2 Corinthians 1 - Introduction
ΠΑΥΛΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΥ Η ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΑ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΑΥΛΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΥ Η ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΑ... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Corinthians 1:1-2 ADDRESS. The usual form of address at the beginning of a Greek letter was A. B. χαίρειν (see Acts 23:26); and this is adopted by St. James in his Epistle (James 1:1), and is followed, among other Christian writers, by Ignatius in his letters (πλεῖστα χαίρειν is his ordinary formu... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀπὸ Θεοῦ πατρὸς κ. τ. λ.: this coupling of the names of _God our Father_ and _the Lord Jesus Christ_ as alike the source of _grace and peace_ is most significant in its bearing upon St. Paul's Christology (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 13:13). I. The Obedience of the Corinthians to the Instructions of the Fir... [ Continue Reading ]
εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς κ. τ. λ.: _blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ_. Note that τοῦ Κυρίου is dependent on Θεός as well as on πατήρ; _cf._ Ephesians 1:17, and John 20:17; Revelation 1:6. This is the starting-point of the Christian revelation, that the Supreme is “the God and Father” o... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ f1παρακαλῶν ἡμᾶς κ. τ. λ.: _who comforteth us in all our affliction_ (the def. art. indicating trials actually existing). The verb παρακαλεῖν has three shades of meaning, (_a_) _to beseech_, eighteen times in St. Paul, (_b_) _to exhort_, seventeen times, (_c_) _to comfort_, thirteen times, of whic... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅτι καθὼς περισσύει κ. τ. λ.: _for as Christ's sufferings flow over abundantly to us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ_. That the Christian is a fellow-sufferer with Christ is frequently urged by St. Paul (Romans 8:17; Philippians 3:10; Colossians 1:24; see esp. chap. 2 Corinthians... [ Continue Reading ]
We follow the reading of the Revisers (see crit. note) and translate: _But whether we be afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we be comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient endurance of the same things which we also suffer: and our hope for you is steadf... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς κ. τ. λ.: _and our hope for you is steadfast, knowing_ (we should expect εἰδότων, but _cf._ Romans 13:11) _that as ye are partakers of the sufferings_ (see reff. for κοινωνός with a _gen. objecti_), _so also are ye of the comfort_. The main idea of this section is well given by Bengel: “... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS RECENT PERIL. 2 Corinthians 1:8. οὐ γὰρ θέλομεν κ. τ. λ.: _for we would not have you ignorant, brethren, about_ (for ὑπέρ with gen. in this sense, _cf._ chap. 2Co 8:23, 2 Corinthians 12:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:1) _our affliction which happened in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀλλὰ αὐτοὶ κ. τ. λ.: _nay, we ourselves had the sentence of death in ourselves; i.e._, the danger was so great that the sentence of death had been already pronounced, as it were. ἀπόκριμα might mean “answer,” as the Revisers translate it (they give _sentence_, with the A.V., in their margin); _cf._... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅς ἐκ τηλικ. κ. τ. λ.: _who delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver_ (reading ῥύσεται). The form of words recalls Romans 15:31 and 2 Timothy 4:17-18, which would give some support to the theory that the great peril in question was persecution at the hands of opponents; but (as we have... [ Continue Reading ]
συνυπουργούντων καὶ ὑμῶν κ. τ. λ.: _ye also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; i.e._, apparently, “helping _me_ ”. St. Paul claims that the sympathy of his converts with him shall be exhibited by their prayers for him. δέησις is prayer for a particular object, as contrasted with th... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY MUST ACKNOWLEDGE HIS SINCERITY OF PURPOSE. He claims that he has always been frank and open in his dealings with the Corinthian Christians: _cf._ 1 Thessalonians 2:3. ἡ γὰρ καύχησις κ. τ. λ.: _for our glorying is this_. Note καύχησις, not καύχημα, as at 2 Corinthians 1:14, which is rather the t... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐ γὰρ ἄλλα κ. τ. λ.: _for we write none other things unto you than what ye read_ (ἀναγινώσκειν always means “to read” in St. Paul's Epp. and throughout the N.T.) _or even acknowledge; i.e._, there is no hidden meaning in his letters; he means what he says, as to which doubts seem to have been preva... [ Continue Reading ]
καθὼς καὶ ἐπέγνωτε κ. τ. λ.: _as also ye did acknowledge us in part; i.e., some_ of them made this acknowledgment, but not all (1 Corinthians 3:4). ὅτι καύχημα ὑμῶν ἐσμεν : _that_ (not “because”) _we are your glorying_ (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 5:12); that is, the Corinthian Church was proud of its conne... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS CHANGE OF PLAN WAS NOT DUE TO FICKLENESS. καὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πεποιθήσει ἐβουλόμην κ. τ. λ.: _and in this confidence_ (_sc._, that they would acknowledge his sincerity) _I was minded to come before_ (_sc._, before he went to Macedonia) _unto you, that ye might have a second benefit_. The circumstances... [ Continue Reading ]
προπεμφθῆναι : “to be set forward on my journey”. The practice of speeding fellow-Christians on their journeys, of “seeing them off” in safety, is often mentioned in _Acts_, and is inculcated more than once as a duty by St. Paul (see reff.).... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῦτο οὖν βουλόμενος κ. τ. λ.: _when therefore I was thus minded, did I shew fickleness?_ The article τῇ before ἐλαφρίᾳ can hardly be pressed so as to convey the meaning “ _that_ fickleness which you lay to my charge”; it is merely generic. ἢ ἃ βουλεύομαι κ. τ. λ.: _or the things that I purpose, do... [ Continue Reading ]
πιστὸς δὲ ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι κ. τ. λ.: _but as God is faithful, our word, etc._ For the construction, _cf._ the similar forms of asseveration ζῇ κύριος ὅτι, “as the Lord liveth” (1 Samuel 20:3; 2 Samuel 2:27), and ἔστιν ἀλήθεια Χριστοῦ ἐν ἐμοὶ ὅτι, “as the truth of Christ is in me” (2 Corinthians 11:10). Fo... [ Continue Reading ]
He has appealed to the faithfulness of God, and this suggests the thought of the unchangeableness of Christ. ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ γὰρ υἱὸς κ. τ. λ.: _for the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was proclaimed among you by us_. The position of τοῦ Θεοῦ before γάρ (as in the true text) brings out the sequence of thou... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅσαι γὰρ ἐπαγγελίαι κ. τ. λ.: _for how many soever be the promises of God, in Him is the Yea_. Not only was Christ a διάκονος περιτομῆς … εἰς τὸ βεβαιῶσαι τὰς ἐπαγγελίας τῶν πατέρων (Romans 15:8), but He is Himself, in His own Person, the true fulfilment and recapitulation of them all (_cf._ Galatia... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ δὲ βεβαιῶν κ. τ. λ.: _now He that stablisheth us with you into Christ and anointed us is God_, etc. For the form of the sentence _cf._ chap. 2 Corinthians 5:5. The ultimate ground of St. Paul's steadfastness in Christ is God Himself; and having been led on to say this, he adds σὺν ὑμῖν, in order t... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ καὶ σφρ. ἡμᾶς κ. τ. λ.: _who also sealed us_ (_sc._, all Christians), _and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts_. The aorists, σφραγισάμενος … δούς, point to acts completed at a definite moment in the past; and this can only mean the moment of _baptism_. This, too, is the best explanati... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐγὼ δὲ μάρτυρα τὸν Θεὸν ἐπικ. κ. τ. λ.: _but_ (_sc._, whatever my opponents may say) _I invoke God as a witness against my soul, sc._, if I speak falsely; _cf._ Romans 1:9; Galatians 1:20; Philippians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 2:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:10. For ἐπί used in this way _cf._ εἰς μαρτύριον ἐπʼ αὐ... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REAL REASON OF THE POSTPONEMENT OF HIS VISIT TO CORINTH WAS THAT HE DID NOT WISH HIS NEXT VISIT TO BE PAINFUL, AS THE LAST HAD BEEN.... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse is parenthetical, and introduced to guard against misunderstanding. οὐχ ὅτι κυριεύομεν ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως : _not that we have lordship over your faith_. This is not the department of his Apostolic authority (_cf._ Luke 22:25; 1 Peter 5:3). ἀλλὰ συνεργοί κ. τ. λ.: _but we are_ (only) _fellow... [ Continue Reading ]