2 Corinthians 12

^a The phrase “in fact” is added for rhetorical effect, to emphasize the connection with 2 Corinthians 11:30, where it says, “If it’s necessary to brag…” but it is not literally in the Greek text.

^b The grammar provides no clues as to whether the “visions and revelations of Christ” are the visions and revelations that come from Christ or visions and revelations about Christ, Christ is their source or their content. The context also does not provide any definitive clues, and both interpretations would seem to make sense here.

^c Traditionally, ‘Lord.’ The Greek word kurios, when applied to Jesus, can be translated in several ways, including ‘sir,’ ‘master,’ or ‘sovereign.’ Rendering it as “Lord” reflects the feudal, patriarchal, and imperial assumptions embedded in early English translations, which often reinforced hierarchical power structures. In both Greco-Roman and American history, kurios and “lord” were titles used for slaveowners. As Rev. Dr. Wilda C. Gafney notes, “Lord is a slavery word,” and when used without theological and historical framing, it risks reinscribing the very systems of domination that Jesus came to upend (A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year A, Introduction). In the Roman imperial context, kurios was also a title for Caesar—as was soter (‘savior’ or ‘liberator’). The New Testament’s application of kurios to Jesus is thus not only theological but also politically subversive. The Christ of the Christian scriptures is not an overlord but a radically different kind of sovereign—one who liberates through justice, solidarity, and self-giving love. Rendering kurios as “Liberating Sovereign” preserves the subversive edge of the title while resisting the hierarchical and enslaver connotations embedded in the English word “Lord.”

^d Referring to “visions and revelations”

^e Traditionally, ‘Paradise’ which is just transferring the letters of the Greek word paradeisos into English. In Greek, paradeisos referred to an enclosed garden, grove, or royal park, a loanword originally derived from Old Persian pairidaeza, meaning “walled enclosure.” The word paradeisos is the word the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible used for Eden. In Second Temple literature and early church writings, paradeisos could signify either Eden restored or a part of the place of the dead awaiting the just, distinct from the concepts of Heaven and Hell, which developed later.

^f The Greek phrase here means “things it isn’t appropriate for a person to speak.” The verb exesti (rendered here as “it is appropriate”) typically refers to what is fitting, lawful, or permissible. This suggests not that the utterances were impossible to express, but that they were not meant to be spoken—perhaps because of their sacredness, personal nature, or the limits of human vocation. This kind of restraint echoes themes in Jewish apocalyptic literature (e.g., 1 Enoch 14; 4 Ezra 12), where some revelations are given not to be shared, but to humble, transform, or prepare the one who receives them.

^g Traditionally, ‘foolish’

^h Or ‘splinter’ or ‘wooden stake’

ⁱ The word satanas was not a name. It meant ‘adversary’ in the sense of prosecutor or opponent. It carries the meaning of someone who is against another, trying to sabotage their efforts and their wellbeing, and against someone as a plaintiff in court. It is an enemy, but also someone accusing another of wrongdoing, whether truly or falsely. It’s not just about pointing out something bad, but actively moving to cause adversity for someone else. The concept of Ha Shatan in the Hebrew Bible was not the evil archnemesis of God that Christian teaching has turned it into. It was described as a member of the council of spiritual beings whose role was to test people to see how genuine they were. The clearest example of this is in the book of Job.

^j “The One Who Is” is used to translate the Greek kurios (traditionally, “Lord”) when it refers to God, especially in Hebrew Bible quotations. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), kurios regularly replaces the Divine Name (YHWH), following an earlier Jewish oral tradition in which readers would say Adonai (“my Lord”) aloud wherever the written text read YHWH. The Jewish community attempted to honor the command “You will not take my name in vain” by not speaking it aloud at all. The practice of saying Adonai preserved reverence for the sacred Name while making the text speakable in public worship. Translating kurios as “The One Who Is” recovers the theological resonance of YHWH, which is linguistically connected to the Hebrew root haya (“to be”). In Exodus 3:14, God self-identifies as Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (“I will be who I will be” or “I am who I am”), using the first-person imperfect form ehyeh. The third-person equivalents—yihyeh (“he is” or “he will be” [in an ongoing way]), haya (“he was” [or time-limited, completed way]), and the rare participle howeh (“being” or “the one who is”)—suggest that YHWH blends all three in a fusion of past, present, and future being as well as presence both in particular moments and as an ongoing reality. Early Jewish and Christian interpreters, including in Revelation 1:8 and 4:8, echoed this understanding in phrases like “the one who was, and is, and is to come.” Rendering kurios as “The One Who Is” is an attempt to honor the Name’s linguistic roots while resisting the patriarchal and hierarchical connotations carried by “Lord” in English. It also recalls the liberating presence of the Name given from the burning bush in Exodus as The One Who Is began moving to liberate the oppressed people of Israel.

^k The word “God” is added for clarity.

^l Traditionally, ‘grace’

^m The Greek verb arkeo implies an empowering kind of sufficiency. This statement is not a denial of Paul’s request but a reorientation of how to see the situation. The gift of divine generosity isn’t merely adequate; it reveals a deeper truth: that strength is completed not by eliminating weakness, but by embracing it with presence and dignity, recognizing weakness as the form that true power takes.

ⁿ The Greek verb teleitai comes from teleo, meaning “to complete,” “to bring to fulfillment,” or “to reach its intended goal.” In this context, it suggests that divine power doesn’t bypass weakness but finds its fullest expression within it. The process is not about compensating for a lack but revealing the deeper shape of strength: power that fulfills its purpose through vulnerability, not domination. This echoes the pattern of Christ, whose own power was made known not through conquest but through solidarity, suffering, and self-giving love, explicitly pursuing victory through defeat.

^o Traditionally, ‘super-apostles.’ The phase is two words, one for ‘super’ or ‘more’ or ‘beyond’ and apostolon, which means ‘someone who is sent to carry out a purpose’ and while it became used in a particular way in the church, it was not an inherently religious word in the Greek language. See 2 Corinthians 11:13 for what he really thinks of them.

^p Traditionally, ‘apostle.’ The word means ‘someone who is sent to carry out a purpose’ and while it became used in a particular way in the church, it was not an inherently religious word in the Greek language.

^q Traditionally, ‘signs’

^r Traditionally, ‘wonders’

^s Traditionally, ‘miracles’

^t Traditionally, ‘church’ or ‘assembly,’ the word ekklesia is about a community of people called from within a larger society to respond to the needs of that society, such as a neighborhood association.

^u The Greek word here is psuche, the root of the English ‘psyche’ and ‘psychology,’ and traditionally translated as ‘soul.’ A better single word might be ‘being.’ Like the Hebrew nephesh, it refers to the ‘living being’—a unity of body, breath, and life-force. Depending on context, other appropriate translations include ‘life’ and ‘self.’

^v The word ‘supposedly’ is added to reinforce the sarcastic rhetoric of the statement.

^w The word adelphos, literally means ‘brother’ or ‘sibling.’ It was also frequently used to refer to ‘cousin’ or ‘relative,’ and even for members of the same ideological or ethnic group. With Jesus’ insistence on a radically inclusive understanding of God’s instruction, it is always pushing further than what already seems to be the most wide-sweeping view people hold. In the New Testament letters, it comes to be used of anyone who has joined the Christ community, regardless of gender.

^x Traditionally, ‘Spirit.’ The Greek word pneuma could be used to refer to ‘wind,’ ‘breath,’ or an animating energy within people, thought to be perceptible in the breath. Hebrew and Latin also use the same word for all these concepts.

^y The word has to do with jealous competitiveness.

^z The word comes originally from a context of political campaigning, promoting oneself for political office against political opponents.

^aa Traditionally, ‘slander’ or ‘evil speaking.’ The latter is too broad, and in English, ‘slander’ technically means speaking ill of someone in a way that is misleading or untrue. This word, katalalia, literally means, ‘to speak against’ and means (according to BDAG) “the act of speaking ill of another.”

^bb Or ‘low’ or ‘crushed’ or ‘devastated.’ The word basically means ‘make low’ and In other contexts, it can mean ‘humbled’ or ‘humiliated’ but the context here is clearly about profound sadness.

^cc The Greek word proemartekosin is a compound of pro- (“before”) and hamartano (“to deviate,” “to miss the mark” (traditionally, ‘to sin’). This perfect participle form indicates a past action with ongoing effects and refers to those who had previously gone off course traced out by Torah and lived out by Jesus ethically, relationally, or communally. Paul is not describing people who merely broke a rule in the past, but those whose past behaviors disrupted communal well-being, harmed others, or strayed from the path of love. Within Paul’s framework, the problem isn’t just that they have deviated but that they are persisting in that path without realignment.

^dd The Greek word metanoia is traditionally translated as ‘repent.’ The meaning of metanoia is ‘change the mind.’ It does not mean ‘remorse’ or ‘reforming behavior.’ The confusion comes from the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible, which used paenitere, which means ‘to be penitent,’ which was a significant shift away from the Greek meaning.

^ee The concept of “clean” vs. “unclean” has been much misunderstood by Christians. It is not a synonym for something being good or righteous instead of bad or sinful. To cleanse something is to ritually mark it as set aside for sacred purposes, to consecrate it. The Tabernacle and the priests in Torah were ‘cleansed’ because they were an ordinary tent and ordinary people that were being designated for a particular purpose, not because they were a bad tent and bad people turning good. There are some contexts in which the term is used as moving away from deviation and toward justness, but in those cases it is about returning to dedication to sacred purposes, to one’s sacred calling, and away from the things pulling one away from that sacred calling. In this case, it seems to have to do with treating others as less dignity than oneself or attempting to dominate others, violating the calling of the whole community of people following Jesus.

^ff Traditionally, ‘sexual immorality.’ In literature outside of Jewish and Christian writings, it was used exclusively for commercial sex trade. Porneia shares a root with perneimi, which means ‘to sell.’ Porne is the word for a female sex worker, which in the cultural context would always have been someone exploited and failed by the patriarchal society. Jewish and Christian writers seem to expand the meaning to refer to approaches to sex that objectify and exploit people in a variety of ways.

^gg The Greek word aselgeia is often translated “licentiousness,” “debauchery,” or “lewdness.” In Greco-Roman usage, aselgeia referred to behavior that was shameless, arrogant, and lacking in restraint, especially actions that disregarded the dignity or boundaries of others. It could involve sexual exploitation but also included violence, abusive speech, or domineering conduct. The term described not merely private immorality but public behavior that displayed contempt for social norms, communal well-being, or the humanity of others.