2 Corinthians 1:18

ἔστιν (אABCD, Latt.) rather than ἐγένετο (א3D3KL).

18. πιστὸς δὲ ὁ θεός. But (whatever you may think of me) God is faithful, in that our word toward you is not yea and nay. Comp. 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; 2 Thessalonians 3:3. Neither Wiclif, following the Vulgate, nor Tyndale, nor Cranmer takes the words as an adjuration (A.V., R.V.), ‘as God is faithful.’ Romans 14:11 is urged in support of this; but there we have a known form of adjuration, which this is not. It is safer not to turn either this or 2 Corinthians 11:10 into an adjuration. By ὁ λόγος ἡμῶν he means the message of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 1:19): hence he quite naturally returns from the singular (2 Corinthians 1:15-17) to the plural (18–22). ‘Our doctrine is plain enough. The faithfulness of God is reflected in it, and you can find no inconsistency there. If, then, we have been faithful in the greater things, why do you distrust me in the less?’ He says ἔστιν, not ἐγένετο or ἦν (see critical note), because the doctrine is still before them; they all know what he taught month after month: αὐτοὺς καλῶν εἰς μαρτυρίαν (Theodoret). Possibly there is the further thought, ‘This is more than my Judaizing opponents can say. They make God to be not faithful. He has promised salvation to all. They say, Yea, He has to the Jews; to the Gentiles, nay.’