2 Corinthians 11:28

ἐπίστασις (אBDFG) rather than ἐπισύστασις (KLMP); and μοι rather than μου (א3DKLMP).

28. χωρὶς τῶν παρεκτός. Beside those things that are without: Praeter illa, quae extrinsecus sunt. But can τὰ παρεκτός mean this? (1) Assuming with both A.V. and R.V. that this meaning is possible and correct, then the Apostle classes his sufferings in two groups, those which are external, which he has mentioned, and those which are internal, which he is about to mention. (2) Again, τῶν παρεκτός may be masculine; besides those persons that are without, who attack from the outside. But, had this been his meaning, he would have written οἱ ἔξω (1 Corinthians 5:12-13; Colossians 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:12) or οἱ ἔξωθεν (1 Timothy 3:7; Joseph. B. J. IV. iii. 10; comp. Mark 4:11). And would he not similarly have written τὰ ἔξω or τὰ ἔξωθεν for ‘those things that are without’? (3) Perhaps τὰ παρεκτός might mean ‘those things that come out of course (R.V. marg. 2), which are unusual’: but it is not a natural expression for such a meaning. (4) But παρεκτὸς λόγου πορνείας (Matthew 5:32) and παρεκτὸς τῶς δεσμῶν (Acts 26:29) seem to show that it is the idea of exception (παρά, 2 Corinthians 11:24) rather than of externality (ἐκτός, 2 Corinthians 12:2; 1 Corinthians 6:18) which is predominant, an idea which ἐκτός also sometimes has (1 Corinthians 15:27; Acts 26:22). So that τὰ παρεκτός probably means those things which are besides these, viz. the things which I omit (R.V. marg. 1). The purport therefore of the clause is, besides the things which I do not mention, there is &c. This is Chrysostom’s interpretation (τὰ παραλειφθέντα): but he goes beyond the text in saying that the omitted things are more than those which have been enumerated. If this be adopted, the Apostle makes three classes of sufferings, those which he has mentioned, those which he omits, and those which he is about to mention. In the LXX. παρεκτός does not occur, except as a discredited variant in Leviticus 23:38. Aquila has it Deuteronomy 1:36. In both cases the meaning is ‘except,’ where the LXX. has πλήν. Comp. Test. XII. Patr. Zabulon i. For χωρίς = ‘besides’ comp. Matthew 14:21; Matthew 15:38 : also χωρὶς δὲ χρυσίου� (Thuc. II. xiii. 3).

ἡ ἐπίστασίς μοι ἡ καθʼ ἡμέραν. See critical note. That which presseth upon me daily; or the daily onset upon me. Comp. Acts 24:12, where, as here, LP and other inferior authorities read ἐπισύστασις (Numbers 16:40 [Numbers 17:5], Numbers 26:9), without great difference of meaning. For ἐπίστασις comp. δυσχερὴς ἡ ἐπίστασις τῆς κακίας (2Ma 6:3). The rendering ‘onset’ is probably not too strong; concursus in me (d); incursus in me (Augustine); urget agmen illud in me quotidie consurgens (Beza). S. Paul uses strong language, as ἐσύλησα (2 Corinthians 11:8), καθαιροῦντες πᾶν ὕψωμα, and αἰχμαλωτίζοντες πᾶν νόημα (2 Corinthians 10:5) show. Comp. hos profligatorum hominum quotidianos impetus (Cic. pro Arch. vi.). The reading μοι is decisive for the rendering ‘onset, rush, pressure,’ rather than ‘observation, attention.’ In classical Greek ἐπίστασις means ‘a stopping for rest, a halt’ (Xen. Anab. II. iv. 26); or ‘a stopping for thought, attention,’ τοῦτό γε αὐτὸ ἄξιον ἐπιστάσεως (Arist. Phys. II. iv. 8). A belief that ‘attention’ was the meaning here may have produced the reading μον: the dat. μοι comes from the idea of ‘onset.’ But ‘my daily attentiveness’ is a poor substitute for ‘the daily onset upon me.’ The latter means the ceaseless appeals to him for help, advice, decisions of difficulties or disputes, as well as objurgatio illorum, qui doctrinae vitaeque perversitate Paulo molestiam exhibebant (Bengel).

ἡ μέριμνα πασῶν τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν. My anxiety for all the Churches. For μέριμνα, the care which divides and distracts the mind, comp. Matthew 13:22 = Mark 4:19 = Luke 8:14, and Luke 21:34. It is the care which an anxious person feels, not that which a protector affords. Hence it is not used of God, who cannot feel anxious: note the change of wording 1 Peter 5:7. ‘All the Churches’ is a colloquial expression to mark the immensity of the sphere which the anxiety embraces. The πασῶν need not be limited to the Churches which S. Paul founded, or pressed to imply that, as an Apostle, he had jurisdiction over the whole of Christendom: comp. 2 Corinthians 8:18; 1 Corinthians 7:17. The saying has been quoted in defence of a bishop holding more than one see.