2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (SBLGNT): Εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ πατὴρ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν καὶ θεὸς πάσης παρακλήσεως, 4 ὁ παρακαλῶν ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ πάσῃ τῇ θλίψει ἡμῶν, εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι ἡμᾶς παρακαλεῖν τοὺς ἐν πάσῃ θλίψει διὰ τῆς παρακλήσεως ἧς παρακαλούμεθα αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ. 5 ὅτι καθὼς περισσεύει τὰ παθήματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἡμᾶς, οὕτως διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ περισσεύει καὶ ἡ παράκλησις ἡμῶν. 6 εἴτε δὲ θλιβόμεθα, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν παρακλήσεως καὶ σωτηρίας· [a]εἴτε παρακαλούμεθα, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν παρακλήσεως τῆς ἐνεργουμένης ἐν ὑπομονῇ τῶν αὐτῶν παθημάτων ὧν καὶ ἡμεῖς πάσχομεν, 7 καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς ἡμῶν βεβαία ὑπὲρ [b]ὑμῶν· εἰδότες ὅτι [c]ὡς κοινωνοί ἐστε τῶν παθημάτων, οὕτως καὶ τῆς παρακλήσεως.
"Note that the word 'comfort,' as a noun or a verb, occurs ten times in this passage. It has the connotations of encouragement and strength as well as consolation" (Philip B. Harner, An Inductive Approach to Biblical Study, 100).
Also notice how Paul elsewhere uses words for comfort in his second letter to the Corinthians.
3 comments:
Let's face it - that is a very long passage about comfort and it is a chore to follow. The New American Bible - Revised Edition (house Bible for a book I wrote about JWs in Russia, since the NWT is extremist there) actually says 'encouragement.' It is still not a piece of cake to follow.
As I write this, another thought occurs to me. There is a word for the type of convoluted sentences that Paul so readily resorts to. I saw it once in a certain introduction to a Bible translation (I forget which one) and I cannot find it again. Do you know the word? (I am serious about this)
Tom,
You're right. Paul has a habit of writing this way, but I like it. It's highly rhetorical. I'm discovering that the Gospel of John is written that way also. Compare Eph. 1:3-14.
Two words for the long drawn out sentences that Paul writes might be "sententiae" and "periodos." I guess another word could be used to describe them.
Another word for repeating a term is anaphora (referring back to an idea or word). The longest occurrence of anaphora is Hebrews 11 ("by faith").
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