Paul does not mean that he literally robbed other churches. To show that Paul is using figurative language, Good News Translation adds the words “so to speak.” In other languages it may be more natural and less likely to be misunderstood if the figurative meaning is rendered “It was as if I was robbing….”

The other churches were not other churches in the city of Corinth, but most likely churches in the region of Macedonia (see verse 9). In some languages it may sound awkward to speak of robbing “churches.” The object of the verb is more naturally “people.” Consequently one may translate “robbing the people of other churches.”

In English the word support is rather broad in meaning, including emotional help as well as material help. The Greek word is more limited, meaning “wages,” “salary,” or “provisions.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates the Greek word as “money,” as does Contemporary English Version. Barclay speaks of “taking pay.”

In order to serve you: literally, “for your ministry [diakonia].” See comments on diakonia at 3.7.

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 .