2 Corinthians 13:11-14

CONCLUDING EXHORTATION, SALUTATION, AND BENEDICTION

Assuming that 10–13:10 is part of a letter written before 1–9, we may safely regard 2 Corinthians 13:11-14 as the conclusion of this earlier and severe letter, rather than of the later letter, of which 1–9 is the main part. (1) καταρτίζεσθε, the first exhortation in 2 Corinthians 13:11, is a strong link of connexion τὴν ὑμῶν κατάρτισιν. Perhaps παρακαλεῖσθε looks back to the opening words of the severe section Αὐτὸς δὲ ἐγὼ Παῦλος παρακαλῶ ὑμᾶς (2 Corinthians 10:1). More certainly τὸ αὐτὸ φρονεῖτε, εἰρηνεύετε looks back to the fears of ἔρις, ζῆλος, θυμοί, ἐριθίαι, κ.τ.λ. (2 Corinthians 12:20). No such links can be found with the concluding portion of 1–9. (2) It is much more probable that the whole of the last part of the severe letter should have accidentally been combined with the whole of the first part of the letter which followed it, than that a section of the severe letter should have been inserted between the main portion of the subsequent letter and the concluding words of this subsequent letter. The change from a stern to a more affectionate tone is quite natural at the close of the Epistle, and is similar to that at the end of 2 Thessalonians, where contrast the severity of 2 Corinthians 13:10-14 with the gentleness and affection of 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18. As Bengel remarks here, Severius scripserat Paulas in tractatione; nunc benignius, re tamen ipsa non dimissa.