2 Corinthians 11:26

ὁδοιπορίαις πολλάκις. The omission of ἐν may be marked in English by a change of preposition; By journeyings often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from kindred, perils from Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brethren. These eight κίνδυνοι (elsewhere in the N.T. Romans 8:35 only) are an amplification of ὁδοιπορίαις πολλάκις: all these dangers beset the traveller. Rivers and robbers are still serious difficulties in the East. Bridges and ferries are rare, and sudden floods not uncommon. It was in the Calycadnus in Cilicia, not far from Tarsus, that Frederick Barbarossa was drowned in June, 1190, in the Third Crusade. Elsewhere in the N.T. λῃσταί are mentioned only in the Gospels. In going from Perga to Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:14) S. Paul would be likely to encounter robbers. Strabo says that that part of Asia Minor swarmed with marauders. For the genitive of the source whence the peril comes comp. κίνδυνοι ᾅδου εὔροσάν με (Psalms 114[116]:3): πρὸς τ. τῆς θαλάττης κινδ. (Plat. Rep. I. 332 E, Euthyd. 279 E). For the rhythmic repetition of the same word comp. 2 Corinthians 7:2; 2 Corinthians 7:4; Philippians 3:2; Philippians 4:8 : Hom. Il. x. 227–231, I. 436–439, II. 382–384.

κινδύνοις ἐκ γένους. This, when followed by κ. ἐξ ἐθνῶν, must mean those of his own race, Jews (Galatians 1:14; Philippians 3:5). He might have said ἐκ συγγενῶν (Romans 9:3; Romans 16:7; Romans 16:21). The Jews were a constant source of danger to him, by either attacking him themselves, or stirring up the heathen to do so (Acts 9:23; Acts 9:29; Acts 13:45; Acts 13:50; Acts 14:2; Acts 14:5; Acts 14:19; Acts 17:5; Acts 17:13; Acts 18:6; Acts 18:12; Acts 19:9; Acts 21:27). Tertullian (Scorp. 10) calls the synagogues fontes persecutionum: comp. 1 Thessalonians 2:14. ‘Perils from Gentiles,’ except when Jews were instigators, seem to have been less frequent (Acts 16:20; Acts 19:23). See Harnack, Die Mission und Aubreitung des Christentums, pp. 40, 342.

ἐν πόλει. Damascus, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Philippi, Ephesus. The triplet, ἐν πόλει, ἐν ἐρημιᾳ, ἐν θαλάσσῃ, covers the surface of the earth; nowhere was he safe. And ἐν θαλάσσῃ is not mere repetition, although the A.V., with ‘waters’ for ‘rivers,’ makes it to be so. There are other κίνδυνοι ἐν θαλάσσῃ besides shipwreck and exposure in the sea, such as bodily injury, fire, loss of property.

ἐν ψευδαδέλφοις. This probably means chiefly the Judaizers (Galatians 2:4); but all spurious Christians, such as Simon Magus, Diotrephes, and the Nicolaitans, were a source of danger. We are apt to forget how seriously the Church of the apostolic age suffered from such people. The Epistles of S. John, S. Jude, and 2 Peter are full of allusions to this evil. Note that he does not say ἐ κ ψευδαδέλφων. While Jew and heathen are external foes from whom he is sometimes free, false brethren are always around him: he must live among them, just as he must always be in either inhabited or uninhabited country, and on either land or sea.