X. (1) NOW I PAUL MYSELF BESEECH YOU. — His thoughts, as has been said, have travelled back to Corinth. The stinging words which Titus had reported to him (see Note on 2 Corinthians 10:10) vex his soul. He speaks in the tone of the suppressed indignation which shows itself in a keen incisive irony.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I BESEECH YOU... — There is, of course, an implied warning, almost a menace, in the entreaty. He would fain be spared the necessity for boldness when he and those of whom he speaks meet face to face; but if the necessity comes it will be the worse for them. They “reckon” him as walking “after th... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THOUGH WE WALK IN THE FLESH. — The phrase is generally used by St. Paul for the simple fact of bodily existence, with all its incidental infirmities and trials, but, commonly, without implying sin, as “_after_ the flesh” does (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:22; 1 Timothy 3:16). The thought of par... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE... — We learn from the earlier words of 1 Thessalonians 5:8, yet more from the later ones of Ephesians 6:11, what these were — the energies of spiritual powers given by the Eternal Spirit. TO THE PULLING DOWN OF STRONG HOLDS. — The phrase is essentially military, used... [ Continue Reading ]
CASTING DOWN IMAGINATIONS. — The participle is in agreement with the “_we_ war not” of 2 Corinthians 10:3. In the Greek word rendered “imaginations,” we have the noun derived from the verb rendered “think,” or _reckon,_ in 2 Corinthians 10:2. It would be better, perhaps, to carry on the continuity b... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAVING IN A READINESS TO REVENGE ALL DISOBEDIENCE. — The idiom, _having in a readiness,_ is perhaps, somewhat too archaic, and it might be better to render _being ready,_ or _holding ourselves ready._ The words that follow imply the thought that those with which the verse opens were somewhat too... [ Continue Reading ]
DO YE LOOK ON THINGS AFTER THE OUTWARD APPEARANCE? — The Greek sentence may be taken either as interrogative, imperative, or indicative. The latter “ye look on things...” gives the most satisfactory meaning, as pressing home the charge on which he proceeds to dwell. He has, of course, the party of r... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THOUGH I SHOULD BOAST SOMEWHAT MORE OF OUR AUTHORITY. — Literally, _somewhat too much_ — perhaps as quoting a word that had been used of him. In referring to his “authority,” it scarcely admits of question that he claims — as in 1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 5:20, and by implication in 2 Corinthi... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT I MAY NOT SEEM AS IF I WOULD TERRIFY YOU BY LETTERS. — The logical sequence of thought is: “I say this” (_i.e.,_ that my sentence of delivery to Satan will not be a hollow form) “in order that I may not seem to frighten you as with a bug-bear.” This, it is clear from what follows, had been said... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HIS LETTERS, SAY THEY, ARE WEIGHTY AND POWERFUL. — Allusive references to what had been said of him at Corinth have already appeared frequently. Here, for the first time, we have the very words quoted. The scorn conveyed in them had wounded the Apostle’s sensitive nature like a poisoned arrow; a... [ Continue Reading ]
SUCH WILL WE BE ALSO. — As a verb of some kind must be supplied, it would be better to give the present: _Such are we._ It is not so much a threat of what will happen in a particular instance as a statement of the general consistent character of his life.... [ Continue Reading ]
WE DARE NOT MAKE OURSELVES OF THE NUMBER. — The last five words give the meaning of one Greek verb (_enkrînai =_ to insert), the sound of which seems immediately to suggest the cognate verb (_synkrînai =_ to compare). It is, of course, hard to convey the half-playful assonance in English. In “some t... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WE WILL NOT BOAST OF THINGS WITHOUT OUR MEASURE. — The words imply, of course, that his opponents were doing this. He refers in it to the _concordat_ established between himself and Barnabas, on the one hand, and Peter, James, and John on the other, to which he refers in Galatians 2:9. He had no... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WE STRETCH NOT OURSELVES... AS THOUGH WE REACHED NOT UNTO YOU. — Some of the better MSS. omit the negative, and then the sentence must be taken as a question: “Are we over-reaching” (_i.e.,_ transgressing boundaries), “as though you were not within the limit assigned to us?” FOR WE ARE COME AS... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT BOASTING OF THINGS WITHOUT OUR MEASURE... — The words are not merely defensive. He presses home the charge of intrusion. They, not he, were finding ground for their boasts in other men’s labours. The context leads, however, to the conclusion that it was a charge that had been brought against him... [ Continue Reading ]
TO PREACH THE GOSPEL IN THE REGIONS BEYOND YOU. — It is clear, from Romans 15:19, that he is thinking (1) of Western Greece, (2) of Rome, (3, and chiefly) of Spain. There, apparently, he could hope to preach the gospel without even the risk of its being said that he was building on another man’s fou... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT GLORIETH, LET HIM GLORY IN THE LORD. — Better, _He that boasteth,_ the English translators having again yielded to their besetting weakness for variation. On the general meaning of the phrase, which has been used before, see Note on 1 Corinthians 1:31. Here it has a more special force. “To b... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR NOT HE THAT COMMENDETH HIMSELF IS APPROVED. — Again, as in 2 Corinthians 10:12 and five earlier passages (see reference there), we trace the impression which the stinging taunt had left on St. Paul’s mind. In the word “approved” there is possibly a reference to what had been said in 1 Corinthian... [ Continue Reading ]