2 Corinthians

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE

CORINTHIANS

[1] [2]

[3] [4]

[5] [6]

[7] [8]

[13]

INTRODUCTION

THE following reasons seem to have induced Paul to write this Second

Epistle to the Corinthians: (1) That he might explain the reasons for

his having deferred to pay them his promised visit, by taking Corinth

as his way to Macedonia

(1Co 4:19;

2Co 1:15, 16;

compare

1Co 16:5);

and so that he might set forth to them his apostolic walk in general

(2Co 1:12, 24; 6:3-13; 7:2).

(2) That he might commend their obedience in reference to the

directions in his First Epistle, and at the same time direct them now

to forgive the offender, as having been punished sufficiently

(2Co 2:1-11; 7:6-16).

(3) That he might urge them to collect for the poor saints at Jerusalem

(2Co 8:1-9, 15).

(4) That he might maintain his apostolic authority and reprove

gainsayers.

The external testimonies for its genuineness are IRENÆUS

[Against Heresies, 3,7,1]; ATHENAGORAS

[Of the Resurrection of the Dead]; CLEMENT OF

ALEXANDRIA

[Miscellanies, 3, p. 94; 4, p. 101]; TERTULLIAN

[On Modesty, 13].

The TIME OF WRITING was after Pentecost, A.D. 57, when Paul left Ephesus for Troas. Having stayed

in the latter place for some time preaching the Gospel with effect

(2Co 2:12),

he went on to Macedonia, being eager to meet Titus there, having been

disappointed in his not coming to Troas, as had been agreed on between

them. Having heard from him the tidings he so much desired of the good

effect produced on the Corinthians by his First Epistle, and after

having tested the liberality of the Macedonian churches

(2Co 8:1),

he wrote this Second Epistle, and then went on to Greece, where he

abode for three months; and then, after travelling by land, reached

Philippi on his return at Passover or Easter, A.D.

58

(Ac 20:1-6).

So that this Epistle must have been written about autumn, A.D. 57.

Macedonia was THE PLACE from which it was written

(2Co 9:2,

where the present tense, "I boast," or "am boasting," implies his

presence then in Macedonia). In Asia (Lydian Asia) he had

undergone some great peril of his life

(2Co 1:8, 9),

whether the reference be [PALEY] to the tumult at

Ephesus

(Ac 19:23-41),

or, as ALFORD thinks, to a dangerous illness in

which he despaired of life. Thence he passed by Troas to Philippi, the

first city which would meet him in entering Macedonia. The importance

of the Philippian Church would induce him to stay there some time; as

also his desire to collect contributions from the Macedonian churches

for the poor saints at Jerusalem. His anxiety of mind is recorded

(2Co 7:5)

as occurring when he came into Macedonia, and therefore must

have been at Philippi, which was the first city of Macedonia in

coming from Troas; and here, too, from

2Co 7:6,

compared with

2Co 7:5,

must have been the scene of his receiving the comforting tidings from

Titus. "Macedonia" is used for Philippi in

2Co 11:9,

as is proved by comparison with

Php 4:15, 16.

So it is probably used here

(2Co 7:5).

ALFORD argues from

2Co 8:1,

where he speaks of the "grace bestowed on the churches (plural)

of Macedonia," that Paul must have visited other churches in

Macedonia, besides Philippi, when he wrote, for example, Thessalonica,

Berea, &c., and that Philippi, the first on his route, is less

likely to have been the scene of his writing than the last on

his route, whichever it was, perhaps Thessalonica. But Philippi, as

being the chief town of the province, was probably the place to which

all the collections of the churches were sent. Ancient tradition, too

(as appears from the subscription to this Epistle), favors the view

that Philippi was the place from which this Epistle was sent by the

hands of Titus who received, besides, a charge to prosecute at Corinth

the collection which he had begun at his first visit

(2Co 8:6).

The STYLE is most varied, and passes rapidly from one phase of

feeling to another; now joyous and consolatory, again severe and full

of reproof; at one time gentle and affectionate, at another, sternly

rebuking opponents and upholding his dignity as an apostle. This

variety of style accords with the warm and earnest character of the

apostle, which nowhere is manifested more beautifully than in this

Epistle. His bodily frailty, and the chronic malady under which he

suffered, and which is often alluded to

(2Co 4:7; 5:1-4; 12:7-9;

compare Note, see on

2Co 1:8),

must have been especially trying to one of his ardent temperament. But

besides this, was the more pressing anxiety of the "care of all the

churches." At Corinth, as elsewhere, Judaizing emissaries wished to

bind legal fetters of letter and form (compare

2Co 3:3-18)

on the freedom and catholicity of the Church. On the other hand, there

were free thinkers who defended their immorality of practice by infidel

theories

(1Co 15:12, 32-36).

These were the "fightings without," and "fears within"

(2Co 7:5, 6)

which agitated the apostle's mind until Titus brought him comforting

tidings from Corinth. Even then, while the majority at Corinth had

testified their repentance, and, as Paul had desired, excommunicated

the incestuous person, and contributed for the poor Christians of

Judea, there was still a minority who, more contemptuously than ever,

resisted the apostle. These accused him of crafty and mercenary

motives, as if he had personal gain in view in the collection being

made; and this, notwithstanding his scrupulous care to be above the

possibility of reasonable suspicion, by having others besides himself

to take charge of the money. This insinuation was palpably inconsistent

with their other charge, that he could be no true apostle, as he did

not claim maintenance from the churches which he founded. Another

accusation they brought of cowardly weakness; that he was always

threatening severe measures without daring to execute them

(2Co 10:8-16; 13:2);

and that he was vacillating in his teaching and practice, circumcising

Timothy, and yet withholding circumcision from Titus; a Jew among the

Jews, and a Greek among the Greeks. That most of these opponents were

of the Judaizing party in the Church, appears from

2Co 11:22.

They seem to have been headed by an emissary from Judea ("he that

cometh,"

2Co 11:4),

who had brought "letters of commendation"

(2Co 3:1)

from members of the Church at Jerusalem, and who boasted of his purity

of Hebrew descent, and his close connection with Christ Himself

(2Co 11:13, 23).

His partisans contrasted his high pretensions with the timid humility

of Paul

(1Co 2:3);

and his rhetoric with the apostle's plain and unadorned style

(2Co 11:6; 10:10, 13).

It was this state of things at Corinth, reported by Titus, that caused

Paul to send him back forthwith thither with this Second Epistle, which

is addressed, not to Corinth only

(1Co 1:2),

but to all the churches also in Achaia

(2Co 1:1),

which had in some degree been affected by the same causes as affected

the Corinthian Church. The widely different tone in different parts of

the Epistle is due to the diversity which existed at Corinth between

the penitent majority and the refractory minority. The former he

addresses with the warmest affection; the latter with menace and

warning. Two deputies, chosen by the churches to take charge of the

contribution to be collected at Corinth, accompanied Titus

(2Co 8:18, 19, 22).