2 Corinthians 5:10–11

5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,16 so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.17

The Message of Reconciliation

5:11 Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord,18 we try to persuade19 people,20 but we are well known21 to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too.

16	sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bēma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a common item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city. Use of the term in reference to Christ’s judgment would be familiar to Paul’s 1st century readers.
17	tn Or “whether good or bad.”
18	tn Or “because we know what it means to fear the Lord.”
19	tn The present tense of πείθομεν (peithomen) has been translated as a conative present.
20	tn Grk “men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is generic here since clearly both men and women are in view (Paul did not attempt to win only men to the gospel he preached).
21	tn Or “clearly evident.” BDAG 1048 s.v. φανερόω 2.b.β has “θεῷ πεφανερώμεθα we are well known to God 2 Cor 5:11a, cp. 11b; 11:6 v.l.”