2 Corinthians 2:16

οἷς μὲν ὀσμὴ κ. τ. λ.: to the one a savour from death unto death; to the other a savour from life unto life; and yet it is the same ὀσμή in both cases; cf. Luke 2:34. ἐκ θανάτου εἰς θάνατον may be illustrated by Romans 1:17, ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν (see also chap. 2 Corinthians 3:18); emphasis is gained, according to the Hebrew idiom, by repeating the important word. The Rabbinical parallels given by Wetstein and others show that the metaphor of this verse was common among Jewish writers they called the Law an aroma vitae to the good, but an aroma mortis to the evil. καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα τίς ἱκανός : who then is sufficient for these things? sc., to fill such a part as has been just described (for καὶ … τίς see on 2 Corinthians 2:2 above). St. Paul's answer is not fully expressed, but the sequence of thought is this: “it might be thought that no one is sufficient for such a task; and yet we are, for we are not as the many,” etc.; an answer which he is careful to explain and qualify in 2 Corinthians 2:5 of the next chapter, lest he should be accused of undue confidence.