2 Corinthians 10:10

φησίν (אDFGKLP, d) rather than φασίν (B, Latt. Syrr.).

10. φησίν. See critical note. It is more probable that the singular was changed to the plural, because this sneer was uttered by more than one person, than the plural to the singular. But if φασίν was the original reading, the τις in 2 Corinthians 10:7 and ὁ τοιοῦτος in 2 Corinthians 10:11 might cause it to be corrected to φησίν. But neither τις nor φησίν nor ὁ τοιοῦτος means that he is alluding to one particular ringleader: all three are indefinite expressions, and φησίν = ‘it is said,’ on dit, man sagt. Winer, p. 655.

ἡ δὲ παρουσία τοῦ σώματος�. See S. Paul’s own account 1 Corinthians 2:3-4. The epithets are contrasted in reverse order, ἀσθενής with ἰσχυραί, and ἐξουθενημένος with βαρεῖαι, which probably means ‘weighty’ (A.V., R.V.) rather than ‘severe’ or ‘grievous’ (Acts 20:29; 1 John 5:3). See Lightfoot on ἐν βάρει εἶναι (1 Thessalonians 2:6). On S. Paul’s personal appearance see Appendix A; Plumptre’s note at the end of Acts in Ellicott’s Comm. for English Readers; Exc. xi. at the end of Farrar’s St Paul; Findlay in Hastings’ D.B. ii. p. 700.

ἐξουθενημένος. ‘Despised’ (1 Corinthians 1:28) or of no account (1 Corinthians 6:4) rather than ‘contemptible.’ Contrast Acts 14:8-12, where the Apostle is taken to be a god. But both Barnabas and Paul are regarded as gods, because of the miracle, while Paul is supposed to be the inferior of the two, because he acts and talks: he is only the agent or messenger of Barnabas (Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire, p. 57; St Paul, p. 84). Ramsay points out the coincidence between Hermes, the messenger of the gods, and ὡς ἄγγελον θεοῦ ἐδέξασθέ με (Galatians 4:14).

APPENDIX A

THE PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF S. PAUL

2 Corinthians 10:1; 2 Corinthians 10:10

Lanciani, in his New Tales of Old Rome (Murray, 1901, pp. 153 ff.), makes the following remarks on portraits of S. Paul:

“Let us now turn our attention to the discoveries made quite lately in connection with the basilica and grave of Paul the Apostle, whose figure appeals to us more forcibly than any other in the history of the propagation of the gospel in Rome. I do not speak so much of reverence and admiration for his work, as of the sympathy and charm inspired by his personal appearance. In all the portraits which have come down to us by the score, painted on the walls of underground cemeteries, engraved in gold leaf on the love-cups, cast in bronze, worked in repoussé on silver or copper medallions, or outlined in mosaic, the features of Paul never vary. He appears as a thin, wiry man, slightly bald, with a long, pointed beard. The expression of the face is calm and benevolent, with a gentle touch of sadness. The profile is unmistakably Jewish.” It may be added that S. Paul is almost always represented in company with S. Peter, who is tall and upright, with short hair and beard, and with a long flat nose. Very often our Lord, or a monogram which represents him, is placed between the two Apostles.
Descriptions of the Apostle exhibit a similar type. The apocryphal Acta Pauli et Theklae have come down to us in Latin, Greek, Armenian, and Syriac. Of these the Syriac seems to represent the oldest form of the story, which (Professor Ramsay believes) “goes back ultimately to a document of the first century” (The Church in the Roman Empire, p. 381). The description of S. Paul comes near the beginning of the story (§ 3). It runs thus in the Syriac; “A man of middling size, and his hair was scanty, and his legs were a little crooked, and his knees were projecting (or far apart); and he had large eyes, and his eyebrows met, and his nose was somewhat long; and he was full of grace and mercy; at one time he seemed like a man, and at another he seemed like an angel.” The Armenian Version gives him crisp or curly hair and blue eyes, traits which are found in no other account. Malelas or Malala, otherwise called John of Antioch, a Byzantine historian of uncertain date (?A.D. 580), describes the Apostle as κονδοειδής, φαλακρός, μιξοπόλιος τὴν κάραν καὶ τὸ γένειον, εὔρινος, ὑπόγλαυκος, σύνοφρυς, λευκόχρους, ἀνθηροπρόσωπος, εὐπώγων, ὑπογελῶντα ἔχων τὸν χαρακτῆρα (Chronographia, x. 332, p. 257 ed. Bonn). The worthless Dialogue Philopatris, wrongly ascribed to Lucian, but of a much later date, gives S. Paul an aquiline nose, as also does Nicephorus. But the description in the Acts of Paul and Thekla is the only one which is likely to be based upon early tradition. See F. C. Conybeare, Monuments of Early Christianity, p. 62; Kraus, Real-Encycl. d. Christ. Alter. II. pp. 608, 613; Smith and Cheetham, Dict. of Chr. Ant. II. p. 1622.