Text -- 2 Corinthians 11:15-33 (NET)

11:15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions.

Paul’s Sufferings for Christ

11:16 I say again, let no one think that I am a fool. But if you do, then at least accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 11:17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence I do not say the way the Lord would. Instead it is, as it were, foolishness. 11:18 Since many are boasting according to human standards, I too will boast. 11:19 For since you are so wise, you put up with fools gladly. 11:20 For you put up with it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly toward you, if someone strikes you in the face. 11:21 (To my disgrace I must say that we were too weak for that!) But whatever anyone else dares to boast about (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing. 11:22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 11:23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking like I am out of my mind!) I am even more so: with much greater labors, with far more imprisonments, with more severe beatings, facing death many times. 11:24 Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. 11:25 Three times I was beaten with a rod. Once I received a stoning. Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I spent adrift in the open sea. 11:26 I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers, 11:27 in hard work and toil, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing. 11:28 Apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxious concern for all the churches. 11:29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with indignation? 11:30 If I must boast, I will boast about the things that show my weakness. 11:31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying. 11:32 In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to arrest me, 11:33 but I was let down in a rope-basket through a window in the city wall, and escaped his hands.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 2Co 11:15

As ministers of righteousness ( hōs diakonoi dikaiosunēs ).

Jesus (John 10:1-21) terms these false shepherds thieves and robbers. It is a tragedy to see men in the livery of heaven serve the devil.

Robertson: 2Co 11:16

Let no man think me foolish ( mē tis me doxēi aphrona einai ).

Usual construction in a negative prohibition with mē and the aorist subjunctive doxēi (Robertson, Grammar , p. 933).

Robertson: 2Co 11:16

But if ye do ( ei de mē ge ).

Literally, "But if not at least (or otherwise),"that is, If you do think me foolish.

Robertson: 2Co 11:16

Yet as foolish ( kan hōs aphrona ).

"Even if as foolish."Paul feels compelled to boast of his career and work as an apostle of Christ after the terrible picture just drawn of the Judaizers. He feels greatly embarrassed in doing it. Some men can do it with complete composure ( sang froid ).

Robertson: 2Co 11:17

Not after the Lord ( ou kata Kurion ).

Not after the example of the Lord. He had appealed to the example of Christ in 2Co 10:1 (the meekness and gentleness of Christ). Paul’ s conduct here, he admits, is not in keeping with that. But circumstances force him on.

Robertson: 2Co 11:18

After the flesh ( kata sarka ).

It is kata sarka not kata Kurion .

Robertson: 2Co 11:18

I also ( kagō ).

But he knows that it is a bit of foolishness and not like Christ.

Robertson: 2Co 11:19

Gladly ( hēdeōs ).

Irony again. Cf. kalos in 2Co 11:4 (Mar 7:9). So as to phronimoi ontes (being wise).

Robertson: 2Co 11:20

For ye bear with a man ( anechesthe gar ).

"You tolerate tyranny, extortion, craftiness, arrogance, violence, and insult"(Plummer). Sarcasm that cut to the bone. Note the verb with each of the five conditional clauses (enslaves, devours, takes captive, exalteth himself, smites on the face). The climax of insult, smiting on the face.

Robertson: 2Co 11:21

By way of disparagement ( kata atimian ).

Intense irony. Cf. 2Co 6:8.

Robertson: 2Co 11:21

As though ( hōs hoti ).

Presented as the charge of another. "They more than tolerate those who trample on them while they criticize as ‘ weak’ one who shows them great consideration"(Plummer). After these prolonged explanations Paul "changes his tone from irony to direct and masterful assertion"(Bernard).

Robertson: 2Co 11:21

I am bold also ( tolmō kagō ).

Real courage. Cf. 2Co 10:2, 2Co 10:12.

Robertson: 2Co 11:22

So am I ( kagō ).

This is his triumphant refrain with each challenge.

Robertson: 2Co 11:23

As one beside himself ( paraphronōn ).

Present active participle of paraphroneō . Old verb from paraphrōn (para , phrēn ), beside one’ s wits. Only here in N.T. Such open boasting is out of accord with Paul’ s spirit and habit.

Robertson: 2Co 11:23

I more ( huper egō ).

This adverbial use of huper appears in ancient Greek (Euripides). It has no effect on egō , not "more than I,"but "I more than they."He claims superiority now to these "superextra apostles."

Robertson: 2Co 11:23

More abundant ( perissoterōs ).

See 2Co 7:15. No verbs with these clauses, but they are clear.

Robertson: 2Co 11:23

In prisons ( en phulakais ).

Plural also in 2Co 6:5. Clement of Rome ( Cor. V.) says that Paul was imprisoned seven times. We know of only five (Philippi, Jerusalem, Caesarea, twice in Rome), and only one before II Corinthians (Philippi). But Luke does not tell them all nor does Paul. Had he been in prison in Ephesus? So many think and it is possible as we have seen.

Robertson: 2Co 11:23

Above measure ( huperballontōs ).

Old adverb from the participle huperballontōn (huperballō , to hurl beyond). Here only in N.T.

Robertson: 2Co 11:23

In deaths oft ( en thanatois pollakis ).

He had nearly lost his life, as we know, many times (2Co 1:9.; 2Co 4:11).

Robertson: 2Co 11:24

Five times received I forty stripes save one ( pentakis tesserakonta para mian elabon ).

The Acts and the Epistles are silent about these Jewish floggings (Mat 27:36). See note on Luk 12:47 for omission of plēgas (stripes). Thirty-nine lashes was the rule for fear of a miscount (Deu 25:1-3). Cf. Josephus ( Ant. IV. 8, 1, 21).

Robertson: 2Co 11:25

Thrice was I beaten with rods ( tris errabdisthēn ).

Roman (Gentile) punishment. It was forbidden to Roman citizens by the Lex Porcia , but Paul endured it in Philippi (Act 16:23, Act 16:37), the only one of the three named in Acts. First aorist passive of rabdizō , from rabdos , rod, Koiné[28928]š word, in N.T. only here and Act 16:22 which see.

Robertson: 2Co 11:25

Once was I stoned ( hapax elithasthēn ).

Once for all hapax means. At Lystra (Act 14:5-19). On lithazō Koiné[28928]š verb from lithos , see note on Act 5:26.

Robertson: 2Co 11:25

Thrice I suffered shipwreck ( tris enauagēsa ).

First aorist active of nauageō , from nauagos , shipwrecked (naus , ship, agnumi , to break). Old and common verb, in N.T. only here and 1Ti 1:19. We know nothing of these. The one told in Acts 27 was much later. What a pity that we have no data for all these varied experiences of Paul.

Robertson: 2Co 11:25

Night and day ( nuchthēmeron )

Rare word. Papyri give nuktēmar with the same idea (night-day).

Robertson: 2Co 11:25

Have I been in the deep ( en tōi buthōi pepoiēka ).

Vivid dramatic perfect active indicative of poieō , "I have done a night and day in the deep."The memory of it survives like a nightmare. Buthos is old word (only here in N.T.) for bottom, depth of the sea, then the sea itself. Paul does not mean that he was a night and day under the water, not a Jonah experience, only that he was far out at sea and shipwrecked. This was one of the three shipwrecks-already named.

Robertson: 2Co 11:26

In journeyings ( hodoiporiais ).

Locative case of old word, only here in N.T. and Joh 4:6, from hodoiporos , wayfarer.

Robertson: 2Co 11:26

In perils ( kindunois ).

Locative case of kindunos , old word for danger or peril. In N.T. only this verse and Rom 8:35. The repetition here is very effective without the preposition en (in) and without conjunctions (asyndeton). They are in contrasted pairs. The rivers of Asia Minor are still subject to sudden swellings from floods in the mountains. Cicero and Pompey won fame fighting the Cilician pirates and robbers (note lēistōn , not kleptōn , thieves, brigands or bandits on which see Mat 26:55). The Jewish perils (ek genous , from my race) can be illustrated in Act 9:23, Act 9:29; Act 13:50; Act 14:5; Act 17:5, Act 17:13; Act 18:12; Act 23:12; Act 24:27, and they were all perils in the city also. Perils from the Gentiles (ex ethnōn ) we know in Philippi (Act 16:20) and in Ephesus (Act 19:23.). Travel in the mountains and in the wilderness was perilous in spite of the great Roman highways.

Robertson: 2Co 11:26

Among false brethren ( en pseudadelphois ).

Chapters 2 Corinthians 10; 11 throw a lurid light on this aspect of the subject.

Robertson: 2Co 11:27

In labour and travail ( kopōi kai mochthōi ).

Both old words for severe work, combined here as in 1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8, "by toil and moil"(Plummer). The rest of the list is like the items in 2Co 6:4.

Robertson: 2Co 11:27

In cold ( en psuchei ).

Old word from psuchō , to cool by blowing. See Act 28:2. See the picture of the aged Paul later in the Roman dungeon (2Ti 4:9-18).

Robertson: 2Co 11:28

Besides those things that are without ( chōris tōn parektos ).

Probably, "apart from those things beside these just mentioned."Surely no man ever found glory in such a peck of troubles as Paul has here recounted. His list should shame us all today who are disposed to find fault with our lot.

Robertson: 2Co 11:28

That which presseth upon me daily ( hē epistasis moi hē kath' hēmeran ).

For this vivid word epistasis see note on Act 24:12, the only other place in the N.T. where it occurs. It is like the rush of a mob upon Paul.

Robertson: 2Co 11:28

Anxiety for all the churches ( hē merimna pasōn tōn ekklēsiōn ).

Objective genitive after merimna (distractions in different directions, from merizō ) for which word see Mat 13:22. Paul had the shepherd heart. As apostle to the Gentiles he had founded most of these churches.

Robertson: 2Co 11:29

I burn ( puroumai ).

Present passive indicative of puroō , old verb to inflame (from pur , fire). When a brother stumbles, Paul is set on fire with grief.

Robertson: 2Co 11:30

The things that concern my weakness ( ta tēs astheneias mou ).

Like the list above.

Robertson: 2Co 11:31

I am not lying ( ou pseudomai ).

The list seems so absurd and foolish that Paul takes solemn oath about it (cf. 2Co 1:23). For the doxology see note on Rom 1:25, note on Rom 9:5.

Robertson: 2Co 11:32

The governor under Aretas ( ho ethnarchēs Hareta ).

How it came to pass that Damascus, ruled by the Romans after b.c. 65, came at this time to be under the rule of Aretas, fourth of the name, King of the Nabatheans (2 Maccabees 5:8), we do not know. There is an absence of Roman coins in Damascus from a.d. 34 to 62. It is suggested (Plummer) that Caligula, to mark his dislike for Antipas, gave Damascus to Aretas (enemy of Antipas).

Robertson: 2Co 11:32

Guarded ( ephrourei ).

Imperfect active of phroureō , old verb (from phrouros , a guard) to guard by posting sentries. In Act 9:24 we read that the Jews kept watch to seize Paul, but there is no conflict as they cooperated with the guard set by Aretas at their request.

Robertson: 2Co 11:32

To seize ( piasai ).

Doric first aorist active infinitive of piezō (Luk 6:38) for which see note on Act 3:7.

Robertson: 2Co 11:33

Through a window ( dia thuridos ).

For this late word see note on Act 20:9, the only N.T. example.

Robertson: 2Co 11:33

Was I let down ( echalasthēn ).

First aorist passive of chalaō , the very word used by Luke in Act 9:25.

Robertson: 2Co 11:33

In a basket ( en sarganēi ).

Old word for rope basket whereas Luke (Act 9:25) has en sphuridi (the word for the feeding of the 4,000 while kophinos is the one for the 5,000). This was a humiliating experience for Paul in this oldest city of the world whither he had started as a conqueror over the despised Christians.

Vincent: 2Co 11:17

Confidence ( ὑποστάσει )

See on 2Co 9:4.

Vincent: 2Co 11:20

Bringeth you into bondage ( καταδουλοῖ )

Only here and Gal 2:4, where it is used of the efforts of the Jewish party to bring the christian Church under the ceremonial law. Compare Gal 5:1.

Vincent: 2Co 11:20

Devour ( κατεσθίει )

Your property. Compare Mat 23:14.

Vincent: 2Co 11:20

Take ( λαμβάνει )

A.V. supplies of you , evidently with reference to property, which has already been touched upon in devour . The meaning is to take as a prey , as Luk 5:5.

Vincent: 2Co 11:20

Exalteth himself ( ἐπαίρεται )

As 2Co 10:5. It is noticeable that these are the only two instances out of nineteen in the New Testament where the word is used figuratively.

Vincent: 2Co 11:20

Smite you on the face

The climax of insult. Compare Mat 5:39; Luk 22:64; Act 23:2. Also the injunction to a bishop not to be a striker , 1Ti 3:3; Tit 1:7. Stanley notes the decree of the Council of Braga, a.d. 675, that no bishop, at his will and pleasure, shall strike his clergy.

Vincent: 2Co 11:21

As concerning reproach ( κατὰ ἀτιμίαν )

Better, Rev., by way of disparagement . Intensely ironical. Yes, you have borne with these enslavers and devourers and smiters. I could never ask you to extend such toleration to me. I speak as one without position or authority, having shown myself weak as you know.

Vincent: 2Co 11:21

I speak foolishly ( ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ )

Rev., in foolishness . My pretensions are equal to theirs, but, of course, it is folly to advance them, and they amount to nothing. Yet, even speaking in this foolish way, I possess every qualification on which they plume themselves.

Vincent: 2Co 11:22

Hebrews

See on Act 6:1.

Vincent: 2Co 11:22

Israelites

See on Act 3:12, and compare Phi 3:5, and the phrase Israel of God , Gal 6:16, and an Israelite indeed , Joh 1:48.

Vincent: 2Co 11:22

Seed of Abraham

Compare Mat 3:9; Joh 8:33; Rom 9:7; Rom 11:1; Gal 3:16; Heb 2:16. The three names are arranged climactically, Hebrews pointing to the nationality; Israelites to the special relation to God's covenant; seed of Abraham to the messianic privilege. Compare with the whole, Phi 3:4, Phi 3:5.

Vincent: 2Co 11:23

Ministers of Christ

Referring to his opponents' claim to have a closer connection with Christ than he had. See the note on 1Co 1:12.

Vincent: 2Co 11:23

As a fool ( παραφρονῶν )

Only here in the New Testament. See the kindred παραφρονία madness , 2Pe 2:16. Lit., being beside myself Rev., as one beside myself . This expression is stronger than that in 2Co 11:21, because the statement which it characterizes is stronger. Up to this point Paul has been asserting equality with the other teachers. Now he asserts superiority " I more;" and ironically characterizes this statement from their stand-point as madness.

Vincent: 2Co 11:23

More abundant ( περισσοτέρως )

Lit., more abundantly , as Rev.

Vincent: 2Co 11:23

Stripes above measure ( ὑπερβαλλόντως )

This peculiar form of suffering is emphasized by details. He specifies three Roman scourgings, and five at the hands of the Jews. Of the former, only one is recorded, that at Philippi (Act 16:22, Act 16:23. See on Act 22:25), and none of the latter. The Jewish scourge consisted of two thongs made of calf's or ass's skin, passing through a hole in a handle. Thirteen blows were inflicted on the breast, thirteen on the right, and thirteen on the left shoulder. The law in Deu 25:3 permitted forty blows, but only thirty-nine were given, in order to avoid a possible miscount. During the punishment the chief judge read aloud Deu 28:58, Deu 28:59; Deu 29:9; Psalm 68:38, 39. The possibility of death under the infliction was contemplated in the provision which exonerated the executioner unless he should exceed the legal number of blows. Paul escaped Roman scourging at Jerusalem on the ground of his Roman citizenship. It is not related that he and Silas urged this privilege at Philippi until after the scourging. It is evident from the narrative that they were not allowed a formal hearing before the magistrates; and, if they asserted their citizenship, it may have been that their voices were drowned by the mob. That this plea did not always avail appears from the case cited by Cicero against Verres, that he scourged a Roman citizen in spite of his continued protest under the scourge, " I am a Roman citizen" (see on Act 16:37), and from well-known instances of the scourging of even senators under the Empire.

Vincent: 2Co 11:23

Prisons

At Philippi, and other places not recorded.

Vincent: 2Co 11:23

Deaths

Perils of death, as at Damascus, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Thessalonica, Beroea.

Vincent: 2Co 11:25

Beaten with rods

Roman scourgings.

Vincent: 2Co 11:25

Stoned

At Lystra, Act 14:19.

Vincent: 2Co 11:25

Thrice I suffered shipwreck

The shipwreck at Malta, being later, is, of course, not referred to; so that no one of these three is on record.

Vincent: 2Co 11:25

A night and a day ( νυχθήμερον )

A compound term occurring only here in the New Testament, and rarely in later Greek.

Vincent: 2Co 11:25

Have I been in the deep ( ἐν τῷ βυθῷ πεποίηκα )

Lit., I have made (spent) a night and a day in the deep . For a similar use of ποιέω to make , see Act 15:33; Act 18:23; Act 20:3; Jam 4:13. βυθός bottom or depth occurs only here. Of the event itself there is no record.

Vincent: 2Co 11:26

Perils of rivers

From the sudden swelling of mountain streams or flooding of dry water-courses. " The rivers of Asia Minor, like all the rivers in the Levant, are liable to violent and sudden changes, and no district in Asia Minor is more singularly characterized by its water-floods than the mountainous tract of Pisidia, where rivers burst out at the bases of huge cliffs, or dash down wildly through narrow ravines" (Conybeare and Howson, i., ch. 6).

Vincent: 2Co 11:26

Robbers

The tribes inhabiting the mountains between the table-land of Asia Minor and the coast were notorious for robbery. Paul may have encountered such on his journey to the Pisidian Antioch, Act 13:14.

Vincent: 2Co 11:26

Mine own countrymen

Conspiracies of the Jews at Damascus, Lystra, Thessalonica, Beroea, etc.

Vincent: 2Co 11:26

The Gentiles

As at Philippi and Ephesus.

Vincent: 2Co 11:26

False brethren

Judaizing Christians, as Gal 2:4.

Vincent: 2Co 11:27

Watchings

See on 2Co 6:5.

Vincent: 2Co 11:28

Those things that are without ( τῶν παρεκτὸς )

Some explain, external calamities ; others, the things which are left out in the enumeration , as Mat 5:32; Act 26:29. Better, the latter, so that the literal meaning is, apart from the things which are beside and outside my enumeration : or, as Alford, not to mention those which are beside these . The word does not occur in classical Greek, and no instance of its usage in the former sense occurs in the New Testament or in the Septuagint. See Rev., margin.

Vincent: 2Co 11:28

That which cometh upon me ( ἐπισύστασις )

Lit., a gathering together against . Both here and Act 24:12, the best texts read ἐπίστασις onset . Rev., that which presseth upon me . " The crowd of cares."

Farrar remarks upon 2Co 11:23-28, that it is " the most marvelous record ever written of any biography; a fragment beside which the most imperiled lives of the most suffering saints shrink into insignificance, and which shows us how fractional at the best is our knowledge of the details of St. Paul's life." Eleven of the occurrences mentioned here are not alluded to in Acts.

Vincent: 2Co 11:29

Burn

With sorrow over the stumbling or with indignation over the cause. This and 1Co 7:9 are the only instances in which the word is used figuratively.

Vincent: 2Co 11:30

The things which concern mine infirmities ( τὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας μοῦ )

He will be attested as a true apostle by the sufferings which show his weakness, which make him contemptible in his adversaries' eyes, and not by the strength of which his opponents boast.

Vincent: 2Co 11:31

Blessed, etc.

See on Rom 9:5, and compare Rom 1:25.

Vincent: 2Co 11:32

The governor ( ἐθνάρχης )

Only here in the New Testament. A governor ruling in the name of a king: a prefect .

Vincent: 2Co 11:32

Aretas

Or Hareth , the father-in-law of Herod Antipas. Hs capital was the rock-city of Petra, the metropolis of Arabia Petraea. Herod's unfaithfulness to his daughter brought on a quarrel, in which Herod's army was defeated, to the great delight of the Jews. The further prosecution of the war by Roman troops was arrested by the death of Tiberius, and it is supposed that Caligula assigned Damascus as a free gift to Aretas.

Vincent: 2Co 11:32

Kept with a garrison ( ἐφρούρει )

Imperfect tense, was maintaining a constant watch . Compare Act 9:24 : They watched the gates day and night .

Vincent: 2Co 11:32

To apprehend ( πιάσαι )

See on Act 3:7.

Vincent: 2Co 11:33

Through a window ( διὰ θυρίδος )

Only here and Act 20:9. Diminutive of θύρα a door . The same expression is used in Sept., Jos 2:15, of the escape of the spies from Jericho, and 1Sa 19:12, of David's escape from Saul by the aid of Michal.

Vincent: 2Co 11:33

Basket ( σαργάνῃ )

Lit., braided work ; a rope-basket or hamper . Luke, in his narrative of the incident, uses σπυρίς , for which see on Mat 14:20.

Wesley: 2Co 11:15

Therefore it is no great, no strange, thing; whose end, notwithstanding all their disguises, shall be according to their works.

Wesley: 2Co 11:16

He premises a new apology to this new commendation of himself.

Wesley: 2Co 11:16

Let none think I do this without the utmost necessity. But if any do think me foolish herein, yet bear with my folly.

Wesley: 2Co 11:17

Not by an express command from him; though still under the direction of his Spirit.

Wesley: 2Co 11:17

In such a manner as many may think foolish.

Wesley: 2Co 11:18

That is, in external things.

Wesley: 2Co 11:19

A beautiful irony.

Wesley: 2Co 11:20

Not only the folly, but the gross abuses, of those false apostles.

Wesley: 2Co 11:20

Lord it over you in the most arbitrary manner.

Wesley: 2Co 11:20

By his exorbitant demands; not - withstanding his boast of not being burdensome.

Wesley: 2Co 11:20

By open violence.

Wesley: 2Co 11:20

By the most unbounded self - commendation.

Wesley: 2Co 11:20

(A very possible case,) under pretence of divine zeal.

Wesley: 2Co 11:21

I say, "Bear with me," even on supposition that the weakness be real which they reproach me with.

Wesley: 2Co 11:22

These were the heads on which they boasted.

Wesley: 2Co 11:23

I am more so than they.

Wesley: 2Co 11:23

Surrounding me in the most dreadful forms.

Wesley: 2Co 11:24

Which was the utmost that the law allowed. With the Romans he sometimes pleaded his privilege as a Roman; but from the Jews he suffered all things.

Wesley: 2Co 11:25

Before his voyage to Rome.

Wesley: 2Co 11:25

Probably floating on some part of the vessel.

Wesley: 2Co 11:27

Having no place where to lay my head; no convenient raiment to cover me; yet appearing before noble - men, governors, kings; and not being ashamed.

Wesley: 2Co 11:28

Which I suffer on the account of others; namely, the care of all the churches - A more modest expression than if he had said, the care of the whole church.

Wesley: 2Co 11:28

Even those I have not seen in the flesh. St. Peter himself could not have said this in so strong a sense.

Wesley: 2Co 11:29

So he had not only the care of the churches, but of every person therein. Is weak, and I am not weak - By sympathy, as well as by condescension.

Wesley: 2Co 11:29

Hindered in, or turned out of, the good way.

Wesley: 2Co 11:29

Being pained as though I had fire in my bosom.

Wesley: 2Co 11:30

Of what shows my weakness, rather than my strength.

Wesley: 2Co 11:32

King of Arabia and Syria of which Damascus was a chief city, willing to oblige the Jews, kept the city - Setting guards at all the gates day and night.

Wesley: 2Co 11:33

Of an house which stood on the city wall.

JFB: 2Co 11:15

No difficult matter.

JFB: 2Co 11:15

As well as himself.

JFB: 2Co 11:15

Answering to "light" (2Co 11:14); the manifestation wherewith God reveals Himself in Christ (Mat 6:33; Rom 1:17).

JFB: 2Co 11:15

The test of things is the end which strips off every specious form into which Satan's agents may now "transform" themselves (compare Phi 3:19, Phi 3:21).

JFB: 2Co 11:15

Not according to their pretensions.

JFB: 2Co 11:16

Again taking up from 2Co 11:1 the anticipatory apology for his boasting.

JFB: 2Co 11:16

But if ye will not grant this; if ye will think me a fool.

JFB: 2Co 11:16

"yet even as a fool receive me"; grant me the indulgent hearing conceded even to one suspected of folly. The Greek denotes one who does not rightly use his mental powers; not having the idea of blame necessarily attached to it; one deceived by foolish vanities, yet boasting himself [TITTMANN], (2Co 11:17, 2Co 11:19).

JFB: 2Co 11:16

The oldest manuscripts read, "that I, too," namely, as well as they, may boast myself.

JFB: 2Co 11:17

By inspired guidance he excepts this "glorying" or "boasting" from the inspired authoritativeness which belongs to all else that he wrote; even this boasting, though undesirable in itself, was permitted by the Spirit, taking into account its aim, namely, to draw off the Corinthians from their false teachers to the apostle. Therefore this passage gives no proof that any portion of Scripture is uninspired. It merely guards against his boasting being made a justification of boasting in general, which is not ordinarily "after the Lord," that is, consistent with Christian humility.

JFB: 2Co 11:17

Greek, "in foolishness."

JFB: 2Co 11:17

(2Co 9:4).

JFB: 2Co 11:18

Including the "false teachers."

JFB: 2Co 11:18

As fleshly men are wont to boast, namely, of external advantages, as their birth, doings, &c. (compare 2Co 11:22).

JFB: 2Co 11:18

That is, I also will boast of such fleshly advantages, to show you that even in these I am not their inferiors, and therefore ought not to be supplanted by them in your esteem; though these are not what I desire to glory in (2Co 10:17).

JFB: 2Co 11:19

Willingly. Irony. A plea why they should "bear with" (2Co 11:1) him in his folly, that is, boasting; ye are, in sooth, so "wise" (1Co 4:8, 1Co 4:10; Paul's real view of their wisdom was very different, 1Co 3:1-4) yourselves that ye can "bear with" the folly of others more complacently. Not only can ye do so, but ye are actually doing this and more.

JFB: 2Co 11:20

Ye may well "bear with" fools; for ye even "bear with" oppressors. Translate, "Ye bear with them."

JFB: 2Co 11:20

As the false apostles do.

JFB: 2Co 11:20

To himself. Translate "brings," not "bring"; for the case is not merely a supposed case, but a case actually then occurring. Also "devours" (namely, by exactions, Mat 23:24; Psa 53:4), "takes," "exalts," "smites."

JFB: 2Co 11:20

So the Greek for "take" is used for "take away from" (Rev 6:4). ALFORD translates, as in 2Co 12:16, "catches you."

JFB: 2Co 11:20

Under the pretext of apostolic dignity.

JFB: 2Co 11:20

Under the pretext of divine zeal. The height of insolence on their part, and of servile endurance on yours (1Ki 22:24; Neh 13:25; Luk 22:64; Act 23:2; 1Ti 3:3).

JFB: 2Co 11:21

Rather, "by way of dishonor (that is, self-disparagement) I say it."

JFB: 2Co 11:21

In not similarly (2Co 11:20) showing our power over you. "An ironical reminiscence of his own abstinence when among them from all these acts of self-exaltation at their expense" (as if such abstinence was weakness) [ALFORD]. The "we" is emphatically contrasted with the false teachers who so oppressively displayed their power. I speak so as though WE had been weak when with you, because we did not show our power this way. Howbeit (we are not really weak; for), whereinsoever any is bold . . . I am bold also.

JFB: 2Co 11:22

A climax. "Hebrews," referring to the language and nationality; "Israelites," to the theocracy and descent from Israel, the "prince who prevailed with God" (Rom 9:4); "the seed of Abraham," to the claim to a share in the Messiah (Rom 11:1; Rom 9:7). Compare Phi 3:5, "An Hebrew of the Hebrews," not an Hellenist or Greek-speaking Jew, but a Hebrew in tongue, and sprung from Hebrews.

JFB: 2Co 11:23

Rather, as Greek, "I speak as if beside myself"; stronger than "as a fool."

JFB: 2Co 11:23

Namely, in respect to the credentials and manifestations of my ministry, more faithful and self-denying; and richer in tokens of God's recognition of my ministry. Old authorities read the order thus, "In prisons above measures, in stripes more abundantly" (English Version, less accurately, "more frequent"). Acts 16:23-40 records one case of his imprisonment with stripes. CLEMENT OF ROME [First Epistle to the Corinthians] describes him as having suffered bonds seven times.

JFB: 2Co 11:23

(2Co 4:10; Act 9:23; Act 13:50; Act 14:5-6, Act 14:19; Act 17:5, Act 17:13).

JFB: 2Co 11:24

Deu 25:3 ordained that not more than forty stripes should be inflicted To avoid exceeding this number, they gave one short of it: thirteen strokes with a treble lash [BENGEL]. This is one of those minute agreements with Jewish usage, which a forger would have not been likely to observe.

JFB: 2Co 11:25

The beating by Roman magistrates at Philippi (Act 16:23) is the only one recorded in Acts, which does not profess to give a complete journal of his life, but only a sketch of it in connection with the design of the book, namely, to give an outline of the history of the Gospel Church from its foundation at Jerusalem, to the period of its reaching Rome, the capital of the Gentile world.

JFB: 2Co 11:25

(Act 14:19).

JFB: 2Co 11:25

Before the shipwreck at Melita (Act 27:44). Probably in some of his voyages from Tarsus, where he stayed for some time after his conversion, and from which, as being a seafaring place, he was likely to make missionary voyages to adjoining places (Act 9:30; Act 11:25; Gal 1:21).

JFB: 2Co 11:25

Probably in part swimming or in an open boat.

JFB: 2Co 11:26

Rather, "By": connected with 2Co 11:23, but now not with "in," as there, and as in 2Co 11:27, where again he passes to the idea of surrounding circumstances or environments [ALFORD, ELLICOTT and others].

JFB: 2Co 11:26

Rather, as Greek, "rivers," namely, perils by the flooding of rivers, as on the road often traversed by Paul between Jerusalem and Antioch, crossed as it is by the torrents rushing down from Lebanon. So the traveller Sport lost his life.

JFB: 2Co 11:26

Perhaps in his journey from Perga to Antioch in Pisidia. Pisidia was notorious for robbers; as indeed were all the mountains that divided the high land of Asia from the sea.

JFB: 2Co 11:26

Gentiles.

JFB: 2Co 11:26

Damascus, Act 9:24-25; Jerusalem, Act 9:29; Ephesus, Act 19:23.

JFB: 2Co 11:26

(Gal 2:4).

JFB: 2Co 11:27

Voluntary, in order to kindle devotions (Act 13:2-3; Act 14:23; 1Co 9:27); for they are distinguished from "hunger and thirst," which were involuntary [GROTIUS]. However, see on 2Co 6:5. The context refers solely to hardships, not to self-imposed devotional mortification. "Hunger and thirst" are not synonymous with "foodlessness" (as the Greek of "fasting" means), but are its consequences.

JFB: 2Co 11:27

"cold" resulting from "nakedness," or insufficient clothing, as the Greek often means: as "hunger and thirst" result from "foodlessness." (Compare Act 28:2; Rom 8:35). "When we remember that he who endured all this was a man constantly suffering from infirm health (2Co 4:7-12; 2Co 12:7-10; Gal 4:13-14), such heroic self-devotion seems almost superhuman" [CONYBEARE and HOWSON].

JFB: 2Co 11:28

"Beside" trials falling on me externally, just recounted, there is "that which cometh upon me (literally, the impetuous concourse to me of business; properly, a crowd rising up against one again and again, and ready to bear him down), the care of all the churches" (including those not yet seen in the flesh, Col 2:1): an internal and more weighty anxiety. But the oldest manuscripts for "that which cometh," read, "the pressure": "the pressing care-taking" or "inspection that is upon me daily." ALFORD translates, "Omitting what is BESIDES"; namely, those other trials besides those recounted. But the Vulgate, ESTIUS, and BENGEL, support English Version.

JFB: 2Co 11:28

The Greek implies, "my anxious solicitude for all the churches."

JFB: 2Co 11:29

In condescending sympathy with the weak (1Co 9:22). "Care generates sympathy, which causes the minister of Christ personally to enter into the feelings of all his people, as if he stood in their position, so as to accommodate himself to all" [CALVIN].

JFB: 2Co 11:29

By some stumbling-block put in his way by others: the "weak" is most liable to be "offended."

JFB: 2Co 11:29

The "I" in the Greek is emphatic, which it is not in the former clause, "I am not weak." I not only enter into the feeling of the party offended, but I burn with indignation at the offender, I myself taking up his cause as my own. "Who meets with a stumbling-block and I am not disturbed even more than himself" [NEANDER].

JFB: 2Co 11:30

A striking contrast! Glorying or boasting of what others make matter of shame, namely, infirmities; for instance, his humbling mode of escape in a basket (2Co 11:33). A character utterly incompatible with that of an enthusiast (compare 2Co 12:5, 2Co 12:9-10).

JFB: 2Co 11:31

This solemn asseveration refers to what follows. The persecution at Damascus was one of the first and greatest, and having no human witness of it to adduce to the Corinthians, as being a fact that happened long before and was known to few, he appeals to God for its truth. Luke (Act 9:25) afterwards recorded it (compare Gal 1:20), [BENGEL]. It may ALSO refer to the revelation in 2Co 12:1, standing in beautiful contrast to his humiliating escape from Damascus.

JFB: 2Co 11:32

Greek, "Ethnarch": a Jewish officer to whom heathen rulers gave authority over Jews in large cities where they were numerous. He was in this case under Aretas, king of Arabia. Damascus was in a Roman province. But at this time, A.D. 38 or 39, three years after Paul's conversion, A.D. 36, Aretas, against whom the Emperor Tiberius as the ally of Herod Agrippa had sent an army under Vitellius, had got possession of Damascus on the death of the emperor, and the consequent interruption of Vitellius' operations. His possession of it was put an end to immediately after by the Romans [NEANDER]. Rather, it was granted by Caligula (A.D. 38) to Aretas, whose predecessors had possessed it. This is proved by our having no Damascus coins of Caligula or Claudius, though we do have of their immediate imperial predecessors and successors [ALFORD].

Clarke: 2Co 11:15

Whose end shall be according to their works - A bad way leads to a bad end. The way of sin is the way to hell.

Clarke: 2Co 11:16

Let no man think me a fool - See the note on 2Co 11:1. As the apostle was now going to enter into a particular detail of his qualifications, natural, acquired, and spiritual; and particularly of his labors and sufferings; he thinks it necessary to introduce the discourse once more as he did 2Co 11:1.

Clarke: 2Co 11:17

I speak it not after the Lord - Were it not for the necessity under which I am laid to vindicate my apostleship, my present glorying would be inconsistent with my Christian profession of humility, and knowing no one after the flesh.

Clarke: 2Co 11:18

Seeing that many glory after the flesh - Boast of external and secular things.

Clarke: 2Co 11:19

Ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise - A very fine irony. Ye are so profoundly wise as to be able to discern that I am a fool. Well, it would be dishonorable to you as wise men to fall out with a fool; you will therefore gladly bear with his impertinence and foolishness because of your own profound wisdom.

Clarke: 2Co 11:20

For ye suffer - As you are so meek and gentle as to submit to be brought into bondage, to have your property devoured, your goods taken away, yourselves laid in the dust, so that others may exalt themselves over you, yea, and will bear from those the most degrading indignity; then of course, you will bear with one who has never insulted, defrauded, devoured, taken of you, exalted himself against you, or offered you any kind of indignity; and who only wishes you to bear his confident boasting, concerning matters which he can substantiate

The expressions in this verse are some evidence that the false apostle was a Judaizing teacher. You suffer, says the apostle, if a man, καταδουλοι, bring you into bondage, probably meaning to the Jewish rites and ceremonies, Gal 4:9; Gal 5:1. If he devour you; as the Pharisees did the patrimony of the widows, and for a pretense made long prayers; if a man take of you, exact different contributions, pretendedly for the temple at Jerusalem, etc. If he exalt himself, pretending to be of the seed of Abraham, infinitely higher in honor and dignity than all the families of the Gentiles; if he smite you on the face - treat you with indignity, as the Jews did the Gentiles, considering them only as dogs, and not fit to be ranked with any of the descendants of Jacob.

Clarke: 2Co 11:21

I speak as concerning reproach - Dr. Whitby thus paraphrases this verse: "That which I said of smiting you upon the face, I speak as concerning the reproach they cast upon you as profane and uncircumcised, whereas they all profess to be a holy nation; as though we had been weak - inferior to them in these things, not able to ascribe to ourselves those advantages as well as they. Howbeit, whereinsoever any is bold, and can justly value himself on these advantages, I am bold also, and can claim the same distinctions, though I speak foolishly in setting any value on those things; but it is necessary that I should show that such men have not even one natural good that they can boast of beyond me."

Clarke: 2Co 11:22

Are they Hebrews - Speaking the sacred language, and reading in the congregation from the Hebrew Scriptures? the same is my own language

Clarke: 2Co 11:22

Are they Israelites - Regularly descended from Jacob, and not from Esau? I am also one

Clarke: 2Co 11:22

Are they the seed of Abraham - Circumcised, and in the bond of the covenant? So am I. I am no proselyte, but I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews both by father and mother; and can trace my genealogy, through the tribe of Benjamin, up to the father of the faithful.

Clarke: 2Co 11:23

Are they ministers of Christ - So we find that these were professors of Christianity; and that they were genuine Jews, and such as endeavored to incorporate both systems, and, no doubt, to oblige those who had believed to be circumcised; and this appears to have been the bondage into which they had brought many of the believing Corinthians

Clarke: 2Co 11:23

I am more - More of a minister of Christ than they are, and have given fuller proofs of it. I have suffered persecution for the cross of Christ, and of the Jews too; and had I preached up the necessity of circumcision, I should have been as free from opposition as these are

Clarke: 2Co 11:23

In labors more abundant - Far from sitting down to take my ease in a Church already gathered into Christ; I travel incessantly, preach every where, and at all risks, in order to get the heathen brought from the empire of darkness into the kingdom of God’ s beloved Son

Clarke: 2Co 11:23

In stripes above measure - Being beaten by the heathen, who had no particular rule according to which they scourged criminals; and we find, from Act 16:22, Act 16:23, that they beat Paul unmercifully with many stripes. See the note on Act 16:22

Clarke: 2Co 11:23

In prisons more frequent - See Act 21:11, and the whole of the apostle’ s history; and his long imprisonment of at least two years at Rome, Act 28:16, Act 28:30. It does not appear that there is any one instance of a false apostle having been imprisoned for the testimony of Christ; this was a badge of the true apostles

Clarke: 2Co 11:23

In deaths oft - That is, in the most imminent dangers. See 1Co 15:31; 2Co 4:11. And see the apostle’ s history in the Acts.

Clarke: 2Co 11:24

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one - That is, he was five times scourged by the Jews, whose law (Deu 25:3) allowed forty stripes; but they, pretending to be lenient, and to act within the letter of the law, inflicted but thirty-nine

To except one stripe from the forty was a very ancient canon among the Jews, as we learn from Josephus, Antiq. lib. iv. ch. viii. sec. 21, who mentions the same thing: πληγας μιας λειπουσης τεσσαπακοντα· forty stripes, excepting one

The Mishna gives this as a rule, Mish., Maccoth, fol. 22, 10

"How often shall he, the culprit, be smitten

Ans. ארבעים תמר אתר forty stripes, wanting one; i.e. with the number which is highest to forty.

Frequently a man was scourged according to his ability to bear the punishment; and it is a canon in the Mishna, "That he who cannot bear forty stripes should receive only eighteen, and yet be considered as having suffered the whole punishment."They also thought it right to stop under forty, lest the person who counted should make a mistake, and the criminal get more than forty stripes, which would be injustice, as the law required only forty

The manner in which this punishment was inflicted is described in the Mishna, fol. 22, 2: "The two hands of the criminal are bound to a post, and then the servant of the synagogue either pulls or tears off his clothes till he leaves his breast and shoulders bare. A stone or block is placed behind him on which the servant stands; he holds in his hands a scourge made of leather, divided into four tails. He who scourges lays one third on the criminal’ s breast, another third on his right shoulder, and another on his left. The man who receives the punishment is neither sitting nor standing, but all the while stooping; and the man smites with all his strength, with one hand."The severity of this punishment depends on the nature of the scourge, and the strength of the executioner

It is also observed that the Jews did not repeat scourgings except for enormous offenses. But they had scourged the apostle five times; for with those murderers no quarter would be given to the disciples, as none was given to the Master. See Schoettgen.

Clarke: 2Co 11:25

Thrice was I beaten with rods - This was under the Roman government, as their lictors beat criminals in this way. We hear of the apostle’ s being treated thus once, namely at Philippi, Act 16:22. See Section 9 of the Introduction.

Clarke: 2Co 11:25

Once was I stoned - Namely, at Lystra, Act 14:19, etc

Clarke: 2Co 11:25

A night and a day I have been in the deep - To what this refers we cannot tell; it is generally supposed that in some shipwreck not on record the apostle had saved himself on a plank, and was a whole day and night on the sea, tossed about at the mercy of the waves. Others think that βυθος, the deep, signifies a dungeon of a terrible nature at Cyzicum, in the Propontis, into which Paul was cast as he passed from Troas. But this is not likely.

Clarke: 2Co 11:26

In journeyings often - He means the particular journeys which he took to different places, for the purpose of propagating the Gospel

Clarke: 2Co 11:26

In perils of waters - Exposed to great dangers in crossing rivers; for of rivers the original, ποταμων, must be understood

Clarke: 2Co 11:26

Of robbers - Judea itself, and perhaps every other country, was grievously infested by banditti of this kind; and no doubt the apostle in his frequent peregrinations was often attacked, but, being poor and having nothing to lose, he passed unhurt, though not without great danger

Clarke: 2Co 11:26

In perils by mine own countrymen - The Jews had the most rooted antipathy to him, because they considered him an apostate from the true faith, and also the means of perverting many others. There are several instances of this in the Acts; and a remarkable conspiracy against his life is related, Act 23:12, etc

Clarke: 2Co 11:26

In perils by the heathen - In the heathen provinces whither he went to preach the Gospel. Several instances of these perils occur also in the Acts

Clarke: 2Co 11:26

In perils in the city - The different seditions raised against him; particularly in Jerusalem, to which Ephesus and Damascus may be added

Clarke: 2Co 11:26

Perils in the wilderness - Uninhabited countries through which he was obliged to pass in order to reach from city to city. In such places it is easy to imagine many dangers from banditti, wild beasts, cold, starvation, etc

Clarke: 2Co 11:26

Perils in the sea - The different voyages he took in narrow seas, such as the Mediterranean, about dangerous coasts, and without compass

Clarke: 2Co 11:26

False brethren - Persons who joined themselves to the Church, pretending faith in Christ, but intending to act as spies, hoping to get some matter of accusation against him. He no doubt suffered much also from apostates.

Clarke: 2Co 11:27

In weariness and painfulness - Tribulations of this kind were his constant companions. Lord Lyttleton and others have made useful reflections on this verse: "How hard was it for a man of a genteel and liberal education, as St. Paul was, to bear such rigours, and to wander about like a vagabond, hungry and almost naked, yet coming into the presence of persons of high life, and speaking in large and various assemblies on matters of the utmost importance!"Had not St. Paul been deeply convinced of the truth and absolute certainty of the Christian religion, he could not have continued to expose himself to such hardships.

Clarke: 2Co 11:28

Beside those things that are without - Independently of all these outward things, I have innumerable troubles and mental oppressions

Clarke: 2Co 11:28

Which cometh upon me - Ἡ επισυατασις· This continual press of business; this insurrection of cases to be heard, solved, and determined, relative to the doctrine, discipline, state, persecution, and supply of all the Churches

All his perils were little in comparison of what he felt relative to the peace, government, and establishment of all the Churches among the Gentiles; for as he was the apostle of the Gentiles, the government of all the Churches among these fell in some sort on him, whether they were of his own planting or of the planting of others. See Col 2:1. None but a conscientious minister, who has at heart the salvation of souls, can enter into the apostle’ s feelings in this place.

Clarke: 2Co 11:29

Who is weak - What Church is there under persecution, with which I do not immediately sympathize? or who, from his weakness in the faith, and scrupulousness of conscience, is likely to be stumbled, or turned out of the way, to whom I do not condescend, and whose burden I do not bear

Clarke: 2Co 11:29

Who is offended - Or likely to be turned out of the way, and I burn not with zeal to restore and confirm him? This seems to be the sense of these different questions.

Clarke: 2Co 11:30

I will glory - which concern mine infirmities - I will not boast of my natural or acquired powers; neither in what God has done by me; but rather in what I have suffered for him

Many persons have understood by infirmities what they call the indwelling sin of the apostle, and say that "he gloried in this, because the grace of Christ was the more magnified in his being preserved from ruin, notwithstanding this indwelling adversary."And to support this most unholy interpretation, they quote those other words of the apostle, 2Co 12:9 : Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, my indwelling corruptions, that the power of Christ, in chaining the fierce lion, may rest upon me. But it would be difficult to produce a single passage in the whole New Testament where the word ασθενεια, which we translate infirmity, has the sense of sin or moral corruption. The verb ασθενεω signifies to be weak, infirm, sick, poor, despicable through poverty, etc. And in a few places it is applied to weakness in the faith, to young converts, who are poor in religious knowledge, not yet fully instructed in the nature of the Gospel; Rom 4:19; Rom 14:1, Rom 14:2. And it is applied to the works of the law, to point out their inability to justify a sinner, Rom 8:3. But to inward sin, and inward corruption it is never applied. I am afraid that what these persons call their infirmities may rather be called their strengths; the prevailing and frequently ruling power of pride, anger, ill-will, etc.; for how few think evil tempers to be sins! The gentle term infirmity softens down the iniquity; and as St. Paul, so great and so holy a man, say they, had his infirmities, how can they expect to be without theirs? These should know that they are in a dangerous error; that St. Paul means nothing of the kind; for he speaks of his sufferings, and of these alone. One word more: would not the grace and power of Christ appear more conspicuous in slaying the lion than in keeping him chained? in destroying sin, root and branch; and filling the soul with his own holiness, with love to God and man, with the mind - all the holy heavenly tempers, that were in himself; than in leaving these impure and unholy tempers, ever to live and often to reign in the heart? The doctrine is discreditable to the Gospel, and wholly antichristian.

Clarke: 2Co 11:31

The God and Father of our Lord - Here is a very solemn asseveration; an appeal to the ever blessed God for the truth of what he asserts. It is something similar to his asseveration or oath in 2Co 11:10 of this chapter; see also Rom 9:5, and Gal 1:20. And from these and several other places we learn that the apostle thought it right thus to confirm his assertions on these particular occasions. But here is nothing to countenance profane swearing, or taking the name of God in vain, as many do in exclamations, when surprised, or on hearing something unexpected, etc.; and as others do who, conscious of their own falsity, endeavor to gain credit by appeals to God for the truth of what they say. St. Paul’ s appeal to God is in the same spirit as his most earnest prayer. This solemn appeal the apostle makes in reference to what he mentions in the following verses. This was a fact not yet generally known.

Clarke: 2Co 11:32

In Damascus the governor under Aretas - For a description of Damascus see the note on Act 9:2. And for the transaction to which the apostle refers see Act 9:23. As to King Aretas, there were three of this name. The first is mentioned 2 Maccabeans Act 9:8. The second by Josephus, Antiq. l. xiii. c. 15, sec. 2; and l. xvi. c. 1, sec. 4. The third, who is the person supposed to be referred to here, was the father-in-law of Herod Antipas, of whom see the notes, Act 9:23, etc

But it is a question of some importance, How could Damascus, a city of Syria, be under the government of an Arabian king? It may be accounted for thus: Herod Antipas, who married the daughter of Aretas, divorced her, in order to marry Herodias, his brother Philip’ s wife. Aretas, on this indignity offered to his family, made war upon Herod. Herod applied to Tiberius for help, and the emperor sent Vitellius to reduce Aretas, and to bring him alive or dead to Rome. By some means or other Vitellius delayed his operations, and in the meantime Tiberius died; and thus Aretas was snatched from ruin, Joseph., Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 5. What Aretas did in the interim is not known; but it is conjectured that he availed himself of the then favorable state of things, made an irruption into Syria, and seized on Damascus. See Rosenmuller; and see the introduction to this epistle, Section 2.

Clarke: 2Co 11:32

The governor - Εθναρχης· Who this ethnarch was, we cannot tell. The word ethnarch signifies the governor of a province, under a king or emperor

Clarke: 2Co 11:32

Desirous to apprehend me - The enemies of the apostle might have represented him to the governor as a dangerous spy, employed by the Romans.

Clarke: 2Co 11:33

Through a window in a basket - Probably the house was situated on the wall of the city. See the notes on this history, Act 9:23-25 (note)

In 2Co 11:2 of this chapter the apostle most evidently alludes to the history of the temptation, and fall of Adam and Eve, as related in Gen 3:1, etc.; and which fall is there attributed to the agency of a being called נחש nachash , here, and in other places, translated οφις, serpent. In my notes on Genesis I have given many, and, as I judge, solid reasons, why the word cannot be understood literally of a serpent of any kind; and that most probably a creature of the simia or ape genus was employed by the devil on this occasion. The arguments on this subject appeared to me to be corroborated by innumerable probabilities; but I left the conjecture afloat, (for I did not give it a more decisive name), and placed it in the hands of my readers to adopt, reject, or amend, as their judgments might direct them. To several this sentiment appeared a monstrous heresy! and speedily the old serpent had a host of defenders. The very modest opinion, or conjecture, was controverted by some who were both gentlemen and scholars, and by several who were neither; by some who could not affect candour because they had not even the appearance of it, but would affect learning because they wished to be reputed wise. What reason and argument failed to produce they would supply with ridicule; and as monkey was a convenient term for this purpose, they attributed it to him who had never used it. What is the result? They no doubt believe that they have established their system; and their arguments are to them conclusive. They have my full consent; but I think it right to state that I have neither seen nor heard of any thing that has the least tendency to weaken my conjecture, or produce the slightest wavering in my opinion. Indeed their arguments, and mode of managing them, have produced a very different effect on my mind to what they designed. I am now more firmly persuaded of the probability of my hypothesis than ever. I shall, however, leave the subject as it is: I never proposed it as an article of faith; I press it on no man. I could fortify it with many additional arguments if I judged it proper; for its probability appears to me as strong as the utter improbability of the common opinion, to defend which its abettors have descended to insupportable conjectures, of which infidels have availed themselves, to the discredit of the sacred writings. To those who choose to be wise and witty, and wish to provoke a controversy, this is my answer: I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, while I leave it and come Down to You? Neh 6:3.

Calvin: 2Co 11:15

15.Whose end shall be He adds this for the consolation of the pious. For it is the statement of a courageous man, who despises the foolish judgments of men, and patiently waits for the day of the Lord. In the mean time, he shows a singular boldness of conscience, which does not dread the judgment of God.

Calvin: 2Co 11:16

16.I say again The Apostle has a twofold design. He has it partly in view to expose the disgusting vanity of the false Apostles, inasmuch as they were such extravagant trumpeters of their own praises; and farther, to expostulate with the Corinthians, because they shut him up to the necessity of glorying, contrary to the inclinations of his own mind. “ I say again,” says he. For he had abundantly shown previously, that there was no reason, why he should be despised. He had also shown at the same time, that he was very unlike others, and therefore ought not to have his grounds of glorying estimated according to the rule of their measure. Thus he again shows, for what purpose he had hitherto gloried — that he might clear his apostleship from contempt; for if the Corinthians had done their duty, he would not have said one word as to this matter.

Otherwise now as a fool “If I am reckoned by you a fool, allow me at least to make use of my right and liberty — that is, to speak foolishly after the manner of fools.” Thus he reproves the false Apostles, who, while they were exceedingly silly in this respect, were not merely borne with by the Corinthians, but were received with great applause. He afterwards explains what kind of folly it is — the publishing of his own praises. While they did so without end and without measure, he intimates that it was a thing to which he was unaccustomed; for he says, for a little while For I take this clause as referring to time, so that the meaning is, that Paul did not wish to continue it long, but assumed, as it were, for the moment, the person of another, and immediately thereafter laid it aside, as we are accustomed to pass over lightly those things that are foreign to our object, while fools occupy themselves constantly (ἐν παρέργοις) ⁸³⁷ in matters of inferior moment.

Calvin: 2Co 11:17

17.What I speak, I speak not after the Lord His disposition, it is true, had an eye to God, but the outward appearance ⁸³⁸ might seem unsuitable to a servant of the Lord. At the same time, the things that Paul confesses respecting himself, he, on the other hand, condemns in the false Apostles. ⁸³⁹ For it was not his intention to praise himself, but simply to contrast himself with them, with the view of humbling them. ⁸⁴⁰ Hence he transfers to his own person what belonged to them, that he may thus open the eyes of the Corinthians. What I have rendered boldness, is in the Greek ὑπόστασις , as to the meaning of which term we have spoken in the ninth chapter. (2Co 9:4.) Subject-matter ⁸⁴¹ or substance, unquestionably, would not be at all suitable here. ⁸⁴²

Calvin: 2Co 11:18

18.Since many glory The meaning is — Should any one say to me, by way of objection, that what I do is faulty, what then as to others? Are not they my leaders? Am I alone, or am I the first, in glorying according to the flesh? Why should that be reckoned praiseworthy in them, that is imputed to me as a fault?” So far then is Paul from ambition in recounting his own praises, that he is contented to be blamed on that account, provided he exposes the vanity of the false apostles.

To glory after the flesh, is to boast one’s self, rather in what has a tendency towards show, than in a good conscience. For the term flesh, here, has a reference to the world — when we seek after praise from outward masks, which have a showy appearance before the world, and are regarded as excellent. In place of this term he had a little before made use of the expression — in appearance. (2Co 10:7.)

Calvin: 2Co 11:19

19.For ye bear with fools willingly He calls them wise — in my opinion, ironically. He was despised by them, which could not have been, had they not been puffed up with the greatest arrogance ⁸⁴³ He says, therefore — “Since you are so wise, act the part of wise men in bearing with me, whom you treat with contempt, as you would a fool.” Hence I infer, that this discourse is not addressed to all indiscriminately, but some particular persons are reproved, who conducted themselves in an unkind manner. ⁸⁴⁴

Calvin: 2Co 11:20

20.For ye bear with it, if any one There are three ways in which this may be understood. He may be understood as reproving the Corinthians in irony, because they could not endure any thing, as is usually the case with effeminate persons; or he charges them with indolence, because they had given themselves up to the false Apostles in a disgraceful bondage; or he repeats, as it were, in the person of another, what was spitefully affirmed respecting himself, ⁸⁴⁵ as if he claimed for himself a tyrannical authority over them. The second meaning is approved by Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Augustine, and hence it is commonly received; and, indeed, it corresponds best with the context, although the third is not less in accordance with my views. For we see, how he was calumniated from time to time by the malevolent, as if he domineered tyrannically, while he was very far from doing so. As, however, the other meaning is more generally received, I have no objection, that it should be held as the true one.

Now this statement will correspond with the preceding one in this way: “You bear with every thing from others, if they oppress you, if they demand what belongs to you, if they treat you disdainfully. Why then will you not bear with me, as they are in no respect superior to me?” For as to his saying that he is not weak, he means that he had been endowed by God with such excellent graces, that he ought not to be looked upon as of the common order. For the word weak has a more extensive signification, as we shall see again ere long.

It has been the invariable custom, and will be so to the end, to resist contumaciously ⁸⁴⁶ the servants of God, to get enraged on the least occasion, ⁸⁴⁷ to grumble and murmur incessantly, to complain of even a moderate strictness, ⁸⁴⁸ to hold all discipline in abhorrence; while, on the other hand, they put themselves under servile subjection to false apostles, impostors, or mere worthless pretenders, give them liberty to do any thing whatever, and patiently submit to and endure, whatever burden they may choose to impose upon them. Thus, at the present day, you will scarcely find one in thirty, who will put his neck willingly under Christ’s yoke, while all have endured with patience a tyranny so severe as that of the Pope. Those very persons are all at once in an uproar, ⁸⁴⁹ in opposition to the fatherly and truly salutary reproofs of their pastors, who, on the other hand, had formerly swallowed down quietly every kind of insult, even the most atrocious, from the monks. ⁸⁵⁰ Are not those worthy of Antichrist’s torturing rack, rather than of Christ’s mild sway, who have ears so tender and backward to listen to the truth? But thus it has been from the beginning.

Calvin: 2Co 11:21

21.Nay, in whatsoever Paul had asked, why the Corinthians showed more respect to others than to him, while he had not been by any means weak, that is, contemptible. He now confirms this, because, if a comparison had been entered upon, he would not have been inferior to any one in any department of honor.

Calvin: 2Co 11:22

22. He now, by enumerating particular instances, lets them see more distinctly, that he would not by any means be found inferior, if matters came to a contest. And in the first place, he makes mention of the glory of his descent, of which his rivals chiefly vaunted. “If,” says he, “they boast of illustrious descent, I shall be on a level with them, for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham.” This is a silly and empty boast, and yet Paul makes use of three terms to express it; nay more, he specifies, as it were, three different marks of excellence. By this repetition, in my opinion, he indirectly reproves their folly, inasmuch as they placed the sum-total ⁸⁵² of their excellence in a thing that was so trivial, ⁸⁵³ and this boasting was incessantly in their mouth, so as to be absolutely disgusting, as vain men are accustomed to pour forth empty bravadoes as to a mere nothing.

As to the term Hebrews, it appears from Gen 11:15, that it denotes descent, and is derived from Heber; and farther, it is probable, that Abraham himself is so called in Gen 14:13, in no other sense than this — that he was descended from that ancestor. ⁸⁵⁴ Not altogether without some appearance of truth is the conjecture of those, who explain the term to mean those dwelling beyond the river. ⁸⁵⁵ We do not read, it is true, that any one was called so before Abraham, who had passed over the river, when he quitted his native country, and afterwards the appellation came to be a customary one among his posterity, as appears from the history of Joseph. The termination, however, shows that it is expressive of descent, and the passage, that I have quoted, abundantly confirms it. ⁸⁵⁶

Calvin: 2Co 11:23

23.Are they ministers of Christ? Now when he is treating of matters truly praiseworthy, he is no longer satisfied with being on an equality with them, but exalts himself above them. For their carnal glories he has previously been scattering like smoke by a breath of wind, ⁸⁵⁷ by placing in opposition to them those which he had of a similar kind; but as they had nothing of solid worth, he on good grounds separates himself from their society, when he has occasion to glory in good earnest. For to be a servant of Christ is a thing that is much more honorable and illustrious, than to be the first-born among all the first-born of Abraham’s posterity. Again, however, with the view of providing against calumnies, he premises that he speaks as a fool “Imagine this,” says he, “to be foolish boasting: it is, nevertheless, true.”

In labors By these things he proves that he is a more eminent servant of Christ, and then truly we have a proof that may be relied upon, when deeds instead of words are brought forward. He uses the term labors here in the plural number, and afterwards labor What difference there is between the former and the latter I do not see, unless perhaps it be, that he speaks here in a more general way, including those things that he afterwards enumerates in detail. In the same way we may also understand the term deaths to mean any kind of perils that in a manner threatened present death, instances of which he afterwards specifies. “I have given proof of myself in deaths often, in labors oftener still.” He had made use of the term deaths in the same sense in the first chapter. (2Co 1:10.)

Calvin: 2Co 11:24

24.From the Jews It is certain that the Jews had at that time been deprived of jurisdiction, but as this was a kind of moderate punishment (as they termed it) it is probable that it was allowed them. Now the law of God was to this effect, that those who did not deserve capital punishment should be beaten in the presence of a judge, (Deu 25:2,) provided not more than forty stripes were inflicted, lest the body should be disfigured or mutilated by cruelty. Now it is probable, that in process of time it became customary to stop at the thirty-ninth lash, ⁸⁵⁸ lest perhaps they should on any occasion, from undue warmth, exceed the number prescribed by God. Many such precautions, ⁸⁵⁹ prescribed by the Rabbins, ⁸⁶⁰ are to be found among the Jews, which make some restriction upon the permission that the Lord had given. Hence, perhaps, in process of time, (as things generally deteriorate,) they came to think, that all criminals should be beaten with stripes to that number, though the Lord did not prescribe, how far severity should go, but where it was to stop; unless perhaps you prefer to receive what is stated by others, that they exercised greater cruelty upon Paul. This is not at all improbable, for if they had been accustomed ordinarily to practice this severity upon all, he might have said that he was beaten according to custom. Hence the statement of the number is expressive of extreme severity.

Calvin: 2Co 11:25

25.Thrice was I beaten with rods Hence it appears, that the Apostle suffered many things, of which no mention is made by Luke; for he makes mention of only one stoning, ⁸⁶¹ one scourging, and one shipwreck. We have not, however, a complete narrative, nor is there mention made in it of every particular that occurred, but only of the principal things.

Calvin: 2Co 11:26

By perils from the nation he means those that befell him from his own nation, in consequence of the hatred, that was kindled against him among all the Jews. On the other hand, he had the Gentiles as his adversaries; and in the third place snares were laid for him by false brethren. Thus it happened, that

for Christ’s name’s sake he was hated by all.
(Mat 10:22.)

Calvin: 2Co 11:27

By fastings I understand those that are voluntary, as he has spoken previously of hunger and want. Such were the tokens by which he showed himself, and on good grounds, to be an eminent servant of Christ. For how may we better distinguish Christ’s servants than by proofs so numerous, so various, and so important? On the other hand, while those effeminate boasters ⁸⁶² had done nothing for Christ, and had suffered nothing for him, they, nevertheless, impudently vaunted.

It is asked, however, whether any one can be a servant of Christ, that has not been tried with so many evils, perils, and vexations? I answer, that all these things are not indispensably requisite on the part of all; ⁸⁶³ but where these things are seen, there is, undoubtedly, a greater and more illustrious testimony afforded. That man, therefore, who will be signalized by so many marks of distinction, will not despise those that are less illustrious, and less thoroughly tried, nor will he on that account be elated with pride; but still, whenever there is occasion for it, he will be prepared, after Paul’s example, to exult with a holy triumph, in opposition to pretenders ⁸⁶⁴ and worthless persons, provided he has an eye to Christ, not to himself — for nothing but pride or ambition could corrupt and tarnish all these praises. For the main thing is — that we serve Christ with a pure conscience. All other things are, as it were, additional.

Calvin: 2Co 11:28

28.Besides those things that are without “ Besides those things, ” says he, “which come upon me from all sides, and are as it were extraordinary, what estimate must be formed of that ordinary burden that constantly presses upon me — the care that I have of all the Churches.” The care of all the Churches he appropriately calls his ordinary burden. For I have taken the liberty of rendering ἐπισύστασιν in this way, as it sometimes means — whatever presses upon us. ⁸⁶⁵

Whoever is concerned in good earnest as to the Church of God, stirs up himself and bears a heavy burden, which presses upon his shoulders. What a picture we have here of a complete minister, embracing in his anxieties and aims not one Church merely, or ten, or thirty, but all of them together, so that he instructs some, confirms others, exhorts others, gives counsel to some, and applies a remedy to the diseases of others! Now from Paul’s words we may infer, that no one can have a heartfelt concern for the Churches, without being harassed with many difficulties; for the government of the Church is no pleasant occupation, in which we may exercise ourselves agreeably and with delight of heart, ⁸⁶⁶ but a hard and severe warfare, as has been previously mentioned, (2Co 10:4,) — Satan from time to time giving us as much trouble as he can, and leaving no stone unturned to annoy us.

Calvin: 2Co 11:29

29.Who is weak How many there are that allow all offenses to pass by unheeded — who either despise the infirmities of brethren, or trample them under foot! This, however, arises from their having no concern for the Church. For concern, undoubtedly, produces συμπάθειαν ( sympathy,) ⁸⁶⁷ which leads the Minister of Christ to participate in the feelings of all, ⁸⁶⁸ and put himself in the place of all, that he may suit himself to all.

Calvin: 2Co 11:30

30.If he must glory Here we have the conclusion, drawn from all that has gone before — that Paul is more inclined to boast of those things that are connected with his infirmity, that is, those things which might, in the view of the world, bring him contempt, rather than glory, as, for example, hunger, thirst, imprisonments, stonings, stripes, and the like — those things, in truth, that we are usually as much ashamed of, as of things that incur great dishonor. ⁸⁶⁹

Calvin: 2Co 11:31

31.The God and Father As he was about to relate a singular feat, ⁸⁷⁰ which, at the same time, was not well known, he confirms it by making use of an oath. Observe, however, what is the form of a pious oath, ⁸⁷¹ — when, for the purpose of declaring the truth, we reverently call God as our witness. Now this persecution was, as it were, Paul’s first apprenticeship, ⁸⁷² as appears from Luke, (Act 9:23); but if, while yet a raw recruit, he was exercised in such beginnings, what shall we think of him, when a veteran soldier? As, however, flight gives no evidence of a valiant spirit, it may be asked, why it is that he makes mention of his flight? I answer, that the gates of the royal city having been closed, clearly showed with what rage the wicked were inflamed against him; and it was on no light grounds that they had been led to entertain such a feeling, ⁸⁷³ for if Paul had not fought for Christ with a new and unusual activity, the wicked would never have been thrown into such a commotion. His singular perseverance, however, shone forth chiefly in this — that, after escaping from so severe a persecution, he did not cease to stir up the whole world against him, by prosecuting fearlessly the Lord’s work.

It may be, however, that he proceeds to mock those ambitious men, who, while they had never had experience of any thing but applauses, favors, honorable salutations, and agreeable lodgings, wished to be held in the highest esteem. For, in opposition to this, he relates, that he was shut in, so that he could with difficulty save his life by a miserable and ignominious flight.

Some, however, ask, whether it was lawful for Paul to leap over the walls, inasmuch as it was a capital crime to do so? I answer, in the first place, that it is not certain, whether that punishment was sanctioned by law in the East; and farther, that even if it was so, Paul, nevertheless, was guilty of no crime, because he did not do this as an enemy, or for sport, but from necessity. For the law would not punish a man, that would throw himself down from the walls to save his life from the flames; and what difference is there between a fire, and a fierce attack from robbers? We must always, in connection with laws, have an eye to reason and equity. ⁸⁷⁴ This consideration will exempt Paul entirely from blame.

Defender: 2Co 11:15

There are many who profess to be servants, or "ministers of righteousness," even appearing on occasion to work miracles, but these in themselves prove nothing. "He that doeth the will of my Father" (Mat 7:21) - that is the test, according to Jesus. "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart form me, ye that work iniquity" (Mat 7:22, Mat 7:23).

Defender: 2Co 11:15

Perhaps here Paul was also alluding to those Judaizers who were demanding that Christians adhere to the righteousness of the Law in order to attain salvation, undermining the great doctrine of salvation by grace. But those who seek salvation by works must then be judged by their works, and none can measure up to the divine standard (Gal 2:16). All who are judged "according to their works" shall be "cast into the lake of fire" (Rev 20:13, Rev 20:15)."

Defender: 2Co 11:17

Paul is not denying divine inspiration of his words at this point but simply stating that boasting of one's pedigree and achievements was not normal and proper behavior for a Christian, even for an apostle. It is evident throughout this whole passage (2Co 11:16), that it was painfully embarrassing for him to have to recite his own qualifications in this way. However, the Corinthians had rendered it necessary by receiving the teachings of the fake apostles as superior to those of Paul and submitting themselves to their undeserved and even despotic leadership because of their professed superior qualifications to those of Paul. The Apostle Paul has surely set an example here for other true Christian leaders. Boasting of one's achievements and experiences is ill becoming to a Christian, the only exception being when it is necessary, for the sake of the testimony, to rebut the false claims of those who are thereby deceiving others and keeping them from believing God's Word."

Defender: 2Co 11:23

This remarkable catalog of Paul's sufferings endured in preaching the Gospel (2Co 11:23-33) certainly demonstrates the fulfillment and reality of his original call (Act 9:15). It is only a representative list, not including all of his sufferings as described in Acts. On the other hand, it includes a number of items not mentioned in Acts, showing thereby that the book of Acts was not written as a biography of Paul or other apostles but, rather, to chronicle the spreading of the Gospel in the early years of Christianity."

TSK: 2Co 11:15

no : 2Ki 5:13; 1Co 9:11

his : 2Co 11:13; Act 13:10; Eph 6:12; Rev 9:11, Rev 13:2, Rev 13:14, Rev 19:19-21, Rev 20:2, Rev 20:3, Rev 20:7-10

the ministers : 2Co 11:23, 2Co 3:9

whose : Isa 9:14, Isa 9:15; Jer 5:31, Jer 23:14, Jer 23:15, Jer 28:15-17, Jer 29:32; Eze 13:10-15, Eze 13:22; Mat 7:15, Mat 7:16; Gal 1:8, Gal 1:9; Phi 3:19; 2Th 2:8-12; 2Pe 2:3, 2Pe 2:13-22; Jud 1:4, Jud 1:10-13

TSK: 2Co 11:16

say : 2Co 11:1

Let : 2Co 11:21-23, 2Co 12:6, 2Co 12:11

receive me : or, suffer me, 2Co 11:1, 2Co 11:19

TSK: 2Co 11:17

I speak it : 1Co 7:6, 1Co 7:12

foolishly : 2Co 11:18-27, 2Co 9:4; Phi 3:3-6

TSK: 2Co 11:18

many : 2Co 11:12, 2Co 11:21-23, 2Co 10:12-18; Jer 9:23, Jer 9:24; 1Co 4:10; 1Pe 1:24

I will : 2Co 12:5, 2Co 12:6, 2Co 12:9, 2Co 12:11

TSK: 2Co 11:19

seeing : 1Co 4:10, 1Co 8:1, 1Co 10:15; Rev 3:17

TSK: 2Co 11:20

if a man bring : 2Co 1:24; Gal 2:4, Gal 4:3, Gal 4:9, Gal 4:25, Gal 5:1, Gal 5:10, Gal 6:12

take : Rom 16:17, Rom 16:18; Phi 3:19; 1Th 2:5

a man smite : Isa 50:6; Lam 3:30; Luk 6:29

TSK: 2Co 11:21

as though : 2Co 10:1, 2Co 10:2, 2Co 10:10, 2Co 13:10

whereinsoever : 2Co 11:22-27; Phi 3:3-6

I speak : 2Co 11:17, 2Co 11:23

TSK: 2Co 11:22

Hebrews : Exo 3:18, Exo 5:3, Exo 7:16, Exo 9:1, Exo 9:13, Exo 10:3; Act 22:3; Rom 11:1; Phi 3:5

the seed : Gen 17:8, Gen 17:9; 2Ch 20:7; Mat 3:9; Joh 8:33-39; Rom 4:13-18

TSK: 2Co 11:23

ministers : 2Co 3:6, 2Co 6:4; 1Co 3:5, 1Co 4:1; 1Th 3:2; 1Ti 4:6

I am : 2Co 11:5, 2Co 12:11, 2Co 12:12

in labours : 1Co 15:10; Col 1:29

in stripes : 2Co 11:24, 2Co 11:25, 2Co 6:4, 2Co 6:5; Act 9:16

in prisons : Act 9:16, Act 16:24, Act 20:23, Act 21:11, Act 24:26, Act 24:27, Act 25:14, Act 27:1, Act 28:16, Act 28:30; Eph 3:1; Eph 4:1, Eph 6:20; Phi 1:13; 2Ti 1:8, 2Ti 1:16, 2Ti 2:9; Phm 1:9; Heb 10:34

in deaths : 2Co 1:9, 2Co 1:10, 2Co 4:11, 2Co 6:9; Act 14:19; 1Co 15:30-32; Phi 2:17; Col 1:24

TSK: 2Co 11:24

forty : Deu 25:2, Deu 25:3; Mat 10:17; Mar 13:9

TSK: 2Co 11:25

I beaten : Act 16:22, Act 16:23, Act 16:33, Act 16:37, Act 22:24

once : Mat 21:35; Act 7:58, Act 7:59, Act 14:5, Act 14:19; Heb 11:37

thrice : Acts 27:1-44

TSK: 2Co 11:26

journeyings : Act 9:23, Act 9:26-30, Act 11:25, Act 11:26, 13:1-14:28, Act 15:2-4, Act 15:40,Act 15:41, 16:1-18:1; Act 18:18-23, Act 19:1, Act 20:1-6; Rom 15:19, Rom 15:24-28; Gal 1:17-21

in perils by mine : Act 9:23-25, Act 9:29, Act 13:50, Act 20:3, Act 20:19, Act 21:28-31, Act 23:12-22, Act 25:3, Act 28:10,Act 28:11; 1Th 2:15, 1Th 2:16

in perils by the : 2Co 1:8-10; Act 14:5, Act 14:19, Act 16:19-24, 19:23-41; 1Co 15:32

in perils in the city : 2Co 11:32; Act 9:24, Act 17:5

TSK: 2Co 11:27

weariness : 2Co 11:23, 2Co 6:5; Act 20:5-11, Act 20:34, Act 20:35; 1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8

in watchings : Act 20:31

in hunger : Jer 38:9; 1Co 4:11, 1Co 4:12; Phi 4:12

fastings : 2Co 6:5; Act 13:2, Act 13:3, Act 14:23; 1Co 7:5

nakedness : Rom 8:35, Rom 8:36; Heb 11:37; Jam 2:15, Jam 2:16

TSK: 2Co 11:28

those : 2Co 11:23-27

the care : Act 15:36, Act 15:40,Act 15:41, Act 18:23, Act 20:2, 18-35; Rom 1:14, Rom 11:13, Rom 15:16, Rom 16:4; Col 2:1

TSK: 2Co 11:29

is weak : 2Co 2:4, 2Co 2:5, 2Co 7:5, 2Co 7:6, 2Co 13:9; Ezr 9:1-3; Rom 12:15, Rom 15:1; 1Co 8:13, 1Co 9:22, 1Co 12:26; Gal 6:2; 1Th 3:5-8

and I burn : 2Co 11:13-15; Num 25:6-11; Neh 5:6-13, Neh 13:15-20,Neh 13:23-25; Joh 2:17; 1Co 5:1-5; 1Co 6:5-7, 1Co 6:15-18, 1Co 11:22, 15:12-34, 1Co 15:36; Gal 1:7-10, Gal 2:4-6, Gal 2:14, Gal 3:1-3; Gal 4:8-20, Gal 5:2-4; 2Jo 1:10,2Jo 1:11; Jud 1:3, Jud 1:4; Rev 2:2, Rev 2:20, Rev 3:15-18

TSK: 2Co 11:30

must : 2Co 11:16-18, 2Co 12:1, 2Co 12:11; Pro 25:27, Pro 27:2; Jer 9:23, Jer 9:24

I will : 2Co 12:5-10; Col 1:24

TSK: 2Co 11:31

God : 2Co 1:3, 2Co 1:23; Joh 10:30, Joh 20:17; Rom 1:9, Rom 9:1; Eph 1:3, Eph 3:14; Gal 1:2, Gal 1:3; Col 1:3; 1Th 2:5; 1Pe 1:3

which : Neh 9:5; Psa 41:13; Rom 1:25, Rom 9:5; 1Ti 1:11, 1Ti 1:17, 1Ti 6:16

knoweth : 2Co 11:10

TSK: 2Co 11:32

Damascus : 2Co 11:26; Act 9:24, Act 9:25

Aretas : This Aretas was an Arabian king, and the father-in-law of Herod Antipas, upon whom he made war in consequence of his having divorced his daughter. Herod applied to Tiberius for help, who sent Vitellius to reduce Aretas, and to bring him alive or dead to Rome. By some means or other Vitellius delayed his operations, and in the mean time Tiberius died; and it is probable that Aretas, who was thus snatched from ruin, availed himself of the favourable state of things, and seized on Damascus, which had belonged to his ancestors.

TSK: 2Co 11:33

I let : Jos 2:18; 1Sa 19:12

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Co 11:15

Therefore it is no great thing ... - It is not to be deemed surprising. You are not to wonder if people of the basest, blackest character put on the appearance of the greatest sanctity, and even become eminent as professed preachers of righteousness.

Whose end shall be ... - Whose final destiny. Their doom in eternity shall not be according to their fair professions and plausible pretences, for they cannot deceive God; but shall be according to their real character, and their works. Their work is a work of deception, and they shall be judged according to that. What revelations there will be in the day of judgment, when all impostors shall be unmasked, and when all hypocrites and deceivers shall be seen in their true colors! And how desirable is it that there should be such a day to disclose all beings in their true character, and forever to remove imposture and delusion from the universe!

Barnes: 2Co 11:16

I say again - I repeat it. He refers to what he had said in 2Co 11:1. The sense is, "I have said much respecting myself which may seem to be foolish. I admit that to boast in this manner of one’ s own self in general is folly. But circumstances compel me to it. And I entreat you to look at those circumstances and not regard me as a fool for doing it."

If otherwise - If you think otherwise. If I cannot obtain this of you that you will not regard me as acting prudently and wisely. If you will think me foolish, still I am constrained to make these remarks in vindication of myself.

Yet as a fool receive me - Margin, "Suffer;"see 2Co 11:1. Bear with me as you do with others. Consider how much I have been provoked to this; how necessary it is to my character; and do not reject and despise me because I am constrained to say that of myself which is usually regarded as foolish boasting.

That I may boast myself a little - Since others do it and are not rebuked, may I be permitted to do it also; see 2Co 11:18-19. There is something sarcastic in the words "a little."The sense is, "Others are allowed to boast a great deal. Assuredly I may be allowed to boast a little of what I have done."

Barnes: 2Co 11:17

That which I speak - In praise of myself.

I speak it not after the Lord - see the note on 1Co 7:12. The phrase here may mean either, I do not speak this by inspiration or claiming to be inspired by the Lord; or more probably it may mean, I do not speak this imitating the example of the Lord Jesus or strictly as becomes his follower. He was eminently modest, and never vaunted or boasted. And Paul probably means to say, "I do not in this profess to follow him entirely. I admit that it is a departure from his pure example in this respect. But circumstances have compelled me and much as I would prefer another strain at remark, and sensible as I am in general of the folly of boasting, yet a regard to my apostolic office and authority urges me to this course."Bloomfield supposes that the apostle is not speaking seriously, but that he has an allusion to their view of what he was saying. "Be it so, if you think that what I speak, I speak not as I profess to do according to the Lord, or with a view to subserve the purposes of his religion, but as it were in folly, in the confidence of boasting, yet permit me to do it notwithstanding, since you allow others to do it."It is not easy to settle which is the true sense of the passage. I see no conclusive evidence against either. But the former seems to me to be most in accordance with the scope of the whole. Paul admitted that what he said was not in exact accordance with the spirit of the Lord Jesus; and in admitting this he designed probably to administer a delicate hint that all their boasting was a wide departure from that spirit.

As it were foolishly - As in folly. It is to be admitted that to boast is in general foolish; and I admit that my language is open to this general charge.

In this confidence of boasting - In confident boasting. I speak confidently and I admit in the spirit of boasting.

Barnes: 2Co 11:18

Seeing that many glory ... - The false teachers in Corinth. They boasted of their birth, rank, natural endowments, eloquence, etc.; see 2Co 11:22. Compare Phi 3:3-4.

I will glory also - I also will boast of my endowments, which though somewhat different yet pertain in the main to the "flesh"also; see 2Co 11:23 ff. His endowments "in the flesh,"or what he had to boast of pertaining to the flesh, related not so much to birth and rank, though not inferior to them in these, but to what the flesh had endured - to stripes and imprisonments, and hunger and peril. This is an exceedingly delicate and happy turn given to the whole subject.

Barnes: 2Co 11:19

For ye suffer fools gladly - You tolerate or endure those who are really fools. This is perhaps, says Dr. Bloomfield, the most sarcastic sentence ever penned by the apostle Paul. Its sense is, "You profess to be wondrous wise. And yet you who are so wise a people, freely tolerate those who are foolish in their boasting; who proclaim their own merits and attainments. You may allow me, therefore, to come in for my share, and boast also, and thus obtain your favor."Or it may mean, "You are so profoundly wise as easily to see who are fools. You have great power of discernment in this, and have found out that I am a fool, and also that other boasters are fools. Yet knowing this, you bear patiently with such fools; have admitted them to your favor and friendship, and I may come in among the rest of the fools, and partake also of your favors."They had borne with the false apostles who had boasted of their endowments, and yet they claimed to be eminent for wisdom and discernment.

Barnes: 2Co 11:20

For ye suffer ... - You bear patiently with people who impose on you in every way, and who are constantly defrauding you, though you profess to be so wise, and you may bear with me a little, though I have no such intention. Seriously, if you bear with boasters who intend to delude and deceive you in various ways, you may bear with one who comes to you with no such intention, but with an honest purpose to do good.

If a man bring you into bondage - ( καταδουλοῖ katadouloi ). If a man, or if anyone ( εἴ τις ei tis ) "make a slave of you,"or reduce you to servitude. The idea is, doubtless, that the false teachers set up a lordship over their consciences; destroyed their freedom of opinion; and made them subservient to their will. They really took away their Christian freedom as much as if they had been slaves. In what way this was done is unknown. It may be that they imposed on them rites and forms, commanded expensive and inconvenient ceremonies, and required arduous services merely at their own will. A false religion always makes slaves. It is only true Christianity that leaves perfect freedom. All pagans are slaves to their priests; all fanatics are slaves to some fanatical leader; all those who embrace error are slaves to those who claim to be their guides. The papist everywhere is the slave of the priest, and the despotism there is as great as in any region of servitude whatever.

If a man devour you - This is exceedingly sarcastic. The idea is, "Though you are so wise, yet you in fact tolerate people who impose on you - no matter though they eat you up, or consume all that you have. By their exorbitant demands they would consume all you have - or, as we would say, eat you out of house and home."All this they took patiently; and freely gave all that they demanded. False teachers are always rapacious. They seek the property, not the souls of those to whom they minister. Not satisfied with a maintenance, they aim to obtain all, and their plans are formed to secure as much as possible of those to whom they minister.

If a man take of you - If he take and seize upon your possessions. If he comes and takes what he pleases and bears it away as his own.

If a man exalt himself - If he set himself up as a ruler and claim submission. No matter how arrogant his claims, yet you are ready to bear with him. You might then bear with me in the very moderate demands which I make on your obedience and confidence.

If a man smite you on the face - The word rendered here as "smite"( δέρω derō ) means properly "to skin, to flay"; but in the New Testament it means "to beat, to scourge"- especially so as "to take off the skin"; Mat 21:35; Mar 12:3, Mar 12:5. The idea here is, if anyone treats you with contumely and scorn - since there can be no higher expression of it than to strike a man on the face; Mat 26:67. It is not to be supposed that this occurred literally among the Corinthians; but the idea is, that the false teachers really treated them with as little respect as if they smote them on the face. In what way this was done is unknown; but probably it was by their domineering manners, and the little respect which they showed for the opinions and feelings of the Corinthian Christians. Paul says that as they bore this very patiently, they might allow him to make some remarks about himself in self-commendation.

Barnes: 2Co 11:21

I speak as concerning reproach - I speak of disgrace. That is, says Rosenmuller, "I speak of your disgrace, or, as others prefer it, of the disgrace of the false apostles."Doddridge regards it as a question. "Do I speak this by way of dishonor, from an envious desire to derogate from my superiors so as to bring them down to my own level?"But to me it seems that Paul refers to what he had been admitting respecting himself - to what he had evinced in rudeness of speech 2Co 11:6, and to his not having urged his claims to the support which an apostle had a right to receive - to things, in short, which they esteemed to be disgraceful or reproachful. And his idea, it seems to me, is this: "I have been speaking of reproach or disgrace as if I was weak, that is, as if I was disposed to admit as true all that has been said of me as reproachful or disgraceful; all that has been said of my lack of qualifications for the office, of my lack of talent, or elevated rank, or honorable birth, etc. I have not pressed my claims, but have been reasoning as if all this were true - as if all that was honorable in birth and elevated in rank belonged to them - all that is mean and unworthy pertained to me. But it is not so. Whatever they have I have. Whatever they can boast of, I can boast of in a more eminent degree. Whatever advantage there is in birth is mine; and I can tell of toils, and trials, and sufferings in the apostolic office which far surpass theirs."Paul proceeds, therefore, to a full statement of his advantages of birth and of his labors in the cause of the Redeemer.

As though we had been weak - As if I had no claims to urge; as if I had no just cause of boldness, but must submit to this reproach.

Howbeit - ( δέ de ). But. The sense is, if anyone is disposed to boast, I am ready for him. I can tell also of things that have as high claims to confidence as they can. If they are disposed to go into a comparison on the points which qualify a man for the office of an apostle, I am ready to compare myself with them.

Whereinsoever - ( ἐν ᾧ en hō . In what. Whatever they have to boast of I am prepared also to show that I am equal to them. Be it pertaining to birth, rank, education, labors, they will find that I do not shrink from the comparison.

Any is bold - ( τις τολμᾷ tis tolma ). Anyone who dares to boast; anyone who is bold.

I speak foolishly - Remember now that I speak as a fool. I have been charged with this folly. Just now keep that in mind; and do not forget that it is only a fool who is speaking. Just recollect that I have no claims to public confidence; that I am destitute of all pretensions to the apostolic office; that I am given to a vain parade and ostentation, and to boasting of what does not belong to me, and when you recollect this let me tell my story. The whole passage is ironical in the highest degree. The sense is, "It is doubtless all nonsense and folly for a man to boast who has only the qualifications which I have. But there is a great deal of wisdom in their boasting who have so much more elevated endowments for the apostolic office."

I am bold also - I can meet them on their own ground, and speak of qualifications not inferior to theirs.

Barnes: 2Co 11:22

Are they Hebrews? - This proves that the persons who had made the difficulty in Corinth were those who were of Hebrew extraction though it may be that they had been born in Greece and had been educated in the Grecian philosophy and art of rhetoric. It is also clear that they prided themselves on being Jews - on having a connection with the people and land from whence the religion which the Corinthian church now professed had emanated. Indications are apparent everywhere in the New Testament of the superiority which the Jewish converts to Christianity claimed over those converted from among the pagan. Their boast would probably be that they were the descendants of the patriarchs; that the land of the prophets was theirs; that they spake the language in which the oracles of God were given; that the true religion had proceeded from them, etc.

So am I - I have as high claims as any of them to distinction on this head. Paul had all their advantages of birth. He was an Israelite; of rite honored tribe of Benjamin; a Pharisee, circumcised at the usual time Phi 3:5, and educated in the best manner at the feet of one of their most eminent teachers; Act 22:3.

Are they Israelites? - Another name, signifying substantially the same thing. The only difference is, that the word "Hebrew"signified properly one who was from beyond ( צברי ‛Ibriy from צבר ‘ aabar , to pass, to pass over - hence, applied to Abraham, because he had come from a foreign land; and the word denoted properly a foreigner - a man from the land or country beyond, צבר ‘ aabar the Euphrates. The name Israelite denoted properly one descended from Israel or Jacob, and the difference between them was, that the name Israelite, being a patronymic derived from one of the founders of their nation, was in use among themselves; the name Hebrew was applied by the Canaanite to them as having come from beyond the river, and was the current name among foreign tribes and nations. See Gesenius’ Lexicon on the word צברי ‛Ibriy Hebrew. Paul in the passage before us means to say that he had as good a claim to the honor of being a native born descendant of Israel as could be urged by any of them.

Are they the seed of Abraham? - Do they boast that they are descended from Abraham? This with all the Jews was regarded as a distinguished honor (see Mat 3:9; Joh 8:39), and no doubt the false teachers in Corinth boasted of it as eminently qualifying them to engage in the work of the ministry.

So am I - Paul had the same qualification. He was a Jew also by birth. He was of the tribe of Benjamin; Phi 3:5.

Barnes: 2Co 11:23

Are they ministers of Christ? - Though Jews by birth yet they claimed to be the ministers of the Messiah.

I speak as a fool - As if he had said, "Bear in mind, in what I am now about to say, that he who speaks is accused of being a fool in boasting. Let it not be deemed improper that I should act in this character, and since you regard me as such, let me speak like a fool."His frequent reminding them of this charge was eminently suited to humble them that they had ever made it, especially when they were reminded by an enumeration of his trials, of the character of the man against whom the charge was brought.

I am more - Paul was not disposed to deny that they were true ministers of Christ. But he had higher claims to the office than they had. He had been called to it in a more remarkable manner, and he had shown by his labors and trials that he had more of the true spirit of a minister of the Lord Jesus than they had. He therefore goes into detail to show what he had endured in endeavoring to diffuse the knowledge of the Saviour; trials which the had borne probably while they had been dwelling in comparative ease, and in a comfortable manner, free from suffering and persecution.

In labors more abundant - In the kind of labor necessary in propagating the gospel. Probably he had now been engaged in the work a much longer time than they had, and had been far more indefatigable in it.

In stripes - In receiving stripes; that is, I have been more frequently scourged; 2Co 11:24. This was a proof of his being a minister of Christ, because eminent devotedness to him at that time, of necessity subjected a man to frequent scourging. The ministry is one of the very few places, perhaps it stands alone in this, where it is proof of special qualification for office that a man has been treated with all manner of contumely, and has even been often publicly whipped. What other office admits such a qualification as this?

Above measure - Exceedingly; far exceeding them. He had received far more than they had, and he judged, therefore, that this was one evidence that he had been called to the ministry.

In prisons more frequent - In the Book of Acts , Luke mentions only one imprisonment of Paul before the time when this Epistle was written. That was at Philippi with Silas, Act 16:23 ff. But we are to remember that many things were omitted by Luke. He does not profess to give an account of all that happened to Paul; and an omission is not a contradiction. For anything that Luke says, Paul may have been imprisoned often. He mentions his having been in prison once; he does not deny that he had been in prison many times besides; see on Act 16:24.

In deaths oft - This is, exposed to death; or suffering pain equal to death; see on 2Co 1:9. No one familiar with the history of Paul can doubt that he was often in danger of death.

Barnes: 2Co 11:24

Of the Jews ... - On this verse and the following verse it is of importance to make a few remarks preliminary to the explanation of the phrases:

(1) It is admitted that the particulars here referred to cannot be extracted out of the Acts of the Apostles. A few can be identified, but there are many more trials referred to here than are specified there.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 his proves that this Epistle was not framed from the history, but that they are written independently of one another - Paley.

\caps1 (3) y\caps0 et they are not inconsistent one with the other. For there is no article in the enumeration here which is contradicted by the history, and the history, though silent with respect to many of these transactions, has left space enough to suppose that they may have occurred.

(a) There is no contradiction between the accounts. Where it is said by Paul that he was thrice beaten with rods, though in the Acts but one beating is mentioned, yet there is no contradiction. It is only the omission to record all that occurred to Paul. But had the history, says Paley, contained an account of four beatings with rods, while Paul mentions here but three, there would have been a contradiction. And so of the other particulars.

(b) Though the Acts of the Apostles be silent concerning many of the instances referred to, yet that silence may be accounted for on the plan and design of the history. The date of the Epistle synchronizes with the beginning of Acts 20. The part, therefore, which precedes the twentieth chapter is the only place in which can be found any notice of the transactions to which Paul here refers. And it is evident from the Acts that the author of that history was not with Paul until his departure from Troas, as related in 1Co 16:10; see the note on that place. From that time Luke attended Paul in his travels. From that period to the time when this Epistle was written occupies but four chapters of the history, and it is here if anywhere that we are to look for the minute account of the life of Paul. But here much may have occurred to Paul before Luke joined him. And as it was the design of Luke to give an account of Paul mainly after he had joined him, it is not to be wondered at that many things may have been omitted of his previous life.

© The period of time after the conversion of Paul to the time when Luke joined him at Troas is very succinctly given. That period embraced 16 years, and is comprised in a few chapters. Yet in that time Paul was constantly traveling. He went to Arabia, returned to Damascus, went to Jerusalem, and then to Tarsus, and from Tarsus to Antioch, and thence to Cyprus, and then through Asia Minor, etc. In this time he must have made many voyages, and been exposed to many perils. Yet all this is comprised in a few chapters, and a considerable portion of them is occupied with an account of public discourses. In that period of sixteen years, therefore, there was ample opportunity for all the occurrences which are here referred to by Paul; see Paley’ s Horse Paulinae on 2 Corinthians, No. 9:

(d) I may add, that from the account which follows the time when Luke joined him at Troas (from Act 16:10), it is altogether probable that he had endured much before. After that time there is mention of just such transactions of scourging, stoning, etc., as are here specified, and it is altogether probable that he had been called to suffer them before. When Paul says "of the Jews,"etc., he refers to this because this was a Jewish mode of punishment. It was usual with them to inflict but 39 blows. The Gentiles were not limited by law in the number which they inflicted.

Five times - This was doubtless in their synagogues and before their courts of justice. They had not the power of capital punishment, but they had the power of inflicting minor punishments. And though the instances are not specified by Luke in the Acts , yet the statement here by Paul has every degree of probability. We know that he often preached in their synagogues Act 9:20; Act 13:5, Act 13:14-15; Act 14:1; Act 17:17; Act 18:4; and nothing is more probable than that they would be enraged against him, and would vent their malice in every way possible. They regarded him as an apostate, and a ringleader of the Nazarenes, and they would not fail to inflict on him the severest punishment which they were permitted to inflict.

Forty stripes save one - The word "stripes"does not occur in the original, but is necessarily understood. The Law of Moses Deu 25:3 expressly limited the number of stripes that might be inflicted to 40. In no case might this number be exceeded. This was a humane provision, and one that was not found among the pagan, who inflicted any number of blows at discretion. Unhappily it is not observed among professedly Christian nations where the practice of whipping prevails, and particularly in slave countries, where the master inflicts any number of blows at his pleasure. In practice among the Hebrews, the number of blows inflicted was in fact limited to 39, lest by any accident in counting, the criminal should receive more than the number prescribed in the Law. There was another reason still for limiting it to 39. They usually made use of a scourge with three thongs, and this was struck 13 times. That it was usual to inflict but 39 lashes is apparent from Josephus, Ant . 4. viii, section 21.

Barnes: 2Co 11:25

Thrice was I beaten with rods - In the Acts of the Apostles there is mention made of his being beaten in this manner but once before the time when this Epistle was written. That occurred at Philippi; Act 16:22-23. But there is no reason to doubt that it was more frequently done. This was a frequent mode of punishment among the ancient nations, and as Paul was often persecuted, he would be naturally subjected to this shameful punishment.

Once I was stoned - This was the usual mode of punishment among the Jews for blasphemy. The instance referred to here occurred at Lystra; Act 14:19. Paley (Horae Paulinae) has remarked that this, when confronted with the history, furnished the nearest approach to a contradiction without a contradiction being actually incurred, that he ever had met with. The history Act 14:19 contains but one account of his being actually stoned. But prior to this Act 14:5, it mentions that "an assault was made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully and to stone them, but they were aware of it, and fled to Lystra and Derbe.""Now,"Paley remarks, "had the assault been completed; had the history related that a stone was thrown, as it relates that preparations were made both by Jews and Gentiles to stone Paul and his companions; or even had the account of this transaction stopped without going on to inform us that Paul and his companions were aware of their danger and fled, a contradiction between the history and the Epistle would have ensued. Truth is necessarily consistent; but it is scarcely possible that independent accounts, not having truth to guide them, should thus advance to the very brink of contradiction without falling into it."

Thrice I suffered shipwreck - On what occasions, or where, is now unknown, as these instances are not referred to in the Acts of the Apostles. The instance of shipwreck recorded there Acts 27, which occurred when on his way to Rome, happened after this Epistle was written, and should not be supposed to be one of the instances referred to here. Paul made many voyages in going from Jerusalem to Tarsus, and to Antioch, and to various parts of Asia Minor, and to Cyprus; and shipwrecks in those seas were by no means such unusual occurrences as to render this account improbable.

A night and a day ... - The word used here ( νυχθήμερον nuchthēmeron ) denotes a complete natural day, or 24 hours.

In the deep - To what this refers we do not now certainly know. It is probable, however, that Paul refers to some period when, having been shipwrecked, he was saved by supporting himself on a plank or fragment of the vessel until he obtained relief. Such a situation is one of great peril, and he mentions it, therefore, among the trials which he had endured. The supposition of some commentators that he spent his time on some rock in the deep; or of others that this means some deep dungeon; or of others that he was swallowed by a whale (that is, a big fish), like Jonah, shows the extent to which the fancy is often indulged in interpreting the Bible.

Barnes: 2Co 11:26

In journeyings often - Of course subject to the fatigue, toil, and danger which such a mode of life involves.

In perils of waters - In danger of losing my life at sea, or by floods, or by crossing streams.

Of robbers - Many of the countries, especially Arabia, through which he traveled, were then infested, as they are now, with robbers. It is not impossible or improbable that he was often attacked and his life endangered. It is still unsafe to travel in many of the places through which he traveled.

By mine own countrymen - The Jews. They often scourged him; laid wait for him and were ready to put him to death. They had deep enmity against him as an apostate, and he was in constant danger of being put to death by them.

By the pagan - By those who had not the true religion. Several instances of his danger from this quarter are mentioned in the Acts .

In the city - In cities, as in Derbe. Lystra, Philippi, Jerusalem, Ephesus, etc.

In the wilderness - In the desert, where he would be exposed to ambushes, or to wild beasts, or to hunger and want. Instances of this are not recorded in the Acts , but no one can doubt that they occurred, The idea here is, that he had met with constant danger wherever he was, whether in the busy haunts of people or in the solitude and loneliness of the desert.

In the sea - see 2Co 11:25.

Among false brethren - This was the crowning danger and trial to Paul, as it is to all others. A man can better bear danger by land and water, among robbers and in deserts, than he can bear to have his confidence abused, and to be subjected to the action and the arts of spies upon his conduct. Who these were he has not informed us. He mentions it as the chief trial to which he had been exposed, that he had met those who pretended to be his friends, and who yet had sought every possible opportunity to expose and destroy him. Perhaps he has here a delicate reference to the danger which he apprehended from the false brethren in the church at Corinth.

Barnes: 2Co 11:27

In weariness - Resulting from traveling, exposure, labor, and want. The word κόπος kopos (from κόπτω koptō , "to beat, to cut") means, properly, "wailing and grief,"accompanied with beating the breast. Hence, the word means "toil, labor, wearisome effort."

And painfulness - This word ( μόχθὸ‚ mochthos ) is a stronger term than the former. It implies painful effort; labor producing sorrow, and in the New Testament is uniformly connected with the word rendered "weariness"(1 Thess, 2Co 2:9; 2Th 3:8), rendered in both those places "travail."

In watchings often - In loss of sleep, arising from abundant toils and from danger; see the note on 2Co 6:5.

In hunger and thirst - From traveling among strangers, and being dependent on them and on his own personal labors; see the note, 1Co 4:11.

In fastings often - Either voluntary or involuntary; see the note on 2Co 6:5.

In cold and nakedness - see the note, 1Co 4:11.

Barnes: 2Co 11:28

Besides those things that are without - In addition to these external trials, these trials pertaining to the body, I have mental trials and anxieties resulting from the necessary care of all the churches, But on the meaning of these words commentators are not agreed. Rosenmuller supposes that the phrase means "besides those things that come from other sources,""that I may omit other things."Beza, Erasmus, Bloomfield, and some others suppose that the passage means those things out of the regular routine of his office. Doddridge, "besides foreign affairs."Probably the sense is, "Apart from the things beside"( Χωρὶς τῶν παρεκτὸς Chōris tōn parektos ); "not to mention other matters; or if other matters should be laid aside, there is this continually rushing anxiety arising from the care of all the churches."That is, this would be enough in itself. Laying aside all that arises from hunger, thirst, cold, etc., this continual care occupies my mind and weighs upon my heart.

That which cometh upon me daily - There is great force in the original here. The phrase rendered "that which cometh upon me"means properly, "that which rushes upon me."The word ( ἐπισύστασις episustasis ) means properly a concourse, a crowd, hence, a tumult; and the idea here is, that these cares rushed upon him, or pressed upon him like a crowd of people or a mob that bore all before it. This is one of Paul’ s most energetic expressions, and denotes the incessant anxiety of mind to which he was subject.

The care of all the churches - The care of the numerous churches which he had established, and which needed his constant supervision. They were young; many of them were feeble; many were made up of heterogeneous materials; many composed of Jews and Gentiles mingled together, with conflicting prejudices, habits, preferences; many of them were composed of those who had been gathered from the lowest ranks of life; and questions would be constantly occurring relating to their order and discipline in which Paul would feel a deep interest, and which would naturally be referred to him for decision. Besides this, they had many trials. They were persecuted, and would suffer much. In their sufferings Paul would feel deep sympathy, and would desire, as far as possible, to afford them relief. In addition to the churches which he had planted, he would feel an interest in all others, and doubtless many cases would be refered to him as an eminent apostle for counsel and advice. No wonder that all this came rushing on him like a tumultuous assembly ready to overpower him.

Barnes: 2Co 11:29

Who is weak ... - I sympathize with all. I feel where others feel, and their sorrows excite deep sympathetic emotions in my bosom. Like a tender and compassionate friend I am affected when I see others in circumstances of distress. The word "weak"here may refer to any lack of strength, any infirmity or feebleness arising either from body or mind. It may include all who were feeble by persecution or by disease; or it may refer to the weak in faith and doubtful about their duty (see 1Co 9:22), and to those who were burdened with mental sorrows. The idea is, that Paul had a deep sympathy in all who needed such sympathy from any cause. And the statement here shows the depth of feeling of this great apostle; and shows what should be the feeling of every pastor; see the note on Rom 12:15.

And I am not weak? - I share his feelings and sympathize with him. If he suffers, I suffer. Bloomfield supposes that Paul means that in the case of those who were weak in the faith he accommodated himself to their weakness and thus became all things to all people; see my note on 1Co 9:22. But it seems to me probable that he uses the phrase here in a more general sense, as denoting that he sympathized with those who were weak and feeble in all their circumstances.

Who is offended - ( σκανδαλίζεται skandalizetai ). Who is "scandalized."The word means properly to cause to stumble and fall; hence, to be a stumbling-block to any one; to give or cause offence to anyone. The idea here seems to be, "who is liable to be led astray; who has temptations and trials that are likely to lead him to sin or to cause him to fall, and I do not burn with impatience to restore him, or with indignation against the tempter?"In all such cases Paul deeply sympathized with them, and was prompt to aid them.

And I burn not? - That is, with anger or with great agitation of mind at learning that anyone had fallen into sin. This may either mean that he would burn with indignation against those who had led them into sin, or be deeply excited in view of the disgrace which would be thus brought on the Christian cause. In either case it means that his mind would be in a glow of emotion; he would feel deeply; he could not look upon such things with indifference or without being deeply agitated. With all he sympathized; and the condition of all, whether in a state of feeble faith, or feeble body, or falling into sin, excited the deepest emotions in his mind. The truth here taught is, that Paul felt a deep sympathy for all others who bore the Christian name, and this sympathy for others greatly increased the cares and toils of the apostolic office which he sustained. But having given this exposition, candor compels me to acknowledge that the whole verse may mean, "Who is feeble in the faith in regard to certain observances and rites and customs 1Co 9:22, and I do not also evince the same? I do not rouse their prejudices, or wound their feelings, or alarm them. On the other hand, who is scandalized, or led into sin by the example of others in regard to such custom; who is led by the example of others into transgression, and I do not burn with indignation?"In either case, however, the general sense is, that he sympathized with all others.

Barnes: 2Co 11:30

If I must needs glory - It is unpleasant for me to boast, but circumstances have compelled me. But since I am compelled, I will not boast of my rank, or talents, but of that which is regarded by some as an infirmity.

Mine infirmities - Greek, "The things of my weakness."The word here used is derived from the same word which is rendered weak,"in 2Co 11:29. He intends doubtless to refer here to what had preceded in his enumeration of the trials which he had endured. He had spoken of sufferings. He had endured much. He had also spoken of that tenderness of feeling which prompted him to sympathize so deeply when others suffered. He admitted that he often wept, and trembled, and glowed with strong feelings on occasions which perhaps to many would not seem to call for such strong emotions, and which they might be disposed to set down as a weakness or infirmity. This might especially be the case among the Greeks, where many philosophers, as the Stoics, were disposed to regard all sympathetic feeling, and all sensitiveness to suffering as an infirmity. But Paul admitted that he was disposed to glory in this alone. He gloried that he had sneered so much; that he had endured so many trials on account of Christianity, and that he had a mind that was capable of feeling for others and of entering into their, sorrows and trials. Well might he do this, for there is no more lovely feature in the mind of a virtuous man, and there is no more lovely influence of Christianity than this, that it teaches us to "bear a brother’ s woes,"and to sympathize in all the sorrows and joys of others. Philosophy and infidelity may be dissocial, cheerless, cold; but it is not so with Christianity. Philosophy may snap asunder all the cords which bind us to the living world, but Christianity strengthens these cords; cold and cheerless atheism and scepticism may teach us to look with unconcern on a suffering world, but it is the glory of Christianity that it teaches us to feel an interest in the weal or woe of the obscurest man that lives, to rejoice in his joy, and to weep in his sorrows.

Barnes: 2Co 11:31

The God and Father ... - Paul was accustomed to make solemn appeals to God for the truth of what he said, especially when it was likely to be called in question; see 2Co 11:10; compare Rom 9:1. The solemn appeal which he here makes to God is made in view of what he had just said of his sufferings, not of what follows - for there was nothing in the occurrence at Damascus that demanded so solemn an appeal to God. The reason of this asseveration is probably that the transactions to which he had referred were known to but few, and perhaps not all of them to even his best friends; that his trials and calamities had been so numerous and extraordinary that his enemies would say that they were improbable, and that all this had been the mere fruit of exaggeration; and as he had no witnesses to appeal to for the truth of what he said, he makes a solemn appeal to the ever-blessed God. This appeal is made with great reverence. It is not rash, or bold, and is by no means irreverent or profane. He appeals to God as the Father of the Redeemer whom he so much venerated and loved, and as himself blessed for evermore. If all appeals to God were made on as important occasions as this, and with the same profound veneration and reverence, such appeals would never be improper, and we should never be shocked as we are often now when people appeal to God. This passage proves that an appeal to God on great occasions is not improper; it proves also that it should be done with profound veneration.

Barnes: 2Co 11:32

In Damascus - This circumstance is mentioned as an additional trial. It is evidently mentioned as an instance of peril which had escaped his recollection in the rapid account of his dangers enumerated in the previous verses. It is designed to show what imminent danger he was in, and how narrowly he escaped with his life. On the situation of Damascus, see the note, Act 9:2. The transaction here referred to is also related by Luke Act 9:24-25, though without mentioning the name of the king, or referring to the fact that the governor kept the city with a garrison.

The governor - Greek, ὁ ἐθνάρχης ho ethnarchēs , "The ethnarch;"properly a ruler of the people, a prefect, a ruler, a chief. Who he was is unknown, though he was evidently some officer under the king. It is not improbable that he was a Jew, or at any rate he was one who could be influenced by the Jews, and he was doubtless excited by the Jews to guard the city, and if possible to take Paul as a malefactor. Luke informs us Act 9:23-24 that the Jews took counsel against Paul to kill him, and that they watched the gates night and day to effect their object. They doubtless represented Paul as an apostate, and as aiming to overthrow their religion. He had come with an important commission to Damascus and had failed to execute it; he had become the open friend of those whom he came to destroy; and they doubtless claimed of the civil authorities of Damascus that he should be given up and taken to Jerusalem for trial. It was not difficult, therefore, to secure the cooperation of the governor of the city in the case, and there is no improbability in the statement.

Under Aretas the king - There were three kings of this name who are particularly mentioned by ancient writers. The first is mentioned in 2 Macc. 5:8, as the "king of the Arabians."He lived about 170 years before Christ, and of course could not be the one referred to here. The second is mentioned in Josephus, Antiquities 13, xv, section 2. He is first mentioned as having reigned in Coele-Syria, but as being called to the government of Damascus by those who dwelt there, on account of the hatred which they bore to Ptolemy Meneus. Whiston remarks in a note on Josephus, that this was the first king of the Arabians who took Damascus and reigned there, and that this name afterward became common to such Arabian kings as reigned at Damascus and at Petra; see Josephus, Antiquities 16, ix, section 4. Of course this king reigned some time before the transaction here referred to by Paul. A third king of this name, says Rosenmuller, is the one mentioned here. He was the father-in-law of Herod Antipas. He made war with his son-in-law Herod because he had repudiated his daughter, the wife of Herod. This he had done in order to marry his brother Philip’ s wife; see the note, Mat 14:3. On this account Aretas made war with Herod, and in order to resist him, Herod applied to Tiberius the Roman emperor for aid. Vitellius was sent by Tiberius to subdue Aretas, and to bring him dead or alive to Rome. But before Vitellius had embarked in the enterprise, Tiberius died, and thus Aretas was saved from ruin. It is supposed that in this state of things, when thus waging war with Herod, he made an incursion to Syria and seized upon Damascus, where he was reigning when Paul went there; or if not reigning there personally, he had appointed an ethnarch or governor who administered the affairs of the city in his place.

Kept the city ... - Luke Act 9:24 says that they watched the gates day and night to kill him. This was probably the Jews. Meantime the ethnarch guarded the city, to prevent his escape. The Jews would have killed him at once; the ethnarch wished to apprehend him and bring him to trial. In either case Paul had much to fear, and he, therefore, embraced the only way of escape.

With a garrison - The word which is used here in the original ( φρουρέω phroureō ) means simply to watch; to guard; to keep. Our translation would seem to imply that there was a body of people stationed in order to guard the city. The true idea is, that there were men who were appointed to guard the gates of the city and to keep watch lest he should escape them. Damascus was surrounded, as all ancient cities were, with high walls, and it did not occur to them that he could escape in any other way than by the gates.

Barnes: 2Co 11:33

And through a window - That is, through a little door or aperture in the wall; perhaps something like an embrasure, that might have been large enough to allow a man to pass through it. Luke says Act 9:25 that they let him down "by the wall."But there is no inconsistency. They doubtless first passed him through the embrasure or loop-hole in the wall, and then let him down gently by the side of it. Luke does not say it was over the top of the wall, but merely that he descended by the wall. It is not probable that an embrasure or opening would be near the bottom, and consequently there would be a considerable distance for him to descend by the side of the wall after he had passed through the window. Bloomfield, however, supposes that the phrase employed by Luke and rendered "by the wall,"means properly "through the wall."But I prefer the former interpretation.

In a basket - The word used here ( σαργάνη sarganē ) means anything braided or twisted; hence, a rope-basket, a net-work of cords, or a wicker hamper. It might have been such an one as was used for catching fish, or it might have been made for the occasion. The word used by Luke Act 9:25 is σπυρὶς spuris - a word usually meaning a basket for storing grain, provisions, etc. Where Paul went immediately after he had escaped them, he does not here say. From Gal 1:17, it appears that he went into Arabia, where he spent some time, and then returned to Damascus, and after three years he went up to Jerusalem. It would not have been safe to have gone to Jerusalem at once, and he therefore waited for the passions of the Jews to have time to cool, before he ventured himself again in their hands.

Remarks

1. There may be circumstances, but they are rare, in which it may be proper to speak of our own attainments, and of our own doings; 2Co 11:1. Boasting is in general nothing but folly - the fruit of pride - but there may be situations when to state what we have done may be necessary to the vindication of our own character, and may tend to honor God. Then we should do it; not to trumpet forth our own fame, but to glorify God and to advance his cause. Occasions occur however but rarely in which it is proper to speak in this manner of ourselves.

2. The church should be pure. It is the bride of the Redeemer; the "Lamb’ s wife;"2Co 11:2. It is soon to be presented to Christ, soon to be admitted to his presence. How holy should be that church which sustains such a relation! How anxious to be worthy to appear before the Son of God!

3. All the individual members of that church should be holy; 2Co 11:2. They as individuals are soon to be presented in heaven as the fruit of the labors of the Son of God, and as entitled to his eternal love. How pure should be the lips that are soon to speak his praise in heaven; how pure the eyes that are soon to behold his glory; how holy the feet that are soon to tread his courts in the heavenly world!

4. There is great danger of being corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ; 2Co 11:3. Satan desires to destroy us; and his great object is readily accomplished if he can seduce Christians from simple devotedness to the Redeemer; if he can secure corruption in doctrine or in the manner of worship, and can produce conformity in dress and in the style of living to this world. Formerly, he excited persecution. But in that he was foiled. The more the church was persecuted the more it grew. Then he changed his ground. What he could not do by persecution he sought to do by corrupting the church; and in this he has been by far more successful. This can be done slowly but certainly; effectually but without exciting suspicion. And it matters not to Satan whether the church is crippled by persecution or its zeal destroyed by false doctrine and by conformity to the world. His aim is secured; and the power of the church destroyed. The form in which he now assails the church is by attempting to seduce it from simple and hearty attachment to the Saviour. And, O! in how many instances is he successful.

5. Our religion has cost much suffering. We have in this chapter a detail of extraordinary trials and sorrows in establishing it; and we have reason to be thankful, in some degree, that the enemies of Paul made it necessary for him to boast in this manner. We have thus some most interesting details of facts of which otherwise we should have been ignorant; and we see that the life of Paul was a life of continual self-denial and toil. By sea and land; at home and abroad; among his own countrymen and strangers, he was subjected to continued privations and persecution. So it has been always in regard to the establishment of the gospel. It began its career in the sufferings of its great Author, and the foundation of the church was laid in his blood. It progressed amidst sufferings, for all the apostles, except John, it is supposed were martyrs. It continued to advance amidst sufferings - for 10 fiery persecutions raged throughout the Roman Empire, and thousands died in consequence of their professed attachment to the Saviour. It has been always propagated in pagan lands by self-denials and sacrifices, for the life of a missionary is that of sacrifice and toil. How many such people as David Brainerd and Henry Martyn have sacrificed their lives in order to extend the true religion around the world!

6. All that we enjoy is the fruit of the sufferings, toils, and sacrifices of others. We have not one Christian privilege or hope which has not cost the life of many a martyr. How thankful should we be to God that he was pleased to raise up people who would be willing thus to suffer, and that he sustained and kept them until their work was accomplished!

7. We may infer the sincerity of the people engaged in propagating the Christian religion. What had Paul to gain in the sorrows which he endured? Why did he not remain in his own land and reap the honors which were then fully within his grasp? The answer is an easy one. It was because he believed that Christianity was true; and believing that, he believed that it was of importance to make it known to the world. Paul did not endure these sorrows, and encounter these perils for the sake of pleasure, honor, or gain. No man who reads this chapter can doubt that he was sincere, and that he was an honest man.

8. The Christian religion is, therefore, true. Not because the first preachers were sincere for the advocates of error are often sincere, and are willing to suffer much or even to die as martyrs; but because this was a case when their sincerity proved the facts in regard to the truth of Christianity. It was not sincerity in regard to opinions merely, it was in regard to facts. They not only believed that the Messiah had come and died and risen again, but they saw him - saw him when he lived; saw him die; saw him after he was risen; and it was in relation to these facts that they were sincere. But how could they be deceived here? People may be deceived in their opinions; but how could John, e. g., be deceived in affirming that he was intimately acquainted - the bosom friend - with Jesus of Nazareth; that he saw him die; and that he conversed with him after he had died? In this he could not be mistaken; and sooner than deny this, John would have spent his whole life in a cave in Patmos, or have died on the cross or at the stake. But if John saw all this, then the Christian religion is true.

9. We should be willing to suffer now. If Paul and the other apostles were willing to endure so much, why should not we be? If they were willing to deny themselves so much in order that the gospel should be spread among the nations, why should not we be? It is now just as important that it should be spread as it was then; and the church should be just as willing to sacrifice its comforts to make the gospel known as it was in the days of Paul. We may add, also, that if there was the same devotedness to Christ evinced by all Christians now which is described in this chapter; if there was the same zeal and self-denial, the time would not be far distant when the gospel would be spread all around the world. May the time soon come when all Christians shall have the same self-denial as Paul; and especially when all who enter the ministry shall be willing to forsake country and home, and to encounter peril in the city and the wilderness; on the sea and the land; to meet cold, and nakedness, hunger, thirst, persecution, and death in any way in order that they may make known the name of the Saviour to a lost world.

Poole: 2Co 11:15

It is no wonder if there be like servants, like masters: and as the devil, in order to the deceiving of souls, pretends to what he is not, viz. a friend to them; so those who seek their own profit, not your good, show themselves to be

his ministers driving the same design with him, also do the like, and change their shapes, pretending themselves to be ministers of the gospel, and to aim at the good of your souls, by teaching you the way

of righteousness but God will one day judge of their works, and their reward at last will be

according to their works

Poole: 2Co 11:16

I say again, Let no man think me a fool: I know that he, who is much in magnifying and praising himself, ordinarily is judged to be a fool; but though I do so, let me not lie under that imputation. There is a time for all things; a time for a man to cease from his own praises, and a time for him to praise himself. The time for the latter is, when the glory of God, or our own just vindication, is concerned; both which concurred here: the apostle was out of measure vilifled by these false apostles; and the glory of God was eminently concerned, that so great an apostle and instrument in promoting the gospel, should not be exposed to contempt, as a mean and despicable person, or as an impostor and deceiver.

If otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little but if you will judge me a fool, be it so; yet receive me as such, while I boast a little.

Poole: 2Co 11:17

That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord I do not pretend to have any special command of God, to speak what I shall now say in my own commendation; God hath left that to our liberty, which we may use, or not use, as circumstances of time, place, and occasion direct. Or, I do not speak according to the ordinary practice of Christians and ministers of the gospel; whose ordinary practice is to abase and vilify, not to exalt and set forth themselves, according to the more general rules of the word. Yet what the apostle saith was not contrary to the Lord, or to the directions of his word, which hath no where commanded us to vilify ourselves, or to conceal what God hath wrought in us and by us.

But as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting: this my confident boasting hath an appearance of foolishness in it, though really it be not so; for nothing can be truly called foolishness, which hath a direct and immediate tendency to the glory of God, and is designed for that end.

Poole: 2Co 11:18

By the flesh is meant, carnal and external things; which though they be the gifts and favours of God, yet do not at all commend a man to God. The apostle saith, there are

many that glory after the flesh and there needs must be such in all places, because there are many that walk after the flesh: now, it is but natural for men to boast and glory in those attainments, which it hath been the business of their lives to pursue after. Such there were, doubtless, in this famous church, who gloried that they were native Jews, or in their riches, or in their knowledge and learning. Now, though (saith the apostle) I know there is nothing in these things truly to be gloried in, yet, others glorying in them:

I will glory also and let them know, that if I thought these things worth the glorying in, I have as much to glory in of that nature as any of them have.

Poole: 2Co 11:19

Ye freely suffer others foolishly glorying and boasting of themselves, therefore do ye suffer me therein to judge yourselves wise, and it belongs to the wise to bear with such as are not so wise as themselves.

Poole: 2Co 11:20

If any domineer over you, as if you were their slaves, or if any bring you into subjection to the rites of the ceremonial law; if they

devour and make a prey of you, take wages of you, and do nothing without hire; if they carry themselves proudly, exalting themselves above you; nay, if they

smite you you will suffer and bear with such: this is more than to bear with a little folly and indiscretion in me. This is observable, that men of corrupt hearts and loose lives will better bear with teachers that will humour and spare them in their lusts, than with such as are faithful to their souls in instructing and reproving them, though they carry themselves with the greatest innocency and justice towards them.

Poole: 2Co 11:21

I speak as to those reproaches they cast on me, who am by them represented to you as though I were weak and contemptible; as indeed I am, as to my person, but not as to my doctrine, and the miracles I have wrought amongst you. And being some of them are so confident in boasting what they are, and what they have done and suffered; let me be a little bold as well as they, in telling you what I am, and what I have done and suffered.

Poole: 2Co 11:22

Are they Hebrews? so am I: this would incline us to think, that some, at least, of those corrupt teachers, upon whom the apostle hath so much reflected, were Jews; who had endeavoured to corrupt the Gentile churches with their traditions, and imposing on them the ceremonial rites of the Jewish church. Others think otherwise, and that the words import no more than this; Do they glory in the antiquity of their stock and parentage, as descending from Abraham? I have as much upon that account to glory in as they; for although I was born, not in Judea, but in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, Act 22:3 , yet I was a Jew, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, Phi 3:5 .

Are they Israelites? Will they derive from Jacob, to whom God gave the name of Israel, from whence all his posterity were called Israelites?

So am I ( saith he), I can derive from Jacob as well as they.

Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I: will they glory in this, that they are the seed of Abraham? (this was a great boast of the Jews, as we learn from Mat 3:9 , and Joh 8:1-59 ); saith the apostle, I have on that account as much to glory in as they. Some here inquire: What difference there is in these three things? For to be a Hebrew, and an Israelite, and of the seed of Abraham, seem all to signify the same thing. Nor indeed have we any need to assign any difference, it seemeth to be but the same thing amplified in three phrases. But others distinguish more subtlely, and think the first may signify a glorying in the ancientness of their pedigree, or in their ability to speak in the Hebrew tongue; the second, may refer to the nation of which they were; the third, to the promise made to Abraham and his seed.

Poole: 2Co 11:23

Will they glory in this, that they are ministers of Christ employed as the servants of Christ in preaching the gospel? I should not boast about this, (in that I may seem to speak as a fool ), but I am much more a minister than they, both with respect to my call to the work, and also my performing of it. I had a more immediate call and mission to the work than what they can boast of, and I have done more in that work than any of them have done.

In labours more abundant I have travelled more to preach it, I have laboured more in the propagation of it.

In stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent I have suffered more for the preaching of it, I have been oftener whipped, oftener imprisoned, than any of them ever were: see 2Co 6:4,5 .

In deaths oft I have been oftener in hazard of my life: he calls dangers threatening death, deaths, as 2Co 1:10 .

Poole: 2Co 11:24

God, to restrain the passions of his people, which might carry them out to cruelty in the punishments of malefactors, forbade the Jewish magistrates to give any malefactor above forty stripes; (so many they might give them by the Divine law, Deu 25:3 ); but they had made an order, that none should receive above thirty-nine. This was amongst their constitions which they called sepimenta legis, hedges to the Divine law; which indeed was a violation of the law: for that did not oblige them to give every malefactor, that had not deserved death, so many stripes; it gave them only a liberty to go so far, but they were not to exceed. Some think, that they punished every such malefactor with thirty-nine stripes: others, more rationally, think, that they did not so, but thirty-nine was the highest number they laid upon any. And it is most probable, that, out of their hatred to the apostle, they laid as many stripes upon him as their constitution would suffer them to do.

Poole: 2Co 11:25

Thrice was I beaten with rods this was by the pagans, for the Jews whipped malefactor with a whip which had three cords. We read of one of these times. Act 16:23 ; and of a second, Act 22:24 , when the captain commanded he should be so punished, but he avoided it, by pleading he was a citizen of Rome.

Once was I stoned: of his stoning, read Act 14:19 , it was by a popular tumult at Lystra.

Thrice I suffered shipwreck: we read but of one time that Paul suffered shipwreck, Act 27:18 ; which was none of the three times here mentioned, for it was after the writing of this Epistle. But though many of the acts and sufferings of this apostle were written, yet all were not.

A night and a day I have been in the deep: some by the deep here understand the inner prison, mentioned Act 16:24 , or some deep dungeon; but more probably he means, some time when, after a shipwreck, he might be put twenty-four hours to swim up and down the sea upon some broken part of the ship. It refers to some eminent danger Paul was in, of which the Scripture in no other place maketh mention particularly.

Poole: 2Co 11:26

In journeyings often in travellings from place to place for the propagation of the gospel.

In perils of waters in the Greek, rivers, which were many in those countries through which he travelled.

Of robbers such as waited to rob passengers by the high-way.

By mine own countrymen the Jews, who were mortal enemies to Paul, whom they looked upon as an apostate from their religion.

In the city in many cities where he preached the gospel, as we find in the Acts of the Apostles.

In the wilderness in wildernesses through which he was forced to pass.

In the sea storms and shipwrecks.

Among false brethren false teachers and private persons, who corrupted the Christian religion, and were as great enemies to the apostle as any he had.

Poole: 2Co 11:27

The apostle reckons up several afflictive evils, ordinarily incident to such as travel in foreign countries. Of this nature were the

weariness and painfulness the hunger and thirst the cold and nakedness, here mentioned. He also mentioneth the watchings and fastings, as voluntary acts of discipline, which he used for the end mentioned, 1Co 9:27 , for the keeping under his body, and bringing it into subjection, and that he might the better attend and discharge the work of the ministry.

Poole: 2Co 11:28

By the things that are without, the apostle meaneth either those evils which happened to him from persons that had nto relation to the Christian church, but were persons without, ( as the phrase is used, 1Co 5:13 ), or else such kinds of troubles and afflictions as very little influenced his mind, but only affected his outward man: such were his labours, travels, journeyings, imprisonment, stripes before mentioned.

Beside these (he saith) there lay upon him an inward care and solicitude for

all the Christian churches and this was a daily care. For an apostle differed from an ordinary pastor, not only in his immediate call from Christ, but also in his work; there lay an obligation upon such to go up and down preaching the gospel, and they further had, both a power, and also an obligation, to superintend all other churches, and to direct the affairs of them relating to order and government: and thereupon they were mightily concerned about their doing well or ill.

Poole: 2Co 11:29

Who may be either, what church? Or, what particular Christian in any church?

Is weakasyenei , through outward afflictions, or in respect of inward spiritual troubles,

and I am not weak and I do not sympathize with that church, or with that person?

Who is offended or scandalized, under temptations to be seduced and fall into sin,

and I burn not and I am not on fire with a holy zeal for the glory of God, and the good of his soul, if possible to keep him upright? By which the apostle doth not only show us what was his own holy temper, but what should be the temper of every faithful minister, as to his province, or that part of the church over which he is concerned to watch; viz. to have a true compassion to every member of it, to watch over his flock, inquiring diligently into the state of it; to have a quick sense of any evils under which they, or any of them, labour. This is indeed the duty of ever private member, but more especially of him whose office is to feed any part of the flock of Christ, Rom 12:15 . In this the members of the spiritual, mystical body of Christ should answer to the members of the body natural, to which our apostle before resembled it.

Poole: 2Co 11:30

The apostle here calleth the things which he had suffered for the gospel, and the propagation of it, his infirmities; and saith, that he chose those things to glory in. He would not glory of the divers tongues with which he spake, nor of the miracles which he had wrought; but being by the ill tongues of his adversaries put upon glorying, he chose to glory of what he had suffered for God. For as the mighty power of Christ was seen in supporting him, and carrying him through so many hazards and difficulties; so these things, probably, were such as his adversaries could not much glory in. Besides, that these things had not that natural tendency to lift up his mind above its due measures, as gifts had, which sometimes puff up (as the apostle saith concerning knowledge); and also these were things which flesh and blood commonly starleth at, and flieth from: that his gifts and miraculous operations spake the power of God in him, and the kindness of God to him, in enabling him to such effects, rather than any goodness in himself; but his patient bearing the cross spake in him great measures of faith, patience, and self-denial, and love to God; and so really were greater and truer causes of boasting, than those things could be.

Poole: 2Co 11:31

Whether this phrase be the form of an oath, or a mere assertion of God’ s knowledge of the heart, is a point not worth the arguing. If we look upon it in the former notion, it is no profane oath, because made in the name of God; nor no vain oath, because it is used in a grave and serious matter, and for the satisfaction of those who were not very easy to believe the apostle in this matter. But I had rather take it as a solemn assertion of God’ s particular knowledge of the truth of his heart in what he had said. The term

blessed for evermore may either be applied to the Father, or to Jesus Christ. It is applied to the Creator, Rom 1:25 , and to Jesus Christ, Rom 9:5 . It is here so used, as that it is applicable either to the First or Second Person. The usage of it in these three texts, is an undeniable argument to prove the Godhead of Christ. The apostle, in these words, seemeth rather to refer to what he had said before, of his various labours and sufferings, than to that which followeth; which was but a single thing, and a danger rather than a suffering.

Poole: 2Co 11:32-33

Ver. 32,33. Luke hath shortly given us the history of this danger, Act 9:23-25 . Soon after Paul was converted from the Jewish to the Christian religion, he, disputing with the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, confounded them by his arguments, proving Jesus was the Christ, as we read there, Act 9:21 . This so enraged them, as that they sought to kill him, Act 9:23 . And (as we learn from this text) to effect their design, they had by some acts or other brought over the governor to favour their design; which, governor was a substitute under Aretas the king, who was father-in-law to Herod; for (as Josephus tells us) Herod put away his wife, the daughter of this Aretas, when he took Herodias. The Jews had got this deputy heathen governor so much on their side, that he shut up the gates, keeping his soldiers in arms. But (as St. Luke tells us, Act 9:24 ) Paul coming to the knowledge of this design, though they watched the gates day and night, yet he found a way of escape by the help of those Christians, who at that time were in Damascus; Act 9:25 : The disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. Two questions are started upon this passage of Paul’ s life:

1. Whether it was lawful for him to flee? But besides the particular licence our Lord, in this case, had given his first ministers, Mat 10:23 , Paul did in this case no more than what divines make lawful for a more ordinary minister, viz. to flee, when the persecution was directed against him in particular, leaving sufficient supply behind him.

2. The second question raised is: Whether, it being against human laws to go over the walls of a city or garrison, Paul did not sin in this escape? But that is easily answered; for:

a) This was lawful in some cases.

b) God’ s glory, and the good of souls, were more concerned in Paul’ s life, than to have it sacrificed to a punctilio of obedience to a human law made upon a mere politic consideration.

Haydock: 2Co 11:16

Otherwise take me as one foolish. St. Paul divers times excuses himself for mentioning thins in his own commendation: he owns that this in itself, and unless it were necessary, might be blamed as folly, that it would not be according to God, but he declares himself forced by them to it, and that he will speak nothing but the truth. See chap. xii. ver. 6. 11. He tells them that they bear with others that are foolish, even with those false preachers that endeavour to bring them into slavery by their domineering carriage, by making them perhaps subject to the yoke of the Mosaical law. Who devour them, that is, their goods and substance, who take from them, who in a manner strike them on the face, (ver. 20.) he means a metaphorical striking them, that is, by imperious ways, and insolent language. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 11:19

I trust that you will permit me to speak in my own praise, since as wise as you are, you have permitted others, who have not greater wisdom than myself. And if it be folly to praise one's self, as you have pardoned them, I trust you will also pardon me. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Co 11:20

St. Paul still continues to speak ironically, that they will permit him to praise himself in his own justification, since they have permitted these false teachers to reduce them to bondage under the law, to devour their substance, and to behave haughtily to them, striking them on the face, &c. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Co 11:21

I speak according to dishonour, as if we had been weak in this part. The interpreters are divided on this verse; the sense seems to be, I speak what others took upon as dishonourable in us, that we had not the like authority over you as these false teachers, and therefore could not keep you in such subjection as they have done. But yet I must tell you, that wherein if any man is bold, I am bold also; that is, I have no less motives to domineer and boast, than they have. And then he proceeds to particulars. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 11:23

They are ministers of Christ: I am more. To wit, an apostle chosen and sent by Jesus Christ, appointed in a special manner to be the apostle of the Gentiles, your apostle. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 11:24

The Jews had power under the Romans to inflict punishments, not indeed capital, but corporal, such as flogging, &c. See Mark xiii. 9. The law, in Deuteronomy xxv. 3. permitted, but did not command, forty stripes to be inflicted; it strictly forbad that number to be exceeded.

Haydock: 2Co 11:25

Thrice I suffered shipwreck. This was before the shipwreck in his voyage to Rome, by which we make take notice, that St. Luke, in the Acts, omits a great many things relating to St. Paul; as also when he adds,[1] a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea. We do not read expressed in the Greek, of the sea; but the Greek word is observed to imply the same: and so it is understood by St. John Chrysostom who gives these two expositions; first, that he was truly and literally in the middle of the sea. Secondly, that he was floating or swimming in the sea after shipwreck, which seems the more common interpretation. (Witham) ---

St. Paul could have avoided that disgrace, as a Roman. See Acts xxiii.; but in Acts xvi. he refused to claim his privilege, that he might have an opportunity of converting the guard of the prison. (Pastorini)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Nocte et die in profundo maris sui, Greek: en to butho pepoieka.

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Haydock: 2Co 11:28

My daily instance. The labours that come in, and press upon me every day. (Challoner)

Gill: 2Co 11:15

Therefore it is no great thing,.... It is no strange and wonderful thing; it may easily be given into; no man need to make any doubt of it, or hesitate concerning it, since the devil himself, who is an angel of darkness, is transformed into an angel of light:

if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; not that they really are transformed into such ministers, but they appear and look like such; they are not really, but "as the ministers of righteousness"; they put on the form and air of faithful upright ministers of the word, and would be thought to be such; they mimic Gospel preachers, who assert the doctrine of justification by the righteousness of Christ, though they most miserably corrupt it, and blend it with something of their own; and which they endeavour to palliate, and cover from the sight of men; and especially they set up themselves as such, by pretending to be great friends to holiness and good works, which they press with much vehemence, and oppose to the doctrines of grace, with all their might and main; in doing which, they greatly serve their master, whose ministers they are; and who well knows that the doctrine of works may do much prejudice to the Gospel interest, and churches of Christ, but will never convert nor save one soul: a dreadful character these men have, for though they would pass for ministers of righteousness, friends to holiness, and men zealous of good works, they are no other than ministers of Satan, doing his work, serving his interest, and propagating his kingdom, which is a kingdom of darkness:

whose end shall be according to their works; for either God will make public examples of them in this world, or if they are not made manifest here, though they may deceive themselves and others, they cannot deceive God; he will take off the mask, their hypocrisy shall be detected, their evil works will be laid open, and they will be judged according to them, and condemned for them to everlasting punishment.

Gill: 2Co 11:16

I say again, let no man think me a fool,.... For praising himself, or speaking in his own commendation; which he was obliged to do, in vindication of his own character, against the false apostles, for the sake of the Gospel he preached, and for the advantage and welfare of the Corinthians; that they might not be imposed upon and carried away with the insinuations of these deceitful men; wherefore he desires them once more, that if he must be accounted a fool for speaking in his own behalf;

if otherwise, says he, if they could not be persuaded that he acted a wise part, but must be looked upon as a fool, for what he said of himself,

yet as a fool receive me; or "suffer me", or bear with my folly: he desires that he might have, and use the liberty which fools have usually granted to them, to speak out the truth, and all they know, which is not always allowed to wise men:

that I may boast myself a little; in a few instances, and for a small space of time; he suggests, that the false apostles boasted much of themselves, and they bore with them, and had done so for a great while; and therefore it was no unreasonable request he made, that they would also suffer him to boast of himself a little, especially since there was such an absolute necessity for it.

Gill: 2Co 11:17

That which I speak,.... Meaning in vindication and commendation of himself, on this subject of glorying; or, as here expressed,

in this confidence of boasting; for which he thought he had good ground and foundation to go upon, and therefore might express himself with the greatest assurance, see 2Co 9:4 this he declares he spoke not as from the Lord, but of himself:

I speak it not after the Lord; or "Christ", as some copies read; or "our Lord", as the Syriac version; his sense is, that he did not then speak as an apostle, or one sent by Christ; he put off this character for the present, and took that of a fool upon him, that he might speak the more freely to the Corinthians, and the more severely against the false apostles; he did not pretend to any express command from Christ for so doing, or that he acted in imitation of him, who was meek and lowly; or that what he said came from the Spirit of the Lord; or, indeed, that it was agreeably to his own Spirit, and the principles of grace formed in him; but was obliged to it, through the boasts of the false apostles; which though it was not criminal and unlawful, but necessary, right, and proper, considering the reasons of it, the end for which, and the intention and view with which it was done; yet viewing the form and manner of this boasting, without attending to the circumstances of it, it had the appearance of folly: wherefore the apostle says, he spoke not as according to the commandment, or example of his Lord; or according to the Spirit of the Lord, or his own Spirit, as renewed by his grace:

but as it were foolishly; he does not say that what he said was foolishness, but it looked like it, and would be deemed so by such who were strangers to the true springs of it.

Gill: 2Co 11:18

Seeing that many glory after the flesh,.... Or with respect to things external, such as their high birth and parentage, carnal descent, circumcision, learned education, and the like; of which the false apostles, being Jews, boasted, who it seems were many; and though a multitude is not to be followed to do evil, yet the apostle thought, that since there were so many who were indulged by this church in this way, he might be allowed to boast also of such like things, so far as he could with truth and a good conscience, and in order to secure some valuable ends:

I will glory also; for he was of the seed of Abraham as well as they, of the stock of Israel, and tribe of Benjamin, circumcised the eighth day, and brought up at the feet of Gamaliel; but these are not all the things he could, and would, and did glory of; he gloried of these, and of others besides them, which the false apostles could not, and thereby proved himself to be superior to them, even in external things, of which they bragged so much.

Gill: 2Co 11:19

For ye suffer fools gladly,.... They bore with the false apostles, who were fools; were continually proclaiming their folly, boasting of themselves, ascribing that to themselves which did not belong to them, and were puffed up by their fleshly minds; they indulged these men in their folly, and that with pleasure and delight; they not only winked at it, and overlooked it, but were pleased with it: seeing ye yourselves are wise; acting like men who count themselves wise, and keep fools for their pleasure, diversion, and sport. These words may be considered either as spoken seriously by the apostle, and as wondering that they should suffer such fools to go on in their vain boasts, and especially with pleasure; since they were men of wisdom, who were otherwise taught of God, and by the word; they had been made wise unto salvation, and were enriched in all utterance, and in all knowledge; they had been instructed by the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, and in the mysteries of his Gospel; and therefore it was surprising that they could bear with such vain and foolish men, and especially with delight; for though it is the part of a wise man to bear with fools, yet not with pleasure; so that this carries in it a tacit reproof to them: or else the last clause may be considered as spoken ironically, and as a severe jibe upon their folly for tolerating such a parcel of fools among them; as if he should say, you show yourselves to be men of wisdom, as you would be thought to be; you act the wise part, do not you, in suffering such empty headed men to converse with you, and delight in their vain talk and conversation? however, the whole furnishes out an argument for the apostle, and which he means to improve; that if they could suffer and bear with such fools, and so many of them, and that gladly, then they might and ought to bear a little with him in his folly, which is what he entreats of them.

Gill: 2Co 11:20

For ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage,.... They not only suffered and tolerated the foolish boasting of these men with pleasure, but patiently and stupidly bore their oppressions, injuries, and insults, things that were intolerable, which no man of any sense and wisdom would ever suffer; and yet they took all quietly from them, made no objection, but patiently submitted to them, and therefore might well bear a little with him; they were voluntarily led captive, and brought into bondage by them, to the yoke of the ceremonial law, to the observance of circumcision, meats and drinks, days, months, times and years; and to the yoke of human doctrines, traditions, tenets, laws, and rules: if a man devour or eat; though they devoured their houses, as the Pharisees did; ate up their substance, were insatiable in their covetousness; were greedy dogs that could never have enough, could not satisfy their voracious appetites, without devouring and consuming all they had, yet they took it patiently:

if a man take of you; not food and raiment, or a proper stipend, or wages which might be voluntarily raised, and cheerfully given; but they took away their goods from them by force, as the Arabic version reads it, whether they would or not, to which they quietly submitted:

if a man exalt himself; as these men did, extolling their nation, their descent and lineage, their parentage and education, and fleshly privileges; in suiting the Corinthians as persons of a mean and base extraction, as having been Heathens and sinners of the Gentiles, yet not a word was returned in answer thereunto:

if a man smite you on the face; though they gave them very opprobrious language, vilifying and reproaching them as uncircumcised persons, upbraiding and hitting them on the teeth with their former idolatries and manners of life; yet all was taken in good part, so much were they under the government and influence of these men.

Gill: 2Co 11:21

I speak as concerning reproach,.... These words may be considered either as explanative of the latter part of the former verse, "if a man smite you on the face"; that is not to be understood strictly and literally, of one man's striking another on the face, but of reproach and contumelious language, used by the false apostles to the Corinthians; or they may have reference to the apostle's design in the whole, which was partly to reproach, the Corinthians for acting such a stupid part, in patiently bearing so many and such indignities from these men; and partly to expose the scandalous and reproachful usage of them by the false apostles, that if possible their eyes might be opened to see through them, and discard them: or else these words may be regarded in connection with what follows,

as though we had been weak; and then the apostle's meaning is, that as to the business of scandal and reproach he was speaking of, this was not confined to the Corinthians only, but they the true apostles had their share of it; for the false apostles reproached them, as poor, weak, fearful, and pusillanimous men; because they did not use that authority, and exercise that domination over them, they did not bring them into bondage, devour their substance, take away their goods from them by force, insult over them, and treat them in an ignominious and contemptuous manner; and intimated that they were upon all accounts inferior to them, and not worthy to be mentioned with them; which moved the apostle to exert himself, and boldly rise up in his own defence, saying,

howbeit, wherein soever any is bold; to boast of his pedigree, character, office, and usefulness,

I speak foolishly; as it might seem, and be so interpreted by some,

I am bold also; to enter the lists with him, to compare notes, and see on which side the superiority lies; and which is done in the following verses, to the full confutation of all the pride, vanity, blind boasting of the false apostles.

Gill: 2Co 11:22

Are they Hebrews? so am I,.... The nation of the Jews were called Hebrews, not from Abraham, as some have ^w thought, through ignorance of the Hebrew language, which will by no means admit of such a derivation and etymology of the name; wherefore the Jewish writers never make mention of this opinion as among any of them; had they took their name from Abram or Abraham, they would rather have been called Abramires or Abrahamites, and not Hebrews; besides, Abraham himself is called an Hebrew, Gen 14:13 and to be so called from himself, and not denominated from some other person or thing, can never be imagined, it would be most absurd and ridiculous; to which may be added, that the apostle in this verse makes mention of being the seed of Abraham, as a distinct character from that of Hebrews: others have been of opinion that the name is derived from עבר, "Habar", which signifies, "to pass over"; and was occasioned by one or other of the following events; either from Abraham's passing over the river Euphrates, when he came out of Mesopotamia into the land of Canaan, and so was called Abram, העברי "Hahibri, the passer over", or the Hebrew ^x, and so his posterity were called after him; or from the posterity of Canaan, who, after the confusion at Babel, settled in that part of Asia which lies between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean sea, and from them called the land of Canaan; and who were called by the Chaldeans, from whom they separated, and by the neighbouring nations, Hebrews, or passers over, because they passed over the river Jordan; and so Abraham passing over the river Euphrates to them, and learning their language, and continuing there, he was called an Hebrew also, and his posterity after him ^y; or from Arphaxad, or Heber, passing over the river Tigris or Euphrates, and settling in the land of Canaan ^z; but it is not likely that a nation should take its name from such an event: others think it a more probable opinion that Abraham was so called, and hence his posterity after him, from the name which the Canaanites gave to Mesopotamia, from whence he came; calling it Heber Hannahar, or the country beyond the river: just as we call foreigners Transmarines, or people beyond sea; and of this opinion were some of the Jewish writers ^a; but not Mesopotamia, but Canaan, is called the land of the Hebrews, Gen 40:15. The more commonly received opinion with the ^b Jews is, and which is most likely, that they are so called from Heber, the father of Peleg, in whose days the confusion of languages was made, and what is now called the Hebrew language being the first and original one, was retained in him and in his family; hence Shem is said to be the father of all the children of Heber, Gen 10:21 that is, the Hebrews, as the same people are called the children of Israel from Israel, and the children of Judah from Judah, and sometimes they go by the name of Heber, as in Num 24:24 when as the Assyrians are called Ashur, from whom they have their name, so the Hebrews are called Heber, from whom they take their denomination: and it should be observed, that this is not only a national but a religious name, and those people were called so, because they were of the faith as well as the descendants of Heber; so Shem was the father of others, but in a peculiar manner the father of the children of Heber, because the religion he professed was continued with them; and so Abraham is particularly called the Hebrew, not only because he descended from Heber, but was of the same, religion; and so his posterity, not in the line of Ishmael, but of Isaac, are so called; and not as descending from Isaac in the line of Esau, but of Jacob; and hence it was not lawful for the Egyptians to eat bread with the Hebrews, not because they were of another nation, but because of another religion, Gen 43:32. It seems that these false apostles were Jews, since it is not denied by the apostle, but granted; they were some such like false brethren as those who came from Judea to Antioch, and disturbed the church there, Act 15:1 and whereas they boasted of their being Hebrews, the descendants of the ancient patriarch Heber in the line of Abraham; the apostle was able to match them in this, and asserts himself to be an Hebrew too, which he could do with the strictest truth, for he was an Hebrew of the Hebrews, he was an Hebrew by father and mother's side:

are they Israelites? so am I. The Jews were called Israelites from Israel, a name which was given to Jacob their ancestor, upon his wrestling with an angel, and prevailing over him; and was accounted an honourable one, or title of honour; for the people of Israel were they whom God chose for a peculiar people to himself above all others, brought them out of Egypt, fed them in the wilderness, and led them through it, and settled them in the land of Canaan, and bestowed upon them special and peculiar privileges; see Rom 9:4. The Jews are very extravagant in the praise of Israelites; they not only make them the favourites of God, beloved of him, because called children, and had the law given them ^c, and extol them above all mankind; See Gill on Rom 3:9 but they even make them equal to the ministering angels, and say they are pure from sin as they, especially on the day of atonement ^d, yea, more excellent than they ^e: in this also the apostle could answer them, for he was of the stock of Israel, and of the tribe of Benjamin, a son of Jacob, or Israel; and was an Israelite indeed, as Nathanael, for all are not Israel that are of Israel:

are they the seed of Abraham? so am I: of this the Jews mightily boasted; see Joh 8:33 they reckon themselves, even the poorest among them, as the nobles and princes of the earth ^f; and even other people have been fond of being reckoned of the stock of Abraham, as particularly the Lacedemonians,

"Areus king of the Lacedemonians to Onias the high priest, greeting: It is found in writing, that the Lacedemonians and Jews are brethren, and that they are of the stock of Abraham:'' (1 Maccabees 12:20,21)

The Jews make a merciful disposition to men to be a sign and evidence of being of the seed of Abraham ^g; but in a spiritual sense, an interest in Christ, and faith in him, denominate men to be truly Abraham's seed, and heirs of the promise: this is to be understood here in a natural sense, and of being of Abraham's seed in the line of Jacob, for otherwise the Ishmaelites and Idumeans were of the seed of Abraham; but they were his seed in that line in which the promised seed, the Messiah, was to come; though this was of no avail, without having the same faith Abraham had, and believing truly in Christ, as his spiritual seed do, whether they be Jews or Gentiles; however, the apostle was equal to them in this respect; he was of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, and above them in another, in that he was of Abraham's spiritual seed by faith in Christ Jesus.

Gill: 2Co 11:23

Are they ministers of Christ?.... The apostle could have answered to this question that they were not, being neither sent by Christ, nor preachers of him, and who sought their own things and not his, being false apostles, and deceitful workers; but he chose not to litigate this point with them, and by a rhetorical concession allows it; and replies,

I speak as a fool; that is, he might be thought to speak as such an one, for what he afterwards says; and if he was, he must be content, he could not help it, there was a necessity for it, to stop the mouths of these vain boasters:

I am more; that is, more a minister of Christ than they, more manifestly so than they were; yea, he was more than an ordinary minister of Christ, he was an apostle, the apostle of the Gentiles, and laboured and suffered more than even the rest of the true apostles of Christ, and therefore must be greatly superior to the false ones:

in labours more abundant; in taking fatiguing journeys, preaching the Gospel constantly, administering ordinances, working with his own hands, &c.

in stripes above measure; which were cruelly and unmercifully inflicted on him by his enemies, and which he afterwards mentions:

in prisons more frequent; as at Philippi, and so after this at Jerusalem, and Rome, and perhaps in other places, though not recorded; Clemens Romanus says ^h, that he was seven times in bonds:

in deaths oft; that is, frequently in danger of death, in such afflictions and evils as threatened with death, and therefore are so called; see 2Co 1:8.

Gill: 2Co 11:24

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. We have no account in the Acts of the Apostles, or elsewhere, of any one of these five scourgings, which the apostle underwent from the Jews; but there is no doubt to be made of them. The number of stripes he received at each time agrees with the traditions and customs of the Jews. The original law for scourging a delinquent is in Deu 25:2 where it is said, "forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed"; according to the nature of the case, forty stripes and no more might be inflicted, but fewer might suffice in some cases; the apostle's having but thirty nine at a time was not because the Jews thought his crime did not require full forty; or that they out of tenderness and compassion to him abated him one; but they proceeded with him to the utmost rigour of this law, according to their interpretation of it; for so runs their tradition ⁱ,

"with how many stripes do they beat him? (a criminal,) it is answered, ארבעים חסר אחת, "with forty save one"; as it is said, "with the number forty"; that is, which is next to forty; R. Judah says, with full forty is he to be beaten;''

but the decision is not according to R. Judah, as the commentators say ^k; and this is the general sense of their ^l interpreters of that law, and what they take to be the genuine meaning of it; so that the apostle was punished according to the extremity of it, in their account. This is a settled rule and point with them, חסר אחת מלקות תורה ארבעים ^m, "that scourging according to the law is with forty stripes save one"; Maimonides ⁿ observes, that

"they did not add to forty, if a man was as strong and robust as Samson, but they lessen the number to a man that is weak; for if a weak man should be beaten with many stripes, he may die; wherefore the wise men say, that if he be never so robust, they scourge him but with "thirty nine";''

so that no mercy shown to Paul, or any regard had to his weak constitution, for it was the utmost they ever inflicted; besides, according to their manner of scourging; see Gill on Mat 10:17, they could not have given him another stroke, without giving him three stripes more, which would have made it forty two, and so have exceeded, which the law forbids; for they whipped with a scourge of three cords, and every stroke went for three; so that by thirteen strokes, thirty nine stripes were given, and if a fourteenth had been added, there would have been forty two stripes; agreeably to which they say ^o,

"when they condemn a delinquent to how many stripes he is able to receive, they do not count but by stripes that are fit to be trebled; if they reckon he is able to bear twenty, they do not say he is to be beaten with twenty one, so that they may be able to treble, but he is to be beaten with eighteen; they condemn to receive forty, and after he begins to be beaten, they see he is weak, and they say he cannot receive more than these nine or "twelve" with which he is beaten, lo, this is free; they condemn him to receive twelve, and after he is scourged they see he is strong and able to receive more, lo, he is free, and is not to be beaten any more upon the estimation:''

so that you see that, according to their own canons, they could if they would have mitigated this punishment of the apostle's; but such was their cruelty and malice, that they carried it to the utmost height they could.

Gill: 2Co 11:25

Thrice was I beaten with rods,.... Or "wands", by the Romans; for this was a Roman punishment, distinct from scourging with cords used by the Jews. There is mention made but of one time only that he was so beaten, elsewhere, and that is in Act 16:22 which was at Philippi; but that he was so many times beaten in this way, there is no room to doubt:

once was I stoned. This was at Lystra, at the instigation of the Jews that came from Antioch and Iconium, Act 14:19 by whom he was left for dead:

thrice I suffered shipwreck; neither of which are mentioned by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles; for the shipwreck he suffered as when he went to Rome was some time after the writing of this epistle, and therefore cannot be one of these here referred to

a night and a day I have been in the deep; some understand this of a well, called "Bythos", or "the deep", which was near Lystra, where the apostle was hid for such a space of time after his deliverance there; but this, were it so, he would scarcely reckon among his very great hardships and sufferings: others of a prison at Cyzicum in Asia, which, because of its very great height, was called "the depth of the sea", in which the apostle was imprisoned for such a time; but, we nowhere read that he ever was at that place, or preached there, and much less was imprisoned there; and had he, it is not likely that he should particularly point out such a short imprisonment, but would have let it pass in the general account of being in prisons before mentioned: but rather this is to be understood of the sea, often called the "deep" in Scripture, where by some accident he was cast, and was in it, as the Syriac version has it, דלא ספינתא, "where was no ship", or without one, being shipwrecked; or being cast, or having fallen into the sea, he was swimming in it, or was preserved by a broken piece of the ship, or by some other means, or by the wonderful providence of God for so long a time; though as sailing in those times was chiefly by coasting, this phrase may only signify that the ship in which he was was drove from the coast into the sea, and lost sight of the land for the space of a day and night, and lay floating about in the deep, which was reckoned very dangerous. The word νυχθημερον, "a night day", signifies a whole natural day, consisting of a night and a day; and is an Hebraism, and answers to ערב ובקר, "the evening and the morning", which make a full day; see Gen 1:5 Dan 8:14.

Gill: 2Co 11:26

In journeying often,.... Through several countries and kingdoms to preach the Gospel, as he did from Jerusalem round about to Illyricum:

in perils of waters; by the floods being out, which made it very troublesome and dangerous travelling, especially to persons on foot, as was the case of our apostle:

in perils of robbers; for though he had seldom much to lose, yet was in danger of being ill used, and of his life being taken away by such ruffians:

in perils by my own countrymen; the Jews, who bore an implacable hatred to him, because of the doctrines of grace he preached, in opposition to the works of the law of Moses, whether moral or ceremonial; and who generally were concerned in stirring up the Gentiles against him wherever he came:

in perils by the Heathen; the Gentiles, who were incensed against him for inveighing against their idols and idolatrous worship, and other wicked and enormous practices they were addicted to; particularly at Ephesus, by the means of Demetrius the shrine maker, Act 19:23,

in perils in the city; in any and every city he came into; for bonds and affliction abode him everywhere, as at Jerusalem, Damascus, Antioch, Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, &c.

in perils in the wilderness; by robbers and wild beasts, through hunger and thirst, and by the sands in hurricanes and tempests; though this may be understood not strictly of desert places, but of the country in distinction from the city; See Gill on Mat_3:1 where travelling is difficult and dangerous, and the people more rustic and uncivil: the phrase, בסכנת המדברות, "in perils of the wildernesses", is a Rabbinical one ^p; as is also הסכנה בים, "peril in the sea" ^q, next mentioned:

in perils in the sea; not only by shipwreck, but through pirates, and the ill usage of mariners, want of provisions, &c.

in perils among false brethren; who pretended to be Christians, but "judaized", teaching the necessity of observing circumcision, and other ceremonies of the law, in order to salvation; these, as the apostle always warmly opposed, so they were sworn enemies to him, and ever sought to do him what mischief they could.

Gill: 2Co 11:27

In weariness and painfulness,.... Through long journeys and frequent preaching; or "in labour and trouble"; or in troublesome labour, for all labour is not so; as hunting, hawking, &c. though laborious, yet delightful; but the labours of the apostle were painful and troublesome to the flesh, though he had much inward spiritual delight and pleasure in them:

in watchings often; being sometimes engaged at midnight, either in preaching, or praying, or staging psalms, and sometimes obliged to work early and late with his own hands to supply his necessities:

in hunger and thirst; as when at sea, or in wilderness places, or where no notice was taken of him for preaching the Gospel; he doing that freely without asking the assistance of any, which in some places would have been prejudicial to his designs, and the spread of the Gospel:

in fastings often; voluntary ones, which he engaged in, not as meritorious works, but to keep under his body, and as proper to attend the work of prayer at certain times:

in cold and nakedness; when travelling in the winter season, and but poorly clothed to keep him from the inclemencies of the weather; and having no certain dwelling place to retire unto and abide in, during any severe season there might be, and wanting the comforts of life to support him under such inconveniences.

Gill: 2Co 11:28

Besides those things that are without,.... Or are omitted, which he had passed by, and had not mentioned in the account and enumeration of things he had given; for otherwise the things he had taken notice of and instanced in, were things external; but besides them and many other things which would be too tedious to relate,

that which cometh upon me daily, is not to be forgotten; meaning the prodigious deal of business which was every day upon his hands, through the continual coming of brethren to him, either for advice, or comfort, or instruction; and through the multiplicity of letters from divers parts, which he was obliged to give answers to; and the several duties of the day, as prayer, meditation, reading, praising, preaching, &c. and to sum up the whole, and which is explanative of the phrase,

the care of all the churches; not of ten, or twenty, or some only; but of all of them, he being the apostle of the Gentiles, and was concerned in planting, and raising them, and preaching the Gospel to most of them; and who continually stood in need of his watch and care over them, to provide ministers for some, to prevent schisms and heat divisions in others; to preserve others from errors and heresies, and warn them of the dangers to which they were exposed by false teachers; and to animate, strengthen, and support others under violent persecutions, lest their faith should fail, and they be tempted to desert the Gospel, and drop their profession of religion.

Gill: 2Co 11:29

Who is weak, and I am not weak.... What church is so? or what particular believer is so? for he had not only the care of all the churches, but of all believers upon him; whoever was weak in the faith he was concerned for them, to instruct, establish, and strengthen them; and suited his discourses, reasonings, and language, to their capacity, that they might understand him, and take in right notions of things: or whoever was of a weak and scrupulous conscience about things indifferent, and fearful of using them lest they should sin in so doing, he was cautious of offending them, or doing anything by which their consciences should be defiled, and their peace be broken: or whoever was afflicted, either in body or mind, he sympathized and bore a part with them:

who is offended, and I burn not? whoever was stumbled and made to fall by anything he said or did, or by the words and actions of others, it gave him sensible pain, it made him very uneasy; he was as one in a flame, all on fire, full of grief and trouble till the cause of the offence was removed, and the person offended made easy and restored; the word here used answers to the Hebrew word עגם, used in Job 30:25 where it is said, "was not my soul grieved for the poor?" which Mr. Broughton renders, "did not my soul burn for the poor?" Now by all this which the apostle did and suffered, by all actions and sufferings, care and sympathy, he fully appeared to be a true and faithful minister of Christ, and abundantly more than the false apostles, who could produce none of these things as testimonies in their favour.

Gill: 2Co 11:30

If I must needs glory.... The apostle signifies that glorying was not agreeable to him; he was not fond of it, it was a subject he did not delight to dwell upon; what he had done was by force, and through necessity; he was compelled to it by the boasts of the false apostles: and since he must needs glory in order to stop their mouths;

will glory says he, of things which concern mine infirmities; meaning not his sins, for these cause shame; but his afflictions and sufferings for Christ, under which he was supported, and from which he was delivered by the power of Christ; and that was the reason he chose to glory of them; for though they rendered him mean and despicable in the eyes of the world, yet his bearing them with so much patience, courage, and pleasure, and his many singular deliverances out of them, served greatly to illustrate the power and grace of Christ, and at the same time proved him to be a true and faithful minister of the Gospel; to whom so much honour was vouchsafed, as to suffer shame for the name of Christ, and to be so singularly marked out by him, as the object of his favour, love, and care.

Gill: 2Co 11:31

he God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.... These words are in the form of an oath, and are a solemn appeal to God, that knows all things, for the truth of the whole that he had declared in the foregoing verses, and of the remarkable deliverance related in the following. "God", says he, who is the searcher of hearts, and an omniscient being, to whom all things are open and manifest,

knoweth that I lie not; in anyone single instance he had mentioned, nor in what he was about to declare; which because it was a fact done by a stratagem, and a good while ago, and which was not known to the Corinthians, and of which perhaps at that time he could not produce any witnesses; therefore calls God to testify the truth of it, whom he describes as "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"; God is his "God" as Mediator, and head of the elect, to whom as to them he is a covenant God; and as man, being his Creator, supporter, and the object of his faith, hope, love, and worship; and his "Father" as God, and the Son of God, by supernatural generation, being the only begotten of him, in a way ineffable and inexpressible: "and who is blessed for evermore"; in himself, and Son, and Spirit, and is the source of all happiness to his creatures.

Gill: 2Co 11:32

In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king,.... Aretas or Al-Hareth was a king of Arabia, of the family of the Gassanii; among whom were many of this name ^r; and who for some hundreds of years ruled over Syria, of which Damascus was the metropolis. The fourth king of that family was of this name, and perhaps is the person here meant; and after him there were four more of the same family so called; it was a name of Arabian kings in other families. The fifteenth king of the Yamanensians was of this name, and so was the "seventeenth" of the Hirensians ^s, and the "third" of the kings of Cenda; in the times of Antiochus Epiphanes, there was an Aretas king of the Arabians, mentioned in the Apocrypha ^t.

"In the end therefore he had an unhappy return, being accused before Aretas the king of the Arabians, fleeing from city to city, pursued of all men, hated as a forsaker of the laws, and being had in abomination as an open enemy of his country and countrymen, he was cast out into Egypt.'' (2 Maccabees 5:8)

Josephus ^u also makes mention of Aretas king of the Arabians, who seems to have been king of Arabia Petraea, since his royal seat was at Petra, to whom Hyrcanus fled by the advice of Antipater, the father of Herod the great; and there was also one of this name in the times of Herod himself, who succeeded Obodas ^w; yea, there was an Aretas king of Petraea, in the times of Herod the tetrarch, whose daughter Herod married, and put her away when he took Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, which occasioned a quarrel between him and Aretas, which issued in a battle, in which Herod was beaten ^x; and who is thought to be the same king which is here spoken of: the name Aretas or Al-Hareth, as Hillerus ^y, observes, signifies the lion; and a lion with the eastern nations was a symbol of royalty and dominion; hence such names were given to persons of illustrious birth and power; so Ali, the son-in-law of Mahomet, was called by the Arabs and Persians the lion of God: now Syria, where Damascus was, and which is called by Pliny ^z Damascus of Syria, had been of long time in the hands of the kings of Arabia; and ^a Josephus makes mention of Aretas, king of Coele Syria, who was called to the government by those who had Damascus in their hands; very probably by Milesius, who was governor of the tower of Damascus, and commanded των δαμασκηνων την πολιν, "the city of the Damascenes", as Josephus calls Damascus, just as it is here in the next clause; in which country of Coele Syria, Ptolomy ^b also places Damascus; and Grotius has proved from Justin Martyr ^c and Terlullian ^d, that Damascus formerly belonged to Arabia, though in their times it was reckoned to Syro Phoenicia: here the apostle preached to the confounding of the Jews that dwelt there, which provoked them to enter into a consultation to take away his life; and that he might not escape their hands, they moved to the then governor who was under the king, that the gates might be watched day and night; see Act 9:23 to which he agreed; and as the apostle here says,

kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, or set a guard about it; or as the Arabic version reads it, "he shut up the city"; and placed a watch at the gates of it night and day, or allowed the Jews to do so:

desirous to apprehend me; in order to deliver him into their hands, who were now his sworn enemies for the Gospel's sake; willing to do them this favour to ingratiate himself into their affections; or perhaps it might be insinuated to him, that he was a seditious person.

Gill: 2Co 11:33

And through a window in a basket was I let down,.... The house in which he was, like Rahab's, was built upon the wall of the city, and as she let down the spies by a cord through the window, and as David was by Michal; so the apostle was let down by the brethren with cords, as Jeremiah was, Jer 38:6 where the Septuagint use the same word as here, through a window; "which", as the Arabic version reads it, "was in the wall"; or he was let down by the wall side, "in a basket or net"; so σαργανη, and סריגתא, the word which the Syriac version here uses, signify and design a basket made of withs, wrought together in the form of network; frequent mention is made in the Jewish writings ^e of סריגות החלונות, "the networks and lattices of windows"; whether these were not taken off the window and put into a form like a basket, and in it the apostle let down by the brethren with the help of cords, may be inquired into: however, he

escaped his hands; the governor's, and the Jews too who lay in wait for him. This deliverance he mentions with thankfulness to God, and as an instance of divine Providence in the preservation of him, for much usefulness to the church of Christ; the Vulgate Latin version reads, and "thus he escaped his hands".

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Co 11:15

¹ tn Or “also masquerade.”

² tn Or “their works.”

NET Notes: 2Co 11:16

¹ tn Or “am foolish.”

NET Notes: 2Co 11:17

¹ tn Grk “with this confidence of boasting.” The genitive καυχήσεως (kauchsew") has been translated as an attributed genitive (the noun in the genitive gives an attribute of the noun modified).

² tn Or “say with the Lord’s authority.”

NET Notes: 2Co 11:18

¹ sn Many is a reference to Paul’s opponents.

² tn Grk “according to the flesh.”

NET Notes: 2Co 11:19

¹ tn Or “you tolerate.”

NET Notes: 2Co 11:20

¹ tn Or “you tolerate.”

² tn See L&N 88.212.

NET Notes: 2Co 11:21

¹ tn Or “my shame.”

² sn It seems best, in context, to see the statement we were too weak for that as a parenthetical and ironic comment by Paul on his physical condition (weakness or sickness) while he was with the Corinthians (cf. 2 Cor 12:7-10; Gal 4:15).

³ tn The words “to boast about” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, and this phrase serves as the direct object of the preceding verb.

⁴ tn Grk “I also dare”; the words “to boast about the same thing” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, and this phrase serves as the direct object of the preceding verb.

NET Notes: 2Co 11:24

¹ tn Grk “forty less one”; this was a standard sentence. “Lashes” is supplied to clarify for the modern reader what is meant.

NET Notes: 2Co 11:25

¹ sn Beaten with a rod refers to the Roman punishment of admonitio according to BDAG 902 s.v. ῥαβδίζω. Acts 16:22 describes one of these occasions in Philippi; in this case it was administered by the city magistrates, who had wide powers in a military colony.

² sn Received a stoning. See Acts 14:19, where this incident is described.

NET Notes: 2Co 11:26

¹ tn Or “bandits.” The word normally refers more to highwaymen (“robbers”) but can also refer to insurrectionists or revolutionaries (“bandits”).

² tn Or “desert.”

NET Notes: 2Co 11:27

¹ tn The two different words for labor are translated “in hard work and toil” by L&N 42.48.

² tn Grk “in cold and nakedness.” Paul does not mean complete nakedness, however, which would have been repugnant to a Jew; he refers instead to the lack of sufficient clothing, especially in cold weather. A related word is used to 1 Cor 4:11, also in combination with experiencing hunger and thirst.

NET Notes: 2Co 11:28

¹ sn Apart from other things. Paul refers here either (1) to the external sufferings just mentioned, or (2) he refers to other things he has left unmentioned.

² tn “Anxious concern,” so translated in L&N 25.224.

NET Notes: 2Co 11:29

¹ tn Or “who is caused to stumble.”

NET Notes: 2Co 11:30

¹ tn Grk “If boasting is necessary.”

² tn Or “about the things related to my weakness.”

NET Notes: 2Co 11:32

¹ tn Grk “ethnarch.”

sn The governor was an official called an ethnarch who was appointed to rule over a particular area or constituency on behalf of a king.

² tn Grk “the city of the Damascenes.”

³ tn Or “to seize,” “to catch.”

NET Notes: 2Co 11:33

¹ tn In Acts 9:25 the same basket used in Paul’s escape is called a σπυρίς (spuri"), a basket larger than a κόφινος (kofinos). It was very likely made out of rope, so the translation “rope-basket” is used.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 11:16

^{( 7 )} I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.

^{( 7 )} He goes forward boldly, and using a vehement irony or type of taunting, desires the Corinthians to pardon him, if for a time he argues as a fool before them, who are wise, along with those other wise ones, as he talks about those external things such as his stock, his ancestors, and valiant acts.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 11:20

^{( 8 )} For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour [you], if a man take [of you], if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.

^{( 8 )} Before he comes to the matter, he talks directly to the Corinthians, who persuading themselves to be very wise men, did not mark in the meanwhile that those false apostles had abused their simplicity for advantage.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 11:21

I speak as concerning ^{( l )} reproach, as though we had been ^{( m )} weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.

^{( l )} As if he said, "In respect of that reproach which they do to you, which surely is as evil as if they beat you."

^{( m )} Paul is called weak, in that he seems to be to the Corinthians a vile and abject man, a beggarly craftsman, a most wretched and miserable idiot, whereas in reality God's mighty power was made manifest in that.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 11:23

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I [am] ^{( n )} more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in ^{( o )} deaths oft.

^{( n )} Paul being honourable indeed, defends his ministry openly, not for his own sake, but because he saw his doctrine come into danger.

^{( o )} In danger of present death.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 11:24

Of the Jews ^{( p )} five times received I forty [stripes] save one.

^{( p )} He alludes to that which is written in (Deu 25:3). And moreover this place shows us that Paul suffered many more things which Luke omitted in writing Acts.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 11:25

^{( q )} Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

^{( q )} By the Roman magistrates.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 11:27

In weariness and ^{( r )} painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

^{( r )} Painfulness is a troublesome sickness, as when a man who is weary and wants rest is forced to begin new labour.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 11:28

^{( 9 )} Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

^{( 9 )} He further adds this in conclusion, that the Corinthians should be ashamed to despise him upon whose care almost all churches depended, as it was plainly seen by experience.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 11:30

^{( 10 )} If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.

^{( 10 )} He turns that against the adversaries which they objected against him: as if he should say, "They allege my calamities to take away my authority from me: but if I would boast myself, I could use no better argument. And God himself is my witness that I am not making up or forging anything."

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Co 11:1-33

1 Out of his jealousy over the Corinthians, who seemed to make more account of the false apostles than of him, he enters into a forced commendation of himself,

5 of his equality with the chief apostles,

7 of his preaching the gospel to them freely, and without any charge to them;

13 shewing that he was not inferior to those deceitful workers in any legal prerogative;

23 and in the service of Christ, and in all kinds of sufferings for his ministry, far superior.

MHCC: 2Co 11:5-15

It is far better to be plain in speech, yet walking openly and consistently with the gospel, than to be admired by thousands, and be lifted up in pride, so as to disgrace the gospel by evil tempers and unholy lives. The apostle would not give room for any to accuse him of worldly designs in preaching the gospel, that others who opposed him at Corinth, might not in this respect gain advantage against him. Hypocrisy may be looked for, especially when we consider the great power which Satan, who rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience, has upon the minds of many. And as there are temptations to evil conduct, so there is equal danger on the other side. It serves Satan's purposes as well, to set up good works against the atonement of Christ, and salvation by faith and grace. But the end will discover those who are deceitful workers; their work will end in ruin. Satan will allow his ministers to preach either the law or the gospel separately; but the law as established by faith in Christ's righteousness and atonement, and the partaking of his Spirit, is the test of every false system.

MHCC: 2Co 11:16-21

It is the duty and practice of Christians to humble themselves, in obedience to the command and example of the Lord; yet prudence must direct in what it is needful to do things which we may do lawfully, even the speaking of what God has wrought for us, and in us, and by us. Doubtless here is reference to facts in which the character of the false apostles had been shown. It is astonishing to see how such men bring their followers into bondage, and how they take from them and insult them.

MHCC: 2Co 11:22-33

The apostle gives an account of his labours and sufferings; not out of pride or vain-glory, but to the honour of God, who enabled him to do and suffer so much for the cause of Christ; and shows wherein he excelled the false apostles, who tried to lessen his character and usefulness. It astonishes us to reflect on this account of his dangers, hardships, and sufferings, and to observe his patience, perseverance, diligence, cheerfulness, and usefulness, in the midst of all these trials. See what little reason we have to love the pomp and plenty of this world, when this blessed apostle felt so much hardship in it. Our utmost diligence and services appear unworthy of notice when compared with his, and our difficulties and trials scarcely can be perceived. It may well lead us to inquire whether or not we really are followers of Christ. Here we may study patience, courage, and firm trust in God. Here we may learn to think less of ourselves; and we should ever strictly keep to truth, as in God's presence; and should refer all to his glory, as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for evermore.

Matthew Henry: 2Co 11:5-15

After the foregoing preface to what he was about to say, the apostle in these verses mentions,

I. His equality with the other apostles - that he was not a whit behind the very chief of the apostles, 2Co 11:5. This he expresses very modestly: I suppose so. He might have spoken very positively. The apostleship, as an office, was equal in all the apostles; but the apostles, like other Christians, differed one from another. These stars differed one from another in glory, and Paul was indeed of the first magnitude; yet he speaks modestly of himself, and humbly owns his personal infirmity, that he was rude in speech, had not such a graceful delivery as some others might have. Some think that he was a man of very low stature, and that his voice was proportionably small; others think that he may have had some impediment in his speech, perhaps a stammering tongue. However, he was not rude in knowledge; he was not unacquainted with the best rules of oratory and the art of persuasion, much less was he ignorant of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, as had been thoroughly manifested among them.

II. His equality with the false apostles in this particular - the preaching of the gospel unto them freely, without wages. This the apostle largely insists on, and shows that, as they could not but own him to be a minister of Christ, so they ought to acknowledge he had been a good friend to them. For, 1. He had preached the gospel to them freely, 2Co 11:7-10. He had proved at large, in his former epistle to them, the lawfulness of ministers' receiving maintenance from the people, and the duty of the people to give them an honourable maintenance; and here he says he himself had taken wages of other churches (2Co 11:8), so that he had a right to have asked and received from them: yet he waived his right, and chose rather to abase himself, by working with his hands in the trade of tent-making to maintain himself, than be burdensome to them, that they might be exalted, or encouraged to receive the gospel, which they had so cheaply; yea, he chose rather to be supplied from Macedonia than to be chargeable unto them. 2. He informs them of the reason of this his conduct among them. It was not because he did not love them (2Co 11:11), or was unwilling to receive tokens of their love (for love and friendship are manifested by mutual giving and receiving), but it was to avoid offence, that he might cut off occasion from those that desired occasion. He would not give occasion for any to accuse him of worldly designs in preaching the gospel, or that he intended to make a trade of it, to enrich himself; and that others who opposed him at Corinth might not in this respect gain an advantage against him: that wherein they gloried, as to this matter, they might be found even as he, 2Co 11:12. It is not improbable to suppose that the chief of the false teachers at Corinth, or some among them, were rich, and taught (or deceived) the people freely, and might accuse the apostle or his fellow-labourers as mercenary men, who received hire or wages, and therefore the apostle kept to his resolution not to be chargeable to any of the Corinthians.

III. The false apostles are charged as deceitful workers (2Co 11:13), and that upon this account, because they would transform themselves into the likeness of the apostles of Christ, and, though they were the ministers of Satan, would seem to be the ministers of righteousness. They would be as industrious and as generous in promoting error as the apostles were in preaching truth; they would endeavour as much to undermine the kingdom of Christ as the apostles did to establish it. There were counterfeit prophets under the Old Testament, who wore the garb and learned the language of the prophets of the Lord. So there were counterfeit apostles under the New Testament, who seemed in many respects like the true apostles of Christ. And no marvel (says the apostle); hypocrisy is a thing not to be much wondered at in this world, especially when we consider the great influence Satan has upon the minds of many, who rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience. As he can turn himself into any shape, and put on almost any form, and look sometimes like an angel of light, in order to promote his kingdom of darkness, so he will teach his ministers and instruments to do the same. But it follows, Their end is according to their works (2Co 11:15); the end will discover them to be deceitful workers, and their work will end in ruin and destruction.

Matthew Henry: 2Co 11:16-21

Here we have a further excuse that the apostle makes for what he was about to say in his own vindication. 1. He would not have them think he was guilty of folly, in saying what he said to vindicate himself: Let no man think me a fool, 2Co 11:16. Ordinarily, indeed, it is unbecoming a wise man to be much and often speaking in his own praise. Boasting of ourselves is usually not only a sign of a proud mind, but a mark of folly also. However, says the apostle, yet as a fool receive me; that is, if you count it folly in me to boast a little, yet give due regard to what I shall say. 2. He mentions a caution, to prevent the abuse of what he should say, telling them that what he spoke, he did not speak after the Lord, 2Co 11:17. He would not have them think that boasting of ourselves, or glorying in what we have, is a thing commanded by the Lord in general unto Christians, nor yet that this is always necessary in our own vindication; though it may be lawfully used, because not contrary to the Lord, when, strictly speaking, it is not after the Lord. It is the duty and practice of Christians, in obedience to the command and example of the Lord, rather to humble and abase themselves; yet prudence must direct in what circumstances it is needful to do that which we may do lawfully, even speak of what God has wrought for us, and in us, and by us too. 3. He gives a good reason why they should suffer him to boast a little; namely, because they suffered others to do so who had less reason. Seeing many glory after the flesh (of carnal privileges, or outward advantages and attainments), I will glory also, 2Co 11:18. But he would not glory in those things, though he had as much or more reason than others to do so. But he gloried in his infirmities, as he tells them afterwards. The Corinthians thought themselves wise, and might think it an instance of wisdom to bear with the weakness of others, and therefore suffered others to do what might seem folly; therefore the apostle would have them bear with him. Or these words, You suffer fools gladly, seeing you yourselves are wise (2Co 11:19), may be ironical, and then the meaning is this: "Notwithstanding all your wisdom, you willingly suffer yourselves to be brought into bondage under the Jewish yoke, or suffer others to tyrannize over you; nay, to devour you, or make a prey of you, and take of you hire for their own advantage, and to exalt themselves above you, and lord it over you; nay, even to smite you on the face, or impose upon you to your very faces (2Co 11:20), upbraiding you while they reproach me, as if you had been very weak in showing regard to me,"2Co 11:21. Seeing this was the case, that the Corinthians, or some among them, could so easily bear all this from the false apostles, it was reasonable for the apostle to desire, and expect, they should bear with what might seem to them an indiscretion in him, seeing the circumstances of the case were such as made it needful that whereinsoever any were bold he should be bold also, 2Co 11:21.

Matthew Henry: 2Co 11:22-33

Here the apostle gives a large account of his own qualifications, labours, and sufferings (not out of pride or vain-glory, but to the honour of God, who had enabled him to do and suffer so much for the cause of Christ), and wherein he excelled the false apostles, who would lessen his character and usefulness among the Corinthians. Observe,

I. He mentions the privileges of his birth (2Co 11:22), which were equal to any they could pretend to. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews; of a family among the Jews that never intermarried with the Gentiles. He was also an Israelite, and could boast of his being descended from the beloved Jacob as well as they, and was also of the seed of Abraham, and not of the proselytes. It should seem from this that the false apostles were of the Jewish race, who gave disturbance to the Gentile converts.

II. He makes mention also of his apostleship, that he was more than an ordinary minister of Christ, 2Co 11:23. God had counted him faithful, and had put him into the ministry. He had been a useful minister of Christ unto them; they had found full proofs of his ministry: Are they ministers of Christ? I am more so.

III. He chiefly insists upon this, that he had been an extraordinary sufferer for Christ; and this was what he gloried in, or rather he gloried in the grace of God that had enabled him to be more abundant in labours, and to endure very great sufferings, such as stripes above measure, frequent imprisonments, and often the dangers of death, 2Co 11:23. Note, When the apostle would prove himself an extraordinary minister, he proves that he had been an extraordinary sufferer. Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles, and for that reason was hated of the Jews. They did all they could against him; and among the Gentiles also he met with hard usage. Bonds and imprisonments were familiar to him; never was the most notorious malefactor more frequently in the hands of public justice than Paul was for righteousness' sake. The jail and the whipping-post, and all other hard usages of those who are accounted the worst of men, were what he was accustomed to. As to the Jews, whenever he fell into their hands, they never spared him. Five times he fell under their lash, and received forty stripes save one, 2Co 11:24. Forty stripes was the utmost their law allowed (Deu 25:3), but it was usual with them, that they might not exceed, to abate one at least of that number. And to have the abatement of one only was all the favour that ever Paul received from them. The Gentiles were not tied up to that moderation, and among them he was thrice beaten with rods, of which we may suppose once was at Philippi, Act 16:22. Once he was stoned in a popular tumult, and was taken up for dead, Act 14:19. He says that thrice he suffered shipwreck; and we may believe him, though the sacred history gives a relation but of one. A night and a day he had been in the deep (2Co 11:25), in some deep dungeon or other, shut up as a prisoner. Thus he was all his days a constant confessor; perhaps scarcely a year of his life, after his conversion, passed without suffering some hardship or other for his religion; yet this was not all, for, wherever he went, he went in perils; he was exposed to perils of all sorts. If he journeyed by land, or voyaged by sea, he was in perils of robbers, or enemies of some sort; the Jews, his own countrymen, sought to kill him, or do him a mischief; the heathen, to whom he was sent, were not more kind to him, for among them he was in peril. If he was in the city, or in the wilderness, still he was in peril. He was in peril not only among avowed enemies, but among those also who called themselves brethren, but were false brethren, 2Co 11:26. Besides all this, he had great weariness and painfulness in his ministerial labours, and these are things that will come into account shortly, and people will be reckoned with for all the care and pains of their ministers concerning them. Paul was a stranger to wealth and plenty, power and pleasure, preferment and ease; he was in watchings often, and exposed to hunger and thirst; in fastings often, it may be out of necessity; and endured cold and nakedness, 2Co 11:27. Thus was he, who was one of the greatest blessings of the age, used as if he had been the burden of the earth, and the plague of his generation. And yet this is not all; for, as an apostle, the care of all the churches lay on him, 2Co 11:28. He mentions this last, as if this lay the heaviest upon him, and as if he could better bear all the persecutions of his enemies than the scandals that were to be found in the churches he had the oversight of. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not? 2Co 11:29. There was not a weak Christian with whom he did not sympathize, nor any one scandalized, but he was affected therewith. See what little reason we have to be in love with the pomp and plenty of this world, when this blessed apostle, one of the best of men that ever lived, excepting Jesus Christ, felt so much hardship in it. Nor was he ashamed of all this, but, on the contrary, it was what he accounted his honour; and therefore, much against the grain as it was with him to glory, yet, says he, if I must needs glory, if my adversaries will oblige me to it in my own necessary vindication, I will glory in these my infirmities, 2Co 11:30. Note, Sufferings for righteousness' sake will, the most of any thing, redound to our honour.

In the last two verses, he mentions one particular part of his sufferings out of its place, as if he had forgotten it before, or because the deliverance God wrought for him was most remarkable; namely, the danger he was in at Damascus, soon after he was converted, and not settled in Christianity, at least in the ministry and apostleship. This is recorded, Act 9:24, Act 9:25. This was his first great danger and difficulty, and the rest of his life was a piece with this. And it is observable that, lest it should be thought he spoke more than was true, the apostle confirms this narrative with a solemn oath, or appeal to the omniscience of God, 2Co 11:31. It is a great comfort to a good man that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is an omniscient God, knows the truth of all he says, and knows all he does and all he suffers for his sake.

Barclay: 2Co 11:7-15

Here again Paul is meeting a charge that has been levelled against him. This time the charge is clear. It was rankling in the minds of the Corinthian Church that Paul had refused to accept any support from them whatsoever. When he was in want it was the Philippian Church who had supplied his needs (compare Phi 4:10-18).

Before we go further with this passage, we must ask, how could Paul maintain this attitude of utter independence with regard to the Corinthian Church and yet accept gifts from the Philippian Church? He was not being inconsistent and the reason was a very practical and excellent one. As far as we know, Paul never accepted a gift from the Church at Philippi when he was in Philippi. He did so only after he had moved on. The reason is clear. So long as he was in any given place he had to be utterly independent, under obligation to no man. It is hardly possible to accept a man's bounty and then condemn him or preach against him. When he was in the middle of the Philippian community Paul could not be beholden to any man. It was different when he had moved on. He was then free to take what the love of the Philippians chose to give, for then it would commit him to no man or party. It would have been impossible for Paul, when in Corinth, to receive Corinthian support and at the same time maintain the independence which the situation demanded. He was not in the least inconsistent; he was only wise.

Why were the Corinthians so annoyed about his refusal? For one thing, according to the Greek way of thinking, it was beneath a free man's dignity to work with his hands. The dignity of honest toil was forgotten, and the Corinthians did not understand Paul's point of view. For another thing, in the Greek world, teachers were supposed to make money out of teaching. There never was an age in which a man who could talk could make so much money. Augustus, the Roman Emperor, paid Verrius Flaccus, the rhetorician, an annual salary of 100,000 sesterces, which, in present day purchasing power was the equivalent of a quarter of a million pounds. Every town was entitled to grant complete exemption from all civic burdens and taxes to a certain number of teachers of rhetoric and literature. Paul's independence was something that the Corinthians could not understand.

As for the false apostles, they, too, made Paul's independence a charge against him. They took support all right, and they claimed that the fact that they took it was a proof that they really were apostles. No doubt they maintained that Paul refused to take anything because his teaching was not worth anything. But in their heart of hearts they were afraid that people would see through them, and they wanted to drag Paul down to their own level of acquisitiveness so that his independence would no longer form a contrast to their greed.

Paul accused them of masquerading as apostles of Christ. The Jewish legend was that Satan had once masqueraded as one of the angels who sang praises to God and that it was then that Eve had seen him and been seduced.

It is still true that many masquerade as Christians, some consciously but still more unconsciously. Their Christianity is a superficial dress in which there is no reality. The Synod of the Church in Uganda drew up the following four tests by which a man may examine himself and test the reality of his Christianity.

(i) Do you know salvation through the Cross of Christ?

(ii) Are you growing in the power of the Holy Spirit, in

prayer, meditation and the knowledge of God?

(iii) Is there a great desire to spread the Kingdom of God

by example, and by preaching and teaching?

(iv) Are you bringing others to Christ by individual

searching, by visiting, and by public witness?

With the conscience of others we have nothing to do, but we can test our own Christianity lest our faith also should be not a reality but a masquerade.

Barclay: 2Co 11:16-33

All against his will Paul is forced to produce his credentials as an apostle. He feels that the whole thing is folly, and, when it comes to comparing himself with other people, it seems to him like madness. Nevertheless, not for his own sake, but for the sake of the gospel that he preaches, it has to be done.

It is clear that his opponents were Jewish teachers who claimed to have a gospel and an authority far beyond his. He sketches them in a few lightning strokes, when he speaks about what the Corinthians are willing to endure at their hands. They reduce the Corinthians to abject slavery: This they do by trying to persuade them to submit to circumcision and the thousand and one petty rules and regulations of the Jewish law, and so to abandon the glorious liberty of the gospel of grace. They devour them. The Jewish rabbis at their worst could be shamelessly rapacious. Theoretically they held that a rabbi must take no money for teaching and must win his bread by the work of his hands, but they also taught that it was work of exceptional merit to support a rabbi and that he who did so made sure of a place in the heavenly academy. They behaved arrogantly. They lorded it over the Corinthians. In point of fact the rabbis demanded a respect greater than that given to parents, and actually claimed that, if a man's father and teacher were both captured by brigands, he must ransom his teacher first, and only then his father. They struck them on the face. This may describe insulting behaviour, or it may well be meant quite literally (compare Act 23:2). The Corinthians had come to the curious stage of seeing in the very insolence of the Jewish teachers a guarantee of their apostolic authority.

The false teachers have made three claims which Paul asserts that he can equal.

They claim to be Hebrews. This word was specially used of the Jews who still remembered and spoke their ancient Hebrew language in its Aramaic form, which was its form in the time of Paul. There were Jews scattered all over the world, for instance there were one million of them in Alexandria. Many of these Jews of the dispersion had forgotten their native tongue and spoke Greek; and the Jews of Palestine, who had preserved their native tongue, always looked down on them. Quite likely Paul's opponents had been saying, "This Paul is a citizen of Tarsus. He is not like us a pure-bred Palestinian but one of these Greekling Jews." Paul says, "No! I too am one who has never forgotten the purity of his ancestral tongue." They could not claim superiority on that score.

They claim to be Israelites. The word described a Jew as a man who was a member of God's chosen people. The basic sentence of the Jewish creed, the sentence with which every synagogue service opens, runs, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord" (Deu 6:4). No doubt these hostile Jews were saying, "This Paul never lived in Palestine. He has slipped away out of the chosen people, living in Greek surroundings in Cilicia." Paul says, "No! I am as pure an Israelite as any man. My lineage is the lineage of the people of God." They cannot claim superiority on that point.

They claim to be descendants of Abraham. By that they meant that they were Abraham's direct descendants and therefore heirs to the great promise that God had made to him (Gen 12:1-3). No doubt they claimed that this Paul was not of as pure descent as they. "No!" says Paul. "I am of as pure descent as any man" (Phi 3:5-6). They had no claim to superiority here either.

Then Paul sets out his credentials as an apostle, and the only claim he would put forward is the catalogue of his sufferings for Christ. When Mr. Valiant-for-truth was "taken with a summons" and knew that he must go to God, he said, "I am going to my Father's; and though with great difficulty I am got hither yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me, that I have fought his battles who will now be my rewarder." Like Mr. Valiant-for-truth, Paul found his only credentials in his scars.

When we read the catalogue of all that Paul had endured, the one thing that must strike us is how little we know about him. When he wrote this letter, he was in Ephesus. That is to say we have reached only as far as Ac 19 ; and if we try to check this catalogue of endurance against the narrative of that book, we find that not one quarter of it is there. We see that Paul was an even greater man than perhaps we thought, for Acts merely skims the surface of what he did and endured.

Out of this long catalogue we can take only three items.

(i) "Three times," says Paul, "I have been beaten with rods." This was a Roman punishment. The attendants of the magistrates were called the lictors and they were equipped with rods of birch wood with which the guilty criminal was chastised. Three times that had happened to Paul. It should never have happened to him at all, because, under Roman law, it was a crime to scourge a Roman citizen. But, when the mob was violent and the magistrate was weak, Paul, Roman citizen though he was, had suffered this.

(ii) "Five times," says Paul, "I received the forty stripes less one." This was a Jewish punishment. The Jewish law lays down the regulations for such scourging (Deu 25:1-3). The normal penalty was forty stripes, and on no account must that number be exceeded, or the scourger himself was subject to scourging. Therefore they always stopped at thirty-nine. That is why scourging was known as "the forty less one." The detailed regulations for scourging are in the Mishnah, which is the book in which the Jewish traditional law was codified. "They bind his two hands to a pillar on either side, and the minister of the synagogue lays hold on his garments--if they are torn, they are tom, if they are utterly rent, they are utterly rent--so that he bares his chest. A stone is set behind him on which the minister of the synagogue stands with a strap of calf-hide in his hand, doubled and re-doubled, and two other straps that rise and fall thereto. The handpiece of the strap is one handbreadth long and one handbreadth wide, and its end must reach to his navel (i.e. when the victim is struck on the shoulder the end of the strap must reach the navel). He gives him one third of the stripes in front and two thirds behind, and he may not strike him when he is standing or when he is sitting but only when he is bending down ... and he that smites smites with one hand and with all his might. If he dies under his hand, the scourger is not culpable. But if he gives him one stripe too many, and he dies, he must escape into exile because of him." That is what Paul suffered five times, a scourging so severe that it was liable to kill a man.

(iii) Again and again Paul speaks of the dangers of his travels. It is true that in his time the roads and the sea were safer than they had ever been, but they were still dangerous. On the whole, the ancient peoples did not relish the sea. "How pleasant it is," says Lucretius, "to stand on the shore and watch the poor devils of sailors having a rough time." Seneca writes to a friend, "You can persuade me into almost anything now for I was recently persuaded to travel by sea." Men regarded a sea voyage as taking one's life in one's hands. As for the roads, the brigands were still here. "A man," says Epictetus, "has heard that the road is infested by robbers. He does not dare to venture on it alone, but waits for company--a legate, or a quaestor, or a proconsul--and joining him he passes safely on the road." But there would be no official company "or Paul. "Think," said Seneca, "any day a robber might cut your throat." It was the commonest thing for a traveller to be caught and held to ransom. If ever a man was an adventurous soul, that man was Paul.

In addition to all this there was his anxiety for all the Churches. This includes the burden of the daily administration of the Christian communities; but it means more than that. Myers in his poem, St. Paul, makes Paul speak of,

"Desperate tides of the whole great world's anguish

Forced thro' the channels of a single heart."

Paul bore the sorrows and the troubles of his people on his heart.

This passage comes to a strange ending. On the face of it, it would seem that the escape from Damascus was an anti-climax. The incident is referred to in Act 9:23-25. The wall of Damascus was wide enough to drive a carriage along it. Many of the houses overhung it and it must have been from one of these that Paul was let down. Why does he so directly and definitely mention this incident? It is most likely because it rankled. Paul was the kind of man who would find this clandestine exit from Damascus worse than a scourging. He must have hated with all his great heart to run away as a fugitive in the night. His bitterest humiliation was to fail to look his enemies in the face.

Constable: 2Co 10:1--13:11

IV. APPEALS CONCERNING PAUL'S APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY 10:1--13:10

In this third and last major division of his epistle the apostle Paul defended his apostolic authority. He did this to silence his critics in Corinth and perhaps elsewhere permanently and to confirm the united support of the Christians there. One of Paul's major purposes in writing this letter was to prepare the way for his next visit. He had just referred to that "anticipated visit" (9:3-4). Consequently he felt compelled to establish his apostolic authority firmly. Broomall's observation on the tone of 2 Corinthians generally is especially true of chapters 10-13.

"The progress of thought in this epistle is like the movement of a mighty army advancing over rugged terrain still inhabited by pockets of stubborn resistance."²⁴³

Constable: 2Co 11:1--12:19

B. Claims made by Paul 11:1-12:18

In this section Paul gave further evidence that he possessed apostolic authority to encourage the whole Corinthian church to continue to respond positively to his ministry.

Constable: 2Co 11:7-15

2. Freedom to minister without charge 11:7-15

Paul claimed the freedom to minister in Corinth without receiving financial support from the Corinthians to illustrate his self-sacrificing love for his readers and his critics' selfishness. He digressed from his "foolish" boasting (vv. 1-6) to defend his policy regarding his own financial support (vv. 7-12) and to describe his opponents' true identity (vv. 13-16).

11:7-8 Paul had written that apostles have the right to refrain from working for a living and to live off the gifts of their audience (1 Cor. 9:6, 14). Yet he had made tents in Corinth and had refused to accept gifts from the Corinthians (cf. Acts 18:3; 1 Cor. 9:4-15). This indicated to some in Corinth that he did not believe he was an apostle. The other apostles normally accepted support from the recipients of their ministries, and these false apostles evidently did so consistently.

Paul had expounded God's truth in Corinth without accepting money from his converts there for doing so. He adopted this policy in Corinth and elsewhere because he did not want to burden the people he was currently ministering to. He also did so because he knew there were people who would accuse him of preaching to receive payment. He accepted financial help from other church while not ministering to them directly ("robbed them") so he could serve the Corinthians without taxing them.

11:9 Paul had practiced his trade of leather working (Gr. skenopoios) when he had first arrived in Corinth (Acts 18:3). When Silas and Timothy joined him from Macedonia, Paul stopped this work and devoted all his time to preaching and teaching (Acts 18:5). He apparently did this because these brothers had brought financial gifts with them from the Macedonian churches (cf. Phil. 4:15; 1 Thess. 3:6). Paul's principle was to preach and teach without charging those who benefitted directly from his ministry. This is a good policy in church planting, but it is not normative for a settled pastoral ministry (1 Cor. 9:14; 1 Tim. 5:17-18).²⁵⁸

11:10-12 Paul claimed that he had not sinned in behaving as he had (v. 7). He had not deceived his readers. Rather, as God knew his heart, he had behaved as he had because he loved the Corinthians. Furthermore it was not necessary for him to change his policy of accepting or declining support on the basis of the welfare of those he served. His critics uniformly accepted support. By giving up his right to preach the gospel without cost Paul would have been descending to their level. He also would have enabled his critics to compare themselves with him favorably.

11:13-15 "The moment has come for Paul to drop the veil of irony and to speak in the plainest possible terms in denunciation of these would-be super-apostles' who have invaded his territory in Achaia."²⁵⁹

Paul did not want the Corinthians to associate him with these people because they were counterfeit ambassadors of Christ. It is for this reason that their accusations concerned Paul. They were self-servers who were the true sons of their father Satan, the consummate hypocrite.²⁶⁰ They may have been genuine believers. Indeed they appear to have been. Nevertheless in their conduct they were following the example of Satan. They perverted the thinking and misdirected the affections of the Corinthians.²⁶¹

In our own day when people value toleration so highly and practice it so widely even in the church, we need to learn from Paul's example of calling a spade a spade. The welfare of those under his ministry required him to identify his critics for who they really were. We will serve our generation faithfully if we do the same. We should point out teachers who lead others into error and warn people about them if we want to keep the naive from harm.

Constable: 2Co 11:16-33

3. Paul's service and sufferings 11:16-33

To answer his critics and prove the extent of his own service and sufferings for Christ, Paul related many of his painful experiences as an apostle.

11:16 Paul apologized again for having to resort to mentioning these experiences (cf. v. 1). He did so to prove to the skeptical minority in the church that he had suffered as much as, if not even more than, the false apostles. The false teachers had impressed the "wise" Corinthians with their boasts. Consequently Paul answered these fools according to their folly (Prov. 26:5). However, he stressed that he was not a fool but was only speaking as one (i.e., boasting) to make his point.

"The key term is aphron, fool': not a dim-witted person or clown, a jester (as in play the fool'), but in the technical sense of the person in hellenistic-Roman society who had lost the correct measure (metron) of himself and the world around him . . ."²⁶²

11:17-18 These two verses are probably parenthetical. Paul evidently knew that only such "boasting" would convince the minority of his own genuineness. Straightforward claims such as the Lord Jesus made would not.

"The reason for Paul's embarrassment at this juncture is now given: self-commendation is not after the Lord' [cf. Rom. 15:5; Eph. 4:24; Col. 2:8] but, the exact opposite, after the flesh' [cf. 5:16], that is, typical of the old unregenerate nature whose values are dictated by the external, self-centered standards of this fallen world."²⁶³

11:19-21a The apostle was most ironical in these verses. The Corinthians considered themselves unusually wise, but they were being unusually foolish by not only humoring the fools in their midst but doing so gladly. They were absurdly tolerant. They submitted to the teaching of the false apostles even though it resulted in their own enslavement. Probably this teaching involved the Judaizing error (i.e., submission to the Mosaic Law is necessary for justification and or sanctification, cf. Gal. 2:4; 5:1). The false teachers had evidently devoured the Corinthians' financial contributions. They had abused them and exalted themselves at their expense. Hitting in the face may have occurred (cf. Acts 23:2; 1 Cor. 4:11), but it definitely pictures the most insulting and harmful conduct. How inconsistent this behavior was with the manner of the Savior.

Ironically Paul feigned shame that he had behaved so weakly among them. His conduct had been Christ-like. Now he was experiencing abuse for such gentleness, as his Master had.

11:21b-22 After repeated warnings that he was going to boast (10:8; 11:1, 6, 16), Paul now finally began. At first he matched each of his critic's claims: "So am I."

"It is probable that this Speech' mirrors, but so as to parody and also correct, the claims of the newly arrived false apostles."²⁶⁴

"Thus the Speech' proper has elements of antitriumphalism as well as of triumph, characteristics that inexactly replicate those in the remarkable victory parade metaphor set out in 2:14."²⁶⁵

The term "Hebrew" had three connotations. A "Hebrew" was a pure-blooded Jew and or one who could read the Old Testament in the original languages and speak Aramaic as contrasted with one who knew only Greek (cf. Acts 6:1; Phil. 3:5).

"Hebrew' . . . denotes Jews whose family ties were Palestinian, if they were not wholly resident in Palestine. . . . It looks very much as if Paul's opponents at Corinth were of Palestinian provenance."²⁶⁶

As an Israelite, Paul was a member of God's chosen people, as his critics were. Paul traced his descent all the way back to Abraham. He probably did so to connect himself with the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant and circumcision both of which were of cardinal importance to the Jews. Thus in his upbringing, his citizenship, and his ancestry Paul was not inferior to any of his Jewish critics.

11:23-25 The apostle listed general afflictions he had suffered in the service of Christ (v. 23) and then cited specific examples (vv. 24-25). He turned from nationality (v. 23) to achievements (vv. 24-29). Here he claimed superiority to his critics, not just equality with them. He proceeded from speaking as a fool (vv. 16, 17, 21) to talking like a madman (v. 23).

His opponents claimed to be servants of Christ (v. 23), but really they were masquerading as such (v. 13). Paul alone was the true servant of the Lord. However instead of citing successes that he had experienced in his ministry, the awards that he had received from others, he listed his apparent defeats. Thus he boasted in his weaknesses (v. 30; cf. 12:5, 9, 10).

". . . Paul is not in fact magnifying self in the passage which is now beginning--in this, too, there is complete disparity between himself and his adversaries--but he is magnifying, as he does throughout this epistle, the amazing grace of God which in the midst of afflictions and sufferings is sufficient for his every need."²⁶⁷

Paul's writing of 2 Corinthians fits into Luke's chronology of his life at Acts 20:2, so everything that Paul described here occurred before Acts 20:2. Paul's life involved many more dangerous experiences than we read about in Acts. Paul referred to many imprisonments (v. 23), but Acts only records one before this time (i.e., in Philippi, Acts 16:23-40). He mentioned numberless beatings (v. 23), whereas Acts only records one by now (also in Philippi, Acts 16:22-23). The only record of a near fatal experience in Acts before this was Paul's stoning at Lystra (Acts 14:19), though Paul said he had often been in danger of dying (v. 23). Paul claimed to have received whippings by the Jews five times (v. 24), but Acts says nothing about any of these. It does not mention the three beatings (by the Gentiles, v. 25; cf. 2 Tim. 3:11) either.

"The fact that St Paul was thrice treated in this way is evidence that being a Roman citizen was an imperfect protection when magistrates were disposed to be brutal."²⁶⁸

Paul had already experienced shipwreck three times by now, though Luke recorded none of these in Acts. Paul's night and day in the sea (v. 26) also comes as news to the reader of Acts. Obviously in Acts Luke gave us only a highly selective account of the Apostle Paul's very difficult life.

11:26-27 Paul broadened his description from specific hardships to general types of danger (v. 26) and privation (v. 27) that he had experienced as an apostle. Paul's sufferings on his journeys as a missionary merited special mention (v. 26) as did his labors when he settled in an area to plant a church (v. 27). Again Luke recorded only a few of these in Acts (cf. Acts 9:23, 29; 13:14; 14:19, 24; 16:16-40; 18:12; 19:23-41)

11:28-29 All the previous trials that Paul enumerated were temporary, but what follows remained with him always. Internal pressure (v. 28) harassed Paul on top of all the external difficulties that he endured. Specifically concern for the weak and the moral failures of his converts disturbed Paul (v. 29).

"And so it should be with every faithful pastor of Christ's flock: he should lovingly identify himself with those who have been committed to his care, showing himself deeply anxious for their spiritual well-being, compassionate with them in their frailties and temptations, and resisting and resenting every one who seeks to entice them away from the purity of their devotion to Christ. This compassion is not of man: it is the divine compassion of Christ Himself, burning in the heart of His servant, and blazing forth in love to reach and to bind to the one Bridegroom the hearts of those to whom he ministers."²⁶⁹

11:30-31 Rather than boasting about his strengths, as his critics did, Paul boasted in his weaknesses, humiliations, and sufferings. These would not initially impress others with his qualifications as an apostle, but these afflictions had come upon him as he had served others and Christ faithfully. They were evidences that God had supernaturally sustained His servant through countless discouraging circumstances. They were, therefore, the greatest possible proof that Paul was an apostle (cf. 1:8-10; 3:5; 4:7, 10-11; 12:5, 9-10). Paul called God as his witness that his claims, which probably seemed incredible to those who did not know him well, were true.

It may be that Paul anticipated what he was about to say in verses 32 and 33 with his strong claim in verse 31.²⁷⁰

11:32-33 Perhaps Paul mentioned the final experience he cited because it was his first experience of suffering for the gospel. It provided a pattern for Paul's life that continued. Paul's critics may have charged him with cowardice in his escape from Damascus, though there is no basis for this revealed in the text. That may be an additional reason he mentioned it, though I doubt it. It may also have been that it would have reminded his readers of his supernatural call and appointment as an apostle on the Damascus road. It was undoubtedly a humbling memory for Paul too.

Aretas IV was the father-in-law of Herod Antipas. He lived in Petra and ruled the kingdom of Nabatea (called Arabia in Gal. 1:17) between 9 B.C. and 40 A.D. Damascus at the time of Paul's conversion may have been under Nabatean rule.²⁷¹ Alternatively it was under Roman rule, and a colony of Nabateans controlled it.²⁷² The historical evidence is incomplete. Aretas evidently wanted to arrest Paul because the apostle began evangelizing in that region immediately after his conversion (cf. Acts 9:20; Gal. 1:17, 22-23). His activity antagonized the Jews living in the area who obtained official support for their opposition to Paul (cf. Acts 9 23-25). Aretas himself may have been a Jew.²⁷³

In many of his examples Paul presented himself as one who did not fit the pattern of "successful" ministers of the gospel. Like the Corinthians we modern Christians tend to evaluate a person's success on the basis of the standards of the world. Rather than playing down the events in his ministry that made him look inferior, Paul emphasized them because they glorified God's remarkably sufficient grace. In view of all Paul's calamities there is no way he could have been so effective unless God was with Him.

College: 2Co 11:1-33

2 CORINTHIANS 11

B. COMPARISON TO FALSE APOSTLES MADE (11:1-15)

1. True Message of Jesus Preached (11:1-6)

11:1 I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that.

Like a shy schoolboy Paul haltingly climbs onto the stage, eyes downcast, stammering, fidgety, embarrassed, cautiously opens his mouth to speak, determined to be bold, but out comes a squeaky-voiced apology. Paul is not accustomed to listing his litany of credentials in order to win over a crowd. He is used to presenting the gospel plainly, boldly, convincingly. Yet, he is sidling up to the idea of writing out his entire resumι in order to provide the majority of Corinthians the ammunition to win the rest away from the outside challengers. Incredibly, despite his opening sentence, Paul will not actually get to listing his apostolic credentials until 11:21b. After harsh denunciation of his rivals through 11:15, Paul will restart the introduction to his credentials in 11:16. This will last until 11:21b when he finally gets his credentials under way.

Part of Paul's hesitation to list his credentials is that presenting them is too much like boasting. Self-adulation of the sort his rivals seem to have specialized in he has already blasted as unbiblical in 10:17-18. Yet, once he gets into his credentials, it will be seen that they are not really much like normal boasting. In fact, they are more like antiboasting, boasting in suffering service, not in achievements and awards.

Paul's first word in the sentence, translated by the NIV as "I wish" is not a verb but a special word (o[felon, ophelon ), rare in the NT, which is used to introduce an unattainable desire. With it Paul, like one forlorn of hope, betrays his lack of confidence, expecting rejection. Such self-deprecation combined with a verb like "put up with" (ajnevcw, anechô) was a common opening ploy in Greek rhetorical practice. Since Paul's rhetorical competence is one area which has been ridiculed by his attackers (10:10; 11:6), this may signal an effort by Paul to introduce a show of rhetorical flourish, even as he answers his critics. If that is the case, then this opening should be taken as somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

One can almost hear Paul chuckle as he writes the second half of the verse musing how the church has already patiently listened to a long letter. The NIV's "You are already doing that" paraphrases what is simply a repetition of the verb "put up with" (ajnevcw, anechô) in the present tense and could be rendered, "But in fact you are putting up with me." This second use of "put up with" may be an imperative, "But in fact put up with me." This would fit well with Paul's remarks which follow. However, it takes the punch out of the adversative "but" (ajllav, alla ) which separates the two clauses.

Many interpreters consider this verse the beginning of Paul's "Fool's Speech" because between here and 12:13 Paul will utter the word "folly," "foolishness" (ajfrosuvnh, aphrosynç), as here, or "fool," "foolish" (a[frwn, aphrôn) eight times (11:16 - twice, 17,19,21; 12:6,11). Elsewhere, he uses "fool" only three other times, in 1 Cor 15:36, Rom 2:20, and Eph 5:17. These two words are negations of Greek nouns which refer to prudent, discreet conduct which stems from a sound mind. Paul repeatedly refers to what he is doing in this speech as foolish because he is loosening control of his faculties to do it. This is highly uncomfortable for him, but he does open up to it because bringing all the Corinthians back into the fold is his highest priority.

11:2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy.

The verb "I am jealous" (zhlovw, zçloô) and the noun "jealousy" (zh'lo", zçlos), formed on the same Greek stem, can indicate "deep concern," as in 2 Cor 7:7, or "enthusiastic zeal," as in 2 Cor 9:2 or Gal 4:17. However, the NIV quite appropriately translates them from the reference point of desiring to get something back that has been taken away. In Exod 20:5 God can speak of being jealous for Israel when they go after other gods because they are his people. This also fits frequent OT language which depicts Israel as God's bride (Isa 54:5-6; 62:5; Ezek 16:8; Hos 2:19-20). Thus, Paul qualifies "jealousy" with "godly." Paul now speaks for Christ's claim on the Corinthian church using similar imagery. Christ's jealousy over some of the Corinthians who have left him means he wants them back. Paul sees it as his responsibility to accomplish this through his presentation.

I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him

Paul pictures himself as the father of the bride, who in Jewish culture negotiated the binding marriage contract of his daughter to her suitor. In return for safeguarding his daughter's sexual purity until the actual marriage (Gen 29:23; Deut 22:13-19), the father received the promise of goods, herds, or money for his daughter. The betrothal, or engagement period lasted about a year. During this year-long period, it was the father's responsibility to ward off any other suitors.

When the wedding ceremony took place, the groom honored his end of the contract and the father escorted his daughter to the groom's home. Should the groom find his bride to be sexually impure on their wedding night, he could return her to her father's house and reclaim his goods since the father's end of the contract had been broken. This in fact is what Joseph intended to do to Mary according to Matt 1:18-25 until Gabriel explained the extraordinary circumstances of Mary's pregnancy.

Viewing himself as father to the Corinthian church is in keeping with what Paul says in 1 Cor 4:15 in which he declares, "You do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel." In 2 Cor 6:13, he calls them "my children" who he hopes will give their father a hug, and in 2 Cor 12:13-15, he again calls them "children" to whom he pledges to provide for all their needs. Such a paternal view of his relationship to the Corinthians can be seen in the way he conceives of individual converts as well (1 Thess 2:11; Phlm 10; 1 Tim 1:2; 2 Tim 1:2). In Gal 4:9 he pictures his relationship to those churches as a mother giving birth.

Paul's portrayal of an individual congregation as the bride of Christ is unique in the NT. However, the whole, universal church is conceived of as Christ's bride in Eph 5:23-32, Rev 19:7-9 and Rev 22:2. But even when James 4:12 cries to the church as, "You adulterous people," this marital relationship between Christ and the church is presumed. This image undoubtedly draws upon the OT imagery between God and Israel.

The adjective "pure" (aJgnov", hagnos ), besides its appropriateness for expressing sexual innocence, often stands opposite to sin of any nature as when 1 Tim 5:22 speaks of keeping oneself pure as the positive result of not sharing in the sins of others. It can also be found in lists of Christian virtues in association with being self-controlled and kind (Titus 2:5) as well as being right and noble (Phil 4:8). It amounts to keeping oneself untainted from a particular sin or sins as a whole.

Paul views the church as in the engagement period. His vigilance as a protective father commits him to watch out for the faithfulness of congregations which he has helped bring into the world until Christ returns at the Parousia to consummate his marriage to the bride. The engagement contract, most likely, is initiated when individuals are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism. Responsibility for caring discipleship of Christians beyond conversion, such as Paul articulates with the wedding imagery, remains a critical job for the church still today.

11:3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning,

From the image of marriage Paul's mind focuses on the first wife and her first temptation recorded in Genesis 3, not only to undermine her husband, but to transgress God's will. By the time of Paul, it was conjectured by Jewish Rabbis that Eve in fact was sexually seduced by an evil angel or the devil in the cloak of the serpent. Although the word translated "was deceived" (ejxapatavw, exapataô) can mean "seduce," in the NT it is consistently used in the context of deception not seduction (Rom 7:11; 16:18; 1 Cor 11:3; 2 Thess 2:3; 1 Tim 2:14). Paul's reference to the "minds" of the Corinthians in the second half of this verse confirms this interpretation.

Paul employs a different Greek word than the fairly complimentary "wise" (frovnimo", phronimos ) which the Septuagint translation of Gen 3:1 uses to describe the serpent. Rather, he appropriately employs the Greek word for "cunning" (panourgiva, panourgia ) which indisputably paints the serpent black, full of trickery and villainy. He does not want the Corinthians to think that the outside disrupters who deceive have anything but bad motives. They are not just zealously but naοvely wrong. They are sinister. Like the serpent their plan to woo the Corinthians is premeditated and intentional.

your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Paul focuses on the "minds" (novhma, noçma) of the Corinthians as the location of deception. This is now the last of five uses of this word in 2 Corinthians. The only other use in the NT is also by Paul in Phil 4:7. This word depicts the sphere in which people make decisions, design strategies, plan for the future. If this focal point of Christian influence is captured by an errant notion, particularly in reference to Christ and the gospel, it has huge ramifications for the integrity of their Christian lifestyle as well as the reality of their salvation. Paul presumes that the schemers have already made an impact and have taken some out of the true Christian fold. That's why he writes this letter, to dislodge the influence of the outsiders from the church and particularly those who have already been victimized by them.

Paul reminds the Corinthians of their vows of commitment to Christ as one might counsel a woman who is tempted to betray her husband. He uses the synonyms "sincere" (aJplovth", haplotçs) and "pure" (aJgnovth", hagnotçs). The first emphasizes the simplicity of devotion to something or someone, uncomplicated by other ideas or notions. The second, like its related word in 11:2, emphasizes 100% commitment, no mixed motives, no second thoughts. Remaining true to Christ through all the ups and downs of life, in the face of conflicting philosophies and moral principles, is no easy task in any generation. But this is what the unblemished bride Christ deserves.

11:4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached,

Even though Paul expresses himself in a conditional construction ("if"), given the context it is doubtful that he intends it to be taken as purely hypothetical. More than likely, his threefold description of heretical preaching is based on his knowledge of the intruders in Corinth. Certainly, it is also intended to stand as a grid to screen out future heresies or those which are ongoing in other localities. It remains as a valuable tool for evaluating contemporary heresies as well.

While it is important to attempt to explore the implications of the threefold criteria with regard to Paul's current problems in Corinth, probably the most revealing words are "other" (a[llo", allos ) and "different" (e{tero", heteros ), the first of which hovers over "Jesus," the second of which cradles "spirit" and "gospel." These two words are synonyms. The first refers to something which has been added to something else, the second refers simply to something different. As far as Paul is concerned, anything preached in these three areas which is different from what Paul has preached is not true, valid Christianity. The variety of differences is incalculable, but the standard of true Christianity against which they are to be measured is singular and unchanging.

Paul gives the Corinthians and Christians in general the credit, indeed the responsibility, for knowing what he preaches. He also presumes they can detect differences in the instruction they have received from Paul's opponents. The ultimate issue is whether they will recognize Paul's teaching as true. Really the bottom line is Paul's own credibility as an apostle in their eyes and Paul's success in unmasking his opponents as frauds. That is what Paul hopes to accomplish in the rest of chapter eleven.

Simply identifying the message of his opponents as different in these three respects does not give readers that much to go on. For this reason, interpreters offer a wide variety of possibilities for the identity of Paul's opponents. Most, however, tend to focus their attention on the first member of the threefold list, "Jesus." It strikes many as significant that Paul says "Jesus" and not "Christ." Paul tends to speak of Christ when dwelling on the saving gospel of grace. Some suggest that by using "Jesus" Paul's rivals are emphasizing the Jewishness of Jesus and perhaps a legalistic gospel. Going to the extreme opposite, others suggest Paul's rivals must be early Christian Gnostics, who under Greek influence tended to magnify the earthly Jesus as the pure vessel in whom the divine presence dwelt. Still another supports that these teachers thought of Jesus as a Greek divine man.

All of these strain more out of the simple word "Jesus" than can be proved. However, a more convincing theory draws on the broader context of 2 Corinthians as well as other Pauline uses of "Jesus" for its suggestion. It first notes that Paul only uses "Jesus" 16 times as compared to "Jesus Christ" or "Christ Jesus" 142 times and "Christ" alone an additional 166 times. Seven of the 16 uses of Jesus alone are in 2 Corinthians, of which the use in 11:4 is the last. Most of these concentrate in 2 Cor 4:5-14 in which Paul talks of true apostleship being "servants" and carrying "in our body the death of Jesus." This compares to Gal 6:17 in which Paul speaks of "bearing on my body the marks of Jesus." Further, Eph 2:10 points to "Jesus" as worshiped by all, but only after the Eph 2:7-8 passage exalts him for becoming "a servant," "humbled," and "obedient to death - even death on a cross."

This evidence brings the reasonable conclusion that if "Jesus" implies anything in 11:4, it is the humiliation and suffering of Jesus, particularly on the cross. The temptation to minimize this radical message of crucifixion and sacrifice is readily acknowledged by Paul, in fact in 1 Corinthians. In 1 Cor 1:18-25, Paul admits that the message of the cross which he preaches seems foolish to most, a stumbling block to Jews and Greeks alike. But he preaches it anyway because it is God's wisdom.

The vulnerability of the Corinthians to a Christianity which ignores the cross and the suffering of Jesus in his physical body is already evident in 1 Corinthians. Thus, it is not so surprising that some would be attracted to those who represent themselves as truer apostles than Paul, presenting a gospel not so disgustingly radical in its focus on the suffering and death of the one being worshiped. However, a Jesus like this which denies the central tenet of the incarnation and the horror of the cross, as far as Paul is concerned, is a false Christianity.

or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted,

The words "Jesus," "spirit," and "gospel" surprisingly form a unique combination in the NT, especially linked with "receive" (lambavnw, lambanô) and "accept" (devcomai, dechomai ). The word "accept" usually links with "the word," as in Luke 8:13; Acts 17:11; 1 Thess 1:6 and James 1:2. It makes sense that they rise and fall together. Yet, the fact that "Jesus" is listed first suggests the true notion that the preaching of a different Jesus necessarily will create both a different spirit and a different gospel. This is self-evident since the center of the gospel is the message of Jesus Christ and the salvation that can be found in him. Any "gospel" which distorts this or minimizes him certainly is not Christianity. This is true whether the distortion involves a sanitized Jesus that does not suffer on the cross as suggested here, or any other modern distortion of Jesus.

How "spirit" relates to the other two begins with the matter of how the word should be taken here. Most translations (NASB, KJV, NAB, JB, RSV, NRSV) agree with the lower case translation of the NIV, while only the LB and NLT make it upper case. Interpreters divide on this as well. The lower case seems most appropriate because it is inconceivable that Paul could even consider a different Holy Spirit existing, much less being passed on in the context of a false gospel. By a lower case "spirit," he may have in mind some kind of bad attitude, perhaps arrogant, authoritative, or ecstatic. If personalized at all, most likely he would intend, then, the spirit of Satan which Paul associates with his opponents in 11:13-14.

Even though the word "spirit" only appears once in the Greek, the NEB and TEV probably have the right idea by translating it twice, in the first instance as lower case, referring to the inferior "spirit" of Paul's opponents, and then again as upper case, referring to the true Spirit the Corinthian Christians received when they first accepted the gospel and were baptized. To receive another gospel, as far as Paul is concerned, also eradicates the power of the true Spirit in the lives of the Corinthians.

The only other place Paul uses the term "different gospel" is in Gal 1:6 in reference to the Judaizers who disrupted the Galatian churches with a false message of Jewish legalism. This may mean that Paul's opponents in Corinth were of the same ilk, essentially Judaizers with a few new wrinkles. However, the fact that Paul never brings up circumcision and the law in 2 Corinthians must not be overlooked in holding such a view. Yet another mutation of the gospel could be taking place in Corinth altogether different from Galatia. It could even be an offshoot of the same group still claiming official Jerusalem credentials but now with a message which has transmuted yet again since the Galatian situation, adding more disruptive Hellenistic permutations.

you put up with it easily enough.

Paul's tone is sarcastic. He deliberately reuses the verb "put up with" (ajnevcw, anechô) which began the paragraph in 11:1. He does this to pick up the tenor of his opening appeal for the Corinthians to "put up with" or "bear with" him in the foolish boasting which he is about to do. Since they are even now allowing themselves to be influenced by people spreading a false gospel - they can put up with it - surely they will indulge him in his representation of the true gospel. The tragedy is that they are not even resisting this false gospel. This is even more clearly indicated by the adverb "easy enough" (kalw'", kalôs) Paul adds to the verb. This word means "well" or even "beautifully." The Corinthians are bearing with the false gospel beautifully, meaning, they are lapping it up.

11:5 But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles."

That the outsiders have set their sights on lowering the Corinthians' esteem, for Paul, particularly as a legitimate apostle, fueled much of Paul's defense beginning in 2 Cor 3:1. His waving off the need for a letter of recommendation could only occur as a response to others with letters of some sort who are claiming a greater apostolic pedigree than Paul's. The center of their attack on Paul's gospel continues to be his lack of bona fide credentials, not being one of the original Twelve apostles. On the other hand, it appears they themselves have letters, probably at least from the Jerusalem church if not from one of the Twelve. Where or when they got them does not matter to Paul. Even if the credentials are genuine, they are being misused now to subvert the true gospel.

Some suggest that by "super-apostles" Paul refers directly to the three apostles he called "pillars" in Gal 2:9, Peter, James, and John. The point, then, is that he considers himself equal to them in his apostolic calling. However, to read it like this is to introduce a foreign element into the context. Second Corinthians 11:4 indicates that Paul is dealing with those who have come into the Corinthian situation from outside. Most likely they claim to be superior to Paul, so Paul sarcastically calls them "super-apostles." So, the NIV is quite right to put this word in quotation marks to indicate this. At the conclusion of his "boasting" speech, in 2 Cor 12:11, he will once again affirm that these so-called "super-apostles" are not superior to him. Really, they are not apostles at all, despite their claims, as he says in 11:13-14. How can they be if the gospel they preach is not the true gospel?

11:6 I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge.

The NIV's "speaker" (lovgo", logos ) literally is "the word." He is not admitting any lack of scriptural knowledge but rather an insufficiency in his rhetorical ability, his spoken word. The NIV's "not trained" (ijdiwvth", idiôtçs) refers to someone who has not had formal instruction in whatever subject or skill is at hand. In this case, it refers to Paul's lack of formal rhetorical training particularly when compared to his rival "apostles" in Corinth.

This harkens back to the criticism Paul acknowledges back in 10:10. There, he also seems to acknowledge a certain validity to the criticism. Paul may be trained exquisitely as a Jewish rabbi, and he may have received a good Greek education growing up in Tarsus as a Hellenistic Jew. However, this is not the same as having formal, advanced mentoring in the rhetorical arts. Since high proficiency in speech was prized and admired in Greek culture, it could well be that his opponents in Corinth are capable of impressing the church in these ways. The Corinthians might easily be persuaded that excellence in rhetorical form is an apostolic requisite and find Paul lacking in comparison to these Christian representatives among them now.

It is suggested that Paul may still be ironic here and only voicing a criticism from his opponents which he feels is invalid. This is possible since Paul's letters do portray considerable rhetorical flair. However, valid or not, Paul does not seem to be interested much in rhetorical wisdom, as he voices in 1 Cor 1:18-2:16. Rather, he claims the mantle of "knowledge" as the true trophy of superiority, and the incontrovertible mark of true apostleship.

It is unlikely that by "knowledge" (gnw'si", gnôsis) Paul means just that he is smart from a human perspective or that he is a walking encyclopedia. Knowledge like that, Paul usually views negatively. It "puffs up," he says in 1 Cor 8:1, is "vastly inferior to love," he says in 1 Cor 13:8. Rather, special knowledge that comes from God is more likely in his mind. This kind of knowledge, he says in 2 Cor 2:14, is the fragrance apostles spread everywhere, and is "the knowledge of the glory in the face of Christ," he says in 2 Cor 4:6. It is this knowledge of God which Paul in 2 Cor 10:5 says is besieged by human "arguments and pretension," which Paul wields to "demolish arguments" and "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

Interpreters suggest "knowledge" here centers in "deep spiritual insight," "insight into the mystery of the gospel," the claim "to know God personally and truly," an understanding of the truths of the gospel and insight into God's purposes," "knowledge of God and his Gospel," "'Jesus' and 'the gospel,'" and the ability to "distinguish the genuine and the spurious gospel." Note that the common factor in all but one of these interpretations is the gospel. This must be in the foreground of Paul's thoughts since he is contending with those whom he believes have brought a false gospel into Corinth and, unfortunately, have had some success with it.

Regardless, of rhetorical ability - and Paul probably has more training in this regard than any of the Twelve - authoritative knowledge of what the true gospel message entails is what sets true apostles apart from all others. Eyewitnesses of Christ's resurrection, understanding his victory over death and sin, knowledge of the horrors of Christ's sacrifice on the cross for humanity's sin, humility in the knowledge of God's grace which brings everything to pass - these things set true apostles apart in their knowledge. This kind of apostolic knowledge Paul emphatically claims for himself. In so doing, he denies it to his Corinthian opponents. Let them claim rhetoric. It is nothing. Divinely enhanced knowledge and understanding of the gospel is the only knowledge that really matters. Only this knowledge can save the world from God's judgment.

We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.

The participle translated as a verb, "made clear" (fanerovw, phaneroô) is used for its ninth and last time in 2 Corinthians. It suggests that something becomes visible which could not be seen previously. Paul emphasizes the reality of this in the Greek by including the word "all" (pa'", pas ) in two prepositional phrases, first in the plural, "in all things" (translated as "perfectly" by the NIV) and in the singular, "in every way."

Paul believes, given his long personal history with the Corinthians, not only in bringing the gospel to them initially and living with them for 18 months "teaching them the word of God" (Acts 18:11) but through subsequent contact as well, that they know him well and have seen his knowledge of the gospel displayed in its powerful effect over and over again. Indeed, this is what baffles him. After seeing the genuine gospel displayed so consistently, how can even a minority of them be so easily attracted to what Paul observes to be a patently false gospel?

2. No Money Accepted (11:7-12)

11:7 Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge?

Having contrasted his emphasis on true gospel content in his message as opposed to his rivals who magnify only themselves in their concentration on mesmerizing style, Paul now contrasts their approaches to money. While Paul has not accepted any money from the Corinthians, it appears that the so-called super-apostles have. In fact, like traveling Sophist teachers in the Greek world, these people seem to have believed that the value of their message was determined by the amount of compensation they received for delivering it. Paul believed it was critical for people to recognize that the gospel cannot be bought any more than it can be earned. It comes freely out of God's grace. However, while Paul expected the Corinthians to appreciate his self-sacrifice for them, Paul's rivals have been able to use this feature of Paul's ministry to their advantage, especially with those who hold the common Greek view.

Paul has dealt with this issue of monetary compensation before. In 1 Cor 9:1-18 he enthusiastically defends the right of other apostles and Christian workers to be supported by churches benefiting from their efforts. Yet, in the same breath he defends his right not to exercise this right so that he can offer the gospel free of charge. Given his bold sentiments on the matter, it seems hypocritical for him to receive financial support from the Macedonians, mentioned in 11:9 but also confirmed by Phil 4:15-16. Most likely his actual policy was to accept monetary support from congregations after he had left them to bring the gospel to new people and places but not while he was with them.

While the word for "sin" (aJmartiva, hamartia ) can refer to a "mistake" rather than a culpable sin, it is better to recognize the sarcastic tone of Paul once again. Thus, he asks the question with its gravest implications but believes what he has done is really the opposite of sin. Some in Corinth may have called Paul's refusal of payment a sin against them in the sense that he dishonored them by not accepting money that was offered.

Not only did Paul dishonor the wealthier Corinthians by not accepting their money, he aggravated the situation by actually working at a menial trade in the marketplace. Those of the upper class, instilled with Aristotle's disdain for manual labor, believed Paul humiliated himself and demeaned the gospel by this practice. He also embarrassed and insulted them in doing this. Learning a self-supporting skill was expected of a rabbi like Paul from his Jewish context. Yet, his considerable Greek background may have caused uneasiness even in himself in working beneath his social station.

The word "lower" (tapeinovw, tapeinoô) is usually translated as "humble" in its 13 other uses in the NT. It can refer to anything that is low, either of place (lying low), status, or rank. Normally it is taken as a moral and spiritual positive, juxtaposed with "being exalted," as in "he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Matt 23:12; Luke 14:11; 18:14; Jas 4:10). Paul puts a twist on it as he speaks of his lowering accomplishing the exaltation of others, the Corinthians. However, the fact that it turns out positively does not mean he does not feel the pangs of humiliation in working his trade while preaching the gospel.

Paul's trade skill, as indicated by Acts 18:3, was making tents. This could refer to work with leather or more likely with goats'-hair cloth, the latter a specialty of his home area of Cilicia. As well as material for tents, this cloth was used for making curtains, cloaks, and other articles which needed to be rain-resistant.

Paul usually speaks of the gospel as being "of Christ" (2:12; 9:13; 10:14), meaning Christ is what it is about. As here, he does occasionally refer to it as "of God" (Rom 1:1; 15:16; 1 Thess 2:2,8,9), emphasizing its origin as being in the character of God. The following qualification that the gospel was free to the Corinthians probably influenced Paul to implicate God's grace rather than Christ's work.

11:8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you.

Once again Paul employs words with a history of war application. The word "robbed," used only here in all the NT, can refer to stripping the equipment from a slain combatant and also to pillaging a conquered village. The latter would seem more to Paul's mind as he sarcastically puts in the worst possible light the help sent to him by other churches while he labored in Corinth. The word "support" can refer to provisions or wages for an army on the move. This also fits with Paul's image of himself going from place to place conquering people with the power of the gospel message.

Taking Paul's language as sarcastic helps the reader realize that Paul fully appreciates those who have supported him. They have sacrificed willingly - right down to the bone - not just for him but ultimately for the sake of the Corinthians who became believers. Will the Corinthians disdain the self-sacrifice of others for their eternal welfare? The very fact that Corinthians benefited from all this should indicate to them that the sacrifice of others was worth it and that Paul's refusing money from them was for the best.

11:9 And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone,

Paul refers primarily to his initial visit to Corinth during the second missionary tour, described in Acts 18:1-17, when he stayed with them for eighteen months. The NIV "needed something" translates a Greek word (uJsterevw, hystereô) which indicates to be short, either in distance ("be behind"), in time ("come late"), in accomplishment ("fail"), or, as here, in basic human provision. When Paul ran short of funds for food or other necessities, he never asked a dime from the Corinthians. He does not say this to make the Corinthians feel guilty. On the contrary, he seeks their own verification that he stuck to his principles of not accepting money from people he sought to convert.

The verb "burden" (katanarkevw, katanarkeô), related to the English word "narcotics," can have a medical reference to make someone numb or stupefied. Used only here and in 2 Cor 12:13 and 12:14, the idea is more general in the sense of harming someone or being detrimental to their health. Paul chose not in any way to endanger the livelihood of the Corinthians as he preached the gospel to them, even if his own livelihood was left endangered, by being dependent on the demand for cilicium cloth and unsolicited help from other churches. Again, this was his choice in order to keep the Corinthians fertile recipients of the free gospel.

for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed.

Acts 18:5 says, "When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching," whereas previous to their coming he worked as a tentmaker with Priscilla and Aquila and spoke in the synagogue on the Sabbath (Acts 18:3-4). This suggests that it is Silas and Timothy, and perhaps unnamed Macedonians with them, that Paul has in mind here in 2 Cor 11:9. Their generous provisions allowed him to stop tentmaking and give himself to the work of the gospel every day.

I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.

Paul emphasizes that he has remained true to his principle of not accepting money or other support from the Corinthians. Presumably, Paul means that he has maintained this principle even after leaving Corinth to evangelize other areas and that he has no plans to change this stance in the future. Yet, in these very circumstances he did accept help from the Macedonians and probably other churches as well. Why is he so firmly entrenched with regard to the Corinthians? It may simply be that the continuing presence of the apostolic rivals who do accept money - maybe even demand it - compels Paul not to budge. This special circumstance makes the Corinthians a unique case for not accepting help even after going elsewhere.

Another concern may be the collection. Very likely Paul does not want anything to take away from the Corinthians finalizing a generous offering for the Jerusalem Christians.

Another reason Paul refuses to ever accept money from the Corinthians may have to do with the influence on them of the Greek social convention regarding benefactors and clients. Affluent Greeks frequently were benefactors of civic enterprises and buildings. For this, they expected favors. The same principle applied if they were benefactors of artists or philosophers. There is every reason to believe such ideas were firmly entrenched in Corinth. If so, then Paul likely refuses money from the Corinthians for fear of becoming obligated to them. As a minister of the gospel, commissioned by Christ, he could not become their client. Rather, he saw himself as their benefactor, bringing them the gospel. If they have any obligation, then, it is to Paul, but especially to the Lord.

11:10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine.

Paul's opening oath formula signals that he feels it is essential to impress upon the Corinthians that he will never ever take their money. His position on this with regard to them is permanent, no matter how often they shove money under his nose. This suggests that Paul's problem goes deeper than the rivals or the collection and has more to do with their socially-embedded attitudes regarding benefactors and clients discussed above.

It is noteworthy that Paul employs supportive oath formulas more often in 2 Corinthians than in any other of his epistles. This is just one of six, others being in 1:18,23; 2:10; 11:11,31. Outside of 2 Corinthians, Paul uses oath formulas in Rom 1:9; 9:1; Gal 1:20; Phil 1:18; and 1 Thess 2:5,10. His formula "I speak the truth in Christ" in Rom 9:1 most closely resembles the words here in 11:10. This large volume of oaths may reflect the more highly rhetorical character of 2 Corinthians. It may also indicate Paul's insecure feelings about his relationship with the Corinthians. Underscoring his most heartfelt statements with supportive oaths helps cry out for the Corinthians' attention to his concerns.

Paul's reference to "regions of Achaia" serves as a reminder that he includes Christian congregations surrounding Corinth as the audience for 2 Corinthians. This he states directly in 2 Cor 1:1 and suggests in 2 Cor 9:2. Only the church in Cenchrea, a few miles from Corinth, is known from NT evidence. Phoebe, the bearer of Romans, is from Cenchrea (Rom 16:1). Other churches must have been planted in the area that simply do not register on NT records. The word "regions" (klivma, klima ) is interesting because it originates as a geographical zone, coming into English as "climate."

Paul's mention of "boasting" (kauvchsi", kauchçsis) suggests that he has not forgotten that his actions are being compared to his rivals in Corinth and that he is in the midst (begun in 2 Corinthians 10) of mustering up his daring to "boast" if he must. One of his "boasts," or signal differences from his rivals, involves the issue of money. He doesn't take any money from the Corinthians while his rivals do. This, he believes, should be in his favor. Furthermore, it is an important matter of principle for Paul. Early on in his relationship with the Corinthians, he silently sacrificed his time through working his trade among them. He feels really good about that choice and believes any shift from it would compromise his integrity with them and with himself. This self-sacrifice becomes increasingly important to maintain with respect to the Corinthians as they insist more and more on financially supporting Paul.

The verb translated "will stop" (fravssw, phrassô) is only used here and in two other places in the NT. The other references involve the shutting of mouths, of people (Rom 3:19) and of lions (Heb 11:33). The word usually assumes that something is being blocked from proceeding, as a dam does to a river, a barricade to travelers on a road, a shield to arrows, or a fence to those seeking to cross a field. In the case of mouths, the image suggests clenched teeth as barricading the flow of human speech and rendering the danger of lions harmless. In Paul's case in this verse he defiantly announces that his mouth cannot and will not be shut regarding his commitment to refuse support from the Corinthians. He strongly implies it is his clear understanding that this is what God wants in Paul's relationship to them.

11:11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!

Paul's denial suggests that at least some of the Corinthians have felt injured by Paul's refusal to accept their money. Perhaps this reaction has been egged on by Paul's opponents. If they have been affronted by his refusal to take their money, it only demonstrates further that they are being affected by the social conventions of their Greek culture regarding benefactors (discussed in 11:9 above).

The emotional nature of Paul's declaration of love for the Corinthians is deepened by the oath formula which follows. Paul's concern to convey his love for them is emphasized also in 2 Cor 2:4; 7:3; 8:7; and 12:15. Their insecurity in this regard and Paul's own insecurity about their love for him demonstrates the tenuousness of the relationship all round. Paul's arduous efforts to bridge the emotional gap are critical for the survival of genuine Christianity in Corinth.

In many ways, this kind of emotional to and fro between Paul and the Corinthian church typifies the difficulties between contemporary ministers and their congregations as well. Paul's capacity to express his love for this church despite all the problems models what all successful ministers must be able to do. Such love isn't necessarily simply caving in to situations in the congregation but must at times involve confrontation on both sides.

11:12 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about.

Many Bible versions begin a new paragraph with this verse (RSV, TEV, NEB, NRSV, and NLT). Although the reference to Paul's opponents in the latter part of the verse does lead into a fuller depiction of them in 11:13-15, the front part of the verse clearly fits with the topic of 11:7-11, Paul's reflections on refusing money from the Corinthians as a stance for "boasting." The NIV's decision on this seems best.

The language of "doing" seems a bit odd since it is what Paul is expressly not doing that fosters the whole debate. It does, however, help dramatize the determined effort involved on Paul's part to continue to refuse Corinthian financial support. Perhaps certain wealthier members of the Corinthian fellowship continue to offer him money despite his stated position.

Not only does he feel convicted about his position; he believes it puts him on higher ground than his opponents. As they try to convince the Corinthian Christians that they are every bit as much the apostles that Paul is, and more, their acceptance of payment from the Corinthians stands in stark contrast to Paul who accepts none. Paul believes his position on this enables him to "cut the ground from under" them, the Greek verb (ejkkovptw, ekkoptô) meaning "cut off," "cut out," or "cut down."

This word fits well with its object in the verse, "opportunity" (ajformhv, aphormç), since the latter is often associated with the base of operations for a war or even the resources for a war. Paul's encounter with his opponents in Corinth is warlike, and he believes his position on refusing money from the Corinthians weakens his enemies' claim to be apostles and in the long run will undermine their entire operation to oust Paul from his influential role in the Corinthian church.

It's as if Paul lays down the gauntlet to his opponents. If they wish to be viewed even on an equal footing with Paul, they will have to begin refusing money as Paul does. Paul banks on the fact that their avarice will never allow them to do this and that this will eventually lead to their undoing in Corinth. Do they believe in their "gospel" enough to preach it for free? If not, perhaps they are there just for the money and will be observed by the Corinthians to be every bit the rogues Paul believes they are.

The NIV's "equal" is well justified but does not rest on just one word. The idea comes from three words which literally read "just as also we" (kaqw'" kaiÉ hJmei", kathôs kai hçmeis). The whole expression suggests that despite all their boasting about being legitimate apostles, Paul's opponents in Corinth are obliged to use Paul as their measure of comparison since he is the only other apostle the Corinthians know. Paul presses this to his advantage. Let these so-called apostles put their money where their mouth is and measure up to Paul in refusing Corinthian money.

3. The False Apostles Serve Satan (11:13-15)

11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen,

Having set himself apart from his Corinthian rivals on the basis of the true gospel he preaches and his self-sacrificing refusal to accept money from the Corinthians, Paul's invective against the impostors reaches fever pitch in these three short verses. Nowhere else in all his letters does he compact such stark denunciation of opponents into so few words. The fact that these Corinthian opponents would consider themselves not just apostles but committed Christian believers doing the Lord's work makes Paul's sinister depiction of them disturbing. Are they consciously disguising themselves, or are they unaware that Satan is their bedfellow? Can Satan use well-intentioned Christians to do his dirty work? This passage suggests that he can and does.

Nowhere else in all the NT is anyone called a "false apostle" (yeudapovstolo", pseudapostolos ), making it a likely suggestion that Paul has coined the term himself especially for this occasion of branding his opponents in Corinth. Warnings against "false prophets" come from the lips of Jesus in the gospels (Matt 7:15; 24:11,24; Mark 13:22; Luke 6:26) and elsewhere (2 Pet 2:1; 1 John 4:1). "The false prophet" figures prominently in Rev 16:13; 19:20; and 20:10. In the gospels Jesus also warns of "false Christs" (Matt 24:24; Mark 13:22). First John 2:18,22; 4:3 and 2 John 1:7 speak of "anti-Christs."

In calling his opponents in Corinth "false apostles," Paul could simply be condemning the message they bring as false without including a slam on their personal character. However, the images of deliberate dishonesty and Satanic influence which follow rule out any possibility of innocence or naοvety on their part from Paul's perspective.

The term "workmen" (ejrgavth", ergatçs) in the NT has a specific connection to missionary service as in Matt 9:37-38 where Jesus notably laments the harvest of people overwhelming the few "workers" to gather them in and in Matt 10:10 where he commissions the Twelve to go out as "workers." In 1 Tim 5:18 elders are also referred to as "workers." "Deceitful" (dovlio", dolios ) suggests his rivals' sinister motives. The adjective itself, only used here in all the NT, derives from the word "cunning" (dovlo", dolos ) which can refer to bait for catching fish. In using it, Paul deflects onto his opponents an accusation they have made about him (12:16).

Specifically, labeling his opponents "deceitful workers" in Paul's mind probably is rooted in his comments in 10:12-18. Thus, it likely connects to misusing whatever commission they may say they have received from Jerusalem apostles in order to invade Gentile territory Paul has staked out under his commission from the Lord (Acts 9:15) and from the apostolic council (Acts 15).

masquerading as apostles of Christ.

"Apostles of Christ" is no doubt what Paul's opponents call themselves. However, Paul believes this is no more than a costume or a mask covering their true identity and the one for whom they really work. The NIV's "masquerading" is an excellent rendition of the Greek participle. The verb on which it is built (metaschmativzw, metaschçmatizô) is rare in the NT but its repetition is a key linking the next three verses. Literally, it means to "change form," stressing an alteration of outward appearance. Phil 3:21 uses it to talk of the transformation of believers from their lowly bodies to those like the glorious body of Christ.

In this passage, it has more to do with concealing sinister motives behind friendly appearances. Paul's rivals may talk and look like true and even superior apostles to Paul, but this veneer conceals an evil plot to snatch the naοve Corinthians away from the truth and away from Paul, their apostle truly sent by Christ to them. To Paul the crack in this veneer is only too obvious as he has pointed out since 10:7: the self-praise, the encroachment on his territory, the vain elegance of their speech, and their hands held out for Corinthian money. He hopes the conclusion so obvious to him is becoming clear to all the Corinthians as well. The claims of these men are bogus and their impact dangerous.

11:14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

Paul's assigning of a role for Satan in the current problems at Corinth was previously suggested in 2 Cor 2:11. Now, however, he begins to connect Satan specifically with the false apostles. The word "wonder" (qau'ma, thauma ), only used elsewhere in Rev 17:6, refers to marveling as the uninitiated crowd might to a juggler's or a magician's tricks. The sinister masquerade of the false apostles should be no marvel because of who they are associated with.

Nowhere else is Satan described precisely as a false "angel of light." Isaiah 14:12-14, often taken as a secondary reference to him, however, refers to the "morning star" and "son of dawn" who sought to usurp God and place his throne "above the stars of God." In Jewish literature outside the Bible, he is said to have "transformed himself into the brightness of angels" and even to have sung like an angel as a crucial disguise to deceive Eve. Paul previously in 11:3 connected the false apostles' influence on the Corinthians to the wily serpent's bad influence on Eve.

11:15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.

Without the least hesitation, Paul links the rival "apostles" in Corinth to the enterprise of Satan, the cosmic enemy of Christ and his church. Their modus operandi is deception just like the one for whom they work. They masquerade as apostles, all too easily duping vulnerable Corinthian believers. Perhaps they dupe even themselves. Do they know they are working for Satan? We cannot know from this historical distance. However, that does not matter to Paul. His concern is with the Lord's sheep who are being lead astray. Whether his rivals recognize their duplicity with Satan or not, Paul's immediate concern is to quash their harmful influence.

Just like "masquerade" and "deception" are words which are readily associated with Satan, "servant" (diavkono", diakonos ) and "righteousness" (dikaiosuvnh, dikaiosynç) orbit in the sphere of God. Paul has already identified himself and other true apostles as "servants of God" (6:4) or as "servants of a new covenant" (3:6). He has spoken of his "ministry" (diakoniva, diakonia ) as that which "brings righteousness" (3:9) and "reconciliation" (5:18). "Righteousness" comes only from God (9:9) and is spread through the ministry of the gospel of Christ. Most likely, the false apostles do not necessarily refer to themselves as "servants of righteousness" as they do "apostles of Christ." Rather, these are Paul's peculiar terms which he equates with being true apostles of Christ. His rivals, despite appearances, are rather the antipathy of Paul's ideal.

Their end will be what their actions deserve.

Paul can associate the "end" (tevlo", telos ) with the ultimate judgment and condemnation of evildoers by God (Phil 3:19; 1 Thess 2:16) as he does here. However, he can also use the word to refer to the positive assessment of God on the righteous (Rom 6:22) or even to "the end" neutrally (1 Cor 1:18; 10:11; 15:24). No doubt, Paul expects the "end" of these false apostles working for Satan against Christ's church in Corinth to be personal condemnation.

Literally, Paul says "the end of them will be according to their work." The word "work" (e[rgon, ergon ) matches up with "workmen" (ergavth", ergatçs) in 11:12. Having already labeled what kind of workmen they are, "deceitful," what kind of "work" they do has been demonstrated by their actions. They are taking believers away from the fold of God. No worse work is possible than to neutralize someone else's eternal salvation. Paul leaves no doubt about their fate in God's hands of judgment or anyone else who leads believers astray.

As one wise commentator has noted, while Paul's extreme language against his rivals in Corinth has often been resurrected in the history of Christian doctrinal disputes and even local church splits, those of us in the contemporary church should be extremely hesitant to employ such vitriolic language. We are not in Paul's unique position with God. Rather, it's better for us to presume the sincerity of positions held by fellow believers and attempt to enter into positive dialogue anchored in the exegesis of Scripture. Perhaps Paul would have even done this with his rivals had he been personally present in Corinth. At a distance, and in writing, however, his only concern was to save the sheep, not the false shepherds.

C. BOASTING AS A "FOOL" (11:16-33)

1. Rationale Provided (11:16-21a)

11:16 I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool.

Paul recognizes he has diverted from his main theme in defending his policy toward Corinthian money (11:7-11) and in revealing the true identity of his opponents in Corinth (11:12-15). He gets himself back on track by reintroducing the banner he feels best categorizes the way he feels about what he is going to say. In 11:1, he called it "foolishness." Here, his fear of actually being thought "a fool" in the "foolishness" on which he is about to embark comes to the surface as he starts up his main focus once again.

It is important not to intermingle a more contemporary English idea of a fool in understanding the word "fool." It does not mean someone who is not very smart, nor does it have in mind a circus clown act or a court jester. Rather, it refers to someone who has lost his senses in relation to himself. A "fool" is out of touch with reality in either overestimating or underestimating the measure of himself. Paul does not want to be thought a fool in the sense of baseless boasting even though he feels foolish in attempting to quantify his apostolic credentials. He will risk it, however, out of his love for the Corinthians. If they need to take the measure of him over against his opponents in order to be convinced of his superior credentials, he will do it.

But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting.

The opening expression in Greek raises some complicated logic. The NIV's "but if you do" tries to smooth this out, but it should be noted that Paul's conditional statement is actually negated. What he says is "but if otherwise" or "but if you won't." What Paul seems to mean is that if no one considers him a fool for the boasting he is about to do, that's exactly what he wants. Let the Corinthians, then, allow him to play the role of a fool but understand it is only a part, as a character in a play. He will try this role on for their sakes, but it is not really him. In himself, he does not identify with this boastful activity of his character, as he forcefully stated in 10:12-18. They must not forget this as his character's monologue unfolds.

The adjective "little" preceding "boasting" should not be taken literally in this context. It is not that he has succumbed to do just a little real boasting to appease the Corinthians. Rather, it coordinates with the acting role he considers himself taking on, as one might try on the character of a play a little in order to try out for the part, deliver a few lines, sing a few bars. Paul's "boasting," then, is no more than a tool to enable the Corinthians to discover for themselves Paul's opponents revealed as phonies.

11:17 In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool.

The word translated "self-confident" (uJpovstasi", hypostasis ) refers literally to that which settles at the bottom, or sediment, with the derived implication of something which is solidly supported. This idea matches his desire not to be out of line, or "a fool" (as noted in 11:16) in his "boasting" of himself. It is possible, though, that the word has a more general meaning of "undertaking" or "job" with which many commentators cautiously align themselves. Thus, Paul would be referring to "this business, or undertaking of boasting."

Paul's reference to the Lord demonstrates his embarrassment in all this. What he is about to do goes against what Paul understands as any kind of proper Christian boasting. That, he himself said in 10:17, should be "in the Lord." It should recognize no accomplishments in ministry as worthy of self-praise but only of the Lord's praise. However, Paul reminds the Corinthians once again that he is only playing the part of a fool. He disassociates himself personally from it because he does not morally approve of it.

11:18 Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast.

"Many" should not be taken as "most." Paul does not mean most of the Corinthians but all the false apostles in their midst. The term indicates that a substantial band of people make up this opposition group. The word "world" (savrx, sarx , actually "flesh") contains a sharp tone of disapproval. Paul has consistently used the word in antithesis to godly conduct in 2 Corinthians (1:17; 5:16; 10:2,3). Here, it stands as the opposite of boasting in the Lord. It is self-praise which focuses on externals which Paul has already indicated in 5:12 as characteristic of his rivals.

What is shocking is that Paul feels compelled to compete at the worldly level of his opponents in order to break the spell they seem to have over a number of the Corinthians. Essentially, he is announcing his determination to take the gloves off and fight at their level, even against his own spiritual scruples. This is the extent to which he is willing to go to win all the Corinthians back. It is an extraordinary demonstration of his love for them.

11:19 You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!

The oft-repeated pejorative aphorism "suffer fools gladly" comes from the KJV rendering of the first half of this verse. Paul, of course, says it as a biting criticism of the Corinthians. "Fools" refers to Paul's rivals and their worldly manner of seeking to impress the Corinthians. A good portion of the Corinthians - enough, anyway, to warrant this letter - have been thoroughly taken in and continue to be so gullible, with no misgivings at all about these rivals, who are so obviously impostors from Paul's point of view. This is what terrifies Paul the most about this whole situation. But he will play the fool if need be to get their attention.

Calling these gullible Corinthians "wise" is scathingly sarcastic. They, of course, are the fools who are embracing fools so heartily. Thus, Paul's logic to play the fool as he is determined to do is not really so far-fetched. This is the language which communicates to them.

11:20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face.

The controlling verb, "put up with" (ajnevcomai, anechomai ), is a key word in 2 Corinthians 11, falling behind only "fool" and "foolish" in its importance. Not only is it used in this verse and in the previous one, Paul opens the chapter with it in 11:1 when he asks the Corinthians to "put up with a little foolishness" of his since they are so good at it with his rivals. Not so jokingly, in 11:4 he accuses the Corinthians of "putting up with" a false gospel. Now, he charges the Corinthians with being dangerously tolerant in many other ways. He pictures them as ridiculously benign in the face of a tyrant who has moved into their own house and taken over. Paul wishes to embolden them to throw the tyrant out. At the least, despite taking the low road of the fool like his rivals, he has not and will not abuse the Corinthians as they have.

The word "anyone" especially includes the false apostles. However, Paul continues to accentuate the Corinthians' gullibility in general which this situation only makes all too clear. Although understandably erased in translation, the word "anyone," preceded by the Greek word "if" (eij, ei ), rendered as "even" in the NIV, repeats in front of all five of the deprecating verbs which list the false apostles' abuses against the hapless Corinthians. This dramatizes even further the errors of the Corinthians as they hear the word "anyone" over and over each time.

Each of the five verbs can have literal applications. One commentator punctuates this point by turning each one into a descriptor of the false apostles: "slavers, gluttons, pocket-stuffers, swaggerers, and face-slappers." However, the major concern is to discern how Paul intended words to apply specifically to the Corinthian situation. Most likely, Paul envisages nonliteral understandings of these words. The Corinthians aren't literally slaves of the false apostles, but their tyrannical presence has solicited an unbelievable passivity to their ideas and demands.

Some suggest Paul's leading verb, "enslaves" (katadoulovw, katadouloô) refers to their introduction of Jewish legalism into the Corinthian scene. It is true that the only other NT use of this verb is in Gal 2:4 in which this is indisputably Paul's concern. When teamed with the fact that the only other use of "different gospel" other than in 2 Cor 11:4 is Gal 1:6, the point is well taken, even if Paul says nothing directly against Jewish law or circumcision in 2 Corinthians. However, even if Jewish legalism is a component in the Corinthian controversy, the situation seems to be more complicated than Galatians, as discussed in the Introduction.

The word "exploits" (katesqivw, katesthiô) usually refers to the animal kingdom in which certain species prey upon and consume other species. Birds are pictured as eating up all the seed that fell on the path in Jesus' Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:4; Mark 4:4; Luke 8:5). Yet, he also characterizes Jewish lawyers as devouring the houses of defenseless widows (Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47). Paul can even talk of rival factions in the church devouring one another (Gal 5:15). Here, the NIV correctly describes the false apostles as mooching off the starstruck Corinthians. This most likely not only includes being hosted for too long in their homes to the point of becoming a hardship but also their demand for payment for their "apostolic" teaching in the church. Paul distanced himself from this all too common exploitive activity in 11:7-12.

Normally, the verb translated "takes advantage of you" (lambavnw, lambanô) is more tame and neutral, simply "receive" or "take." It can be used in hunting or fishing situations in the sense of using the trickery of bait to catch or entrap the unwary fish or fowl. Here, the emphasis may still be on the Corinthians' polite hospitality toward the false apostles, but it probably also notes the naοve simpletons the Corinthians have allowed themselves to be in relation to these adept tricksters.

Again, the verb translated "pushes himself forward" (ejpaivrw, epairô) normally has a pretty benign sense, "lift up" one's eyes (John 4:35), head (Luke 21:28), hands (1 Tim 2:8), or voice (Acts 2:14). The first three senses often relate to prayer or worship of God. Here and in 2 Cor 10:5 are the only places in the NT which require the negative connotation of this word found often enough in Greek usage outside the NT of "putting on airs," "being presumptuous." These false teachers, Paul believes, have an overly high estimate of themselves that is not realistic. Based on this, they presume positions of authority and leadership over the Corinthian believers which are totally out of bounds.

The most debated word in the list is the last one, "slaps you in the face" (devrw, derô). Every other use of the word in the NT is taken physically and more harshly than "slap." The severe beating of servants (Mark 12:3), the public flogging of criminals, of Christians, and others by government and synagogue authorities (Acts 5:40; 16:37) are standard for this word. The commonness of those socially inferior being beaten by those socially superior in ancient Greek culture, leads some to suspect that Paul believes his opponents are literally beating some of the Corinthians into submission.

However, most likely Paul intends a sense of figurative hyperbole. He wants to jolt the Corinthians into seeing just how badly they are being treated by the false apostles. They're treated like slaves, servants. The NIV's "slap" is not likely intended to be taken literally but rather to suggest the insulting conduct of the false apostles toward the Corinthians.

11:21a To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!

Virtually all versions and commentaries break this verse in half, viewing this part as a fitting conclusion, reeking with sarcasm, of his rationale for playing the fool for the Corinthians. The second part launches Paul into his fool's "boasting" which he has been leading to since 11:1.

The word "shame" (ajtimiva, atimia ) in Greek simply negates the Greek word for "honor" (timhv, timç). The verb "were weak" (ajsqenevw, astheneô) can mean to be physically ill (Matt 25:36; Jas 5:14) or disabled (John 5:3). It usually implies some sort of vulnerability whether physical, social, or even spiritual. This is the first of seven uses between 11:21 and 13:13. The noun cognate "weakness" (ajsqevneia, astheneia ) occurs an additional six times between 11:30 and 13:4. No other uses of either noun or verb form occur in 2 Corinthians. Clearly, this is a focus word which will frame much of Paul's perspective from this point on.

Paul's biting sarcasm is well reflected in the NIV's exclamation point at the end of the sentence. He is not at all ashamed of not mistreating the Corinthians. It's to his credit compared to his rivals. He is not at all embarrassed about being considered weak by some, most likely his rivals and their followers. What kind of leadership authority does someone really have if it is based on intimidation? It shows strength but not credibility. Such is antithetical to true apostolic authorization from God. What Paul means is that he will gladly have no part in the strong-arm tactics of his rivals, and the Corinthians will be smart to start to see through it as mirrors and smoke.

2. Ancestry and Hardships Listed (11:21b-29)

11:21b What anyone else dares to boast about-I am speaking as a fool-I also dare to boast about.

After much hand-wringing and a few diversions since 11:1, Paul comes to his last few words before launching into his "foolish boasting." That all this is a reaction to the boasting of his adversaries in Corinth is apparent. The word "anyone" has consistently been employed in reference to these adversaries (10:7; 11:20) and is so again here. Strikingly, his last use of the verb "dares to boast" (tolmavw, tolmaô) was in 10:12 where he announced that he wouldn't dare compare himself to his Corinthian adversaries, at least in the way they do it, comparing themselves with themselves. That his statement there is tongue-in-cheek comes out even more clearly now. He will dare to boast, if only to put his adversaries' boasts into meaningful perspective. Let's see how they measure up to a real apostle!

The word "dare to boast" usually just means to dare, take courage, or resolve to do something which would be easier to avoid but which must be done. Underneath its use must be Paul's pounding heart and the emotional trauma of overcoming the easier path of just keeping his mouth shut. His adversaries have already said he was a chicken in these matters (10:2), but he will be silent no longer. He will lay out the information from his personal history to allow them to be compared with him stride for stride and to show that they cannot keep up by half.

Paul interjects into his declared determination to "boast" a word which reflects his continuing emotional turmoil. Calling himself once again a "fool" (ajfrosunhv, aphrosynç) links his thoughts to those in 11:1, where he first labeled what he is about to do as "foolishness."

Despite his qualms, he will push ahead into the most exhaustive autobiographical sketch we have of Paul. Nothing told about him in Acts or anything Paul says elsewhere goes beyond the bounds of what he reveals here.

Though the list is unwieldy in places, it may broadly be grouped as including heritage (11:22), service record (11:23-25), dangers and deprivations (11:26-27), pastoral concerns (11:28), and beyond this section, daring escapades (11:31-33), and ecstatic experiences (12:1-6).

In basic outline, Paul's listing of "achievements" mirrors what is commonly found in Roman imperial res gestae , and interesting comparisons can be made between this list and that of Augustus. Even their purpose of proving a rightful claim over a group of people resonates with Paul's purpose with regard to the Corinthians. Indeed, Paul's rivals may have followed the well-known convention themselves with the same end in mind.

However, Paul's list is filled with hardship, suffering, and what most Greeks would view as failures illustrative of weakness. His list is not boasting; it is antiboasting. As some commentaries correctly observe, it is really a parody of achievement lists because it turns everything inside out. Enduring hardships for the sake of the gospel becomes the "achievements," not the number of churches planted, nor even people converted. Paul expects his adversaries to be mortified by his antilist. They will be the ones left feeling foolish in Paul's wake.

11:22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I.

Paul's three expressions of heritage at first may look like they all say the same thing: he's Jewish (somewhat surprisingly not included). They certainly are intended to have a rhetorical impact, each phrased identically in Greek. Yet, Paul probably has a slightly different emphasis in mind for each.

Identifying himself as Hebrew most likely relies on the fact that he is full-blooded Hebrew, that his primary language was Aramaic (derivative of Hebrew), not Greek (which characterized Hellenistic Jews dispersed around the Mediterranean), and that he grew up in Palestine (despite his connections to Tarsus). In other words, his Hebrew genetic and behavioral influences couldn't be more solid.

Including himself as an Israelite underlines his cultural heritage. He has been raised in the traditional Jewish religious observances and continues to practice them. Because of Paul's continual social contact with Gentiles in his role as evangelist and church planter, most likely out of the three expressions regarding his Jewish heritage, this is the one most under attack by his opponents in Corinth and the one to which he is most vulnerable. How much of the Jewish food and Gentile contact restrictions does he disregard in order to relate to Gentiles in his mission? The news back home in Jerusalem, anyway, according to Acts 21:21, is that Paul's evangelistic activity includes encouraging devout Jews to abandon their cultural heritage in order to become Christians. It is to prove that he lives according to Jewish law and that he encourages other Jews around the world to do so, that he agrees to underwrite the Nazirite vows of four men.

Asserting that his ancestral line can be traced to Abraham says more than that both his parents are Hebrew. It highlights the purity of his genetic stock. His genealogy can be traced to father Abraham. Yet, Paul may mean to move into a more theological arena with this reference since he already emphasized bloodline with "Hebrew." If anything he will later write in Romans is at all in his mind, this is not a difficult conclusion to draw. After all, especially in Romans 4, he details his position that uncircumcised Gentiles who have faith like Abraham are more his true children than circumcised Jews who do not.

Paul's repeated, dramatic response to his own questions, "So am I" (kajgwv, kagô) presumes that his opponents have made all these three claims of fine Jewish heritage for themselves. His assertions, despite what some may be saying about him, are emphatic that he is at least equal to whatever claims they may be making. The natural climax surrounding the third expression and the theological swirl around who is truly descendent from Abraham may be Paul's way of registering a measure of superiority over his rivals, especially if he believes their "apostolic" message is false and their apostolic claims bogus.

11:23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more.

Designating himself a servant of Christ functions in two ways. In one way, it is the fourth, and thereby the most important of the qualifications he began listing in 11:22. Sure, Jewish heritage has its significance. However, what is far more important is being a loyal and true servant of Christ. He particularly has in mind his apostolic calling and his dedication to fulfilling that calling. Although Paul's question may seem to allow for the fact that his opponents are also servants of Christ, he only gives this away for the sake of the question. He has already called them servants of Satan in 11:15. Here, we must assume they call themselves "servants of Christ" but that Paul doesn't really consider them so.

The designation "servant of Christ" also headlines the long, autobiographical list of events which unfolds through 12:10. Fundamentally, he wishes to show by this antiboast list what being a servant of Christ really involves and that his rivals do not fit the description. Presumably, they laud themselves with grandiose lists of self-achievements, not lists of suffering, pain, and heartache, such as this.

When Paul offers the aside of being "out of my mind," this reaction is probably due to two conflicts he is having difficulty holding together. The first, already explained, is that he has just allowed himself to call his opponents servants of Christ for the sake of this discussion. This must strike him nearly as an utterance of profanity against Christ since he is convinced these people are servants of Satan. The second conflict once again is just the idea that he has actually put himself in this position of boasting, even if it is "antiboasting," over against his rivals. He is extremely uncomfortable with this, but he is about to proceed anyway.

The actual Greek word (parafronevw, paraphroneô) is only used here in all the NT. It means to be "beside oneself, or "to set to the side one's good senses," (fronevw, phroneô) meaning "think." Since the word is followed by the word "speak" or "say," (levgw, legô), in current English vernacular, we could translate the two together as "I am talking crazy!"

What clearly sets this fourth designation apart from the first three is Paul's declaration which follows: "I am more." Equality with regard to being a servant of Christ is not sufficient for his purposes. They have tried to diminish his apostolic credibility in the eyes of the Corinthians for the sake of exalting their own. This must be reversed. He wishes the Corinthians to wind up recognizing, as he has, that his opponents are not just lesser servants of Christ, or lesser apostles. By showing that they cannot even stand on the same platform as Paul while claiming they are superior, it is made obvious they are not true servants or apostles at all.

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.

By adding a subject, "I," the NIV has smoothed out what is a series of four bumpy, prepositional phrases with plural objects modified by adverbs, which more literally read, "in toils, more, in jails, more, in blows, beyond counting, in deaths, often." These four general categories of hardships will be filled out with specific numbers and instances in the catalogue which begins in 11:24.

The word "worked," "toils" (kovpo", kopos ) is used three other times in 2 Corinthians. In 6:5, it appears in a mini-list of hardships, probably referring to Paul's work as a tentmaker. In 10:15, it refers to missionary activity in general. In 11:27, again in a list, it most likely refers to his tentmaking work. The fact that the word usually describes physical labor and that Paul's tentmaking has already been raised as an issue in 11:7-9 makes many commentators lean toward this being the idea here. Yet, it is in a list that headlines general categories. Perhaps, his use here does include tentmaking in his mind, but that, especially since it is plural, includes other real, physically taxing labors involved in his apostolic ministry that are not necessarily related to his trade.

Paul's reference to multiple imprisonments goes beyond what is known from Acts, which up to this point in Paul's career, only accounts for the one night in jail at Philippi (Acts 17:23-40) from which he was miraculously released. The early church document of 1 Clement (5:6) numbers Paul's imprisonments at seven.

As with any historical account, Acts is not and does not claim to be exhaustive. This point about imprisonments and other instances in Paul's autobiographical listing here, which will go beyond what is known from Acts, should serve as an ample reminder of the selectivity involved. It also should be noted that a period of 11 to 14 years after Paul's conversion and initial period of preaching in Jerusalem and Damascus, up until being recruited by Barnabas to work in Antioch (Acts 11:25), is virtually unaccounted for. The only exceptions are for the brief mention in Gal 1:21 that he was in Syria and Cilicia and Acts 9:30 that he was in Tarsus. Paul's hardships listed may very well include situations which occurred during these so-called silent years.

Being "flogged" served as a fairly common form of punishment in ancient cultures. Paul will stipulate at least two forms of such public beatings in 11:24, with whips and with rods. The only detailed beating in Acts is at Philippi (Acts 17:23-40).

As with the four designations in 11:22-23b, these four hardship listings increase in significance, in this case in intensity, until the climax is reached with the fourth. In Greek, the word "deaths" comes as a jolt, not only in the fact that it jumps up suddenly, the ultimate hardship, but that it is plural. How does one do this twice? As the NIV and most translations recognize, Paul must mean instances in which punishment inflicted, or more likely mob action, resulted in his being brought to the point of death from which he was rescued by God and/or eventually recovered. Paul makes other references to such situations earlier in 2 Cor 1:9-10; 4:11; 1 Cor 15:32; and Rom 8:36.

11:24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.

Notably, in Matt 10:17 and Mark 3:9, Jesus warns that his disciples would be flogged in the synagogues. Paul, who makes it a point to begin his evangelistic thrust by visiting the synagogues in each city he enters (Acts 9:20; 13:5,14; 14:1; 17:1-2,10,17; 18:4,19,26; 19:8), regularly exposes himself to the danger of this punishment should the reaction against the gospel be severe. Reading between the lines, this could have occurred at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:45,50) or certainly during those silent years, but neither Acts nor any of Paul's epistles specifically account for any official flogging of Paul.

The punishment follows clear legal warrant in Deut 25:1-3 which notes the number of lashes to be determined by the crime, but no crime deserving more than forty. Rabbinic sources speak of punishable offenses as including various sexual misconduct, false witnessing (especially against a priest), entering ritually unclean into the synagogue, and even tattooing, as deserving of synagogal flogging. Paul's contact with Gentiles may have gotten him in trouble in regard to ritual cleanliness, but his gospel message could have been perceived as offensive, even as Stephen's was (Acts 7).

The flogging procedure is described as involving binding the offender's hands on a post, tearing his shirt, then administering a three-hide thong with 26 lashes to the back and 13 to the chest. The "minus one" most likely came about as a precautionary measure to prevent, in the case of miscounting, the offender receiving more than 40 lashes, thus breaking the law.

No doubt the vigilant love of Paul for his own people, so adamantly expressed in Rom 9:3, kept him going into these Jewish synagogues flung across the Roman empire, despite the danger of flogging. He never considered himself other than a loyal Jew, even as his theology of Christianity blossomed. As one commentator puts it, he would rather be reckoned (unjustifiably) an "erring" member of Judaism by blinded synagogue leaders than no member at all.

11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned,

Acts 16:22-23 provides at least one instance of Paul, along with Silas, receiving a public beating, this occurring in Philippi. Official beatings of this sort occurred in the public square before the judgment seat of the magistrates. They are administered by specially designated men called "lictors" who swung heavy birchwood rods onto the bared upper torso of the offenders. Such punishment was common but was not to be applied to Roman citizens, a point which Paul raises to the chagrin of the Philippian town officials in Acts 16:35-40. Other violations of this rule, however, are known from Greek sources.

The stoning Paul likely refers to is chronicled in Acts 14:19. This occurred as a roving mob of irate Jews (and probably Gentiles) came into Lystra from nearby Pisidian Antioch and Iconium, towns Paul and Barnabas had only recently left. Clearly, this was not an official synagogue stoning since the Lystrian synagogue doesn't seem to have had anything to do with it, and Gentiles were also probably involved. Also, it was not a stoning to the death, stoning being the official and most prevalent form of capital punishment among the Jews.

Stoning is the most common form of execution mentioned in the Bible and is the well-founded procedure for such offenses as child sacrifice (Lev 20:2), functioning as a spiritual medium (Lev 20:27), blasphemy (Lev 24:12), enticing someone toward idolatry (Deut 13:10), practicing idolatry (Deut 17:5), committing rape or consensual adultery (Deut 22:22-24).

three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,

The only shipwreck recorded in Acts occurs in chapter 27 during Paul's transfer as a prisoner to Rome well after he had written 2 Corinthians. Paul did move more frequently by sea than is sometimes realized: Seleucia to Cyprus (Acts 13:4), Paphos to Perga (Acts 13:13), Attalia to Antioch (Acts 14:25-26), Troas to Neapolis (Acts 16:11), Macedonia to Athens (Acts 17:14-15), Corinth to Ephesus to Caesarea (Acts 18:18-22), Ephesus to Achaia (Acts 18:27).

The potential for sea mishaps was always rife. The mortal threat was also high since lifeboats were rarely carried nor life-preserving precautions taken on ancient vessels. Shipwreck meant grabbing floating portions of the wreckage and hanging on until rescue or death. Paul says he experienced on one occasion at least a 24-hour period in this most perilous situation on the sea. This and the stoning incident must be among the specific near-death experiences he had in mind in 11:23.

11:26 I have been constantly on the move.

The phrase is much more succinct in the Greek, consisting of just a noun and an adverb. The noun (oJdoiporiva, hodoiporia ) usually refers to a walking journey, as it is used in John 4:6 of journeying to Samaria. It makes sense that Paul would use this terminology to headline his next list of problems, after just listing risks involved at sea. He did walk through Asia Minor on more than one occasion and other places as well. For the most part, this presumption holds true until Paul gets to the last two items out of eight on his list, where he notes problems at sea (again) and with false brothers.

I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits,

The point of bringing up his movement is that this made him vulnerable in a number of ways from a variety of sources. The key word binding this eightfold list together is "danger" (kivnduno", kindynos ), repeated before each item and dutifully represented by the NIV. Amazingly, the word, which simply refers to a hazard of any kind, is only used one other time in the NT outside of the eight times it occurs in this passage (Rom 8:35). The effect of Paul's list is that he perceives himself as in constant danger of a variety of sorts. His life of danger is not sufficiently accounted for by listing beatings and the like. It is around him all the time, and he feels it.

Paul pairs the first four items on his list. These first two, rivers and bandits, clearly depict life on the road. Fording rivers in the days of few bridges was a necessary danger that always involved risks of losing valuable supplies, of sickness from disease, of harm from creatures in the water, of drowning in the current itself. Although Roman presence did create some security on the main highways, small travelling groups in particular were still vulnerable, especially as they moved on minor routes.

in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles;

This pair includes two races of people. As depicted in Acts, his fellow Jews were the most constant and violent threat to Paul as he brought the gospel from place to place entering the synagogues first (Acts 9:23,29; 13:8,45; 14:2,19; 17:5; 18:6,12; 20:3,19; 21:11,27). Gentiles were less often antagonistic. Both in Philippi (Acts 16:19-21) and in Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41) their violent reaction was due to the economic impact of the gospel of God on pagan-driven cultural industries, such as soothsaying and idol manufacturing.

in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea;

In terms of geography, these three cover all there is. The first two distinguish land features, inhabited and uninhabited areas, the third, everything else, covered by water. Their general nature helps them function as a general summary of Paul's escapades throughout the Roman Empire which he has already described so far.

and in danger from false brothers.

This last item draws special notice for a number of reasons. It is the only one in this list without a match. It is the last in the list and thus the climax. It alone describes a hazard that is internal rather than external. It is the worst danger of all because it comes from those who are unsuspected, fellow believers in the church. Their danger amounts to treachery. This threat is not so much to Paul's person as to the body of Christ. Having described his Corinthian rivals as false apostles in 11:12, one suspects Paul hopes the Corinthians will cringe at how their tolerance of such people contributes a risk to the church and yet another drag on Paul's apostolic energy.

The only other place Paul uses the word "false brothers" (yeudavdelfo", pseudadelphos ) is in Gal 2:4 to refer to those who somehow reported to others that Titus was not circumcised. These tend to be associated with Judaizers, Jewish Christians who believed Jewish legal distinctions should not be erased by the gospel. Such folks, it appears, followed Paul into areas like Galatia in which he had established Jewish-Gentile churches which celebrated freedom from Jewish law, at least for the Gentiles. As noted in the introduction and elsewhere, those Paul combats in this very letter of 2 Corinthians may be disrupting the Corinthian church with the same sort of Jewish interests. The fact that these people may trail Paul in his movements causes their mention to fit into this eightfold listing.

11:27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep;

Again, the NIV has supplied the subject and verb as it does through 11:28. The Greek simply has dative nouns, some preceded by the preposition "in" (ejn, en ), others not. The adverb "often" (pollavki", pollakis ) follows "without sleep" and "without food" which supplies a certain rhythm to the first six items which the NIV rendering duplicates nicely.

The word "have labored" (kovpo", kopos ) is the same word Paul already used in 11:23, translated "have worked" there. Its presence likely signals Paul's intention to elaborate on that aspect of his apostolic hardship. Its pairing with "toiled" (movcqo", mochthos ) functions as the headline of a new set of listings. That word only appears elsewhere in the NT following kopos in 1 Thess 2:9 and 2 Thess 3:8. The two are synonyms, kopos emphasizing physical labor and mochthos emphasizing the mental and physical stress created by hard work. Between the two of them, Paul probably intends to cover not only his labor as a tentmaker but other physically draining aspects of his apostolic life.

The stress created by being an apostle is highlighted by the mention of sleepless nights. Is he up late working on his trade, teaching and discipling his converts, or is he tossing and turning out of worry for his converts, his mission, his following of God's leading? Probably, he has in mind all of these and more since he says this occurs "often" (pollavki", pollakis ).

I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;

Some read this as a possible description of Paul voluntarily fasting for the spiritual strength to endure his hard life. If this was voluntary, then it more likely involves situations as with the Corinthians (2 Cor 11:9) where he decided not to rely on financial or other assistance from communities of new believers. The occasional nature of his trade might very well leave him short on funds. However, deprivation of food and water might be even more frequent when he is traveling, by road or sea. Finding food and water, carrying it along, would not be so easy on long trips as it is today. Again, though, this falls under the rubric of his own choice since he has chosen to carry on in the missionary service to which Christ has called him, regardless of the obstacles and hardships. Note that he emphasizes his deprivation of food occurs "often".

I have been cold and naked.

This pairing is out of rhythm with the two three-part phrases which Paul has employed so far in this series of deprivations. With no third part modified by "often," it seems to come to an unexpected stop. If planned by Paul, this roughness reinforces the stark hardship it describes. The word "naked" (gumnovth", gymnotçs) is likely an exaggeration to reinforce "cold" (yu'co", psychos ). Imprisonment and shipwreck could put one in such conditions but so could Paul's constant travels. Not having the proper clothing for unknown and changing climactic situations could be a recurring problem for Paul. Note his request in 2 Tim 3:13 for Timothy to bring him his cloak which had been left at Troas. Feeling the effects of cold and inadequate clothing can also be exacerbated by deprivation of food, mentioned earlier, whereas the inability to sleep could be triggered by this condition.

11:28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

Paul's opening interjection (cwriÉ" tw'n parektov", chôris tôn parektos) is taken two different ways in translation. Most, as the NIV, take it as something of an aside to the many other hardships Paul could list that he chooses not to. In other words, it is a signal that the detailed listing he has given is not exhaustive, but he has decided to end it at this point. This seems to make the most sense. Other translations, such as NASB, NEB, and KJV, suggest that Paul is labeling all that he listed so far as "external" hardships before he goes on to deal with internal, spiritual pressures. However, this translation of the Greek word parektos has no linguistic support in any Greek sources outside this passage in 2 Corinthians.

The only threat Paul has mentioned so far which relates to the church has been "false brothers." To his mind, that is not so much a burden from within the church since he would not consider such people part of the true church. Yet, no doubt, one of his chief worries for the churches connected to his apostolic ministry is internal tampering from those with less than virtuous motives as well as dangerous ideas about the gospel message.

The word "pressure" (ejpivstasi", epistasis ) conveys the effect of feeling responsible for a situation or a group of people. One who superintends others can get hammered with daily problems to deal with. Not surprisingly, then, the word can also refer to obstacles which must be overcome. Paul's emphasis on "all the churches" reveals the extent of his difficulties. With churches flung all over Asia Minor and Greece at this point, all with their own problems, it is not likely an exaggeration to say that each day he contemplates decisions and pastoral care involving one church or another.

This is the only context in which Paul uses the word "concern" (mevrimna, merimna ). Normally translated "worries" or "anxieties," it is thought of in a negative light, particularly by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6:25-34; Luke 12:22-34). His disciples are encouraged not to worry about the daily cares of life because God can be trusted to take care of them. To his credit, it is not the daily provisions Paul worries about. That he has made clear in his list, particularly in the previous verse, 11:27. His worry is for others, new converts and disciples in the churches.

He is concerned about their ability to withstand the pressures and temptations from their pagan cultures and unsympathetic relatives, friends, and neighbors. He worries about their safety from violent forces which rise up against them. He fears the influence of false teaching. He desires to aid in doctrinal and behavioral maturity, in commitment to Christ, so that nothing will deter fulfillment of their justification. That's an enormous burden on Paul's plate and here he acknowledges how difficult it all is.

Paul's concern for a church can't be any more evident than what he displays for the Corinthians: their reception of a minimum of four letters, the long list of questions he fields in 1 Corinthians, anguish generating the harsh third letter (2 Cor 12-13; 7:5-7), and the obvious heart-wrenching going on over the Corinthians, even as he writes these very words in 2 Corinthians. Awareness of Paul's deep concern for them should cause a tinge of sorrow and regret by at least some of the Corinthians at this point.

11:29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak?

Paul's question intends to serve as an elaboration of the kind of pressure he feels on behalf of the churches under his pastoral care. His return to the issue of weakness initiated in 11:21a provides framing for everything in between these uses of the verb "weak" (ajsqenevw, astheneô). Everything he has listed in his antiboast list stands as a weakness from a worldly, human perspective. The very reason that Paul lists these kinds of things, which he has endured through God's strength, suggests he believes these to be true, apostolic strengths. Strength through weakness is God's way, even as displayed on the cross in Jesus Christ. This is a paradox Paul understands and will dwell on further in 12:5-10 and 13:3-4,9, in which six uses of the noun "weakness" and four uses of the verb "weak" occur.

Because Paul feels his weaknesses every day through a variety of hardships as he has listed, he finds it relatively easy to identify with others who are weak, but especially Christians under his care who are beaten down by life around them, doubters, denigrators, or just hard economic conditions, or even illness that has nothing directly to do with their faith. It is also true that the energy Paul expends in caring for the weaknesses in others further drains his own stamina, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But that's all right. It is all part of being a true apostle, as far as he is concerned.

Paul's views on weakness should be well-known to the Corinthians since in 1 Corinthians he uses the verb twice (8:11,12), the noun twice (2:3; 15:43), and the adjective an incredible eleven times (1:25,27; 4:10; 8:7,9,10; 9:22 - three times; 11:30; 12:22). There, he provides his views on God's embracing of what the world considers weaknesses and his philosophy of identifying with those who are weak in order to win them to Christ. His identification with the weak in relationship to the churches should not strike the Corinthians as a startling new development in Paul's thinking since it extends and incorporates earlier ideas.

Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

Paul expresses yet another rhetorical question to illustrate the worrisome effect of pastoral ministry. With this question, he shares how deeply grieved he is when individual believers under his care embrace sinful behavior. Such people actively pursue patterns of behavior and thought Paul has warned against in his preaching, teaching, and writing. How can he react any other way, if he loves Christians toward whom he feels pastoral and leadership responsibility?

The word "led into sin" (skandalivzw, skandalizô) is a common NT word for sin which derives from its nonbiblical background as "stumble" or "fall." In the NT, while it can refer to an especially grievous sin, it very often describes a falling away from faith entirely (Matt 24:10). The word presumes that there is a cause which precipitates sin; it does not necessarily presume this is another person. The NIV's translation "led" presumes this and that Paul's burning is against the second party. This interpretation, however, is not mandatory. Paul is just as likely to hold sinners accountable for themselves and his fire burn not against them, but out of an intense desire to see them reunited with Christ through repentance and confession.

With this question, Paul may again have a glinting eye on the Corinthians themselves, particularly those enamored by the false teachers. Does not this whole procedure of 2 Corinthians reflect the intense desire of Paul to rescue these believers from a potentially disastrous fall away from Christ?

3. Weakness Boasted (11:30-33)

11:30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Paul now labels what he has been doing in 11:21b-29. He admits it is a kind of boasting but not the normal kind. His list is full of painful, humiliating, harmful, dangerous, and depressing things. Most Greeks would brand such things as a wall of shame, not of honor. Yet, Paul knows something full well that most Greeks don't, including many of the Corinthians who seem to have been taken in by the false apostles. Honor in serving Christ is not based in self-achievement but in expending oneself totally for others as Christ himself did. Thus, an antiboasting list as Paul has presented suits a true apostle like Paul just fine. Even this makes him a little squeamish, but he does it because the situation in Corinth requires it. The conditional ("if") for this clause conveys this reality.

11:31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.

Supportive oath formulas are more prevalent in 2 Corinthians than in any of his other writings, found three other times, in 1:18,23; 11:10. This probably reflects more than the normal defensiveness on his part because of the attacks on his credibility by his opponents. This particular formula is beefed up with the paternal description of God as well as the mention of both God and Jesus. This suggests that the pertinence of this oath is not just regarding the Damascus event which will be described in 11:32-33 but probably looks backward up the hardship list. Everything on the list is factual.

It is interesting that the closest oath formula to this one in Paul's letters occurs in Gal 1:20, only two verses from where he makes a reference to his visits to Damascus. No mention of the specific event described in 11:32-33 appears there. Perhaps, this early, relatively obscure, aspect of his Christian life was a matter of unfounded speculation in the early church, which made Paul a bit touchy when he told the stories from his personal perspective.

11:32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me.

Located 60 miles northeast of Galilee, Damascus is one of the oldest cities of the world, continuously occupied since 2000 B.C. It was on his way to Damascus to round up renegade Jews called Christians, as described in Acts 9:1-4, that Paul met Jesus Christ and became a disciple of Christ himself. The trouble Paul describes here in 2 Corinthians is also described in Acts 9:19-25. There, it melds together Paul's experiences in Damascus. Galatians 1:17 suggests that Paul spent three years in Arabia (possibly Nabatea) and then returned to Damascus. The problems more likely occurred during this second visit to Damascus. Paul may even have created a reputation for being a troublemaker there before coming back to Damascus. At any rate, his successful debates with the Jews in the synagogues "proving that Jesus is the Christ" (Acts 9:22) apparently caused a great stir.

The Acts account does not mention the governor's involvement, just a crowd of Jews. However, patrolling the city gate (Acts 9:24), surely a matter under government control, does suggest some role of the government in the actions of the Jews. Perhaps, as in other cities later in Paul's journeys, like Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9) and indeed Corinth (Acts 18:1-17), because the Jewish community became incensed by Paul's provocation with the gospel, they were able to draw the authorities' attention to the fact that he was a "troublemaker."

The name of the actual governor over Damascus during the period when Paul might have been there is not known. It's even possible that the governor, as an "ethnarch," was only one major official over a large ethnic group of the population, like the Nabateans or even the Jews.

More is known about Aretas. This would have been Aretas IV who reigned over Nabatea, which occupied northern Arabia and the area east of the Jordan, from 9 B.C. to A.D. 40. His daughter was the wife of Herod Antipas, governor of Galilee and Perea during Jesus' day. She is the one he divorced to marry his brother Philip's wife. It was John the Baptist's public denunciation of the tawdry affair that landed him in prison, which eventually led to his being beheaded (Mark 14:3-12). In fact, Aretas went to war with Antipas over this situation.

What is not known for certain, at least from secular history, is how Aretas could have had enough political clout to have governance over Damascus, fairly far north from his territory. It is possible that the Roman emperor Caligula (reigning from A.D. 37-41) could have given someone like Aretas IV authority over just the city-state of Damascus apart from the region surrounding it.

The verb "guarded" (frourevw, phroureô) in Greek is imperfect, emphasizing ongoing action of some sort. This verbal suggestion that people were on the watch for many days corresponds with the statement in Acts 9:24 that the gates were watched "day and night" for a period of time.

11:33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.

Acts 9:25 does not say Paul escaped through a "window" but rather "through an opening." However, similarities in this account, including the window, are striking with regard to Rahab's allowing the two Hebrew spies to escape Jericho (Josh 2:15) and even Michal's helping David escape Saul (1 Sam 19:11-12). The word for "basket" (sargavnh, sarganç) is unique in the NT. It was perhaps more like a large bag made of braided rope. Such flexible "baskets" could be used for carrying fish but also large amounts of hay, straw, or wool. Acts 9:25 uses a different Greek word for basket (spuriv", spyris ), the same word used in the account of the feeding of the four thousand (Matt 15:37; 16:10; Mark 8:8,20).

Why Paul has moved from his poetically cadenced listings to the telling of this incident is difficult to know for certain. It does have an impact from being described as a real event rather than getting a label in a list. Possibly, Paul sees this as a true example of being "in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city." Most likely, it stands out in his mind - possibly because it occurred so early in his service career - as the epitome of weakness.

The feeling of being so utterly dependent on God in that basket may have seared itself into Paul's emotional and spiritual memory bank. Maybe, he relays it also as an incident people in Corinth and in the other churches don't really know about, a glimpse into his personal life. Whatever the case, the impact on the Corinthians - and maybe even Paul's rivals - must have been incredible when they read this. Who would admit to this kind of humiliating weakness except a genuine apostle?

Paul's story involving his memorable encounter with a city wall might trigger memories in some of his Corinthian readers with military background. One of the most highly prized Roman military honors, available only to centurions, was awarded to the one who was the first up and over the wall of a fortified city. This award for valor was an actual gold crown fashioned to resemble a turreted wall. Given that Corinth was a popular retirement area for Roman soldiers (see Introduction), perhaps these might even be seen on the heads of old men as one walked through the city.

Paul's "war story" is the opposite of military might and power. It is not about storming the wall at the head of hundreds of comrades, but rather sneaking down the wall secretly with enemies on the watch. It is not an act of pride but of shame. It is not an image of Paul's personal strength but of his weakness and total dependence on the strength of God's will for his life.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

McGarvey: 2Co 11:15

It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works . [The apostle says that no one need stand aghast at such awful presumption, for Satan himself sets an example in this respect and his ministers may be expected to follow it. Some think that Satan fashioned himself as an angel of light when he appeared before God as narrated in the Book of Job; others, that he did so when he appeared before Jesus to tempt him. It is not clear to what incident in the life of Satan Paul refers. In this age, as in all ages, these warning words of the apostle should be weighed and considered. As Jesus bade us beware of wolves in sheep's clothing, so Paul bids us beware of the emissaries of Satan, who come claiming to be leaders in religion. The servants of Satan do not hesitate to hold ecclesiastical offices, or occupy pulpits.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:16

[In this section the apostle draws a comparison between himself and the false apostles, showing how he excelled them in labors, revelations, signs, etc.] I say again [having twice swerved from the distasteful task, Paul unwillingly resumes his apparent boasting], Let no man think me foolish; but if ye do, yet as foolish receive me, that I also may glory a little .

McGarvey: 2Co 11:17

That which I speak, I speak not after the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of glorying . [Let no man think that I am foolish enough to boast wittingly of my own accord, but if any one does so think, let him, nevertheless, bear with me a little while in my boasting, since my adversaries have made it the order of the day. I am painfully conscious that the Spirit of God does not prompt to boasting, but I do so on my own responsibility, or according to my own confident folly, my so doing having been made a permissible necessity by your behavior toward me.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:18

Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also . [I am about to follow the carnal example of the boasters, that I may defeat them with their own weapon.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:19

For ye bear with the foolish gladly, being wise yourselves .

McGarvey: 2Co 11:20

For ye bear with a man, if he bringeth you into bondage, if he devoureth you, if he taketh you captive, if he exalteth himself, if he smiteth you on the face .

McGarvey: 2Co 11:21

I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet whereinsoever any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also . [You encourage me to talk foolishly, for it pleaseth you to indulge fools that ye may thereby flatter yourselves with a show of superiority, and by your recent conduct toward these, my rivals in boasting, you have shown to what lengths of patient endurance you will go in this matter, for you have permitted them to bring you into bondage to their authority and their false doctrine, to impoverish you by exorbitant exactions of wages, to treat you as their captives, and to exalt themselves over you as though they were your conquerors, and even to smite you as though you had become their slaves. If you bore with such strenuous boastfulness, you can bear with me in my weak foolishness. But I have indeed disparaged myself when I talked about my meekness, as I will now show you, for if any ever addressed bold words to you, you are now about to hear such from me also. And yet my words will all be foolishness, for all the things whereof I boast are really worthless as commendations to you in comparison with my being called of Christ as his apostle. The apostle speaks of the whole class of false apostles as if they were a single individual. Thus, after many preliminary apologies and explanations, Paul comes at last to his boast, not of his exploits or talents, as one Fight expect, but of his sufferings and humiliations, revelations and self-sacrifices.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:22

Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I . [This verse shows clearly that Paul's enemies were Judaizing Jews. They had evidently boasted of their race, nationality, etc., to the disparagement of Paul. They probably urged that Paul was greatly inferior to them because he was born at Tarsus, was a Roman citizen, lived much like a Gentile, and did not abjectly obey the Jewish law. By their whisperings they no doubt laid the foundation for that calumny which was long after found formed against him; for "it would appear from Epiphanius," says Stanley, "that Judaizers went so far as to assert that he was altogether a Gentile by birth, and only adopted circumcision in order to marry the high priest's daughter." In answer to this rising cloud of slander, Paul asserts his racial, national, etc., equality with his enemies. He was a Hebrew, he belonged to the sacred nation and spoke the sacred language (Act 22:2); and an Israelite, he belonged to the theocracy, and being of the seed of Abraham, he was by birth an heir to the promises, and was not a proselyte nor descended from one.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:23

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly [1Co 15:10], in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft . [1Co 15:31 . On Jewish grounds Paul claimed equality, but as a minister of Christ, superiority. Knowing that his enemies would say that it accorded with his general insanity to thus assert his superiority, he ironically admits his madness in thus asserting that his ministerial labors exceeded those of his easy-living adversaries -- theirs being in fact no labor at all, but rather an effort to steal the credit of his labors. This verse gives the general bodily distresses endured, while the next three tell of special cases. According to Acts, Paul had, up to this date, been imprisoned but once, and was afterwards imprisoned thrice. Clement of Rome, who wrote toward the close of the first century, says that Paul was imprisoned seven times. Paul's life for long periods was hourly exposed to death (Act 9:23 ; Act 13:50 ; Act 14:5-6 ; Act 14:19 ; Act 17:5 ; Act 17:13); but the best comment on this expression is the catalogue of sufferings which follow.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:24

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one . [Deu 25:2 . The law limited all beatings to forty stripes; but one stripe was omitted lest the law should be accidentally broken through careless counting. Such a scourging inflicted the agony of death, and generally resulted in it. Not one of these scourgings is mentioned in Acts.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:25

Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep [The Romans punished by using the vine rods of the soldiers or the fasces of the lictors, and no law limited the number of strokes. Such beatings often caused death. Roman citizenship was presumed to protect from such punishment, but in his orations Cicero tells us that in the provinces the rights of citizenship were often set at nought in this respect. Luke tells of but one of these beatings (Act 26:22). The stoning took place at Lystra (Act 14:19). Luke tells in all six sea voyages, but says nothing of the wreckings here mentioned. In referring to the twenty-four-hour struggle for life amidst the waves, Paul uses the present tense, showing that the horror of his situation was still vividly remembered]:

McGarvey: 2Co 11:26

in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my countrymen, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren [Disasters at sea remind Paul of similar trials by land, and the eightfold reiteration of "perils" emphasizes the fact that he was nowhere safe. Traveling in those days was both arduous and dangerous. The highways were infested with robbers and the streams were often without bridges, the mountain torrents were sudden and violent in their risings, and the science of navigation and the art of shipbuilding were each extremely crude. For perils from his own countrymen, see Act 13:45 ; Act 13:50 ; Act 14:2 ; Act 14:5 ; Act 17:5 ; Act 17:13 ; Act 18:15 ; Act 19:9 ; Act 21:27 . They even attempted to take his life a few weeks later as he was leaving Jerusalem (Acts 23). For perils from the Gentiles, see Act 19:30-31 . For his perils in the cities, see 2Co 11:32 and Act 9:24-25 ; Act 9:29 ; Act 13:50 ; Act 14:5 ; Act 14:19 ; Act 16:19 ; Act 17:5 ; Act 17:13 ; Act 18:12 ; Act 19:23 . Perils from false brethren were the most distressing of all, for they wounded the affections -- Phi 3:18 ; Gal 2:4];

McGarvey: 2Co 11:27

in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness . [The apostle here tells how he labored until labor became a pain; how he sacrificed his sleep that he might teach, preach and pray (Act 20:31 ; 1Th 3:10); how his journeyings often took him where he suffered for water and was faint with hunger; how he often fasted for the good of the cause (Act 13:2 ; Act 13:3 ; Act 14:23 ; 1Co 9:27); and how he was cold and insufficiently clad. The apostle makes no mention of the frequency of his hunger and thirst, etc., for the recurrency of these trials was beyond his control. He employs the word "often" when speaking of the watchings and fastings which were directly under his control, and which he might have avoided had he chosen to do so. Surely this catalogue of privations must have made the apostle's character stand in strong contrast to the self-indulgent spirit of his adversaries. From physical trials Paul now turns to those which were mental.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:28

Besides those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches . [Besides the things which I have already mentioned -- trials which come from external circumstances -- there are others which attack me daily; I mean the wranglings, disputes, backslidings and apostasies of all the churches which are constantly brought to my attention that I may instruct, arbitrate or discipline according as the cases may demand. This verse may also be taken to mean that there were trials other than those mentioned, which came upon Paul from without.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:29

Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is caused to stumble, and I burn not? [In this verse Paul shows what the care of the churches meant to him. It was an excessive drain upon his sympathies. If any weak one suffered through the rash selfishness of a brother who abused his liberty by eating in an idol temple, Paul suffered with him as if he also were weak, and if any were caused to stumble, Paul made the case of such a one his own, and burned with indignation.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:30

If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my weakness . [If my enemies force upon me the moral necessity of boasting, I will at least not boast of my exploits, but of those things which others might regard as matters of shame. Thus the apostle shows how impossible it was for him to really boast after the fashion of a worldly mind.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:31

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for evermore knoweth that I lie not . [This solemn asseveration is not to be restricted to the statements contained in the next two verses, but applies to all he has said or is about to say in this entire section. No doubt in the apostle's own mind it was called forth by what he was about to say concerning his revelations, his mind looking forward to what he intended to say when he added the last item to his catalogue of sufferings.]

McGarvey: 2Co 11:32

In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to take me:

McGarvey: 2Co 11:33

and through a window was I let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands . [In the walled cities of the Orient, houses were often built against the walls so that the windows projected over them. No doubt in Paul's mind an apostle in a basket seemed the depth of humiliation. Aretas was king of Arabia from B. C. 7 to A. D. 40. Damascus belonged to Rome, and it has puzzled some to find it at this time under the control of the king of Arabia. But it will be remembered that Aretas engaged in war with Herod, because he dismissed the Arab's daughter and took his niece, Herodias, for a wife. Aretas defeated Herod, and the Romans took up the quarrel, and it seems likely that in the ensuing contest the city of Damascus fell, for a time, into the hands of the Arabians.]

Lapide: 2Co 11:1-33

CHAPTER 11

SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER

i. After declaring his love for the Corinthians, he proceeds (ver. 4) to defend his apostleship against the false apostles, pointing out that they had bestowed no more of the Spirit, nor given more Christian doctrine than S. Paul.

ii. He says, moreover (ver. 7), that they preached the Gospel for the sake of gain, but he freely.

iii. He insists (ver. 22) on his being equally with them a Hebrew, and what they were not, a minister of Christ. He then enumerates the marks of his apostleship, his labours for Christ, his persecutions, scourgings, sufferings, anxieties, and the care of all the Churches, and in them all he glories.

Ver. 1 . — Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly. In my boasting, which sounds like folly. It is, however, a mark of the highest wisdom on my part, for I do it out of zeal to protect the faith of the Gospel against the false apostles (Chrysostom and Anselm).  S. Paul anticipates an objection: he is about to praise himself, and he meets beforehand any charge of vainglory or self-seeking. The last clause, "and indeed bear with me," may be also indicative, and then it is a correction to his request for forbearance: "I need hardly make such a request: you do indeed bear with me."

At the commencement of his self-praise he thrice excuses himself: (1.) by saying, "Would ye could bear with me;" (2.) by calling himself foolish; (3.) when he says. "I am jealous over you"—he takes such pains to excuse himself that the Corinthians may see the violence he does to his feelings when he descends to self-praise. Chrysostom says: " Just as a horse, when about to leap some deep and precipitous ravine, collects its strength, as though it would cross it at a bound, but when it looks down on the yawning gulf refuses the leap; then, under the spur of the rider, approaches again and admits its ability to leap and the necessity of it by standing still for a time, till at last it takes courage, and of its own accord boldly makes the attempt; so too S. Paul, like one about to throw himself over a precipice, when going to sing his own praises, retreats once, twice, and thrice, and at length falls to the task of praising himself."

Ver. 2. — For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. I cannot endure any rivals, such as these false apostles, who seek to seduce you. Paul calls his great and unbounded love "jealousy," implying that he seeks to be first in the affections of the Corinthians.  S. Chrysostom remarks on this jealousy being a jealousy of God, which implies that Paul does not seek the bride for himself but for Christ and God—not for his own glory, pleasure, or gain. Christ is the Bridegroom, he is but the paranymph.

For I have espoused you to one husband. "I have fitted you" (Augustine, contra Manich. lib. ii.); "I have prepared you" (Ambrose); "I have united you " (Theophylact). The Greek verb may well bear the three meanings of, "I have invited you," "I have betrothed you," I have united you in wedlock." The three duties of the paranymph are: (1.) to gain the maiden's affections for the bridegroom, and to do all he can to get her to be the wife of his friend; (2.) to see that she is espoused to him; and, (3.) when betrothed, to unite them in marriage. S. Paul says in effect: I, as the paranymph of a spiritual marriage, have by my preaching betrothed you to one husband, Christ, and by betrothing you I have persuaded you to present yourselves to Christ as His espoused bride. Or better still, with Anselm and Theophylact: I have now espoused you to Christ through baptizing you into the Christian faith, that I may show you, or present you in the day of judgment, as virgins, i.e., pure in faith, hope, and charity, fitted for the nuptial couch of the glory of Christ.

Chrysostom remarks that the betrothal takes place in this life, the union in the next, when the espoused Church, i.e., all the elect, shall be brought to the marriage of the Lamb and the eternal kingdom (Rev. xxi. 2).

The Church of Corinth is described by S. Paul as the virgin spouse of Christ, whose paranymph he is. Then he transfers to himself the jealous love of the Bridegroom, and protests against Christ's bride being stolen by false apostles, and handed over to the tender mercies of heretics. Just as true Apostles and preachers are paranymphs of Christ and His Church (S. Joh 3:29), so, on the other hand, false preachers are Satan's panders.

This passage of the espousal of the Church and each faithful soul is famous and full of consolation. It has been commented on beautifully by most of the Fathers, and still is frequently treated in pulpits and elsewhere. That it may be clearly and fully understood, let us then dwell on it a little more at length.

Observe, then, firstly, that this espousal takes place by faith and hope and other virtues. For, as S. Augustine says ( Tract. xiii . in Johan.), " the mind's virginity consists in perfect faith, well-grounded hope, and unfeigned love." On the other hand, the soul becomes an adulteress or prostitute when she consents to unbelief, to sin, to the suggestions and wiles of the devil. " If, therefore," says Origen ( Hom. 12 in Lev. ii.), " you have admitted an adulterous devil into the chamber of your soul, then your soul has committed fornication with the devil. If there has entered there the spirit of anger, envy, pride, uncleanness, and you have welcomed in and listened to its words, and taken pleasure in its suggestions, then you have committed fornication with him."

Secondly, this betrothal makes the goods of each common to both, and therefore endows the Church and each faithful soul with the abundant riches of Christ. Hence, since the Bridegroom is a King, He makes His bride, even if she be a slave, however lowly and poor she be, a queen. S. Basil ( de Vita Virgin.) says, quoting Ps. xlv. " Upon thy right hand did stand the queen, in a vesture of gold wrought about with divers colours. Wherefore, she who now is counted vile for her sordid dress and servile habit, is ennobled by her station at the King's hand, and found in the kingdom of heaven to be a queen. Let her, then, despise all visible things, and with open face beholding her Spouse, let her be filled with His love, and make all her faculties His handmaidens. In no respect should a virgin be an adulteress, not in tongue, in ears, eyes, or any other sense, no, nor yet in thought; but let her keep her body as a temple, or bride-chamber ready for her Spouse. No unfaithfulness can escape the eye of Him of whom it is said, 'He that planted the ear, shall He not hear; or He that made the eye, shall He not see."

S. Bernard ( Serm. 2, Domin. 1, post Epiph.) thus describes the election, dignity, and glory of this bride: " For the sake of that Ethiopian woman, the Son of God came from afar to espouse her to Himself. Moses, indeed, married an Ethiopian wife, but her colour he could not change; but Christ, loving the Church, who till then was contemptible and foul, presented her to Himself, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. Whence, 0 human soul, whence comes this to thee? Whence is the inestimable glory of meriting to be His spouse on whom the angels desire to gaze? Whence is it to thee that thou art the spouse of Him, whose beauty sun and moon wonder at, at whose will all things are changed? . . . What reward, then, will you give unto the Lord for all the benefits that He hath done unto you, in making you a sharer of His table, of His Kingdom, of His chamber? See with what arms of love should He be in turn lovingly embraced, who has thought so much of you, and made you so great. Leave all carnal affections, forget all worldly ways, undo all evil habits. For what thinkest thou? Does not the angel of the Lord stand ready to cut thee asunder, if perchance, which may He prevent, thou admittest any other lover?" Then he goes on to describe the nuptial feast: " Now thou art espoused to Him, now the wedding feast is being celebrated, for the banquet is prepared in heaven. There the wine will not fail for we shall be inebriated with the fulness of the house of Gad, and shall drink of the torrent of His pleasure. For that marriage, truly, there is got ready a river of wine, which maketh glad the heart, an impetuous stream, which maketh glad the city of God."

Thirdly, be it observed that from this betrothal and union of the soul to God, the fairest offspring are born. Origen ( Hom. 20 in Num. xxv.) thus Describes them. " When the soul, therefore, clings to her Spouse, and listens to His voice, and embraces Him, she doubtless receives from Him seed, even as He said: 'Of Thy fear, 0 Lord, have I conceived in the womb, and brought forth, and caused on the earth the spirits of Thy salvation.' Thence will proceed a noble offspring—thence will be born chastity, righteousness, patience, meekness, and charity, and a fair family of all the virtues. . . . But if the unhappy soul forsakes the chaste embraces of the Divine Word, and surrenders herself to the devil's adulterous endearments, without a doubt she will bring forth children, but they will be such as those of whom it is written: 'The adulterous children shall be imperfect, and the seed of the wicked bed shall be destroyed.' All sins, therefore, are children of adultery and fornication."

Fourthly, although this espousal is brought about by any virtues, yet the chief agent among them is charity. Charity carries with it towards God all the powers and affections of the soul, so much so that the more charity increases in a soul, the more closely is that soul united to God. Hence those whose souls are on fire with charity, and who are ever exercising themselves in it, enjoy the bliss of betrothal to God and the possession of His nuptial gifts of Divine joys. For charity is a marriage-union, the welding of two wills, the Divine and human, into one, whereby God and man mutually agree in all things. Hence springs familiar intercourse between the soul and God, hence spring peace and a wondrous delight of the soul. So great becomes the thirst for the Divine love that all other affections of the soul are absorbed in it and lost in God. S. Bernard ( Serm. 38 Cantic.) says: " Such conformity weds the soul to the Word, that, though naturally like Him, she none the less exhibits that likeness in the will, by loving as she has been loved. If, then, she loves perfectly, she is wedded to Him. What is more pleasant than this conformity? what more to be longed for than this charity? By it it comes to pass that you are not content, 0 my soul, to rest on human teaching, but you boldly approach the Word, and cling closely to Him, hang lovingly on His lips, and consult Him on everything. You are as bold in your longings will allow. Surely this is a holy and spiritual wedding contract. Contract, do I say?—nay, it is an embrace; for where the same will to have or not have is, where one spirit is made out of two, there there must have been an embrace. Nor need we fear that the disparity of the persons can make this union of wills imperfect, for love knows no fear. Love is self-sufficient: wherever he comes he draws to himself and makes prisoners all the other affections. Therefore she loves what he loves, and knows nought else. There is a bride and there is a bridegroom. What other relation or connection do you seek between them that are wedded than that of loving and being loved?"

If you say that the soul is so far inferior to God in its nature and love as to make it impossible for friendship to exist between them, and much less betrothal and marriage union, all of which can only be between equals, then S. Bernard replies: " It is true that there is not the same copious flow in the soul that Loves as in Love Himself, in the soul as in the Word, and in the bride as in the Bridegroom, in the creature as in the Creator, ably more than there is the same in him that is athirst and the spring that quenches his thirst. But what of that? Are we therefore to lose and see destroyed utterly the devotion of her that is about to wed, the desire of the longing soul—the eagerness of the lover, the confidence of one that boldly draws near—just because a dwarf cannot run on equal terms with a giant, because sweetness cannot rival honey, gentleness cannot compare with a lamb, whiteness with the lily, brightness with the sun, charity with Him who is charity? No, for though the creature's love is less because it is itself less, yet if it loves with all its might, it withholds nothing, and its love is entire. Therefore have I said, 'So to love is to be wedded already,' unless any one doubt that the soul is first loved and more loved by the Word. But truly He prevents and surpasses the soul in love. Happy the soul that has merited to be prevented with the blessings of goodness."

Fifthly, it follows that this espousal is most perfectly brought about by virginity and vows of chastity and religion.  S. Augustine ( Tract. 9 in Johan.) says: " They who vow to God virginity, although they may hold a higher position of honour and dignity in the Church, yet are they not without nuptials; for they belong to those nuptials in which the whole Church is united to Christ as her Bridegroom." And the reason is, that as a bride gives her heart and all her goods to her husband, so does a virgin, or a religious, consecrate herself and all that she has to Christ. Hence religion is called and is a state of perfection, or of perfect charity. Moreover, as a bride in contracting matrimony says. "I take thee for mine," so does a religious say: "I vow to God poverty, chastity, obedience," and by these she is bound to Christ as a wife to her husband. Hence Tertullian ( de Veland. Virgin. c. 16) says: " Thou hast been wedded to Christ, thou hast committed to Him thy body; thou hast betrothed to Him the bloom of thy life; walk, therefore, according to the will,of thy Spouse." For this reason S. Jerome ( Ep. 27) dared to call the mother of a virgin consecrated to God, "God's mother-in-law," and for this he was found fault with hypercritically by Ruffinus. A ring used to be given to virgins, in token that by it they were betrothed to Christ. "He gave me a ring," says S. Agnes (Ambrose, Serm. 90), "as an earnest of my betrothal to His faith." For this virgins were given veils, even as those who are married to husbands, and that solemnly, by priests, on appointed days alone, as Gelasius says ( ad Episc. Lucaniæ, c. 14), and Optatus Milevit. ( lib. 6). He says: " Spiritual wedlock is of this kind. In will and profession they had already come to be betrothed to their spouse; and to show that they had abjured all secular nuptials, they had cut off their hair for their spiritual Bridegroom, and had already celebrated their heavenly nuptials." Ambrose ( ad Virg. Lapsam ) says: " She who has betrothed herself to Christ, and received the sacred veil, is already wedded, is already united to an immortal husband; and if she now wishes to marry under the common law, she commits adultery, and is made the handmaiden of death." S. Cyprian too ( Ep. 62) calls such lapsed virgins adulteresses. From all this it is evident, whatever Marloratus may say, that the Church applies this passage of the Apostle to virgins, and reads it as the Epistle in the Mass of Holy Virgins.

Let these virgins ponder this, and recognise their dignity, so as to religiously keep these nuptials pure, and give themselves wholly to their one Bridegroom, Christ.  S. Jerome says to Eustochius: " Hear, 0 daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people and thy father's house, and then shall the King take pleasure in thy beauty. It is not enough for thee to leave thy land, unless thou also forget thy own peop1e and thy father's house, and, despising the flesh, yield thyself to the embraces of thy spouse. You will say perhaps: 'I have come from the house of my shame; I have forgotten the house of my father; I am born again in Christ. What reward for this am I to receive?' It tells you: 'So shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty.' This then is a great sacrament: there-fore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cling to his wife, and they twain shall be not one flesh but one spirit. Thy Spouse is not haughty; He has married an Ethiopian woman. As soon as you desire to hear the wisdom of the true Solomon and come to Him, He will tell you all that He knows; He will as a King lead you into His chamber, and thy colour being wondrously changed, the words will apply to you, 'Who is this that cometh up all white?' . . . The bride of Christ is, like the Ark of the Covenant, covered within and without with gold, the guardian of the law of the Lord. As in it there was nothing save the tables of the law, so in thee let there be no other thought. Over this mercy-seat, as upon the cherubim, the Lord wills to sit. The Lord wishes to set you free from earthly cares, that leaving the bricks and straw of Egypt, you may follow Moses in the wilderness and enter the Promised Land. Whenever in your virgin breast there rages anxiety about earthly business, immediately the veil of the temple is rent in twain, your Bridegroom rises in wrath and says: 'Your house is left unto you desolate' . . . Do thou once for all cast aside every burden of the world, sit at the feet of thy Lord, and say: 'I have found Him in whom my soul delighteth; I have held Him fast; I will not let Him go.' He will answer: 'My dove, any undefiled, is but one.' Let the secret places of thy chamber ever keep thee, let thy Spouse ever play with thee within. When thou prayest thou speakest to thy Spouse. When thou readest He speaks to thee; and when sleep oppresses thee, He will come behind the wall; and when thou art awakened thou wilt say: 'I am sick with love,' and in return thou wilt hear Him say: 'A garden enclosed is My sister, My spouse.'"

That I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. There is something strange in such a marriage. "In the world," says Theophylact after Chrysostom, "brides do not remain virgins after marriage. But Christ's brides, as before marriage they were not virgins, so after marriage they become virgins most pure in faith, whole, and uncorrupt in life. So is the whole Church a virgin." " The virginity of the flesh," says S. Augustine ( in Senten. 79), " is an undefiled body; the virginity of the soul is uncorrupted faith."

S. Paul converted to Christ at Iconium that most illustrious virgin Thecla: he drew her from marriage and espoused her to Christ.  S. Gregory of Nyssa is our authority for this. He says ( Hom. 4 in Cantic.): " Such myrrh did Paul once pour from his mouth, mingled with the pure lily of chastity, into the ears of a holy virgin. That virgin was Thecla, who, as the drops fell from the lily into her soul, to her salvation put to death the outward man and quenched the heat of lust within." S. Epiphanius too ( Hæres. 78) says: " Thecla fell in with S. Paul, and was by him set free from wedlock, though she had a husband at once surpassingly handsome, rich, nobly-born, and famous." S. Augustine ( contra Faustum, lib . xxx. c. 4) says: " This Saint in her lifetime despised all earthly things, that she might gain possession of things heavenly, and, though bound in wedlock, she was kindled by the eloquence of S. Paul with love of life-long virginity." Through this Thecla overcame fire, lions, bulls, and serpents, and when thrown for her virginity into the midst of flames, she, like asbestos, remained unharmed. So did S. Paul arm the harlot Poppæa and virgins against the blandishments of Nero, to despise his embraces and dedicate themselves to Christ. For this he was condemned by Nero to the sword, and obtained the martyr's and virgin's crown, and therefore from his neck there flowed, when his head was cut off, a stream of white milk instead of red blood.

Ver. 3. — But I fear lest by any means . . . your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Beware of the false apostles, who are panders of Satan, adulterers of the genuine doctrine of Christ, and therefore of the Church and of your souls.

Ver. 4.— For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus. Christ is here put for Christianity and its perfection. If the false apostles should preach any other doctrine concerning Christ than that which I have preached, as though my preaching were insufficient for salvation and Christian perfection, then, &c. He speaks a few words further on of the same thing as another Gospel. But, in Gal. i. 8, he orders that any one who should preach another Gospel was not only not to be tolerated, but was even not to be listened to, and was to be anathematised. Hence by the phrase here another Gospel, he means a clear and more spiritual explanation of the Gospel.

Or if ye receive another Spirit. If you should receive other gifts of the Holy Spirit from the false apostles besides those that you received from me, you might well suffer them. He is censuring the pride of the false apostles, who boasted that they had more to give than S. Paul (Theophylact). Where, he asks, is that other Spirit, or those other gifts of which they boast? They do not appear. I call you then to witness that you have received from them nothing but empty words.

Ver. 5. — For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles. Beza says: "If Paul was in no way inferior to the chiefest Apostles, therefore Peter was not his superior in power and authority, and consequently he is not the Prince of the Apostles and of the Church." I answer that Paul yielded to none in any of the things just mentioned, such as in preaching Christ, in the gifts of the Spirit, in the genuineness of his Gospel, in the labours he bore, and in apostolical gifts in general. The question of power and primacy, therefore has no place here. Were he here to claim it for himself, it would be a sign of the most foolish ambition. Moreover, although by the phrase the very chiefest Apostles, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Œcumenius, understand Peter, James, and John, and this interpretation seems more simple and true, yet very many later writers understand it to refer to the false apostles, who boasted of their greatness. In this case S. Paul is speaking ironically.

Ver. 6. — Rude in speech. Unskilled in the polished and rhetorical eloquence of the Greeks, such as we find in Isocrates, Demosthenes, Lucian. Hence we find in S. Paul so many sudden transitions, ellipses, and solecisms (Chrysostom and Theophylact). S. Jerome ( Ep. 151 ad Algas. qu. 10) says: " I have frequently said and I repeat it now, that when S. Paul spoke of himself as being 'rude in speech yet not in knowledge,' he was not merely using the language of humility, but was speaking from a consciousness of the truth. For in his writings there are many profound passages unexplained in words, dealing, with truths evident enough to himself, but incapable of being conveyed to others." He says the same in his epistle to Hedibia, where he adds that for this reason Paul kept Titus by him, who was a Greek scholar, just as S. Peter had S. Mark. Cf. 1Co 2:1-4, notes. On the other hand, S. Augustine ( de Doct. Christ. lib. iv. c. 7) thinks that Paul calls himself here rude in speech, not as giving his own opinion but that of his detractors.  S. Augustine there dwells at length on the eloquence of the Apostle, and shows that he has his own lively and nervous style, and an orderly arrangement of his materials. This is true. The Apostle's rhetoric was not mere wordiness, but was earnest, persuasive, manly, Divine, and therefore he was "rude," not so much in rhetoric as in grammatical niceties. It was evident to all that the Apostle by his eloquence stirred the hearts of all who heard him, smote them with the fear of God, and with wonderful skill almost drove them to faith, godliness, and mercy, and wheresoever he wished to lead them.

S. Augustine ( Senten. No . 266) says beautifully: " It is an evident token of a good disposition when the truth contained in the words of controversialists is loved, and not the mere words themselves. For what is the use of a golden key if it cannot accomplish our desire and open the door, or why should we think less of a key because it is of wood? All that we want is to have that opened which was shut. "

Ver. 7. — Have I committed an offence? Do you find fault with that very thing which is a cause of glory to me and an instance of large-heartedness, that I humiliated myself to the manual labour of tent-making to support myself and not be a burden to you? (Anselm). This is the language of sarcasm. He charges the Corinthians to their face with ingratitude, in that while he might have claimed from them the means to support himself, he did not do so, but, while preaching and working at Corinth, preferred to be supported by poorer churches. In spite of this, however, as he says, the Corinthians undervalued the kindness of S. Paul, and lent an ear more readily to his rivals, the false apostles, who drained their purses.

Ver. 8. — I robbed other churches. He uses a strong expression, in order to make a strong impression on them. You see my continence and charity. I have, as it were, despoiled other churches that were poor, in order to spare you and to enrich you, that you might not think, as rich merchants like you Corinthians are apt to think, that I was seeking yours instead of you, and also that I might shut the mouths of the false apostles. Acknowledge me, then, as your true and genuine Apostle.

Ver. 9.— I was chargeable to no man.— TheGreek word for chargeable is derived from a word denoting torpor and inactivity, which are apt to be burdensome to others. The ray-fish called torpedo derived its Greek name from the same word.  S. Paul says that he did not by his inactivity depend on another for support, but he worked hard with his hands without neglecting his duty of preaching. He gave himself to the work of teaching warning, and advising, just as diligently as if he were under no necessity of supporting himself.

Ver. 10 . — As the truth of Christ is in me. I speak in the truth of Christ; I call His truth to witness; I swear to you in truth and holiness by Christ ("under the testimony of Christ," Ambrose) that I wilt take nothing from you for my support (Theophylact).

No man shall stop me of this boasting. Or, this boasting shall not be stopped in me. This liberty and liberality of mine shall not be stopped, nor therefore my boasting of it. It is a metaphor, taken from springs and rivers, which no barriers can stop.

Secondly, it is better to suppose that S. Paul, following a Hebrew usage, employs the simple verb denoting to seal up for the compound verb unseal (σφραγίζω for α̉νασφραγίζω ). "I have determined," he then would say, "to receive nothing from you; and I have so confirmed that determination by the strong seal of my oath, that I shall not open this seal, or break my purpose, whatever need or necessity may lay upon me."

Ver. 12. — Which desire occasion. Of finding fault with me for not bringing anything peculiar to myself more than others.

That wherein they glory they may be found even as we. They boast that in their preaching they are equal to me, when they are inferior; for I preach freely, they for the sake of gain. Cf., ver. 21 (Anselm, Chrysostom, Theophylact).

Ver. 13. — Transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ. From this it appears that these detractors of Paul were not believers who were impelled by mere vanity or by envy of Paul, but were heretics; for, in ver. 15, he calls them false apostles and ministers of Satan.

Secondly, he censures their hypocrisy in that, in order that they might impose on the Christians, they took to themselves the appearance and name of the Apostles of Christ, as though they were of Christ, and preachers of the Christian faith. The Calvinists of the present day are of the same kind, for they deform and profane everything sacred—our rites, sacraments, churches, monasteries, sanctuaries, altars, all true worship, religion, and godliness-and yet wish to be looked upon and spoken of as reformers.

Ver. 14 . — For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. He says of light, because good angels, being blessed, are wont, when they show themselves to men, to appear full of light and glory. Secondly, of light refers to the light of truth, righteousness, and godliness. Satan assumes these virtues, promises them to those men before whose eyes he appears in visible form, or into whose imagination he insinuates himself and his counsels, when really he is an angel of darkness, inasmuch as he suggests nothing but what is sinful, erroneous, and false. To unmask him and recognise his wiles there is nothing better, as the Fathers, and holy men, and experience itself teach, than to disclose your thoughts and suggestions to some prudent, pious, and learned man, preferably your Superior or Confessor, and to follow his advice. But Satan hates the light, and therefore dissuades and prevents his followers from doing this. From neglecting this counsel many, even hermits, have been by him most terribly deceived. In the lives of the Fathers there are extant many sad instances of this, e.g., in the case of that monk whom the devil persuaded to throw himself headlong into a well, by declaring that he would find that God, for his merits, would most gloriously deliver him. S. Epiphanius, Irenæus, and Augustine tell us the dreadful and abominable delusions instilled by the devil into such heretics as the Ophites, the Artotyritæ, and the Circumcelliones.

Under the form of a good angel the devil attempted to deceive the hermit S. Abraham, as S. Ephrem records in his Life. While he was singing psalms at midnight, a light like that of the sun suddenly shone in his cell, and a voice was heard saying: "Blessed art thou, Abraham: none is like thee in fulfilling all my will." But the humility of the Saint recognised the fraud of the devil, and exclaimed: "Thy darkness perish with thee, thou full of all fraud and falsehood; for I am a sinful man; but the name of my Lord, Jesus Christ whom I have loved and do love, is a wall to me, and in it I rebuke thee, thou unclean dog." And then the devil vanished from his sight as smoke.

Similarly, the devil appeared in splendour, with horses of fire and a chariot of fire, near the column on which was S. Symeon Stylites, and said to him: "The Lord hath sent me, His angel, to carry thee off as I carried Elijah. Ascend, therefore, with me into the chariot, and let us go into heaven. The holy angels, the Apostles, martyrs, and prophets, and Mary the Mother of the Lord long to see thee." When S. Symeon was lifting his right foot to get into the chariot he made the sign of the Cross, on which the devil disappeared. This is recorded by Antony, his disciple, in his Life.

Another, on hearing from the devil, "I am Christ," shut his eyes and said: "I would not see Christ in this life but in the next." Hence the Fathers used to warn people, saying: "Even if an angel really appear to you, do not readily receive him, but humble yourself and say: 'I am not worthy, while I live in my sins, to see an angel.'"

S. John, who foretold to the Emperor Theodosius his victory over the tyrants, saw devils like an army and chariots of fire, saying to him: "In all things, 0 man, you have borne yourself well. Now worship me, and I will take you up like Elias." John answered: "God is my Lord and King: Him I ever worship; thou art not my King." Then the devil vanished. Palladius gives this ( Lausiac. c 46).

The devil appeared to Pachomius in the form of Christ, saying: "Pachomius, I am Christ, and I come to thee, my faithful friend." Pachomius knew by Divine inspiration the fraud, and thought within himself: "The coming of Christ gives tranquillity; but I am now fiercely assailed by conflicting thoughts." Then, making the sign of the Cross, and breathing on him, he said: "Depart from me, 0 devil, for accursed art thou with thy vision and treacherous wiles; there is no place for you among the servants of God." Then, leaving a horrible stench, he departed, saying: "I should have gained thee, had not the surpassing power of Christ hindered me. Nevertheless, so far as I can, I will not cease to trouble thee." Cf. Dionysius, in Vita Pachomii.

The monk Valens was frequently deceived by the devil under the form of an angel. From this Valens became swollen with pride, because of his intimacy with angels. At length the devil appeared to him, feigning that he was Christ, accompanied by a thousand angels holding lights and a fiery wheel. One of them said to him: "Christ has loved thy free and confident life, and has come to see thee; come out, therefore, and worship Him." Then he went out and worshipped the devil as Christ. This so unhinged his mind that he went into the church and said: "I have no need of communion. I have seen Christ to-day." The Fathers, therefore, bound him and threw him into fetters. Cf. Palladius, c. 31.

Ver. 16 . — If otherwise, yet as a fool receive me. If I can obtain from you nothing else, then receive me as a fool, only that I may have license to glory somewhat. As Cato says: "Neither praise nor blame thyself; leave this to fools, whom empty glory vexes." Notice how S. Paul hesitates, and paves the way for self-praise, to show how unwillingly he was driven to it (Chrysostom).

Ver. 17. — That which I speak. The praises of myself, that I propose to utter directly.

I speak it not after the Lord. If regarded by itself. But it will be after God if charity and necessity be taken into account, the necessity, that is, of preventing you from despising me, and glorifying the false apostles.

In this confidence of boasting. In this substance (Latin version). In this subject-matter of boasting, i.e., my works, of which I am now going to speak.

Ver. 18. — Seeing that many glory after the flesh. In things merely outward and carnal, as, e.g., in birth, riches, wisdom, circumcision, having Hebrew parents—of all which these false apostles boast. Hence I too will glory in them (Chrysostom). Cf. x. 2, note

Ver. 19 . — For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. Irony. You have foolishly suffered the boastings of these vain-glorious false apostles; I hope that you will suffer me to glory wisely and usefully among them that are wise. Theophylact, however, and Anselm think that this is said seriously, in the way of exaggerated rebuke. Since you are wise in Christ, you ought to have exploded the folly of the false apostles. Why, then, do you gladly suffer them?

Ver. 20. — For ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage. This is aimed at the insatiable arrogance, avarice, and tyranny of the false apostles. You suffer false apostles, who imperiously treat you as slaves, who devour you by extorting from you your goods, who are exalted by their self-praise, who smite you in the face, not with the palms of their hands, but with insults. Hence he adds: "I speak as concerning reproach." These words, therefore, contain a sharp rebuke. These men squander your money, take away your freedom and honour, load you with taunts, as though you were slaves; but 1 have borne myself humbly, have lived at my own expense, have wished to put upon you the easy yoke of Christ. Yet you prefer them to me, as though, when compared with these, your imperious lords, nay, tyrants, I was not sufficiently well-born, or powerful, or eloquent. S. Bernard ( de Consid. lib. i. c. 3) says: " When you may be free there is no virtue in the patience which lets you become a slave. Do not conceal the slavery into which you are being daily led, while you know it not. It is the mark of a dull and heavy heart not to feel its own continual trouble. Trouble gives to the hearing understanding, provided it be not excessive. If it is, it gives not understanding, but carelessness."

Let superiors and prelates console themselves by the example of S. Paul, when they duly do their duty, and are despised by those under them, and see others preferred before them. It has ever been the custom of the world, and ever will be till the end, as Salmeron notices here, to obstinately resist the servants of God, to murmur, and, meeting rebuke, on the least occasion, to complain of even moderate severity; to spurn all discipline; to submit servilely to impostors, libertines, and false apostles; to entrust everything to them; to bear patiently whatever burden they may choose to impose. The Israelites, e.g., despised the holy and gentle Samuel, and preferred to bear the yoke of a self-willed and tyrannical king (1 Sam. viii.).

Ver. 21.— I speak as concerning reproach. This belongs to the preceding. The "smiting on the face" spoken of is here explained to be mental, not physical—consisting in the ignominy and revilings cast, as it were, in their faces by the false apostles. This "smiting" is no less wrong than if they had been beaten like slaves. Others, however, interpret these words to mean: "I say this to your shame." This, however, would require πρὸς instead of κατὰ.

As though we had been weak. Refer this to the words, ye suffer. You suffer these bold and imperious false apostles; me you do not, but rather despise me as weak and timid, as though I could not have acted more imperiously than I have done, I could, indeed, have done so, but I would not, through humility, modesty, and abounding charity (Chrysostom).

Whereinsoever any is bold. If any one ventures to boast foolishly, I too can do the same.

Ver. 22. — Are they Hebrews? so am I. The word Hebrew is derived either (1.) from a Hebrew word denoting "across the stream," in allusion to their descent from Abraham, who crossed the Euphrates from Chaldæa to dwell in Palestine. Hebrews in this sense would mean (to coin a word) transamnine, as we speak of transmarine or transalpine. Abraham, after crossing the Euphrates, is the first to be called Hebrew (Gen. xiv. 13). The LXX and Aquila render the word here "crosser;" S. Augustine (qu. 29 in Gen.) renders it "transfluvial." So Chrysostom, Origen, Theodoret understand the word. (2.) Or the Jews were called Hebrews as being descended from Heber, Abraham's forefather, the only man who with his family, after the confusion of tongues at Babel, retained the primeval Hebrew tongue, together with true faith, religion, and piety. (Cf. Gen 10:21, and Gen 11:1, et seq.) Those, then, are wrong who suppose that Hebræi is derived from Abrahæi. S. Augustine, it is true, at one time held this opinion ( de Consens. Evang. lib. 1. c. 14), but in his Retractations (lib. ii. c. 14) he gave it up. The meaning of the Apostle, at all events, is this: These false apostles glory in their birth—in their being, as Hebrews, descendants of Heber, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; in their possession of the holy religion of their ancestors, and the primeval tongue. But I also am a Hebrew and descendant of Abraham—like him in stock, tongue, faith, and religion.

Ver. 23. — Are they ministers of Christ? The Latin version takes this in the indicative, and supposes S. Paul to concede, for the sake of argument, that the false apostles were ministers of Christ. Be it so, but I am much more truly such than they.

In labours more abundant. Let prelates and doctors take notice from this, that they should base their influence, as S. Paul did, not on external show, but on labours and mode of life. The Fourth Council of Carthage (c. 5) says: " Let a bishop have a sordid dress, a scanty table, and poor living, and let him seek to have his high office revered through his faith and the merits of his life."

S. Bernard, quoting this passage in his work, De Consideratione, addressed to Pope Eugenius, says, (lib. ii. c. 6): " How excellent a ministry is this! What king holds a more glorious office? If you must needs glory, the life of the Saints is put before your eyes, the glorying of the Apostles is set forth. Seems that to you a little matter? Would that one would give to me to be like the Saints in their glorying! The Apostle exclaims God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Recognise thy heritage in the cross of Christ, in abundant labours. Happy the man who would say: "I have laboured more than they all.' This is glorying indeed, but there is nothing in it empty, slothful, or effeminate. If labour terrifies, the reward beckons us onward. Though he laboured more than all, yet he did not elaborate the whole work, and yet there is room. Go into the field of the Lord, and notice carefully how the ancient curse holds sway in an abundant crop of thorns and thistles. Go forth, I say, into the world; for the field is the world, and it has been entrusted to you. Go into it, not as a lord but as a steward, who will one day be called on to give an account."

In stripes above measure. More than can be told or believed.

In deaths oft. In dangers of death, when my companions, or others, were wounded or slain, as, e.g., by robbers, or in popular out-breaks. Cf. 2Co 1:10, and 1Co 15:31.

Ver. 24. — Forty stripes save one. The Lord had ordered, in Deut. xxv. 3, that the number of stripes should not exceed forty. The Jews, to make sure of obedience to this precept, used to inflict on criminals one less.

Ver. 25.— I have been in the deep. The Greek word for the deep may refer to a well or a prison, as well as the sea. Hence (1.) some think, says Theophylact, that that well is meant in which Paul is said to have lain concealed after escaping from the attack made on him by the people of Lystra (Acts xiv. 18). (2.) Baronius ( Annals, A.D. 58), following Bede and Theodoret, thinks that the Cyzicenum, that deep and loathsome dungeon, like the Barathrum at Athens and the Tullianum at Rome, into which Paul was thrown, is here meant. (3.) It is better to understand the deep to be the sea, and to be an explanation of the hardships of his shipwreck: " A night and a day I have been in the deep." In other words, he says: I was tossed about by so violent a tempest that I seemed to be days and nights in the depths of the sea (Maldonatus Not. Manusc.). Or it may be that he means to say that after his shipwreck he spent a day and a night tossed by the waves, not in a boat or on a raft, but swimming in the deep, i.e., on the open sea (Theophylact, Ambrose, S. Thomas). Haymo says that this latter explanation of S. Paul's rescue alive from the belly of the deep, like another Jonah, is the tradition of the Fathers.

Of these scourgings and this shipwreck there is no record in the Acts of the Apostles. The shipwreck at Melita, narrated in Acts xxvii., happened long after this, when Paul was sent a prisoner to Rome. Only one scourging is mentioned, that in Acts xvi., and only one stoning, that in Acts xiv.  S. Luke, it is evident, therefore, is silent on many details of S. Paul's life.

Ver. 26.— In perils by my own countrymen. Through the plots that the Jews often entered into against him (Anselm).

In painfulness. Ærumna (Latin version), which, says Cicero, is laborious toil, as, e.g., when one that is tired out is forced, for the sake of rest, to undertake fresh toils.

The things in which the Apostle glories are those that not only many Christians now-a-days but many clergy would be ashamed of, as S. Bernard laments when commenting on the words, "Lo, we have left all." Whither have we drifted? Where has the apostolic Spirit gone? Whither are fled the humility, labours, sufferings, and zeal of the primitive Church? The Apostles, the princes of the Church, Christ's lieutenants, do not rejoice in their palaces, their carriages, their silken robes, in an attending crowd of noblemen, domestics, soldiers, horses, and hounds; in banquets and dinners; in fat benefices, in an effeminate, luxurious, and sumptuous life; but they exult and glory in hunger, thirst, painfulness, and weariness; cold and nakedness; in continual journeying to barbarous nations; in persecution, preaching, scourgings, beatings, stonings, death, martyrdom, fatigues by day and night; they are made all things to all men; they scorn no one; they are fathers of the poor and the afflicted; those that are barbarous, ignorant, and poor they teach: they preach to them the Gospel, comfort them, give them alms. This was the calling of the Apostles; this was the high dignity of the princes of the Church, of which Paul here boasts; this was the spirit of the early Christians, both clergy and people. Nor has this spirit, God be thanked, died out in this age. Our age has had, and still has its Borroméo, Pius, Xavier, Menesius, Gaspar, Hosius, and others like minded.

Be not ashamed then, 0 Bishop, or prior, or doctor, or pastor, to imitate these men—to visit the poor after their example, to enter hospitals and prisons, to bear the confessions of peasants, to give counsel to the unhappy, to instruct the simple and ignorant, to be made all things to all men, to zealously seek the salvation of all. In these works do not shrink from toil, fatigue, and sorrow, even unto death; in this cause be pleased and delighted to suffer scoffs and even blows. So Christ did and suffered, so did S. Paul, so did the Apostles in general. In this consisted their virtue, holiness, and apostleship. In that last day of the world, when the Chief Shepherd and great Doctor shall sit as judge, to examine the deeds of each one and to pass on each one sentence of an eternity of bliss or an eternity of woe, He will not ask you how many benefices, what wealth, or servants, or knowledge you had, but how you used them—how many by them you converted, how many poor you fed or gave drink to, how many you visited in prison, how far you spread His Gospel and extended His glory; what labours, dangers, ridicule, and persecutions you bore for Him; what hunger, and thirst, and weariness. These things God has done; and, while we have time, let us think on these things, let us do these things, that we may stir up in ourselves and in all men the spirit of the primitive Church and of the Apostles, that we may follow Christ our Leader, and the Apostles His princes, and so by our zeal and burning charity, set on fire a world now growing old and stiffening with cold. Then shall we in due time hear with the Apostles: "Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, then shall ye also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

Listen to what S. Chrysostom has to say of these sufferings and victories, and the courage of S. Paul ( Hom. 25, 26): " Paul, as a champion athlete, against the world contends in every kind of contest, and conquers in all. This was his apostolic character, and by these contests he spread the Gospel. Just as a flame of inextinguishable fire, if it falls into the ocean and is swallowed by the waves, emerges again as bright as ever—so too S. Paul, though pressed on all sides, was not oppressed; not knowing how to yield. Suffering but left him the more glorious victor and martyr a thousand times over."

S. Chrysostom ( Hom. 2) says again: " Paul, through the abundance of his devotion, somehow did not feel the sufferings that he underwent in the cause of virtue; nay, he thought virtue itself its own reward. Daily he rose higher and more ardent; in every attack he rejoiced and gained the victory; when suffering under blows and injuries he counted it triumph. He sought death before life, poverty before riches; he longed for toil more than others rest; he counted cities, nations, provinces, and power as of as little account as the sand. He regarded nothing bitter and nothing sweet, as men commonly regard things. He looked on tyrants as moths; on death, tortures, a thousand sufferings as mere child's play, provided that he might endure something for Christ. He was as adamant, nay, harder and stronger than adamant. Like a bird he flew over the whole world to teach it, and, as though hampered by no body, he despised all sufferings and dangers. So thoroughly did he despise all earthly things that heaven might seem already his."

Ver. 28.— Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily. The weight of business that daily presses upon me. The Greek word here used denotes, says Budæus, to collect a band, to call together a meeting, as, e.g., when the mob assembles and makes an attack on the aristocracy and the magistrates. So the Apostle here uses the word to denote those manifold cares which, as it were, formed a band and rushed upon him from every side, and almost overwhelmed him, and this not once only but continuously. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Ephrem understand it to mean that factious conspiracies, seditions, tumults, popular outbreaks, and plots were being always set in motion against him. This is, indeed, the literal meaning of the Greek; but S. Paul has already mentioned those troubles in ver. 26. The former meaning is, therefore, the better. Then next clause, "the care of all the churches," is explanatory of this. Anselm and Theophylact say beautifully: " Everywhere Paul teaches, but he also suffers greatly. He endures his own sufferings, and at the same time bears the sufferings of others. He bears the infirmities of individuals, and at the same time is anxious about the salvation of all. "

S. Chrysostom here ( Hom. 18) teaches us beautifully, by his example, that nothing is sweeter than this anxiety, thought, labour, and grief of a good pastor for the Church. " A mother too," he says, " in the in midst of deep grief for her child has pleasure; in the midst of anxiety she has joy. Though her anxiety be a source of bitterness, yet her devotion gives her great happiness." Let great men, and those that are ministers of Christ, desire to be ever in motion as the heart is, or like the heavens, and, as Suetonius says of Vespasian, to die standing. Pacatus says, in his Panegyric of Theodosius: " Divine things delight in continual motion, and at the same time eternity feeds itself on movement, and your nature delights too in what we men call labour. As the heavens revolve with unfailing rotation, and the waves of the sea are ever in motion, and the sun never stands still, so are you, 0 Emperor, always engaged in matters of business that seem to return in a regular cycle."

Ver. 29. — Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is weak, or grieves, or is afflicted, and I am not with him weak, grieved, or afflicted? Who is offended and I am not on fire, both with grief, because the evil that my neighbour suffers when he is scandalised is mine, and with zeal also, to remedy his trouble and remove the cause of offence?

S. Gregory ( Hom. 12 in Ezek 4: 3), on the words, "Take thou unto thee an iron pan," thinks that by the pan is meant the mind of Ezekiel, who, on seeing the overthrow of Jerusalem, was, as it were, roasted in a pan with compassion. Of this God puts him in mind by ordering him to place a pan between himself and the city. Such, too, was S. Paul when he said: "Who is offended and I burn not?" " Paul had set on fire his heart," says S. Gregory, " with zeal for souls, and so had made it a pan in which, from love of virtue, he flamed against vice."

Ver. 30 . — Of the things which concern mine infirmities. I will glory of the afflictions, blows, persecutions, and sufferings that I have borne for Christ. Through them I seem weak, i.e., despicable, mean, and worthless (Chrysostom). Observe that Paul glories not in his miracles but his infirmities, because in them there shines forth the effectual power of God's grace, and also because in these he surpassed the false apostles, and thirdly, because they are the tokens of real virtue and of an Apostle.

Ver. 32 . — The governor under Aretas the king. This satrap of King Aretas was, says Theophylact, the father-in-law of Herod. Josephus says that Herod Antipas, who put to death John the Baptist, married the daughter of Aretas.

Ver. 33 . — And through a window in a basket was I let down. This escape of S. Paul from Damascus happened in the year 39 (Act 9:25), when, as Josephus says, Aretas, King of Arabia and of the country near Damascus, waged war against Herod, because Herod had repudiated his wife, the daughter of Aretas, for the purpose of marrying Herodias. In this war Herod was worsted, and slain by Aretas. This brought on Aretas the vengeance of Tiberius Cæsar, who sent Vitellius, governor of Syria, to take or slay Aretas (Josephus, Ant. lib. x. c. 7). Using the opportunity, the Jews, enraged with S. Paul, seem to have accused him before the prefect of Aretas of disturbing the people under a pretext of preaching the Gospel, and so drawing them away from heathenism, and consequently from Aretas. They wished to show that this would end in his betraying Damascus to the Jews and to Vitellius. Hence the prefect sought to take Paul, but he, being warned, escaped by being let down by the wall in a basket. Cf. Baronius ( Annals, vol. i. p. 304).

Commentary -- Other

Evidence: 2Co 11:20

" Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep..." (2 C0r11:25).

For other trials and tribulations Paul suffered for preaching the gospel, see John 17:14 .

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

Second Corinthians

From Macedonia a.d. 54 Or 55

By Way of Introduction

The Pauline authorship is admitted by all real scholars, though there is doubt by some as to the unity of the Epistle. J.H. Kennedy ( The Second and Third Letters of St. Paul to the Corinthians , 1900) has presented the arguments in a plausible, but not wholly convincing, manner for the plea that chapters 2 Corinthians 10-13 really represent a separate and earlier letter, the one referred to in 2Co_2:3, which was later tacked on to chapters 1-9 as part of the same Epistle. This theory does explain the difference in tone between chapters 1 to 7 and 10 to 13, but that fact is sufficiently clear from the stubborn minority against Paul in Corinth reported by Titus after the majority had been won to Paul by First Corinthians and by Titus (2Co_2:1-11). There are in fact three obvious divisions in the Epistle. Chapters 1 to 7 deal with the report of Titus about the victory in Corinth and Paul’s wonderful digression on the glory of the ministry in 2 Corinthians 2:12-6:10; chapters 8 and 2Co_9:1-15 discuss the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem already mentioned in 1Co_16:1. and which Titus is to press to completion on his return to Corinth; chapters 10 to 13 deal sharply with the Judaizing minority who still oppose Paul’s leadership. These three subjects are in no sense inconsistent with each other. The letter is a unity. Nowhere do we gain so clear an insight into Paul’s own struggles and hopes as a preacher. It is a handbook for the modern minister of inestimable value. One can hear Paul’s heart throb through these chapters. The syntax is often broken by anacolutha. The sentences are sometimes disconnected. Grammatical agreements are overlooked. But there is power here, the grip of a great soul holding on to the highest ideals in the midst of manifold opposition and discouragements. Christ is Master of Paul at every turn.

The date of the Epistle is clearly after I Corinthians, for Paul has left Ephesus and is now in Macedonia (2Co_2:13), probably at Philippi, where he met Titus, though he had hoped to meet him at Troas on his return from Corinth. At a guess one may say that Paul wrote in the autumn of a.d. 54 or 55 of the same year in the spring of which he had written I Corinthians, and before he went on to Corinth himself where he wrote Romans (Act_20:1-3; Rom_16:1).

The occasion for writing is the return of Titus from Corinth with mixed news of the Pauline majority and the minority in opposition. So Titus is sent back with this Epistle to finish the task while Paul waits awhile for matters to clear up (2Co_13:1-10).

It is not certain whether the letter mentioned in 2Co_2:3 is our I Corinthians or a lost letter like the one alluded to in 1Co_5:9. If it is a lost one, we know of four Corinthian Epistles (the one in 1Co_5:9, our I Corinthians, the one in 2Co_2:3, our II Corinthians), assuming the unity of II Corinthians. Few things in Paul’s ministry gave him more concern than the troubles in Corinth. The modern city pastor finds little in his work that Paul has not faced and mastered. There is consolation and courage for the preacher in the conduct and counsels of this greatest of all preachers.

JFB: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

THE following reasons seem to have induced Paul to write this Second Epistle to the Corinthians: (1) That he might explain the reasons for his having deferred to pay them his promised visit, by taking Corinth as his way to Macedonia (1Co 4:19; 2Co 1:15-16; compare 1Co 16:5); and so that he might set forth to them his apostolic walk in general (2Co 1:12, 2Co 1:24; 2Co 6:3-13; 2Co 7:2). (2) That he might commend their obedience in reference to the directions in his First Epistle, and at the same time direct them now to forgive the offender, as having been punished sufficiently (2Co 2:1-11; 2Co 7:6-16). (3) That he might urge them to collect for the poor saints at Jerusalem (2Co 8:1-9, 2Co 8:15). (4) That he might maintain his apostolic authority and reprove gainsayers.

The external testimonies for its genuineness are IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 3,7,1]; ATHENAGORAS [Of the Resurrection of the Dead]; CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [Miscellanies, 3, p. 94; 4, p. 101]; TERTULLIAN [On Modesty, 13].

The TIME OF WRITING was after Pentecost, A.D. 57, when Paul left Ephesus for Troas. Having stayed in the latter place for some time preaching the Gospel with effect (2Co 2:12), he went on to Macedonia, being eager to meet Titus there, having been disappointed in his not coming to Troas, as had been agreed on between them. Having heard from him the tidings he so much desired of the good effect produced on the Corinthians by his First Epistle, and after having tested the liberality of the Macedonian churches (2Co 8:1), he wrote this Second Epistle, and then went on to Greece, where he abode for three months; and then, after travelling by land, reached Philippi on his return at Passover or Easter, A.D. 58 (Act 20:1-6). So that this Epistle must have been written about autumn, A.D. 57.

Macedonia was THE PLACE from which it was written (2Co 9:2, where the present tense, "I boast," or "am boasting," implies his presence then in Macedonia). In Asia (Lydian Asia) he had undergone some great peril of his life (2Co 1:8-9), whether the reference be [PALEY] to the tumult at Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41), or, as ALFORD thinks, to a dangerous illness in which he despaired of life. Thence he passed by Troas to Philippi, the first city which would meet him in entering Macedonia. The importance of the Philippian Church would induce him to stay there some time; as also his desire to collect contributions from the Macedonian churches for the poor saints at Jerusalem. His anxiety of mind is recorded (2Co 7:5) as occurring when he came into Macedonia, and therefore must have been at Philippi, which was the first city of Macedonia in coming from Troas; and here, too, from 2Co 7:6, compared with 2Co 7:5, must have been the scene of his receiving the comforting tidings from Titus. "Macedonia" is used for Philippi in 2Co 11:9, as is proved by comparison with Phi 4:15-16. So it is probably used here (2Co 7:5). ALFORD argues from 2Co 8:1, where he speaks of the "grace bestowed on the churches (plural) of Macedonia," that Paul must have visited other churches in Macedonia, besides Philippi, when he wrote, for example, Thessalonica, Berea, &c., and that Philippi, the first on his route, is less likely to have been the scene of his writing than the last on his route, whichever it was, perhaps Thessalonica. But Philippi, as being the chief town of the province, was probably the place to which all the collections of the churches were sent. Ancient tradition, too (as appears from the subscription to this Epistle), favors the view that Philippi was the place from which this Epistle was sent by the hands of Titus who received, besides, a charge to prosecute at Corinth the collection which he had begun at his first visit (2Co 8:6).

The STYLE is most varied, and passes rapidly from one phase of feeling to another; now joyous and consolatory, again severe and full of reproof; at one time gentle and affectionate, at another, sternly rebuking opponents and upholding his dignity as an apostle. This variety of style accords with the warm and earnest character of the apostle, which nowhere is manifested more beautifully than in this Epistle. His bodily frailty, and the chronic malady under which he suffered, and which is often alluded to (2Co 4:7; 2Co 5:1-4; 2Co 12:7-9; compare Note, see on 2Co 1:8), must have been especially trying to one of his ardent temperament. But besides this, was the more pressing anxiety of the "care of all the churches." At Corinth, as elsewhere, Judaizing emissaries wished to bind legal fetters of letter and form (compare 2Co. 3:3-18) on the freedom and catholicity of the Church. On the other hand, there were free thinkers who defended their immorality of practice by infidel theories (1Co 15:12, 1Co 15:32-36). These were the "fightings without," and "fears within" (2Co 7:5-6) which agitated the apostle's mind until Titus brought him comforting tidings from Corinth. Even then, while the majority at Corinth had testified their repentance, and, as Paul had desired, excommunicated the incestuous person, and contributed for the poor Christians of Judea, there was still a minority who, more contemptuously than ever, resisted the apostle. These accused him of crafty and mercenary motives, as if he had personal gain in view in the collection being made; and this, notwithstanding his scrupulous care to be above the possibility of reasonable suspicion, by having others besides himself to take charge of the money. This insinuation was palpably inconsistent with their other charge, that he could be no true apostle, as he did not claim maintenance from the churches which he founded. Another accusation they brought of cowardly weakness; that he was always threatening severe measures without daring to execute them (2Co 10:8-16; 2Co 13:2); and that he was vacillating in his teaching and practice, circumcising Timothy, and yet withholding circumcision from Titus; a Jew among the Jews, and a Greek among the Greeks. That most of these opponents were of the Judaizing party in the Church, appears from 2Co 11:22. They seem to have been headed by an emissary from Judea ("he that cometh," 2Co 11:4), who had brought "letters of commendation" (2Co 3:1) from members of the Church at Jerusalem, and who boasted of his purity of Hebrew descent, and his close connection with Christ Himself (2Co 11:13, 2Co 11:23). His partisans contrasted his high pretensions with the timid humility of Paul (1Co 2:3); and his rhetoric with the apostle's plain and unadorned style (2Co 11:6; 2Co 10:10, 2Co 10:13). It was this state of things at Corinth, reported by Titus, that caused Paul to send him back forthwith thither with this Second Epistle, which is addressed, not to Corinth only (1Co 1:2), but to all the churches also in Achaia (2Co 1:1), which had in some degree been affected by the same causes as affected the Corinthian Church. The widely different tone in different parts of the Epistle is due to the diversity which existed at Corinth between the penitent majority and the refractory minority. The former he addresses with the warmest affection; the latter with menace and warning. Two deputies, chosen by the churches to take charge of the contribution to be collected at Corinth, accompanied Titus (2Co 8:18-19, 2Co 8:22).

JFB: 2 Corinthians (Outline)

• THE HEADING; PAUL'S CONSOLATIONS IN RECENT TRIALS IN ASIA; HIS SINCERITY TOWARDS THE CORINTHIANS; EXPLANATION OF HIS NOT HAVING VISITED THEM AS HE HAD PURPOSED. (2Co. 1:1-24)
• REASON WHY HE HAD NOT VISITED THEM ON HIS WAY TO MACEDONIA; THE INCESTUOUS PERSON OUGHT NOW TO BE FORGIVEN; HIS ANXIETY TO HEAR TIDINGS OF THEIR STATE FROM TITUS, AND HIS JOY WHEN AT LAST THE GOOD NEWS REACHES HIM. (2Co. 2:1-17)
• THE SOLE COMMENDATION HE NEEDS TO PROVE GOD'S SANCTION OF HIS MINISTRY HE HAS IN HIS CORINTHIAN CONVERTS: HIS MINISTRY EXCELS THE MOSAIC, AS THE GOSPEL OF LIFE AND LIBERTY EXCELS THE LAW OF CONDEMNATION. (2Co. 3:1-18) Are we beginning again to recommend ourselves (2Co 5:12) (as some of them might say he had done in his first Epistle; or, a reproof to "some" who had begun doing so)!
• HIS PREACHING IS OPEN AND SINCERE, THOUGH TO MANY THE GOSPEL IS HIDDEN. (2Co. 4:1-18)
• THE HOPE (2Co 4:17-18) OF ETERNAL GLORY IN THE RESURRECTION BODY. (2Co. 5:1-21)
• HIS APOSTOLIC MINISTRY IS APPROVED BY FAITHFULNESS IN EXHORTATION, IN SUFFERINGS, IN EXHIBITION OF THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY GHOST: HIS LARGENESS OF HEART TO THEM CALLS FOR ENLARGEMENT OF THEIR HEART TO HIM. EXHORTATIONS TO SEPARATION FROM POLLUTION. (2Co. 6:1-18)
• SELF-PURIFICATION THEIR DUTY RESULTING FROM THE FOREGOING. HIS LOVE TO THEM, AND JOY AT THE GOOD EFFECTS ON THEM OF HIS FORMER EPISTLE, AS REPORTED BY TITUS. (2Co. 7:1-16)
• THE COLLECTION FOR THE SAINTS; THE READINESS OF THE MACEDONIANS A PATTERN TO THE CORINTHIANS; CHRIST THE HIGHEST PATTERN; EACH IS TO GIVE WILLINGLY AFTER HIS ABILITY; TITUS AND TWO OTHERS ARE THE AGENTS ACCREDITED TO COMPLETE THE COLLECTION. (2Co. 8:1-24)
• REASONS FOR HIS SENDING TITUS. THE GREATER THEIR BOUNTIFULNESS, THE MORE SHALL BE THE RETURN OF BLESSING TO THEM, AND THANKSGIVING TO GOD. (2Co 9:1-15)
• HE VINDICATES HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY AGAINST THOSE WHO DEPRECIATED HIM FOR HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE. HE WILL MAKE HIS POWER FELT WHEN HE COMES. HE BOASTS NOT, AS THEY, BEYOND HIS MEASURE. (2Co. 10:1-18)
• THROUGH JEALOUSY OVER THE CORINTHIANS, WHO MADE MORE ACCOUNT OF THE FALSE APOSTLES THAN OF HIM, HE IS OBLIGED TO COMMEND HIMSELF AS IN MANY RESPECTS SUPERIOR. (2Co. 11:1-33)
• REVELATIONS IN WHICH HE MIGHT GLORY: BUT HE RATHER GLORIES IN INFIRMITIES, AS CALLING FORTH CHRIST'S POWER: SIGNS OF HIS APOSTLESHIP: HIS DISINTERESTEDNESS: NOT THAT HE IS EXCUSING HIMSELF TO THEM; BUT HE DOES ALL FOR THEIR GOOD, LEST HE SHOULD FIND THEM NOT SUCH AS HE DESIRED, AND SO SHOULD HAVE TO BE SEVERE AT HIS COMING. (2Co. 12:1-21) He proceeds to illustrate the "glorying in infirmities" (2Co 11:30). He gave one instance which might expose him to ridicule (2Co 11:33); he now gives another, but this one connected with a glorious revelation of which it was the sequel: but he dwells not on the glory done to himself, but on the infirmity which followed it, as displaying Christ's power. The oldest manuscripts read, "I MUST NEEDS boast (or glory) though it be not expedient; for I will come." The "for" gives a proof that it is "not expedient to boast": I will take the case of revelations, in which if anywhere boasting might be thought harmless. "Visions" refers to things seen: "revelations," to things heard (compare 1Sa 9:15) or revealed in any way. In "visions" their signification was not always vouchsafed; in "revelations" there was always an unveiling of truths before hidden (Dan 2:19, Dan 2:31). All parts of Scripture alike are matter of inspiration; but not all of revelation. There are degrees of revelation; but not of inspiration.
• HE THREATENS A SEVERE PROOF OF HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY, BUT PREFERS THEY WOULD SPARE HIM THE NECESSITY FOR IT. (2Co 13:1-14)

TSK: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

The most remarkable circumstance in this Epistle, observes Mr. Scott, is the confidence of the Apostle in the goodness of his cause, and in the power of God to bear him out in it. Opposed as he then was by a powerful and sagacious party, whose authority, reputation, and interest were deeply concerned, and who were ready to seize on every thing that could discredit him, it is wonderful to hear him so firmly insist upon his apostolical authority, and so unreservedly appeal to the miraculous power which he has exercised and conferred at Corinth. So far from shrinking from the contest, as afraid of some discovery being made, unfavourable to him and the common cause, he, with great modesty and meekness indeed, but with equal boldness and decision, expressly declares that his opposers and despisers were the ministers of Satan, and menaces them with miraculous judgments, when as many of their deluded hearers had been brought to repentance and re-established in the faith, as proper means could in a reasonable time effect. It is inconceivable that a stronger internal testimony, not only of integrity, but of divine inspiration, can exist. Had there been anything of imposture among the Christians, it was next to impossible but such a conduct must have occasioned a disclosure of it. Of the effects produced by this latter epistle we have no circumstantial account; for the journey which St. Paul took to Corinth, after he had written it, is mentioned by St. Luke only in a few words (Act 20:2, Act 20:3). We know, however, that St. Paul was there after he had written this Epistle; that the contributions for the poor brethren at Jerusalem were brought to him from different parts to that city (Rom 15:26); and that, after remaining there several months, he sent salutations from some of the principal members of that church, by whom he must have been greatly respected, to the church of Rome (Rom 16:22, Rom 16:23). From this time we hear no more of the false teacher and his party; and when Clement of Rome wrote his epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul was considered by them as a divine apostle, to whose authority he might appeal without fear of contradiction. The false teacher, therefore, must either have been silenced by St. Paul, by virtue of his apostolical powers, and by an act of severity which he had threatened (2Co 13:2, 2Co 13:3); or this adversary of the apostle had, at that time, voluntarily quitted the place. Whichever was the cause, the effect produced must operate as a confirmation of our faith, and as a proof of St. Paul’s divine mission.

TSK: 2 Corinthians 11 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Co 11:1, Out of his jealousy over the Corinthians, who seemed to make more account of the false apostles than of him, he enters into a forced commendation of himself, 2Co 11:5, of his equality with the chief apostles, 2Co 11:7, of his preaching the gospel to them freely, and without any charge to them; 2Co 11:13, shewing that he was not inferior to those deceitful workers in any legal prerogative; 2Co 11:23, and in the service of Christ, and in all kinds of sufferings for his ministry, far superior.

Poole: 2 Corinthians 11 (Chapter Introduction)

CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 11

MHCC: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

The second epistle to the Corinthians probably was written about a year after the first. Its contents are closely connected with those of the former epistle. The manner in which the letter St. Paul formerly wrote had been received, is particularly noticed; this was such as to fill his heart with gratitude to God, who enabled him fully to discharge his duty towards them. Many had shown marks of repentance, and amended their conduct, but others still followed their false teachers; and as the apostle delayed his visit, from his unwillingness to treat them with severity, they charged him with levity and change of conduct. Also, with pride, vain-glory, and severity, and they spake of him with contempt. In this epistle we find the same ardent affection towards the disciples at Corinth, as in the former, the same zeal for the honour of the gospel, and the same boldness in giving Christian reproof. The first six chapters are chiefly practical: the rest have more reference to the state of the Corinthian church, but they contain many rules of general application.

MHCC: 2 Corinthians 11 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Co 11:1-14) The apostle gives the reasons for speaking in his own commendation.

(2Co 11:5-15) Shows that he had freely preached the gospel.

(2Co 11:16-21) Explains what he was going to add in defence of his own character.

(2Co 11:22-33) He gives an account of his labours, cares, sufferings, dangers, and deliverances.

Matthew Henry: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians

In his former epistle the apostle had signified his intentions of coming to Corinth, as he passed through Macedonia (1Co 16:5), but, being providentially hindered for some time, he writes this second epistle to them about a year after the former; and there seem to be these two urgent occasions: - 1. The case of the incestuous person, who lay under censure, required that with all speed he should be restored and received again into communion. This therefore he gives directions about (ch. 2), and afterwards (ch. 7) he declares the satisfaction he had upon the intelligence he received of their good behaviour in that affair. 2. There was a contribution now making for the poor saints at Jerusalem, in which he exhorts the Corinthians to join (ch. 8, 2Co 9:1-15).

There are divers other things very observable in this epistle; for example, I. The account the apostle gives of his labours and success in preaching the gospel in several places, ch. 2. II. The comparison he makes between the Old and New Testament dispensation, ch. 3. III. The manifold sufferings that he and his fellow-labourers met with, and the motives and encouragements for their diligence and patience, ch. 4, 5. IV. The caution he gives the Corinthians against mingling with unbelievers, ch. 6. V. The way and manner in which he justifies himself and his apostleship from the opprobrious insinuations and accusations of false teachers, who endeavoured to ruin his reputation at Corinth, ch. 10-12, and throughout the whole epistle.

Matthew Henry: 2 Corinthians 11 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter the apostle goes on with his discourse, in opposition to the false apostles, who were very industrious to lessen his interest and reputation among the Corinthians, and had prevailed too much by their insinuations. I. He apologizes for going about to commend himself, and gives the reason for what he did (2Co 11:1-4). II. He mentions, in his own necessary vindication, his equality with the other apostles, and with the false apostles in this particular of preaching the gospel to the Corinthians freely, without wages (2Co 11:5-15). III. He makes another preface to what he was about further to say in his own justification (2Co 11:16-21). And, IV. He gives a large account of his qualifications, labours, and sufferings, in which he exceeded the false apostles (2Co 11:22 to the end).

Barclay: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS

The Greatness Of Corinth

A glance at the map will show that Corinth was made for greatness. The southern part of Greece is very nearly an island. On the west the Corinthian Gulf deeply indents the land and on the east the Saronic Gulf. All that is left to join the two parts of Greece together is a little isthmus only four miles across. On that narrow neck of land Corinth stands. Such a position made it inevitable that it should be one of the greatest trading and commercial centres of the ancient world. All traffic from Athens and the north of Greece to Sparta and the Peloponnese had to be routed through Corinth, because it stood on the little neck of land that connected the two.

Not only did the north to south traffic of Greece pass through Corinth of necessity, by far the greater part of the east to west traffic of the Mediterranean passed through her from choice. The extreme southern tip of Greece was known as Cape Malea (now called Cape Matapan). It was dangerous, and to round Cape Malea had much the same sound as to round Cape Horn had in later times. The Greeks had two sayings which showed what they thought of it--"Let him who sails round Malea forget his home," and, "Let him who sails round Malea first make his will."

The consequence was that mariners followed one of two courses. They sailed up the Saronic Gulf, and, if their ships were small enough, dragged them out of the water, set them on rollers, hauled them across the isthmus, and re-launched them on the other side. The isthmus was actually called the Diolkos, the place of dragging across. The idea is the same as that which is contained in the Scottish place name Tarbert, which means a place where the land is so narrow that a boat can be dragged from loch to loch. If that course was not possible because the ship was too large, the cargo was disembarked, carried by porters across the isthmus, and re-embarked on another ship at the other side. This four mile journey across the isthmus, where the Corinth Canal now runs, saved a journey of two hundred and two miles round Cape Malea, the most dangerous cape in the Mediterranean.

It is easy to see how great a commercial city Corinth must have been. The north to south traffic of Greece had no alternative but to pass through her; by far the greater part of the east to west trade of the Mediterranean world chose to pass through her. Round Corinth there clustered three other towns, Lechaeum at the west end of the isthmus, Cenchrea at the east end and Schoenus just a short distance away. Farrar writes, "Objects of luxury soon found their way to the markets which were visited by every nation in the civilized world--Arabian balsam, Phoenician dates, Libyan ivory, Babylonian carpets, Cilician goatsair, Lycaonian wool, Phrygian slaves."

Corinth, as Farrar calls her, was the Vanity Fair of the ancient world. Men called her The Bridge of Greece; one called her The Lounge of Greece. It has been said that if a man stands long enough in Piccadilly Circus he will in the end meet everyone in the country. Corinth was the Piccadilly Circus of the Mediterranean. To add to the concourse which came to it, Corinth was the place where the Isthmian Games were held, which were second only to the Olympics. Corinth was a rich and populous city with one of the greatest commercial trades in the ancient world.

The Wickedness Of Corinth

There was another side to Corinth. She had a reputation for commercial prosperity, but she was also a byword for evil living. The very word korinthiazesthai, to live like a Corinthian, had become a part of the Greek language, and meant to live with drunken and immoral debauchery. The word actually penetrated to the English language, and, in Regency times, a Corinthian was one of the wealthy young bucks who lived in reckless and riotous living. Aelian, the late Greek writer, tells us that if ever a Corinthian was shown upon the stage in a Greek play he was shown drunk. The very name Corinth was synonymous with debauchery and there was one source of evil in the city which was known all over the civilized world. Above the isthmus towered the hill of the Acropolis, and on it stood the great temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. To that temple there were attached one thousand priestesses who were sacred prostitutes, and in the evenings they descended from the Acropolis and plied their trade upon the streets of Corinth, until it became a Greek proverb, "It is not every man who can afford a journey to Corinth." In addition to these cruder sins, there flourished far more recondite vices, which had come in with the traders and the sailors from the ends of the earth, until Corinth became not only a synonym for wealth and luxury, drunkenness and debauchery, but also for filth.

The History Of Corinth

The history of Corinth falls into two parts. She was a very ancient city. Thucydides, the Greek historian, claims that it was in Corinth that the first triremes, the Greek battleships, were built. Legend has it that it was in Corinth that the Argo was built, the ship in which Jason sailed the seas, searching for the golden fleece. But in 146 B.C. disaster befell her. The Romans were engaged in conquering the world. When they sought to reduce Greece, Corinth was the leader of the opposition. But the Greeks could not stand against the disciplined Romans, and in 146 B.C. Lucius Mummius, the Roman general, captured Corinth and left her a desolate heap of ruins.

But any place with the geographical situation of Corinth could not remain a devastation. Almost exactly one hundred years later, in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar rebuilt her and she arose from her ruins. Now she became a Roman colony. More, she became a capital city, the metropolis of the Roman province of Achaea, which included practically all Greece.

In those days, which were the days of Paul, her population was very mixed. (i) There were the Roman veterans whom Julius Caesar had settled there. When a Roman soldier had served his time, he was granted the citizenship and was then sent out to some newly-founded city and given a grant of land so that he might become a settler there. These Roman colonies were planted all over the world, and always the backbone of them was the contingent of veteran regular soldiers whose faithful service had won them the citizenship. (ii) When Corinth was rebuilt the merchants came back, for her situation still gave her commercial supremacy. (iii) There were many Jews among the population. The rebuilt city offered them commercial opportunities which they were not slow to take. (iv) There was a sprinkling of Phoenicians and Phrygians and people from the east, with their exotic customs and their hysterical ways. Farrar speaks of "this mongrel and heterogeneous population of Greek adventurers and Roman bourgeois, with a tainting infusion of Phoenicians; this mass of Jews, ex-soldiers, philosophers, merchants, sailors, freedmen, slaves, trades-people, hucksters and agents of every form of vice." He characterizes her as a colony "without aristocracy, without traditions and without well-established citizens."

Remember the background of Corinth, remember its name for wealth and luxury, for drunkenness and immorality and vice, and then read 1Co_6:9-10 .

Are you not aware that the unrighteous will not inherit the

Kingdom of God? Make no mistake--neither fornicators, nor

idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sensualists, nor homosexuals, nor

thieves, nor rapacious men, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor

robbers shall inherit the Kingdom of God--and such were some of

you.

In this hotbed of vice, in the most unlikely place in all the Greek world, some of Paulgreatest work was done, and some of the mightiest triumphs of Christianity were won.

Paul In Corinth

Paul stayed longer in Corinth than in any other city, with the single exception of Ephesus. He had left Macedonia with his life in peril and had crossed over to Athens. There he had had little success and had gone on to Corinth, and he remained there for eighteen months. We realize how little we really know of his work when we see that the whole story of that eighteen months is compressed by Luke into 17 verses (Act_18:1-17 ).

When Paul arrived in Corinth he took up residence with Aquila and Prisca. He preached in the synagogue with great success. With the arrival of Timothy and Silas from Macedonia, he redoubled his efforts, but the Jews were so stubbornly hostile that he had to leave the synagogue. He took up his residence with one Justus who lived next door to the synagogue. His most notable convert was Crispus, who was actually the ruler of the synagogue, and amongst the general public he had good success.

In the year A.D. 52 there came to Corinth as its new governor a Roman called Gallio. He was famous for his charm and gentleness. The Jews tried to take advantage of his newness and good nature and brought Paul to trial before him on a charge of teaching contrary to their law. But Gallio, with impartial Roman justice, refused to have anything to do with the case or to take any action. So Paul completed his work in Corinth and moved on to Syria.

The Correspondence With Corinth

It was when he was in Ephesus in the year A.D. 55 that Paul, learning that things were not all well in Corinth, wrote to the church there. There is every possibility that the Corinthian correspondence as we have it is out of order. We must remember that it was not until A.D. 90 or thereby that Paulcorrespondence was collected. In many churches it must have existed only on scraps of papyrus and the putting it together would be a problem: and it seems that, when the Corinthian letters were collected, they were not all discovered and were not arranged in the right order. Let us see if we can reconstruct what happened.

(i) There was a letter which preceded 1 Corinthians. In 1Co_5:9 Paul writes, "I wrote you a letter not to associate with immoral men." This obviously refers to some previous letter. Some scholars believe that letter is lost without trace. Others think it is contained in 2Co_6:14-18 and 2Co_7:1 . Certainly that passage suits what Paul said he wrote about. It occurs rather awkwardly in its context, and, if we take it out and read straight on from 2Co_6:13 to 2Co_7:2 , we get excellent sense and connection. Scholars call this letter The Previous Letter. (In the original letters there were no chapter or verse divisions. The chapters were not divided up until the thirteenth century and the verses not till the sixteenth, and because of that the arranging of the collection of letters would be much more difficult).

(ii) News came to Paul from various sources of trouble at Corinth. (a) News came from those who were of the household of Chloe (1Co_1:11 ). They brought news of the contentions with which the church was torn. (b) News came with the visit of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus to Ephesus. (1Co_16:17 ). By personal contact they were able to fill up the gaps in Paulinformation. (c) News came in a letter in which the Corinthian Church had asked Paul guidance on various problems. In 1Co_7:1 Paul begins, "Concerning the matters about which you wrote..." In answer to all this information Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and despatched it to Corinth apparently by the hand of Timothy (1Co_4:17 ).

(iii) The result of the letter was that things became worse than ever, and, although we have no direct record of it, we can deduce that Paul paid a personal visit to Corinth. In 2Co_12:14 he writes, "The third time I am ready to come to you." In 2Co_13:1-2 , he says again that he is coming to them for the third time. Now, if there was a third time, there must have been a second time. We have the record of only one visit, whose story is told in Act_18:1-17 . We have no record at all of the second, but Corinth was only two or three daysailing from Ephesus.

(iv) The visit did no good at all. Matters were only exacerbated and the result was an exceedingly severe letter. We learn about that letter from certain passages in 2 Corinthians. In 2Co_2:4 Paul writes, "I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears." In 2Co_7:8 he writes, "For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it though I did regret it; for I see that that letter has grieved you, though only for a while." It was a letter which was the product of anguish of mind, a letter so severe that Paul was almost sorry that he ever sent it.

Scholars call this The Severe Letter. Have we got it? It obviously cannot be I Corinthians, because it is not a tear-stained and anguished letter. When Paul wrote it, it is clear enough that things were under control. Now if we read through 2 Corinthians we find an odd circumstance. In 2Cor 1-9 everything is made up, there is complete reconciliation and all are friends again; but at 2Cor 10 comes the strangest break. 2Cor 10-13 are the most heartbroken cry Paul ever wrote. They show that he has been hurt and insulted as he never was before or afterwards by any church. His appearance, his speech, his apostleship, his honesty have all been under attack.

Most scholars believe that 2Cor 10-13 are the severe letter, and that they have become misplaced when Paulletters were put together. If we want the real chronological course of Paulcorrespondence with Corinth, we really ought to read 2Cor 10-13 before 2Cor 1-9. We do know that this letter was sent off with Titus. (2Co_2:13 ; 2Co_7:13 ).

(v) Paul was worried about this letter. He could not wait until Titus came back with an answer, so he set out to meet him (2Co_2:13 ; 2Co_7:5 , 2Co_7:13 ). Somewhere in Macedonia he met him and learned that all was well, and, probably at Philippi, he sat down and wrote 2Cor 1-9, the letter of reconciliation.

Stalker has said that the letters of Paul take the roof off the early churches and let us see what went on inside. Of none of them is that truer than the letters to Corinth. Here we see what "the care of all the churches" must have meant to Paul. Here we see the heart-breaks and the joys. Here we see Paul, the shepherd of his flock, bearing the sorrows and the problems of his people on his heart.

The Corinthian Correspondence

Before we read the letters in detail let us set down the progress of the Corinthian correspondence in tabular form.

(i) The Previous Letter, which may be contained in 2Co_6:14-18 and 2Co_7:1 .

(ii) The arrival of Chloepeople, of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus, and of the letter to Paul from the Corinthian Church.

(iii) 1 Corinthians is written in reply and is despatched with Timothy.

(iv) The situation grows worse and Paul pays a personal visit to Corinth, which is so complete a failure that it almost breaks his heart.

(v) The consequence is The Severe Letter, which is almost certainly contained in 2Cor 10-13, and which was despatched with Titus.

(vi) Unable to wait for an answer, Paul sets out to meet Titus. He meets him in Macedonia, learns that all is well and, probably from Philippi, writes 2Cor 1-9, The Letter of Reconciliation.

The first four chapters of 1 Corinthians deal with the divided state of the Church of God at Corinth. Instead of being a unity in Christ it was split into sects and parties, who had attached themselves to the names of various leaders and teachers. It is Paulteaching that these divisions had emerged because the Corinthians thought too much about human wisdom and knowledge and too little about the sheer grace of God. In fact, for all their so-called wisdom, they are really in a state of immaturity. They think that they are wise men, but really they are no better than babies.

FURTHER READING

2 Corinthians

F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Corinthians (NCB; E)

J. Hering, The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (translated by A. W. Heathcote and P. J. Allcock)

A. Plummer, 2 Corinthians (ICC; G)

R. V. G. Tasker, The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (TC; E)

Abbreviations

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

NCB: New Century Bible

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: 2 Corinthians 11 (Chapter Introduction)

The Peril Of Seduction (2Co_11:1-6)

Masquerading As Christians (2Co_11:7-15)

The Credentials Of An Apostle (2Co_11:16-33)

Constable: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical background

First Corinthians did not dispel the problems in the church at Corinth completely. While it resolved some of these, opposition to the Apostle Paul persisted and Paul's critics continued to speak out against him in the church. One man in particular seems to have been the ringleader of the opposition (10:7). He had rallied the support of a significant minority. The issue was Paul's apostolic authority. His critics were claiming authority equal with Paul's. This was in effect a claim to apostolic authority on their part or a denial of the full apostolic authority of Paul.

News of continuing problems in Corinth reached Paul in Ephesus during his prolonged stay there during his third missionary journey. He then made a brief visit to Corinth. However his efforts to resolve the conflicts fell through (2:1; 12:14; 13:1-2). Paul apparently suffered insult and lost face during that visit (2:5-8; 7:12). Consequently this was a painful visit for Paul. He then returned to Ephesus.

Paul's next step in dealing with the situation in Corinth was to send a severe letter from Ephesus by the hand of Titus and another unnamed brother (2:3-4; 7:8-12; 12:18). He apparently directed this letter, now lost, at the party opposed to him and particularly its leader. Some commentators believe that 2 Corinthians 10-13 contains part of this letter, but the evidence for this is not convincing.¹

Paul evidently intended to receive Titus' report concerning the effects of this severe letter in Ephesus. However, persecution there made it expedient for Paul to leave that city earlier than he had anticipated (Acts 20:1). He found an open door for the gospel to the north in Troas. Eager to meet Titus who was taking the land route from Corinth back to Ephesus Paul moved west into Macedonia (2:12-13). There Titus met him and gave him an encouraging report (7:6-16). Most of the church had responded to Paul's directives and the church had disciplined the troublemakers (2:5-11). Unfortunately some in the congregation still refused to acknowledge Paul's authority over them (10:1-13:10).

Paul rejoiced at the repentance of the majority. However his concern for the unrepentant minority and his desire to pick up the money the Corinthians had begun to collect for their poorer brethren in Jerusalem led him to write 2 Corinthians. Along with these primary motives Paul also felt compelled to refute the charge of fickleness leveled at him by his critics. He had changed his travel plans and had not come to see them as he had said he would.

The whole situation provided him an opportunity to clarify the nature of Christian ministry.

Paul wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians from Macedonia, perhaps Philippi, Thessalonica, or Berea, probably in the fall or winter of 56 A.D. A date a year earlier or later is possible.

Some commentators believe Paul wrote 1 Corinthians after his painful visit and after he wrote the severe letter.² I believe it is more probable that he wrote 1 Corinthians before these two events.³ It is very difficult to reconstruct the details of Paul's activities since the data available to us is incomplete.

Paul's Corinthian Contacts
Paul's founding visit	His "former letter"	The Corin-thians' letter to him	First Corin-thians	Paul's "painful visit"	His "severe letter"	Second Corin-thians	Paul's antici-pated visit

"2 Corinthians is very different from the letters between which it was written, 1 Corinthians and Romans. Whereas each of those letters is, in its own way, systematic and orderly, 2 Corinthians is, on the face of it, uneven and digressive. It is no surprise, therefore, that many scholars have suggested that 2 Corinthians is really a collection of letters put together later as a single letter."⁴

"Second Corinthians presents many inspiring texts and passages to the reader and teacher of God's Word. A quick survey reveals approximately eighty individual verses lending themselves to extended meditation and exposition, apart from the sixty or so constituent paragraphs of the letter. This letter is a rich lode for the edification of God's people."⁵

Message⁶

The subject of 2 Corinthians is ministry, the church's work of service in the world. This is the central concept Paul dealt with in this epistle. What did he say about ministry?

He spoke of ministry in two ways. There is ministry per se (philosophy of ministry), and there is ministry to the world (practice of ministry).

Let's consider first what Paul revealed about the ministry of the church per se. This is the way Paul spoke of ministry most often in 2 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians there is more emphasis on the practice of ministry than on the philosophy of ministry.

Paul had a lot to say about the authority of the church's ministry. Jesus Christ is the church's authority. He is the One who assigns each believer particular ministry within the body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12:11, 18, 28; Eph. 4:11-13). The Corinthian church was having a major problem because some in its company were failing to accept Paul's appointment by Christ as an apostle and their own appointment as non-apostles. This was a practical repudiation of Jesus Christ's authority in the church. We must bow to the authority of Christ in the church by recognizing and responding appropriately to those He has appointed to various roles in the body. We identify these people by their gifts (divinely given abilities) and by their offices (divinely given positions).

Paul also had a lot to say in this epistle about the resources of the church's ministry. He emphasized three primarily.

One important resource is the encouragement of God. Paul spoke of this in the first part of the epistle especially. We read "comfort" in our texts, but the Greek word paraklesis means comfort through encouragement. The same Greek root describes the Holy Spirit as our Paraclete in John 14-16. Paul both taught and demonstrated in this letter that God's encouraging comfort always exceeds our discouragement and distress in ministry. The secret to finding it sufficient is taking God's view of how our ministry is really proceeding. This viewpoint Paul revealed, too.

A second resource is divine revelation. Paul did not preach himself or a message that he had concocted. He preached what God had revealed. Thus, revelation constituted both Paul's public message and his personal encouragement. We, too, have received the same message to communicate as ambassadors of Christ. It is a message of reconciliation, and it is the source of our encouragement.

A third resource is the prayers of the saints. Paul called for and counted on the prayers of God's people to bring God's power into play through him as he ministered (1:11). He realized that his own prayers would not move God to work as well as the concerted prayers of many of God's children (cf. James 4:2). Lack of prayer is often a sign of confidence in self rather than confidence in God.

In addition to the authority and resources of our ministry, Paul also had a lot to say in this epistle about experience in ministry. Three features mark experience in ministry.

First, one thing that marks ministry is tribulation. Paul spoke extensively in 2 Corinthians about the afflictions he experienced during his ministry. Furthermore he revealed that these are part of ministry, anyone's ministry who is carrying it out as God has directed. Some people do not welcome the gospel. To them it is a death scent. We should expect to experience tribulation in ministry. We have all experienced this in witnessing to some extent.

Second, another thing that should mark our ministry is hope. God has revealed the end of our ministry. We will all stand before Jesus Christ and receive a reward one day (5:10). This hope is a certainty. The Christian who loses sight of his or her hope is going to drift and suffer discouragement rather than press toward the mark. The end of our ministry is constantly in view in this epistle.

Third, a mark of Christian ministry is triumph. Paul revealed and illustrated by his own attitude that no matter how response to our ministry may appear to us our ministry is always triumphant. The reason for this is that God is at work through His ministers. One of the problems Paul's critics in Corinth had and that we have is that they were evaluating ministry superficially rather than realistically. We need to evaluate ministry on the basis of what God has revealed is happening, not what appears to be happening.

Paul not only revealed much about ministry per se in 2 Corinthians, he also revealed a lot about the ministry of the church to the world. Three emphases predominate.

First, Paul revealed what the message of the church is: the Word of God. Ours is a ministry of the Word. By "the Word" Paul meant the revelation God has given us. In his day it consisted of the Old Testament Scriptures plus the revelations that he and the other New Testament prophets had received that were for all Christians. Paul contrasted his message and ours with the message of Moses and exulted in its superiority. God has removed the veil and we can now see His glory clearly revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

Second, Paul revealed the church's equipment to carry on its ministry to the world. We are ready to minister only when we separate from the world's sins and conform to God's will. Paul contrasts with his critics in this letter in all these respects. As these characteristics mark us we, too, will be ready to minister.

Third, Paul revealed the exercise of the church's ministry to the world. In exercising its ministry the church does three things according to this epistle.

1. It exercises discipline to restore the erring to effective ministry. Paul's great concern in this epistle was the restoration of the rebellious critics in the Corinthian church to unity and usefulness.

2. The church also is to give no occasion of stumbling to others. Paul's concern was that the behavior of the Corinthian Christians would be an encouragement to other believers and a base from which the gospel could proceed even farther into unevangelized regions beyond.

3. Third, the church exercises the grace of giving. It seeks to facilitate the principle of equality that God has demonstrated throughout history, namely that those who have should share with those who have not. This applies not only to the gospel message but to the physical necessities of life (chs. 8-9).

From these emphases the message of the book emerges. The church needs to submit to revealed authority, to draw upon supernatural resources and equipment, and to experience triumph through tribulation as it executes its mission. As it does so it will effectively carry out its ministry of proclaiming the message of reconciliation to the world.

Constable: 2 Corinthians (Outline)

Outline

I. Introduction 1:1-11

A. Salutation 1:1-2

B. Thanksgiving for comfort in affliction 1:3-11

1. Thanksgiving for comfort 1:3-7

2. Thanksgiving for deliverance 1:8-11

II. Answers to insinuations about the sincerity of Paul's commitment to the Corinthians and to the ministry 1:12-7:16

A. Defense of his conduct with regard to his promised visit and the offender 1:12-2:17

1. The postponement of the intended visit 1:12-2:4

2. The treatment of the offender and the result of the severe letter 2:5-17

B. Exposition of Paul's view of the ministry 3:1-6:10

1. The superiority of Christian ministry to Mosaic ministry 3:1-11

2. The great boldness of the new ministers 3:12-4:6

3. The sufferings and supports of a minister of the gospel 4:7-5:10

4. The life of a minister of Christ 5:11-6:10

C. Appeal for restoration of the Corinthians' confidence in him 6:11-7:16

1. An appeal for large-heartedness and consistency 6:11-7:4

2. The encouraging response of the Corinthians so far 7:5-16

III. Instructions concerning the collection for the poor saints in Judea 8:1-9:15

A. The example of the Macedonians 8:1-7

B. The supreme motive for giving 8:8-15

C. The delegates of the churches 8:16-24

D. The anticipated visit of Paul 9:1-5

E. The benefits of generous giving 9:6-15

IV. Appeals concerning Paul's apostolic authority 10:1-13:10

A. Replies to charges made against Paul 10:1-18

1. Reply to the charge of cowardice 10:1-6

2. Reply to the charge of weakness 10:7-11

3. Reply to the charge of intrusion 10:12-18

B. Claims made by Paul 11:1-12:18

1. Paul's reasons for making these claims 11:1-6

2. Freedom to minister without charge 11:7-15

3. Paul's service and sufferings 11:16-33

4. Special revelations Paul received 12:1-10

5. Paul's supernatural miracles and paternal love 12:11-18

C. Exhortations in view of Paul's approaching visit 12:19-13:10

1. Paul's concerns 12:19-21

2. Paul's warnings 13:1-10

V. Conclusion 13:11-14

A. The exhortation 13:11-12

B. The salutation 13:13

C. The benediction 13:14

Constable: 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

THE SECOND

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO THE CORINTHIANS.

INTRODUCTION.

The subject and design of this second Epistle to the Corinthians, is much the same as of the former. He comforts and congratulates with those who were now reformed by his admonitions. He blames the faulty with apostolical liberty; and being forced to justify himself and his proceedings against the upstart false teachers, he gives an ample account of his sufferings, and also of the favours and graces, which God had bestowed upon him. This Epistle was written not long after the first, (an. 57. [in the year 57.]) some months before that to the Romans, from some place in Macedonia, perhaps from Philippi, as marked at the end of divers Greek copies, though it is observed, that those subscriptions are not much to be relied upon. (Witham) --- In this Epistle St. Paul comforts those who are now reformed by his admonitions to them in the former, and absolves the incestuous man on doing penance, whom he had before excommunicated for his crime. Hence he treats of true penance, and of the dignity of the ministers of the New Testament. He cautions the faithful against false teachers, and the society of infidels. He gives an account of his sufferings, and also of the favours and graces which God hath bestowed on him. (Challoner) --- St. Paul, not being able to come to the Corinthians as soon as he had promised, writes this Epistle to inform them, that it was not through inconstancy, but on account of several weighty reasons, which had hitherto hindered him. Several other reasons, likewise, compelled him to write. For during his absence, several false teachers of the Jews had come amongst them, teaching them that it was necessary to observe the law of Moses, in order to be saved. St. Paul, therefore, first excuses himself, by saying, that the afflictions and troubles he had met with, had hindered him from coming to them. He next orders the fornicator to be restored to favour; after which, he extols his apostleship, forming a comparison between the law of Christ, and of Moses, wherein he blames the false teachers. He then subjoins an exhortation to a pious and holy life, with liberality in their alms, after the example of the Macedonians. As the false teachers had been very industrious in establishing their own reputation, by detracting from that of St. Paul, he enumerates his own sufferings, and the favours he had received from God, shewing that he had much more reason to glory than they; and concludes by exhorting them to correct those faults with which they still remained infected. (Estius) --- This letter may be justly appreciated as a perfect masterpiece of that animated and solid eloquence, which all interpreters so much admire in St. Paul. (Bible de Vence)

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Gill: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CORINTHIANS

This epistle, according to the subscription at the end of it, was written from Philippi of Macedonia; and though the subscriptions annexed to the epistles are not always to be depended on, yet it seems very likely that this was written from thence; for the apostle not finding Titus at Troas, as he expected, went into Macedonia, where he met with him, and had an account from him of the success of his first epistle; of the state and condition of the church, and of the temper and disposition of mind in which the members of it were, and which gave him great satisfaction; upon which he immediately wrote this second epistle, and sent it by the same person to them; see 2Co 2:12, 2Co 7:5. It is very probable it might be written the year after the former; and so it is placed by Dr. Lightfoot in the year 56, as the former is in the year 55; though some place this in the year 60, and the other in 59. The occasion of this epistle was partly to excuse his not coming to them according to promise, and to vindicate himself from the charge of unfaithfulness, levity, and inconstancy on that account; and partly, since what he had wrote about the incestuous person, had had a good effect both upon him and them, to direct them to take off the censure that had been laid upon him, and restore him to their communion, and comfort him; likewise to stir them up to finish the collection for the poor saints they had begun; as also to defend himself against the calumnies of the false teachers, who were very industrious to sink his character and credit in this church; which he does by observing the doctrines of the Gospel he preached, which were far more glorious than, and abundantly preferable to, the ministration of the law of Moses, which those men desired to be teachers of; as likewise the success of his ministry in every place; the many sufferings he had underwent for the sake of Christ, and his Gospel; the high favours and privileges he had received of the Lord, as well as the signs, wonders, and miracles done by him in proof of his apostleship; and in which are interspersed many things useful and instructive.

Gill: 2 Corinthians 11 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CORINTHIANS 11

In this chapter, the apostle continues his discourse concerning the false teachers; blames the Corinthians for their connivance at them, and subjection to them; gives a true and ample description of them; compares himself with them, and by various instances shows, that he was greatly superior to them: and whereas self commendation was necessary, and could not be avoided in this argument, and this might look like folly, and by some be deemed such, he entreats the Corinthians that they would bear with him in it, as well as in his reproofs and admonitions to them, 2Co 11:1 and assigns his godly jealousy over them, as the reason why he entered into this subject, and proceeded in such a way of reasoning on it; and the rather this might be bore with in him, since he had such a concern in espousing them to Christ; his end in which was, to present them a chaste virgin to him, 2Co 11:2 and what this jealousy was he explains, lest their minds should be corrupted by the false teachers, and they should forsake the pure and simple Gospel of Christ; which he exemplifies in the instance of Eve being deceived by the serpent, 2Co 11:3 and proceeds to blame them for preferring these false teachers to the faithful ministers of the word; seeing, put them in the best light they could, it was but the same Jesus they preached, and not another and a better Saviour; and it was but the same spirit of faith they received through their ministry, and not another and a better; and the same Gospel they brought, and did not come with better news, or more joyful tidings; had this been the case, there would have been some reason for extolling one above another, 2Co 11:4 for which there was not the least foundation, especially with respect to the Apostle Paul, who was not inferior to the chief of the true apostles of Christ, and therefore could not be at all behind these men, 2Co 11:5 and seeing it might be objected to him that he was rude in speech, when these were men of great eloquence, he allows it; but then affirms he was not so in knowledge, in which he exceeded them; for the truth of which, lie appeals to the Corinthians themselves, 2Co 11:6 and he suggests, that it was very ungrateful in them, that inasmuch as he humbled himself when among them, by working with his own hands, that they might be exalted, that they should despise him on that account, and prefer these avaricious men before him, 2Co 11:7 when that he might be able to preach the Gospel freely, he took of other churches, 2Co 11:8 and particularly was supplied by the Macedonian brethren, and so was not at all chargeable and burdensome to them, and he was determined ever to remain so, 2Co 11:9 and which he confirms by an oath, that no man should ever be able to prevail upon him to take anything of the churches in the region of Achaia, in which Corinth was, 2Co 11:10 and whereas it might be insinuated that such a resolution showed that he had no true affection for them, this he denies, and appeals to the omniscient God for the truth of his love to them, 2Co 11:11 but the true reason why he had so determined, was to prevent the false teachers having any opportunity to reproach him, and exalt themselves, 2Co 11:12 and this leads him on to a description of them, by their ambition and arrogance, in assuming a title that did not belong to them; by their crafty, cunning, and deceitful manner of working, and by their hypocrisy in mimicking the apostles of Christ, 2Co 11:13 nor need this seem strange to any, when Satan himself has been transformed into an angel of light, 2Co 11:14 and whom, the apostle suggests, these men imitated; whose ministers they were, though they looked like ministers of righteousness, and on whom the apostle denounces severe punishment, 2Co 11:15 and as he saw himself under a necessity of boasting, in order to stop the mouths of these men, to vindicate himself, and prevent mischief being done by them, he renews his entreaty in 2Co 11:1 that the Corinthians would not reckon him as a fool; or if they did, that they would bear with his folly, and suffer him to boast of himself a little, 2Co 11:16 and that the Christian religion, and the Gospel of Christ, might not come under any reproach and blame, for his conduct in this particular, he observes, that what he was about to say on this head of boasting, was not by any order or direction from the Lord, but of himself, and might have the appearance of folly in it, 2Co 11:17 and the rather he might be indulged in it, seeing many, even the false teachers, had gloried in a carnal way, and of outward things, and which made it necessary that he should glory also, 2Co 11:18 and which foolish boasting in them, even many of the Corinthians had bore with, and that with a great deal of pleasure; and therefore might suffer him, a single man, to boast a little of himself unto them, whom he ironically calls wise, 2Co 11:19 of which he gives instances, by being brought into bondage, devoured, pillaged, insulted, and abused, by the false teachers, 2Co 11:20 nor had they abused and reproached them only, but the apostle also, as weak and contemptible; but then he would not bear it, but would boldly engage and enter the lists with them, though this might be by some reckoned foolish boasting, 2Co 11:21 and then follows the comparison between him and them, by which it appears that he was upon an equal foot with them, on account of nation, descent, and parentage, 2Co 11:22 that he was superior to them as a minister of the Gospel, as was manifest by his more abundant labours in it, and by his sufferings for it, the dangers he was exposed unto on account of it, and the many hardships he endured in the ministration of it, of which he gives a variety of particulars, 2Co 11:23 to which he adds, besides these things, and all other outward ones, that the daily care of all the churches of Christ was upon him, 2Co 11:28 and such was his sympathy with all sorts of Christians, even the weak and offended brethren, that he was affected with them, bore their infirmities, and sought to reconcile and make them easy, which greatly increased the weight of business that was upon him, 2Co 11:29 and seeing there was a necessity of glorying, he chose to glory in his infirmities and sufferings, and on which he had mostly enlarged, 2Co 11:30 and for the glory of divine Providence, and to express his thankfulness for the mercy, he relates a particular instance of deliverance from imminent danger; for the truth of which he appeals to the God and Father of Christ, the eternally blessed One, 2Co 11:31 the danger he escaped, the manner and means of the escape, and the place where, are particularly mentioned, 2Co 11:32.

College: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

Studying 2 Corinthians plunges the modern reader back to the real, tumultuous world of early Christianity. The simple ideals of sharing and goodwill described in Acts 2:42-47 seem to have little place among the diverse converts from this boomtown of Corinth where Paul chooses to anchor his Greek mission. Rather, this microcosm of the early church bickers and accuses, revels in disorder and confusion, reeks of unrenounced pagan practices, and uncritically pursues self-promotion and even disloyalty to Paul, its founder.

When we speak of restoring the NT church, the Corinthian church is not what we have in mind. But maybe this is where we should really start: a real community of believers struggling to understand and implement their Christian faith against the helter-skelter backdrop of values and principles they desired to leave behind. As we understand what Paul teaches this troubled church, we will learn badly needed principles to help bring to maturity our own, real churches which inherit the same struggle.

Second Corinthians stands in stark contrast to Paul's other NT writings in a number of ways. Other letters, like 1 Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, and Colossians are carefully ordered, easily outlined, logical, controlled, as Paul confidently responds to carefully gauged concerns. Methodically, he establishes crucial, theological principles as the basis for practical, behavioral appeals.

By contrast, 2 Corinthians is chaotic and disjointed. Digressions lead the reader far afield before returning to the point. So uneven is 2 Corinthians, that many scholars suggest it is a composite of four or five writings, even a number of conservative scholars admitting two. Intensity, emotion, defensiveness, and second-guessing rather than controlled reasoning bind this epistle together. We see Paul at his weakest, basest, most human. Yet seeing him work through the truth of the gospel in the midst of exasperating difficulties is enlightening.

To a certain extent, it is healthy for our lofty ideals of this giant to be punctured and brought down to reality, even as the Corinthian church does so for our view of the early church. Paul's relationship with the Corinthians at this historical juncture is ugly, and readers deserve to be warned about how disconcerting seeing this can be.

These features of 2 Corinthians make studying and understanding the text much more dependent than usual on grasping the historical circumstances behind and leading up to its writing. Without a clear grasp of the historic story, hopeless confusion will engulf efforts to interpret the text at a number of points.

So, study of 2 Corinthians must begin by seeking to understand the Corinth of Paul's day and Paul's relationship to the local church there before preceding to a reliable interpretation of the text.

THE CITY OF CORINTH

Fortunately, Corinth is a NT city we know a great deal about. It has been heavily excavated and was minutely described by classical writers like Strabo and Dio Chrysostom.

The city that Paul entered in A.D. 50 had been resurrected from the ashes of the old city burned to the ground by the Romans in 146 B.C. Having laid in ruins for 100 years, two years before his death in 44 B.C., Julius Caesar decreed that Corinth (and also Carthage) should be rebuilt. Although located just 60 miles from Athens on the narrow isthmus strategically joining the Greek mainland to the Peloponnesus, the new Corinth was built and organized as a Roman city. Its colonists were gleaned from freedmen, former slaves originating from Syria, Egypt, Judea, Greece, and from retiring Roman soldiers.

The city's layout and its buildings were Roman, as was its governmental organization and law. Its official language was Latin, although Greek was the common language for business and conversation. The people prized Roman articles, importing them in great quantities. In addition to the four magistrates elected each year and its city council, it was administrated by a proconsul appointed annually by the Roman senate.

Corinth's dominance over the five-mile wide isthmus insured economic vitality. Ships traveling between Italy and Asia Minor were happy to pay the fee to cross the isthmus rather than sail the extra 200 miles south around treacherous Cape Malae. Besides, Corinth had even constructed a grooved pavement, called the Diolkos, between the ports on either side of the isthmus on which smaller ships could be hauled in wheeled vehicles. For a larger ship, the goods were loaded on transport carts and reloaded onto another ship waiting at the other harbor.

Julius Caesar dreamed of increasing Corinth's stock by constructing a canal across the isthmus. Not until Nero, A.D. 67., was such a project begun. Actual completion, however was not achieved until modern times, in 1893.

With the two ports, Laechaeum, on the Corinthian Gulf, and Cenchraea, on the Saronic Gulf, Corinth thrived as a center for trade. The major land route between the Greek mainland and the Peloponnesus also went through it. Besides shipbuilding and repair, it hosted bronze, tile, and pottery factories, as well as the necessary warehousing for transportable goods. Corinth's market areas boasted hundreds of stalls filled with craftsmen plying their trade, locals selling merchandise and food, as well as visitors from throughout the empire hawking imported items. They even had places which sold drinks cooled by underground water systems. Paul himself, we know, took up a leather-working stall in this area for eighteen months (Acts 18:1-3).

New Corinth was an eclectic, international city from its inception. In Paul's day, it was a bustling, wide open, boomtown, with over 80,000 inhabitants, and growing every day. It had already outstripped Athens politically, replacing it as the capital of Achaia.

Corinth's prestige was further enhanced by its hosting of the Isthmian Games, second only in significance to the Olympics. Held every two years in Corinth since A.D. 3, these games drew thousands of tourists and lots of business. The city's most prestigious political official was the one responsible for administering the games, occupying a prominent year-round governmental office. The games were dedicated to the Greek sea god, Poseidon, and featured oratory, music, and drama, as well as athletic contests. A dramatic theater as well as a 20,000 seat stadium were used for these events.

Corinth's eclecticism revealed itself in an array of religious choices established by its multicultural inhabitants. Egyptians promoted the cults of Isis and Osiris. Isis was worshiped as a god for sailors because the myth tells of her enduring search on the seas for her betrayed and lost husband Osiris. Osiris is a god of afterlife, who after his death was resurrected to become head of the underworld.

Greeks and Romans honored Poseidon, god of the sea; Athena, goddess of war, the sea, cities and the arts; Aphrodite, goddess of love and fertility; Apollo, god of prophecy; Asklepios, god of healing; and emperors beginning with Julius Caesar. Prominent temples and statues are dedicated to all of these. Apollos often features prominently in colonized cities as an ode of good fortune. His famous Delphic oracle is only some 30 miles from Corinth. The much publicized report that Old Corinth's temple to Aphrodite housed over 1,000 sacred prostitutes is regarded as Athenian slander and is not so certain to still be functioning this way in Paul's day, although this does not mean to imply that Corinth was any more sexually pristine than any other seaport.

One of the busiest religious centers in Paul's day was the Asklepium. Comparable to a modern-day health club, people came here to bathe in its fountain, sleep (healing in their dreams), excercise, read, and dine (on sacrificial meat, cf. 1 Cor 8:10; 10:21). Replicas of body parts found in excavations were offered to the Asklepios by thankful beneficiaries of his healing.

Though not a god, Sisyphus, was considered one of the founding kings of ancient Corinth. Noted for his craftiness, in Greek mythology he was banished to Hades with the everlasting task of pushing a rock up a hill only to have it slip back down. For the Corinthian in Paul's day, he stands for successful cunning in business, but behind the temporary luster, perhaps, he signifies the emptiness of life's ambitions that lurked in the background of people's thoughts.

Judaism came with the early Jewish colonists and seems to have thrived. A dynamic synagogue certainly was functioning when Paul arrived, according to Acts 18:4-17. Also, a building inscription reading "Synagogue of the Hebrews" has been found by archaeologists along the Lechaeum road. Although the inscription is somewhat later than Paul's day, its location in the city center suggests the prominence of Judaism from the early days of New Corinth. Significant increases to the Jewish population likely occurred in A.D. 19 and in the late 40s when Tiberius and then Claudius expelled Jews from Rome. According to Acts 18:2, the latter purge is what brought Aquila and Priscilla and their tentmaking business to Corinth for the eighteen months Paul evangelized there. As Acts 18:8,17 indicate, the Jewish community probably had a certain amount of freedom to manage its own affairs and to appoint its own officials.

Due to Roman influence, Corinthians banded together into self-governing clubs and societies of 10 to 15 people which met in homes around the city. These clubs were delineated by individual trades or professions. Something like small unions, they provided vital social interaction and shared meals but even underwrote members' burial expenses from their kitty of dues. Although each had its sponsoring god, they were not religious in nature.

Most likely, the Corinthian church of Paul's day took on the pattern of these clubs as they met in various homes throughout the city. This helps explain the household factions decried in 1 Cor 1:10-12 and even the food-related problems of 1 Corinthians 8 and 11:17-34.

Corinth in the time of Paul was a city of wealth and prosperity. The families who had come a generation or two previously had worked hard. They had carved out successful lives by their own sweat and ingenuity. Like American immigrants, they were proud of their accomplishments, which they demonstrated in their proliferation of self-commending inscriptions around the city. But like the grandchildren of immigrants today, the Corinthians of Paul's day were noted for their superficial materialism and moral perversity. Such traits are epitomized by the fact that before the century was over, Corinth would become the first Greek city in the Roman Empire to hold bloodthirsty gladiatorial shows.

PAUL AND THE CORINTHIANS

Paul's rocky, seven-year relationship with the Corinthians begins in the fall of A.D. 50 as he enters Corinth on what becomes the last stop of his second missionary journey. Already on the road for a year, he had established churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens, despite opposition from Gentiles, Jews, and intellectuals (Acts 16-17). As Acts 18 describes, he enters the din of Corinth alone but is quickly befriended by Aquila and Priscilla, who were probably already Christians when they came to Corinth from Rome. For eighteen months the three of them lived, worked, and spread the gospel together there, eventually joined by Silas and Timothy.

At first, Paul shared the gospel and fielded questions in the Jewish synagogue. It wasn't too long, however, before stiff opposition to his presence arose, and he was ejected. However, he took with him many new Christians from among the God-fearing Gentiles who attended the synagogue, as well as Jews including the head of the synagogue, Crispus. Boldly, they set up shop for the first church right next door in the home of Titius Justus. Presumably, they continued to meet there and in other homes around the city for the next eighteen months, since God had instructed Paul to remain in Corinth despite the risks of conflict.

Sparks did fly, and at one point the Jews pressed charges against Paul for breaking Jewish law before Gallio, the Roman proconsul. Quite rightly, Gallio rebuffed the Jewish accusations as being outside any Roman concern. Although this may seem like a relatively minor incident in the life of Paul, the mention of Gallio in Acts 18:14 emerges as the single most important event enabling us to date Paul's life with accuracy. The reason for this is that archaeologists have discovered a datable inscription about a boundary dispute from Emperor Claudius to Gallio which places Gallio's one-year term between A.D. 51 and 52. Anchored by Paul's encounter with Gallio being A.D. 51, the rest of Paul's life can be dated backward and forward from time periods provided in the Acts and his letters.

Upon leaving Corinth, Paul sailed to Syria, probably Antioch, before quickly setting out over land to revisit the previously established churches in Asia Minor and then settling in Ephesus for three years. While in Ephesus, he sent the Corinthians three letters and slipped across the Aegean Sea in a vessel for a brief, surprise visit.

The first letter, commonly known as the "previous letter," is mentioned in 1 Cor 5:9-11. Given the wild immorality of Corinth, it is not surprising that Paul emphasized separation from such people in this letter. However, it has never been found, although a few scholars believe 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 may have originally been part of it.

Next, Paul received a letter from the Corinthians asking various specific questions about Christian life and practice. He is also informed verbally from members of Chloe's household (1 Cor 1:11) about the factionalism that is hurting the church's witness. He responded with the letter we know of as 1 Corinthians. During this period, Timothy was dispatched to Corinth for a brief time (1 Cor 4:17; 16:10) as Paul's personal ambassador, perhaps to give further voice to Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians or to other issues Paul anticipated. We have no indication as to how long Timothy stayed.

Paul's brief trip to Corinth in A.D. 54 and the letter on its heels upon his return are chief events which underlie Paul's writing of 2 Corinthians in A.D. 56. We don't know why Paul went. Maybe Timothy reported that Paul's personal presence was needed. Possibly, conservative agitators had followed Paul to Corinth as they previously had to Galatia and were stirring up trouble, causing the Corinthians to second-guess Paul's credibility (2 Cor 11:13). What we do know is that this trip, usually described as "the painful visit" (2 Cor 2:1), was a complete disaster. Paul left angry and humiliated. Apparently, he confronted the ringleader of the trouble (perhaps someone in the church who had been influenced by the outsiders) face to face but when the man insulted him, no one in the church came to Paul's defense.

Speculation regarding the accusations hurled at Paul include the illegitimacy of his authority over the Corinthians and his misuse of funds collected for the Jerusalem offering (1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 7:2; 8:11). This was not a theological issue so much as one of personal integrity. Paul speaks of his being hurt emotionally most by the fact that the church did not side with him (2 Cor 2:5-11).

Upon his return, Paul wrote a third letter to the Corinthians, "the severe letter" (2 Cor 2:4; 7:8). Although not existing today, as described in 2 Cor 2:4-11 and 7:5-13, it was undoubtedly the most emotional and strident of any of Paul's letters. Apparently, he unleashed his anger and disappointment, scolding the church for not supporting him and demanding that the majority of the church take charge and discipline the offender as well as apologize to him. The letter is so harsh that Paul seems genuinely afraid ("fears within" - 2 Cor 7:5) that it will drive the church farther away from him and from Christ. But he sees no choice; this situation can't be left like it is.

Titus received the formidable task of delivering this explosive letter into the charged atmosphere of the Corinthian church and carrying out its demands. Paul's anxieties over Titus's success seem to overwhelm him as he waits for news. Apparently, the arrangements with Titus were that they would meet in Troas after a set period of time, maybe as long as six months. Second Corinthians 2:12 tells us that Paul went by land up to Troas, probably in A.D. 55 but was crushed to find Titus was not there. Remaining for some time evangelizing, maybe a month or so, he crossed over to Macedonia, probably Philippi, desperate to find Titus there. Finally, Titus arrived with the great news that the Corinthians - or most of them - were back in the fold. Genuinely remorseful over their hurtful behavior toward Paul, they had, indeed, dealt with the offender and expressed their renewed devotion to him (2 Cor 7:7,11,12).

The letter we call 2 Corinthians historically comes as Paul's fourth letter to Corinth. Buoyed by Titus's positive report, Paul writes this highly emotional letter, sending it back with Titus (2 Cor 7:17), probably A.D. 56. The letter interacts over and over with the events of the Painful Visit and the Severe Letter. Paul gushes with joy over the Corinthians' response (2 Cor 7:7,13-16), even recommending that they lift the punishment on the person who offended him (2 Cor 2:7). However, the tone of the letter is extremely defensive as Paul squirms under pressure from the Corinthians (most likely as advised by Titus) to toot his own horn regarding his own apostolic credentials. Out of his love for them, but against his own convictions against boasting, he is willing to explain the superiority of his apostleship in terms the Corinthians seem to require. These terms - such as providing letters of recommendation (2 Cor 3:1) and lists of accomplishments (2 Cor 6:3-13; 11:16-12:10) - Paul regards as superficial and unnecessary (2 Cor 3:2-3; 10:7) and probably reflect the influence of the conservative agitators upon the Corinthians. Paul seems to know he must respond, however uncomfortable it is for him, in order to block any further inroads from these outsiders and thus reinforce his renewed relationship with the Corinthians.

Titus brought 2 Corinthians to Corinth armed with Paul's commendation within the letter to spur the church to complete its collection of the offering for the Jerusalem Christians (1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 8:10-24). Paul followed a few months later (2 Cor 12:14; Acts 20:3) and remained in Corinth three months. During this period, he wrote Romans, but we know nothing of his interaction with the Corinthian church. Presumably, he finalized the Corinthian offering, but he must have worked diligently to solidify this troubled church and contend personally with the outside agitators and their remaining pockets of influence. At any rate, once the various representatives from the Greek and Asian churches arrived in Corinth with their offerings (Acts 20:1-6), he tried to set sail with them to Syria but, discovering treachery from the Jewish community in Corinth, he and the others traveled first to Troas, and, then, set sail from there.

We have no certainty of further communication or visitation between Paul and the Corinthian church after this. Possibly, following release from his first Roman imprisonment, he returned to Corinth and other churches in Greece and Asia Minor, as the Pastoral epistles suggest (1 Tim. 1:3; 2 Tim. 4:20).

THE UNITY OF 2 CORINTHIANS

One may rightly comment that the literary unity of 2 Corinthians "cannot just be presupposed." Analyses which question whether various sections of 2 Corinthians are original to it have come long and hard during the past two centuries of critical scholarship. Second Corinthian's sharp shifts in content and uneven tone make it the most susceptible of all the NT books to patchwork theories despite the fact that none of the Greek manuscripts (dating back to the third century) give the slightest hint that 2 Corinthians was ever anything different than what we read today. Although the ebb and flow of research has sidelined many conjectures, questions still remain regarding some parts of 2 Corinthians. As many as nine sections of 2 Corinthians have been scrutinized. However, just five will be discussed here.

First, 2 Cor 2:14-7:4 has been noted as at one time existing separately from 2 Corinthians. Even a casual reader is jolted at the jump between the travelogue commentary in 2:12-13 and the military parade description of the gospel in 2:13-17 which opens a five-chapter philosophy of apostolic ministry. It is all the more noticeable when, beginning at 7:5, the travelogue picks up again and continues on until 7:16. However, upon closer perusal, scholars are increasingly reluctant to name this as part of a separate letter. Despite the abruptness between 2:13 and 2:14, the theme of human weakness and divine power in 2:12-17 connects to 1:8-10, and the theme of divine ownership connects 1:22 and 2:14. Despite the change of subject between 7:4 and 7:5, the verbal links supplied by "encouragement" (7:4,13), "joy" (7:4,7) and "troubles" (7:4,5) supply sturdy connections. Besides, the efforts to postulate yet another letter between 1 and 2 Corinthians or to connect this to the Severe Letter are unwarranted. More recent efforts to anaylze 2 Corinthians 1-7 through the eyes of Roman rhetoric as well as chiastic structure loudly confirm separation of 2:14-7:4 as ill-conceived. Certainly, it is a digression but not without purpose and point to the context as a whole.

Second, perhaps less obvious to the casual reader because it is such a short section is 2 Cor 6:14-7:1. Here, again, though, the careful reader observes an interruption between 6:13 ("Open wide your hearts also") and 7:2 ("Make room for us in your hearts"). Scholarly analysis of these six verses suggests that not only are they out of place, they don't sound like Paul, using six words he never uses elsewhere in his writings nor used by anyone else in the NT ( hapax legomenae ). Is this a snippet of something someone else said or wrote that Paul has adapted into his material, or is it something Paul wrote or spoke at another time and place that he decides to use here?

Despite some of the unusual language, Pauline themes do appear here: the church as the temple of God, the polarization of righteousness and unrighteousness as well as between light and dark. Also, plenty of characteristic Pauline language occurs: "living God" (2 Cor 3:3; 1 Thess 1:9), "unbeliever" (twelve other occurrences in 1 and 2 Cor), and "holiness" (Rom 1:4; 1 Thess 3:13). Although conclusions vary, many today incline toward this section being from Paul.

Eyeing the language of separation from unrighteousness, some have been tempted to conclude that 6:14-7:1 is part of the "previous" letter mentioned in 1 Cor 5:9. However, the point is explicitly different. Paul emphasizes that in the previous letter he urged separation from the immorality of believers not dissociation from unbelievers as emphasized in 6:14-7:1.

Most likely, then, Paul himself has inserted this pre-formed, self-contained unit of material from previous teaching, either oral or written, perhaps influenced by others. Interesting comparisons to Qumran materials as well as writings of Philo have been made. The placement exactly here in 2 Corinthians is so awkward as to be unlikely to come from anyone other than Paul. However, two points should be kept in mind. One is that Paul dictated this letter as he did all his letters. This fact enhances the potential for distraction, interruption, and loose digressions such as this. A second point is that although the section's relationship to the immediately previous verses is not obvious, as one backs up to 6:1 and reads of Paul's concern about receiving "God's grace in vain" or to 5:19 to see Paul's emphasis on people "no longer living for themselves but for him who died for them," Paul's emphasis on separation and holiness in 6:14-7:1 fits well.

Probably inconceivable to the casual reader is the suggestion that 2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9 both were not originally part of 2 Corinthians. Arguments regarding 2 Corinthians 8 - repetition of information about Titus (7:13-15; 8:16-17), presumption of knowledge about the two brothers coming with him (8:18,22), or even evidence that 2 Corinthians 8 as well as 2 Corinthians 9 are formal business letters - do not convince many. Arguments regarding 2 Corinthians 9, first proposed by Semler 200 years ago, that 2 Corinthians 9 was originally a letter sent to Christians outside Corinth, are more formidable, and give scholars more pause.

What pulls them up short is the language Paul uses to refer to the collection ("service") in 9:1, which, in Greek, reads like a first mention of the collection. In addition to that, the regional reference to Achaia in 9:2 and the repetition of information from chapter 8 in chapter 9 regarding the collection give added support to the idea of chapter 9 being originally independent.

On the other side of the question is the fact that Paul's reference to the collection in 9:1 is modified by ( men gar , "and for") which suggests a resumption of a previous subject perhaps after a brief pause in dictation. The repetition of details regarding the collection is probably emphatic, and the regional reference to Achaia seems unlikely to exclude Corinth. Tipping the scale against an independent chapter 9, as noted by Furnish, are two references in chapter 9 which presume information from chapter 8: the mention of the brothers (9:3; 8:18) and the emphasis on their completing the collection (9:4-5; 8:7-15).

Admittedly, this is a close call. However, the evidence does not demand that chapters 8 and 9 are two separate letters about the collection, one to Corinth, and one to Achaia. Rather, these are interdependent chapters in 2 Corinthians, chapter 8 dealing with the details of the collection project and chapter 9 emphasizing motivation for the project, as noted by Danker.

Fourth, without a doubt the most serious challenge to the unity of 2 Corinthians comes from chapters 10-13. As long ago as 1870, Hausrath broadcast his belief that in these chapters, he had discovered the missing "severe" letter to the Corinthians. No doubt, in chapters 10-13 Paul erupts into harsh tones of anger and disappointment which seem to undercut completely the exuberance and joy which he builds up to by chapters 7, 8, and 9.

But Hausrath looked closer and pointed to evidence that chapters 10-13 were written previous to chapters 1-9. Particularly he saw passages in chapters 1-9 written in the past tense which appear to allude to passages from chapters 10-13 written in future tenses, such as 1:23 which says that Paul "did not return" to them in order to spare them, corresponding to 13:2 in which Paul asserts that he "will not return" in order to spare them or when Paul says in 2:3-4 that he "wrote" them out of great distress and in 13:10 when he says "I write" so that I may not have to be harsh. Hausrath also contends that Paul's reference to Rome (west of Corinth) as "regions beyond you" in 2 Cor 10:16 makes much better sense if he is in Ephesus (east of Corinth), where he wrote the Severe Letter, rather than Macedonia (north of Corinth), where he wrote 2 Corinthians.

Criticism against Hausrath's identification of 2 Cor 10-13 with the "severe" letter has withered its persuasiveness among scholars. Primarily, chapters 10-13 do not contain something we know specifically was in the Severe Letter: Paul's demand that an individual who offended him be punished (2:5-6; 7:12). Also, chapters 10-13 promise a visit (12:14; 13:1), but the Severe Letter was sent in place of a Painful Visit (1:23; 2:1). Regarding "regions beyond you," the language need not be taken so literally and the Macedonian region should be recognized as much more culturally distinct from Achaia than it looks like on a map.

More appealing to scholars of all stripes, including many conservatives, is to view 2 Cor 10-13 as a separate, fifth letter, written after Titus returns with new, bad news after delivering 2 Corinthians 1-9. This position still takes into account Hausrath's future tense passages. It helps make sense of 2 Cor 12:18 which refers to Titus's visit in the past tense when it was in the planning stage in 2 Corinthians 7-9. Also, it explains the increased strident tones of chapters 10-13 as Paul's response to new, outside influences claiming some kind of rival apostolic authority to Paul's (11:13; 12:11) rather than to internal problems which seem to be his concern in chapters 1-9.

This way of viewing chapters 10-13 is attractive but is not demanded by the evidence. As Witherington points out, the past (aorist) tenses describing Titus's visit in 12:17-18 need not be real. Especially as Paul reaches the end of the book, they could well be epistolary (spoken from the standpoint of the audience reading the letter). The mention of the unnamed brother traveling with Titus does correspond with 2 Cor 8:18,22. Reading 12:17-18 this way opens up the very real possibility that Paul could have received new information about problems in Corinth before sending 2 Corinthians but after writing chapters 1-9. This could explain the gulf between chapters 10-13 as well as an entirely separate letter.

Other ways which account for the change of tone in chapter 10-13 have to do with how one reads the letter. Perhaps chapters 1-9 are directed to the majority of the church which has fallen into line with Paul after the Painful Visit, the Severe Letter, and Titus's hard work while chapters 10-13 are to the minority who are still under the sway of outside opposition to Paul. After all, 2 Cor 2:6 does speak of "the majority" which imposed discipline upon the offender named in the Severe Letter.

Perhaps, as a growing group of scholars are showing, Paul's heightened criticism of the Corinthians in chapters 10-13 concludes a calculated rhetorical plan employing counterattack ( synkrisis ) or strong emotional appeal ( peroratio ) to win his defense against the charges being leveled at him by the Corinthians. One must admit that Paul never relaxes from a defensive posture in 2 Corinthians from the beginning to the end. While Paul's harsh tones in chapters 10-13 following the lead up in chapters 7, 8, and 9 may seem abrupt, his concerns from early in the letter haven't really changed, just his emotionalism. The issue of his character raised in chapter 1 and of the legitimacy of his apostleship raised in chapter 3 remain the object of his defense in chapters 10-13.

The correspondence of these issues is enough to suggest that even though outside influence of "false apostles" (11:13) is not named earlier, they influence the minority of the Corinthian church and provide the ammunition against Paul observed in the earlier chapters. Who else would have brandished "letters of recommendation" (3:1)? Their earliest influences could even be in the background of Paul's problems associated with the Painful Visit.

As evident from 2 Cor 7:8-13, the offending individual merely became the pretext for the whole church failing to rally behind Paul until after the Severe Letter. Although Paul can be ecstatic that most of the church has recommitted themselves to him and to the gospel by the time he writes 2 Corinthians, nevertheless, pockets of opposition likely remain under the growing influence of the outside agitators. With chapters 10-13 Paul intends to level a decisive blow against this opposition not only to bring the remainder of the church back to the true gospel but also to shore up any lingering doubts from those who have pledged their loyalty.

Paul's transition to chapter 10 indeed is rocky but, as Danker points out, no more so than Phil 3 or Rom 9. In this commentary, therefore, we will treat 2 Corinthians as a unity and will treat chapters 10-13 as primarily aimed at responding to a vocal minority of the church who remain mesmerized by the outsiders' criticisms of Paul.

PAUL'S OPPONENTS

Second Corinthians resounds with the echo of outside voices filling the Corinthians' heads with notions geared to sever their relationship with Paul. Since Paul originally brought the gospel to Corinth and made it possible for people there to be reconciled with God through Christ and begin a vibrant church meeting in homes throughout the city, others have come to Corinth presenting themselves as superior in authority to the apostle Paul himself. Presuming the opponents in 2 Cor 10-13 and 1-9 are the same, they supposedly have letters of authentication from Jerusalem (3:1-3), Paul blasts them as "false apostles" (11:13) and sarcastically as "super apostles" in 12:11. Nevertheless, they have influenced and confused the Corinthians enough to force Paul to write 2 Corinthians and fill it with self-commendation regarding his integrity and his "superior" apostolic credentials over theirs. He does this because he feels he must in order to win the Corinthians back, but he finds doing so personally disturbing and repugnant.

Whereas Paul finds it difficult to boast about himself, self-commendation seems to be the chief characteristic of these outsiders. Clues from 2 Corinthians indicate that they were proud of their Jewish heritage (11:22), their "Christian" service (11:23), their oratorical skill (11:6), their self-confidence (1:15-17), and their charismatic experiences (12:12). They preached a different gospel than Paul's (11:4). They also accepted money from the Corinthians, unlike Paul who refused it (12:16). They may have viewed Paul's effort to collect money from the Corinthians for the Jerusalem Christians as cutting off their own purse strings and threatening their prosperity in Corinth.

Their heated, personalized efforts to undercut Paul sound like Paul's opposition in Galatians, commonly called Judaizers (Gal 4:17). However, no mention of the law or circumcision in 2 Corinthians clouds this identification and requires that, if these are the same people, they have changed their tune considerably since Galatians. The fact that they tout letters of recommendation - where else but from Jerusalem - makes it difficult to lay aside the picture of a band of renegade, conservative Jewish Christians who first followed Paul to Galatia and now to Corinth with the expressed purpose of replacing Paul's gospel and his authority to represent true Christianity (Gal 1:6-7).

It is going too far to say that their credentials were currently legitimate or that they were actual apostles since Acts 15:24 reports that a faction of Jewish Christians had gone out falsely representing the church to new, Gentile congregations. It is possible, though, that they do have apostolic credentials - perhaps even knew Jesus before his crucifixion - but now are misusing these credentials to subvert Paul's successful mission to Gentiles in Galatia and now also in Corinth and other churches as well.

The picture of these Corinthian opponents as ultraconservative Jewish Christians clashes with a considerable amount of the evidence which points to their Greek or even gnostic origins. Their connection to revelations and wonders, rhetorical skills, "worldly" wisdom, and just their overall egotistical posture must be reckoned with. Undermining at least the gnostic element is the positive use of "knowledge" in 2 Corinthians. Nevertheless, a typical result when these ingredients are combined emerges with a conclusion that they were "Hellenistic Jews who were propagating . . . a 'spiritual gnosticism.'"

However, it seems inconceivable that ultraconservative Jewish Christians coming out of Jerusalem could be pushing a gospel so infiltrated with Greek ideas as to be outside the bounds of Paul's own radicalized message which had stripped unnecessary Jewish elements. Could these Jewish agitators be so clever as to be able to manipulate the Corinthians against Paul by successfully incorporating elements from Greek culture into their opposition to Paul which they themselves don't believe? It doesn't seem likely, but then no identification satisfactorily combines the paradoxical elements of these opponents as currently gleaned from the information we have from 2 Corinthians and the first century. As one commentator astutely points out, any final resolution is also hampered considerably by the fact that 2 Corinthians provides no information about the doctrine or theology of these opponents. Most current discussion recognizes the limitations involved in this discussion and offers no more than conjectures as has been done here.

It's best, then, to keep in mind the characteristics of Paul's opponents available from reading 2 Corinthians without any adamant historical identification until better information becomes available. They were Jewish. They were Greek. They considered themselves Christians. They hated Paul. They hurt Paul, and he feared what more they could do. It was up to him to marshal all the strength and the skills he had to prevent them from doing any further damage. They had backed him into a corner, and he responds with ferocity and emotion in 2 Corinthians, compelled out of his deep love for the Corinthians and his commitment to true, saving Christianity and humble, self-sacrificing leadership.

RELEVANCE

Christians treat 2 Corinthians like the ugly twin sister of 1 Corinthians. First Corinthian's poignant theology about challenging issues attracts everyone's constant attention. Meanwhile, 2 Corinthians sits in the corner waiting for someone to ask it to dance. Yet, once we make some effort to get to know 2 Corinthians, we will be pleasantly surprised.

Today, as in the days of the early church, various outside forces threaten to sever people's loyalty to Christ and cut away at the fabric of the church. It might be a cult like Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses. It might be cultural forces like the challenges of postmodernism or the mind-set of the so-called Generation X which questions absolutes like God and salvation in Christ alone. It might just be an obstinate person who envies the authority of the minister, elders, or deacons and questions their integrity and decision-making at every turn and who draws around him or her an anti-faction.

If you are someone who cares deeply about your local church and would do almost anything to maintain its success and its integrity as a body of Christian believers, then 2 Corinthians will speak to your heart and nourish your soul. You will relate to Paul's agony over this church , feel his compassion, and be engulfed by his intense emotion in this letter. You will take in the principles of genuine church leadership and apply them to your life responsibly to enable you to enrich the quality of your local church.

The comments which follow are intended to help you both to understand 2 Corinthians in its own historical context and to apply its key principles to your own personal context in the church today.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

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-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

ABBREVIATIONS

1 Clem 1 Clement

1QH The Thanksgiving Hymns (Dead Sea Scroll)

1QM The War Scroll (Dead Sea Scroll)

1QS Rule of the Community (Dead Sea Scroll)

2 Clem 2 Clement

AJP American Journal of Philology

ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römishen Welt, ed. Temporini and Haase

AusBR Australian Biblical Review

AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies

BA Biblical Archaeologist

BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research

BSac Bibliotheca Sacra

BT Bible Translator

BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin

CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

CD The Damascus Document (Dead Sea Scroll)

DPL Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Hawthorne, Martin, and Reid

Ebr. De Ebrietate (Philo)

EvQ Evangelical Quarterly

ExpTim Expository Times

HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology

Heres Qui Rerum Divinarum Heres sit (Philo)

HTR Harvard Theological Review

ICC International Critical Commentary

Int Interpretation

JB Jerusalem Bible

JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

JRH Journal of Religious History

JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament

JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

JTS Journal of Theological Studies

LB Living Bible

NAB New American Bible

NASB New American Standard Bible

NEB New English Bible

Neot Neotestamentica

NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament

NIDNTT New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Brown

NIV New International Version

NLT New Living Translation

NovT Novum Testamentum

NovTSupp Novum Testamentum Supplements

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

NTS New Testament Studies

RB Revue Biblique

ResQ Restoration Quarterly

RSV Revised Standard Version

SCJ Stone-Campbell Journal

SJT Scottish Journal of Theology

Spec.Leg. Philo, De Specialibus Legibus

TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Kittel and Friedrich

TEV Today's English Version

T.Jos Testament of Joseph

T.Levi Testament of Levi

T.Naph Testament of Naphtali

TS Theological Studies

TynBul Tyndale Bulletin

WW Word and World

ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenshaft

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: 2 Corinthians (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. OPENING - 1:1-2

II. THANKSGIVING - 1:3-11

A. GOD COMFORTS - 1:3-7

B. GOD DELIVERS - 1:8-11

III. DEFENSE OF INTEGRITY - 1:12-2:13

A. CLARITY SOUGHT - 1:12-14

B. SECOND TRAVEL ITINERARY EXPLAINED - 1:15-17

C. CANDOR DEMANDED - 1:18-22

D. THIRD TRAVEL ITINERARY DEFENDED - 1:23-2:4

E. THE OFFENDER FORGIVEN - 2:5-11

F. ACTUAL TRAVEL DESCRIBED - 2:12-13

IV. DEFENSE OF APOSTOLIC MINISTRY IN PRINCIPLE - 2:14-7:4

A. SUFFICIENT FOR MINISTRY - 2:14-3:6

1. The Aroma of Christ Spread - 2:14-17

2. A Living Letter of Recommendation Sent - 3:1-3

3. A Personal Reference Provided - 3:4-6

B. SUPERIOR TO THE OLD COVENANT - 3:7-18

1. Glory Unsurpassed 3:7-11

2. Glory Unobstructed 3:12-18

C. TENACIOUS DESPITE SHORTCOMINGS - 4:1-5:10

1. Christ Preached Plainly - 4:1-6

2. Hardships Overcome because of Jesus' Death - 4:7-12

3. Increasing Multitudes Brought to Life - 4:13-15

4. Driven by Unseen, Eternal Reward - 4:16-18

5. Confident in Eternal Home - 5:1-10

a) Permanent Home Guaranteed - 5:1-5

b) Pleasing the Lord Prioritizes Life - 5:6-10

D. PREACHING RECONCILIATION THROUGH CHRIST - 5:11-6:2

1. Motivated by Christ's Love - 5:11-15

2. Christ's Message of Reconciliation Delivered - 5:16-6:2

E. HARDSHIPS IN MINISTRY - 6:3-10

F. AN APPEAL FOR OPENNESS AND RECONCILIATION - 6:11-7:4

1. Paul's Heart Opened - 6:11-13

2. Holiness Demanded - 6:14-7:1

3. Paul's Trust Expressed - 7:2-4

V. ENCOURAGING NEWS: RELATIONSHIP FULLY RESTORED - 7:5-16

A. TITUS REPORTS LOVE FOR PAUL - 7:5-7

B. TRUE REPENTANCE DEMONSTRATES INNOCENCE - 7:8-13a

C. TITUS EXPRESSED DEEP AFFECTION - 7:13b-16

VI. PREPARATION FOR THE COLLECTION - 8:1-9:15

A. INCENTIVES TOWARD GENEROSITY - 8:1-15

1. Excel Like the Macedonians - 8:1-7

2. Give Like Christ - 8:8-9

3. Complete Your Offering - 8:10-12

4. Achieve Equity - 8:13-15

B. TITUS PLUS TWO OTHERS SENT TO CORINTH TO HELP - 8:16-9:5

1. Criticism to Be Thwarted - 8:16-21

2. Measure Up to Expectations - 8:22-24

3. Follow Through on What Was Begun - 9:1-5

C. MORE INCENTIVE TO BE GENEROUS - 9:6-15

1. God Will Be Generous - 9:6-11

2. God Will Be Praised - 9:12-15

VII. FINAL DEFENSE OF MINISTRY - 10:1-13:10

A. LAUNCH OF A MASSIVE COUNTERATTACK - 10:1-18

1. Powerful Weapons Employed - 10:1-6

2. Forceful Personal Presence Warned - 10:7-10

3. God's Expansion of the Gospel Boasted - 10:12-18

B. COMPARISON TO FALSE APOSTLES MADE - 11:1-15

1. True Message of Jesus Preached - 11:1-6

2. No Money Accepted - 11:7-12

3. The False Apostles Serve Satan - 11:13-15

C. BOASTING AS A "FOOL" - 11:16-33

1. Rationale Provided - 11:16-21a

2. Ancestry and Hardships Listed - 11:21b-29

3. Weakness Boasted - 11:30-33

D. MORE BOASTING - 12:1-10

1. A Vision Divulged - 12:1-6

2. An Irremovable Thorn Remains - 12:7-10

E. "BOASTING" RETROSPECTIVE - 12:11-13

F. PREPARATION FOR THE THIRD VISIT - 12:14-13:10

1. No Exploitation Tactics Employed - 12:14-18

2. More Trouble Feared - 12:19-21

3. Harsh Treatment for Sinners Warned - 13:1-4

4. Faith-testing Evidences Paul's Strength - 13:5-10

VIII. CLOSING REMARKS - 13:11-14

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV