2 Corinthians 5:9-11
New English Translation
9 So then whether we are alive[a] or away, we make it our ambition to please him.[b] 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,[c] so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.[d]
The Message of Reconciliation
11 Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord,[e] we try to persuade[f] people,[g] but we are well known[h] to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too.
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- 2 Corinthians 5:9 tn Grk “whether we are at home” [in the body]; an idiom for being alive (L&N 23.91).
- 2 Corinthians 5:9 tn Grk “to be pleasing to him.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:10 sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bēma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a common item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city. Use of the term in reference to Christ’s judgment would be familiar to Paul’s 1st century readers.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10 tn Or “whether good or bad.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:11 tn Or “because we know what it means to fear the Lord.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:11 tn The present tense of πείθομεν (peithomen) has been translated as a conative present.
- 2 Corinthians 5:11 tn Grk “men,” but ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is generic here since clearly both men and women are in view (Paul did not attempt to win only men to the gospel he preached).
- 2 Corinthians 5:11 tn Or “clearly evident.” BDAG 1048 s.v. φανερόω 2.b.β has “θεῷ πεφανερώμεθα we are well known to God 2 Cor 5:11a, cp. 11b; 11:6 v.l.”
2 Corinthians 5:9-11
New International Version
9 So we make it our goal to please him,(A) whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us(B) for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
The Ministry of Reconciliation
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord,(C) we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.(D)
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