For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:
Parallel translations
- WEB For we don’t stretch ourselves too much, as though we didn’t reach to you. For we came even as far as to you with the Good News of Christ,
- BSB We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we had not come to you. Indeed, we were the first to reach you with the gospel of Christ.
- NKJV For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ;
- NASB For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for we were the first to come even as far as you in the gospel of Christ;
- NLT We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul is not overreaching in claiming the Corinthians, for he was the first to bring them the gospel of Christ. His authority over them is well-founded.
Overview
Paul stresses that he is not stretching beyond his bounds, because he himself carried the good news of Christ to Corinth. His apostolic relationship to them rests on having planted the church. This historical fact silences rivals who would claim the Corinthians as their own.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Rom 1:16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
- 1 Cor 4:15For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
- 1 Tim 1:11According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
- 1 Cor 9:1–2Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?
- 1 Cor 3:5–6Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
- Mark 1:1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
- 2 Cor 3:1–3Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
- Col 1:5For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
- 2 Cor 2:12Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,
- Rom 2:16In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
- Gal 1:6–8I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
- 1 Cor 2:10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
- Acts 20:24But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
- Rom 15:18–19For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,
- 2 Cor 4:4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
- Rom 16:25Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
- 1 Cor 3:10According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
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Christ at the center
In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
How 2 Corinthians 10:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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