2 Corinthians 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. FOR I AM JEALOUS. The justification of his self-commendations, his zealous care lest they fall from Christ, to whom he, as "the friend of the bridegroom" (John 3:29), has espoused them: in order to lead them back from false apostles to Christ, he is obliged to boast, as the apostle of Christ, in a way which, but for the motive, would be "folly." GODLY JEALOUSY - literally, 'jealousy of God' (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:12, Greek): a jealousy which has God's honour at heart (1 Kings 19:10). I...

2._For I am jealous _Mark why it is that he acts the fool, for _jealousy _hurries a man as it were headlong. “Do not demand that I should show the equable temper (796) of a man that is at ease, and not excited by any emotion, for that vehemence of vehemence of jealousy, with which I am inflamed towards you, does not suffer me to be at ease.” As, however, there are two kinds of jealousy — the one springs from self love, and of a wicked and perverse nature, while the other is cherished by us on God’s account, (797) he intimates of what sort his zeal is. For many are zealous — for themselves, not for God. _That _on the other hand, is the only pious and right zeal, that has an eye to God, that he may not be defrauded of the honors that of right belong to him. _For I have united you to one man. _That his zeal was of such a nature, he proves from the design of

1-4 The apostle desired to preserve the Corinthians from being corrupted by the false apostles. There is but one Jesus, one Spirit, and one gospel, to be preached to them, and received by them; and why should any be prejudiced, by the devices of an adversary, against him who first taught them in faith? They should not listen to men, who, without cause, would draw them away from those who were the means of their conversion....

Verse 2 Corinthians 11:2. _I AM JEALOUS OVER YOU_, c.] The apostle evidently alludes either to the שושבינים _shoshabinim_ or _paranymphs_ among the Hebrews, whose office is largely explained in the notes on John 3:29, and the observations at the end of that chapter _"_John 3:36_"_ or to the _harmosyni_, a sort of magistrates among the Lacedemonians who had the care of virgins, and whose business it was to see them well _educated_, kept _pure_, and properly _prepared_ for married life. _THAT I MAY PRESENT_ YOU AS _A CHASTE VIRGIN_] The allusion is still kept up; and there seems to be a reference to...

FOR I AM JEALOUS OVER YOU - This verse expresses the reason why he was disposed to speak of his attainments, and of what he had done. It was because he loved them, and because he feared that they were in danger of being seduced from the simplicity of the gospel. The phrase “I am jealous” (Ζηλῶ Zēlō) means properly, I ardently love you; I am full of tender attachment to you. The word was usual among the Greeks to denote an ardent affection of any kind (from ζέω zeō, to boil, to be fervid or fervent). The precise meaning is to be determined by the connection; see the note on 1 Corinthians 12:31. The word may denote the jealousy which is felt by an apprehension of departure from fidelity on the part of those whom we love; or it may denote

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 ...

FOR I AM JEALOUS OVER YOU WITH GODLY JEALOUSY,.... He lets them know it was not so much on his own account, or at all with any selfish views, or for any secular interest of his own, that he was so concerned, but it was "a godly jealousy", or a "zeal of God"; which he was inspired with by God, and which was for the honour and glory of God, even Jesus Christ, who is God overall; and for their real good and spiritual welfare, as a church of Christ, that possessed him, which put him upon saying what he was about to do; and what affected him the more was, when he considered himself as a friend of the bridegroom, who had been concerned in the betrothing of them to Christ: FOR I HAVE ESPOUSED YOU TO ONE HUSBAND; by whom is meant Christ, as the following clause explains it: Christ stands in the relation of an husband to the church catholic and universal; to the whole general assembly and church...

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 ...

A TENDER APPEAL TO THE CHURCH AS A WHOLE. This appeal may sound like foolish sentiment. Let them bear with him. _Indeed_ he is sure that they do. What has happened under Paul's guidance and inspiration is nothing less than the betrothal of the Corinthian church as a pure virgin to Christ, a new Eve for the new Adam. But as there was a serpent in the first Eden, so now the tempter is at work. They have been only too complaisant in hearkening to his voice, to those who have preached another Jesus, laying all the emphasis on His earthly life and His observance of the Law. If these Judaizing teachers claimed for their doctrine the support of those who called themselves or were called the superior apostles, such a claim was absurd. There was no superiority. Paul might be unequal to some of them in eloquence, but not in that knowledge of Divine truth, which he communicated in every particular...

Would that you would bear with me in a little foolishness--but I know that you do bear with me. I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God, for I betrothed you to one husband, I wished to present a pure maiden to Christ. But I am afraid, that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your thoughts may be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity which look to Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, a Jesus whom we did not preach, if you take a different spirit, a spirit which you did not take, if you receive a different gospel, a gospel which you did not receive, you bear it excellently! Well, I reckon that I am in nothing inferior to these super-apostles. I may be quite untrained in speaking, but I am not untrained in knowledge, but, in fact, in everything and in all things we made the knowledge of God clear to you. All through this section Paul has to adopt met...