These two sentences are rhetorical questions; that is, Paul is not really asking for the names of people who are weak or who are made to fall. To avoid suggesting that Paul is asking for information, Good News Translation changes Paul’s rhetorical questions into statements. Even in languages where rhetorical questions are common, the structure here many require a shift to an affirmative statement.

Who is weak: the Greek word translated as weak is general and sometimes refers to spiritual weakness and other times to physical weakness. The context is simply too ambiguous here to give clear guidance. In those languages which must use specific terms for different kinds of weaknesses, translators should choose the term that seems most appropriate to them. Some languages speak of weakness in terms of “lacking strength.”

Who is made to fall: the verb used here is found frequently in the Gospels and also in Rom 14.21 and 1 Cor 8.13. To fall is not to be taken in a literal physical sense. It refers to the moral downfall of someone (Revised English Bible “If anyone brings about the downfall of another”), that is, to “sin” (Good News Translation). The passive idea of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, however, will have to be made active in some cases: “when someone makes another person fall” or “when someone leads a companion to commit sin.”

And I am not indignant is literally “and I am not burning.” New International Version says “and I do not inwardly burn?” Paul uses figurative language here. Some interpreters understand the sense to be that Paul is “burning with indignation” against the people who cause others to fall (so Revised Standard Version). Others understand the sense to be “burning with sympathy or distress” on behalf of those people who have been made to fall (so Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, “I burn in agony myself”). Though both interpretations are possible, most interpreters agree with the former. Revised English Bible, for example, says “does not my heart burn with anger?”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .