2 Corinthians 12:18

παρεκάλεσα Τίτον. I exhorted Titus, and I sent with him the (see on 2 Corinthians 2:16) brother. This cannot refer to the mission of Titus alluded to in 2 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 7:6; 2 Corinthians 7:13; nor to the one mentioned in 2 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 8:17-18; 2 Corinthians 8:22. There may have been another mission before the painful letter (of which these four Chapter s seem to be a part) was written. But, whatever view we take of 10–13, the mission of Titus mentioned in 2 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 8:17-18; 2 Corinthians 8:22 cannot be meant here; for when 8 was written, Titus had not yet started. Nor is it credible that the mission of Titus alluded to in 2 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 7:6; 2 Corinthians 7:13 can be meant. That was the mission to quell the rebellion in Corinth, a task in which Titus succeeded. But S. Paul would never have complicated so difficult a matter as that by combining with it an attempt to raise money. Of course, if we believe that 10–13 is part of the painful letter, the mission of Titus to quell the revolt cannot be referred to here; for, when the painful letter was written, Titus had not started on that mission. Everything runs smoothly if we suppose three missions of Titus to Corinth; an early one, in which he and one brother started the collection for the Palestine fund, which seems to be alluded to in καθὼς προενήρξατο (2 Corinthians 8:6), and which is alluded to here; a second, in which he supported the Apostle’s painful letter, and won back the Corinthians to their allegiance (2 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 7:6; 2 Corinthians 7:13); a third, in which he and two brethren were to complete the collection (2 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 8:17-18; 2 Corinthians 8:22). Here τὸν� means ‘the brother whom you remember.’ In none of the missions did Titus go alone.

μήτι ἐπλεονέκτησεν ὑμᾶς Τίτος; Did Titus take any advantage of you? This does not imply that the Corinthians had accused Titus of sharp practice: rather the contrary. The Apostle’s argument is this: ‘You admit that I took nothing from you myself; but you suspect some of my agents of taking. Can you mention one who did so? Did Titus, my chief agent, do so?’ Evidently S. Paul knows that they had not accused Titus of this. Then the rest of the argument follows. ‘Did not he and I always walk in the same spirit, the same steps? If his hands are clean, so are mine.’

This fits in with the theory of three missions of Titus. In the first he won their confidence, and therefore was sent on the very difficult second mission and the rather delicate matter of the third mission. And, if 10–13 is part of the painful letter, the passage before us was written between the first and second mission, when the good impression was fresh. It is quite possible that at his first mission to Corinth Titus was the bearer of 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 16:12 we read ‘of the brethren’ who are to carry the letter. These brethren may be Titus and ‘the brother’ mentioned here: see Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, p. 181.

For μήτι interrogative comp. 2 Corinthians 1:17. The change to οὐ interrogative is the change from num to nonne: comp. Luke 6:39.

τῷ αὐτῷ πνεύματι. The coupling with τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἴχνεσιν tends to show that this means that he and Titus were animated by the same thought and intention, rather than that they were directed by the same Holy Spirit. Comp. Philippians 1:27. But the R.V. has by the same Spirit. ‘Spirit’ indicates the inward principle, ‘steps’ the external conduct. There is probably no reference to the steps of Christ (1 Peter 2:21). Comp. Pind. Pyth. x. 25; Nem. vi. 27.

This verse renders it improbable that Timothy ever reached Corinth; otherwise he would probably have been mentioned here. It is often supposed that he reached Corinth, and that his mission was a failure; but this is an uncertain hypothesis. He and Erastus were sent to Macedonia (Acts 19:21-22) before 1 Cor. was written, and Timothy was instructed to go on to Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:17). All that we know is that, when 2 Cor. was written from Macedonia, Timothy was there with the Apostle (2 Corinthians 1:1). He may have gone to Corinth and have returned ἀδικηθείς (2 Corinthians 7:12) to Macedonia. More probably he remained in Macedonia till S. Paul’s arrival, either because the news from Corinth was so unfavourable, or because there was so much to do in Macedonia. Titus, not Timothy, brings the news about Corinth (2 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 7:6-7). S. Luke says nothing about Timothy’s having reached Corinth, which probably means that either he knew that he never reached Corinth, or at least had never heard that he did; and S. Paul himself seems to have had doubts whether Timothy would get as far as Corinth; ἐάν δὲ ἔλθῃ Τιμόθεος (1 Corinthians 16:10). “Combining the hint of the possible abandonment of the design in the First Epistle, the account of the journey to Macedonia in the Acts, and the silence maintained with regard to any visit to Corinth or any definite information received thence through Timotheus in the Second Epistle, we discover an ‘undesigned coincidence’ of a striking kind; and it is therefore a fair and reasonable conclusion that the visit was never paid” (Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, p. 280). The fact that Timothy is coupled with Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:1 does not explain the silence here. He is coupled with Paul in writing 1 Thessalonians, yet see 1 Thessalonians 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:6.