2 Corinthians 11:4

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus. Christ is here put for Christianity and its perfection. If the false apostles should preach any other doctrine concerning Christ than that which I have preached, as though my preaching were insufficient for salvation and Christian perfection, then, &c. He speaks a few words further on of the same thing as another Gospel. But, in Gal. i. 8, he orders that any one who should preach another Gospel was not only not to be tolerated, but was even not to be listened to, and was to be anathematised. Hence by the phrase here another Gospel, he means a clear and more spiritual explanation of the Gospel.

Or if ye receive another Spirit. If you should receive other gifts of the Holy Spirit from the false apostles besides those that you received from me, you might well suffer them. He is censuring the pride of the false apostles, who boasted that they had more to give than S. Paul (Theophylact). Where, he asks, is that other Spirit, or those other gifts of which they boast? They do not appear. I call you then to witness that you have received from them nothing but empty words. Ver. 5. For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest Apostles. Beza says: "If Paul was in no way inferior to the chiefest Apostles, therefore Peter was not his superior in power and authority, and consequently he is not the Prince of the Apostles and of the Church." I answer that Paul yielded to none in any of the things just mentioned, such as in preaching Christ, in the gifts of the Spirit, in the genuineness of his Gospel, in the labours he bore, and in apostolical gifts in general. The question of power and primacy, therefore has no place here. Were he here to claim it for himself, it would be a sign of the most foolish ambition. Moreover, although by the phrase the very chiefest Apostles, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Œcumenius, understand Peter, James, and John, and this interpretation seems more simple and true, yet very many later writers understand it to refer to the false apostles, who boasted of their greatness. In this case S. Paul is speaking ironically. Ver. 6. Rude in speech. Unskilled in the polished and rhetorical eloquence of the Greeks, such as we find in Isocrates, Demosthenes, Lucian. Hence we find in S. Paul so many sudden transitions, ellipses, and solecisms (Chrysostom and Theophylact). S. Jerome (Ep. 151 ad Algas. qu. 10) says: " I have frequently said and I repeat it now, that when S. Paul spoke of himself as being 'rude in speech yet not in knowledge,' he was not merely using the language of humility, but was speaking from a consciousness of the truth. For in his writings there are many profound passages unexplained in words, dealing, with truths evident enough to himself, but incapable of being conveyed to others." He says the same in his epistle to Hedibia, where he adds that for this reason Paul kept Titus by him, who was a Greek scholar, just as S. Peter had S. Mark. Cf. 1 Corinthians 2:1-4, notes. On the other hand, S. Augustine (de Doct. Christ. lib. iv. c. 7) thinks that Paul calls himself here rude in speech, not as giving his own opinion but that of his detractors. S. Augustine there dwells at length on the eloquence of the Apostle, and shows that he has his own lively and nervous style, and an orderly arrangement of his materials. This is true. The Apostle's rhetoric was not mere wordiness, but was earnest, persuasive, manly, Divine, and therefore he was "rude," not so much in rhetoric as in grammatical niceties. It was evident to all that the Apostle by his eloquence stirred the hearts of all who heard him, smote them with the fear of God, and with wonderful skill almost drove them to faith, godliness, and mercy, and wheresoever he wished to lead them.

S. Augustine (Senten. No. 266) says beautifully: " It is an evident token of a good disposition when the truth contained in the words of controversialists is loved, and not the mere words themselves. For what is the use of a golden key if it cannot accomplish our desire and open the door, or why should we think less of a key because it is of wood? All that we want is to have that opened which was shut. " Ver. 7. Have I committed an offence? Do you find fault with that very thing which is a cause of glory to me and an instance of large-heartedness, that I humiliated myself to the manual labour of tent-making to support myself and not be a burden to you? (Anselm). This is the language of sarcasm. He charges the Corinthians to their face with ingratitude, in that while he might have claimed from them the means to support himself, he did not do so, but, while preaching and working at Corinth, preferred to be supported by poorer churches. In spite of this, however, as he says, the Corinthians undervalued the kindness of S. Paul, and lent an ear more readily to his rivals, the false apostles, who drained their purses.

Ver. 8. I robbed other churches. He uses a strong expression, in order to make a strong impression on them. You see my continence and charity. I have, as it were, despoiled other churches that were poor, in order to spare you and to enrich you, that you might not think, as rich merchants like you Corinthians are apt to think, that I was seeking yours instead of you, and also that I might shut the mouths of the false apostles. Acknowledge me, then, as your true and genuine Apostle.