2 Corinthians 4:1
Paul’s Perseverance in Ministry
4:1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, 1 we do not become discouraged. 2
2 Corinthians 8:24
8:24 Therefore show 3 them openly before the churches the proof of your love and of our pride in you. 4
1 tn Grk “just as we have been shown mercy”; ἠλεήθημεν (hlehqhmen) has been translated as a “divine passive” which is a circumlocution for God as the active agent. For clarity this was converted to an active construction with God as subject in the translation.
2 tn Or “we do not lose heart.”
3 tc The sense of this translation is attested by the fact that most of the later mss, along with several early and important ones (א C D2 Ψ 0225 0243 1739 1881 Ï lat), have the imperative verb ἐνδείξασθε (ejndeixasqe) in place of the participle ἐνδεικνύμενοι (endeiknumenoi), which is found in B D* F G 33 pc. Since an imperatival participle is more Hebraic in style, many scribes would not have understood the idiom as easily and would have been likely to change the participle to an imperative (so TCGNT 513-14). But there is no good reason why scribes would change the imperative into a participle. Thus, ἐνδεικνύμενοι is almost surely the wording of the original text.
tn In the Greek text ἐνδεικνύμενοι (endeiknumenoi) is a present participle which is translated as an imperative verb (see BDF §468; ExSyn 650-52).
4 tn Or “our boasting about you.”