Troas was an important seaport city on the northwest coast of the Roman province of Asia Minor (see comments on 1.8). Paul was probably traveling from Ephesus, a city about 200 kilometers southeast of Troas. In some languages it will be wise to add a classifier term like “city” or “port.”

To preach the gospel of Christ is literally “for the gospel of Christ” (New American Bible). New Jerusalem Bible says “for the sake of the gospel of Christ.” Though the Greek may mean nothing more than “for the sake of the gospel” (see 1 Cor 9.23), nearly all interpreters understand the Greek to mean to preach the gospel of Christ. Of Christ means “about Christ.” And the gospel, of course, means “the Good News” (see Mark 1.1, 14, for example).

A door was opened for me in the Lord is metaphorical language (see 1 Cor 16.9). The door refers to the opportunity to preach the gospel. Revised English Bible says “an opening awaited me for serving the Lord.” Some other models may be “the Lord had already prepared the way” (Contemporary English Version), avoiding the passive, or “there was an obvious God-given opportunity” (Phillips).

The Greek for in the Lord may be translated as “by the Lord” or “in the Lord.” If the former, the meaning is that the Lord was the one who opened the door (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). If the latter, the meaning is that Paul’s opportunity for work was “in the Lord,” that is, an opportunity “for serving the Lord” (so Revised English Bible, Nueva Biblia Española, God’s New Covenant). Either interpretation is grammatically possible, but the meaning “by the Lord” is probably to be preferred.

Some translations use a word such as “sir,” “chief,” or “master” to translate Lord, and they sometimes need to add “God” or “Jesus” after “the Lord,” to make clear that an ordinary human master or chief is not intended. In 2 Cor 1.2, 3, 14, Jesus is called “Lord.” In this verse it is not immediately clear whether the reference is to the Lord God or the Lord Jesus. But if translators are forced to choose, it is probably better to say “the Lord Jesus.”

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 .