2 COR 12:1 Parallel Verse View

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

12:1 See http://bibledifferences.net/2019/04/24/156-boast.

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, red:negative.
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).

ULT It is necessary to boast. It is not profitable, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

UST I need to say great things about myself. So, although it is not helpful, I am moving on to speak about how the Lord Jesus specially shows things to specific people.

BSB I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain, I will go on to visions and revelations from [the] Lord.

MSB Surely it is not beneficial for me to boast, yet[fn] I will go on to visions and revelations from [the] Lord.

12:1 CT I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to gain,

BLB It behooves me to boast; it is not profitable indeed, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

AICNT {Boasting is necessary, though not beneficial};[fn] , but I will proceed to visions and revelations of the Lord.

12:1, Boasting is necessary, though not beneficial: Later manuscripts read “Indeed, boasting does not benefit me.” BYZ TR

OEB I must boast! It is unprofitable; but I will pass to visions and revelations given by the Lord.

WEBBE It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast, but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET It is necessary to go on boasting. Though it is not profitable, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

LSV To boast, really, is not profitable for me, for I will come to visions and revelations of the LORD.

FBV I suppose I have to boast, even though it doesn't really help. Let me go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

TCNT [fn]Surely [fn]it is not beneficial for me to boast, yet I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

12:1 Surely ¦ Although it is necessary CT

12:1 it is not beneficial for me to boast 95.4% ¦ to boast, it is not beneficial CT 2.3%

T4T It seems that I must go on boasting about myself. Although I do not think that my telling you about this will help you to accept me as Christ’s representative to you, I will say this anyway. I will tell you about visions that the Lord gave a certain man and about things that he supernaturally revealed to that man. I will tell you this because some of the people among you boast that it was in visions that they received the things that they teach.

LEB It is necessary to boast; it is not profitable, but I will proceed to visions and revelations of the Lord.

BBE As it is necessary for me to take glory to myself, though it is not a good thing, I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

Moff There is nothing to be gained by this sort of thing, but as I am obliged to boast, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

Wymth I am compelled to boast. It is not a profitable employment, but I will proceed to visions and revelations granted me by the Lord.

ASV I must needs glory, though it is not expedient; but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

DRA If I must glory (it is not expedient indeed), but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

YLT To boast, really, is not profitable for me, for I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

Drby Well, it is not of profit to me to boast, for I will come to visions and revelations of [the] Lord.

RV I must needs glory, though it is not expedient; but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

SLT Indeed it is not profitable to me to boast. For I will come to visions and Revelation of the Lord.

Wbstr It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

KJB-1769 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

KJB-1611 ¶ It is not expedient for me, doubtlesse, to glory, I wil come to visions and reuelations of the Lord.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps It is not expedient doubtles, for me to glorie, I wyl come to visions & reuelations of the Lorde.
(It is not expedient doubtles, for me to glory, I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.)

Gnva It is not expedient for me no doubt to reioyce: for I will come to visions and reuelations of the Lord.
(It is not expedient for me no doubt to rejoice: for I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. )

Cvdl It profiteth me nothinge (no doute) to boaste. Neuertheles I wil come to ye visions and reuelacions off the LORDE.
(It profiteth/profits me nothing (no doubt) to boaste. Nevertheless I will come to ye/you_all visions and revelations off the LORD.)

TNT It is not expediet for me (no dout to reioyce. Neverthelesse I will come to visions and revelacions of the lorde.
(It is not expediet for me (no dout to rejoice. Nevertheless I will come to visions and revelacions of the lorde. )

Wycl If it bihoueth to haue glorie, it spedith not; but Y schal come to the visiouns and to the reuelaciouns of the Lord.
(If it behoves to have glory, it spedith not; but I shall come to the visions and to the revelations of the Lord.)

Luth Es ist mir ja das Rühmen nichts nütze; doch will ich kommen auf die Gesichte und Offenbarungen des HErr’s.
(It is to_me ya the Rühmen nothing beneficial; though/but will I coming on/in/to the visions/faces and revelationen the LORD’s.)

ClVg Si gloriari oportet (non expedit quidem), veniam autem ad visiones et revelationes Domini.
(When/But_if to_boast it_is_necessary (non it's_convenient indeed), I_will_come however to visions and revelationes Master. )

UGNT καυχᾶσθαι δεῖ, οὐ συμφέρον μέν; ἐλεύσομαι δὲ εἰς ὀπτασίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεις Κυρίου.
(kauⱪasthai dei, ou sumferon men; eleusomai de eis optasias kai apokalupseis Kuriou.)

SBL-GNT Καυχᾶσθαι ⸀δεῖ· οὐ ⸂συμφέρον μέν⸃, ἐλεύσομαι ⸀δὲ εἰς ὀπτασίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεις κυρίου.
(Kauⱪasthai ⸀dei; ou ⸂sumferon men⸃, eleusomai ⸀de eis optasias kai apokalupseis kuriou.)

RP-GNT Καυχᾶσθαι δὴ οὐ συμφέρει μοι· ἐλεύσομαι γὰρ εἰς ὀπτασίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεις κυρίου.
(Kauⱪasthai daʸ ou sumferei moi; eleusomai gar eis optasias kai apokalupseis kuriou.)

TC-GNT Καυχᾶσθαι [fn]δὴ οὐ [fn]συμφέρει μοι· ἐλεύσομαι [fn]γὰρ εἰς ὀπτασίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεις Κυρίου.
(Kauⱪasthai daʸ ou sumferei moi; eleusomai gar eis optasias kai apokalupseis Kuriou. )

12:1 δη ¦ δει CT

12:1 συμφερει μοι 95.4% ¦ συμφερον μεν CT 2.3%

12:1 γαρ ¦ δε CT

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

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 12:1–10: Paul’s vision and God’s promise to him

In this section, Paul continued boasting, but now about a vision he received (12:1). He spoke of a man who had seen into heaven through a vision (12:2). He indicated in 12:7 that he was the man who had seen the vision. But he spoke of another man to avoid sounding as if he was boasting. He did not want people to stop honoring him because he had seen that vision. He was not sure whether his body had been taken to heaven or whether it was only a vision (12:3). In the vision he saw amazing things (12:4). He told the Corinthians that regarding himself, he would only boast of his weaknesses (12:5). He explained why he normally avoided speaking of that vision (12:6).

Paul told of a physical ailment and why he had it (12:7). He told them that he had prayed that God would heal it (12:8). But God had said that he would not heal it. He promised that his grace would be enough to help Paul in all that he did (12:9a). God said that having that physical ailment would help show that God’s power was working though Paul (12:9b). So Paul was glad to boast in this weakness (12:9c), because when he was weak, then God’s power was strong (12:9d). He explained why he was happy when trouble occurred (12:10).

Other examples for this section heading are:

Paul’s Vision and His Thorn (NIV)

Paul discovered that God’s grace was sufficient when he was weak

God’s grace and power shown through human weakness

12:1a

I must go on boasting.

¶ It is necessary for me to boast now.
¶ I am boasting because I have to. (NJB)
¶ These false teachers are bragging, so I must continue bragging.

I must go on boasting: The Greek words are literally “It is necessary to boast” (as in the NRSV). Since the false teachers were boasting and at least some believers believed them, Paul felt that he must boast too. Other ways to translate this Greek phrase are:

Boasting is necessary (NASB)

I am boasting because I have to (NJB)

Paul was not saying that believers are to boast at all times. He was boasting because of the situation in Corinth. You may want to indicate that this was the proper time for him to boast. For example:

Boasting is necessary today

I am boasting now because I have to

For your sake I need to continue boasting

12:1b

Although there is nothing to gain,

Though this boasting has no usefulness,
Even though such boasting does not help you at all,
This type of bragging does not usually help, but

Although there is nothing to gain: There are two ways to interpret what 12:1b connects to:

It connects most closely to 12:1c. For example:
Not that it does any good, but… (NJB) (BSB, RSV, NIV, NJB, CEV, NET, NCV, ESV)
It connects most closely to 12:1a. For example:
I have to boast, even though it doesn’t do any good. (GNT) (GNT, NASB, NLT, GW, REB, KJV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).Thrall (p. 772) translates the Greek text as “It is not expedient, but….” Harris (p. 828) translates it as “Although boasting is not beneficial, I will….” Martin (p. 388) translates it as “Though it is of no advantage, I will….”

there is nothing to gain: This clause indicates that Paul’s boasting does not benefit the believers. After hearing the boasts, they may think more highly of Paul, but such boasting does not help them in their faith in Jesus. Other ways to translate this are:

Not that it does any good (NJB)

Though this boasting has no usefulness

Even though this boasting is unhelpful

Though this is not to anyone’s personal advantage

12:1c

I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

I will begin telling about visions and revelations from the Lord.
I will now tell you about the times that the Lord Jesus showed visions and revealed secret things.

I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord: The phrase I will go on refers to Paul beginning to talk about something other than what he had been talking about before. He had been talking about experiences that showed his weakness. Now he would talk about a different kind of experience. Other ways to translate this are:

But I will now talk about visions and revelations given by the Lord

but I will move on to visions and revelations from the Lord (NJB)

In 12:2a Paul spoke of the visions and revelations that he had seen as if another man had seen them. So you should not indicate here that the visions and revelations were to Paul. Translate only that he began to speak of them here.

visions: Here the word visions refers to seeing things in a supernatural way. It is like a dream, but the person is usually awake. It is something or someone that people usually cannot see, but God helps them to see it. People, by their own power, cannot see into heaven, but God enabled Paul to see into heaven (12:2). Such visions show a person something that is important for him to know.

revelations: This word means “something unknown that someone shows/reveals.” It can be seen, heard, or revealed in some other way. Here it refers to God revealing something to Paul. Other ways to translate this word are:

things revealed

other things that the Lord has shown (CEV)

tell the hidden things

reveal secret knowledge

the Lord: The word Lord probably refers to Jesus here. In some languages it is more natural to include the name “Jesus” here. For example:

the Lord Jesus

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure

καυχᾶσθαι & οὐ συμφέρον μέν & δὲ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καυχᾶσθαι δεῖ οὒ συμφέρον μέν ἐλεύσομαι δέ εἰς ὀπτασίας καί ἀποκαλύψεις Κυρίου)

Here, the phrase not profitable could go with: (1) I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. Alternate translation: [to boast: even though it is not profitable,] (2) It is necessary to boast. Alternate translation: [to boast, though it is not profitable. But]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἐλεύσομαι & εἰς

˱I˲_˓will_be˒_coming & to

Here Paul speaks of moving on to a new topic as if he were physically moving to a new location. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable figure of speech or plain language. Alternate translation: [I will now speak about]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

ὀπτασίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεις

visions (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καυχᾶσθαι δεῖ οὒ συμφέρον μέν ἐλεύσομαι δέ εἰς ὀπτασίας καί ἀποκαλύψεις Κυρίου)

The terms visions and revelations mean similar things. It is possible that visions refers to experiences in which someone sees amazing things, while revelations refers to experiences in which someone learns amazing things in general. Paul uses both words to refer in general to all these kinds of experiences. If it would be clearer for your readers, you could express Paul’s general focus with a single phrase. Alternate translation: [revelations] or [various visions]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

ὀπτασίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεις Κυρίου

visions (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καυχᾶσθαι δεῖ οὒ συμφέρον μέν ἐλεύσομαι δέ εἰς ὀπτασίας καί ἀποκαλύψεις Κυρίου)

Here, Paul is using the possessive form to describe visions and revelations that could: (1) come from the Lord. Alternate translation: [visions and revelations from the Lord] (2) be about the Lord. Alternate translation: [visions and revelations about the Lord]

Parallel 2 COR 12:1

Section 12:1–10: Paul’s vision and God’s promise to him

12:1a

12:1b

12:1c

Parallel 2 COR 12:1