Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence _am_ base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: Ver. 1. _By the meekness and gentleness_] Whom in those sweet virtues I desire to imitate. The praise of Christ's meekness recorded by the prophet, and e... [ Continue Reading ]
But I beseech _you_, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. Ver. 2. _That I may not be bold_] That you necessitate me not. _Non nisi coactus hoc facio, _ said that emperor th... [ Continue Reading ]
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: Ver. 3. _We do not war, &c._] The ministry is a kind of militia, 1 Timothy 1:18. Christ rideth on ministers, as his white horses, conquering and to conquer, Revelation 6:2 .... [ Continue Reading ]
(For the weapons of our warfare _are_ not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Ver. 4. _Are not carnal_] _i.e._ Weak, opposed here to mighty. The flesh is weak as water, therefore called the old man, old leaven, &c. These weak weapons of the false apostles (here inti... [ Continue Reading ]
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; Ver. 5. _Casting down imaginations_] As the spittle that comes out of a man's month slayeth serpents, so doth that which proceedet... [ Continue Reading ]
And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. Ver. 6. _And having in a readiness_] Vengeance is every whit as ready in God's hand, as in the minister's mouth. See Matthew 16:19; Matthew 18:18. Elisha hath his sword as well as Jehu and Hazael, 1 Kings 19:17... [ Continue Reading ]
Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he _is_ Christ's, even so _are_ we Christ's. Ver. 7. _Do ye look on things_] _q.d._ Are ye so weak as to be deceived by an outside, to be carried away wi... [ Continue Reading ]
For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: Ver. 8. _And not for destruction_] If it prove so, it is by accident, and not as we intend it. _See Trapp on "_ 2Co 2:16 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. Ver. 9. _Terrify you by letters_] As the false apostles object against me. Aspersions must be carefully cleared, when the fruit of a man's ministry is thereby impeached and impeded.... [ Continue Reading ]
For _his_ letters, say they, _are_ weighty and powerful; but _his_ bodily presence _is_ weak, and _his_ speech contemptible. Ver. 10. _Weighty and powerful_] As often as I read Paul's Epistles, _Non verba, sed tonitrua audire mihi videor, _ saith Jerome, Methinks I hear not words, but thunderclaps.... [ Continue Reading ]
Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such _will we be_ also in deed when we are present. Ver. 11. _Such will we be, &c._] That we have not hitherto been so, was because we spared you. _Posse et nolle nobile, _ saith Chrysostom. Kindness is godlines... [ Continue Reading ]
For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. Ver. 12. _For we dare not_] This he speaks by an irony, whereof he is full in this Epistle; and... [ Continue Reading ]
But we will not boast of things without _our_ measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. Ver. 13. _But we will not boast, &c._] As any man is more worthy, he is more modest: full vessels yield no such sound as empty casks do... [ Continue Reading ]
For we stretch not ourselves beyond _our measure_, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in _preaching_ the gospel of Christ: Ver. 14. _For we stretch not, &c._] υπερεκτεινομεν, we tenter not ourselves beyond our scantling.... [ Continue Reading ]
Not boasting of things without _our_ measure, _that is_, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, Ver. 15. _Not boasting of things_] Ammianus Marcellinus tells of one Lampadius, a great person in Rome,... [ Continue Reading ]
To preach the gospel in the _regions_ beyond you, _and_ not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. Ver. 16. _In the regions beyond you_] This was a piece of the braggadocio false apostles' vain boasting, as it is now of the Jesuits, those _Circulatores_ and _Agyrtae, _ tha... [ Continue Reading ]
But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Ver. 17. _Glory in the Lord_] _See Trapp on "_ 1Co 1:31 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. Ver. 18. _Whom the Lord commendeth_] As he did his servant Job, 2 Corinthians 1:8. And as he did his handmaid Sarah, for calling her husband lord, though there was never a good word besides in the whole sentence, 1 Peter... [ Continue Reading ]