1 COR 2:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

UST I also lived according to this pattern when I was staying with you. I was sick, I was afraid, and I frequently shivered and shook.

AICNT And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,

OEB Indeed, when I came among you, I was weak, and full of fears, and in great anxiety.

WEBBE I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET And I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling.

LSV and I, in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, was with you;

FBV I came to you in weakness, fearful and trembling.

TCNT I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.

T4T Furthermore, when I was with you, I felt that I was not adequate to do what Christ wanted me to do. I was afraid that I would not be able to do it, and because of that I was trembling very much.

LEB And I came to you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling,

BBE And I was with you without strength, in fear and in doubt.

Moff It was in weakness and fear and with great trembling that I visited you;

Wymth And so far as I myself was concerned, I came to you in conscious feebleness and in fear and in deep anxiety.

ASV And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

DRA And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

YLT and I, in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, was with you;

Drby And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling;

RV And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

SLT And I, in weakness, and in fear, and in much tremor, was with you.

Wbstr And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

KJB-1769 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

KJB-1611 And I was with you in weakenesse, and in feare, and in much trembling.
(And I was with you in weakeness, and in fear, and in much trembling.)

Bshps And I was among you in weaknesse, and in feare, and in much tremblyng.
(And I was among you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.)

Gnva And I was among you in weakenesse, and in feare, and in much trembling.
(And I was among you in weakeness, and in fear, and in much trembling. )

Cvdl And I was amonge you in weaknes, and in feare, and in moch tremblinge:
(And I was among you in weaknes, and in fear, and in much trembling:)

TNT And I was amonge you in weaknes and in feare and in moche treblinge.
(And I was among you in weaknes and in fear and in much treblinge. )

Wycl And Y in sikenesse, and drede, and myche trembling, was among you;
(And I in sickness, and dread, and much trembling, was among you;)

Luth Und ich war bei euch mit Schwachheit und mit Furcht und mit großem Zittern.
(And I what/which at/in you with weakness and with fear(n) and with large Zittern.)

ClVg Et ego in infirmitate, et timore, et tremore multo fui apud vos:
(And I in/into/on weakness, and with_fear, and tremore much I_was at you(pl): )

UGNT κἀγὼ ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ, καὶ ἐν φόβῳ, καὶ ἐν τρόμῳ πολλῷ, ἐγενόμην πρὸς ὑμᾶς.
(kagō en astheneia, kai en fobōi, kai en tromōi pollōi, egenomaʸn pros humas.)

SBL-GNT κἀγὼ ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ καὶ ἐν φόβῳ καὶ ἐν τρόμῳ πολλῷ ἐγενόμην πρὸς ὑμᾶς,
(kagō en astheneia kai en fobōi kai en tromōi pollōi egenomaʸn pros humas,)

RP-GNT Καὶ ἐγὼ ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ καὶ ἐν φόβῳ καὶ ἐν τρόμῳ πολλῷ ἐγενόμην πρὸς ὑμᾶς.
(Kai egō en astheneia kai en fobōi kai en tromōi pollōi egenomaʸn pros humas.)

TC-GNT [fn]Καὶ ἐγὼ ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ καὶ ἐν φόβῳ καὶ ἐν τρόμῳ πολλῷ ἐγενόμην πρὸς ὑμᾶς.
(Kai egō en astheneia kai en fobōi kai en tromōi pollōi egenomaʸn pros humas. )

2:3 και εγω ¦ καγω CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:10–2:16: Believers should not divide up into competing factions. They should be united by true wisdom, the message of the cross.

In this section Paul wrote about a serious problem in the Corinthian church. The Corinthian believers were dividing up into competing groups. They were following whichever human leader they admired the most. Paul tried to solve this problem by reminding the Corinthians of the message of the cross. He wanted them to stop following human wisdom and to follow God’s wisdom.

Paragraph 2:1–5

In this paragraph Paul used himself as an example of someone who did not depend on false, human wisdom. When he preached to the Corinthians, he talked only about what the Lord Jesus Christ did to save them. He trusted in God’s power to enable them to believe. He did not try to persuade them with clever speech.

2:3

I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.

While I lived with you, I was weak and very afraid and trembling.
When I was/stayed there with you in Corinth, I felt weak. I was shaking/quiver with fear.

I came to you: As in 2:1a, the Greek text begins this sentence with a word meaning “And I (emphatic),” or “And I, for my part.” In 2:1 Paul was again talking about himself. He described the qualities he did not use as he spoke to the Corinthians. Now he began to describe how he did speak to them. There are two ways to interpret the phrase I came to you:

It refers to the time when he was with them in Corinth. For example:
I was with you… (RSV) (KJV, NASB, RSV, ESV, NET)
It refers to the time when Paul first arrived there in Corinth. For example:
I came to you… (NRSV) (BSB, CEV, NIV, NRSV, GW, NLT, NCV, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The context suggests that Paul was thinking of his entire stay with the Corinthians.

in weakness and fear, and with much trembling: Paul said that he experienced three things: weakness, fear, and much trembling. The English versions combine these words in different ways. Also, some versions translate all three words as nouns, and others translate one or more as a verb or an adjective. For example:

And I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling. (NET)

I was weak and fearful and trembling. (NCV)

I was weak and trembled all over with fear. (GNT)

I felt weak and so afraid that I was shaking.

Use the combination of grammatical forms that is natural in your language.

in weakness: Paul says that when he was in Corinth, he was there in weakness. There are two ways to interpret this phrase:

Paul was talking about feeling inadequate or not able to do his job of preaching well.
Paul was talking about being physically weak.

Both of these interpretations are possible. From Acts 18:9–11, we know that when Paul was in Corinth he was afraid that he could not do his job of preaching well enough. From 2 Corinthians, we also know that some people in Corinth thought that Paul was not a good speaker. They thought that he did not speak in a powerful way. (See for example 2 Corinthians 10:10.)

And from his letter to the Galatians, it appears that Paul did have some physical ailment. So it would be good to make your translation general so that it includes all different types of weakness.In 2:3 Paul wrote about the strong negative feelings he had when he first arrived in Corinth. Why did he feel that way? There may have been several reasons. The most important reason was that he greatly respected God’s message about Christ and knew that God wanted the Corinthians to believe that message. So since God sent him there to tell it, he had the big responsibility of telling it in such a way that God himself could cause them to believe it. Also he understood how much the Corinthians liked to hear clever ideas and talk. But that did not make them want to change their ways. And many of them did live in sinful ways. So he knew it would not be easy for anyone to tell God’s message there. Also Paul was concerned/worried about other things at the time. He was probably remembering how much he and his fellow workers had suffered in Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea, and how the people in Athens did not really respect his message. He may have felt alone in Corinth because he had sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to encourage the believers there and had left Silas behind in Berea for the same reason.

much trembling: The word trembling indicates that Paul felt afraid in some way. If a literal translation will not communicate this meaning, you may need to be more explicit. For example:

great trepidation (REB)

very nervous (GW)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

κἀγὼ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κἀγώ ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ καί ἐν φόβῳ καί ἐν τρόμῳ πολλῷ ἐγενόμην πρός ὑμᾶς)

Here, And I is the same word Paul used to introduce [2:1](../02/01.md). It again introduces how Paul himself fits into the pattern he introduced in the last chapter. Just as God chooses the weak and the foolish, Paul himself was weak and foolish. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind this connection with a word or phrase that introduces an example or a comparison. Alternate translation: [Just as I did not use superior words and wisdom, I myself]

κἀγὼ & ἐγενόμην πρὸς ὑμᾶς

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κἀγώ ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ καί ἐν φόβῳ καί ἐν τρόμῳ πολλῷ ἐγενόμην πρός ὑμᾶς)

Alternate translation: [And I remained with you]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ, καὶ ἐν φόβῳ, καὶ ἐν τρόμῳ πολλῷ,

in weakness in in (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κἀγώ ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ καί ἐν φόβῳ καί ἐν τρόμῳ πολλῷ ἐγενόμην πρός ὑμᾶς)

If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas behind weakness, fear, and trembling, you can express the ideas by using adjectives or verbs. Alternate translation: [as a weak, fearful, and frequently trembling person] or [while I ailed, feared, and often trembled]

Parallel 1 COR 2:3

Section 1:10–2:16: Believers should not divide up into competing factions. They should be united by true wisdom, the message of the cross.

Paragraph 2:1–5

2:3

Parallel 1 COR 2:3