2 Corinthians 1:1,2

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 formula). St. Paul, original in this as in all else, struck out a form for himself. He replaces χαίρειν by χάρις καὶ εἰρήνη (1 Thess.), which in subsequent letters is expressed more fully, as here, χάρις καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. (In 1 and 2 Tim. he adds ἔλεος.) The simple greeting of ordinary courtesy is thus filled with a deep religious meaning. Grace is the keynote of the Gospel; and peace, the traditional and beautiful salutation of the East, on Christian lips signifies not earthly peace merely, but the peace of God (Philippians 4:7). The first instance of the combination of χάρις with εἰρήνη is noteworthy, viz., they are coupled in the Priestly Benediction at Numbers 6:24. ἀπόστολος Χρ. Ἰη.: St. Paul's letters are all semi-official, except perhaps that to Philemon; and thus they usually begin with the assertion of his apostolic office. This it would be especially necessary to emphasise in a letter to Corinth, where his authority had been questioned quite recently (2 Corinthians 10:10 ff.), and where the names of Apollos and Peter had formerly been set in opposition to his (1 Corinthians 1:12). διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ : he is ever anxious (see reff.) to explain that his apostleship was not assumed of himself; it is a mission from God; he is a σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς. καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ ἀδελφός : Timothy now occupies the place at St. Paul's side which was filled by Sosthenes when 1 Cor. was written (1 Corinthians 1:1). Timothy had been despatched to Macedonia (Acts 19:22) to go on to Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:17), but St. Paul seems to have had a suspicion that he might be prevented from arriving there (1 Corinthians 16:10). From the facts that we now find him in Macedonia, and that there is no mention of him in chap. 2 Corinthians 12:16-18, it is likely that he was prevented from reaching Corinth by some causes of which we are unaware. τῆ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ κ. τ. λ.: the letter is addressed primarily to the Christian congregation at Corinth, and secondarily to the Christians throughout Achaia. It is thus a circular letter, like that to the Galatians or Ephesians, and so at the end we do not find salutations to individuals, as in 1 Cor. and in the other letters addressed to particular Churches. The words τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορίνθῳ suggest the idea of settled establishment; the Church at Corinth had now been for some time in existence. ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ : the Roman province of Achaia included the whole country which we call Greece (excluding Macedonia), and it is in this large sense that the name is used here (cf. 2 Corinthians 9:2 below).