Text -- 2 Corinthians 12:8 (NET)

12:8 I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 2Co 12:8

Concerning this thing ( huper toutou ).

More likely, "concerning this messenger of Satan."

Robertson: 2Co 12:8

That it might depart from me ( hina apostēi aph' emou ).

Second aorist active (intransitive) subjunctive of aphistēmi in final clause, "that he stand off from me for good."

Vincent: 2Co 12:8

For this thing ( ὑπὲρ τούτου )

Rev., concerning this thing . But it is better to refer this to messenger: concerning this or whom . For , of A.V., is ambiguous.

Wesley: 2Co 12:8

He had now forgot his being lifted up.

Wesley: 2Co 12:8

As our Lord besought his Father.

JFB: 2Co 12:8

"concerning this thing."

JFB: 2Co 12:8

To his first and second prayer no answer came. To his third the answer came, which satisfied his faith and led him to bow his will to God's will. So Paul's master, Jesus, thrice prayed on the Mount of Olives, in resignation to the Father's will. The thorn seems (from 2Co 12:9, and Greek, 2Co 12:7, "that he may buffet me") to have continued with Paul when he wrote, lest still he should be "overmuch lifted up."

JFB: 2Co 12:8

Christ. Escape from the cross is not to be sought even indirectly from Satan (Luk 4:7). "Satan is not to be asked to spare us" [BENGEL].

Clarke: 2Co 12:8

I besought the Lord - That is, Christ, as the next verse absolutely proves, and the Socinians themselves confess. And if Christ be an object of prayer in such a case as this, or indeed in any case, it is a sure proof of his divinity; for only an omniscient Being can be made an object of prayer

Clarke: 2Co 12:8

Thrice - Several suppose this to be a certain number for an uncertain; as if he had said, I often besought Christ to deliver me from this tormentor: or, which is perhaps more likely, the apostle may refer to three solemn, fixed, and fervent applications made to Christ at different times; at the last of which he received the answer which he immediately subjoins. It is worthy of remark, that our Lord in his agony acted in the same way: at three different times he applied to God that the cup might depart from him; and in each application he spoke the same words, Mat 26:39-44. There is, therefore, a manifest allusion to our Lord’ s conduct in these words of the apostle.

Calvin: 2Co 12:8

8.For this thing I besought the Lord thrice Here, also, ⁹⁰⁷ the number three is employed to denote frequent repetition. ⁹⁰⁸ He means, however, to intimate, that this annoyance had been felt by him distressing, inasmuch as he had so frequently prayed to be exempted from it. For if it had been slight, or easy to be endured, he would not have been so desirous to be freed from it; and yet he says that he had not obtained this: hence it appears, how much need he had of being humbled. He confirms, therefore, what he had said previously — that he had, by means of this bridle, been held back from being haughty; for if relief from it had been for his advantage, he would never have met with a refusal.

It may seem, however, to follow from this, that Paul had not by any means prayed in faith, if we would not make void all the promises of God. ⁹⁰⁹ “We read everywhere in Scripture, that we shall obtain whatever we ask in faith: Paul prays, and does not obtain.” I answer, that as there are different ways of asking, so there are different ways of obtaining. We ask in simple terms those things as to which we have an express promise — as, for example, the perfecting of God’s kingdom, and the hallowing of his name, (Mat 6:9,) the remission of our sins, and every thing that is advantageous to us; but, when we think that the kingdom of God can, nay must be advanced, in this particular manner, or in that, and that this thing, or that, is necessary for the hallowing of his name, we are often mistaken in our opinion. In like manner, we often fall into a serious mistake as to what tends to promote our own welfare. Hence we ask those former things confidently, and without any reservation, while it does not belong to us to prescribe the means. If, however, we specify the means, there is always a condition implied, though not expressed. Now Paul was not so ignorant as not to know this. Hence, as to the object of his prayer, there can be no doubt that he was heard, although he met with a refusal as to the express form. By this we are admonished not to give way to despondency, as if our prayers had been lost labor, when God does not gratify or comply with our wishes, but that we must be satisfied with his grace, that is, in respect of our not being forsaken by him. For the reason, why he sometimes mercifully refuses to his own people, what, in his wrath, he grants to the wicked, is this — that he foresees better what is expedient for us, than our understanding is able to apprehend.

Defender: 2Co 12:8

Although Paul's prayers and spiritual gifts had brought physical healing to many others, he could not heal himself. While God is often pleased to answer prayers for healing, it must always depend upon the will and purpose of God for the individual. In God's infinite wisdom and in the light of eternity, it may be best in many cases not to heal, and we must be content if that is so."

TSK: 2Co 12:8

I besought : Deu 3:23-27; 1Sa 15:11; 2Sa 12:16-18; Psa 77:2-11; Mat 20:21, Mat 20:22; Mat 26:39-44; Heb 5:7

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Co 12:8

For this thing - On account of this; in order that this calamity might be removed.

I besought the Lord - The word "Lord"in the New Testament, when it stands without any other word in connection to limit its signification, commonly denotes the Lord Jesus Christ; see the note on Act 1:24. The following verse here shows conclusively that it was the Lord Jesus to whom Paul addressed this prayer. The answer was that his grace was sufficient for him; and Paul consoled himself by saying that it was a sufficient support if the power of Christ implied in that answer, should rest on him. He would glory in trials if such was their result. Even Rosenmuller maintains that it was the Lord Jesus to whom this prayer was addressed, and says that the Socinians themselves admit it. So Grotius (on 2Co 12:9) says that the answer was given by Christ. But if this refers to the Lord Jesus, then it proves that it is right to go to him in times of trouble, and that it is right to worship him. Prayer is the most solemn act of adoration which we can perform; and no better authority can be required for paying divine honors to Christ than the fact that Paul worshipped him and called upon him to remove a severe and grievous calamity.

Thrice - This may either mean that he prayed for this often, or that he sought it on three set and solemn occasions. Many commentators have supposed that the former is meant. But to me it seems probable that Paul on three special occasions earnestly prayed for the removal of this calamity. It will be recollected that the Lord Jesus prayed three times in the garden of Gethsemane that the cup might be removed from him, Mat 26:44. At the third time he ceased, and submitted to what was the will of God. There is some reason to suppose that the Jews were in the habit of praying three times for any important blessing or for the removal of any calamity; and Paul in this would not only conform to the usual custom, but especially he would he disposed to imitate the example of the Lord Jesus. Among the Jews three was a sacred number, and repeated instances occur where an important transaction is mentioned as having been done thrice; see Num 22:28; Num 24:10; 1Sa 3:8; 1Sa 20:41; 1Ki 18:44; Pro 22:20; Jer 7:4; Jer 22:29; Joh 21:17.

The probability, therefore, is, that Paul on three different occasions earnestly besought the Lord Jesus that this calamity might be removed from him. It might have been exceedingly painful, or it might, as he supposed, interfere with his success as a preacher; or it might have been of such a nature as to expose him to ridicule; and he prayed, therefore, if it were possible that it might be taken away. The passage proves that it is right to pray earnestly and repeatedly for the removal of any calamity. The Saviour so prayed in the garden; and Paul so prayed here. Yet it also proves that there should be a limit to such prayers. The Saviour prayed three times; and Paul limited himself to the same number of petitions and then submitted to the will of God. This does not prove that we should be limited to exactly this number in our petitions; but it proves that there should be a limit; that we should not be over-anxious, and that when it is plain from any cause that the calamity will not be removed, we should submit to it.

The Saviour in the garden knew that the cup would not be removed, and he acquiesced. Paul was told indirectly that his calamity would not be removed, and he submitted. We may expect no such revelation from heaven, but we may know in other ways that the calamity will not be removed; and we should submit. The child or other friend for whom we prayed may die; or the calamity, as, e. g., blindness, or deafness, or loss of health, or poverty, may become permanent, so that there is no hope of removing it; and we should then cease to pray that it may be removed, and we should cheerfully acquiesce in the will of God. So David prayed most fervently for his child when it was alive; when it was deceased, and it was of no further use to pray for it, he bowed in submission to the will of God, 2Sa 12:20.

Poole: 2Co 12:8

For the removal of this affliction, (of what nature soever it was), for the taking of this thorn out of my flesh, I prayed often. It is lawful for us to pray for the removal of bodily evils, though such prayer must be always attended with a due submission to the wisdom and will of God; they being not evils in themselves, but such trials as God intendeth for our good, (as it was here in Paul’ s case), and which issue in our spiritual advantage.

Haydock: 2Co 12:7-10

A sting of my flesh, [1] an angel, or a messenger of Satan, to buffet me. The Latin word signifies any thing that pricks or stings, the Greek word a sharp stick or pale: he speaks by a metaphor, as also when he says to buffet me; that is, by causing great trouble or pain. Some understand by it a violent headache or pain, or distemper in the body. St. Augustine mentions this opinion, and does not reject it, in Psalm xcviii. tom. 4. p. 1069.; in Psalm cxxx. p. 1465. St. Jerome also speaks of it in chap. iv. ad Galatas, tom. 4. p. 274. Ed. Ben. But St. John Chrysostom, by sting, and the angel of Satan, understands that opposition which St. Paul met with from his enemies, and those of the gospel; as Satan signifies an adversary. Others understand troublesome temptations of the flesh, immodest thoughts, and representations, suggested by the devil, and permitted by Almighty God for his greater good. ---

Thrice I besought the Lord. That is, many times, to be freed from it, but received only this answer from God, that his grace was sufficient to preserve me from consenting to sin. And that power and strength in virtue should increase, and be perfected in weakness, and by temptations, when they are resisted. St. Augustine seems to favour this exposition, in Psalm lviii. Conc. 2. p. 573. St. Jerome, in his letters to Eustochium, to Demetrias, and to Rusticus, the monk. And it is the opinion of St. Gregory, lib. 23. moral. tom. 1. p. 747. and of many others. (Witham) ---

If there were any danger of pride from his revelations, the base and filthy suggestions of the enemy of souls must cause humiliations, and mke him blush. But these are to be borne with submission to the will of God, for his power is more evident in supporting man under the greatest trials, than in freeing him from the attacks. ---

Power is made perfect. The strength and power of God more perfectly shines forth in our weakness and infirmity; as the more weak we are of ourselves, the more illustrious is his grace in supporting us, and giving us the victory under all trials and conflicts. (Challoner) ---

When I am weak. The more I suffer for Christ, the more I perceive the effects of his all-powerful grace, which sustains, enlightens, and strengthens me: the more also the glory and power of God appeareth in me. The pagans themselves were not ignorant that calamity was the soil in which virtue usually grows to perfection. Calamitas virtutis occasio est. (Seneca) ---

Optimos nos esse dum infirmi sumus. (Plin. vii. ep. 26.)

Gill: 2Co 12:8

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice,.... With respect to the thorn in the flesh, the messenger Satan, who gave him so much continual disturbance. This sent him to the throne of grace, to request of the Lord,

that it, or rather, "he might"

depart from me: this request greatly confirms the above sense, for it can hardly be thought the apostle would be so importunate about the removal of a common bodily affliction; and he knew that the corruption of his nature would remain with him as long as he was in the body; and as for afflictions, reproaches, and persecutions for the Gospel's sake, he was well apprized they would abide him wherever he went; but that so troublesome an adversary might depart, as it must be greatly desirable, so it was a very proper request: and it is made to a very proper person, to the "Lord" Jesus Christ; who in the days of his flesh had such power over the devils, as to dispossess them from the bodies of men by a word speaking, and held them in subjection, and in a panic fear of him; and when upon the cross, he spoiled principalities and powers, and in the latter day will bind Satan with a chain, and shut him up in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. This request was made thrice, not with any view to the three persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit; nor to the three usual times of prayer in a day, morning, noon, and night; nor is any exact number of times intended; but the sense is, that he frequently besought the Lord on this account.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

Geneva Bible: 2Co 12:8

For this thing I besought the Lord ^{( h )} thrice, that it might depart from me.

^{( h )} Often.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Co 12:1-21

1 For commending of his apostleship, though he might glory of his wonderful revelations,

9 yet he rather chooses to glory of his infirmities;

11 blaming them for forcing him to this vain boasting.

14 He promises to come to them again; but yet altogether in the affection of a father;

20 although he fears he shall to his grief find many offenders, and public disorders there.

Maclaren: 2Co 12:8-9

Strength In Weakness

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.'--2 Cor. 12:8-9.

THIS very remarkable page in the autobiography of the Apostle shows us that he, too, belonged to the great army of martyrs who, with hearts bleeding and pierced through and through with a dart, yet did their work for God. It is of little consequence what his thorn in the flesh may have been. The original word suggests very much heavier sorrow than the metaphor of a thorn' might imply. It really seems to mean not a tiny bit of thorn that might lie half concealed in the finger tip, but one of those hideous stakes on which the cruel punishment of impalement used to be inflicted. And Paul's thought is, not that he has a little, trivial trouble to bear, but that he is, as it were, forced quivering upon that tremendous torture.

Unquestionably, what he means is some bodily ailment or other. The hypothesis that the thorn in the flesh' was the sting of the animal nature inciting him to evil is altogether untenable, because such a thorn could never have been left when the prayer for its removal was earnestly presented; nor could it ever have been, when left, an occasion for glorifying. Manifestly it was no weakness removable by his own effort, no incapacity for service which in any manner approximated to being a fault, but purely and simply some infliction from God's hand (though likewise capable of being regarded as a messenger of Satan') which hindered him in his work, and took down any proud flesh and danger of spiritual exaltation in consequence of the largeness of his religious privileges.

Our text sets before us three most instructive wind-rags, as it were, of the stream of thoughts that passed through the Apostle's mind, in reference to this burden that he had to carry, and may afford wholesome contemplation for us to-day. There is, first, the instinctive shrinking which took refuge in prayer. Then there is the insight won by prayer into the sustaining strength for, and the purposes of, the thorn that was not to be plucked out. And then, finally, there is the peace of acquiescence, and a will that accepts, not the inevitable, but the loving.

I. First Of All We See The Instinctive Shrinking From That Which Tortured The Flesh, Which Takes Refuge In Prayer.

There is a wonderful, a beautiful, and, I suppose, an intentional parallel between the prayers of the servant and of the Master. Paul's petitions are the echo of Gethsemane. There, under the quivering olives, in the broken light of the Paschal moon, Jesus thrice' prayed that the cup might pass from Him. And here the servant, emboldened and instructed by the example of the Master,' thrice' reiterates his human and natural desire for the removal of the pain, whatever it was, which seemed to him so to hinder the efficiency and the fulness, as it certainly did the joy, of his service.

But He who prayed in Gethsemane was He to whom Paul addressed his prayer. For, as is almost always the case in the New Testament, the Lord' here evidently means Christ, as is obvious from the connection of the answer to the petition with the Apostle's final confidence and acquiescence. For the answer was, My strength is made perfect in weakness'; and the Apostle's conclusion is, Most gladly will I glorify in infirmity,' that the strength or power of Christ may rest upon me.' Therefore the prayer with which we have to deal here is a prayer offered to Jesus, who prayed in Gethsemane, and to whom we can bring our petitions and our desires.

Notice how this thought of prayer directed to the Master Himself helps to lead us deep into the sacredest and most blessed characteristics of prayer. It is only telling Christ what is in our hearts. Oh, if we lived in the true understanding of what prayer really is--the emptying out of our inmost desire and thoughts before our Brother, who is likewise our Lord--questions as to what it was permissible to pray for, and what it was not permissible to pray for, would be irrelevant, and drop away of themselves. If we had a less formal notion of prayer, and realised more thoroughly what it was--the speech of a confiding heart to a sympathising Lord--then everything that fills our hearts would be seen to be a fitting object of prayer. If anything is large enough to interest me, it is not too small to be spoken about to Him.

So the question, which is often settled upon very abstract and deep grounds that have little to do with the matter--the question as to whether prayer for outward blessings is permissible--falls away of itself. If I am to talk to Jesus Christ about everything that concerns me, am I to keep my thumb upon all that great department and be silent about it? One reason why our prayers are often so unreal is, because they do not fit our real wants, nor correspond to the thoughts that are busy in our minds at the moment of praying. Our hearts are full of some small matter of daily interest, and when we kneel down not a word about it comes to our lips. Can that be right?

The difference between the different objects of prayer is not to be found in the rejection of all temporal and external, but in remembering that there are two sets of things to be prayed about, and over one set must ever be written If it be Thy will,' and over the other it need not be written, because we are sure that the granting of our wishes is His will. We know about the one that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us.' That may seem to be a very poor and shrunken kind of hope to give a man, that if his prayer is in conformity with the previous determination of the divine will, it will be answered. But it availed for the joyful confidence of that Apostle who saw deepest into the conditions and the blessedness of the harmony of the will of God and of man. But about the other set we can only say, Not my will, but Thine be done.' With that sentence, not as a formula upon our lips but deep in our hearts, let us take everything into His presence--thorns and stakes, pinpricks and wounds out of which the life-blood is ebbing--let us take them all to Him, and be sure that we shall take none of them in vain.

So then we have the Person to whom the prayer is addressed, the subjects with which it is occupied, and the purpose to which it is directed. Take away the burden' was the Apostle's petition; but it was a mistaken petition and, therefore, unanswered.

II. That Brings Me To The Second Of The Windings, As I Have Ventured To Call Them,

Of this stream--viz, the insight into the source of strength for, and the purpose of, the thorn that could not be taken away. The Lord said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee. For My strength' (where the word My' is a supplement, but a necessary one) is made perfect in weakness.'

The answer is, in form and in substance, a gentle refusal of the form of the petition, but it is a more than granting of its essence. For the best answer to such a prayer, and the answer which a true man means when he asks, Take away the burden,' need not be the external removal of the pressure of the sorrow, but the infusing of power to sustain it. There are two ways of lightening a burden, one is diminishing its actual weight, the other is increasing the strength of the shoulder that bears it. And the latter is God's way, is Christ's way, of dealing with us.

Now mark that the answer which this faithful prayer receives is no communication of anything fresh, but it is the opening of the man's eyes to see that already he has all that he needs. The reply is not, I will give thee grace sufficient,' but My grace' (which thou hast now) is sufficient for thee.' That grace is given and possessed by the sorrowing heart at the moment when it prays. Open your eyes to see what you have, and you will not ask for the load to be taken away. Is not that always true? Many a heart is carrying some heavy weight; perhaps some have an incurable sorrow, some are stricken by disease that they know can never be healed, some are aware that the shipwreck has been total, and that the sorrow that they carry to-day will lie down with them in the dust. Be it so! My grace (not shall be, but) is sufficient for thee.' And what thou hast already in thy possession is enough for all that comes storming against thee of disease, disappointment, loss, and misery. Set on the one side all possible as well as all actual weaknesses, burdens, pains, and set on the other these two words--My grace,' and all these dwindle into nothingness and disappear. If troubled Christian men would learn what they have, and would use what they already possess, they would less often beseech Him with vain petitions to take away their blessings which are in the thorns in the flesh. My grace is sufficient.'

How modestly the Master speaks about what He gives! Sufficient'? Is not there a margin? Is there not more than is wanted? The overplus is exceeding abundant,' not only above what we ask or think,' but far more than our need. Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient that every one may take a little,' says Sense. Omnipotence says, Bring the few small loaves and fishes unto Me ; and Faith dispensed them amongst the crowd; and Experience' gathered up of the fragments that remained' more than there had been when the multiplication began. So the grace utilised increases; the gift grows as it is employed. Unto him that hath shall be given.' And the sufficiency' is not a bare adequacy, just covering the extent of the need, with no overlapping margin, but is large beyond expectation, desire, or necessity; so leading onwards to high hopes and a wider opening of the open mouths of our need that the blessing may pour in.

The other part of this great answer, that the Christ from Heaven spoke in or to the praying spirit of this not disappointed, though refused, Apostle, unveiled the purpose of the sorrow, even as the former part had disclosed the strength to bear it. For, says He, laying down therein the great law of His kingdom in all departments and in all ways, My strength is made perfect '--that is, of course, perfect in its manifestation or operations, for it is perfect in itself already. My strength is made perfect in weakness.' It works in and through man's weakness.

God works with broken reeds. If a man conceits himself to be an iron pillar, God can do nothing with or by him. All the self-conceit and confidence have to be taken out of him first. He has to be brought low before the Father can use him for His purposes. The lowlands hold the water, and, if only the sluice is open, the gravitation of His grace does all the rest and carries the flood into the depths of the lowly heart.

His strength loves to work in weakness, only the weakness must be conscious, and the conscious weakness must have passed into conscious dependence. There, then, you get the law for the Church, for the works of Christianity on the widest scale, and in individual lives. Strength that conceits itself to be such is weakness; weakness that knows itself to be such is strength. The only true source of Power, both for Christian work and in all other respects, is God Himself; and our strength is ours but by derivation from Him. And the only way to secure that derivation is through humble dependence, which we call faith in Jesus Christ. And the only way by which that faith in Jesus Christ can ever be kindled in a man's soul is through the sense of his need and emptiness. So when we know ourselves weak, we have taken the first step to strength; just as, when we know ourselves sinners, we have taken the first step to righteousness; just as in all regions the recognition of the doleful fact of our human necessity is the beginning of the joyful confidence in the glad, triumphant fact of the divine fulness. All our hollownesses, if I may so say, are met with His fulness that fits into them. It only needs that a man be aware of that which he is, and then turn himself to Him who is all that he is not, and then into his empty being will flow rejoicing the whole fulness of God. My strength is made perfect in weakness.'

III. Lastly, Mark The Calm Final Acquiescence In The Loving Necessity Of Continued Sorrow.

Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmity that the power of Christ may rest upon me.' The will is entirely harmonised with Christ's. The Apostle begins with instinctive shrinking, he passes onwards to a perception of the purpose of his trial and of the sustaining grace; and he comes now to acquiescence which is not passivity, but glad triumph. He is more than submissive, he gladly glories in his infirmity in order that the power of Christ may spread a tabernacle over' him. It is good for me that I have been afflicted,' said the old prophet. Paul says, in a yet higher note of concord with God's will, I am glad that I sorrow. I rejoice in weakness, because it makes it easier for me to cling, and, clinging, I am strong, and conquer evil.' Far better is it that the sting of our sorrow should be taken away, by our having learned what it is for, and having bowed to it, than that it should be taken away by the external removal which we sometimes long for. A grief, a trial, an incapacity, a limitation, a weakness, which we use as a means of deepening our sense of dependence upon Him, is a blessing, and not a sorrow. And if we would only go out into the world trying to interpret its events in the spirit of this great text, we should less frequently wonder and weep over what sometimes seem to us the insoluble mysteries of the sorrows of ourselves and of other men. They are all intended to make it more easy for us to realise our utter hanging upon Him, and so to open our hearts to receive more fully the quickening influences of His omnipotent and self-sufficing grace.

Here, then, is a lesson for those who have to carry some cross and know they must carry it throughout life. It will be wreathed with flowers if you accept it. Here is a lesson for all Christian workers. Ministers of the Gospel especially should banish all thoughts of their own cleverness, intellectual ability, culture, sufficiency for their work, and learn that only when they are emptied can they be filled, and only when they know themselves to be nothing are they ready for God to work through them. And here is a lesson for all who stand apart from the grace and power of Jesus Christ as if they needed it not. Whether you know it or not, you are a broken reed; and the only way of your ever being bound up and made strong is that you shall recognise your sinfulness, your necessity, your abject poverty, your utter emptiness, and come to Him who is righteousness, riches, fulness, and say, Because I am weak, be Thou my strength.' The secret of all noble, heroic, useful, happy life lies in the paradox, When I am weak, then am I strong,' and the secret of all failures, miseries, hopeless losses, lies in its converse, When I am strong, then am I weak.'

MHCC: 2Co 12:7-10

The apostle gives an account of the method God took to keep him humble, and to prevent his being lifted up above measure, on account of the visions and revelations he had. We are not told what this thorn in the flesh was, whether some great trouble, or some great temptation. But God often brings this good out of evil, that the reproaches of our enemies help to hide pride from us. If God loves us, he will keep us from being exalted above measure; and spiritual burdens are ordered to cure spiritual pride. This thorn in the flesh is said to be a messenger of Satan which he sent for evil; but God designed it, and overruled it for good. Prayer is a salve for every sore, a remedy for every malady; and when we are afflicted with thorns in the flesh, we should give ourselves to prayer. If an answer be not given to the first prayer, nor to the second, we are to continue praying. Troubles are sent to teach us to pray; and are continued, to teach us to continue instant in prayer. Though God accepts the prayer of faith, yet he does not always give what is asked for: as he sometimes grants in wrath, so he sometimes denies in love. When God does not take away our troubles and temptations, yet, if he gives grace enough for us, we have no reason to complain. Grace signifies the good-will of God towards us, and that is enough to enlighten and enliven us, sufficient to strengthen and comfort in all afflictions and distresses. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Thus his grace is manifested and magnified. When we are weak in ourselves, then we are strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; when we feel that we are weak in ourselves, then we go to Christ, receive strength from him, and enjoy most the supplies of Divine strength and grace.

Matthew Henry: 2Co 12:1-10

Here we may observe,

I. The narrative the apostle gives of the favours God had shown him, and the honour he had done him; for doubtless he himself is the man in Christ of whom he speaks. Concerning this we may take notice, 1. Of the honour itself which was done to the apostle: he was caught up into the third heaven, 2Co 12:2. When this was we cannot say, whether it was during those three days that he lay without sight at his conversion or at some other time afterwards, much less can we pretend to say how this was, whether by a separation of his soul from his body or by an extraordinary transport in the depth of contemplation. It would be presumption for us to determine, if not also to enquire into, this matter, seeing the apostle himself says, Whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell. It was certainly a very extraordinary honour done him: in some sense he was caught up into the third heaven, the heaven of the blessed, above the aerial heaven, in which the fowls fly, above the starry heaven, which is adorned with those glorious orbs: it was into the third heaven, where God most eminently manifests his glory. We are not capable of knowing all, nor is it fit we should know very much, of the particulars of that glorious place and state; it is our duty and interest to give diligence to make sure to ourselves a mansion there; and, if that be cleared up to us, then we should long to be removed thither, to abide there for ever. This third heaven is called paradise (2Co 12:4), in allusion to the earthly paradise out of which Adam was driven for his transgression; it is called the paradise of God (Rev 2:7), signifying to us that by Christ we are restored to all the joys and honours we lost by sin, yea, to much better. The apostle does not mention what he saw in the third heaven or paradise, but tells us that he heard unspeakable words, such as it is not possible for a man to utter - such are the sublimity of the matter and our unacquaintedness with the language of the upper world: nor was it lawful to utter those words, because, while we are here in this world, we have a more sure word of prophecy than such visions and revelations. 2Pe 1:19. We read of the tongue of angels as well as men, and Paul knew as much of that as ever any man upon earth did, and yet preferred charity, that is, the sincere love of God and our neighbour. This account which the apostle gives us of his vision should check our curious desires after forbidden knowledge, and teach us to improve the revelation God has given us in his word. Paul himself, who had been in the third heaven, did not publish to the world what he had heard there, but adhered to the doctrine of Christ: on this foundation the church is built, and on this we must build our faith and hope. 2. The modest and humble manner in which the apostle mentions this matter is observable. One would be apt to think that one who had had such visions and revelations as these would have boasted greatly of them; but, says he, It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory, 2Co 12:1. He therefore did not mention this immediately, nor till above fourteen years after, 2Co 12:2. And then it is not without some reluctancy, as a thing which in a manner he was forced to by the necessity of the case. Again, he speaks of himself in the third person, and does not say, I am the man who was thus honoured above other men. Again, his humility appears by the check he seems to put upon himself (2Co 12:6), which plainly shows that he delighted not to dwell upon this theme. Thus was he, who was not behind the chief of the apostles in dignity, very eminent for his humility. Note, It is an excellent thing to have a lowly spirit in the midst of high advancements; and those who abase themselves shall be exalted.

II. The apostle gives an account of the methods God took to keep him humble, and to prevent his being lifted up above measure; and this he speaks of to balance the account that was given before of the visions and revelations he had had. Note, When God's people communicate their experiences, let them always remember to take notice of what God has done to keep them humble, as well as what he has done in favour to them and for their advancement. Here observe,

1. The apostle was pained with a thorn in the flesh, and buffeted with a messenger of Satan, 2Co 12:7. We are much in the dark what this was, whether some great trouble or some great temptation. Some think it was an acute bodily pain or sickness; others think it was the indignities done him by the false apostles, and the opposition he met with from them, particularly on the account of his speech, which was contemptible. However this was, God often brings this good out of evil, that the reproaches of our enemies help to hide pride from us; and this is certain, that what the apostle calls a thorn in his flesh was for a time very grievous to him: but the thorns Christ wore for us, and with which he was crowned, sanctify and make easy all the thorns in the flesh we may at any time be afflicted with; for he suffered, being tempted, that he might be able to succour those that are tempted. Temptations to sin are most grievous thorns; they are messengers of Satan, to buffet us. Indeed it is a great grievance to a good man to be so much as tempted to sin.

2. The design of this was to keep the apostle humble: Lest he should be exalted above measure, 2Co 12:7. Paul himself knew he had not yet attained, neither was already perfect; and yet he was in danger of being lifted up with pride. If God love us, he will hide pride from us, and keep us from being exalted above measure; and spiritual burdens are ordered, to cure spiritual pride. This thorn in the flesh is said to be a messenger of Satan, which he did not send with a good design, but on the contrary, with ill intentions, to discourage the apostle (who had been so highly favoured of God) and hinder him in his work. But God designed this for good, and he overruled it for good, and made this messenger of Satan to be so far from being a hindrance that it was a help to the apostle.

3. The apostle prayed earnestly to God for the removal of this sore grievance. Note, Prayer is a salve for every sore, a remedy for every malady; and when we are afflicted with thorns in the flesh we should give ourselves to prayer. Therefore we are sometimes tempted that we may learn to pray. The apostle besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from him, 2Co 12:8. Note, Though afflictions are sent for our spiritual benefit, yet we may pray to God for the removal of them: we ought indeed to desire also that they may reach the end for which they are designed. The apostle prayed earnestly, and repeated his requests; he besought the Lord thrice, that is, often. So that if an answer be not given to the first prayer, nor to the second, we must hold on, and hold out, till we receive an answer. Christ himself prayed to his Father thrice. As troubles are sent to teach us to pray, so they are continued to teach us to continue instant in prayer.

4. We have an account of the answer given to the apostle's prayer, that, although the trouble was not removed, yet an equivalent should be granted: My grace is sufficient for thee. Note, (1.) Though God accepts the prayer of faith, yet he does not always answer it in the letter; as he sometimes grants in wrath, so he sometimes denies in love. (2.) When God does not remove our troubles and temptations, yet, if he gives us grace sufficient for us, we have no reason to complain, nor to say that he deals ill by us. It is a great comfort to us, whatever thorns in the flesh we are pained with, that God's grace is sufficient for us. Grace signifies two things: - [1.] The good-will of God towards us, and this is enough to enlighten and enliven us, sufficient to strengthen and comfort us, to support our souls and cheer up our spirits, in all afflictions and distresses. [2.] The good work of God in us, the grace we receive from the fulness that is in Christ our head; and from him there shall be communicated that which is suitable and seasonable, and sufficient for his members. Christ Jesus understands our case, and knows our need, and will proportion the remedy to our malady, and not only strengthen us, but glorify himself. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Thus his grace is manifested and magnified; he ordains his praise out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.

III. Here is the use which the apostle makes of this dispensation: He gloried in his infirmities (2Co 12:9), and took pleasure in them, 2Co 12:10. He does not mean his sinful infirmities (those we have reason to be ashamed of and grieved at), but he means his afflictions, his reproaches, necessities, persecutions, and distresses for Christ's sake, 2Co 12:10. And the reason of his glory and joy on account of these things was this - they were fair opportunities for Christ to manifest the power and sufficiency of his grace resting upon him, by which he had so much experience of the strength of divine grace that he could say, When I am weak, then am I strong. This is a Christian paradox: when we are weak in ourselves, then we are strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; when we see ourselves weak in ourselves, then we go out of ourselves to Christ, and are qualified to receive strength from him, and experience most of the supplies of divine strength and grace.

Barclay: 2Co 12:1-10

If we have any sensitiveness, we should read this passage with a certain reverence, for in it Paul lays bare his heart and shows us at one and the same time his glory and his pain.

All against his will he is still setting out his credentials, and he tells of an experience at which we can only wonder and which we cannot even try to probe. In the strangest way he seems to stand outside himself and look at himself. "I know a man," he says. The man is himself and yet Paul can look at the man who had this amazing experience with a kind of wondering detachment. For the mystic, the great aim of all religious experience is the vision of God and union with him.

The mystic always has aimed at that moment of wonder when "the seer and the Seen are one." In their traditions the Jews said that four rabbis had had this vision of God. Ben Azai had seen the glory and had died. Ben Soma beheld it and went mad. Acher saw it and "cut up the young plants," that is, in spite of the vision he became a heretic and ruined the garden of truth. Akiba alone ascended in peace and in peace came back. We cannot even guess what happened to Paul. We need not form theories about the number of heavens because of the fact that he speaks of the third heaven. He simply means that his spirit rose to an unsurpassable ecstasy in its nearness to God.

One lovely thing we may note, for it will help a little. The word Paradise comes from a Persian word which means a walled-garden. When a Persian king wished to confer a very special honour on someone specially dear to him, he made him a companion of the garden and gave him the right to walk in the royal gardens with him in intimate companionship. In this experience, as never before and never again, Paul had been the companion of God.

After the glory came the pain. The King James Version and the Revised Standard Versions speak of the thorn in the flesh. The word (skolops, 4647) can mean thorn but more likely it means stake. Sometimes criminals were impaled upon a sharp stake. It was a stake like that that Paul felt was twisting in his body. What was it? Many answers have been given. First we look at those which great men have held but which, in face of the evidence, we must discard.

(i) The thorn has been taken to mean spiritual temptations; the temptation to doubt and to shirk the duties of the apostolic life, and the sting of conscience when temptation conquered. That was Calvin's view.

(ii) It has been taken to mean the opposition and persecution which he had to face, the constant battle with those who tried to undo his work. That was Luther's view.

(iii) It has been taken to mean carnal temptations. When the monks and the hermits shut themselves up in their monasteries and their cells they found that the last instinct that could be tamed was that of sex. They wished to eliminate it but it haunted them. They held that Paul was like that; and this is the common Roman Catholic view to this day.

None of these solutions can be right, for three reasons. (a) The very word "stake" indicates an almost savage pain. (b) The whole picture before us is one of physical suffering. © Whatever the thorn was, it was intermittent, for, although it sometimes prostrated Paul, it never kept him wholly from his work. So then let us look at the other suggestions.

(iv) It has been suggested that the thorn was Paul's physical appearance. "His bodily presence is weak" (2Co 10:10). It has been suggested that he suffered from some disfigurement which made him ugly and hindered his work. But that does not account for the sheer pain that must have been there.

(v) One of the commonest solutions is epilepsy. It is painful and recurrent, and between attacks the sufferer can go about his business. It produced visions and trances such as Paul experienced. It can be repellent; in the ancient world it was attributed to demons. In the ancient world when people saw an epileptic they spat to ward off the evil demon. In Gal 4:14Paul says that when the Galatians saw his infirmity they did not reject him. The Greek word literally means you did not spit at me. But this theory has consequences which are hard to accept. It would mean that Paul's visions were epileptic trances, and it is hard to believe that the visions which changed the world were due to epileptic attacks.

(vi) The oldest of all theories is that Paul suffered from severe and prostrating headaches. Both Tertullian and Jerome believed that.

(vii) That may well lead us to the truth, for still another theory is that Paul suffered from eye trouble and this would explain the headaches. After the glory on the Damascus Road passed, he was blind (Act 9:9). It may be that his eyes never recovered again. Paul said of the Galatians that they would have plucked out their eyes and would have given them to him (Gal 4:15). At the end of Galatians he writes, "See in what large letters I am writing to you" (Gal 6:11), as if he was describing the great sprawling characters of a man who could hardly see.

(viii) By far the most likely thing is that Paul suffered from chronically recurrent attacks of a certain virulent malarial fever which haunted the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean. The natives of the country, when they wished to harm an enemy, prayed to their gods that he should be "burnt up" with this fever. One who has suffered from it describes the headache that accompanies it as being like "a red-hot bar thrust through the forehead." Another speaks of "the grinding, boring pain in one temple, like the dentist's drill--the phantom wedge driven in between the jaws," and says that when the thing became acute it "reached the extreme point of human endurance." That in truth deserves the description of a thorn in the flesh, and even of a stake in the flesh. The man who endured so many other sufferings had this agony to contend with all the time.

Paul prayed that it might be taken from him, but God answered that prayer as he answers so many prayers--he did not take the thing away but gave Paul strength to bear it. That is how God works. He does not spare us things, but makes us able to conquer them.

To Paul came the promise and the reality of the all-sufficient grace. Now let us see from his life some few of the things for which that grace was sufficient.

(i) It was sufficient for physical weariness. It made him able to go on. John Wesley preached 42,000 sermons. He averaged 4,500 miles a year. He rode 60 to 70 miles a day and preached three sermons a day on an average. When he was 83 he wrote in his diary, "I am a wonder to myself. I am never tired, either with preaching, writing, or travelling." That was the work of the all-sufficient grace.

(ii) It was sufficient for physical pain. It made him able to bear the cruel stake. Once a man went to visit a girl who was in bed dying of an incurable and a most painful disease. He took with him a little book of cheer for those in trouble, a sunny book, a happy book, a laughing book. "Thank you very much," she said, "but I know this book." "Have you read it already?" asked the visitor. The girl answered, "I wrote it." That was the work of the all-sufficient grace.

(iii) It was sufficient for opposition. All his life Paul was up against it and all his life he never gave in. No amount of opposition could break him or make him turn back. That was the work of the all-sufficient grace.

(iv) It made him able, as all this letter shows, to face slander. There is nothing so hard to face as misinterpretation and cruel misjudgment. Once a man flung a pail of water over Archelaus the Macedonian. He said nothing at all. And when a friend asked him how he could bear it so serenely, he said, "He threw the water not on me, but on the man he thought I was." The all-sufficient grace made Paul care not what men thought him to be but what God knew him to be.

It is the glory of the gospel that in our weakness we may find this wondrous grace, for always man's extremity is God's opportunity.

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 12:1-10

4. Special revelations Paul received 12:1-10

Paul had cited his freedom to minister without the Corinthians' financial support and his sufferings in ministry as grounds for boasting. He next mentioned the special visions and revelations that God had granted him. He referred to these here to bolster his readers' confidence in his apostolic calling and authority further.

12:1 The apostle again explained that he felt his boasting was necessary to convince the fleshly-minded Corinthian minority. It was not profitable for any other reason.

All visions of this type were revelations, but not all revelations came through visions. Furthermore visions are always seen, but revelations may be seen or perceived in other ways.

"If, as seems likely, his opponents are claiming paranormal experiences to validate their apostolate (cf. on 5:12-13), the very vagueness of Paul's reference may be his way of asserting the uniqueness of his apostolate."²⁷⁴

12:2-4 The "man" of whom Paul spoke in the third person was himself (cf. vv. 7-9). He referred to himself this way probably out of reluctance to speak of this matter. Moreover he wanted to minimize the effect of boasting, which citing such a spectacular experience would have produced.

Paul could not tell (did not know) whether God had transported him physically into the third heaven (cf. Acts 8:39; 1 Thess. 4:17) or whether his experience had been a vision (cf. Gen. 15:12-21; Ezek. 1:1). The third heaven probably represents the presence of God. It could be a technical description of God's abode above the cloudy heavens overhead and beyond the farthest reaches of space that man can perceive. "Paradise" (v. 4) is a good synonym for the third heaven (cf. Luke 23:43; Rev. 2:7).

What Paul heard, not what he saw there, is that to which the apostle referred. That message was personal; Paul never revealed in Scripture what God told him. However, it had the effect of strengthening his faith and hope that the Lord would abundantly reward his sufferings. This experience evidently took place when Paul was ministering in and around Tarsus. He did so about 42 A.D., 14 years before 56 A.D., the most probable date for the composition of 2 Corinthians.

"The man who experienced the ineffable ascent' even to the third heaven was the same man who had experienced the undistinguished descent' from a window in the Damascus wall [11:32-33]."²⁷⁵

12:5-6 Such a revelation could have made Paul quite a Christian celebrity had he publicized it. Nevertheless he preferred to proclaim his sufferings since then people could see more easily the supernatural working of God through him. Paul did not want his converts to form an opinion of him based on what they heard about him. He preferred that they do so because of what they saw and heard with their own eyes and ears. Besides, other people could not verify many of his experiences.

12:7 Others might live in awe of Paul because of the spectacular revelations they had heard he had received, but Paul himself was in no danger of becoming too impressed with himself. God had given him a "thorn" (Gr. skolops, better than "stake") in his flesh. This was a gracious gift from God, though it was unpleasant to Paul. It reminded him of his limitations and so kept him humble.

"In this passage there is a complete reversal of the religious pride and the religious triumphalism of the superlative' apostles. Genuinely apostolic ministry sustains weaknesses . . . on behalf of Christ,' replicating his sufferings yet finding power in ministry in dependence on him. There is no place for arrogance in ministry."²⁷⁶

Why did Paul change from the third person to the first person in describing this experience? He probably did so because there was no danger that others would think too highly of him because of the outcome of his vision.

Does "flesh" here mean his physical flesh or his sinful human nature? Was the "thorn" a physical affliction or some external problem? Many early church Fathers and Reformers understood the thorn as a spiritual temptation, perhaps a tendency toward pride or the opposition of Paul's enemies. Some modern Roman Catholic interpreters take it as temptation assailing moral purity. Many modern Protestant interpreters see it as a physical illness or infirmity such as bad eyesight, a speech impediment, malaria, or epilepsy (cf. Gal. 4:13-15). Since the scriptural data does not provide a definite answer, it seems best to suspend judgment on this decision. Various commentators have made good cases for every one of the positions described above.

Paul regarded his thorn in the flesh as a messenger that came from Satan to frustrate him (cf. Job 2:1-10). Nevertheless God had permitted it and would use it to bring good out of evil (Rom. 8:28).

12:8 Normally Paul meant Jesus Christ when he used the title "the Lord." There are other scriptural examples of believers addressing their prayers to the second person of the Trinity (Acts 1:24; 7:59). However normally they addressed the Father in the name of the Son with the Spirit's help (e.g., Eph. 2:18). Here "Lord" definitely means God, and probably it means Jesus with emphasis on His being Paul's master (cf. Acts 9:5). The fact that Paul repeated his petition three times shows how intensely he wanted God to remove his affliction, like Jesus in Gethsemane.

12:9-10 Here is an example of God denying a prayer request because He wanted to give something better (though not more comfortable). What we must learn from what Paul told us about this messenger of Satan is that God used it to teach the apostle dependence on Himself and the sufficiency of His grace. So thoroughly had Paul learned this lesson that he even boasted about his afflictions. He realized that when he was naturally weak the Lord would provide the power that he lacked and needed. He enabled Paul to do things he could not have done had he been naturally strong (cf. Rom. 8:35-37).

"This is the summit of the epistle, the lofty peak from which the whole is viewed in true proportion."²⁷⁷

This is one of the most important lessons every ambassador of Jesus Christ must learn. Both natural weakness and supernatural power are constantly at work in us, as they were in Paul and in Jesus. The Cross is the greatest example of divine power working through human weakness. The greater we sense our weakness, the more we will sense God's power (cf. Eph. 3:16; Phil. 4:13).

We may not have experienced as high spiritual highs or as low spiritual lows as Paul did, but we, too, are in constant need of being aware of God's supernatural power. Our success does not depend on our natural abilities but on God's power working in and through us. Human weakness can be a profound blessing if it results in our depending more on God and less on self.

"It was not, however, in the weaknesses themselves that Paul took delight but in the opportunity sufferings endured for Christ's sake' afforded him for Christ's power to reside and be effective in his life (v. 9b)."²⁷⁸

"Human weakness provides the opportunity for divine power."²⁷⁹

"In the Fool's Speech' proper [11:21b-12:10] Paul (1) exposes the triumphalism of the false apostles,' whose keyword is hyper (they have more' to offer than Paul, whom they are above,' or better' than), but also (2) boasts' of his weaknesses,' that is, of those sufferings incurred in the course of ministry in replication of the sufferings of Christ."²⁸⁰

College: 2Co 12:1-21

2 CORINTHIANS 12

D. MORE BOASTING (12:1-10)

1. A Vision Divulged (12:1-6)

12:1 I must go on boasting.

Paul's introductory words to this section make the reader expect him to tell another life-story like the Damascus incident. Yet, what he will tell about is not really even of this world but another, and any details about it he either cannot or will not discuss. It was a spiritual experience which may have occurred sometime soon after the Damascus humiliation and, like it, in his mind it magnifies his passivity before the Lord, the true credential of Christian ministry.

One gets the distinct feeling that even reference to this personal, spiritual experience is being dragged out of him by the situation in Corinth. Most likely, his rivals have boasted of leadership-credentialing, spiritual experiences which have wowed some of the Corinthians. Since Paul evidently does not talk about such experiences publicly as part of his preaching, all await Paul's response. Will he play his trump card over his opponents - who surely have not had an experience of the magnitude of Paul's - or will he walk away from the table? He is too far into the "boasting" game to walk away now. What he ends up doing, though, is to say he has the trump card, but, keeping it close to his vest, does not allow anyone to see its details. Evidently, in his mind, to brag about it would be to spoil it.

Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

The first clause displays Paul's negative feelings about discussing this intensely personal aspect of his relationship with Christ. It also registers his disgust with his Corinthian rivals for elevating the value of such experiences. Nevertheless, he will press on.

With "visions and revelations" Paul introduces the general category of what he is about to talk about. Although they seem to function together, "revelations" (ajpokavluyi", apokalypsis ) is the broader term. God or Christ reveal information to their agents in a variety of forms beyond "visions" (ojptasiva, optasia ), but this is a very prevalent biblical approach. This exact word for vision only occurs three other times in the NT, referring to the experience of John the Baptist's father Zechariah (Luke 1:22), of the women at Jesus' tomb (Luke 24:23), and of Paul for his Gentile mission (Acts 26:19). Yet, other visions are described, like Stephen's of the Son of Man (Acts 7:55-56), Ananias's to minister to Saul (Acts 9:10), and Peter's of animals unclean no longer (Acts 10:17,19; 11:5). Even "Revelation" is a recounting of visions.

Paul himself had visions, not only of Jesus on the Damascus road (Acts 22:6-11; 26:12-20; Gal 1:15-16) but also of the man of Macedonia (Acts 16:9-10). For Paul, revelation normally has its reference point in Christ. Christ speaks to him to comfort him while in Corinth (Acts 18:9-11), provides him insight into the mystery of the gospel (1 Cor 2:9-10; Eph 3:3-5) and understanding of eschatological information (1 Thess 4:15).

One commentary makes a very worthwhile reflection about visions and leadership. While in the Western church, we like for leaders to have vision, we get nervous when they start saying they have had visions. Yet, the biblical precedent for the Lord's personal communication to and through his servants is firm. Using a different word for "visions" (o{rasi", horasis ) than here in 2 Cor 12:1, Acts 2:17 (quoting Joel 2:28) views such phenomena as "young men" seeing "visions" to be fulfilled in the new age of the church. Yet, caution is due, since Paul himself is reluctant to discuss his most prescient vision.

12:2 I know a man in Christ

Paul's third-person opening at first may suggest a story about someone else he knows. Of course, that would not serve any purpose in his dispute with his Corinthian opponents who are challenging him personally. His exact knowledge of the vision's date, his dithering about how it actually took place, and his linkage of it to the thorn in his flesh (12:7) make it indisputable that this vision occurred to him.

His reason for being so coy about it probably involves his discomfort with "boasting" about this event which he feels is irrelevant to his credentials as an apostle. The third person perspective helps create a detached distancing from the event. However, Paul's approach is also in line with rhetorical convention in relating such personal, self-transcending experiences.

Underlining that this occurred "in Christ" suggests more than that this occurred to a Christian. Rather, it happened within Christ's sphere of influence over this Christian's life. Perhaps it was a key transforming event. At any rate, it was Christ's power which caused it to occur. This suggests further that Paul does not consider this experience to be a vision of Christ himself like on the Damascus road, but a vision enabled by Christ. That it may have included personal contact with Christ is certainly possible. However, since Paul does not relay any details about the vision itself, it is impossible to say.

who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven.

In the Greek text, "was caught up to the third heaven" comes at the end of the verse, with Paul's self-questioning about the actual mode of the experience interjected previous to it. The NIV's approach removes the full impact of Paul's skittery interruption of himself but doesn't lose anything in terms of essential meaning.

If 2 Corinthians is one letter dated at A.D. 56 (see Introduction), then the vision Paul is talking about took place in A.D. 42. This falls within the 11-14 year period of Paul's life following his conversion about which absolutely nothing is known, except that he was probably in Tarsus (Acts 9:30; 11:25). His conversion vision of Christ and probably his Damascus incident were previous to whatever he has in mind. As he addresses the Jerusalem mob in Acts 22:17-18, Paul does refer to a "trance" he fell into after his conversion while praying at the Jerusalem temple in which Christ warned him to leave Jerusalem. This has its possibilities but remains as conjectural as any other attempt to identify this event within the parameters of NT information.

Description of ascents into heaven are a common motif of Jewish extrabiblical apocalyptic literature. Imaginative writings such as 1 and 2 Enoch and the Ascension of Isaiah creatively relay the tours of heaven given such intriguing OT figures. Especially notable is Enoch, mysteriously described in Gen 5:24 as someone "who was no more because God took him away," understandably giving rise to speculation that he ascended bodily into heaven without experiencing physical death. The literature bearing his name comes from the first century B.C. and A.D. and is commonly taken as reflecting popular Jewish beliefs about heaven held also by the writers of the NT, including Paul. Further speculation in this area continued in the mystical writings of the Rabbis in the third century and after.

Most significant from this literature for 12:2 is the mention of "third heaven." The layering of heaven was common in Jewish speculation because it was seen as needing to have separate eternal abodes for people being punished in judgment, evil beings such as Satan and the angels who cohabited with human women (Gen 6:1-2), as well as God's people, and God himself. The most common view in Jewish as well as early Christian nonbiblical literature accounts for seven levels of heaven. However, other numbers such as 5 or 10 even 72 are known. Paul's reference to "third heaven" most likely reflects the simplest, three-level view, which also has precedent in the relevant literature. In this view, the third level is the throne room of God.

The verb, "caught up" (aJrpavzw, harpazô) with which Paul describes his experience, refers to something which happens quickly without warning. The same verb describes Philip being "snatched" away following his baptizing of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:39), the inability of anyone to snatch away eternal life from Jesus' sheep (John 10:28), and, significantly, of believers who are living at the time of Christ's return being snatched up to meet him in the air (1 Thess 4:17). In fact, the word "rapture" comes from the Latin translation of this verb. Paul's third heaven experience, from his perspective, happened totally out of the blue by the hand of the Lord. This may explain his disorientation in trying to describe exactly what happened.

Paul's vision is that he entered the very presence of God through the power and probably the presence of Christ. There is no higher ecstatic "vision" possible. It would be interesting to see his rivals' mouths drop when they first heard of Paul's vision. They must have assumed they had pretty impressive vision credentials to have even opened this arena for comparison. It is highly unlikely that they expected to be topped so thoroughly.

Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know-God knows.

Paul knows when his rapture occurred but he doesn't know how, or particularly in what mode. Given that in Jewish tradition such experiences are usually described as holistic experiences, body included, it is a little surprising that Paul would even entertain the possibility that his experience was anything other than bodily. In Greek tradition, such translation experiences usually involved the soul separating from the body. Perhaps, Paul's expression of uncertainty either way is another means for him to shrug his shoulders regarding the relevancy of talking about this experience at all.

Whatever uncertainty Paul shows regarding the mode of his rapture should not lead anyone to question the bona fide reality of his third-heaven experience. His no-nonsense emphasis is that "God knows." The experience occurred within God's realm of existence, and God himself can vouch for Paul's presence there, in whatever form he chose to have Paul appear.

12:3 And I know that this man-whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows-

This verse stands as a reminder that Paul dictated his letters to a scribe who wrote down every word. His nearly verbatim repetition of the interjection in the previous verse would likely be struck out if he had edited this letter. Its presence further conveys Paul's nervousness at the restatement of his rapture during his early years as a believer.

12:4 was caught up to paradise.

The fact that Paul reuses the same verb from 12:2, "caught up" (aJrpavzw, harpazô), confirms that he adds "Paradise" (paravdeiso", paradeisos ) as another description of the "third heaven." The word itself came into Greek usage from Persian origins, where it referred to the enclosed outside area of a nobleman's house, a "park," or "garden." In the Septuagint of Genesis 2 and 3, it is used to describe Adam and Eve's garden, and so also in Ezek 28:13 and 31:8-9.

In Jewish extrabiblical literature "paradise" is the place of the righteous dead. This is its understanding in the two other uses in the NT, Jesus' word of blessing upon the thief dying next to him on the cross (Luke 23:43) and the location of the tree of life (Rev 2:7). That this "paradise of God" is also where God's presence abides is also presumed in Jewish literature, whether noted as being in the seventh heaven or in the third heaven, as here.

Unlike the legends of Jewish literature in which trips to heaven are most likely fictional, Paul's trip to the realm of God was "real," in whatever mode he was raptured there. Perhaps it functioned as some kind of confirmation of his calling. We don't know. What is amazing is that most likely Paul has kept this rapture to himself and, except here, does not share it in any other letters, nor, does it appear, did he talk about it as an evangelistic tool. Perhaps, in this way, he models how all Christians should deal with their most personal experiences - "charismatic" or otherwise - with God: keep them private as much as possible and not use them as barometers to compare spiritual depth or maturity."

He heard inexpressible things, things that a man is not permitted to tell.

The NIV rendering, "inexpressible things" misses the ironic word play between "words" (rJh'ma, rhçma) and "inexpressible" (a[rrhto", arrçtos), simply a negation of the related adjective. The word "inexpressible" itself can refer to the impossibility of relaying something adequately in words, which would not be surprising in trying to describe heaven. However, the word can also mean that one was commanded not to relay to others what was seen. Both are probably true of Paul's experience. Yet, he emphasizes the latter in his second clause which sounds like he was forbidden to tell about his experience. This could explain not only why Paul does not describe what he saw here in 2 Corinthians but also why he does not appear even to have told anyone previously about it occurring.

12:5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.

Paul reinforces his third person perspective, initiated in 12:2, regarding his rapture experience. This rhetorical separation appears to help soothe his opposition to boasting about personal achievements, especially private, spiritual experiences. In this verse, he reminds once again that boasting in "weaknesses," situations which demonstrate one's dependence upon God, are the only valid criteria for supporting apostolic credibility. Rapture experiences, visions, and voices have nothing to do with it, no matter the vociferous demonstrations of his Corinthian rivals.

12:6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth.

Paul reveals more of his reluctance about boasting: in most instances it involves exaggeration of the truth. By this, he insinuates that his Corinthian rivals, already labeled false apostles and agents of Satan (11:13-14), have inflated their accounts of themselves, probably including their visions and revelations. He will still have taken no part in this one-upmanship game. However, if he did, he would not need to make any false claims or embellishments of the truth to come out ahead of them.

Here, he uses the word "fool" (a[frwn, aphrôn) straight up. Although he has used it and its cognates tongue-in-cheek to categorize his list of "accomplishments," he now employs it normally. He would not participate in foolish boasting but rather verifiable fact. He implies that his rivals have made themselves fools in their disingenuous boasting.

But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.

Paul believes he has conducted himself in every way as a true apostle of Christ. Boastful exaggeration is not necessary nor helpful. So, he will go no further. He will not recount his rapture. He will not narrate anything more about himself than he has just done since 11:22. Demonstration of his complete dependence on Christ through thick and thin is as far as he will go. He will stand pat with the cards he has shown.

The NIV's "think more . . . than is warranted" comes from just one Greek word (logivzomai, logizomai ). This word is an accounting term having to do with precise calculations of figures. Paul is confident that the measurement of his life stands on its own merit. If the Corinthians cannot see that in contrast to the shallowness of his rivals who must inflate themselves, then there really is nothing else he can do. He is who he is.

2. An Irremovable Thorn Remains (12:7-10)

12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations,

Most translations (except the more recent NLT) which create a new paragraph at this point make the break here as the NIV does. However, most interpreters observe the artificialness of this since 12:7 begins with the Greek word "and" (kaiv, kai ). This is then followed by "surpassingly great revelations." In the Greek, "to keep me from being conceited" is the clause which precedes the thorn in the flesh clause and does not begin this verse (see NASB).

This means that "because of these surpassing revelations" is a second reason why Paul refrains from boasting, added to his point in 12:6 that his conduct in itself is sufficient for someone who is unprejudiced to recognize his apostolic calling. Paul also fears that detailing his rapture experience might cause undue pride in himself and perhaps even undue adulation from those in Corinth who seem to be prone to forming personality cults.

This is the last of five times Paul uses the adjective translated as "surpassingly great" (ujperbolhv, hyperbolç) in 2 Corinthians, the others being 2 Cor 1:8; 4:7; and 4:17 (twice). The word focuses on "excess," whether referring to overshooting a mark, crossing over a mountain, or overachievement of any sort. Paul gets as close as he will ever get to boasting about his rapture experience when he sets it apart from those revelations of his rivals. Yet, his point is that its very extraordinariness is cause for his concern in specifically recounting it. He does not trust his own human nature any more than he does the Corinthians'.

Thus, with "to keep me from becoming conceited," Paul recognizes his own sinful frailty. In Greek, this phrase is preceded by a strong "therefore" (diov, dio ), which shows he has made this deduction regarding the purpose for his "thorn in the flesh." God has recognized the necessity of keeping Paul humble in the face of his accomplishments and his visions. Self-pride and arrogance are not compatible with genuine apostolic service. No doubt, Paul views the constancy of this thorn as an ever-present message from God against self-pride.

there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

Paul's statements about this "thorn" might seem contradictory. On the one hand, the passive verb "was given" (ejdovqh, edothç) most certainly is a divine passive, meaning God is the presumed subject of the action. On the other hand, he links the thorn to the activity of Satan. To reconcile this, it is helpful to consider Job 2:1-10 as a model illustrating the relationship between God and Satan. God holds complete authority and power over the world he has created. Yet, God allows Satan a measure of autonomy within God's rule, particularly to offer people an alternative to trusting God and following his will.

Paul himself is not averse to handing believers over to Satan as a legitimate and sometimes necessary Christian rehabilitation scheme (1 Cor 5:5; 1 Tim 1:20). That God in a sense has done this with the "thorn" as a continual monitoring system is not much different.

What exactly Paul's thorn was is much debated. The word "thorn" (skovloy, skolops ) itself, only used here in all the NT, refers to anything pointed, from a tiny splinter or fishhook, to a large stake used to impale a person as a form of execution. It is generally agreed that Paul's use of "thorn" is figurative, to refer to some form of continuing or recurring aggravation and perceived hindrance to his gospel mission. In what sense it is figurative is more at issue. The oldest view, mostly discounted today, is that Paul was tortured by his sinful nature, perhaps in the form of sexual temptation. His most revealing expression of this recurring problem would be in Romans 7. This interpretation would mean taking "flesh" (savrx, sarx ) in the carnal sense, which seems unjustified here.

The most widespread view of Paul's thorn is that it is a physical ailment of some sort. Common suggestions include epilepsy, a chronic eye disorder, a speech impediment, migraine headaches, malaria, and leprosy. The attempt in each of these suggestions is to come up with a problem which would be continually a part of Paul's life but which could flare up on occasion seriously enough to put him in bed or prevent him from ministering. His three prayer requests to remove this physical problem, mentioned in 12:8, might have occurred during three particularly bad episodes. The idea that Satan can inflict torment through disease within God's allowance has precedent in Job.

The view receiving the most amount of attention recently holds that Paul's thorn is relational, involving other people. In view are the Judaizers who have dogged Paul's trail in Galatia and probably in Corinth but possibly others who have opposed the true gospel of grace in the places Paul has preached. The attraction is that the thorn then serves as a culminating ironic twist in Paul's litany of difficulties. His life as an apostle has had its share of trouble, but the most troublesome of all are people like his rivals in Corinth whose presence and boastfulness has forced him to construct his "foolish" list. Further attraction to this view is that the word "thorn" is used in Num 33:55 and Ezek 28:24 to refer to Israel's enemies and that it makes the "messengers of Satan" designation more appropriately apply to people.

However, the most recurring criticism of the view involves Paul's prayer to remove it and his decision to live with it. Would it be consistent with Paul's theology of suffering servanthood, so eloquently broadcast in this very context as well as elsewhere in 2 Corinthians, for Paul to request its removal? Has he decided just to live with opposition? If he has, most of what he has said in the last few chapters, would seem to belie this acceptance of the thorn as from the Lord.

It seems best then, to view Paul's thorn as some disease or ailment which affects him physically. Any firm decision on precisely what kind of physical problem it was goes beyond anything that can be known with certainty.

12:8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

Paul acknowledges his intense desire to be rid of the "thorn." He also acknowledges that only one person could remove it. Thus, he admits he prayed to the Lord for relief. Out of 109 uses in the NT, this is the only time the verb "pleaded" (parakalevw, parakaleô) is employed to refer to petitionary prayer. Paul seems to want to convey an earnest intensity about his petitions. At first, he must have believed that the thorn's detraction from his ability to conduct his apostolic mission would put it within the Lord's will to remove it.

Apparently, only after the third time did he begin to realize that it had a crucial purpose from the Lord, that is, to help him keep his head screwed on straight, to prevent him from ever thinking about boasting about himself or believing that anything was accomplished in his ministry apart from the power of the Lord. Thus, his "thorn" has kept him from becoming like his arrogant rivals in Corinth and explains why competing with them is so heart-wrenching for Paul.

Since both God and Christ are referred to as "Lord" in the NT, at times determining which is presumed in a certain context is difficult. Here, the English reader may be surprised to learn that it is reasonably certain Lord refers to Christ. It is rare that prayer is offered to Christ; normally it is through Christ (Eph 2:18). Yet, it does occur (Acts 1:24; 7:59). Perhaps, this explains Paul's use of "pleaded" (parakaleô) instead of a more usual word (devomai, deomai , or proseuvcomai, proseuchomai ). At any rate, in the Greek text of this verse an article "the" occurs before "Lord" (kuvrio", kyrios ) and for Paul the use of this article signals that he means Christ. He does not use the article before Lord if he refers to God. Also, "Christ's power" in 12:9 refers back to the person who answered Paul's petition, which further dictates that this is the one to whom his prayer was addressed.

If there is any particular significance to making his request exactly three times, it is not known. It is true that Jesus petitions for God to remove the cup of the cross from him in the garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:35-42). However, this is more likely coincidental. Jews practiced prayer three times a day, according to Ps 55:16-17 and Dan 6:10. Three petitions for healing to Greek deities is not unknown. Three attempts may simply mean that Paul was reasonably determined but that he was also open to learn God's true will and once he learned it, to accept it.

12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Although he could have heard this message as a result of all three petitions, most likely Christ spoke to Paul in this way after the third or there would have been no need for continued prayer on this matter. This personal message from Christ to Paul quite rightly is seen to have wider dimensions than simply Paul's thorn. It really stands as the theme over Paul's nonboastful boasting list which began in 11:22. Beyond even that, it could well stand as the signature motto for all of 2 Corinthians and for that matter over Paul's entire apostolic life. Paul implies that once he heard and came to terms with the meaning of this motto, he fully understood what his life was all about and could move forward with confidence. What Christ says to Paul goes beyond application only to himself, extending to all those who desire to serve Christ.

The verb "is sufficient" (ajrkevw, arkeô), only used here in 2 Corinthians, is a term associated with strength, describing someone who is strong enough to do something. In this text and elsewhere in the NT, the idea is to be strong enough not to need any further help or assistance. First Timothy 6:8 describes being "content" with food and clothes and Heb 13:5 being "content" with whatever one already has. This word signals that Paul very much has in mind the physical and social difficulties involved in being an apostle which he has listed since 11:22.

The "grace" (cavri", charis ) of Christ includes not just Christ's acceptance of Paul in terms of salvation but also the grace involved in Paul's apostolic missionary service. At that level, grace includes the very practical supplying of provisions and protection from natural and cultural forces which might otherwise destroy Paul's work. Grace has ramifications toward enabling Paul to accept his "thorn" without further complaining.

In the NT "power" (duvnami", dynamis ) is usually connected to God's total, exhaustive power (2 Cor 4:7). God's power can be manifested through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:4; 1 Thess 1:5) and in and through Christ, not only in the resurrection (1 Cor 6:14), and in his authority over all other entities (Eph 1:21), but also in his working through his representatives (Rom 9:17; 1 Cor 5:4). The latter would seem to be the emphasis here. Paul has already emphasized in 2 Cor 3:4-5 that any confidence he has as an apostle comes "through Christ before God."

The verb "is perfected" (televw, teleô) is fairly common in the NT but is only used here in 2 Corinthians. It refers to bringing something to completion. If it involves taxes, as in Rom 13:6, it means to pay them. If it involves laws, it means to keep them (Luke 2:39). If it involves prophecies, it means for them to be fulfilled (Luke 18:31). If it involves a person's life, it means for it to be finished, or the person to die (John 19:20). If it involves a person's mission or purpose, as here, it means to complete it. The paradox in this passage is that two missions are involved, Paul's and Christ's, which are in a symbiotic relationship. Perfection, or 100% completion only occurs when one party, Paul, supplies "weakness," and the other party, Christ, supplies "power."

Is the power of Christ in Paul or any believer something which is always present but only becomes activated whenever the need for Christ's power is admitted, or is the power of Christ absent until a particular weakness requires it? Since the resurrection power of Christ already fills the believer through the gift of the Holy Spirit, it would seem that drawing upon his strength to achieve Christ's mission for our lives seems consistent. However, there is a point worth acknowledging that the power of Christ is not observable in our lives except in counterpoint to our weaknesses, no matter whether it is residual in our lives or not.

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,

Paul now uses the verb "boast" (kaucavomai, kauchaomai ) for the last of thirteen times since 11:12. Initializing this clause with "therefore" (ou , oun ) signals that Paul intends this to be his conclusion about all the "boasting" that has gone on since that point. From a worldly point of view, it hasn't been boasting at all. He has listed embarrassing revelations of weakness. Paul now explains in as direct terms as possible why he has done this. It is a result of the direction he received from the Christ which he has incorporated into his life. He will embrace the paradox and celebrate the troubles in his life as platforms for Christ to show his greatness.

Paul's use of "weaknesses" (ajsqevneia, astheneia ) three times in 12:9-10 accentuates further that it primarily is the physical hardships involved in his apostolic service that he has in mind. The Greek word often refers to deficiencies of the body such as sickness, disease, or handicaps (Luke 5:15; 8:2; 13:11; John 5:5). Certainly, emotional and spiritual scars can come from physical difficulties, and Paul probably includes these as well. However, it is easy for the modern, English reader to jump too quickly to think of feelings of inadequacy when the word "weakness" is read and not connect "weakness" to the context of hardships.

so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Paul's statement regarding his purpose for boasting in his weaknesses presumes that "Christ's power" would not remain under other circumstances. Among those must be worldly self-boasting like his rivals have done. He knows in order to keep Christ's power active in his life he must recognize his own inadequacies and thereby his constant dependence on Christ for any measure of success in his mission.

The verb Paul has chosen, "rest" (ejpiskhnovw, episkçnoô), means to "take up one's abode," or "dwell." Although only used here in all the NT and rare even outside the NT, it is noted that related words are employed in the Septuagint to describe the abiding of God's Shekinah glory in the tabernacle and temple of Israel (Exod 25:8; Ezek 37:27; 2 Cor 6:16). Paul certainly does not elaborate on the possible connection. However, the presence of God within believers via the Holy Spirit is a vital aspect of the new covenant's superiority to the old covenant in the NT.

12:10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.

Essentially, in this verse Paul rephrases for the sake of emphasis what he said in 12:9. It is because of Christ, that his power might remain the dominant force in Paul's life, that he boasts in weaknesses. What he says should not be construed to mean that Paul's weaknesses are to Christ's personal benefit in any way. Paul may imply some identification with Christ's own voluntary weakness on the cross. However, Paul's weaknesses do not increase Christ's strength, though they do enhance and enable the accomplishment of Paul's mission, which is also Christ's: to spread the gospel to the nations.

Paul is no masochist. His "delight" (eujdokevw, eudokeô) is not in receiving pain. Rather, it is in knowing that Christ embraces his pain and turns it into a positive resource for advancing the gospel mission. He turns this "negative" inside out to produce a purposeful gain. In this way, Christ defies the standards of the world and replaces them with God's standards of power in humility, victory in sacrifice, strength in weakness.

Paul's list of four general categories of troubles following the headliner of "weakness" does not appear to be an attempt on his part to carefully summarize the list of troubles drawn out in 11:22-33. Rather, it seems offhanded, consisting of four more or less synonymous generalizations.

The first one, "insults" (u{bri", hybris ), usually refers to more vile treatment than the NIV translation implies. Violence and assault are part of this word's nomenclature, not just words. The second word, "hardships" (ajnavgkh, anankç) also leans toward bodily violence, torture, and suffering. The third word, "persecutions" (diwgmov", diôgmos) is often used of hunters tracking their prey, so Paul may have in mind the Judaizers who dog his trail.

The fourth word, "difficulties" (stenocwriva, stenochôria) envisages someone getting into a tight spot, stuck or impeded by rugged terrain.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

As a fitting conclusion, Paul boils down what he has learned about weakness into a compact proverb. The simplification boosts the paradox involved. Yet, one should not conclude that Paul in self-contradiction is saying weakness is strength. Rather, he means what Christ told him in 12:9: weakness and trouble in the lives of believers are opportunities for Christ to manifest his strength in their lives. In this way, nonbelievers are drawn to the power of Christ they see displayed and are hindered from idolizing Christ's servants. Also, Christ's servants are prevented from getting big heads and accepting honor which Christ alone deserves.

E. "BOASTING" RETROSPECTIVE (12:11-13)

12:11 I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it.

Having set up the first bookend when he requested the Corinthians' forbearance in his foolish boasting in 11:1, Paul now places the second bookend on the shelf of "boasting" he has been doing. Despite the radical redefinition he has given to "boasting," he still looks back over everything and feels uncomfortable about it. For one last time, he brands himself "a fool" for doing this. Once again he puts the onus on the Corinthians for putting him in this awkward position. The word he chooses to convey this is extremely harsh. The Greek word for "drove" (ajnagkavzw, anankazô) refers to being forced or compelled to do something, sometimes through torture or harassment. In Acts 26:11, Paul describes his preconversion life as one in which he tried to "force" Christians to "blaspheme," or curse Christ.

I ought to have been commended by you,

Paul blames the Corinthians, even those who have not been won over to the rival apostles, for their silence. Why did no one speak out in his defense against the cruel slanders? This lack of support from people who owe their spiritual lives to Paul's ministry cuts him to the quick and continues to gnaw at him. Obviously, if some had stepped forward, Paul would not be in the humiliating position of commending himself. The word "ought" (ojfeivlw, opheilô) presumes a debt that should be repaid. In Paul's mind, this must be the Corinthians' reception of the gospel.

for I am not in the least inferior to the "super-apostles" even though I am nothing.

Paul previously termed his Corinthian rivals "super-apostles" in 11:5, presumably because of their claims to be superior to him. Back in the mode of direct comparison, this tag on them resurfaces, as well as Paul's assertion to not be "inferior." In his humility, Paul notably does not claim to be superior to these false apostles, even though he is. This magnanimous posture is certainly more "apostolic" than the way he has been treated by his rivals. The introductory "for" (gavr, gar ) signifies that Paul is supplying a reason why the Corinthians should have stuck up for him. They know him better than the false apostles do and should not have been so easily swayed against him. He will say more about this in 11:12.

Paul's self-deprecating reference to being "nothing" can be understood from three possible perspectives. It could be that his rivals' criticisms have been this harsh and he is sarcastically mouthing their words. It could also be that he is playing off his own discussion in 12:7-10 of Christ working through weakness. In this case, his being nothing is a positive force rather than negative. Some suggest that such self-deprecation has precedent as a rhetorical convention in speeches of self-commendation. It is possible that the first two work together in his mind. Thus, the immediate contrast with "super" may suggest he intends to exaggerate his opponents' criticisms that he is not an apostle, but he may be playing this to his credit in light of his weakness discussion.

12:12 The things that mark an apostle-signs, wonders and miracles-were done among you with great perseverance.

Paul now details how what the Corinthians have witnessed should have motivated them to defend attacks against his apostolic status. He labels what they saw as "signs" (shmei'on, sçmeion), translated in the NIV as "the things that mark." The word refers to an act or deed which points beyond itself. Its significance is not in itself but in what it evidences. In Mark 16:17-20 the driving out demons and speaking in tongues are said to be "signs" which confirm gospel preaching. John's Gospel speaks of Jesus' miracles as signs which evidence his divine sonship. Paul asserts and reminds that the Corinthians have seen him demonstrate the three apostolic credentials which follow.

The three evidences cannot be differentiated too much. They all refer to the fact that Paul performed miracles. One commentary suggests they accent three different aspects of all apostolic miracles to those observing them: "signs" (sçmeia again) to authentication of the message, "wonders" (tevra", teras ) to provoke awe, "miracles" (duvnami", dynamis ) to witness divine power. The three appear together also in Rom 15:19; 2 Thess 2:9; and Heb 2:4. Paul asserts that miracles with these observable characteristics "were done" by him among the Corinthians, the passive verb indicating that God actually did these things through him. These were done "with great perseverance" (uJpomonhv, hypomonç), suggesting that the miracles occurred with regularity and purpose. How could the Corinthians have overlooked them or discounted them?

What is interesting in light of this is that, although Acts describes Paul doing numerous miracles generally (15:12), and specifically, in Lystra (14:10), Philippi (16:18), Ephesus (19:11), Troas (20:10), and Malta (28:3,8), it details no miracles of any kind in Corinth. It must be assumed, since Paul asserts it, that he did do miracles in Corinth and probably in other places for which miracles are not described. Most likely, Paul has in mind miracles which occurred during the course of his 18-month ministry when he first brought the gospel to Corinth. Perhaps the criticism from his rivals comes from the fact that they were not present during Paul's first visit and that Paul actually did not do any miracles during his Painful Visit, when he may have first encountered them, which encounter precipitated the Severe Letter.

Noticeably, Paul does not bring up these miraculous signs of apostleship in his "boast" list. He only brings it up here because he is replying to a false accusation. It is apparent that he considers the endurance of toils and sufferings, which does make up his list, to be more reliable markers of true apostleship. Perhaps Paul's rivals perform miracles - or say they do - but do they endure suffering and hardship in service of the gospel? To Paul, that is the deeper issue for true apostleship.

12:13 How were you inferior to the other churches,

Apparently, the Corinthian church has protested to Paul that he has slighted them. They feel he cares more for the other congregations than he does theirs and that he has displayed more of his apostolic miracles among them. They may specifically feel envious over his affection for the Macedonian churches, particularly Philippi. He already gave his highest praise to those churches regarding the depth of their response and the maturity of their attitude to the collection in chapter 8. The Corinthian feelings of neglect may also be connected to their being miffed over Paul's change of travel plans, an item that Paul answered in the earlier portion of 2 Cor 1:15-18.

There is a certain irony in the Corinthian protest. When one takes a step back and surveys Paul's letters and movements, it is Corinth that comes out as the congregation which received the most of Paul's attention. First, he writes most extensively to them. Not only does he compose at least four letters to them, but the two found in the NT, comprising 29 chapters, are far and away the most material written to any one congregation. Second, other than Ephesus, Paul spends more time in Corinth than with any other congregation. Third, and the ultimate irony, 2 Corinthians itself demonstrates that Paul poured more blood, sweat, and tears into Corinth by far than any other congregation.

except that I was never a burden to you?

The word "burden" (katanarkavw, katanarkaô) is Paul's pet word to refer to his refusal to accept money for personal support from the Corinthians. He uses the same word when he discusses this more in depth back in 11:7-11. Now Paul brings it up as the only point at which he does not demonstrate apostolic credentials among the Corinthians. Elsewhere, he recognizes financial support as an apostolic prerogative but refuses to accept it from the Corinthians. Paul must think it extremely perplexing for this congregation to protest that he would not take their money. As noted before in 11:7-11, his rivals in Corinth certainly took their money. Not only that, but they did so in an oppressive manner. How is such disregard for the welfare of others for whom an apostle has pastoral responsibilities a credible apostolic mark anyway?

Forgive me this wrong!

This expression is saturated with sarcastic irony. Paul certainly does not feel he owes the Corinthians an apology for any of his conduct with them. No sin was committed to confess or for which to receive absolution. He has acted with love and compassion toward them, even in censorious discipline only wanting what is best for them. If anyone has been wronged, it is Paul by them! He, who at great personal sacrifice brought them the good news of Christ, who stayed with them and nurtured them, who now has been unjustly vilified by them and others, whom they so naοvely allow to influence them, and who have been oppressive in their financial demands.

F. PREPARATION FOR THE THIRD VISIT (12:14-13:10)

1. No Exploitation Tactics Employed (12:14-18)

12:14 Now I am ready to visit you for the third time,

Paul had implied back in 10:1-18 that he was coming again to Corinth, this time in full force. Now he makes this explicit. In many ways, especially since amends had been made after Paul's disastrous Painful Visit (7:8-16), 2 Corinthians as a whole has been intended as preparation for Paul's third visit. This last section of the letter focuses more tightly on this upcoming event and reflects yet more on Paul's defensive posture that has dominated his thoughts since 10:1. The rather abrupt language introducing the visit, signals that Paul is near the end of the letter.

The first visit was Paul's founding visit, recorded in Acts 18:1-17, when he stayed in Corinth for 18 months. His second visit was the Painful Visit referred to in 2 Cor 2:1. The fact that Paul emphasizes his readiness is significant because other times he anticipated coming, he had not actually made it (1 Cor 16:5-9; 2 Cor 1:15-16). There will be no change of plans this time. Paul sends Titus and two other brothers on ahead to prepare for his visit (8:16-24), probably carrying 2 Corinthians with them. His coming will not be changed this time, and he will be forceful in dealing with those who oppose him if need be.

and I will not be a burden to you,

With this statement Paul makes clear to the Corinthians that his policy of not accepting support money from them will still be in force when he comes this third and final time. He has already explained his reasoning for this in 11:7-12. This has become an important principle in Paul's mind to show his love for the Corinthians. It is also a practice which sets him apart from the false apostles who have garnered support in Corinth, as Paul emphasized in the previous verse (12:13).

because what I want is not your possessions but you.

Since Paul views not accepting their support money as an expression of his love for them, it stands to reason that he expects it to be reciprocated in kind, as their love and appreciation for him, no more. Their relationship is not to be based upon obligation and debt but on reciprocal love. One gets the distinct impression that Paul intends this emphasis to be a stinging barb against his rivals in Corinth. They have not only accepted money and gifts, they have lobbied for them (11:20). Paul wants the Corinthians to be moved by this distinctive difference in approach.

After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.

Paul's analogy appeals to the natural order of inheritance. Valuables, money, and land pass from parents to children, not the reverse. In the ancient world as well as today, parents could also help their children get on in life with financial help as they ventured away from home. The word "save up" (qhsaurivzw, thçsaurizô) refers to laying something aside for the future. It could be fruits or other agricultural products, but it could also be money. The noun from this verb (qhsaurov", thçsauros) means "treasure" and comes across in English as thesaurus, a treasury of words.

As the acknowledged spiritual father of the Corinthians, Paul considers it only right that he do the giving (in this case his support for himself) and not his spiritual children, the Corinthians. He has pictured himself as their spiritual father also in 1 Cor 4:14-15 and 2 Cor 6:13.

12:15 So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well.

As the Corinthians' spiritual father, Paul contemplates the extent to which he would sacrifice on their behalf. Continuing with the parent-child analogy of 12:14, he asserts he would go well beyond the inheritance and the savings set aside for them. He would give all his daily earnings and even his very life if need be. In other words, his commitment to their spiritual welfare is so strong that he would do absolutely anything within his power to assure their secure relationship with God through Christ, and he would be happy in doing it. The fact that he boasted like a fool, against his own principles, in the immediately preceding context is a demonstration of how far he will go for them. Paul's unswerving devotion to his converts, or even potential converts, is not unique to the Corinthians. He makes similar pledges regarding the Philippians (Phil 2:17) and the Jews in general (Rom 9:3).

Paul employs a little word play with the Greek language in this verse which is handled very well by the NIV. The word "spend" (dapanavw, dapanaô) means to "spend freely." It asserts that no pressure has been exerted, subtly or otherwise, to use one's money toward a certain cause or purpose. The word "expend" (ejkdapanavw, ekdapanaô; or ejkdapanavomai, ekdapanaomai ) adds a prepositional prefix to dapanaô in order to intensify its meaning. Thus, it means "exhaust" or "consume," indicating that all has been spent. Paul will expend all his personal resources for the Corinthians. He would give, and in some ways as an apostle is in the process of giving, his very life.

If I love you more, will you love me less?

The question Paul poses is laced with paradoxical irony. How could it possibly be that the more he loves the Corinthians, the less they love him in return? Normally in human relations, especially between parents and children, love is reciprocated in kind. Will they continue to play the part of the rejected child when he has shown them so much love? Have his rivals had such a negative impact that even his love for them is suspect? Paul wants them to see the predicament all this puts him in. Since they don't love him back when he shows love toward them, should he now hate them in order to get them to love him? He can't do that. The only recourse for him is to continue to love them and hope they will see it to be just as genuine as it really is, and respond with love toward him.

12:16 Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you.

The opening expression in Greek is just one word (e[stw, estô) which literally means "let it be." By using it, Paul acknowledges that there may be differences of opinion between himself, his rivals, and a number of Corinthians about how to interpret his refusal to accept their support. What cannot be dismissed is the simple fact that follows: he has not taken their money. Somewhat surprising is that Paul uses a different Greek verb for "burden" than he used before. In 11:9, 12:13, and 12:14, he used katanarkaô, which emphasizes that one becomes a burden by being slothful, or not pulling their load. The word here, (katabarevw, katabareô), emphasizes being overloaded. In any case, Paul's refusal of their financial help is not a fact that can be denied.

Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery!

In biting sarcasm Paul likely repeats accusations against him from the mouths of his Corinthian opponents. Knowing that Paul's refusal of Corinthian financial support makes them look bad, the false apostles, it appears, have accused Paul of taking money out of the till intended for the Jerusalem Christians. Perhaps, they suspect a larceny game in which Paul fronts innocence while his associates collect large sums for Jerusalem. Then, behind the scenes, Paul and perhaps his associates as well, skim money off the top. Paul's sarcasm indicates his feelings of disgust and insult at having been accused of such things.

The word "crafty" (panou'rgo", panourgos ) is only used here in all the NT. It is not associated with being clever or creative in a good sense but with villainy and treachery, or ready to do anything in a bad sense. The word "trickery" can refer to bait for fishing and suggests deceit and treachery. Neither are words with which Paul wants himself or his ministry to be in any way associated, and he is no doubt deeply hurt that any of the Corinthian believers could ever think of him in these terms.

12:17 Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent you?

In this verse Paul specifies the means by which he has been accused of playing tricks on the Corinthians. Paul probably had a variety of associates visiting Corinth on his behalf over the years. He is doubtful that any of them are guilty of misconduct. In 12:18 he will focus on a specific trip to Corinth undertaken by Titus.

Four out of the five NT uses of the word "exploit" (pleonektevw, pleonekteô) occur in 2 Corinthians. In the first instance, in 2 Cor 2:11, it refers to activity of Satan. In 7:2, here, and in 12:18, it represents the sinister action of which Paul is accused. Although defrauding of money is not necessarily included in the word, it seems to insinuate that here.

12:18 I urged Titus to go to you and sent our brother with him.

Commentaries differ as to which trip Paul has in mind. All told, Titus made three visits to Corinth on Paul's behalf: 1) the visit to initiate the collection (8:6), 2) the visit with the Severe Letter (2:13; 7:6), and 3) the visit anticipated to complete the collection and probably carry the letter of 2 Corinthians along with the "praised" brother and the "proved" brother (8:16-24). None of these visits fit exactly with Paul's description. The first certainly relates to the collection but no comrade is mentioned. Regarding the second, it seems unlikely that Paul would have Titus appeal for money amidst such enormous strife. The third requires Paul to ignore one of the brothers so carefully introduced earlier as well as to take the past tense verbs in 12:18 as present tense.

A fourth scenario which resolves the tense issue has been suggested by many. This involves viewing 2 Cor 1-9 as a separate letter from 10-13 which has already been delivered by Titus and the two brothers. Second Corinthians 10-13 is, then, a fifth letter by Paul to the Corinthians which he sends back to the Corinthians after hearing of further disruptions from the rival apostles. In fact, this verse is the strongest evidence in the epistle for 10-13 being a fifth letter.

Although the fourth scenario deals with the verb tenses, it doesn't really resolve the problem of the two brothers. For this reason, it seems more likely that Paul alludes to the first trip by Titus to Corinth to begin the collection. It is easier to imagine that another traveling with Titus could be assumed in 8:6 than to think that Paul would forget to mention the second brother who travels with Titus on the third visit.

Titus did not exploit you, did he?

Paul already knows that the Corinthians think highly of Titus from the outcome of Titus's trip with the Severe Letter (chapter 7). In the course of Paul's defense of his honesty, Titus now becomes exhibit A. If Titus as Paul's emissary conducted himself with honor and sincerity, it reflects back on Paul who sent him. Titus must have been one impressive young man in order for Paul to stake his own reputation on his conduct and character. Paul must also feel that he knows Titus deeply enough to be confident in doing this. The grammar of Paul's rhetorical question presumes a "no" answer as the NIV shows well. Paul knows full well that Titus did not use any underhanded tactics to enroll the Corinthians in the collection effort, and he knows that the Corinthians know it.

Did we not act in the same spirit and follow the same course?

What is true for Titus reflects back on what is true for the one who sent him. Doesn't Paul deserve credit for infusing Titus with the proper attitude when he came on Paul's behalf? Paul thus links his own character and conduct to that of Titus. The word "course" (i[cno", ichnos ) literally refers to footprints. For the sake of his defense, Paul views himself as following step by step behind Titus. In reality, of course, Paul is the leader, whom Titus trails behind.

2. More Trouble Feared (12:19-21)

12:19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you?

Paul wants it on record that despite the fact that he has indeed been defending himself of false charges since the beginning of chapter 10, neither the Corinthians nor his rivals in Corinth have jurisdiction over him. They don't determine whether he is a true apostle or not or whether he has conducted himself properly or not. Ultimately, no matter what they think, his concern is how God evaluates his apostolic service, not only to them but throughout the churches he serves.

Translations and commentaries are divided over whether this clause is intended as a question, as the NIV, RSV, and NAB have conveyed it, or whether it is a statement, as the TEV, JB, NEB, and ASV render it. In NT Greek, punctuation is not shown, which makes it a matter of interpretation. The context does not really make one preferable over another. The fact that Paul denies the Corinthians are the judge over his defense is made in either case.

This is Paul's only use of the verb "have been defending ourselves" (ajpologevomai, apologeomai ), although he makes use of the noun "defense" (ajpologiva, apologia ) five times (1 Cor 9:3; 2 Cor 7:11; Phil 1:7,16; 2 Tim 4:16). In Acts this verb describes the defense Paul makes before the Ephesian mob (19:33), Felix (24:10), and Festus (25:8; 26:1,2,24). It can be used of either a formal trial or an informal defense, as here. The word group comes into English as "apologetics," the careful defense of Christianity's truth claims, or "apologize," which has lost any sense of advocacy in English in favor of admission of guilt.

We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ;

Paul employs similar wording in 12:17 when he denies making a profit from spreading the word of God. He makes something of an oath here, but mostly he views himself as standing in God's courtroom, not the courtroom of the Corinthians or of the false apostles. He notes his position as being "in Christ" because only the blood of Christ gains him access into God's courtroom to speak in the presence of God. What Paul says is very much in the vein of what he said in 1 Cor 4:1-5 when he disavows any concern about what "human courts" might think of him in favor of how the Lord, meaning Christ, "judges me." Paul can view either God (Rom 14:10) or Christ (2 Cor 5:10) as judge.

and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening.

Paul believes this motto is in his apostolic charter by which he functions, not only with respect to the Corinthians but all churches. The only reason he might say this, though, is because some of his actions were probably questioned by the Corinthians, perhaps prodded by the false apostles. The Painful Visit, the Sorrowful Letter, the harsh criticisms in 2 Corinthians, among other things, could easily be interpreted as reactionary attempts to cut the Corinthians down to size. Paul, however, views chastisement and discipline from long range as having, or at least intending to have, positive benefits in the development and maturity of the Corinthian church.

The word "strengthening" (oijkodomhv, oikodomç) can simply refer to a building, literally, as in the temple (Mark 13:1-2), or figuratively, as God's building, the church (1 Cor 3:9). However, it can also describe the act or process of erecting a building or edifice. In this latter sense, Paul often figuratively describes the primary function of those in the church, to build up, edify, and improve the church (Rom 14:19; 1 Cor 14:12; Eph 4:29). Here he affirms that as an apostle he is also part of this process of raising the church to where God wants it to be. He really has no other purpose.

With "dear friends," not employed since 7:1, Paul attempts to convey the compassion he has for the Corinthians at this critical juncture. He has expressed his love for them previously in 11:2,11, and 12:15.

12:20 For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be,

Earlier, 11:3, Paul voiced his fear that the Corinthians would be led away from the true gospel by the false apostles. The fear now is related to the earlier fear. What if the letter he is now addressing to them, 2 Corinthians, is not successful in weaning all the Corinthians away from the bad influence of the false apostles? What then? There is precious little time for reform. Paul now contemplates the worst scenario. However, the subjunctive of "find" (euJrivskw, heuriskô; subj.: euJreqw', heurethô), indicated by the "may" in English, reveals that Paul is in no way certain that this scenario will take place. He expects and hopes that 2 Corinthians will be successful.

and you may not find me as you want me to be.

The threat of stern disciplinary action lies behind these words. Paul warns that he will make good on his promise, made in 10:12, to be bold, just like in his letters, when he is "present" the next time. The faltering encounter during the Painful Visit will not be repeated. They may have ridiculed him for "weakness" on that occasion. However, they may long for it, if he finds no reform the next time he comes.

I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

Paul lists eight conditions he does not want to see occurring among the Corinthians when he gets there. He presumes that these conditions or others like them are now active. All of these might be an expected divisive outcome in the church, if people remain split over the influence of the false apostles and Paul. Interestingly, the first two conditions, "quarreling" and "jealousy," were noted when he blasted the party spirit among the Corinthians in 1 Cor 1:11 and 3:3. Perhaps the presence of the false apostles has extended or revived that old tendency among the Corinthians.

The first condition, "quarreling" (e[ri", eris ) is listed in five other NT catalogues of sins, in Rom 1:29; 13:13; Gal 5:20; 1 Tim 6:4; and Titus 3:9. It describes the contentious discord which can occur between rival factions, as here in the Corinthian church.

The second condition, "jealousy" (zh'lo", zçlos), is also found in Rom 13:13 and Gal 5:20. It can have the positive sense of "zeal," as it does in 2 Cor 7:7,11; and 9:2. However, here it describes the feelings which drive rivalry with another person.

The third condition, "outbursts of anger" (qumov", thymos ), as the first two, also appears in Gal 5:20. It presumes a violent rage erupting in crude, derisive language, often later regretted. The plural here suggests that many people in Corinth may be losing control of themselves in this fashion.

The fourth condition, "factions" (ejriqeiva, eritheia ) is also in Gal 5:20 in the plural but singular in Rom 2:8; Phil 1:17; 2:3; Jas 3:14,16. In Greek outside the NT, it can refer to someone with selfish ambitions for political office, though normally it depicts the results of self-centeredness which destroys unity in a group.

The fifth condition, "slander" (katalaliva, katalalia ) occurs only in 1 Pet 2:1, but the related adjective (katavlalo", katalalos ) occurs in Rom 1:30 and the verb form occurs in James 4:11 (three times), 1 Pet 2:12, and 3:16. It depicts the cruel, false speech against someone which has been uttered publicly. The related sixth condition, "gossip" (yiqurismov", psithyrismos ), found only here in the NT (a related word appears in Rom 1:21) means "a whispering." This kind of evil speech occurs apart from the subject's knowledge. It may or may not be false, but it usually becomes false as it is repeated.

The seventh condition, "arrogance" (fusivwsi", physiôsis) also occurs only here in the NT, though the cognate verb is replete, especially in 1 Corinthians (4:6,18,19; 5:2; 8:1; 13:4). It describes a person who displays a vain sense of superiority over others.

The eighth condition, "disorder" (ajkatastasiva, akatastasia ), appearing in Luke 21:9; 1 Cor 14:33; 2 Cor 6:5; and James 3:6, is not so much a condition of an individual but of a group. It envelops the social disarray which results from anarchy, revolution, or riots. As last in the list, it somewhat mirrors the first and third conditions. This may be Paul's greatest fear, arriving in Corinth to see a church splintered into disarray.

12:21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you,

Although not appearing in the Greek, as with most translations, the NIV supplies the assumed, primary notion of "I am afraid" which opens 12:20. Also along with most, it connects the "again" (pavlin, palin ) with "when I come" (ejlqovnto", elthontos ). This may seem right since "again" even in the Greek occurs just in front of the participle. However, current commentaries (reflected in the NLT translation) believe "again" should go with "will humble." The fact that this visit is not Paul's first is well known. What he is really worried about is a repeat of his second visit, during which he has indicated that he was humiliated. This, of course, would only be even a possibility if Paul arrives to a church in social and spiritual chaos.

Even if such a travesty would happen, though, Paul's theology is such that he would accept it as within God's divine purposes just as he did the first time. Everything, even troubling experiences, has a purpose in Paul's view.

and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier

What follows this statement suggests that the sins which Paul fears may be in practice at Corinth are only of a sexual nature. Indeed, such sins which go back to the days before the conversion of Corinthians have been a focus of Paul's concern in both the previous letter and 1 Corinthians. Perhaps, such things continue or have resurfaced due to the influence of the false apostles or just the breakdown of accountability in the church generally. In any case, the way he states this, in the perfect tense, suggests that he has warned them previously about these matters which might grieve him when he comes. Yet, these are really another category of sins beyond the social, listed in 12:21, and the personal, indicated by the prospect of humiliation, which he is gearing himself up to discipline within his apostolic authority. The Corinthians are being given fair warning.

and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.

All three of these designations are associated generally with sexual impropriety. The first, "impurity" (ajkqarsiva, akatharsia ), emphasizes the moral degradation of sexual promiscuity; the second, "sexual sin" (porneiva, porneia ) refers in particular to illicit sex with someone else's spouse or outside of marriage, even prostitution; the third "debauchery" (ajsevlgeia, aselgeia ) describes going beyond the proper limits of sexual behavior as defined by culture. Paul does not probably intend for the three to be dissected but to take them all together as encompassing sexual misconduct.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

McGarvey: 2Co 12:8

Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice [Mat 26:44], that it might depart from me .

Lapide: 2Co 12:1-21

CHAPTER 12

SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER

i. That the Corinthians may esteem him above the false apostles, he describes his being carried up into the third heaven.

ii. He goes on to say (ver. 7) that to prevent his being puffed up a thorn in the flesh was given him; for strength is made perfect in weakness.

iii. He clears himself (ver. 11) from any charge of self-love, by pointing out that it was they who had compelled him to praise himself, instead of commending him, as they ought to have done, for his long-suffering, miracles, preaching without charge, charity, and care for them.

iv. He refutes the calumny (ver. 17) brought against him, that he collected money from them craftily, not personally, but by means of Titus.

v. He expresses a fear (ver. 21) lest, when he should come to them, he might find some of them involved in dissensions and other sins; and thus he tacitly warns them that he may with grief be compelled to castigate them.

Ver. 2.— I knew a man in Christ. A Christian. He thus describes him, says Theophylact, that it may be clear that Paul was taken up by the grace of Christ, and not, like Simon Magus, by the power of the devil.

Above fourteen years ago. Hence we conclude that this rapture of S. Paul took place about nine years after his conversion, which took place A.D. 36; Paul, therefore, was taken up A.D. 44, which was the ninth year from his conversion. It was in this year that, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, he was ordained, with Barnabas, Apostle and Doctor of the Gentiles (Act 13:2), that is to say, a little before he began this apostleship. This is evident, because, as I said at the beginning of this Epistle, S. Paul wrote this A.D. 58, in the second year of Nero. This rapture of S. Paul did not take place, therefore, in the year of his conversion (Act 9:12), i.e., A.D. 36, though some join S. Thomas in assigning it to that year.

Theophylact remarks on the modesty of the Apostle in having kept this silent for fourteen years. Secondly, he points out that Paul, fourteen years before, was privileged to contemplate such deep things, how much more did he merit it now, after the labours of so many years?

Whether in the body I cannot tell. Although the Apostle says that he knows nothing for certain about this rapture, yet S. Thomas (ii. ii. qu. 175, art. 5), and others think it probable that his soul remained united to his body as its form, otherwise Paul would have died and then risen again. Moreover, it does not beseem God, when He throws men into an ecstasy, to kill them; nay, such a process would not be one of rapture and ecstasy, but a putting to death. This, too, would involve the multiplication of many miracles. But it is a principle that we should not multiply miracles; therefore it is easier and more natural to suppose that, like other Saints, Paul was carried up while remaining in the body.

Caught up. " To be caught up is," says S. Thomas, " to be raised from what is natural to what is supernatural by the power of the higher nature." Hence angels and the Blessed are not caught up when they see God. Although they are raised above nature, yet they are not cut off from nature, i.e., from the power man has of naturally having consciousness of objects by means of his bodily senses and his representative powers. But when "caught up," the soul is deprived of the use of its senses and imagination, and Paul, therefore, was so deprived, or he would have known that he was in the body. Moreover, such abstraction, as S. Thomas says, may take place under the influence of disease, as when a man is delirious, or even by the power of devils, as when they carry off a man. It is not, however, called rapture or ecstasy, unless wrought by Divine power, which withdraws the mind from the senses, and lifts it up to the contemplation of things supernatural.

To the third heaven. What is this heaven? 1.  S. Basil ( Hom. i. in Hexem.) infers from this that there is not merely one heaven, as Chrysostom thought, nor two, as Theophylact held, but at least three. Some add that there are three only, and that the third is the highest. But all the astronomers of olden times will dispute this, for they reckoned eight at least, as will moderns, who count at least eleven.

2. S. Thomas says (ii. ii. qu. 175, art. 3, ad. 4): " By the third heaven may be understood any supernatural vision, and in three ways it may be called the third heaven. First, with relation to man's cognitive powers. Then the first heaven will be any supernatural, corporal vision, seen by the bodily eye, such as that of the handwriting on the wall, described in Daniel v. The second heaven will be any vision presented to the imagination, such as that of Isaiah, and of S. John in the Apocalypse. The third heaven will be any intellectual vision, such as is explained by S. Augustine ( super Gen. ad Litt. 12).

" Secondly, the distinction may be made according to the different orders of the objects of consciousness. Then the first heaven will be the knowledge of celestial bodies; the second, the knowledge of celestial spirits; the third, the knowledge of God Himself.

" Thirdly, the three heavens may be the different steps of the knowledge by which God is seen. The first will then belong to the angels of the lowest hierarchy; the second to the angels of the middle hierarchy; the third to the angels of the highest." According to this test, S. Paul would have been caught up to the third and highest hierarchy of angels, and standing there with the seraphim, have seen most clearly the essence of God, and from thence have been enkindled with that burning fire of charity with which he afterwards set on fire the whole world.

But I should say that the third heaven is the highest, or the empyrean, where the Blessed dwell. Hence, in ver. 4, it is called Paradise. It is called the third by a Hebraism. The number three denotes completion, being the first number to which the word all may be applied. We do not speak of "all two," but we may and do say "all three." Hence the poet says: "Oh, thrice and four times blessed they," &c., i.e., completely blessed. Again (in Amos i. 3) we read, "for three transgressions of Damascus," meaning, for all. In ver. 8 of this chapter again, we have, "I besought the Lord thrice," or, very often, till I could ask no more, until the answer came. "My grace is sufficient for thee."

3. It is simplest of all to say with S. Thomas, in the passage above quoted, that " the first heaven is the sidereal, the second the crystalline, the third the empyrean ;" or, rather, that " the first is the aerial, the second the sidereal, the third the empyrean," as Theophylact gives them. With him agree Julian Pomerius, and Damascene ( de Fide, lib. ii. c. 6), and many others. "The air" in Scripture is commonly called "the heaven;" hence we get "the birds of heaven." The air, therefore, is the first heaven, and is called the aerial one. All the heavenly orbs are the second heaven, or the etherial, and the third is the empyrean. Hence Cajetan is wrong in rejecting the empyrean, in which the Blessed dwell, and supposing that the third is the crystalline. In this latter are the waters which, in Gen. i. and elsewhere, are said to be above the firmament.

Mystically, S. Bernard says that the three heavens are the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity, and also the three virtues and gifts by which we ascend to them and to the highest pinnacle of grace and glory, viz., humility, charity, and perfect union. He says ( Tract. de Grad. Humil.): " Those whom, by His word and example the Son has first taught humility, on whom the Holy Spirit has then poured the gift of charity, these the Father at length receives in glory. The Son makes them disciples, the Paraclete comforts them as friends, the Father exalts them as sons. Firstly, He instructs them as a Master; secondly, He comforts them as a Friend or a Brother; thirdly, He embraces them as sons. From the first union of the Word and reason is born humility; from the second union of the Spirit of God with the will of man comes charity; then at last the Father unites to Himself His glorious bride. And thus reason is not suffered to think of itself or of the will of its neighbour, but the beatified soul delights to say this alone: 'The King hath brought me into His chamber.' These steps were not surpassed by S. Paul, who declares that he was caught up to the third heaven."

A second question arises: Was Paul truly and really caught up into the empyrean, so as to be in it as in a place, or was he there only by way of imagination or of understanding, so that he seemed to himself in his imagination to be in heaven, and saw what was being done there, while his body and soul remained on earth? Some think with probability that he was not caught up actually and truly, but only imaginarily, because he includes this rapture in vers. 1 and 7, under the head of visions and revelations of the Lord. God can bring it to pass that I in Belgium can see what is going on in India, and even what is passing in heaven. This may be brought about either through the imagination or the understanding, or even by the eyes of the body; for God can so raise these above themselves, so co-operate with them above nature, so strengthen and extend the visual powers as to make them reach even to heaven. If that power may be increased beyond what is natural by spectacles or medicaments, why may not God extend this power yet further and further? Thus it happened to S. Anselm, that he was able to see through a wall what was going on on the other side, by God imprinting the proper images on his retina. So Bede says that S. Diethelmus and others saw in imagination the pains of purgatory. Why, then, should not Paul have seen in the same way the empyrean, and what was passing in it?

Others, with perhaps greater probability on their side, think that he was actually and truly caught up into the empyrean. They give as their reasons: (1.) That the Greek verb used is not the technical term for casting into an ecstasy, but a word which denotes an actual rapture. (2.) That Paul is doubtful whether his soul was caught up with his body or without his body; therefore he presupposes that his soul was truly and really caught up; for in a vision that is merely imaginary there is no doubt that the soul alone and not the body is caught up by the imagination. (3.) That there be actually heard mysterious words, so that, as the destined teacher of the world, he seemed to go forth from heaven, and to communicate to men what he had there seen and heard as God willed him, and so brought to men as from heaven heavenly wisdom. Cf. ver. 4, note.

Now if the soul was really caught up, and yet remained united to the body (as I said in the opening note on this verse), then the body of Paul seems to have been caught tip into paradise; and indeed this is as easy with God as taking up the soul only. This would be fitting to S. Paul's office, who was to be the teacher and Apostle, not, like Moses, of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, and so should wholly come forth, like another Moses, from intercourse with God in heaven.

Ver. 3.— Whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell. S. Athanasius ( Serm. 4 contra Arian.) thinks that Paul knew the mode in which he was caught up, yet says: "I do not know," or, "I cannot tell;" because he could not reveal it to others, in the same way that Christ, in S. Mar 13:32, says that He did not know the day of judgment. For though in himself he knew, yet as far as others were concerned he did not know, for he could not explain it. But others do better in understanding him simply to mean. "I do not know," and his simple recital of the event seems to require this.

Ver. 4. — In paradise. Ambrose, Œcumenius, Haymo, Anselm, and Theophylact think that Paul was twice caught up: (1.) into the third heaven, and (2.) then higher still into paradise. If so, the third heaven would be the heaven of sun, moon, and stars; but what would Paul have done there? Hence others hold that the events are one and the same, and that the third heaven and paradise are identical.

It may be asked. Why, after saying that he was caught up into the third heaven, does Paul say that he was caught up into paradise, as though it were a place higher still? I reply that of the vast empyrean paradise is one particular part where the Blessed are, and a more glorious part than the rest. S. Paul would imply that not only did he see deepest mysteries by his understanding, but also in his will drank in ineffable happiness. He signifies this by the term paradise, which, both in Greek and Latin, denotes a place of happiness.

Paradise is not a Greek word meaning, as Suidas thinks, a well-watered garden, nor yet a herb-garden, as others suppose, but, as Pollux says, it is a Persian word, or rather Hebrew, denoting a garden planted with pleasant trees and fruits. Cf. Ecc 2:5; Neh 2:8; Son 4:11. It is derived from two Hebrew words, denoting to bring forth myrtles. Then, because myrtle is of a pleasant smell, and does best in gardens, the name has been transferred to pleasure-gardens, plantations, and glades, and then again to any pleasant place. Here the third heaven is called paradise.

Did Paul see there the Divine Essence? S. Augustine ( Ep. 112, c. 13), Clement ( Stromata, c. 5), Anselm, and S. Thomas (ii. ii. qu. 175, art. 5) say that he did, and their opinion is probable; for he was for this purpose caught up into paradise, or the place where the Blessed see God. Again, he heard secret things of which it is not lawful for man to speak: but men may speak of everything except the Divine Essence.

It may be objected that in that case he ought to have said that he saw things, not heard words. I reply that, by a common Hebraism, "to hear words" means "to see things" (Theodoret); as, e.g., with the prophets vision and hearing are the same, so is it in the minds of the Blessed.

But the contrary seems more probable (1.) For even with a separated soul, to hear does not mean to behold a thing clearly, but to take in the words of God, or of an angel, or of man; otherwise he would have said without ambiguity, I saw ineffable things, even God Himself. (2.) S. Paul says, in 1 Tim. vi. 16, speaking of God, "Whom no man hath seen." (3.) If he saw God he must have seen also his own state, whether he was in the body or not. But he says that he did not. (4.) But he gives a scanty account of his visions here, and says that, out of humility, he passes over greater things. Cf. Gregory ( Morals, lib. xviii. c. 5), Jerome, Cyril, Chrysostom, and the Fathers and Schoolmen in general, and also Lud. Molina (pt. i. qu. xii. art. 11, dips 2). (5.) Scripture says more plainly of Moses that he saw the Essence of God, and yet I have shown clearly enough, in the notes to Exo 33., that Moses did not seek to see the Essence of God, and would not have obtained such a request if he had made it. In Exo 33:20 the Lord distinctly replies to him in the negative: "Thou canst not see My face, for no man shall see Me and live." It was only conceded to him that he should see the back parts of God, that is, the back of the body assumed by the Angel who represented God. Moses, however, sought that God, or the angel, who behind a cloud stood in the place of God, and spoke with him from the cloud, should unfold Himself, that he might see Him clearly and converse with Him face to face. The angel answered him that the eyes of man cannot see His face, but only His back; because the face assumed by the angel was so shining and so gloriously bright and majestic that it shone to a certain extent with the glory of God. It surpassed, therefore, the splendour of the sun, which man cannot look on directly with unveiled eyes, nay, rather man is blinded by the splendour. If follows from this that much less could this far more splendid face of the angel be seen by Moses; nay, he would have been blinded by it. But in the back of the body that the angel had assumed the light was so toned down that Moses could look upon it. Moses looking upon this was so covered as it were with light that his face shone, and seemed to emit two horns of rays of light. This vision of Moses was a bodily vision, for with the eyes of his body he saw the back of the angel's body. He was, therefore, far from seeing the Divine Essence; and if he did not see it, much less did S. Paul, who speaks more obscurely and more humbly of his vision.

And heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. What were these mysteries that Paul heard or saw in paradise? They are related indeed in the book which is styled "the Apocalypse of S. Paul," but this book is not genuine, and is full of mythical stories, and is scouted by S. Augustine ( Tract. 98 in Johan.), Bede, Theophylact. Epiphanius attributes it to the sect of Cainites. I should reply that no certain answer can be given where Paul kept silence. Still it is natural to suppose that Paul saw and heard wonderful things of the nature, gifts, grace, glory, and orders of the angels, as S. Gregory says ( in Ezech., Hom. 4). Hence S. Dionysius, in his "Celestial Hierarchy," so describes the orders of the angels from what he heard from S. Paul, that you might think he saw them with his eyes. Again, he may have heard wondrous things about some Divine attributes not known to us here; he may have seen too the glory of Christ, for he was taught the Gospel by Christ (Gal 1:12). He was caught up that he might receive authority, and not be inferior to the other Apostles, who had seen Christ in the flesh and been taught thoroughly by Him (Chrysostom). Theodoret adds that he saw the beauty of paradise, the choirs and joys of the Saints, and heard the tuneful harmony of the heavenly hymns. This caused his exclamation of admiration: "Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."

Secondly, it is better to suppose that he heard the mysteries of the reason, mode, and order of the Divine reprobation and predestination, and the call of men, especially of the heathen provinces to be converted by himself. Of this mystery Paul frequently expresses his admiration, as in Rom 11:33, and it had special reference to his mission (Baronius).

Thirdly, he may have heard mysteries concerning the Gospel of our redemption by Christ; for he says (Gal 1:12) that he had received this Gospel by revelation, viz., when he was caught up. Lastly, he heard, as it might seem, mysteries of the government and progress of the Church in his time and afterwards. This, too, would affect his office, as he had already been singled out as the Church's teacher and guide. He calls them "unspeakable words," both because he was forbidden to utter them, and also because we are unable either to speak of them or to understand them.

Ver. 4.— Of such an one will I glory; yet of myself I will not glory. He speaks of himself when caught up and in his ordinary state as two different persons, so as not to be thought vain-glorious (Œcumenius).

But in mine infirmities. My calamities, my sufferings. By a common Hebrew metonymy "infirmity" is here put for "grief." They are related as cause and effect or effect and cause. Cf. ver. 9; Mic 4:10. In Isa 53:3, we read of Christ that He should be "a Man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity" (Vulg.). Cf. also Psa 16:4 (Vulg.).

Ver. 6.— But now I forbear lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be. Lest he should think me an angel or some god, as the Lycaonians did (Act 14:10). He could have related more wonderful things about himself, but modesty and humility cause him to conceal them. "All the Saints," says Anselm, "not only do not seek at all for glory above their measure, but they even shrink from that which they have merited."  S. Bernard says beautifully ( Ep. 18 ad Pet. ): " We praise others hypocritically, and delight in vanity ourselves; and thus they who are praised are vain, and those who praise are false. Some flatter and are crafty; others praise as they think and are false; others glory in the words of both and are vain. He alone is wise who says with the Apostle, 'I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.'"

Ver. 7. — And lest I should be exalted above measure. From this it appears that Paul, as the heavenly teacher of the world, had many great revelations, and was accustomed to them, and, as it were, at home among them. Some of these are narrated by S. Luke. Cf. Act 9:3; Act 18:9; Act 22:17;  Act 27:23.  S. Augustine ( Enarr. in Ps. lxxviii. 69, Vulg.), on the words, "Benjamin in the excess of his mind," understands S. Paul to be referred to as being of the tribe of Benjamin.

There was given me a thorn in the flesh. Not by the devil, but by God. Not that God is the author of temptation, but He allowed the devil, who was ready beforehand, to tempt Paul, and that only in appearance, and in the matter of lust to humble him. Cf. Augustine ( de Nat. et Grat. c. 21). " This monitor," says Jerome ( Ep. 25 ad Paulam, on the death of Blesilla), " was given to Paul to repress pride, just as in the car of the victor, as he enjoys his triumph, there stands a monitor whispering to him, 'Recollect that you are a man.'" So, too, at the installation of a Pontiff, tow is lighted and extinguished, while the words are sung: "Holy Father, thus passes the glory of the world." Hence the best preservative against the temptations of the flesh is humility. If you are rooted and grounded so deeply in that as God exalts you by His gifts and graces, there will be no need for Him to apply this thorn to keep you humble. Cf. Rom. i. 24, note.

What was this thorn, and how did it buffet S. Paul? How was it a messenger of Satan? Augustine ( de Nat. et Grat. c.16) replies that he does not know what it was. But two things are certain: (1.) that he was vexed by Satan, and (2.) that this vexation was like a thorn fixed in his flesh, and continually paining him.

But it is not certain what its particular nature was. Anselm, Bede, Sedulius, and Jerome (in Gal. iv. 13) think it was bodily illness, as constant headache (S. Jerome), or colic (S. Thomas), or costiveness, or gout (Nicetas, commenting on Orat. 30 of S. Gregory Nazianzen), or some internal disorder.  S. Basil ( in Reg. cap. ult.) and S. Augustine (in Ps. cxxxi.) think that this goad was some disease sent upon Paul, just as on job, by the devil. The Apostle, however, nowhere else complains of any diseases. Moreover, they would have been a great hindrance to him in the preaching of the Gospel.

Secondly, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Theodoret, Œcumenius, Ambrose, Erasmus think that this thorn refers to the persecutions Paul endured from his adversaries, and of which he speaks in ver. 10. But these were external goads, not thorns in the flesh, and of these he is wont to boast, not complain.

Thirdly, others, with more probability, think that this thorn in the flesh consisted in blows and beatings, often given to Paul by Satan, as to Antony and others, so that pain remained in his body, as a thorn, from the blows he had received. This is the literal meaning of the words used no doubt; but if this be so, Paul would surely have said more plainly: "There was given me the messenger of Satan to buffet me." Nor would the generous mind of S. Paul have complained of this: he was but raised higher by the attacks of devils and men, and found in them matter for glorying.

Fourthly, others think, therefore, that this thorn in the flesh was the motions of concupiscence and the temptations of lust. This concupiscence, like a thorn or a dart, is so deeply fixed in the flesh that while life lasts it cannot be taken out. Hence it is called in Greek, σκόλοψ, a stake, a sharpened stick, a thorn, a javelin, or sting.

It may be asked: "Why, then, does he call this thorn 'the messenger of Satan,' or the minister of Lucifer?" I reply that he means by the messenger of Satan, Satan himself, as the exciting cause of this thorn of concupiscence; or even he calls the thorn sent by Satan, the adversary of his chastity, by the name of Satan. This would be a metonymy, where the cause is put for the effect, the agent for his work. For the devil, by stirring up the humours, by kindling the blood, by inflaming the feelings that subserve generation, by putting foul images before S. Paul's mind, gave life to that concupiscence which had been as it were put to sleep, and mortified by his numerous labours, fastings, and troubles. Thus he stirred up S. Paul to obey the foul motions of lust.

Secondly, it is proved, from Rom. vii., that this concupiscence was in S. Paul, for there he bewails it more than he does here. Hence, too, as he said (1Co 9:27), he was in the habit of castigating his body.

Thirdly, had it been anything else he would have said so clearly; but as it is, modesty and shame bid him conceal it, and call it metaphorically a thorn.

Fourthly, this thorn was given him to humiliate him. But nothing so humiliates those who are chaste and lovers of virtue, as this temptation of the flesh, and nothing is so great a check on them, and makes them so work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Through the frailty of their flesh they are always in fear of lapsing in the midst of temptations so dangerous and well calculated to make them yield consent. And, therefore, they rather glory in illness, blows, persecutions, and other evils, especially if, like S. Paul, they suffer for Christ and His faith.

Fifthly, these temptations of the flesh, properly speaking, do not hurt the Saints, but buffet them, that is strike them with shame and sorrow. A man, when struck by his friend, is suffused with shame rather than overcome with pain.

Sixthly, Paul prays repeatedly and earnestly to be set free from this thorn; in other things he would have sought not liberation, but fortitude and constancy. But concupiscence is overcome, not so much by courageous endurance as by instant flight. He asks, therefore, to be set free from it, and hears, "My grace is sufficient for thee." It is this grace which in this case is especially necessary, and should be always sought for by those that are tempted, that they may resist and overcome this civil foe lurking within and always striving to stir up war.

Lastly, this is the opinion of S. Augustine ( Enarr. 2 in Ps. lix.), S. Jerome ( ad Eustoch. de Custod. Virgin.), Salvianus ( Serm. de Circumcis., wrongly attributed to Cyprian), Haymo, Theophylact, Anselm, Bede, S. Thomas, Lyranus, and others. It seems, too, the common belief of the faithful, who from this passage speak of the temptation of lust as a thorn in the flesh. The voice of the people is the voice of God.

But, what Cardinal Hugo adds, viz., that this temptation found a place in Paul, owing to his familiar converse with a beautiful virgin, S. Thecla, whom he had baptized, and afterwards kept with him in his journeyings, is false, and merely conjecture. Paul took no woman about with him, as he says in 1Co 9:5. And even if he had, he would have been bound, under penalty of incurring guilt, to send her away if he found her to be an occasion of so much troublous temptation. Moreover, what need would there have been for S. Paul to pray to God so instantly that this thorn might be taken from him, when he might easily have got rid of it himself? Add to this that this story is taken from a book entitled, "The journeys of Paul and Thecla," which is rejected as apocryphal by S. Jerome, Tertullian, and Gelasius.

Erasmus and Faber object to this, firstly, that the thorn of lust was unbecoming and unworthy of so great an Apostle, and he now an old man. I answer that in our lapsed state it is not only not unworthy, but is also beneficial. See S. Gregory ( Moral. lib. xix., c. 5 and 6) and Anselm, who point out how useful it is to the Elect to be now caught up into ecstasy, and now depressed by weakness, so that they may never be puffed up with pride or cast down into despair, but may always keep the narrow way that lies midway between the two, and which leads to heaven. Rom 7:23 shows that this concupiscence existed in S. Paul, and experience tells us that it has been, and now is, in the Saints, even when they are old men.  S. Gregory Nazianzen, for instance, often complains of the evils of his flesh, as in Ep. 96, and in his hymn on his flesh and the burden of his soul. Moreover, Paul was not an old man, for he was a young man when converted—perhaps twenty-five or twenty-seven (Act 7:58). This Epistle was written twenty-two years after his conversion, when he would, therefore, be about fifty years old.

Secondly, the objection is raised that the Apostle immediately adds. "Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities." But we may not glory in concupiscence, and therefore he must mean some other infirmity and thorn. To this I reply that the Apostle is not referring in these words to the thorn in the flesh that he had just mentioned, but also, and more properly, to all the sufferings that he had borne for the faith, and which he had recounted in the last chapter. In them, he says, he glories always. He uses the word infirmity in its widest meaning, and plays on it, as I will point out at ver. 10. Moreover, it is lawful to glory in this temptation of the flesh, not in itself, so far as it excites to evil, but as it is an affliction put upon us by the devil, and as in it the strength of Christ is made perfect. In this way Julius Cæsar used to glory, and desire most powerful foes, that he might show against them his power and warlike courage. So, too, many Saints have prayed to God, and asked to have temptations, and have gloried in them. Hence, S. James says (i. 2): "My brethren, count it all joy,when ye fall into divers temptations." Cf. also S. Jam 1:12.

Morally, it should be observed that temptation is not to the righteous a cause of falling, but a spur to virtue. For, as high-spirited horses, when urged by the spur, quicken their pace, and show their spirit more, so are Saints spurred on by temptation to walk more diligently in virtue, lest they give way and perish. Hence, some of the Saints of great earnestness were not saddened, but gladdened, by temptations. In the "Lives of the Fathers" ( lib. iii. c. 8) we read of an aged man who, on seeing one of his disciples grievously tempted to commit fornication, said to him: " If you wish it, my son, I will pray the Lord to remove this attack from you." The disciple replied: " I see, my father, that I am undergoing a laborious task, yet I feel that it will bring forth in me good fruit; because, through this temptation I fast the more, and spend more time in vigils and prayers. But I beseech you to pray God of His mercy to give me strength, that I may be able to bear it, and fight lawfully." Then the old man rejoined: " Now I perceive, my son, that you faithfully understand that this spiritual struggle may, through patience, help on your soul towards eternal salvation. For so said the Apostle, 'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.'"

S. Dorotheus relates of a certain holy monk that he grieved at being freed from temptation, and exclaimed: "Am I not then worthy, 0 Lord, of suffering, and being a little afflicted for Thy love?" Climacus ( Grad. 29) relates of S. Ephrem, that seeing himself possessed of deep peace and tranquillity, which he himself calls impassibility, and an earthly heaven, he besought God to restore to him his former temptations and struggles, so that he might not lose the material for meriting and adding to his crown. Palladius relates that Abbot Pastor, on some one saying to him, "I have prayed to God, and He has set me free from all temptation," replied "Pray God to restore you your temptations, lest you become slothful and careless."

Ver. 8.— For this thing I besought the Lord thrice . . . and He said unto me. Three is the number symbolic of multitude and universality. The answer meant that though he was weak in himself, yet in God he might be strong enough to overcome this temptation. It, hence appears that Paul was not heard, and was not freed from his thorn.  S. Augustine gives the reason ( Enarr. in Ps. cxxxi.). He says: "As when some disagreeable medicine is brought to one that is sick, and he asks the physician to take it away; whereupon the physician comforts him and urges him to have patience, because he knows that the medicine is good for him, so does God here deal with Paul." As a physician from vipers' flesh makes a conserve against vipers' poison, so does God, out of our weakness, form a medicine against weakness, and makes one lust of the flesh a remedy against another, as, e.g., this thorn of the flesh was a preservative against pride.

Ver. 9.— For my strength is made perfect in weakness. This is a general proposition, a moral axiom applying to any weakness, but properly and primarily to that thorn of concupiscence just mentioned. These are the words of God in answer to the prayers of S. Paul. The greater the temptation of the flesh is, the greater is the strength supplied by Christ. This explains the paradox that follows: "When I am weak then am I strong."

The strength is both Paul's and God's—Paul's as the receiver, God's as the Giver. Therefore, the Divine power is best manifested in weakness when, (1.) in those that are weak it works fortitude, patience, and other superhuman works. (2.) When he by whom anything is done, conscious of his own weakness, claims nothing for himself, but gives all the praise to God. Observe here the difference between the power of God and the power of the world. One is seen in force and violence, the other in endurance. (3.) Infirmity is the object of patience, fortitude, and temperance, in the same way that those who are infirm are more sober when they are ill. (4.) Infirm people keep the most careful watch over themselves, and prudently refuse whatever is noxious, and so become more self-controlled by habit (S. Thomas). Certainly, virtue feeds on opposition, and, therefore, by temptation, chastity becomes constant, and every virtue more robust, as we see in the lives of Joseph, Susannah, Paul, and others. (5.) S. Augustine says mystically ( de Gratia Christ. c. 12), as does Anselm: "Fortitude is a true knowledge and humble confession of our infirmity." And S. Jerome says, writing, to Ctesiphon: "The one perfection to be found in this life is to recognise our imperfection." By this you learn not to trust to your own strength, but to cast yourself wholly with perfect confidence on the power of God, who strengthens the humble and those that hope in Him, and makes them as it were almighty, as S. Bernard says ( Serm. 85 in Cantic.), able to pass unscathed through all temptations, labours, and dangers.

S. Augustine gives us an instance of this in his own life (cf. lib. viii. c. 11). He says. " When habit that seemed to me irresistible said to me, 'Can you live without them?' " (the concubines that he had been accustomed to have), " there appeared to me in the direction to which I had turned my face, while shrinking from setting out that way, the pure dignity of continence, with dignified mien, inviting me to come without hesitation, holding out, to welcome and embrace me, holy hands filled with hosts of good examples. There were multitudes of boys and girls, and many a youth; all ages were there, sober widows and aged virgins. She smiled encouragingly upon me, as much as to say, 'Can you not do what these men and women have done? They did it not in their own strength, but in the Lord their God. He gave me to them. Why do you stand in yourself and fall? Cast yourself upon Him; fear not. He will not withdraw and cause you to fall. Boldly trust yourself to Him. He will receive you and will heal you.'"

Lastly, virtue is made perfect in weakness, because, as S. Bernard ( Ep. 254) says, in a robust and vigorous body the mind lies effeminate and lukewarm, and again in a weak and sickly body the spirit grows stronger and more vigilant. As one to whom nature has denied strength excels in intellect, so where God withholds health He gives robustness and vigour of mind, so that the mind afflicted with a feeble body sighs after its resurrection and after heaven; spurns whatever is transient, troubled, and exposed to decay; lives for the future life, not the present; thinks with Plato that this life is death's mediator; in short, gives itself wholly to God and heavenly things. "The mind that is allied to disease is close to God," says Nazianzen. Listen to what a famous old man said to one of his disciples who enjoyed bad health ( Vita. Patrum, lib. iii. n. 157). " Be not sad, my son, at your sickness and bodily ills. It is the highest duty of religion to give God thanks in weakness. If you are iron you lose your rust by fire; if you are gold you are tried by the fire and, proceed from great to greater. Be not distressed, then, my brother. If God wishes you to be tormented in the body, who are you that you should be angry with Him? Bear up then, and ask Him to give you what He sees fit."

S. Theophanes, Abbot of Sigrianum, a man who never had good health, A.D. 816, gave the following answer to the iconoclastic emperor, Leo the Armenian, who threatened him with dreadful tortures if he did not condemn the worship of images: " If you hope to terrify me with your threatenings, a man already worn out with disease and old age, as teachers threaten with a beating boys of no generous spirit, then let the pyre be kindled, let the instruments of torture be got ready, together with every engine of malicious cruelty, that you may know most clearly that the strength of Christ is made perfect in my weaknesses. I, who cannot walk on the ground, shall find my weakness changed into strength, and will leap upon the fire." And he was as good as his word; for after many temptations he was shut up in prison, and all access to him was forbidden; and so, being gradually weakened by hunger, filth, and disease, he offered up his soul in two years' time to God, as a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and after his death became illustrious for his miracles. The Church commemorates him on March 12th Cf. Baronius ( Annals, A.D. 816). Cf. also S. Thomas and S. Chrysostom ( Hom. 26), on the benefit of infirmities and tribulations.

Lastly, S. Bernard ( Tract. de Grad. Humil. ) says: "' Virtue is made perfect in weakness.' What virtue? Let the Apostle tell us: 'Gladly will I glory in my infirmities, that the virtue of Christ may rest upon me.' But perhaps you do not yet understand what special virtue he meant, since Christ had all virtues. But though all were found in Him, yet one in particular shone above all, viz., humility. This He commended to us in the words, 'Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.' Gladly, then, 0 Lord Jesu, will I glory if I can in my infirmity, in my bodies illness, that Thy virtue, humility, may be made perfect in me; for when any virtue fails, Thy grace avails."

Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Humility makes him glory not in his strength but in his infirmity; and so he calls upon Christ to give him strength, and tacitly says that he throws himself upon Him. Hence, by infirmity he means every kind of suffering, tribulation, temptation, humiliation, as is explained in the next verse. Infirmity, then, is a generic term, including anything that causes pain to mind or body. Hence (1.) it may embrace sicknesses, which, S. Basil says, formed Paul's thorn in the flesh; (2.) labours, such as are described in the preceding chapter; (3.) temptations of the flesh (ver. 7), or any other temptations; (4.) watchings, fastings, and other acts of mortification of the body, by which the body is weakened and made subject to the spirit; (5.) insults, persecutions, dangers, blows, and all afflictions borne for the sake of the faith of the Gospel.

Let them that are infirm console themselves amidst their infirmities by the thought that the power of Christ tabernacles in them as in its proper home. The power of God shows itself most where there is most need for it, and gives the greatest help when necessity is greatest. "To Thee," says the prophet "the poor is left: Thou wilt be a helper of the fatherless." For although naturally "bodily weakness involves also mental," as S. Jerome says ( Pref. lib. ii. Comment. in Amos ), and "the body which is corrupted weighs down the soul" (Wisd. 9:15), yet supernaturally it is otherwise; for the soul that is strengthened with grace strengthens also the body. S. Francis, for instance, increased in mental vigour as his body grew more feeble, so much so that in giving thanks to God he prayed that his sicknesses might be increased a hundredfold. "To fulfil Thy will, 0 Lord," he said, "is my exceeding comfort." See his Life by S. Bonaventura,

S. Bernard ( Serm. 34 in Cantic.) says: " He does not say that he bears his infirmities patiently, but that he glories in them, and glories in them most gladly, proving that it was good for him to be humbled; for God loveth a cheerful giver. Humility alone which is joyous and unconstrained merits the grace which it receives." Again, in Sermon 25, he says: " We should wish for infirmity, which is supplemented by the power of Christ. Would that I might be not only weak, but destitute, and wholly wanting in anything of my own, that I might be strengthened by the might of the Lord of might; for strength is made perfect in weakness. And since this is the case, the bride beautifully turns it to her glory that she is held up to scorn by her rivals, and she glories, not only that she is comely but also that she is black. She thinks nothing more glorious than to bear the reproach of Christ. The ignominy of the Cross is pleasing to him who is not unpleasing to the Crucified."

Ver. 10 . — Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities. Not because they are desirable in themselves, but in so far as through them the power of Christ is perfected. He then goes on, as I said before, to mention what is included under the generic term infirmity.

For when I am weak then am I strong. When I am afflicted then do I gain strength by the power of God's grace, long-suffering, fortitude, humility, and hope, which virtues are then implanted by God (Chrysostom). Œcumenius thinks, however, that he means that he then becomes strong to work miracles. S. Basil too (in PS. xxxiii.) says, that "great bodily power is an impediment to the salvation of the soul." S. Bernard says beautifully and truly ( Serm. 29 in Cantic.): " Do you see that the weakness of the flesh adds strength to the spirit? so, on the other hand, be assured that the strength of the flesh works spiritual weakness. What wonder is it if you become stronger when the enemy is weakened?—unless perchance you are insane enough to suppose that the flesh, which is always lusting against the spirit, is your friend . . .. The saint who prudently keeps his eye fixed on his salvation prays to be shot at and attacked. Pierce my heart with Thy fear. That fear is the best of arrows, for it pierces and slays the lusts of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved. But does not he that castigates his body and brings it into subjection seem to you to himself help the hand of him that fights against him?

Ver. 11.— I am become a fool in glorying. I seem to have done foolishly in praising myself, but you, who had of me a lower opinion than you ought, and who gave more credence to the false apostles than to me, have compelled me to recover my influence over you by thus praising myself.

Though I be nothing. That I am an Apostle is not my doing, it is of the grace of Christ (Anselm). Cf. xi. 5, note.

Ver. 12. — Truly the signs of an apostle. The genuine tokens of an Apostle were: (1.) patience under contempt, poverty, persecutions, dangers (Anselm). (2.) Miracles. He calls these signs of the true faith, of heavenly doctrine, or signs given by God working supernaturally and all-powerfully, and consequently bearing witness to the truth of Paul's doctrine and to his Divine mission. He calls them also wonders, from the effect they were calculated to produce on the mind, and also mighty deeds or works of God's omnipotence, of which he was the instrument.

It was incumbent on the Apostles, as the bearers of a new Gospel to the world, to prove their doctrine and apostleship by miracles, otherwise they would have exacted a credulous assent, and could not have been distinguished from impostors, like the false apostles. This should be observed by Protestants and their new apostles, Calvin and Luther, who are bringing in a reformed doctrine: this, being new, demands to be supported by miracles. Since they do not produce these credentials—unless they think it to be a miracle that when they promise to raise a dead man they put to death a living one (but from such miracles and such apostles, good Lord, deliver us)—they practically confess that they are no apostles, but impostors.

Ver. 13. — For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches? I.e., other churches founded by me and other Apostles. I was no burden to you, but worked day and night to support myself. Then he ironically adds: "Forgive me this wrong." For this notable and generous act of beneficence, the Apostle should have been more highly esteemed and loved, not reckoned as one that had inflicted an injury.

Ver. 14 . — Behold the third time. The first visit was when he converted them; the second time he was ready to start, but postponed his visit for good reasons; the third occasion was at the time of his writing, and took place actually afterwards (S. Thomas and Lyranus).

For the children ought not to lay up for the parents. A euphemism. Earthly parents lay up treasure for their children; spiritual fathers, on the other hand, should be supported by their children, i.e., by the catechumens and the faithful. I am to you, says S. Paul, such a spiritual father, that I wish to be also an earthly one, and expend upon you myself and all that I have. He thus gently chides them, that they may see how great an Apostle he is, how high-minded, of how great charity, and be confounded for not returning his love, and for preferring the false apostles, who thought only of themselves and their own gain.

Ver. 15. — And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. I will spend all my goods, and then gladly give for you my blood, my spirit, my life (Anselm).

Ver. 16.— Being crafty, I caught you with guile. S. Thomas (ii. ii. qu. 55, art. 4, ad. 1) thinks that craftiness and guile are here used in a good sense, as much as to say, with cunning, skill, and prudent caution did I convert you from heathenism to Christianity. But I should say that these are words used by his detractors, and appropriated by S. Paul. They carp at me, saying that Paul does not directly ask for anything for his support, but he catches you with guile, by sending Titus and others to drain your purses (Chrysostom). S. Paul then goes on to answer this charge.

Ver. 17 . — Did I make a gain of you? Did I defraud you, and extort your money from you? Or with Vatablus, Did I fleece you? Or, with Ambrose, Was I covetous towards you?

Ver. 19. — Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? For again the Latin version has "of old time." There are some among you who have for a long time thought that I have said so much as I have said as an excuse for my avarice and double-dealing, or that I craftily excuse myself and refuse your gifts, to induce you to give more.

We speak before God in Christ. We speak sincerely, truly, and without any reservation, as it is right for one to speak who professes to be in Christ, i.e., to be His disciple and member. Or "in Christ" may mean, with Christian sincerity, Christ being put for His attributes, the concrete for the abstract. Or, again, the sentence may mean: Before God we sincerely speak the truth, and I call Christ as my witness to my truth. As we say when taking an oath, "By God," or, "By Christ," so do the Hebrews say, "In God," or, "In Christ." So Vatablus takes it. Cf. also Rom. ix. 1. Anselm, however, understands "We speak in Christ" to mean, "According to Christ and His doctrine," which bids us speak with sincerity and truth. Or, "in Christ" may mean "by Christ, who speaks in me and through me;" but the first meaning is the simplest and best.

Ver. 20.— I fear . . . lest there be wraths. θυμός with the Greeks that part of the mind which is called the irascible faculty, placed by Plato in the heart, and opposed to reason, which has for its seat the brain. Thence the word is applied to angry quarrellings, audacious arrogance, irascible conduct, when a man will not give up his opinion, but clings to it obstinately, and hotly opposes others, to show his spirit. Such actions spring from the irascible faculty when it is unchecked.

Whisperings. Secret and hidden attacks made by the malevolent on those they wish to bring into odium, or when they wish to sever friendships. Such a "whisperer" was Antipater, the son of Herod, who, that he might succeed his father, tried to make his elder brothers suspected by their father, that he might put them to death; but a just Nemesis overtook him, for he was himself put to death by Herod, as Josephus relates at length.

Swellings.— Pride and arrogance, which, as it were, puff up those they take possession of.

Ver. 21. — Lest my God will humble me among you. Lest He sadden me, and cause me to sorrowfully punish many of you, viz., those who persist in their sins. The Apostle's words point to the public penance inflicted on those who were strictly called penitents. Cf. Augustine ( Ep. ad Salvinam, 108).

Just as the Apostle and every preacher rejoice chiefly in the progress of their disciples, and to be able to say, "Ye are my joy and crown," so do they mourn most to see them fall away into sin, and make no return for all their exhortations and labour. Again, such an one is forced to punish against his will and with grief. The words of Nero at the beginning of his rule are well known: when obliged to sign a sentence of capital punishment against some criminals, he exclaimed: "Would that I knew not letters."

And have not repented of the uncleanness. Oftheir effeminacy and other lusts, which make them sin against nature, and subject her to violence. The Apostle draws a distinction between uncleanness and fornication.

Lasciviousness. Wanton delight in lustful kissing and touch.

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 12 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Co 12:1, For commending of his apostleship, though he might glory of his wonderful revelations, 2Co 12:9, yet he rather chooses to glory of his infirmities; 2Co 12:11, blaming them for forcing him to this vain boasting; 2Co 12:14, He promises to come to them again; but yet altogether in the affection of a father; 2Co 12:20, although he fears he shall to his grief find many offenders, and public disorders there.

Poole: 2 Corinthians 12 (Chapter Introduction)

CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 12

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 12 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Co 12:1-6) The apostle's revelations.

(2Co 12:7-10) Which were improved to his spiritual advantage.

(2Co 12:11-21) The signs of an apostle were in him, His purpose of making them a visit; but he expresses his fear lest he should have to be severe with some.

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 12 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter the apostle proceeds in maintaining the honour of his apostleship. He magnified his office when there were those who vilified it. What he says in his own praise was only in his own justification and the necessary defence of the honour of his ministry, the preservation of which was necessary to its success. First, He makes mention of the favour God had shown him, the honour done him, the methods God took to keep him humble, and the use he made of this dispensation (2Co 12:1-10). Then he addresses himself to the Corinthians, blaming them for what was faulty among them, and giving a large account of his behaviour and kind intentions towards them (2Co 12:11 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 12 (Chapter Introduction)

The Thorn And The Grace (2Co_12:1-10)

The Defence Draws To An End (2Co_12:11-18)

The Marks Of An Unchristian Church (2Co_12:19-21)

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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_____. Grace in Eclipse. Dallas: Redencion Viva, 1985.

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_____. "The Negative Aspects of the Christian's Judgment." Bibliotheca Sacra 137:546 (April-June 1980):125-32.

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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 12 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CORINTHIANS 12

The apostle in this chapter proceeds upon the same subject, in vindicating himself against the false teachers, and giving proof of his apostleship; he takes notice of a very remarkable and unusual vision he was favoured with; makes mention of an uncommon temptation of Satan, how he was delivered from it, and the use it was of to him; excuses his boasting to the Corinthians; lays the blame of it upon them who obliged him to do it, though they had such undeniable proofs of his apostleship among them; signifies he intended to come and see them, and expresses his strong affection for them, and good will towards them; removes the calumnies of covetousness, guile, and craftiness; reproves them for their sins, and threatens them in case of impenitence. Though in some respects glorying was not so convenient, and quite disagreeable to the apostle himself, yet such were his circumstances, that it was become necessary for him to do it, and therefore goes on with it; and to his character, qualifications, labours, sufferings, and deliverances, adds the visions and revelations of the Lord he had been honoured with, 2Co 12:1 and singles out a very particular one, which he describes by the time when, about fourteen years ago; by the person who saw it, himself, whom he speaks of in the third person, that there might be as little appearance of boasting as possible; by the place where it was seen, the third heaven, into which he was caught; by the form or manner of the vision, or the circumstance and condition in which he was when he saw it, of which he could give no account; as whether in or out of the body, 2Co 12:2, which last circumstance is repeated to denote the certainty of it, and his ignorance as to this part of it; for the truth of which he appeals to God, 2Co 12:3, and affirms again, that such an one as he had described was caught up to paradise; by which he explains what he meant by the third heaven, and further declares, that being there he heard words unutterable, 2Co 12:4. Now though this vision was matter of glorying, yet since he was the person that was so highly honoured with it, he would not dwell any longer on it, but rather speak of his infirmities, as he afterwards does, 2Co 12:5, yet if he had shown a design of boasting, it would not have been acting a foolish part; however, he thought it best to forbear, lest it should lead any into too high an opinion of him, 2Co 12:6, and indeed, these high enjoyments were apt to fill himself with pride and vanity, wherefore God, in his infinite wisdom, thought fit to take some methods to humble him; which leads him to give an account of a sore temptation that befell him, which was grievous to him, and in which he was buffeted by Satan; the end of which was to keep down his pride, and hide it from him, 2Co 12:7. The use this was of to him, and how he behaved under it, and the request he made to the Lord to be freed from it, are declared in 2Co 12:8, to which he received an answer, which was full and satisfactory, gave him pleasure, and determined him to glory in his infirmities, 2Co 12:9, which he does in 2Co 12:10, and gives an enumeration of them, and his reason for glorying in them: and whereas he knew he should be chargeable with folly, in glorying in other things as he had done, he blames the Corinthians for it, who had obliged him to it; for had they engaged as they should have done in the vindication and commendation of him, there would have been no need of his own; and they were furnished with matter and arguments enough for such a purpose, since it must have been a plain case to them that he was not inferior to the chief of the apostles, 2Co 12:11, of which they had a full demonstration, partly by the signs, wonders, and mighty deeds which were done in the midst of them by him, 2Co 12:12, and partly by the gifts of grace bestowed on them through his ministry, on account of which they did not come short of any other churches; unless it was in this, that they had the Gospel preached without charge unto them, 2Co 12:13, the apostle goes on to acquaint them that he had a third time intended to come and see them, when he would be no more burdensome and chargeable to them than he had been before; have no regard to theirs but to them, acting the part of a father that lays up for his children, but takes nothing from them, 2Co 12:14, and expresses his strong affection for them, even though they should show but little to him, and his earnest desire to be serviceable to them, and the pleasure he should take therein, 2Co 12:15, and whereas it was suggested by the false teachers, that though he did not take money of them in person, he had used some underhand crafty methods by the means of others to drain them of it, 2Co 12:16, he replies and vindicates his innocence, by putting the question to them in general; whether he had made any gain by any persons he had sent to them, 2Co 12:17, and particularly inasmuch as he had sent Titus and another brother, whether he had made any gain of them, and whether the apostle and he were not of the same spirit; and whether they did not take the same steps, 2Co 12:18, and then observes, that all the pains that he took in the vindication of himself, was not so much on his own account as theirs, even for their edification, that that might not be hindered, for whom he had the most endeared affection: and for the truth of all this he appeals to God, 2Co 12:19, and closes this chapter with observing the many evils which were among them, which he feared he should find among them, when he came, unrepented of; and which would be matter of grief and humiliation to him, and oblige him to use that severity among them which would not be agreeable to them, 2Co 12:20.

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