But: this conjunction is left untranslated by Moffatt, Anchor Bible, and Revised English Bible. Even King James Version avoids the strong contrastive conjunction, using the transition word “now….” In the receptor language the beginning of a new section may be sufficient to communicate what it conveys in the original.

Thanks be to God: this same basic expression is used five times elsewhere by Paul (Rom 6.17; 7.25; 1 Cor 15.57; 2 Cor 8.16; 9.15), although the word order sometimes differs. It is usually in the context of victory or liberation and is a strong affirmation of praise. Therefore the Contemporary English Version rendering “I am grateful to God” seems a bit weak. Many languages will require the explicit statement of who thanks God. In such cases one may say “Let us thank God” or “We thank God,” using the inclusive form of the first person plural pronoun.

Who in Christ always leads us in triumph: this relative clause will be better translated as a separate sentence in many languages, following the Good News Translation model. Paul here uses the imagery of a victorious Roman general who leads a triumphant procession, after he has won a great victory in war. In the procession were the victorious soldiers as well as the captive prisoners. The Greek does not specify whether Paul pictured himself as one of the victorious soldiers or one of the prisoners. Most translations, however, seem to accept the latter interpretation (so Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). In any case it is God in Christ who is represented by the victorious general.

In Christ: see the comments on 1.21.

In this context the pronouns us and we of verses 14-17 probably refer to the apostles as a group but do not include the readers. However, some interpreters understand the plural pronouns as Paul’s polite way of referring to himself, so they translate these pronouns in verses 14-17 with the pronoun “I” or “me” (so Moffatt and An American Translation, but not Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

The subject of the verb spreads is God, but the pronoun him (the fragrance of the knowledge of him) refers to Christ (see verse 15), as Good News Translation makes explicit. The knowledge of him means “knowledge about Christ,” not knowledge that Christ has.

In some languages there is no single word to represent the English fragrance, so it may be necessary to speak of a “good odor” in this context, although the Greek term used here is actually neutral and so may be either good or bad. The same word is used of the ointment used by Mary when she anointed Jesus’ feet (John 12.3), and in the context of the sweet-smelling odor of sacrifices in Eph 5.2 and Phil 4.18. Since the language here is clearly figurative, some translators will prefer to add the word “like” in the receptor language. The knowledge of Christ is “like the smell of perfume” (Contemporary English Version).

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 .