2 Corinthians 12:2

l knew [ο ι δ α]. Rev., correctly, I know.

Above fourteen years ago [π ρ ο ε τ ω ν δ ε κ α τ ε σ σ α ρ ω ν]. Above, of A. V., is due to a misunderstanding of the Greek idiom. Lit., before fourteen years, that is, fourteen years ago, as Rev.

Caught up [α ρ π α γ ε ν τ α]. Compare Dante :

"Thou knowest, who didst lift me with thy light" " Paradiso, " 1, 75.

The verb suits the swift, resistless, impetuous seizure of spiritual ecstasy. See on Matthew 11:12; and compare Acts 8:39; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 12:5.

Third heaven. It is quite useless to attempt to explain this expression according to any scheme of celestial gradation. The conception of seven heavens was familiar to the Jews; but according to some of the Rabbins there were two heavens - the visible clouds and the sky; in which case the third heaven would be the invisible region beyond the sky. Some think that Paul describes two stages of his rapture; the first to the third heaven, from which he was borne, as if from a halting - point, up into Paradise.