Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Corinthians 4:16

ἐγκακοῦμεν (אBD) rather than ἑνκακοῦμεν (FG) or ἐκκακοῦμεν (CD3KLP). See on 2 Corinthians 4:1.

ὁ ἕσω ἡμῶν (אBCDFGP) rather than ὁ ἔσωθεν (D2D3KL).

16. Διὸ οὐκ ἐγκακοῦμεν. Wherefore we faint not: see on 2 Corinthians 4:1, to which ἐγκακοῦμεν takes us back. The thought emerges again 2 Corinthians 5:6. Through all his trials he retains courage. The διό refers to 2 Corinthians 4:14-15. Because all that comes upon him is for his readers’ benefit and the glory of God, therefore he can never lose heart.

ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ ὁ ἔξω ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος. But (on the contrary) although (see on 2 Corinthians 4:3) our outward man is being destroyed, as a garment is ruined by moths (Luke 12:33). Nowhere else do we find ὁ ἕξω ἅνθρωπος. It is the same as the earthen vessel (2 Corinthians 4:7), which is battered and damaged and of less and less worth. See Ellicott on Ephesians 3:16.

ἀλλʼ ὁ ἔσω ἡμῶν�. Yet our inward man is being renewed (Colossians 3:10; comp. Hebrews 6:6; Psalms 102:5, Ps. 103:30) day by day. In the LXX., as in classical Greek, ἀνακαινίζω is preferred to ἀνακαινόω. The process of renewal in the spirit is as constant as the process of decay in the body. S. Paul does not say that the body, which is again and again rescued from perishing, is preserved from waste. ὁ ἕξω ἄνθρωπος occurs Romans 7:22; Ephesians 3:16. Comp. ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἅνθρωπος, ὁ καινὸς ἄνθρωπος (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 2:15; Ephesians 4:22; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:9). These expressions are possibly of Platonic origin, and they should be noted as linking Epistles which are sometimes disputed, as Ephesians and Colossians, to Epistles whose genuineness is not open to doubt, as Romans and Corinthians. The idea of ‘renewal’ is another link (ἀνακαινόω Colossians 3:10; ἀνακαίνωσις Romans 12:2; Titus 3:5). The expression ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ is unique in Biblical Greek. It does not mean ‘daily,’ which would be καθʼ ἡμέραν or τὸ καθʼ ἡμέραν, but ‘day by day’; there is a progressive renewal advancing as the days pass. Winer, p. 581. Tertullian has de die et die. See Origen’s use of the passage (on Mt. Bk x. 15).

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Corinthians 4:16

Old Testament

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