Verse 11
Our mouth is opened unto you, O Corinthians, our heart is enlarged. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own affections. Now for a recompense in like kind (I speak as unto my own children), be ye also enlarged.
Our mouth is opened unto you ... means "I have spoken fully and frankly to you."
Our heart is enlarged ... means "We have great affection for you."
Ye are not straitened in us ... means "My affection for you is not diminished."
Ye are straitened in your affections ... means "You do not love us fully as you should."
Now for a recompense in like kind ... means "I ask you to love me fully, as I love you."
Be ye enlarged ... means "Let your affections for me abound."
This shows how a literal translation sometimes fails to carry the true meaning to people whose manner of speech is so different from that which prevailed in the first century. Therefore, despite our deep mistrust of all paraphrases, we shall attempt one for these three verses:
Paraphrase: We have spoken fully and frankly to you, O Corinthians, and our heart goes out to you and takes you in. Our love for you is not diminished, but rather increased; but you do not love me as you should (otherwise, you would do a better job of defending me against my enemies). Now, why do you not repay me with the kind of love I have lavished upon you? I am speaking to you as my own children. Let your love for me, therefore, be multiplied, even as mine is for you.
It is the plaintive note in the meaning here which probably colored to some extent what Paul was about to say; and the realization, as he spoke these words, that the false teachers at Corinth had succeeded in stealing the affections of the Corinthians away from Paul (at least to some extent) - that sudden realization triggered the devastating attack he now delivered against those sons of the devil in Corinth.
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