2 Corinthians 13:1. _This is the third time I am coming to you_ See note on ch. 2 Corinthians 12:14. For the Greek present in the sense of an _intention_see 1 Corinthians 16:5. _In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established_ This is a quotation from Deuteronomy 19:15, and is... [ Continue Reading ]
_I told you before, and foretell you_ Literally, I HAVE SPOKEN BEFOREHAND, AND I SAY BEFOREHAND (_I seide bifor and seie bifor_, Wiclif. Similarly Tyndale and Cranmer). The repetition is for the sake of emphasis. Cf. Galatians 1:9. See also 1 Corinthians 4:21. _as if I were present the second time_... [ Continue Reading ]
_since ye seek_ They had demanded a proof of his power, and he would not fail to give it. _a proof of Christ speaking in me_ Literally, OF THE IN-ME-SPEAKING CHRIST. The delicate shade of meaning here can hardly be rendered into English. Perhaps -of a Christ who speaks in me" would be the nearest ap... [ Continue Reading ]
_For though he was crucified through weakness_ Chrysostom observes that these words were a great difficulty to the weaker sort. But he explains them by John 11:3-4; Philippians 2:27; 1 Timothy 5:23, where the word in the original is the same as, or cognate to, that employed here. There is another re... [ Continue Reading ]
_Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves_ The words rendered (1) _examine_and (2) _prove_have the sense (1) of _testing_(the word is often translated _tempt_) and (2) subjecting to a process the result of which is satisfactory. See for (2) 1 Corinthians 11:28. The words... [ Continue Reading ]
_But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates_ i.e. I trust that you will find that we have not lost this Divine power of Christ dwelling within us, but that you will find it as mighty to confront and to subdue the obstinate resistance of evil, as it was to implant the first strivings a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now I pray to God that ye do no evil_ St Paul's whole heart is set upon the desire that the power of Christ which dwells in the Christian body should be displayed in the victory of his converts over evil, and this not for any personal ends of his own not even in order that he might manifest the hig... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we can do nothing against the truth_ The original carries on the idea of _power_of which St Paul has been speaking above. If we are endued with any power from on high, it is not that we may exercise it on our own behalf, and against the truth of God. We can but use it for the purpose for which... [ Continue Reading ]