translate this word are:

patient endurance

patiently (NLT)

See how you translated this Greek word in 1:6 (where the BSB translates it as “patient endurance”) or 6:4 (where the BSB translates it as “endurance”).

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

μὲν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τά μέν σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου κατειργάσθη ἐν ὑμῖν ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομονῇ σημείοις τέ καί τέρασιν καί δυνάμεσιν)

Here, the word translated Indeed could: (1) connect this sentence to the previous claim that Paul is equal to the “super-apostles.” You could use a word or phrase that links two statements, or you could leave Indeed untranslated. Alternate translation: [In fact] (2) introduce the first part of a contrast. In this case, Paul does not directly state the second half of the contrast. He would be implying that they did not pay attention to these signs. Alternate translation: [Although you did not pay attention to them]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

τὰ & σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου

Here, Paul is using the possessive form to describe signs that prove that someone is an apostle. If this is not clear in your language, you could express the idea in another way. Alternate translation: [the signs that show that someone is an apostle] or [signs that go along with true apostles]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

τὰ & σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου κατειργάσθη

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who did the action, Paul could be implying that: (1) he performed the signs. Alternate translation: [I performed the signs of an apostle] (2) God performed the signs through him. Alternate translation: [God performed the signs of an apostle through me]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομονῇ

among in all endurance

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of endurance, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [consistently] or [without ceasing]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ὑπομονῇ— σημείοις τε, καὶ τέρασιν, καὶ δυνάμεσιν

endurance ˱in˲_signs (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τά μέν σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου κατειργάσθη ἐν ὑμῖν ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομονῇ σημείοις τέ καί τέρασιν καί δυνάμεσιν)

Here, the list, both signs and wonders and miracles, could be: (1) examples of what the signs of an apostle were. Alternate translation: [endurance, which included both signs and wonders and miracles] (2) the ways in which Paul demonstrated the signs of an apostle. Alternate translation: [endurance, shown through signs and wonders and miracles] or [endurance with both signs and wonders and miracles]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

σημείοις τε, καὶ τέρασιν, καὶ δυνάμεσιν

˱in˲_signs (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Τά μέν σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου κατειργάσθη ἐν ὑμῖν ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομονῇ σημείοις τέ καί τέρασιν καί δυνάμεσιν)

Here Paul uses three similar words to describe supernatural acts that God empowered Paul to do. The word signs emphasizes that these acts reveal something; the word wonders emphasizes that these acts are amazing or unusual; the word miracles emphasizes that these acts are powerful. Paul uses these three words to show that he performed various acts that showed that he was an apostle. If your language does not have different words that emphasize these three aspects of the supernatural acts, you could combine two or all three of these words into one word or phrase and emphasize the variety in another way. Alternate translation: [many and various miracles] or [both many signs and various miracles]

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 12:12

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 12:11–21: Proof that Paul was an apostle and his concern for the believers

12:12a–c

12:12a–b

12:12a

12:12b

12:12c

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

OET interlinear 2 COR 12:12

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 12:11–21: Proof that Paul was an apostle and his concern for the believers

12:12a–c

12:12a–b

12:12a

12:12b

12:12c

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

OET interlinear 2 COR 12:12