McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries
2 Corinthians 12:8
Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice [Matthew 26:44], that it might depart from me.
Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice [Matthew 26:44], that it might depart from me.
Verse 2 Corinthians 12:8. _I BESOUGHT THE LORD_] That is, _Christ_, as the next verse absolutely proves, and the Socinians themselves confess. And if Christ be an object of prayer in such a case as th...
FOR THIS THING - On account of this; in order that this calamity might be removed. I BESOUGHT THE LORD - The word “Lord” in the New Testament, when it stands without any other word in connection to li...
3. REVELATION IN WHICH HE MIGHT GLORY. HIS APOSTLESHIP. CHAPTER 12 _ 1. Caught up to the Third Heaven. (2 Corinthians 12:1)_ 2. The Thorn in the Flesh. (2 Corinthians 12:7) 3. The Marks of His Apos...
A SPECIAL REVELATION AND ITS SEQUEL. By an account of a great spiritual experience which he had enjoyed, Paul explains the reason why he has been called on to suffer, and the Divine interpretation of...
I must continue to boast. It is not good for me to do so, all the same I will come to visions and revelations given to me by the Lord. I know a man in Christ, who, fourteen years ago--whether it was i...
THE THORN AND THE GRACE (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)...
FOR. In behalf of. Greek. _huper._ App-104. BESOUGHT. Greek. _parakaleo._ App-134. LORD. App-98. THAT. in order that. Greek. _hina._ FROM. Greek. _apo._ App-104....
The Thorn in the Flesh 7. _And lest I should be exalted above measure_ Rather, -lest I should be TOO MUCH exalted." _a thorn in the flesh_ See Introduction. _the messenger of Satan_ Or, AN ANGEL of...
_For this thing I besought the Lord thrice_ Literally, CONCERNING this. For the word translated _besought_see ch. 2 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 8:6, and 2 Corinthians 12:18 of this chapter.
ὙΠῈΡ ΤΟΎΤΟΥ. Not _propter quod_ (Vulgate), nor _super quod_ (Beza); but _super hoc, sc. hoc hoste_: the τούτου is masc. and refers to ἄγγ. Σ. This is rendered almost certain by ἵνα�, a verb which in t...
_A THORN IN THE FLESH 2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10:_ Paul said that one of Satan's angels was sent to make him suffer terribly. He felt that the purpose of this was to keep him from becoming conceited. This...
ΤΡΊΣ (G5151) трижды, ΠΑΡΕΚΆΛΕΣΑ _aor. ind. act. от_ ΠΑΡΑΚΑΛΈΩ (G3870) просить, договариваться. ΆΠΟΣΤΉ _aor. conj. act. от_ ΆΦΊΣΤΗΜΙ (G868) уходить, уезжать. Гл. обычно относится к людям, а не предме...
DISCOURSE: 2043 THE SUCCESS OF FERVENT PRAYER 2 Corinthians 12:7. Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messe...
BUTLER'S COMMENTS SECTION 1 Weaknesses in the Body (2 Corinthians 12:1-10 12 I must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2I know a man...
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. FOR - `concerning this thing.' THRICE. To his first and second prayer no answer came. To his third the answer satisfied h...
20 Paul's patient and forbearing behavior among them was in striking contrast to the course of his detractors. They treated the Corinthians like slaves, while Paul served them like a slave. They devou...
THE LORD] Christ, as 2 Corinthians 12:9 shows. THRICE] He probably made this 'thorn' the subject of earnest prayer on three special occasions: cp. Matthew 26:44....
HIS PRIVILEGES AND TRIALS The Apostle unwillingly resumes his boasting and tells of a revelation he received from God; but returns again to dwell on his weaknesses, and especially on his bodily infir...
PARAPHRASE. 'And lest I should be uplifted by spiritual pride as the result of these revelations, a painful bodily weakness—the very work of Satan—was inflicted upon me. (8) I prayed earnestly for the...
GOD SHOWS HIS POWER WHEN WE ARE WEAK 2 CORINTHIANS _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 12 V1 It is not good to be proud. But I need to tell you about *visions and *revelations of the *Lord. V2 I know a man in...
FOR THIS THING I BESOUGHT THE LORD THRICE. — We are reminded of our Lord’s three-fold prayer in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36; Luke 22:42). Was St. Paul himself reminded of it? There also the answer to th...
ὑπὲρ τούτου τρὶς κ. τ. λ.: _concerning this thing_ (or “this angel”; for ὑπέρ = “concerning” see on 2 Corinthians 1:8) _I besought the Lord, i.e._, Christ (see 2 Corinthians 12:9), _thrice that it_ (o...
HIS “THORN IN THE FLESH”....
THE SECRET OF STRENGTH 2 Corinthians 12:1 It is a sublime phrase- _a man in Christ._ We reach our full stature only when we are in Him. We are but fragments of manhood until the true man is formed in...
The boasting continues. However, it takes on a new and startling characteristic. In his apostleship there had been something supernatural, something not to be finally explained. Of this, he will glory...
VERSE 8 As in the case of Jesus at Calvary, this prayer was heard and answered in the negative....
For this thing I besought the Lord (h) thrice, that it might depart from me. (h) Often....
A sting of my flesh, [1] an angel, or a messenger of Satan, to buffet me. The Latin word signifies any thing that pricks or stings, the Greek word a sharp stick or pale: he speaks by a metaphor, as al...
2 Corinthians 1:1-24. It is impossible to read the two epistles to the Corinthians with the smallest care without perceiving the strong contrast between the wounded tone of the first epistle (the hear...
_THE ‘THORN IN THE FLESH’_ ‘For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness....
8._For this thing I besought the Lord thrice. _Here, also, (907) the number _three _is employed to denote frequent repetition. (908) He means, however, to intimate, that this annoyance had been felt b...
Nevertheless, though forced to speak of himself, the apostle would glory only in his infirmities. But he is, as it were, outside his natural work. His past life unfolds before his eyes. The Corinthian...
FOR THIS THING I BESOUGHT THE LORD THRICE,.... With respect to the thorn in the flesh, the messenger Satan, who gave him so much continual disturbance. This sent him to the throne of grace, to request...
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. Ver. 8. _I besought the Lord thrice_] _i.e._ Frequently and fervently. God respecteth not the arithmetic of our prayers, how m...
_For this thing I besought the Lord thrice_ All kinds of affliction had befallen the apostle, yet none of these did he deprecate. But here he speaks of his thorn in the flesh, as above all the rest on...
THE LORD; The Lord Jesus. THAT IT MIGHT DEPART; that the trial might be removed....
Unusual tribulations:...
FOR THIS THING I BESOUGHT THE LORD THRICE THAT IT MIGHT DEPART FROM ME....
If in chapter 11 we have seen God's grace in sustaining the vessel through all adversity, Paul now speaks of the other side of this, the grace which gives unspeakable blessedness in being "caught up...
7-10 The apostle gives an account of the method God took to keep him humble, and to prevent his being lifted up above measure, on account of the visions and revelations he had. We are not told what t...
For the removal of this affliction, (of what nature soever it was), for the taking of this thorn out of my flesh, I prayed often. It is lawful for us to pray for the removal of bodily evils, though su...
Archelaus Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes he says: "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; fo...
2 Corinthians 12:8 Concerning G5228 thing G5127 with G3870 (G5656) Lord G2962 times G5151 that G2443 depart G
‘Concerning this thing I besought the Lord three times, that it might depart from me.' ‘Three times' may well mean ‘a number of times.' Since the beginning when man first began to use numbers ‘three'...
HE GLORIES IN WONDROUS EXPERIENCES, DREADFUL WEAKNESS AND THE MANIFESTATION OF MIRACLES, IN ALL OF WHICH HE IS A MATCH FOR HIS OPPONENTS (2 CORINTHIANS 12:1) Having stressed the differences between hi...
2 Corinthians 12:8. FOR (‘about') THIS THING I BESOUGHT THE LORD the Lord _Christ,_ as is plain from the next verse, THRICE, THAT IT MIGHT DEPART FROM ME therein following his Master when He prayed th...
CONCERNING THIS THING (υπερ τουτου). More likely, "concerning this messenger of Satan."THAT IT MIGHT DEPART FROM ME (ινα αποστη αφ' εμου). Second aorist active (intransitive) subjunctive of αφιστ...
2 Corinthians 12:8 Strength in Weakness. I. We have here the instinctive shrinking from that which tortured the flesh, which takes refuge in prayer. II. We have, next, the insight into the source o...
2 Corinthians 12:7 The Thorn in the Flesh. I. The first lesson which is suggested by these words is this: that the thorn in the flesh comes for a specific end. Of course it does not come by chance; n...
CONTENTS: God's dealing with Paul. CHARACTERS: God, Christ, Holy Spirit, Paul, Titus, Satan. CONCLUSION: The exalted experiences of the Spirit-filled Christian overbalance all he is called upon to be...
2 Corinthians 12:1. _It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord._ To disclosures of the divine pleasure, which cannot be known by any researches...
THREE TIMES. Like Jesus (Mark 14:36), Paul prays to escape suffering. But he learns that God's refusal is his answer, and he submits to the will of his Lord!...
2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 2 CORINTHIANS 12:1 Because his opponents boast in their spiritual experiences as well as in their ethnic identity, Paul is also forced to boast, however foolishly, in his own vis...
CHAPTER 12 SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER i. That the Corinthians may esteem him above the false apostles, he describes his being carried up into the third heaven. II. He goes on to say (ver. 7) that to p...
_For this thing I besought the Lord thrice_... _and He said unto me._ Three is the number symbolic of multitude and universality. The answer meant that though he was weak in himself, yet in God he mig...
_CRITICAL NOTES_ (_No break, except that of a new paragraph_.) 2 Corinthians 12:1.—Note _reading;_ probably, as in R.V. Remember how full is Paul’s sense of “_expedient_” (1 Corinthians 6:12;...
EXPOSITION The revelations vouchsafed to him (2 Corinthians 12:1). The counteracting "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7). One more apology for glorying (2 Corinthians 12:11
It is not expedient [necessary] for me doubtless to glory. [But] I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above [about] fourteen years ago (2 Corinthians 12:1-2), Or...
1 Samuel 15:11; 2 Samuel 12:16; Deuteronomy 3:23; Hebrews 5:7;...
For this thing [υ π ε ρ τ ο υ τ ο υ]. Rev., concerning this thing. But it is better to refer this to messenger : concerning this or whom. For, of A. V., is ambiguous....
Concerning this — He had now forgot his being lifted up. I besought the Lord thrice — As our Lord besought his Father....
Note here, 1. The person prayed to, the Lord; that is, the Lord Jesus, as appears by the two next verses, that the POWER OF CHRIST MAY REST UPON ME. Here is an instance of prayer directed to Christ, t...