2 Corinthians 11:1-4
HE BEGS THEM TO BEAR WITH HIM IF HE STATES HIS CLAIMS AT LENGTH; IT IS NECESSARY TO DO SO BECAUSE OF THEIR READINESS TO ACCEPT NOVEL TEACHING.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE BEGS THEM TO BEAR WITH HIM IF HE STATES HIS CLAIMS AT LENGTH; IT IS NECESSARY TO DO SO BECAUSE OF THEIR READINESS TO ACCEPT NOVEL TEACHING.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὄφελον ἀνείχεσθέ μου κ. τ. λ.: _would that ye could bear with me in a little_ (μικρόν τι only here and 2 Corinthians 11:16; _cf._ Hebrews 2:7) _foolishness_. ἀφροσύνη = “nonsense” (see ref. and _cf._ Romans 2:20; 1 Corinthians 15:36; Ephesians 5:17). He thus deprecates his insistence on his claim to... [ Continue Reading ]
ζηλῶ γὰρ ὑμᾶς κ. τ. λ.: _for I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy_ (_cf._ Zechariah 1:14, and for Θεοῦ ζήλῳ _cf._ Acts 22:3; Romans 10:2; this “jealousy” of St. Paul is on behalf of God); _for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ, sc._, at His Com... [ Continue Reading ]
φοβοῦμαι δὲ μή πως κ. τ. λ.: _but I fear lest by any means, as “the serpent beguiled” Eve in his craftiness_ (in Genesis 3:1 the serpent is called φρονιμώτατος, but St. Paul changes the word to indicate the baseness of the serpent's wisdom. Aristotle uses πανουργία in direct contrast to φρόνησις; _c... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἐρχόμενος κ. τ. λ.: _for if he that cometh_ (ὁ ἐρχόμενος _may_ point to some one conspicuous opponent, but it would not be safe to press this, or to lay stress on the verb as indicating one who _comes_ without authorised _mission_, as at John 10:8; it is probably a quite indefinite phra... [ Continue Reading ]
λογίζομαι γὰρ κ. τ. λ.: _for I reckon that I am not a whit behind these superfine Apostles_; you receive _them_ gladly; why not _me?_ He then proceeds to refute the two reasons which were assigned for the disparagement of his apostolic authority, _viz._, (_a_) he had none of the arts of a trained rh... [ Continue Reading ]
HE IS NOT INFERIOR TO HIS ADVERSARIES ALTHOUGH (_a_) HE IS NOT A TRAINED ORATOR (2 Corinthians 11:6), AND ALTHOUGH (_b_) HE DID NOT CLAIM MAINTENANCE FROM THE CHURCH (2 Corinthians 11:7). THIS WAS NOT THROUGH WANT OF AFFECTION FOR THEM, BUT THAT THERE MIGHT BE NO ROOM FOR CAVIL.... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ δὲ καὶ ἰδιώτης τῷ λόγῳ κ. τ. λ.: _but even if I be rude in speech_ (see on 2 Corinthians 10:10; ἰδιώτης is a “layman,” who is without professional training), _yet am I not in knowledge, sc._, of divine things (see on 2 Corinthians 8:7 for λόγος and γνῶσις); _but in everything we have made it, sc.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἢ ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησα κ. τ. λ.: _or did I commit a sin_ (note the irony) _in abasing myself_ (_cf._ Philippians 4:12), _that ye might be exalted, sc._, in spiritual privileges (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 9:11), _because I preached to you the Gospel of God for nought?_... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄλλας ἐκκλησίας ἐσύλησα κ. τ. λ.: _I robbed other Churches, e.g._, Philippi (Philippians 4:15. He expresses himself hyperbolically to bring out his meaning; συλᾷν is a very strong word, see Acts 19:37; Romans 2:22), _taking wages of them_ (ὀψώνιον primarily means the rations supplied to a soldier, a... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸ γὰρ ὑστέρημά μου κ. τ. λ. _for the brethren, when they came from Macedonia_ (very likely Silas and Timothy; see Acts 18:5; Philippians 4:15), _supplied the measure of my want; and in everything I kept myself_ (note the aorists as pointing to the definite period of his residence in Corinth) _from... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔστιν ἀλήθ. Χρ. κ. τ. λ.: _as the Truth of Christ_ (we have ἡ ἀλήθ. τ. Θεοῦ, Romans 1:25; Romans 3:7; Romans 15:8; _cf._ John 14:6; Ephesians 4:21) _is in me_ (for the form of the asseveration see on 2 Corinthians 1:18; Romans 9:1 is not a true parallel to the constr. here), _this glorying, sc._, in... [ Continue Reading ]
διατί; ὅτι οὐκ ἀγ. κ. τ. λ.: _wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth, i.e._, that I _do_ love you.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὃ δὲ ποιῶ κ. τ. λ.: _but what I do, that I will do that_, by refusing to accept maintenance gratis at your hands, _I may cut off the occasion_ (τὴν ἀφορμ., the definite opportunity for attack which my opponents desire) _from those who desire occasion that in the matter of their boast, sc._, that as... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ γὰρ τοιοῦτοι κ. τ. λ.: _for such men_ (this explains the ground of his determination in 2 Corinthians 11:12 not to give opportunity for cavil) _are false apostles_ (_cf._ Revelation 2:2. This speedy appearance of false teachers was one of the most remarkable features of the Apostolic age; _cf._ G... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ οὐ θαῦμα κ. τ. λ.: _and no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light_. Light is the symbol of God (1 John 1:5; 1 Timothy 6:16) and His messengers (Matthew 28:3; Acts 12:7), as darkness is the symbol of Satan (Luke 22:53; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:13). The μετασχηματισμό... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐ μέγα οὖν κ. τ. λ.: _it is no great thing therefore, if his ministers also, sc._, as well as himself, _fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness_ (see on 2 Corinthians 3:9); _whose end_, notwithstanding their disguise (_cf._ Romans 6:21; Philippians 3:19), _shall be according to their works... [ Continue Reading ]
πάλιν λέγω κ. τ. λ.: _I say again_ (the first time having been in 2 Corinthians 11:1), _let no man think me foolish, i.e._, senseless with the ἀφροσύνη of self-praise; _but even if ye do_ (for εἰ δὲ μή γε _cf._ Matthew 6:1; Matthew 9:17; Luke 13:9; Luke 14:32), _yet receive me as foolish_ (there is... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS APOSTOLIC LABOURS AND TRIALS.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὃ λαλῶ κ. τ. λ.: _what I speak, I speak not after the Lord, i.e._, Christ (he refuses to claim Divine inspiration for his self-glorying; _cf._ 1 Corinthians 7:12; 1 Corinthians 7:25), _but as in foolishness, in this confidence of glorying_ (see on 2 Corinthians 9:4 for ὑπόστασις).... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπεὶ πολλοὶ καυχῶνται κ. τ. λ.: _seeing that many, sc._, of the Corinthian Judaisers against whom this whole polemic is directed (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 2:17, where they are also alluded to as οἱ πολλοὶ, _glory after the flesh, i.e._, in external circumstances which are really no fit subject for gloryi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡδέως γὰρ ἀνέχεσθε κ. τ. λ.: _for ye bear with the foolish, i.e._, the false teachers, _gladly, being wise yourselves_, the latter clause being, of course, ironical, although (see reff.) it was true that φρόνησις was a quality which he had seriously ascribed to the Corinthians in a former letter. Hi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀνέχεσθε γὰρ κ. τ. λ.: _for ye bear with a man if he_ (we cannot press τις so as to point to any special individual; _cf._ 2 Corinthians 10:7) _enslave you_ (in contrast to any such tyranny, St. Paul describes himself as the δοῦλος of the Corinthians; see 2 Corinthians 4:5, and _cf._ Acts 15:10); _i... [ Continue Reading ]
κατὰ ἀτιμίαν λέγω κ. τ. λ.: _by way of disparagement, sc._, humbly of myself, _I say that we, i.e._, I myself, ἡμεῖς being ironically emphasised, _have been weak, i.e._, I have not attempted to enforce my authority in any of these directions (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 10:10 and 1 Corinthians 2:3). He now... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἑβραῖοί εἰσι; κἀγώ : _are they Hebrews? so am I_. At a later period the term Ἑβραῖος was not confined to Palestinian Jews (Eus., _H.E._, ii., 4, 2, iii. 4, 2), but expressed mere nationality. However in the N.T. it is used in contrast with Ἑλληνιστής (Acts 6:1; _cf._ Philippians 3:5), and denotes a... [ Continue Reading ]
διάκονοι Χρ. κ. τ. λ.: _are they Christ's ministers?_ (as they specially claimed to be; _cf._ 2 Corinthians 10:7) _I speak as one beside himself_ (_sc._, as if he would say “this is mad boasting indeed; for what office _can_ be higher than this?”); _I am more, i.e._, I am that in a higher degree tha... [ Continue Reading ]
ὑπὸ Ἰουδ. κ. τ. λ.: _of the Jews five times received I forty_ stripes (there is an ellipse of πληγάς as at Luke 12:47) _save one_. The Law forbad more than forty stripes (Deuteronomy 25:3); and, to be on the safe side, it was the custom in the judicial scourgings of the synagogues (Matthew 23:34; Ac... [ Continue Reading ]
τρὶς ἐραβδίσθην κ. τ. λ.: _thrice was I beaten with rods, i.e._, “virgis caesus sum,” a _Roman_, as distinct from the _Fewish_, method of scourging distinct too from flagellation with _thongs_ (Matthew 27:26). It was forbidden in the case of a Roman citizen by the Lex Porcia, but nevertheless St. Pa... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁδοιπορίαις πολλ. κ. τ. λ.: _in journeyings often_ (of the extent of which the _Acts_ gives us some idea; their dangers are now enumerated), _in perils of rivers, sc._, from swollen torrents dangerous to ford (Stanley notes that Frederick Barbarossa was drowned in the Calycadnus, not far from Tarsus... [ Continue Reading ]
κόπῳ καὶ μόχ. κ. τ. λ.: _in labour and travail, in watchings often_ (see on 2 Corinthians 6:5), _in hunger and thirst_ (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 4:11; Philippians 4:12), _in fastings often, i.e.,_ plainly, in involuntary deprivation of all food (the idea of voluntary devotional fastings is quite foreign... [ Continue Reading ]
χωρὶς τῶν παρ. κ. τ. λ.: _besides the things which I omit_ (see reff., and _cf._ Hebrews 11:32; the A.V. “those things that are without” = vulg. _quae sunt extrinsecus_, is wrong), _there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches_ (see on 2 Corinthians 8:18). ἐπισύστασις of... [ Continue Reading ]
τίς ἀσθενεῖ κ. τ. λ.: _who is weak, sc._, in prejudice (as at Romans 14:1; 1 Corinthians 8:11), _and I am not weak, i.e._, in Christian sympathy (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 9:22 ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἀσθενέσιν ἀσθενής); _who is made to stumble, and I burn not? i.e._, with the fire of righteous indignation (_cf._ π... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ καυχᾶσθαι κ. τ. λ.: _if I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my weakness_ (_cf._ chap. 2 Corinthians 12:5; 2 Corinthians 12:9), such as are the perils and indignities which he has recounted in the preceding verses.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ Θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ κ. τ. λ.: _the God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed for evermore_ (see on 2 Corinthians 1:3, and for ὁ ὤν as applied to God, “the self-existent one,” _cf._ Exodus 3:14, Wis 13:1, Revelation 1:8), _knoweth that I lie not_ (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 12:6). This solemn asseverati... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν Δαμασκῷ ὁ ἐθν. κ. τ. λ.: _in Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes, sc._; by placing a watch at the gates, _to take me; and through a window_ (_i.e._, an aperture in the city wall, or the window of a house overhanging the wall) _was I let down in a basket_... [ Continue Reading ]