2Co. 1:3- 11

1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

1:4 Who comforteth us² in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ³ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

1:6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:⁴ or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

1:7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.⁵

1:8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia,⁶ that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver:in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

1:11 Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.⁷

2. For the translation here, see the reasons given in the note on 1Th. 1:2. It is evident here that St. Paul considers himself alone the writer, since Timothens was not with him during the danger in Asia; and, moreover, be uses "I" frequently, interchangeably with "we" (see verse 23); and when he includes others in the "we" he specifies it, as in verse 19. See, also, other proofs in the note on 6:11.

3. Compare Col. 1:24

4. This is the order given by the MS. authorities.

5. Here we follow Griesbach’s text, on the authority of the Alexandrian and other MSS., and on grounds of context.

6. It has been questioned whether St. Paul here refers to the Ephesian tumult of Acts 19.; and it is urged that he was not then in danger of his life. But had he been found by the mob during the period of their excitement, there can be little doubt that he would have been torn to pieces, or perhaps thrown to wild beasts in the Arena; and it seems improbable that within so short a period he should again have been exposed to peril of his life in the same place, and that nothing should have been laid of it in the Acts. Some commentators have held (and the view has been ably advocated by Dean Alford) that St. Paul refers to a dangerous attack of illness. With this opinion we so far agree that we believe St. Paul to have been suffering from bodily illness when he wrote this Epistle. See the preliminary remarks above. St. Paul’s statement here that he was "selfdoomed to death" certainly looks very like a reference to a very dangerous illness, in which he had despaired of recovery.

7. Literally, that from many persons the gift given to me by means of many may have thanks returned for it on my behalf.

2Co. 1:12- 14

1:12 For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God,⁸ we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

1:13 For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge;⁹ and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;

1:14 As also ye have acknowledged¹⁰ us in part,¹¹ that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are our’s in the day of the Lord Jesus.¹²

8. St. Paul here alludes to his opponents, who accused him of dishonesty and inconsistency in his words and deeds. From what follows, it seems that he had been suspected of writing privately to some individuals in the church, in a different strain from that of his public letters to them.

9. The word properly means you read aloud, viz. when the Epistles of St. Paul were publicly read to the congregation. Compare 1 Thessalonians v. 27.

10. There is a play upon the words here, which it is difficult in English to imitate.

11. Compare 2Co. 2:5, and Rom. 11:25.

12. i.e. the day when the Lord Jesus will come again.

2Co. 1:15- 24

1:15 And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before,¹³ that ye might have a second benefit;

1:16 And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.

1:17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?¹⁴

1:18 But as God is true, our word toward you¹⁵ was not yea and nay.

1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.

1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.¹⁶

1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed¹⁷ us, is God;

1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest¹⁸ of the Spirit in our hearts.

1:23 Moreover I¹⁹ call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet²⁰ unto Corinth.

1:24 Not²¹ for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy:²² for by faith ye stand.

13. i.e. before visiting Macedonia. See p. 418, note.

14. This translation (the literal English being, do I purpose my purposes carnally, that both yea, yea, and nay, nay, may be [found] with me?) appears to give the full force, as much as that of Chrysostom:"or must I hold to the purposes which I have formed from fleshly fear, lest I be accused of changing my yea into nay?" which is advocated by Winer, but which does not agree with the context.

15. We follow here Lachmann, Tischendorf, and the best MSS.

16. In the present edition we have adopted Lachmann’s reading. The Amen was that in which the whole congregation joined at the close of the thanksgiving, as described in 1Co. 14:16. It should also be remembered (as Canon Stanley observes), that it is the Hebrew of "yea."

17. The commentators do not seem to have remarked here the verbal connection. [This has been noticed by Prof. Stanley, since the above was first published.] The anointing spoken of as bestowed on the Apostles was that grace by which they were qualified for their office. The "we" and "us" in verses 20, 21, and 22, include Silvanus and Timothy, as is expressly stated verse 19.

18. Literally, the earnest money, i.e. a small sum which was paid in advance, as the ratification of a bargain; a custom which still prevails in many countries. The gift of the Holy Spirit in this life is said by St. Paul to be the earnest of their future inheritance; he repeats the expression 2 Corinthians v. 5, and Eph. 1:14, and expresses the same thing under a different metaphor Rom. 8:23.

19. The "I" here is emphatic.

20. The A.V. "not yet" is a mistake for "no longer."

21. St. Paul adds this sentence to soften what might seem the magisterial tone of the preceding, in which he had implied his power to punish the Corinthians.

22. i.e. I desire not to cause you sorrow, but to promote your joy.

2Co. 2:1- 4

2:1 But I determined¹ this with myself, that I would not come again² to you in heaviness.

2:2 For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me?

2:3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.

2:4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote³ unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.

1. This can scarcely mean for my own sake as Billroth and others propose to translate it.

2. This alludes to the intermediate visit which St. Paul paid to Corinth. See p. 418, note.

3. i.e. the First Epistle to the Corinthians

2Co. 2:5- 11

2:5 But if any have caused grief,⁴ he hath not grieved me, but in part:that I may not overcharge you all.⁵

2:6 Sufficient to such a man⁶ is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.⁷

2:7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

2:8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.

2:9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.

2:10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also:for if I forgave⁸ any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person⁹ of Christ;

2:11 Lest¹⁰ Satan should get an advantage of us:for we are not ignorant of his devices.

4. Literally, "if any man has caused pain;" a milder expression, which would not in English bear so definite a meaning as it does in the Greek.

5. Such is the meaning according to the punctuation we adopt. For the sense of one phrase, see 2Co. 1:14, and Rom. 11:25. With regard to the sentiment, St. Paul intends to say that not all the Corinthian Church had been included in his former censure, but only that part of it which had supported the offender; and therefore the pain which the offender had drawn down on the Church was not inflicted on the whole Church, but only on that erring part of it.

6. The expression is used elsewhere for a definite offending individual. Compare Act. 22:22, and 1Co. 5:5. It is not adequately represented by the English "such a man."

7. Not "many" (A.V.); but the majority. See, for the punishment, 1 Corinthians v. 4.

8. The best MSS. have the neuter, not the masculine.

9. Compare Pro. 8:30 (LXX.) The expression is used somewhat differently in 2Co. 4:6.

10. The we of this verse appears to include the readers, judging from the change of person before and after. They would all be "overreached by Satan" if he robbed them of a brother.

2Co. 2:12- 17

2:12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,

2:13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother:but taking my leave of them,¹¹ I went from thence into Macedonia.

2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,¹² and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.

2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ,¹³ in them that are saved,¹⁴ and in them that perish:

2:16 To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?¹⁵

2:17 For we are not as many,¹⁶ which corrupt the word of God:¹⁷ but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

11. Namely, from the Christians of Troas.

12. The verb here used (which is mistranslated in A.V.) means to lead a man as captive in a triumphal procession; the full phrase means, to lead captive in a triumph over the enemies of Christ. The metaphor is taken from the triumphal procession of a victorious general. God is celebrating His triumph over His enemies; St. Paul (who had been so great an opponent of the Gospel) is a captive following in the train of the triumphal procession, yet (at the same time, by a characteristic change of metaphor) an incense-bearer, scattering incense (which was always done on these occasions) as the procession moves on. Some of the conquered enemies were put to death when the procession reached the Capitol; to them the smell of the incense was "an odor of death unto death;" to the rest who were spared, "an odor of life unto life." The metaphor appears to have been a favorite one with St. Paul; it occurs again Col. 2:15.

13. Literally, Christ’s fragrance am I, unto God.

14. Not "who are saved" (A.V.). See note on 1Co. 1:18.

15. Literally, to these it is an odor of death, ending in death; to those an odor of life, ending in life.

16. The mistranslation "many" (A.V.) materially alters the sense. He evidently alludes to his antagonists at Corinth; see p. 483, and 11:13.

17. Literally, to sell by retail, including a notion of fraud in the selling. Compare the similar imputations against his Judaizing adversaries in 1Th. 2:3.

2Co. 3:1- 18

3:1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

3:2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts,¹ known and read² of all men:

3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle³ of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, ⁴ but in fleshy tables of the heart.

3:4 And such trust⁵ have we through Christ to God-ward:

3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves;⁶ but our sufficiency is of God;

3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit:for the letter killeth,⁷ but the spirit giveth life.

3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones,⁸ was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:⁹

3:8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

3:9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.¹⁰

3:10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.¹¹

3:11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.¹²

3:12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that¹³ the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

3:14 But their minds were blinded:for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament;¹⁴ which vail is done away in Christ.

3:15 But¹⁵ even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail¹⁶ is upon their heart.

3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.¹⁷

3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit:and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

3:18 But we all,¹⁸ with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,¹⁹ even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

1. It is possible that in using the plural here St. Paul meant to include Timothy; yet as this supposition does not agree well with the context, it seems better to suppose it used merely to suit the plural form of the pronoun.

2. The paronomasia cannot well be here imitated in English. Compare 2Co. 1:14.

3. Literally, being manifestly shown to be a letter of Christ conveyed by my ministration.

4. Like the law of Moses.

5. Viz . of his sufficiency. Compare 2Co. 2:16; 3:5, 6.

6. Literally, to reach any conclusion by my own reason.

7. For the meaning, compare Rom. 7:9-11.

8. Literally, if the ministration of death in let-ten, graven upon stones, was born in glory.

9. See note on 1Co. 2:6.

10. The whole of this contrast between the glory of the new and the old dispensations appears to confirm the hypothesis that St. Paul’s chief antagonists at Corinth were of the Judaizing party.

11. Literally, for that which has been glorified in this particular has not been glorified, because of the glory which surpasses it.

12. "Rest upon — Shine upon." The prepositions in the original give this contrast.

13. See Exo. 34:35. St. Paul here (as usual) blends the allegorical with the historical view of the passage referred to in the Old Testament.

14. In their synagogues is implied in the term used here. Compare Act. 15:21.

15. We take the phrase absolutely; literally, it being not unveiled [i. e. not revealed to them] that it [the ancient covenant] is done away in Christ. "Done away" is predicated, not of the veil, but of the old covenant. Compare the preceding verse and verses 7 and 11.

16. Perhaps there may be here an allusion to the Tallith, which (if we may assume this practice to be as old as the apostolic age) was worn in the synagogue by every worshipper, and was literally a veil hanging down over the breast. See p. 154, and compare the note on 1Co. 11:4.

17. Alluding to Exo. 34:34, where it is said, "When Moses went in before the Lord, he rent away the veil." The most natural subject of the verb "turn" is "heart."

18. The tense is present.

19. "From glory" indicates the origin of this transformation, via. the glory shining on us; "To glory,"the effect; viz. the reflection of that glory by us. For the metaphor, compare 1Co. 13:12, and note. We observe in both passages that even the representation of divine truth given us by Christianity is only a reflection of the reality.

2Co. 4:1- 6

4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry,¹ as we² have received mercy, we faint not;

4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor³ handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

4:3 But if our gospel be hid,⁴ it is hid to them⁵ that are lost:

4:4 In whom the God of this world⁶ hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord;⁷ and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.⁸

1. Viz . "the ministration of the Spirit." (2Co. 3:8.)

2. Viz. in his conversion from a state of Jewish unbelief.

3. St. Paul plainly intimates here (as he openly states 2Co. 11:17) that some other teachers were liable to these charges. See also 2Co. 2:17, and the note.

4. In the participle used hue, there is a reference to the preceding word "veil."

5. Compare 2Co. 2:15. 16.

6. See note on 1Co. 1:20.

7. "Lord" is the correlative of "slave" here; compare Eph. 6:5.

8. For the meaning of "shine forth," compare verse 4.

2Co. 4:7- 11

4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,⁹ that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;¹⁰

4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,¹¹ that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus¹² might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

9. The whole of this passage, from this point to 2Co. 5:10, shows (as we have before observed) that St. Paul was suffering from bodily illness when he wrote. See also 2Co. 12:7- 9.

10. Observe the force of the present tense of all these participles, implying that the state of things described was constantly going on.

11. "Lord" is not found in the best MSS. The word translated "dying" here (as Prof. Stanley observes) is properly the deadness of a corpse; as though St. Paul would say, "my body is no better than a corpse; yet a corpse which shares the life-giving power of Chris’s resurrection."

12. Literally, the life, at well at the death, of Jesus.

2Co. 4:12- 18

4:12 So then death worketh in us, but life¹³ in you.

4:13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;¹⁴

4:14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.¹⁵

4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

13. Literally, while death works in me, life work in you. I. e. the mortal peril to which St. Paul exposed himself was the instrument of bringing spiritual life to his converts.

14. Psa. 116:10 (LXX)

15. The literal translation would be, that the favor which has abounded might, through the thanksgiving of the greater number, overflow to the praise of God. This takes the preposition as governing "thanksgiving" and the verb as intransitive; and it must be remembered that this verb is used twenty-six times by St. Paul, and only three times transitively. If, however, we make it transitive here, the sense will be, might by means of the greater number cause the thanksgiving to overflow, &c.; which does not materially alter the sense. Compare the similar sentiment at 2Co. 1:11.

2Co. 5:1- 10

5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle¹ were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed² upon with our house which is from heaven:

5:3 If so be that being clothed³ we shall not be found naked.

5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened:not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.⁴

5:9 Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

5:10 For we must all appear⁵ before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

1. The shifting tent is here opposed to enduring mansion; the vile body of flesh and blood, to the spiritual body of the glorified saint.

2. There is much force in "clothe upon" as distinguished from "clothe."

3. Literally, "If indeed I shall be found clad, and not stripped of my clothing;" i.e. "If, at the Lord’s coming, I shall be found still living in the flesh." We know from other passages that it was a matter of uncertainty with St. Paul whether he should survive to behold the second coming of Christ or not. Compare 1Th. 4:15, and 1Co. 15:51. So, in the next verse, he expresses his desire that his fleshly body should be transformed into a spiritual body, without being "unclad" by death. The metaphor of "nakedness" as combined with "tent" seems suggested by the oriental practice of striking the tent very early in the morning, often before the travelers are dressed. So we read in M’Cheyne’s account of his journey through the desert, "When morning began to dawn, our tents were taken down. Often we have found ourselves shelterless before being fully dressed." (Life of M’Cheyne, p. 92.) It should be observed that the original denotes simply dressed, clad, the antithesis to naked. Prof. Stanley’s translation, "in the hope that after having put on our heavenly garment we shall be found not naked, but clothed," involves a paralogism, being tantamount to saying, "in the hope that after having clothed ourselves we shall be found to have clothed ourselves."

4. Literally, the Lord.

5. The translation in the Authorized Version is incorrect.

2Co. 5:11- 15

5:11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;⁶ but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

5:12 For we commend⁷ not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.

5:13 For whether we be beside ourselves,⁸ it is to God:or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.

5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge,⁹ that if one died for all, then were all dead:¹⁰

5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.¹¹

6. He was accused by the Judaizers of "trying to win men," and "trying to please mon." See Gal. 1:10, and the note.

7. This alludes to the accusation of vanity brought against him by his antagonists; compare 2Co. 3:1.

8. i.e. if I exalt myself (his opponents called him beside himself with vanity), it is for God’s cause; if I humble myself, it is for your sakes.

9. Or perhaps "I thus judged, viz. at the time of my conversion;" if we suppose the aorist used in its strict sense.

10. The original cannot mean all were dead (A.V.), but all died. The death of all for whom He died, was virtually involved in His death.

11. The best commentary on the 14th and 15th verses is Gal. 2:20.

2Co. 5:16- 21

5:16 Wherefore¹² henceforth know we no man after the flesh:yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh,¹³ yet now henceforth know we him no more.

5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

5:19 To wit, that¹⁴ God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us:we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;¹⁵ that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

12. The pronoun is emphatic.

13. We agree with Billroth, Neander, and De Wette, that this cannot refer to any actual knowledge which St. Paul had of our Lord when upon earth; it would probably have been "Jesus" had that been meant; moreover, the preceding phrase does not refer to personal knowledge, but to a carnal estimate. For other reasons against such an interpretation, see p. 62. St. Paul’s view of Christ was carnal when he looked (like other Jews) for a Messiah who should be an earthly conqueror.

14. "To wit that," "because that," pleonastic.

15. The word "sin" is used, for the sake of parallelism with the "righteousness" which follows. God made Christ "Sin" that we might be made "Righteousness."

2Co. 6:1- 2

6:1 We then, as workers together¹ with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee:² behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

1. See note on 1Co. 3:9. I also exhort refers to the preceding, as though God exhorted you.

2. Isa. 49:8 (LXX).

2Co. 6:3- 10

6:3 Giving no offense in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:

6:4 But in all things approving ourselves³ as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,

6:5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;

6:6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,

6:7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

6:8 By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report:as deceivers, and yet true;

6:9 As unknown, and yet well known;⁴ as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;

6:10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

3. An allusion apparently to the "commend myself" and the "commendatory letters" of 2Co. 3:1; as though he said, I commend myself, not by word, but by deed. [The stress is not on "myself" here, as in the former case. The order of the word shows this. — H.]

4. For the meaning, see 1Co. 13:12.

2Co. 6:11- 13

6:11 O ye Corinthians, our⁵ mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.

6:12 Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.

6:13 Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.

5. Observe, as a confirmation of previous remarks as to St. Paul’s use of the singular and plural pronouns, verses 11, 13; also 2Co. 7:2, 3, 4.

2Co. 6:14- 18

6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.⁶

6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.⁷

6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.⁸

6. Lev. 26:11, 12 (according to LXX., with slight variations).

7. Isa. 52:11 (according to LXX., with alterations); the words "I will receive you" not being either in the LXX. or the Hebrew there, though found in Eze. 20:34.

8. This passage is not to be found exactly in the Old Testament, although 2Sa. 7:14, and Jer. 31:9, and 32:38, contain the substance of it St. Paul, as usual, quotes from memory.

2Co. 7:1- 12

7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

7:2 Receive us;¹ we have wronged no man, we have corrupted² no man, we have defrauded no man.

7:3 I speak not this to condemn you:for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.

7:4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you:I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

7:5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.

7:6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

7:7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

7:8 For though I made you sorry with a letter,³ I do not repent, though I did repent:for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.

7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance:⁴ for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of:but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation,⁵ yea, what fear,⁶ yea what vehement desire,⁷ yea, what zeal,⁸ yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

7:12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his⁹ cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.¹⁰

1. It is not impossible that the preceding part of the Epistle may have been written, as Wieseler supposes, before the coming of Titus. See above, p. 483, n. 1. But the opening words of this section are obviously connected with verses 12, 13, of the preceding chapter. The section from 2Co. 6:14 to 2Co. 7:1 is entirely unconnected with what precedes and follows it.

2. St. Paul appears frequently to use the original word in this sense (compare 1Co. 3:17), and not in the ordinary meaning of corrupt. We may remark here, that there is no need to suppose these aorists used aoristically (as they would be in classical Greek), since St. Paul constantly used the aorist for the perfect. Even those commentators who are most anxious to force upon the Hellenistic of the New Testament the nice observance of this classical distinction, are obliged sometimes to give up their consistency and translate the aorist as perfect. In fact, the aorist is continually joined with "now" (e. g . Mat. 26:65; Joh. 13:31; Rom. 11:31; Eph. 3:5), which is of course decisive. It is not wonderful that there should be this ambiguity in the Hellenistic use of Greek tenses, considering that in Latin the lame tense has to serve the purpose both of aorist and perfect . See note on Rom. 5:5. [See note on Gal. 2:10. This grammatical question is discussed in the Cambridge Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology. — H.]

3. Viz. 1 Cor., unless we adopt the hypothesis that another letter had been written in the interval, according to the view mentioned p. 479, n. 2.

4. The text of the whole passage, here adopted, is the same as that of Prof. Stanley, but punctuated differently.

5. Indignation against the offender.

6. Fear of the wrath of God.

7. Longing for restoration to St. Paul’s approval and love.

8. Zeal on behalf of right, and against wrong.

9. Viz. the father of the offender. We need not be perplexed at his wife’s forming another connection during his lifetime, when we consider the great laxity of the law of divorce among the Greeks and Romans.

10. If we adopt the other reading (which transposes "you" and "us"), it will give the sense, that your zeal for me might be manifested to yourselves; which might be perhaps another (though an obscure) way of saying, in order to bring out your zeal for me, so that you might all perceive how the majority felt for me.

2Co. 7:13- 16

7:13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort:yea,¹¹ and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.

7:14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.

7:15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling¹² ye received him.

7:16 I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.¹³

11. The reading of the best MSS. gives this order.

12. For the meaning of this phrase, see 1Co. 2:3.

13. The great importance attached by St. Paul to this collection, as manifested in the present section of this Epistle, may be explained not merely by his desire to fulfil his share of the agreement mentioned, Gal. 2:10, but also by his hope that such a practical proof of his love would reconcile the Judaizing Christians at Jerusalem to himself and his Gentile converts. See the conclusion of our preceding chapter.

2Co. 8:1- 24

8:1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on¹ the churches of Macedonia;

8:2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.²

8:3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;

8:4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift,³ and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

8:5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

8:6 Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also.

8:7 Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.⁴

8:8 I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.⁵

8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

8:10 And herein I give my advice:for this is expedient for you, who⁶ have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.

8:11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.

8:12 For if there be first a willing mind, it⁷ is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.

8:13 For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:

8:14 But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want:that there may be equality:

8:15 As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.⁸

8:16 But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you.

8:17 For indeed he accepted the exhortation; but being more forward, of his own accord he went⁹ unto you.

8:18 And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel¹⁰ throughout all the churches;

8:19 And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and¹¹ declaration of your ready mind:

8:20 Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:

8:21 Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.¹²

8:22 And we have sent with them our brother,¹³ whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence which I have in you.

8:23 Whether any do enquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you:or our brethren be enquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ.

8:24 Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches,¹⁴ the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf.

1. The original here cannot mean "bestowed on" (A.V.).

2. See note on 2Co. 9:11.

3. The omission here is required by the best MSS.

4. Literally, this grace as well at other graces.

5. If we follow the Received Text, this is, literally, the love which springs from you and dwells in me; if with Lachmann’s text we transpose the pronouns, it will be, the love which I have awakened in your hearts. [Lachmann’s second edition returns to the Received Text. — H.]

6. "Began before;" viz. before the Macedonian churches. The meaning is that the Corinthians had been the first not only to make the collection, but to propose it.

7. Literally, it is acceptable according to that which it possesses, not that which it possesses not.

8. Exo. 16:18, quoted according to LXX. The subject is the gathering of the manna.

9. The tense in the original is past, because the act is looked upon, according to the classical idiom, from the position of the reader.

10. The word here cannot refer, as some have imagined, to a written Gospel; it is of constant occurrence in the New Testament (occurring sixty times in St. Paul’s writings, and sixteen times in the other books), but never once in the supposed sense. Who the deputy here mentioned was we have no means of ascertaining. Probably, however, he was either Luke (Act. 20:6), or one of those, not Macedonians ( 2Co. 9:4), mentioned Act. 20:4; and possibly may have been Trophimus. See Act. 21:29. We may notice the coincidence between the phrase here and in Act. 19:29.

11. The reading of the best MSS. gives the sense as follows, — to promote my willingness of mind, i.e. to render me more willing to undertake the administration of the alms, which St. Paul would have been unwilling to do without coadjutors elected by the contributors, lest he should incur unworthy suspicions.

12. The quotation is from Pro. 3:4 (LXX.), cited also Rom. 12:17.

13. There is even less to guide us in our conjectures as to the person here indicated than in the case of the other deputy mentioned above. Here, also, the emissary was elected by some of the Churches who had contributed to the collection. He may have been either Luke, Gains, Tychicus, or Trophimus (Act. 20:4).

14. "To them" is contrasted with "to the saints" in the following verse; the connection being, Show kindness to the deputies; for as to the collection, I need not ask you to show zeal for that, &c. The "and" in the last clause is omitted by all the best MSS.

2Co. 9:1- 15

9:1 For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:

9:2 For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.

9:3 Yet have I sent the brethren,¹ lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready:

9:4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.²

9:5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.

9:6 But this I say, He³ which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity:for God loveth a cheerful giver.⁴

9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

9:9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor:his righteousness remaineth for ever.⁵

9:10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food,⁶ and multiply⁷ your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

9:12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant⁸ also by many thanksgivings unto God;⁹

9:13 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify¹⁰ God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;

9:14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.

9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

1. Viz. Titus and the other two.

2. Literally the word means, the groundwork on which some superstructure is founded. His appeal to the Macedonians was grounded on this readiness of the Corinthians. If (with the best MSS.) we omit "of my boasting," the meaning will be unaltered. Compare 2Co. 11:17, and note on Heb. 3:14.

3. The same expression occurs Gal. 6:7.

4. Pro. 22:8 (according to LXX., with slight variation).

5. Psa. 112:9 (LXX.). The subject of the verb "scattered" in the psalm is "the good man" (in the fifth verse), which St. Paul leaves to be supplied by the memory of his readers. To represent the quotation accurately to an English reader, it is necessary to insert this word, otherwise it would seem as if "God" were the subject of the verb.

6. These words are an exact quotation from Isa. 55:10 (LXX.). Ignorance of this fact has caused an inaccuracy in A.V. The literal translation of the remainder of the verse is, — "Furnish and make plenteous your seed, and increase the fruits springing from your righteousness."

7. In the best MSS. the verbs in this verse are future, not optative.

8. The word here properly denoting singleness means, when applied to the mind, a disposition free from arrieres penses, either of duplicity, selfishness, or grudging; thus it might naturally acquire the meaning of liberality, which it has in the eighth and ninth chapters in this Epistle, and perhaps in Rom. 12:8.

9. Literally, that you may give with liberality; which works thanksgiving to God by my instrumentality.

10. Literally, they, by the proof of this ministration, praising God, i.e. being caused to praise God for the obedience, &c.

2Co. 10:1- 6

2Co. 11:1- 15

11:1 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly:and indeed bear with me.

11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.¹

11:5 For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.²

11:6 But though I be rude in speech, yet not in³ knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest⁴ among you in all things.

11:7 Have I committed an offense⁵ in abasing myself⁶ that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?

11:8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.

11:9 And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man:for that which was lacking to me the brethren⁷ which came from Macedonia supplied:and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.

11:10 As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me⁸ of this boasting in the regions of Achaia.

11:11 Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth.

11:12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.⁹

11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

1. Lachmann (with the Vatican Manuscript) has the verb in the present, which makes the coincidence with v. 1 more exact; but if we keep the aorist, it may bear the sense here given it, on the same principle on which erat is often used for esset, and fuerat for fuisset. We understand "bear with me" (not "bear with him," with most commentators), because this agrees better with the context (the preposition "for" following), and with the first verse of the chapter.

2. This phrase (which occurs only in this Epistle) is ironical, as is evident from the epithet "the super-apostolic Apostles." He refers to the Judaizing emissaries from Palestine who had arrived at Corinth.

3. The gift of "Gnosis" was a deep insight into spiritual truth. See Ch. XIII. p. 372, note.

4. This is according to the reading, supported by the preponderating weight of MS. authority.

5. See p. 381.

6. i.e. by working with his hands for his daily bread. See p. 337. In all probability (judging from what we know of other manufactories in those times) his fellow-workmen in Aquila’s tent-manufactory were slaves. Compare Php. 4:12, "I know how to be abased."

7. Probably Timothy and Silvanus, who may have brought the contribution sent by the Philippians. The A.V. "which came" is incorrect.

8. According to the true reading here the literal English would be, "this boasting shall not be stopped for me."

9. The literal English of this difficult passage is, "that they, in the ground of their boasting, may be found even as I." De Wette refers "wherein they glory" to the Apostolic Office. We take it more generally. A more obvious way would be to take the phrase (with Chrysostom and the older interpreters) to mean their abstaining from receiving maintenance; but we know that the false teachers at Corinth did not do this (compare v. 20 below), but, on the contrary, boasted of their privilege, and alleged that St. Paul, by not claiming it, showed his consciousness that he was not truly sent by Christ. See 1 Corinthians 9.

2Co. 11:16- 31

11:16 I say again,¹⁰ Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.

11:17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence¹¹ of boasting.

11:18 Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.

11:19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.¹²

11:20 For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.¹³

11:21 I speak as concerning reproach,¹⁴ as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.

11:22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

11:24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

11:25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck,¹⁵ a night and a day I have been in the deep;

11:26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea,¹⁶ in perils among false brethren;

11:27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

11:28 Beside those things¹⁷ that are without, that which cometh upon me daily,¹⁸ the care of all the churches.

11:29 Who is weak,¹⁹ and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?

11:30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.

11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.²⁰

10. Literally, "I say once more, let none count me," &c.

11. See note on 2Co. 9:4.

12. This is ironical. So "ye are wise" in 1Co. 4:10.

13. Literally, in the way of degradation. The punctuation we adopt gives a simpler and more natural sense than that adopted in the first edition; and it also better suits the use of the pleonastic phrase here and in 2Co. 5:19 and 2Th. 2:2.

14. This refers to the acknowledgments he has previously made of weakness in outward advantages, e. g . at 2Co. 11:6 and 2Co. 10:1.

15. The five Jewish scourgings, two of the three Roman beatings with rods (one being at Philippi), and the three shipwrecks, are all unrecorded in the Acts. The stoning was at Lystra. What a life of incessant adventure and peril is here disclosed to us! And when we remember that he who endured and dared all this was a man constantly suffering from infirm health (see 2Co. 4:7-12, and 2Co. 12:7- 10, and Gal. 4:13, 14), such heroic self-devotion seems almost superhuman.

16. Probably in a small boat (or perhaps on a plank), escaping from one of the wrecks.

17. Not "those things that are without" as in A.V.

18. For this meaning of the word compare Act. 24:12. If we adopt another reading, which has the greater weight of existing MSS. in its favor, but patristic authority against it, the meaning will be nearly the same; set Canon Stanley’s note.

19. For the way in which St. Paul shared the weakness of the "weaker brethren," see p. 390, and the passages there referred to.

20. This solemn oath, affirming his veracity, probably refers to the preceding statements of his labors and dangers. Compare Gal. 1:20. If, however, we should suppose that the next two verses were originally intended to be the beginning of a narrative of all his sufferings from the beginning, then we might refer the asseveration to such intended narrative.

2Co. 11:32- 33

11:32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas²¹ the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:

11:33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.

21. For the historical questions connected with this incident, see p. 93. [A note on the word Ethnarch will be found on p. 100. — H.]

2Co. 12:1- 10

12:1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory.¹ I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

12:2 I knew² a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell:God knoweth;) such an one caught up³ to the third heaven.

12:3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell:God knoweth;)

12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise,⁴ and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

12:5 Of such an one will I glory:yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

12:6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth:but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.⁵

12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh,⁶ the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord⁷ thrice, that it might depart from me.

12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee:for my strength is made perfect⁸ in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.⁹

12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake:for when I am weak, then am I strong.¹⁰

1. We prefer the reading of the Textus Receptus (which is also adopted by Chrysostom and by Tischendorf) to that of the Vatican Manuscript, adopted by Lachmann. On the other hand, for what follows we take Lachmann’s reading, on the authority of the Codex Vaticanus, instead of the Textus Receptus. The whole passage is most perplexing, from the obscurity of its connection with what precedes and what follows. Why did St. Paul mention his escape from Damascus in so much detail? Was it merely as an event ignominious to himself? This seems the best view, but it is far from satisfactory. There is something most disappointing in his beginning thus to relate in detail the first in that series of wonderful escapes of which he had just before given a rapid sketch, and then suddenly and abruptly breaking off; leaving our curiosity roused and yet ungratified. We cannot agree with De Wette in considering the Damascene escape to be introduced as the climax of all the other perils mentioned, nor in referring to it the solemn attestation of v. 31.

2. The mistranslation of the verb in A.V. (knew for know) very seriously affects the sense:nor is there any thing in the Greek corresponding to "about."

3. We take "in Christ" with "caught up," which would have come immediately after the date, had it not been intercepted by the parenthetic clause. To translate "a Christian man" (as some commentators have done) is hardly justified by such analogies as "they that are in Christ."

4. Compare Luk. 23:43, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise, and Rev. 2:7.

5. He alludes to the low opinion expressed by his adversaries at Corinth of his personal qualifications and teaching; compare 2Co. 10:10.

6. The original is perhaps not adequately represented by the word thorn, although the thorns of the East are far more formidable than those of England. Stake is probably a more accurate translation. See Prof. Stanley’s note on the passage. A painful bodily infirmity is meant. See Gal. 4:13, 14, and p. 236.

7. That is, the Lord Jesus, as appears by "Christ" in the next verse.

8. Has its full development.

9. The full meaning is, to come to a place for the purpose of fixing one’s tent there. Compare (with the whole verse) 4:7.

10. i.e. the more he was depressed by suffering and persecution, the more was he enabled to achieve by the aid of Christ. See a very striking sermon of A. Mo-nod (in bis Discourssur St. Paul) on this text.

2Co. 12:11- 15

12:11 I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me:for I ought to have been commended of you:for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles,¹¹ though I be nothing.

12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

12:13 For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you?¹² forgive me this wrong.

12:14 Behold, the third time¹³ I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you:for I seek not your’s but you:for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

12:15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

11. See note on 2Co. 11:5.

12. The word here (in St. Paul’s language) means steadfastness under persecution. Some of the persecutions referred to are recorded is Acts 18.

13. See note on 2Co. 13:1.

2Co. 12:16- 21

12:16 But be it so, I did not burden you:nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.

12:17 Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you?

12:18 I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?

12:19 Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ:but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.

12:20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not:lest there be debates,¹⁴ envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

12:21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me¹⁵ among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already,¹⁶ and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.

14. For the word here, see note on Rom. 2:8.

15. Literally, humble me in respect of you. See on this verse p. 418, note.

16. Sinned "before:" viz. before my last risk.

2Co. 13:1- 10

13:1 This is the third time¹ I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.²

13:2 I told you before, and foretell you, as if³ I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:⁴

13:3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.

13:4 For though he was crucified through weakness,⁵ yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him,⁶ but we shall live with him⁷ by the power of God toward you.

13:5 Examine⁸ yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?⁹

13:6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.¹⁰

13:7 Now I pray¹¹ to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.

13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

13:9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong:and this also we wish, even your perfection.

13:10 Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification,¹² and not to destruction.

1. "This third time I am coming to you." This could scarcely mean merely, "I am for the third time preparing to visit you," although 2Co. 12:14 might imply no more than that. See p. 418, note. Prof. Stanley (who ignores the intermediate visit) can only get over this argument by supposing that St. Paul is here "reckoning his Second Epistle as virtually a second visit." (Stanley’s Corinthians, vol. 2:265.)

2. Deu. 19:15 (from LXX. nearly verbatim), meaning, "I will judge not without examination, nor will I abstain from punishing upon due evidence." Or else (perhaps), "I shall now assuredly fulfil my threats."

3. This passage, in which the word for "I write" is omitted by the best MSS., seems conclusive for the intermediate journey. What would be the meaning of saying, "I forewarn you as if I were present the second time, now also while I am absent"? which is the translation that we must adopt if we deny the intermediate visit. Also the "they who had sinned before" contrasted with the "all the rest" (v. 2), seems inexplicable except on this hypothesis.

4. The conjunction here (as frequently) is equivalent to a mark of quotation.

5. The word here properly means weakness of the body.

6. This is another reference to the disparaging reflections (see 2Co. 10:10) cast upon him by his Corinthian opponents. He says virtually, "You say that I am weak in bodily presence, and contemptible in personal accomplishments; so also Christ was weak in the flesh, and suffered a shameful death upon the cross; yet He triumphed over His adversaries, and now shows His victorious power; and so shall I do, in the same strength." The sentiment is the same as in 2Co. 4:10.

7. "Towards you." The literal English of the above passage is as follows: For if He was crucified through weakness, yet He lives through the power of God; for I also am weak in Him, but I shall live with Him, through the power of God towards you.

8. "Proof" and "prove" would give the verbal connection between v. 3 and v. 5.

9. The Greek means, to fail when tested; this was the original meaning of the English to be reprobate (A.V.). Observe here, again, the reference to the context (see preceding note). A paronomasia on the same words occurs Rom. 1:28.

10. Viz. the proof that Christ’s power is with me.

11. This may be translated (as it is by Grotius and Billroth, and was in our former edition), "that I may not harm you;" for the verb used here sometimes takes a double accusative in N. T.; e. g . Mat. 27:22. Yet this construction so seldom occurs, that it seems better to adopt the more obvious meaning, although it does not so clearly suit the context.

12. Compare 2Co. 10:8. [And see note on 2Co. 10:6. This is the last echo of the military allegory; but with the threatening turned into encouragement. — H.]

2Co. 13:11- 14

13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, ¹³ live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

13:12 Greet one another with an holy kiss.¹⁴

13:13 All the saints salute you.

13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.¹⁵

13. The substantive corresponding to this verb is found in verse 9; and see 1Co. 1:10.

14. See note on 1Th. 5:25.

15. The "Amen" is not found in the beat MSS.