Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Corinthians 11:7-15

THE APOSTLE’S GLORYING ABOUT WORKING GRATUITOUSLY

With this passage 1 Corinthians 9, especially 2 Corinthians 11:12; 2 Corinthians 11:15; 2 Corinthians 11:18, should be compared. It was one of the marked characteristics of S. Paul’s ministry, that he did not avail himself of Christ’s principle, that ‘the labourer is worthy of his food,’ and that ‘they which proclaim the Gospel should live of the Gospel’ (Matthew 10:10; Luke 10:7; 1 Corinthians 9:14). He did not claim support from the congregations in which he laboured, but maintained himself by the handicraft, which he had learned in his Cilician home, of making cilicium, a fabric of goats’ hair, used for tent-making (Acts 18:3) and coverings of all kinds. Of this manufacture Tarsus was a centre; and, wherever he went, Paul could find purchasers for this useful material. This well-known practice of his, of supporting himself by his own handiwork, is mentioned in connexion with his work at Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8) and at Ephesus, where he perhaps showed αἱ χεῖρες αὗται, roughened with toil, as he spoke (Acts 20:34). But it is of his work in Corinth that the fact is first mentioned; and it was perhaps there that it provoked most comment and criticism (Acts 18:3; 1 Corinthians 9; 2 Corinthians 11:7-15; 2 Corinthians 12:14-18).

It was one of the charges of the Sophists against Socrates and Plato, that these philosophers taught gratuitously, thus confessing that their teaching was worth nothing; to which Socrates replied that it was shameful, and like prostitution, to turn the imparting of wisdom into a trade; while Plato pointed out that a man who could really teach men to be just might be sure that those whom he had made just would deal fairly with him; to insist on payment was to confess that the teaching would not be successful (Xen. Mem. I. vi. 1; Plat. Gorg. 520, Apol. 20; Arist. Eth Nic. IX. i. 5–7; Grote, Hist. of Greece, VIII. pp. 482 ff.; Windelband, Hist. of Anc. Philosophy, p. 110).

The same kind of charge may have been made by the Judaizers at Corinth. ‘Other Apostles did not hesitate to accept maintenance. Why did Paul refuse it? Because he knew that he was no true Apostle; or, because he set up as being better than the Twelve; or, because he was too proud to accept hospitality. And what an undignified thing for an Apostle to be a weaver of goats’ hair! Evidently reproaches of this kind increased since he wrote 1 Corinthians, in which he does not make much allusion to them.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Corinthians 11:7-15

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