2 Corinthians 5 (NET)

Living by Faith, Not by Sight

1 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in,1 is dismantled,2 we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this earthly house3 we groan, because we desire to put on4 our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed, after we have put on5 our heavenly house,6 we will not be found naked. 4 For we groan while we are in this tent,7 since we are weighed down,8 because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose9 is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.10 6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth11 we are absent from the Lord – 7 for we live12 by faith, not by sight. 8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away13 from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So then whether we are alive14 or away, we make it our ambition to please him.15 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,16 so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.17

The Message of Reconciliation

11 Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord,18 we try to persuade19 people,20 but we are well known21 to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too. 12 We are not trying to commend22 ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us,23 so that you may be able to answer those who take pride24 in outward appearance25 and not in what is in the heart. 13 For if we are out of our minds, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ26 controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ27 died for all; therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised.28 16 So then from now on we acknowledge29 no one from an outward human point of view.30 Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view,31 now we do not know him in that way any longer. 17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away32 – look, what is new33 has come!34 18 And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us35 the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea36 through us. We plead with you37 on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!” 21 God38 made the one who did not know sin39 to be sin for us, so that in him40 we would become the righteousness of God.

15:1sn The expression the tent we live in refers to “our earthly house, our body.” Paul uses the metaphor of the physical body as a house or tent, the residence of the immaterial part of a person. 25:1tn Or “destroyed.” 35:2tn Or “dwelling place.” 45:2tn Or “to be clothed with.” 55:3tc ‡ Some mss read “taken off” (ἐκδυσάμενοι, ekdusamenoi) instead of “put on” (ἐνδυσάμενοι, endusamenoi). This alternative reading would change the emphasis of the verse from putting on “our heavenly house” to taking off “our earthly house” (see the following note regarding the specification of the referent). The difference between the two readings is one letter (ν or κ), either of which may be mistaken for the other especially when written in uncial script. ἐνδυσάμενοι enjoys strong support from the Alexandrian text (Ì⁴⁶ א B C 33 1739 1881), Byzantine witnesses, versions (lat sy co), and Clement of Alexandria. The Western text is the only texttype to differ: D*^,c reads ἐκδυσάμενοι, as does ar f^c Mcion Tert Spec; F and G read εκλ for εκδ which indirectly aligns them with D (and was surely due to confusion of letters in uncial script). Thus “put on” has the oldest and best external attestation by far. Internal evidence also favors this reading. At first glance, it may seem that “after we have put on our heavenly house we will not be found naked” is an obvious statement; the scribe of D may have thought so and changed the participle. But v. 3 seems parenthetical (so A. Plummer, Second Corinthians [ICC], 147), and the idea that “we do not want to be unclothed but clothed” is repeated in v. 4 with an explanatory “for.” This concept also shows up in v. 2 with the phrase “we desire to put on.” So the context can be construed to argue for “put on” as the original reading. B. M. Metzger argues against the reading of NA²⁷, stating that ἐκδυσάμενοι is “an early alteration to avoid apparent tautology” (TCGNT 511; so also Plummer, 148). In addition, the reading ἐνδυσάμενοι fits the Pauline pattern of equivalence between apodosis and protasis that is found often enough in his conditional clauses. Thus, “put on” has the mark of authenticity and should be considered original. 65:3tn Grk “it”; the referent (the “heavenly dwelling” of the previous verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 75:4sn See the note in 5:1 on the phrase the tent we live in. 85:4tn Or “we are burdened.” 95:5tn Grk “for this very thing.” 105:5tn Or “first installment,” “pledge,” “deposit” (see the note on the phrase “down payment” in 1:22). 115:6tn Grk “we know that being at home in the body”; an idiom for being alive (L&N 23.91). 125:7tn Grk “we walk.” 135:8tn Or “be absent.” 145:9tn Grk “whether we are at home” [in the body]; an idiom for being alive (L&N 23.91). 155:9tn Grk “to be pleasing to him.” 165:10sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) 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. 175:10tn Or “whether good or bad.” 185:11tn Or “because we know what it means to fear the Lord.” 195:11tn The present tense of πείθομεν (peiqomen) has been translated as a conative present. 205:11tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") 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). 215:11tn 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.” 225:12tn The present tense of συνιστάνομεν (sunistanomen) has been translated as a conative present. 235:12tn Or “to boast about us.” 245:12tn Or “who boast.” 255:12tn Or “in what is seen.” 265:14tn The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ (Jh agaph tou Cristou, “the love of Christ”) could be translated as either objective genitive (“our love for Christ”) or subjective genitive (“Christ’s love for us”). Either is grammatically possible, but with the reference to Christ’s death for all in the following clauses, a subjective genitive (“Christ’s love for us”) is more likely. 275:14tn Grk “one”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 285:15tn Or “but for him who died and was raised for them.” 295:16tn Grk “we know.” 305:16tn Grk “no one according to the flesh.” 315:16tn Grk “we have known Christ according to the flesh.” 325:17tn Grk “old things have passed away.” 335:17tc Most mss have the words τὰ πάντα (ta panta, “all things”; cf. KJV “behold, all things are become new”), some after καίνα (kaina, “new”; D² K L P Ψ 104 326 945 2464 pm) and others before it (6 33 81 614 630 1241 1505 1881 pm). The reading without τὰ πάντα, however, has excellent support from both the Western and Alexandrian texttypes (Ì⁴⁶ א B C D* F G 048 0243 365 629 1175 1739 pc co), and the different word order of the phrase which includes it (“all things new” or “new all things”) in the ms tradition indicates its secondary character. This secondary addition may have taken place because of assimilation to τὰ δὲ πάντα (ta de panta, “and all [these] things”) that begins the following verse. 345:17tn Grk “new things have come [about].” 355:19tn Or “he has entrusted to us.” 365:20tn Or “as though God were begging.” 375:20tn Or “we beg you.” 385:21tn Grk “He”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 395:21sn The one who did not know sin is a reference to Jesus Christ. 405:21sn That is, “in Christ.”