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[a]on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God, through much endurance,[b] in afflictions, hardships, constraints,(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 6:4a This is the central assertion, the topic statement for the catalogue that follows. We commend ourselves: Paul’s self-commendation is ironical (with an eye on the charges mentioned in 2 Cor 3:1–3) and paradoxical (pointing mostly to experiences that would not normally be considered points of pride but are perceived as such by faith). Cf. also the self-commendation in 2 Cor 11:23–29. As ministers of God: the same Greek word, diakonos, means “minister” and “servant”; cf. 2 Cor 11:23, the central assertion in a similar context, and 1 Cor 3:5.
  2. 6:4b–5 Through much endurance: this phrase functions as a subtitle; it is followed by an enumeration of nine specific types of trials endured.

But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,

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