independentparticipialpurposecausecomparativecontentphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
The acceptable time 6:1–2
1
Συνεργοῦντες δὲparticipial — sentence-opening participle — co-workers with God (1 Cor 3:9); leans on the appeal below
καὶ παρακαλοῦμενindependent — the appeal — the same verb as the 'we beg you' of 5:20
μὴ εἰς κενὸν τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ δέξασθαι ὑμᾶς·content — infinitive of indirect discourse — εἰς κενόν, to no purpose (cf. Gal 2:2; Phil 2:16)
2
λέγει γάρ·cause — the citation formula — God the unexpressed speaker in Scripture
Καιρῷ δεκτῷ ἐπήκουσά σουcontent — Isa 49:8 (LXX) — the Servant heard in the favorable καιρός
καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σωτηρίας ἐβοήθησά σοι·content — Isa 49:8 — the day of rescue
ἰδοὺ νῦν καιρὸς εὐπρόσδεκτος,independent — Paul's application, flush-left — εὐπρόσδεκτος intensifies Isaiah's δεκτός
ἰδοὺ νῦν ἡμέρα σωτηρίας·independent — the doubled νῦν — Isaiah's promise collapsed into the eschatological present
The ministry commended — the great catalogue 6:3–10
vv. 3–4a — no offense given, ourselves commended
3
μηδεμίαν ἐν μηδενὶ διδόντες προσκοπήν,participial — manner of the appeal — resumes παρακαλοῦμεν (v. 1) across the quotation, hence anchorless
ἵνα μὴ μωμηθῇ ἡ διακονία,purpose — the stake — the διακονία of reconciliation (5:18) kept above reproach
4
ἀλλ' ἐν παντὶ συνιστάντες ἑαυτοὺς ὡς θεοῦ διάκονοι,participial — the positive head — parallel to διδόντες, likewise on παρακαλοῦμεν (v. 1); the whole catalogue hangs from it
vv. 4b–7a — the ἐν-column: endurance, hardships, graces, equipment
ἐν ὑπομονῇ πολλῇ,phrase modifier — the ἐν-series opens — ὑπομονή the governing virtue over the whole column
ἐν θλίψεσιν, ἐν ἀνάγκαις, ἐν στενοχωρίαις,phrase modifier — first triad — general pressures, narrowing to the tight corner
5
ἐν πληγαῖς, ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν ἀκαταστασίαις,phrase modifier — second triad — sufferings inflicted by others (cf. 11:23–25)
ἐν κόποις, ἐν ἀγρυπνίαις, ἐν νηστείαις,phrase modifier — third triad — the self-spent rigors of mission (cf. 11:27)
6
ἐν ἁγνότητι, ἐν γνώσει, ἐν μακροθυμίᾳ, ἐν χρηστότητι,phrase modifier — the pivot from hardships to graces — the minister's inward equipment
ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, ἐν ἀγάπῃ ἀνυποκρίτῳ,phrase modifier — the Spirit set centrally in the list, love its crown (Rom 12:9)
7
ἐν λόγῳ ἀληθείας, ἐν δυνάμει θεοῦ·phrase modifier — the ἐν-series closes — truthful word, divine power (cf. 4:2, 7)
vv. 7b–8a — the διά-column: weapons, honor and dishonor
διὰ τῶν ὅπλων τῆς δικαιοσύνης τῶν δεξιῶν καὶ ἀριστερῶν,phrase modifier — the preposition shifts to διά — armed for attack and defense alike (cf. Rom 6:13)
8
διὰ δόξης καὶ ἀτιμίας, διὰ δυσφημίας καὶ εὐφημίας·phrase modifier — the conditions passed through — two antithetical pairs, both hapax-studded
vv. 8b–10 — the ὡς-column: the paradoxes of the ministry
ὡς πλάνοι καὶ ἀληθεῖς,phrase modifier — the ὡς-series opens — how the world reckons them against what is real
9
ὡς ἀγνοούμενοι καὶ ἐπιγινωσκόμενοι,phrase modifier — nobodies to the world, fully recognized by God
ὡς ἀποθνῄσκοντες καὶ ἰδοὺ ζῶμεν,phrase modifier — the finite ζῶμεν breaks the participial pattern — resurrection life at the column's center (cf. 4:11)
ὡς παιδευόμενοι καὶ μὴ θανατούμενοι,phrase modifier — Ps 118:18 LXX — chastened but not handed over to death
10
ὡς λυπούμενοι ἀεὶ δὲ χαίροντες,phrase modifier — δέ now marks the antithesis — constant joy amid real grief (cf. 2:1–4)
ὡς πτωχοὶ πολλοὺς δὲ πλουτίζοντες,phrase modifier — wealth-giving poverty — the pattern of 8:9
ὡς μηδὲν ἔχοντες καὶ πάντα κατέχοντες.phrase modifier — the climax — κατέχοντες, all things held fast in Christ (1 Cor 3:21–22)
The open heart 6:11–13
11
Τὸ στόμα ἡμῶν ἀνέῳγεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, Κορίνθιοι,independent — asyndeton and the rare direct vocative — deep feeling; the perfect: settled candor
ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν πεπλάτυνται·independent — Ps 118:32 LXX echo — the enlarged heart
12
οὐ στενοχωρεῖσθε ἐν ἡμῖν,independent — wordplay on στενοχωρίαις (v. 4) — no narrow place in Paul
στενοχωρεῖσθε δὲ ἐν τοῖς σπλάγχνοις ὑμῶν·independent — the diagnosis — the constriction lies on their side
13
τὴν δὲ αὐτὴν ἀντιμισθίαν,phrase modifier — fronted adverbial accusative of exchange — construed with πλατύνθητε below, hence anchorless
ὡς τέκνοις λέγω,independent — the parenthesis — a father claiming his children's love (1 Cor 4:14–15)
πλατύνθητε καὶ ὑμεῖς.independent — the appeal itself — the verb of v. 11 turned imperative
The unequal yoke — come out and be my people 6:14–18
vv. 14–16a — the prohibition and the five impossible questions
14
Μὴ γίνεσθε ἑτεροζυγοῦντες ἀπίστοις·independent — abrupt asyndeton — the hapax yoke-image from Lev 19:19 / Deut 22:10
τίς γὰρ μετοχὴ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἀνομίᾳ;independent — first question — γάρ grounds the prohibition; all five expect 'none'
ἢ τίς κοινωνία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος;independent — second — the two realms
15
τίς δὲ συμφώνησις Χριστοῦ πρὸς Βελιάρ,independent — third — the realms personified; Βελιάρ, a name for Satan
ἢ τίς μερὶς πιστῷ μετὰ ἀπίστου;independent — fourth — resuming the ἀπίστοις of v. 14
16
τίς δὲ συγκατάθεσις ναῷ θεοῦ μετὰ εἰδώλων;independent — fifth and climactic — the question that yields the positive thesis
vv. 16b–18 — the temple of the living God and the catena
ἡμεῖς γὰρ ναὸς θεοῦ ἐσμεν ζῶντος,independent — the declaration — reading first-person ἡμεῖς … ἐσμεν with the printed text (against ὑμεῖς … ἐστε)
καθὼς εἶπεν ὁ θεὸςcomparative — the citation formula — one word carries the nine-line conflated catena
ὅτι Ἐνοικήσω ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐμπεριπατήσω,content — Lev 26:11–12 / Ezek 37:27 — the indwelling promise; ὅτι recitativum
καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῶν θεός,content — Lev 26:12 — the covenant formula
καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μου λαός.content — Lev 26:12 / Ezek 37:27 — the answering half of the formula
17
διὸ ἐξέλθατε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν καὶ ἀφορίσθητε, λέγει κύριος,content — Isa 52:11 — the summons to separation, with the embedded prophetic formula
καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε·content — Isa 52:11 — the purity demand
κἀγὼ εἰσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς·content — Ezek 20:34 — God's answering reception of the separated
18
καὶ ἔσομαι ὑμῖν εἰς πατέρα,content — 2 Sam 7:14 — the adoption pledge; Semitic εἰς of predication
καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔσεσθέ μοι εἰς υἱοὺς καὶ θυγατέρας,content — 2 Sam 7:14 widened — daughters added (cf. Isa 43:6)
λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ.content — the sealing formula (2 Sam 7:8 LXX) — kept in the catena column; παντοκράτωρ renders 'LORD of hosts'
Analysis. 2 Corinthians 6 reads as four movements, and the middle one is a single suspended column. In vv. 1–2 the appeal — παρακαλοῦμεν, flanked by its opening participle and the infinitive that gives its content — is grounded by λέγει γάρ, which carries the Isa 49:8 couplet as a two-line quotation; Paul's application then snaps back flush-left in the doubled verbless ἰδοὺ νῦν lines — the 'now' of salvation. Verses 3–10 are the commendation catalogue: two head participles (μηδεμίαν … διδόντες, ἀλλ' … συνιστάντες) resume the παρακαλοῦμεν of v. 1 across the quotation — they open their section anchorless, protasis-style, because their governing verb stands a section above — and from συνιστάντες hangs the whole peristasis-column in three prepositional series: the ἐν-strings (endurance heading three triads of hardships, then the graces, then word and power), the διά-pairs (weapons for right and left, honor and dishonor, slander and praise), and the ὡς-paradoxes kept as intact pairs, with the finite ἰδοὺ ζῶμεν deliberately breaking the participial pattern at the column's center. Verses 11–13 return to flush-left address (Κορίνθιοι), the fronted τὴν δὲ αὐτὴν ἀντιμισθίαν leaning forward onto the imperative πλατύνθητε across the ὡς τέκνοις λέγω parenthesis. Verses 14–18 set the prohibition and its five coordinate verbless questions flush-left; the ἡμεῖς γὰρ ναὸς θεοῦ declaration then carries καθὼς εἶπεν ὁ θεός, whose one word εἶπεν holds the conflated nine-line catena (Lev 26:11–12 / Ezek 37:27; Isa 52:11; Ezek 20:34; 2 Sam 7:14 widened to daughters), sealed by λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: v. 16 is read first-person, ἡμεῖς … ἐσμεν, with the printed text (against the ὑμεῖς … ἐστε variant); Συνεργοῦντες is taken as working together with God (1 Cor 3:9), its object unexpressed; τὴν αὐτὴν ἀντιμισθίαν is construed as an adverbial accusative of exchange with πλατύνθητε; and the closing λέγει κύριος παντοκράτωρ is kept inside the quotation column as the catena's own sealing formula rather than lifted out as a Pauline aside.