HE BEGS THEM NOT TO FORCE HIM TO EXERT HIS AUTHORITY WITH SEVERITY WHEN HE COMES. He first expresses the hope that their conduct will be such as to admit of his being “meek and gentle” when he arrives at Corinth, of his coming in a “spirit of meekness,” and not “with a rod” (1 Corinthians 4:21).... [ Continue Reading ]
αὐτὸς δὲ ἐγὼ Παῦλος κ. τ. λ.: _now_ (δέ marks a transition to a new subject, as at 2 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 15:1) _I Paul myself_ (αὐτὸς ἐγὼ, calling attention to a specially personal matter as at 2 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 9:3; Romans 15:14; he writes ἐγὼ Παῦλος elsewhere at Galatians 5:2;... [ Continue Reading ]
δέομαι δὲ τὸ μὴ παρὼν κ. τ. λ.: _nay_ (_sc._, “however that be,” δέ recommencing the sentence) _I beseech you, that I may not_ (the use of the article with μή and the inf. is somewhat unusual; but _cf._ 2 Corinthians 2:1; Romans 14:13; τὸ adds emphasis to the thing asked), _when present, shew courag... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν σαρκὶ γὰρ κ. τ. λ.: _for though we walk in the flesh, sc._, as all men must do (see reff.), _we do not war, i.e._, carry on our campaign against evil and the enemies of God, _according to the flesh_ (_cf._ John 17:15) _for the weapons of our warfare_ (see on 2 Corinthians 6:7) _are not carnal_ (s... [ Continue Reading ]
is an explanatory parenthesis, and the constr. of 2 Corinthians 10:5 is continuous with 2 Corinthians 10:3, the metaphor of the destruction of the citadel being carried on.... [ Continue Reading ]
λογισμοὺς καθαιροῦντες κ. τ. λ.: _casting down_, as if they were centres of the enemy's force, _reasonings_ (St. Paul's message, as he told the Corinthians at 1 Corinthians 2:4 was not ἐν πειθοῖς σοφίας λόγοις, but “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”; he ever regards the Gospel as a _revel... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ἐν ἑτοίμῳ ἔχοντες κ. τ. λ.: _and being in readiness_ (_cf._ ἑτοίμως ἔχω chap. 2 Corinthians 12:14) _to avenge all disobedience_ (_cf._ Matthew 18:17), _sc._, if there remain any still disobedient, _when your obedience, i.e._, to me and to my Apostolic authority (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 2:9; 2 Corint... [ Continue Reading ]
τὰ κατὰ προσ. κ. τ. λ.: _ye look at the things which are before your face; i.e._, you pay too much attention to outward appearances (_cf._ Romans 2:11; Galatians 2:6; Ephesians 6:9), you lay too much stress on personal intimacy with Christ in the flesh (2 Corinthians 10:7), and on a man's bodily pre... [ Continue Reading ]
DESPITE ALL APPEARANCES, HIS APOSTOLICAL AUTHORITY IS WEIGHTY; HIS MISSION TO THE GREEKS IS A DIVINE TRUST.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐάν τε γὰρ καὶ περισσότερόν κ. τ. λ.: _for even if I should glory somewhat abundantly_ (or, perhaps, “somewhat _more_ abundantly,” _sc._, than I have already done in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; but the comparative need not be pressed; _cf._ 2 Corinthians 2:4), _concerning our authority_ (_which the Lord g... [ Continue Reading ]
ἵνα μὴ δόξω κ. τ. λ.: _that I may not seem as if I would scare you by my letters_. It is best to take these words with εἰς οἰκοδομήν of the preceding verse; his purpose in writing so severely is not to terrify them, but to build them up in holiness and obedience. ὡς ἄν = _tanquam_, with the infin. i... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅτι αἱ ἐπιστολαὶ μὲν, φασίν κ. τ. λ.: _for “his letters” they say “are weighty and powerful but,”_ etc. The reading is doubtful (see crit. note); if we follow the rec. text φησίν = “one says” or “he says” (_cf._ Wis 15:12), the reference will be to an individual opponent (the f1τοιοῦτος of 2 Corinth... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῦτο λογιζέσθω κ. τ. λ.: _let such an one, sc._, as makes comments of the kind just quoted, _reckon this, that_ (_cf._ constr. 2 Corinthians 10:7) _what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such are we also in deed when we are present_.... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐ γὰρ τολμῶμεν κ. τ. λ.: _for we do not venture_ (an ironical refusal to put himself on a level with his adversaries, whose shallow pretensions he thus quietly exposes) _to number or compare ourselves_ (note the paronomasia in the Greek) _with certain of them that commend themselves_ (the charge ma... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐχὶ κ. τ. λ.: _but we will not glory beyond our measure_ (εἰς τὰ representing the direction and extent of his boasting), _but according to the measure of the rule which_ (οὗ for ὅν by attraction) _God hath apportioned_ (see reff.) _to us as a measure, to reach_ (the infin. of purpose) _eve... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐ γὰρ ὡς μὴ κ. τ. λ.: _for we stretch not ourselves overmuch, as though we reached not unto you_ (ὡς μή indicating that the case is only a hypothetical one; _cf._ 1 Corinthians 4:18); _for we came_ (φθάνω being used as in modern Greek; see reff.) _as far as unto you in the Gospel of Christ_. Corint... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐκ εἰς τὰ ἄμετρα κ. τ. λ.: _not glorying beyond our measure_ (the argument is resumed from 2 Corinthians 10:13), _that is, in other men's labours_. This he steadily avoided (_cf._ Romans 15:20); even Rome itself was to be visited _en route_ to Spain (Romans 15:24). But his Corinthian opponents were... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰς τὰ ὑπερέκεινα κ. τ. λ.: _so as to preach the Gospel in the regions beyond you, i.e._ (if we are to press the idea of direction in ὑπερέκεινα), the western parts of Greece, Rome and Spain, which were “beyond,” if viewed from Jerusalem, the home of Christianity, whence St. Paul, like the other ear... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ δὲ καυχώμενος κ. τ. λ.: _but he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord_, a quotation from the O.T. (see reff.) used before by St. Paul (_cf._ also Romans 15:18; 1 Corinthians 3:7). _For not he that commendeth himself is approved_ (_cf._ Proverbs 27:2), _but whom the Lord commendeth_ (_cf._ Roman... [ Continue Reading ]