2 Corinthians 5:1-5
His expectation of a Glorified Body hereafter; and his desire to survive until the Second Advent.... [ Continue Reading ]
His expectation of a Glorified Body hereafter; and his desire to survive until the Second Advent.... [ Continue Reading ]
οἴδαμεν γὰρ κ. τ. λ.: _for_ (in explanation of 2 Corinthians 4:17) _we know, sc._, we Christians (_cf._ Romans 7:14; 1 Corinthians 8:1), _that if our earthly_ (ἐπίγειος as contrasted with ἐπουράνιος; see reff.) _tabernacle-house be dissolved_, etc. Despite the fact that he was himself a σκηνοποιός ... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ κ. τ. λ.: _for indeed in this, sc._, in this tabernacle (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 5:3), _we groan, sc._, being weighed down by the body, _longing to be clothed upon, i.e._, to have the heavenly body put on in addition, like an outer garment over our mortal flesh, _with our habitation whi... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Corinthians 5:2-3 and 2 Corinthians 5:4 form two parallel sentences, both introduced by καὶ γάρ, of which either may be used to elucidate the other. Both bring out the Apostle's shrinking from death, _i.e._, the act of dying, and his half-expressed anxiety that he may survive until the Day of Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
εἴ γε καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι κ. τ. λ.: _if so be that_ (εἴ γε = _siquidem; cf._ Ephesians 3:2; Ephesians 4:21; Colossians 1:23) _we shall be found also clothed, sc._, with the heavenly body (note ἐνδυς., not ἐπενδυς., which would only be appropriate of the body to be “superindued” in the case of one surviv... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ γὰρ οἱ ὄντες κ. τ. λ.: _for indeed we who are in the body_ (see 2 Corinthians 5:1) _groan, being burdened_ (_cf._ Wis 9:15, φθαρτὸν σῶμα βαρύνει ψυχήν), _not for that_ (ἐφʼ ᾧ; _cf._ Romans 5:12) _we would be unclothed_ (_cf._ 2Es 2:45) _but clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up o... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ δὲ κατεργασάμενος κ. τ. λ.: _now He that worked us up for this very thing, sc._, the change from mortality to life, _is God_ (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 4:6 and especially 2 Corinthians 1:21 for the form of the sentence), _who gave to us the earnest of the Spirit; cf._ Romans 8:11. The “Holy Spirit of pr... [ Continue Reading ]
θαρροῦντες οὖν κ. τ. λ.: _being therefore, sc._, on account of “the earnest of the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 5:5), _always, sc._, in any event, whether we die before the Day of Christ or survive to see it in the flesh, _of good courage, and knowing that whilst we are at home in the body_ (see reff.) _w... [ Continue Reading ]
IN ANY CASE TO BE WITH CHRIST IS BEST.... [ Continue Reading ]
διὰ πίστεως γὰρ κ. τ. λ.: _for we walk by faith_ (_cf._ John 20:29, and chap. 2 Corinthians 4:18), _i.e._, in a state of faith (see note on διά with the gen. of attendant circumstances 2 Corinthians 2:4), _not by appearance_ (εἶδος, as the reff. show, must be thus translated = _quod aspicitur_; but... [ Continue Reading ]
θαρροῦμεν δὲ κ. τ. λ.: _nay_ (the δέ is resumptive of the thought in 2 Corinthians 5:6, which has been interrupted by 2 Corinthians 5:7, the grammatical structure involving an anacoluthon), _we are of good courage_ (for this is demanded even of the most faithful by the prospect of death) _and are we... [ Continue Reading ]
διὸ καὶ φιλοτιμούμεθα κ. τ. λ.: _wherefore also we make it our ambition_ (see reff.), _whether at home or away from home, sc._, whether at His coming He finds us “in the body” or “out of the body,” _to be well pleasing to Him_; _cf._ Romans 14:8, Philippians 1:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
WE MUST REMEMBER THE JUDGMENT TO COME.... [ Continue Reading ]
τοὺς γὰρ πάντας κ. τ. λ.: _for_ (explanatory of the reason of our desire to be “well-pleasing” to Him) _we all_ (τοὺς πάντας is emphatic, not only Paul who has been speaking of himself as ἡμεῖς, but “all of us” _quick_ as well as _dead_) _must be made manifest_. The A.V. “appear” weakens the force o... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰδότες οὖν τὸν φόβον κ. τ. λ.: _knowing, therefore, sc._, because of the conviction expressed in 2 Corinthians 5:10, _the fear of the Lord, sc._, as Judge (_cf._ Hebrews 10:31), _we persuade men, sc._, of our sincerity, _but we have been_ (already) _made manifest to God_, as we shall be at the Day... [ Continue Reading ]
REITERATION OF HIS SINCERITY OF PURPOSE.... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐ γὰρ πάλιν κ. τ. λ.: _we are not again_ (see 2 Corinthians 3:1, and the note there; he takes up this theme again after a long digression) _commending ourselves to you, but_ [write these things] _as giving you occasion of glorying on our behalf_. We must understand in the latter clause some such wo... [ Continue Reading ]
εἴτε γὰρ ἑξέστημεν κ. τ. λ.: _for whether_ (see on 2 Corinthians 1:6 for constr.) _we are beside ourselves, it is unto God; or whether we are of sober mind, it is unto you_ (note the _dat. commodi_). At a later period Festus told Paul that he was mad (Acts 26:24), so impressed was he with the Apostl... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡ γὰρ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χρ. κ. τ. λ.: _for the Love of Christ constraineth us, sc._, within the limits laid down in 2 Corinthians 5:13. The words are often quoted as meaning that the love which Christians bear to Christ is the supreme motive of the Christian life; but however true this is in itself, it is n... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS NOT THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST IN HIS EARTHLY LIFE, BUT THE LOVE WHICH CHRIST HAS FOR MAN THAT IS THE CONSTRAINING POWER OF PAUL'S PREACHING.... [ Continue Reading ]
κρίναντας τοῦτο ὅτι εἶς κ. τ. λ.: _judging this; that One died for all_ (_cf._ Romans 5:15), _therefore all died, and He died for all, that they who live_ (see 2 Corinthians 3:11) _should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him who died and rose again for them_. To die ὑπέρ τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ is t... [ Continue Reading ]
ὥστε ἡμεῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν κ. τ. λ.: _so that, sc._, because of our conviction, that we should not live unto ourselves but unto Christ (2 Corinthians 5:15), _we, sc._, Paul as contrasted with his opponents at Corinth, _from henceforth, sc._, this conviction having mastered us, _know no man after the fle... [ Continue Reading ]
ὥστε εἴ τις κ. τ. λ.: _so that_ (a consequence of the higher view of Christ explained in the last verse) _if any man_ (note the universality of the doctrine which he expounds) _be in Christ, there is a new creation_. To be ἐν Χριστῷ is a very different thing from claiming to be ἐν Χριστοῦ “of Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
IN CHRIST ALL IS NEW, AS FROM GOD WHO RECONCILED THE WORLD TO HIMSELF IN CHRIST.... [ Continue Reading ]
τὰ δὲ πάντα κ. τ. λ.: _but all things, sc._, all these new things, _are of God_. See reff. St. Paul is especially anxious in this Epistle to trace up spiritual blessings to their true source; see chap. 2Co 1:21, 2 Corinthians 4:6; 2 Corinthians 5:5, and _cf._ 1 Corinthians 3:23, ὑμεῖς δὲ Χριστοῦ, Χρ... [ Continue Reading ]
ὡς ὅτι Θεὸς ἦμ κ. τ. λ.: _viz., that God was reconciling the world, sc._ the whole human race (_cf._ Romans 4:13; Romans 11:12, and note the absence of the article), _to Himself in Christ_ (_cf._ Galatians 2:17). The pleonastic ὡς ὅτι is not classical, but it is found in late authors (see reff.). Th... [ Continue Reading ]
ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ οὖν πρεσβεύομεν κ. τ. λ.: _we are ambassadors therefore, sc._, because to us has been committed the Ministry of Reconciliation, _on behalf of Christ_, as Christ's representative (see on 2 Corinthians 5:15 above for the force of ὑπέρ), _as though God were entreating by us_ (_cf._ 2 Corin... [ Continue Reading ]
to 2 Corinthians 6:3. AS CHRIST'S AMBASSADOR HE ENTREATS THE CORINTHIANS TO BE RECONCILED TO GOD.... [ Continue Reading ]
The very purpose of the Atonement was that men should turn from sin. τὸν μὴ γνόντα ἁμαρτίαν κ. τ. λ.: _Him who knew no sin_ (observe μὴ rather than οὐ, as it is not so much the bare fact of Christ's sinlessness that is emphasised, as God's knowledge of this fact, which rendered Christ a possible Med... [ Continue Reading ]