2 Corinthians 11:23

λαλῶ (אBKLMP) rather than λέγω (DFG, Latt. dico, as in 2 Corinthians 11:16; 2 Corinthians 11:21, not loquor, as in 2 Corinthians 11:17); and ἐν φυλακαῖς περισσοτέρως, ἐν πληγαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως (BD, d f Vulg. Aeth. Goth.) rather than ἐν πλ. περισς., ἐν φυλ. ὑπερβ. (אFG, g), or ἐν πληγ. ὑπερβ., ἐν φυλ. περισς. (א3D2KLM, Syrr. Copt. Arm.). Tertullian (Scorp. 13) has in laboribus abundantius, in carceribus plurimum, in mortibus saepius.

23. διάκονοι Χριστοῦ εἰσίν; The Judaizers had claimed to be in a special sense Χριστοῦ (2 Corinthians 10:7; 2 Corinthians 11:13; comp. 1 Corinthians 1:12). In replying to their claim to be διάκονοι Χριστοῦ (comp. δ. τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Colossians 1:7), the Apostle feels that a repetition of κἀγώ would be inadequate: he can say a great deal more than that.

παραφρονῶν λαλῶ. I am talking like a madman; stronger than ἐν� (2 Corinthians 11:21). Comp. τὴν προφήτου παραφρονίαν (2 Peter 2:16) and ἔδωκαν νῶτον παραφρονοῦντα (Zechariah 7:11): also πατάξω πάντα ἴππον ἐν ἐκστάσει καὶ τὸν� (Zechariah 12:4). This group of words is rare in Biblical Greek. The strong expression anticipates ὕπερ ἐγώ. If it was folly to say τολμῶ κἀγώ, it was madness to say ὕπερ ἐγώ of being a minister of Christ. He probably means that he really is talking like a fool in the one case and like a madman in the other; not that the Corinthians will think him foolish and frantic. All glorying is foolish; and this talking of ὕπερ as a minister of Christ is worse than foolish. What was not true of his words to Festus (Acts 26:25) is true of such language as he is provoked into using here. In doing one’s duty ποῦ ἡ καύχησις; ἐξεκλείσθη; (Romans 3:27).

ὕπερ ἐγώ. This adverbial use of ἱπέρ stands alone in the N.T.; for it is very improbable that it should be so taken in Ephesians 3:20. Comp. ὁ δʼ ἀντιστὰς ὕπερ (Soph. Ant. 518), and the use of μετὰ δέ for ἔπειτα δέ (Hdt. I. xix. 3). The difference between ‘I am more’ (A.V.), where ‘am’ should be in italics, and ‘I more’ (R.V.), is the difference between ‘I am more than a minister of Christ’ and ‘I am more a minister of Christ than they are.’ The latter admits that in some sense his opponents are ministers of Christ; and this is probably the meaning. What dignity more than that of a minister of Christ could he claim which they did not claim? They claimed to be apostles (2 Corinthians 11:13). There is nothing improbable in his admitting for the sake of argument that they are διάκονοι Χριστοῦ. ‘Let us assume that we are all of us ministers of Christ, as we are all of us Hebrews and Israelites. Which of us can show an abundant share in τὰ παθήματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ (2 Corinthians 1:5)? Which is rich in that divine token of faithful service (Matthew 5:11-12; John 15:20),—the enduring of persecution? Nevertheless, the A.V. rendering, ‘I am more,’ makes παραφρονῶν λαλῶ more pointed: for a man to say that he is more than a minister of Christ seems like raving.

ἐν κόποις περισσοτέρως. It is improbable that this means, ‘in labours I am more abundantly a minister of Christ than they are.’ All that need be understood is the ‘I am’ or ‘I have been’ implied by the adverb. It is not certain that περισσοτέρως, which is frequent in this letter (2 Corinthians 1:12; 2 Corinthians 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:13; 2 Corinthians 7:15; 2 Corinthians 12:15), implies any comparison with his opponents, for there is no comparison in ὑπερβαλλόντως or πολλάκις. Stanley perhaps goes too far in saying that it is merely a stronger form of περισσῶς: but it need mean no more than ‘more abundantly than is common.’ “The adverb expresses so to speak an absolute excess and not simply a relative excess” (Westcott on Hebrews 2:1). S. Paul can hardly mean that by their abundant κόποι the false teachers had to some extent a claim to be called διάκονοι Χριστοῦ, but that his κόποι were more abundant than theirs, and therefore his claim still stronger. On the contrary, he complains that they gloried in what was really his work and was accomplished before they came; καυχώμενοι ἐν�,—ἐν� (2 Corinthians 10:15-16). Still less can he mean that they had often been put in prison during their service, but that he had been imprisoned still more often than they had. Their preaching was for gain; καπηλεύοντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ (2 Corinthians 2:17), or τοῦ� (Acts 20:30). For κόποι comp. 2 Corinthians 6:5; 2 Corinthians 10:15; Galatians 6:17. His opponents are now left out of sight, and do not appear again till 2 Corinthians 12:11.

ἐν φυλακαῖς περισσοτέρως. See critical note. Beyond question περισσοτέρως is used twice: but the Vulgate, followed by the A.V., implies four different words; in laboribus plurimis, in carceribus abundantius, in plagis supra modum, in mortibus frequenter. Clement of Rome (Cor. v.) says Παῦλος ὑπομονῆς βραβεῖον (1 Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:14) ὑπέδειξεν, ἑπτάκις δεσμὰ φορέσας. Of these seven imprisonments the one at Philippi is the only one known to us previous to 2 Corinthians. At a later date there were the imprisonments at Jerusalem and Caesarea and the two at Rome. Clement would hardly have been so definite without knowledge.

ἐν πληγαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως. In stripes (2 Corinthians 6:5) very exceedingly. S. Paul varies the adverbs to avoid monotony, as he varies the verbs in 1 Corinthians 8:8. Comp. μεγάλως ὑπερβαλλόντως λελάληκας (Job 15:11). The adverb is not rare in late Greek.

ἐν θᾳνάτοις πολλάκις. It is clear from this that a verb to carry the adverb is to be understood in each case. The adverb is not virtually an adjective agreeing with the substantive. The plural may refer either to the different occasions on which he was nearly killed, or to the different kinds of death to which he was exposed. The latter seems to be the meaning; for he at once goes on to mention a variety of things which might have been fatal: comp. 2 Corinthians 1:9-10; 2 Corinthians 4:11; Romans 8:36; and καθʼ ἡμέραν� (1 Corinthians 15:13), i.e. διηνεκῶς ἐμαυτὸν εἰς προύπτους θανάτους ἐκδίδωμι (Theodoret): also προαποθνήσκω πολλοὺς θανάτους ὑπομένων (Philo, in Flaccum 990 A).