2 Corinthians 8:18

And we have sent with him Literally, we sent with him, unless the tense be what is known as the epistolary aorist (see above, ch. 2 Corinthians 2:9), in which case these messengers were also the bearers of this Epistle.

the brother, whose praise is in the gospel Innumerable guesses have been made as to who this was. We can but briefly glance at them. First of all it is clear that it was no obscure member of any of the various communities who is here mentioned. He was thoroughly well known to the Churches. Secondly, we may remark that it was not Barnabas, as many of the early Fathers have supposed, since we never hear of Paul and Barnabas as travelling together after their misunderstanding in Acts 15, nor Silas, for he does not appear to have been with the Apostle after his departure from Corinth for Jerusalem related in Acts 18:18. We learn from the next verse that the -brother" here referred to was a delegate of the Churches, and deputed to accompany St Paul on his journey to Jerusalem with the proceeds of the collection. He must either have been a delegate of the Ephesian or the Macedonian Christians. If the latter, it must have been (1) St Luke, for he didtravel with St Paul on this occasion, as we learn from Acts 20:5. And though he did not join the Apostle till he reached Philippi from Corinth, and did not accompany him on his visit to Corinth (Acts 20:1-5), this is no reason against his having accompanied Titus on his visit to Corinth. See note on 2 Corinthians 8:16. And St Luke answers in many ways better than any one else to this description. But ch. 2 Corinthians 9:4 seems to imply that the brother was not of Macedonia (though Meyer thinks that the whole context shews him to have been a Macedonian). Nor can the words -whose praise is in the Gospel" be pressed (so St Chrysostom and the Collect for St Luke's Day) as signifying the Gospel of St Luke. For the word gospel is never used in the Scripture of any of the biographies of Christ, but solely of the good tidings proclaimed by His ministers. The earliest phrase by which the Gospels are designated is -memoirs." (See Justin Martyr's First Apology, ch. 67.) If the brother were an Ephesian delegate, he must have been either (2) Trophimus or (3) Tychicus. Boththese left Greece with St Paul. The former was an Ephesian" and accompanied him to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:29.) The latter was - of Asia" (Acts 20:4), and probably of Ephesus, for he was twice sent thither by St Paul (Ephesians 6:21; 2 Timothy 4:12). And he evidently stood high in the estimation of the Apostle (Ephesians 6:21-22; Colossians 4:7-8) for his qualities as a minister of Christ. Boththese, however, if the deputies were Ephesians, would most likely have been the messengers. See note on 2 Corinthians 8:22.