Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? New Living Translation Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! English Standard Version Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? Berean Standard Bible Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? Berean Literal Bible Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or like some, do we need commendatory letters to you or from you? King James Bible Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? New King James Version Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? New American Standard Bible Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? NASB 1995 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? NASB 1977 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? Legacy Standard Bible Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? Amplified Bible Are we starting to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some [false teachers], letters of recommendation to you or from you? [No!] Christian Standard Bible Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? Holman Christian Standard Bible Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? American Standard Version Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you? Contemporary English Version Are we once again bragging about ourselves? Do we need letters to you or from you to tell others about us? Some people do need letters telling about them. English Revised Version Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you? GOD'S WORD® Translation Do we have to show you our qualifications again? Do we, like some people, need letters that recommend us to you or letters from you that recommend us to others? Good News Translation Does this sound as if we were again boasting about ourselves? Could it be that, like some other people, we need letters of recommendation to you or from you? International Standard Version Are we beginning to recommend ourselves again? Unlike some people, we do not need letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? Majority Standard Bible Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? NET Bible Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? We don't need letters of recommendation to you or from you as some other people do, do we? New Heart English Bible Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? We do not need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you, do we? Webster's Bible Translation Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you. Weymouth New Testament Do you say that this is self-recommendation once more? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? World English Bible Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you? Literal Translations Literal Standard VersionDo we begin again to recommend ourselves, except we need, as some, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? Berean Literal Bible Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or like some, do we need commendatory letters to you or from you? Young's Literal Translation Do we begin again to recommend ourselves, except we need, as some, letters of recommendation unto you, or from you? Smith's Literal Translation Begin we again to recommend ourselves or need we not, as some; recommendatory epistles to you, or recommendatory from you? Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleDo we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need (as some do) epistles of commendation to you, or from you? Catholic Public Domain Version Must we begin again to commend ourselves? Or are we in need (as some are) of epistles of commendation for you, or from you? New American Bible Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? New Revised Standard Version Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleDO we begin again to commend our selves? Or do we need, as some other people, epistles of commendation concerning us written to you, or that you should write commending us? Aramaic Bible in Plain English Do we introduce ourselves again from the beginning to show you what we are, or do we need, as others, letters of commandments to be written to you about us, or for you to write to give decrees concerning us? NT Translations Anderson New TestamentDo we begin again to commend ourselves? or do we need, as some do, letters of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? Godbey New Testament Do we again begin to commend ourselves? or whether have we need of commendatory letters to you or from you, as some do? Haweis New Testament DO we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some, commendatory letters to you, or commendatory letters from you? Mace New Testament Do I begin again to commend my self? or need I, as some others, commendatory letters to you, or from you? Weymouth New Testament Do you say that this is self-recommendation once more? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? Worrell New Testament Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or need we, as do some, commendatory letters to you, or from you? Worsley New Testament Do we begin again to recommend ourselves? or do we need, as some do, recommendatory epistles to you, or letters of recommendation from you? Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context Ministers of a New Covenant1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone.… Cross References Acts 18:27 When Apollos resolved to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 1 Corinthians 9:2 Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:12 We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart. 2 Corinthians 10:12-18 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show their ignorance. / We, however, will not boast beyond our limits, but only within the field of influence that God has assigned to us—a field that reaches even to you. / We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we had not come to you. Indeed, we were the first to reach you with the gospel of Christ. ... 2 Corinthians 12:11 I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. In fact, you should have commended me, since I am in no way inferior to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. Galatians 1:1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead— Galatians 6:11 See what large letters I am using to write to you with my own hand! Philippians 3:3-4 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— / though I myself could have such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: Colossians 4:10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you greetings, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas. You have already received instructions about him: If he comes to you, welcome him. 1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. 1 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, Hebrews 1:1 On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets. Exodus 34:29-35 And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD. / Aaron and all the Israelites looked at Moses, and behold, his face was radiant. And they were afraid to approach him. / But Moses called out to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. ... Numbers 12:6-8 He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream. / But this is not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. / I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?” Deuteronomy 34:10-12 Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face— / no prophet who did all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent Moses to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his officials and all his land, / and no prophet who performed all the mighty acts of power and awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. Treasury of Scripture Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, letters of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? begin. 2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. 2 Corinthians 10:8,12 For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: … epistles. Acts 18:27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: 1 Corinthians 16:3 And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. Jump to Previous Approval Attempting Begin Beginning Commend Epistles Except Letters Need Once Others Ourselves Recommendation Right Seem tionJump to Next Approval Attempting Begin Beginning Commend Epistles Except Letters Need Once Others Ourselves Recommendation Right Seem tion2 Corinthians 3 1. Lest their false teachers should charge him with vain glory, 2. he shows the faith of the Corinthians to be a sufficient commendation of his ministry. 6. Whereupon entering a comparison between the ministers of the law and of the gospel, 12. he proves that his ministry is so far the more excellent, 17. as the gospel of life and liberty is more glorious than the law of condemnation. Are we beginning The phrase "Are we beginning" suggests a rhetorical question posed by Paul, indicating a reflection on his actions and intentions. The Greek word used here, "archomai," implies a commencement or initiation. Paul is addressing the potential perception that he is starting to boast or self-promote. Historically, this reflects the cultural context of Corinth, where public speakers often sought to establish their credibility through self-promotion or external validation. to commend ourselves again? Or do we need like some people letters of recommendation to you or from you? (1) Do we begin again to commend ourselves?--The MSS. present various readings: "Do we begin again to commend ourselves [Nay, not so], unless we desire [which we do not] letters of commendation;" but the Received text is sufficiently supported, and gives a clearer and simpler meaning. Here, again, we have to read between the lines. Titus has told St. Paul what has been said of him at Corinth. Referring, probably, to what he had said in his First Epistle as to the "wisdom" which he preached (1Corinthians 2:6), his having "laid the foundation" (1Corinthians 3:10), his dwelling on his sufferings (1Corinthians 4:11), his preaching without payment (1Corinthians 9:15) as a thing he gloried in, they had sneered at him as always "commending himself." They had added that it was no wonder that he did so when he had no authoritative letters of commendation from other churches, such as were brought by other teachers. As soon as the words "We are not as the many" had passed his lips, the thought occurs that the same will be said again. He hears it said, as it were, and makes his answer. Need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you?--We are left to conjecture who are thus referred to. Possibly some of the Apollos party had contrasted the letters which he had brought from Ephesus (Acts 18:27) with St. Paul's want of them. Possibly the Judaising teachers who meet us in 2Corinthians 11:13 had come with credentials of this nature from the Church of Jerusalem. The indignant tone in which St. Paul speaks indicates the latter view as the more probable. The "letters of commendation" deserve notice as an important element in the organisation of the early Church. A Christian travelling with such a letter from any Church was certain to find a welcome in any other. They guaranteed at once his soundness in the faith and his personal character, and served to give a reality to the belief in the "communion" of saints, as the necessary sequel to the recognition of a Catholic or universal Church. It is significant of the part they had played in the social victory of the Christian Church that Julian tried to introduce them into the decaying system which he sought to galvanise into an imitative life (Sozomen. Hist. v. 16). . . . Verses 1-11. - St. Paul's ministry is his sufficient letter of commendation. Verse 1. - Do we begin again to commend ourselves? The last verse of the last chapter might be seized upon by St. Paul's opponents to renew their charge - that he was always praising himself. He anticipates the malignant and meaning smiles with which they would hear such words. The word "again" implies that this charge had already been brought against him, perhaps in consequence of such passages as 1 Corinthians 2:16; 1 Corinthians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 4:11-14; 1 Corinthians 9:15-23; 1 Corinthians 14:18, etc. Such passages might be called self-laudatory and egotistical, were it not that (as St. Paul here explains) they arose only from a sense of the grandeur of his office, of which he was the almost involuntary agent, used by God as it seemed best to him. Hence he says later on (2 Corinthians 7:18) that self-praise is no commendation, and that the true test of a man is God's commendation. The verb "I commend," technically used in the same sense as our "commendatory letters," occurs also in Romans 16:1. Or need we, etc.? The reading, η} μὴ, thus translated, is better supported than εἰ μὴ, unless, which would have a somewhat ironical force. The μὴ in the reading η} μὴ implies, "Can you possibly think that we need," etc.? Generally, when a stranger came to some Church to which he was not personally known, he carried with him some credentials in the form of letters from accredited authorities. St. Paul treats it as absurd to suppose that he or Timothy should need such letters, either from the Corinthians or to them. As some. He will not name them, but he refers to the Judaists, who vaunted of their credentials in order to disparage St. Paul, who was too great to need and too independent to use them. We can hardly, perhaps, realize the depth and bitterness of antagonism concealed under that word "some" in 1 Corinthians 4:18 Galatians 1:7; Galatians 2:12. It is not meant that there was anything discreditable in using such letters (for Apollos had used them, Acts 18:27), but the disgraceful thing was that St. Paul should be disparaged for not bringing them. Epistles of commendation. The phrase, ἐπιστολαὶ συστατικαί ( "introductory letters" - was familiar in later Greek. In days when there were few public hostels, and when it was both a duty and a necessity for small and persecuted communities like those of the Jews and Christians to practise hospitality (Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2. etc.), it was customary both for synagogues and Churches to provide their friends and emissaries with authentic testimonials. Otherwise they might have been deceived by wandering impostors, as, in fact, the Christians were deceived by the vagabond quack Peregrinus. We can easily see how the custom of using such letters might be abused by idle, restless, and intriguing persons, who have never found it very difficult to procure them. We find traces of their honest use by Phoebe, by Silas and Jude, by Apollos, by Mark, and by Zenas, in Romans 16:1; Acts 18:27; Acts 15:25; Colossians 4:10; Titus 3:13; and of their unfair use by certain Judaists, in Galatians 1:7 and Galatians 2:12. Nothing can more forcibly illustrate the necessity for St. Paul's protest against the idle vaunt of possessing such letters, than the fact that, more than a century afterwards, we find malignant innuendoes aimed at St. Paul in the pseudo-Clementines, under the name of" the enemy" and "Simon Magus" and "a deceiver." He is there spoken of as using letters from the high priest (which, indeed, St. Paul had done as Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9:1, 2); and the Churches are warned never to receive any one who cannot bring credentials from James; so deep-rooted among the Judaists was the antagonism to the independent apostolate and daring originality of the apostle of the Gentiles! Dr. Plumptre quotes Sozomen ('H.E.', 5:16) for the curious fact that the Emperor Julian tried to introduce the system of "commendatory letters" into his revived paganism. Or letters of commendation from you. The substitution of "letters" for "epistles" is an instance of the almost childish fondness for unnecessary synonyms, which is one of the defects of the Authorized Version. The true reading probably is "to you or from you" (א, A, B, C). The word "commendatory" (sustatikon) is omitted in A, B, C. Or from you. It was worse than absurd to suppose that St. Paul should need those literae formatae to a Church of which he was the thunder; and nothing but the boundless "inflation" which characterized the Corinthians could have led them to imagine that he needed letters from them to other Churches, as though, forsooth, they were the primary Church or the only church (1 Corinthians 14:36).Parallel Commentaries ... Greek Are we beginningἈρχόμεθα (Archometha) Verb - Present Indicative Middle - 1st Person Plural Strong's 756: To begin. Middle voice of archo; to commence. to commend συνιστάνειν (synistanein) Verb - Present Infinitive Active Strong's 4921: To place together, commend, prove, exhibit; instrans: I stand with; To be composed of, cohere. ourselves ἑαυτοὺς (heautous) Reflexive Pronoun - Accusative Masculine 3rd Person Plural Strong's 1438: Himself, herself, itself. again? πάλιν (palin) Adverb Strong's 3825: Probably from the same as pale; anew, i.e. back, once more, or furthermore or on the other hand. Or ἢ (ē) Conjunction Strong's 2228: Or, than. A primary particle of distinction between two connected terms; disjunctive, or; comparative, than. do we need, χρῄζομεν (chrēzomen) Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural Strong's 5535: To need, have need of, want, desire. From chreia; to make necessity, i.e. Be in want of. like ὥς (hōs) Adverb Strong's 5613: Probably adverb of comparative from hos; which how, i.e. In that manner. some [people], τινες (tines) Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 5100: Any one, some one, a certain one or thing. An enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object. letters ἐπιστολῶν (epistolōn) Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural Strong's 1992: A letter, dispatch, epistle, message. From epistello; a written message. of recommendation συστατικῶν (systatikōn) Adjective - Genitive Feminine Plural Strong's 4956: Commendatory, introductory. From a derivative of sunistao; introductory, i.e. Recommendatory. to πρὸς (pros) Preposition Strong's 4314: To, towards, with. A strengthened form of pro; a preposition of direction; forward to, i.e. Toward. you ὑμᾶς (hymas) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou. or ἢ (ē) Conjunction Strong's 2228: Or, than. A primary particle of distinction between two connected terms; disjunctive, or; comparative, than. from ἐξ (ex) Preposition Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out. you? ὑμῶν (hymōn) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou. Links 2 Corinthians 3:1 NIV2 Corinthians 3:1 NLT 2 Corinthians 3:1 ESV 2 Corinthians 3:1 NASB 2 Corinthians 3:1 KJV 2 Corinthians 3:1 BibleApps.com 2 Corinthians 3:1 Biblia Paralela 2 Corinthians 3:1 Chinese Bible 2 Corinthians 3:1 French Bible 2 Corinthians 3:1 Catholic Bible NT Letters: 2 Corinthians 3:1 Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? (2 Cor. 2C iiC 2Cor ii cor iicor) |
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