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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 4 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18
OET (OET-LV) But having the same spirit of_ the _faith, according_to the message having_been_written:
I_believed, therefore I_spoke, also we are_believing, therefore also we_are_speaking,
OET (OET-RV) We have the same spirit of faith as what’s written: ‘I believed, therefore I talked about it.’ We also believe so we also talk about it,
In this section, Paul continued to speak of the difficulties that he and the other evangelists encountered as they did the work of the new covenant. He referred to their bodies as jars of clay (4:7a), which are easily shattered. He said this to show that our human nature is weak and easily fails as we follow God. But Paul was also encouraged that God enabled him to do the work of the new covenant in spite of great difficulties (4:7b–9).
He wrote that he and the other evangelists experienced things similar to what Jesus experienced before he died, but those experiences showed to other people how Jesus lived (4:10–11). He wrote that the believers experienced the good effects of Jesus’ life (4:12). He supported his ministry of preaching with a quote from the Old Testament (4:13), and he explained the promise there (4:14). He wrote that their ministry benefited the believers in Corinth and others as well (4:15).
Lastly, Paul wrote how they continue in spite of the difficulties (4:16–18).
Other examples of headings for this section are:
Spiritual Treasure in Clay Jars (NCV)
Even though our bodies are weak, God gives us strength to tell the gospel
A glorious, powerful message taught by weak messengers
And in keeping with what is written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,”
¶ It is written in the Scripture, “I believed, so I spoke.”
¶ Someone wrote in God’s holy book, “I spoke because I believed.”
And in keeping with what is written: This clause refers to the Old Testament. For example:
The scripture says (GNT)
This clause is passive. It implies the writer of that verse writing it. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
Someone wrote in God’s holy book
I believed, therefore I have spoken: Paul quoted Psalm 116:10, where the writer also faced anguish and death. He spoke because he believed in God and trusted him. For example:
I spoke because I believed (GNT)
If you footnote the location of quotes from the Old Testament, you may want to do so here.
believed: This word refers to a strong and sincere way of thinking about something or someone. Believing in God refers to:
accepting His message as true,
acting on the basis of His message,
being confident in His message, and
trusting in Him.
Your language may have a noun, verb, phrase, or idiom with that meaning.
The past tense of believed goes with the past tense of have spoken. It does not imply that the writer of this psalm no longer believed at the time he wrote this. Your translation should not imply that the writer no longer believed at the time of writing.
we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak,
We(excl) also believe and therefore speak with that same spirit of believing,
In the same way, we also believe and therefore speak,
the same spirit of faith: Here the word spirit refers to an attitude. Paul had the same attitude of faith as the person who wrote the quote from the Old Testament. For example:
same kind of faith (NLT)
faith: This word refers to strongly and sincerely believing in something or someone. This noun has the same meaning as the verb “believed” (4:13a). In some languages it is more natural to use a verb here. For example:
believing
also believe and therefore speak: The verbs believe and speak are present tense. This may indicate that Paul and the others continued to believe and tell the gospel message at the time he wrote this letter.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases
δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔχοντες Δέ τό αὐτό πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως κατά τό γεγραμμένον Ἐπίστευσα διό ἐλάλησα καί ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν διό καί λαλοῦμεν)
Here, the word But could introduce: (1) a development or new idea. Alternate translation: [Further,] (2) a contrast with the “death” that works in them. Alternate translation: [On the other hand,]
Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
ἔχοντες
having
Here, the word having introduces a reason or cause for why we also believe and speak. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this relationship more explicit. Alternate translation: [because we have]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔχοντες Δέ τό αὐτό πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως κατά τό γεγραμμένον Ἐπίστευσα διό ἐλάλησα καί ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν διό καί λαλοῦμεν)
Here Paul uses the possessive to refer to a spirit that could: (1) be characterized by faith. Alternate translation: [the same believing spirit] (2) give or cause faith. Alternate translation: [the same spirit that gives faith]
τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔχοντες Δέ τό αὐτό πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως κατά τό γεγραμμένον Ἐπίστευσα διό ἐλάλησα καί ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν διό καί λαλοῦμεν)
Here, the word spirit could refer to: (1) a human spirit or attitude, which is characterized by faith. Alternate translation: [the same attitude] (2) the Holy Spirit, who gives faith. Alternate translation: [the same Holy Spirit]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔχοντες Δέ τό αὐτό πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως κατά τό γεγραμμένον Ἐπίστευσα διό ἐλάλησα καί ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν διό καί λαλοῦμεν)
Here, the word same could indicate that: (1) this is the same spirit that the person who wrote the quotation had. Alternate translation: [the same spirit of the faith that the psalmist had,] (2) this is the same spirit that the Corinthians also have. Alternate translation: [the same spirit of the faith that you have,]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
τῆς πίστεως
¬the ˱of˲_faith
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of faith, you could express the idea by using a verb such as “believe” or “trust.” Alternate translation: [that believes]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
τὸ γεγραμμένον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔχοντες Δέ τό αὐτό πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως κατά τό γεγραμμένον Ἐπίστευσα διό ἐλάλησα καί ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν διό καί λαλοῦμεν)
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you must state who does the action, you could express it so that the scripture or scripture author writes or speaks the words. Alternate translation: [what the psalmist wrote] or [to what the psalm says]
Note 7 topic: writing-quotations
κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἔχοντες Δέ τό αὐτό πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως κατά τό γεγραμμένον Ἐπίστευσα διό ἐλάλησα καί ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν διό καί λαλοῦμεν)
In Paul’s culture, according to what has been written was a normal way to introduce a quotation from an important text, in this case, the Old Testament book titled “Psalms” (See: [Psalm 116:10](../psa/116/10.md)). If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable phrase that indicates that Paul is quoting from Psalms. Alternate translation: [as it can be read in the Old Testament,] or [as it says in the book of Psalms,]
OET (OET-LV) But having the same spirit of_ the _faith, according_to the message having_been_written:
I_believed, therefore I_spoke, also we are_believing, therefore also we_are_speaking,
OET (OET-RV) We have the same spirit of faith as what’s written: ‘I believed, therefore I talked about it.’ We also believe so we also talk about it,
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.