1 Corinthians 1:17
1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel – and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless. 1
1 Corinthians 2:1
2:1 When I came 2 to you, brothers and sisters, 3 I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony 4 of God.
1 Corinthians 5:2-3
5:2 And you are proud! 5 Shouldn’t you have been deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this 6 from among you?
5:3 For even though I am absent physically, 7 I am present in spirit. And I have already judged the one who did this, just as though I were present. 8
1 tn Grk “would not be emptied.”
2 tn Grk “and I, when I came.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, κἀγώ (kagw) has not been translated here.
3 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
4 tc ‡ A few important mss (Ì46vid א* A C pc as well as some versions and fathers) read μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) instead of μαρτύριον (marturion, “testimony”). But the latter has wider ms support (א2 B D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï and some versions), though not quite as impressive. μαρτύριον may have been changed by scribes in anticipation of Paul’s words in 2:7, or conversely, μυστήριον may have been changed to conform to 1:6. Transcriptionally, since “the mystery of God/Christ” is a well-worn expression in the corpus Paulinum (1 Cor 2:7; 4:1; Eph 3:4; Col 2:2; 4:3), while “testimony of Christ” occurs in Paul only once (1 Cor 1:6, though “testimony of the Lord” appears in 2 Tim 1:8), and “testimony of God” never, it is likely that scribes changed the text to the more usual expression. A decision is difficult in this instance, but a slight preference should be given to μαρτύριον.
5 tn Or “are puffed up/arrogant,” the same verb occurring in 4:6, 18.
6 tn Grk “sorrowful, so that the one who did this might be removed.”
7 tn Grk “in body.”
8 tn Verse 3 is one sentence in Greek (“For – even though I am absent in body, yet present in spirit – I have already judged the one who did this, as though I were present”) that has been broken up due to English stylistic considerations.