2 Corinthians 1:8

2 Corinthians 1:8. For I would not have you ignorant concerning our trouble which befell us in Asia. Proconsular Asia is meant the western part of Asia Minor, embracing Mysia, etc. The reference here is probably not to the rush that was made in Ephesus upon the apostle's party in consequence of the success of his preaching (Acts 19:24), but rather to that complication of dangers to which he alludes so feelingly in his address to the elders of Ephesus (Acts 20:19), that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life. The apostle seems to labour under the difficulty of finding words to express what he felt at the time referred to. That it was some severe illness is the opinion of some excellent critics; but this seems quite alien from the strain of the passage. What with “the lying in wait of the Jews,” plotting his death wherever he went, he seems never to have felt secure of his life for a day, and at times to have given up hope of escape.

Ver, 9. Yea, we ourselves have had the answer (not ‘sentence') of death within ourselves. The thought seems to be, ‘Looking up, to discern what God might mean by this, and asking ourselves whither all was tending, the answer seemed to be, Thou art now to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.' No wonder that under a continuance of this impression his strength got worn down, and he was at times ready to sink under the pressure. The noblest natures are not superior to this, and specially men of such keen sensibilities as our apostle. But it drove him to the one Source of courage and strength to hold on, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead. The reference is not specifically to the final resurrection, but to the great general principle on which Abraham acted when “he that had received the promises offered up his only son, of whom it was said, In Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure” (Hebrews 11:17-19), and see Romans 4:19-20.