Discovery Box2 Corinthians 12:19 
Context12:19 Have you been thinking all this time 1 that we have been defending ourselves to you? We are speaking in Christ before God, and everything we do, dear friends, is to build you up. 2
2 Corinthians 1:17
Context1:17 Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I? 3 Or do I make my plans 4 according to mere human standards 5 so that I would be saying 6 both “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?
1 tc The reading “all this time” (πάλαι, palai) is found in several early and important Alexandrian and Western witnesses including א* A B F G 0243 6 33 81 365 1175 1739 1881 lat; the reading πάλιν (palin, “again”) is read by א2 D Ψ 0278 Ï sy bo; the reading οὐ πάλαι (ou palai) is read by Ì46, making the question even more emphatic. The reading of Ì46 could only have arisen from πάλαι. The reading πάλιν is significantly easier (“are you once again thinking that we are defending ourselves?”), for it softens Paul’s tone considerably. It thus seems to be a motivated reading and cannot easily explain the rise of πάλαι. Further, πάλαι has considerable support in the Alexandrian and Western witnesses, rendering it virtually certain as the original wording here.
2 tn Or “for your strengthening”; Grk “for your edification.”
3 tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative answer. This is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question “did I?” at the end of the sentence.
4 tn Grk “the things that I plan, do I plan (them).”
5 tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
6 tn Grk “so that with me there should be.”
