2 Corinthians 10:4

στρατείας (B) = στρατίας (אCDFG), not στρατιᾶς. See Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 181; Blass § 5.

4. Parenthetic proof of the truth of 2 Corinthians 10:3. If the Apostle’s campaign were conducted on worldly principles, the weapons used would be worldly and unsuccessful; but, in spite of the weakness of him who employs them, they are triumphantly victorious.

δυνατὰ τῷ θεῷ. The exact antithesis to σαρκικά would be πνευματικά. But as σάρξ connotes ‘weakness,’ so πνεῦμα connotes ‘power’ (1 Corinthians 2:4; 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Timothy 1:7); and it is the idea of power that is prominent here. But the exact meaning of τῷ θεῷ is doubtful. ‘Through God’ (A. V.) would probably have been expressed otherwise. ‘Before God’ (R.V.) is possible; but why have we not ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ (2 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 7:12) or ἐν προσώπῳ (2 Corinthians 2:10)? More probably ‘for God,’ i.e. in His service (dat. com.), is the meaning. That it is a Hebraism for ‘exceeding,’ as both A.V. and R.V. in Acts 7:10 for ἀστεῖος τῷ θεῷ, is also possible (Winer, p. 310); but this is not very different from ‘before God,’ ‘in His sight,’ and therefore ‘really, indeed.’ Comp. Jonah 3:3.

πρὸς καθαίρεσιν ὀχυρωμάτων. To the casting down of strongholds: ‘casting’ rather than ‘pulling,’ because of καθαιροῦντες (2 Corinthians 10:5). Nowhere else in the N.T. does ὀχύρωμα occur, but it is very frequent in the LXX., especially in Maccabees: ὀχυρός (not in N.T.) is also common. The ὀχυρώματα are all things which are employed to withstand the onward march of the Gospel. Possibly the LXX. of Proverbs 21:22 is in S. Paul’s mind; πόλεις ὀχυρὰς ἐπέβη σοφὸς καὶ καθείλε τὸ ὀχύρωμα ἐφʼ ᾧ ἐπεποίθησαν οἱ�. Thackeray points out a coincidence of wording with Philo (de Confus. Ling. 26): τὸ γὰρ κατεσκενασμένον ὀχύρωμα διὰ τῆς τῶν λόγων πιθανότητος, οὐδενὸς ἔνεκα ἑτέρου κατεσκευάζετο, ἣ τοῦ μετατραπῆναι διάνοιαν�· ἀλλὰ πρός γε τὴν τοῦ ὀχυρώματος τούτου καθαίρεσιν ὁ πειρατὴς τῆς� … εὐτρέπισται.