2 Corinthians 2:14

τῷ δὲ Θεῷ χαρις κ. τ. λ.: but thanks be to God, etc. Instead of giving details of the information which Titus brought to him in Macedonia (chap. 2 Corinthians 7:6), he bursts out into a characteristic doxology, which leads him into a long digression, the main topic of the Epistle not coming into view again until 2 Corinthians 6:11. τῷ πάντοτε θριαμβεύοντι : who always, sc., even in times of anxiety and distress, leadeth us in triumph in Christ. θριαμβεύειν, “to lead as captive in a triumphal procession,” occurs again in this sense Colossians 2:15. The rendering of the A.V., “which causeth us to triumph,” though yielding a good sense here (and despite the causative force of verbs in - εύω), must be abandoned, as no clear instance of θριαμβεύειν in such a signification has been produced. The splendid image before the writer's mind is that of a Roman triumph, which, though he had never seen it, must have been familiar to him as it was to every citizen of the Empire. He thinks of God as the Victor (Revelation 6:2) entering the City into which the glory and honour of the nations (Revelation 21:26) is brought; the Apostle as “in Christ” as a member of the Body of Christ is one of the captives, by means of whom the knowledge and fame of the Victor is made manifest. He rejoices that he has been so used by God, as would appear from the tidings which Titus has brought him. καὶ τὴν ὀσμὴν τῆς γνώσεως κ. τ. λ.: and maketh manifest through us the savour of the knowledge of Him (sc., of Christ) in every place, sc., at Corinth as well as in Troas and Macedonia. It is possible that the metaphor of the ὀσμή is suggested by and is part of that of the triumph; e.g., Plutarch (Æmil. Paul. c. 32) says that the temples were “full of fumigations” during the passage of the procession. But ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας is a frequent LXX phrase (see reff.).