2 Corinthians 1:1

Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ (אBMP) rather than Ἰ. Χρ. (ADGK).

πᾶσιν. Following the uncial MSS., the best editors add ν ἑφελκυ στικόν before consonants and vowels alike: πᾶσι and δυσί are occasional exceptions.

1. Πυᾶλος�. Ἰ. The Apostle designates himself differently in different Epistles. In 1 and 2 Thessalonians and in Philippians he gives only his name. In Philemon he is δέσμιος Χρ. Ἰ. Elsewhere he is always ἀπόστολος, with or without amplifications. Χριστοῦ Ἰ. is the poss. gen., stating whose minister he is. The order of these two names differs in MSS. here and elsewhere. But, if we follow the best witnesses, it is clear that in his earlier Epistles (1 and 2 Thes., Gal.) S. Paul always wrote Ἰ. Χρ., and that in his later ones (Phil., Eph., Col., Philemon 1:1 and 2 Tim.) he nearly always wrote Χρ. Ἰ. The change appears to have been made during the period in which Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians were written, and it is in these three Epistles that the readings are less certain. Here and in 2 Corinthians 4:5 Χρ. Ἰ. is probably correct; otherwise 2 Corinthians 13:5. The change is not capricious. Originally Ἰησοῦς was a name, and ὁ χριστός or Χριστός was a title. Then Ἰησοῦς Χριστός was a name with a title added. Then Χριστός became less and less of a title, and the two words in either order were used simply as a name (see Sanday, Bampton Lectures, p. 289 and on Romans 1:1). S. Paul was ‘an Apostle of Christ Jesus,’ not in the stricter sense in which the Lord Himself gave the title to the Twelve (Luke 6:13; Mark 3:14), but in the wider sense in which the title of Apostle was applied to Barnabas (Acts 14:4; Acts 14:14), Andronicus and Junias (Romans 16:7), James the brother of the Lord (Galatians 1:19), and others (Ephesians 4:11). But in this Epistle, as in Galatians 1:1, he seems to claim an uniqueness of Apostleship which placed him on an equality with the Twelve.

διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ. There is no self-assertion in this. It expresses his thankfulness for the Divine call, and reminds the Corinthians that what he says deserves attention.

καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ�. ‘The brother’ means one of ‘the brethren,’ a Christian. In the papyri ἀδελφός occurs to signify a member of a heathen religious association (Deissmann, Bible Studies, pp. 87, 88). The μαθηταί of the Gospels become the ἀδελφοί or the ἅγιοι of the Epistles. In the Gospels μαθητής occurs about 238 times, in the Epistles never. While ὁ Διδάσκαλος was with them, His followers were known by their relation to Him; after His Ascension, by their relation to one another or by their calling. In Acts we have the transition; there both μαθηταί and ἀδελφοί are fairly common, and οἱ ἅγιοι beginning to be used Acts 9:13; Acts 9:32; Acts 9:41; Acts 26:10). This consistent and intelligible usage is indirect confirmation of the early date of the Gospels. We may believe that Timothy had more to do with the composition of 2 Corinthians than the otherwise unknown Sosthenes had to do with that of 1 Corinthians; but after the first few verses he seems to be left out of sight. The coupling of his name with that of S. Paul shows the Corinthians that Timothy retains the Apostle’s confidence. See Origen on Matthew 16:19. When S. Paul writes to Timothy, he calls him, not a ‘brother’ but a ‘son’ (1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2).

τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ. Again the poss. gen., marking whose people he is addressing (1 Corinthians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 10:32; 1 Corinthians 11:16; 1 Corinthians 11:22; 1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:4). Comp. ἡ συναγωγὴ Κυρίου (Numbers 16:3) and ἐκκλησία Κυρίου (Deuteronomy 23:8). Contrast τοῦ θεοῦ here with the preceding θεοῦ: ὁ θεός “brings before us the Personal God Who has been revealed to us in a personal relation to ourselves: the latter fixes our thoughts on the general conception of the Divine Character and Being” (Westcott on 1 John 4:12). See on 2 Corinthians 12:13.

σὺν τοῖς ἁγίοις πᾶσιν τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ. With all the saints which are in the whole of Achaia (R.V.). This is no evidence of “a considerable body of believers”: whatever the number may be, the Apostle addresses them all. Nor does it show that this is a circular letter to be sent to other Churches in Achaia. The letter to the Galatians is circular; but that is addressed ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τῆς Γαλατίας, each of which was to have the letter. There were Christians outside Corinth, e.g. at Cenchreae, who had heard of the disorders at Corinth, and perhaps taken part in them; and all these are included in the address. ‘Achaia’ is used in a rhetorically general sense. The Roman province included the Peloponnese and North Greece as far as Macedonia, which was a separate province; but S. Paul is thinking of those who were interested in the Corinthian community (2 Corinthians 6:11).

Both οὔσῃ and αὖσιν might have been omitted, as in Colossians 1:2. It is perhaps owing to Hebrew influence that the fuller expression is found here, Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1.

By ἅγιοι is not meant that these Christians have already attained to holiness, but that they are ‘consecrated’ or set apart for a holy purpose,—the service of the Holy One. See Sanday and Headlam on Romans 1:7.