appearances such as Jewish identity (see the commentary on v. 12). Yet the application of Paul’s words is universal. b. “For though we knew Christ from a worldly perspective, we do so no longer now.” The first part of this sentence is best translated as a concessive clause that expresses reality. In fact, the Greek verb egnōkamen (we have known) is in the perfect tense but is translated in English as a simple past (“we knew”). Probably Paul had heard and seen Jesus in Jerusalem, where he studied