2 Corinthians 11:18

Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. MANY - including the 'false teachers.' AFTER THE FLESH - as fleshly men boast; namely, of external advantages, their birth, doings, etc. (cf. ), contrasted with "after the Lord" (). I WILL GLORY ALSO - i:e., I also will boast of fleshly advantages, to show you that even in these I am not their inferiors, and therefore ought not to be supplanted by them in your esteem: though these are not what I desire to glory in ()....

18._Since many glory. _The meaning _is _— Should any one say to me, by way of objection, that what I do is faulty, what then as to others? Are not they my leaders? Am I alone, or am I the first, in _glorying according to the flesh? _Why should that be reckoned praiseworthy in _them, _that is imputed to me as a fault?” So far then is Paul from ambition in recounting his own praises, that he is contented to be blamed on that account, provided he exposes the vanity of the false apostles. _To glory after the flesh, _is to boast one’s self, rather in what has a tendency towards show, than in a good conscience. For the term _flesh, _here, has a reference to the world — when we seek after praise from outward masks, which have a showy appearance before the world, and are regarded as excellent. In place of this term he had a little before made use of the expression — _in appearance. _...

16-21 It is the duty and practice of Christians to humble themselves, in obedience to the command and example of the Lord; yet prudence must direct in what it is needful to do things which we may do lawfully, even the speaking of what God has wrought for us, and in us, and by us. Doubtless here is reference to facts in which the character of the false apostles had been shown. It is astonishing to see how such men bring their followers into bondage, and how they take from them and insult them....

Verse 18. _SEEING THAT MANY GLORY AFTER THE FLESH_] Boast of _external_ and _secular_ things....

SEEING THAT MANY GLORY ... - The false teachers in Corinth. They boasted of their birth, rank, natural endowments, eloquence, etc.; see 2 Corinthians 11:22. Compare Philippians 3:3. I WILL GLORY ALSO - I also will boast of my endowments, which though somewhat different yet pertain in the main to the “flesh” also; see 2 Corinthians 11:23 ff. His endowments “in the flesh,” or what he had to boast of pertaining to the flesh, related not so much to birth and rank, though not inferior to them in these, but to what the flesh had endured - to stripes and imprisonments, and hunger and peril. This is an exceedingly delicate a

AN APOSTLE DRIVEN AGAINST HIS WILL INTO A SEMBLANCE OF BOASTING. EXPOSITION An apology for the "foolishness" of boasting (2 Corinthians 11:1). He is not afraid of comparisons (2 Corinthians 11:5, 2 Corinthians 11:6). He will not recede from his despised practice of teaching gratuitously (2 Corinthians 11:7). A second apology, drawn from the outrageous conduct of his opponents ...

SEEING THAT MANY GLORY AFTER THE FLESH,.... Or with respect to things external, such as their high birth and parentage, carnal descent, circumcision, learned education, and the like; of which the false apostles, being Jews, boasted, who it seems were many; and though a multitude is not to be followed to do evil, yet the apostle thought, that since there were so many who were indulged by this church in this way, he might be allowed to boast also of such like things, so far as he could with truth and a good conscience, and in order to secure some valuable ends: I WILL GLORY ALSO; for he was of the seed of Abraham as well as they, of the stock of Israel, and tribe of Benjamin, circumcised the eighth day, and brought up at the feet of Gamaliel; but these are not all the things he could, and would, and did glory of; he gloried of these, and of others besides them, which the false apostles co...

2. ANSWERING HIS ADVERSARIES. HIS BOASTINGS. CHAPTER 11 _ 1. The Danger Through False Teachers. (2 Corinthians 11:1)_ 2. Answering His Adversaries. (2 Corinthians 11:7) 3. His Boastings of Labors and Sufferings. (2 Corinthians 11:16 .) Inasmuch as he did not want to boast, he tells the Corinthians to bear with him a little while he acts foolishly in speaking of himself. It had become necessary to do so in order to answer his adversaries, who were making havoc among the Corinthians, but he looks upon his vindication and boasting as nothing less than folly. He is about to do what he had exposed in others in the previous chapter ...

COMPARISON BETWEEN PAUL AND HIS OPPONENTS (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 11:6). Under the pressure of intense feeling he will break through his inclination and self-imposed resolve of silence, to let his character and his sufferings in the cause of Christ speak for themselves. But in doing so, he makes it clear that he waives all authority of one who speaks in the Lord. Speaking simply as a frail man, he pleads that he may receive at least such a hearing as the Corinthians have given to the other men who have tyrannised over them, exploited them, even buffeted them. If such high-handed arrogance as they have practised be what they mean by strength, then he admits (ironically adding to my disgrace) that he had been weak. The passage which follows (2 Corinthians 11:22 to...

THE PERIL OF SEDUCTION (2 Corinthians 11:1-6)...