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Robertson's Word Pictures of the NT

2 Corinthians 12:16

I did not myself burden you

(εγω ου κατεβαρησα υμας). First aorist active of late verb καταβαρεω, to press a burden down on one. Only here in N.T.Crafty

(πανουργος). Old word from παν, all, and εργο, to do anything (good or bad). Good sense is skilful, bad sense cunning. Only here in N.T. and Paul is quoting the word from his enemies.With guile

(δολω). Instrumental case of δολος, bait to catch fish with. The enemies of Paul said that he was raising this big collection for himself. Moffatt has done well to put these charges in quotation marks to make it plain to readers that Paul is ironical.

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See also 2 Corinthians 12:16 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse 16. _BUT BE IT SO, I DID NOT BURDEN YOU_] That is: You grant that I did not burden you, that I took nothing from you, but preached to you the Gospel freely; but you say that, BEING CRAFTY, _I ca...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    BUT BE IT SO - This is evidently a charge of his enemies; or at least a charge which it might be supposed they would make. Whether they ever in fact made it, or whether the apostle merely anticipates...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    3. REVELATION IN WHICH HE MIGHT GLORY. HIS APOSTLESHIP. CHAPTER 12 _ 1. Caught up to the Third Heaven. (2 Corinthians 12:1)_ 2. The Thorn in the Flesh. (2 Corinthians 12:7) 3. The Marks of His Apos...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    RETROSPECT OF THE BOASTING. This paragraph is marked by rapid oscillation of feeling. Now that he has made and proved his claim, the same doubt seizes him as when he began (2 Corinthians 11:1; 2 Corin...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    THE THORN AND THE GRACE (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    I have become a fool--you forced me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, not by myself. I am in no way inferior to the super-apostles, even if I am nothing. The signs of an apostle have been...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    BURDEN. Greek. _katatareo._ Only here. BEING. Greek. _huparcho._ It means being essentially, from the beginning. See Luke 9:48. CRAFTY. Greek. _panourgos:_ Only here. Compare Luke 20:23. These words...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _But be it so_ St Paul returns to the charge in 2 Corinthians 12:13. He supposes his antagonists to admit that, as far as he himself is concerned, he has given it a satisfactory answer. But he is prep...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Continuation of the Defence 11. _I am become a fool in glorying_ Or perhaps, with some, _Have_I become a fool? The words in _glorying_are not in the best MSS. and versions. Thus Wiclif, following the...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    ἜΣΤΩ ΔΈ. _But be it so_. ‘You will say, We grant all that: we admit that you did not yourself take money from us, but you were cunning enough to get it out of us through others.’ This use of ἔστω is n...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    14–18. He changes from irony to affectionate earnestness, telling them that he must continue the ἀδικία of working for nothing, and explaining why this must be so. It is still quite evident that he is...

  • Charles Box Commentaries

    _ PAUL'S CONCERN FOR CORINTH 2 CORINTHIANS 12:14-21:_ Paul planned a third visit to Corinth. Even then he did not want to be a burden to them. He said, "What I really want is you, and not what you hav...

  • Charles Rose Commentaries

    ΈΣΤΩ _praes. imper. act. от_ ΕΊΜΊ (G1510) быть. "Пусть будет". Предыдущее предложение следует рассматривать как подлежащее _imper._ (RG, 596). ΚΑΤΕΒΆΡΗΣΑ _aor. ind. act. от_ ΚΑΤΑΒΑΡΈΩ (G2599) тяготет...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    BUT BE IT SO, I DID NOT BURDEN YOU, &C.— _But be it so that I did not burden you, yet_ [perhaps it will be suggested] _that, being a crafty deceiver, I circumvented you with guile._...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    BUTLER'S COMMENTARY SECTION 2 Weakness in Bearing (2 Corinthians 12:11-18) 11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to the...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    APPLEBURY'S COMMENTS _Paul's Intended Visit Scripture_ 2 Corinthians 12:14-21. Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be a burden to you: for I seek not yours, but y...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. I DID NOT BURDEN YOU. The "I" (Greek) is emphatic. A possible insinuation of the Corinthians is anticipated...

  • Concordant Commentary on the New Testament by A. E. Knoch

    14 What a fund of fatherly affection is revealed in his protest, "I am not seeking _ yours _ but _ you_!" And it must have humbled them to think of their own lack of care and consideration. They deser...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    12:16 guile. (a-17) The apostle is not saying that he did this, but is answering a charge that he had kept up appearances by taking nothing himself, but knew how to indemnify himself by using Titus in...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    PARAPHRASE. 'I am now about to pay you a third visit, and, as on former occasions, I shall accept nothing for my support. It is not your possessions but your very selves that I want; for you are my sp...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    BUT BE IT SO] He now meets another insinuation: this one is disposed of....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    HIS PRIVILEGES AND TRIALS The Apostle unwillingly resumes his boasting and tells of a revelation he received from God; but returns again to dwell on his weaknesses, and especially on his bodily infir...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    GOD SHOWS HIS POWER WHEN WE ARE WEAK 2 CORINTHIANS _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 12 V1 It is not good to be proud. But I need to tell you about *visions and *revelations of the *Lord. V2 I know a man in...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    BUT BE IT SO, I DID NOT BURDEN YOU. — The pronoun is again emphatic. The word for “burden” is not the same as in 2 Corinthians 12:13, but puts the fact less figuratively. The abruptness of the sentenc...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CHAPTER 27 NOT YOURS, BUT YOU. 2 Corinthians 12:11 (R.V) EXPOSITORS differ widely in characterising the three or four brief paragraphs into which this passage may be divided: (1) 2 Corinthians 12:...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    ἔστω δὲ κ. τ. λ.: _but he it so! I did not myself burden you_ (_cf._ 2 Corinthians 11:9 and 2 Corinthians 12:13). This the Corinthians grant as indisputable, but they allege a sinister reason, _viz.,...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    THAT HE DID NOT CLAIM MAINTENANCE AT CORINTH WAS DISINTERESTED ON HIS PART....

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    “I SEEK NOT YOURS, BUT YOU” 2 Corinthians 12:11 “The long burst of passionate self-vindication has now at last expended itself,” says Dean Stanley, and Paul returns to the point whence he diverged at...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The boasting continues. However, it takes on a new and startling characteristic. In his apostleship there had been something supernatural, something not to be finally explained. Of this, he will glory...

  • Gary Hampton Commentaries

    VERSE 16 Paul was willing that their love be lessened if they could benefit. Yet, his accusers claim he tricked them into paying him....

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    (6) But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. (6) He sets aside another most grievous slander, that is, that he did subtly and by others make his gain a...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    I caught you by guile. He answers an objection or suspicion of his adversaries, as if he took no presents himself, but employed others to do it for him: he appeals to them, if Titus did not serve them...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    2 Corinthians 1:1-24. It is impossible to read the two epistles to the Corinthians with the smallest care without perceiving the strong contrast between the wounded tone of the first epistle (the hear...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    16._But be it so. _These words intimate, that Paul had been blamed by malevolent persons, as though he had in a clandestine way procured, through means of hired persons, what he had refused to receive...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Nevertheless, though forced to speak of himself, the apostle would glory only in his infirmities. But he is, as it were, outside his natural work. His past life unfolds before his eyes. The Corinthian...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    BUT BE IT SO, I DID NOT BURDEN YOU,.... These words are not spoken by the apostle in his own person of himself, but in the person of his adversaries, and contain a concession and an objection of their...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. Ver. 16. _Being crafty I caught_] A blessed craft, a high point of heavenly wisdom, Daniel 12:3. It is written...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Be it so_, &c. But some may object; though _I did not burden you_ Though I did not take any thing of you myself; yet _being crafty, I caught you with guile_ I did secretly by my messengers what I wou...

  • Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament (1851)

    BE IT SO; his enemies said, if he did not openly receive support from them, he did covertly, for he sent men among them to take up contributions professedly for the poor, and then used the money himse...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    WHAT PAUL EXPECTS OF THE CORINTHIANS. Their love should have commended him in his love for them:...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    BUT BE IT SO, I DID NOT BURDEN YOU; NEVERTHELESS, BEING CRAFTY, I CAUGHT YOU WITH GUILE. Paul here turns the fact of his boasting against the Corinthians, to their reproach, saying that his becoming f...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    If in chapter 11 we have seen God's grace in sustaining the vessel through all adversity, Paul now speaks of the other side of this, the grace which gives unspeakable blessedness in being "caught up...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    11-21 We owe it to good men, to stand up in the defence of their reputation; and we are under special obligations to those from whom we have received benefit, especially spiritual benefit, to own the...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    I hear what some say: It is true, that when I was myself with you, I laid no burden upon you, did not put upon you any collection for me; but, like a crafty man, I set others to take money of you for...

  • McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries

    But be it so, I did not myself burden you; but, being crafty, I caught you with guile. [And as a doting parent I will gladly spend all that I have and all that I am for your soul's sake. Gladly, as it...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    2 Corinthians 12:16 But G1161 that G2077 (G5749) I G1473 did G2599 not G3756 burden G2599 (G5656) you

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    ‘But be it so, I did not myself burden you, but, being crafty, I caught you with guile.' And yet if it is to be so, it must be so. For he is aware of what they are saying about him, of the accusations...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    HE ASSURES THEM OF HIS CARE FOR THEM (2 CORINTHIANS 12:14). He declares that he intends shortly to visit them for a third time. But when he does he will again not be a burden on them. (This suggests t...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    2 Corinthians 12:16. BUT ME BEING CRAFTY, I CAUGHT YOU WITH GUILE. ‘True (ye say), you took no money from us yourself, but you were crafty enough to get it through others.' The answer to this base ins...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: God's dealing with Paul. CHARACTERS: God, Christ, Holy Spirit, Paul, Titus, Satan. CONCLUSION: The exalted experiences of the Spirit-filled Christian overbalance all he is called upon to be...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    2 Corinthians 12:1. _It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord._ To disclosures of the divine pleasure, which cannot be known by any researches...

  • The Bible Study New Testament

    YOU WILL AGREE, THEN. Paul asks them to take this as evidence of his love for them! BUT, SOMEONE WILL SAY. The false teachers said he was tricky enough to drain the treasury in other ways....

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    2 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 2 CORINTHIANS 12:16 CRAFTY... DECEIT... TAKE ADVANTAGE. Paul rejects the idea that he used the collection to take money from the Corinthians. There is no evidence for such a char...

  • The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

    CHAPTER 12 SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER i. That the Corinthians may esteem him above the false apostles, he describes his being carried up into the third heaven. II. He goes on to say (ver. 7) that to p...

  • The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

    _Being crafty, I caught you with guile._ S. Thomas (ii. ii. qu. 55, art. 4, ad. 1) thinks that craftiness and guile are here used in a good sense, as much as to say, with cunning, skill, and prudent c...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    _CRITICAL NOTES_ (_No break, except that of a new paragraph_.) 2 Corinthians 12:1.—Note _reading;_ probably, as in R.V. Remember how full is Paul’s sense of “_expedient_” (1 Corinthians 6:12;...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION The revelations vouchsafed to him (2 Corinthians 12:1). The counteracting "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7). One more apology for glorying (2 Corinthians 12:11

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    It is not expedient [necessary] for me doubtless to glory. [But] I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above [about] fourteen years ago (2 Corinthians 12:1-2), Or...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 Peter 2:3; 1 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Thessalonians 2:5; 2 Corinthians 1:12;...

  • Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament (4 Volume Set)

    With guile. Alluding to a charge that he availed himself of the collection for the poor to secure money for himself. He uses his adversaries ' words....

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    But some may object, though I did not burden you, though I did not take anything of you myself, yet being crafty I caught you with guile — I did secretly by my messengers what I would not do openly, o...

  • William Burkitt's Expository Notes

    Here the apostle answers an objection, which without any just cause was made against him by some: it was suggested, "that though he was not burdensome to the Corinthians himself, nor took any thing of...

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Old Testament