2 Corinthians 11

2Co 11:1-33.

THROUGH

JEALOUSY OVER THE

CORINTHIANS,

WHO

MADE

MORE

ACCOUNT OF THE

FALSE

APOSTLES

THAN OF

HIM,

HE

IS

OBLIGED TO

COMMEND

HIMSELF AS IN

MANY

RESPECTS

SUPERIOR.

1. Would to God--Translate as Greek, "I would that."

bear with me--I may ask not unreasonably to be borne with; not so the

false apostles

(2Co 11:4, 20).

my--not in the oldest manuscripts.

folly--The Greek is a milder term than that for "foolishness" in

1Co 3:19;

Mt 5:22; 25:2.

The Greek for "folly" here implies imprudence; the

Greek for "foolishness" includes the idea of perversity

and wickedness.

and indeed bear--A request (so

2Co 11:16).

But the Greek and the sense favor the translation, "But indeed

(I need not wish it, for) ye do bear with me"; still I wish you

to bear with me further, while I enter at large into

self-commendations.

2. For I am jealous--The justification of his self-commendations lies

in his zealous care lest they should fall from Christ, to whom he, as

"the friend of the Bridegroom"

(Joh 3:29),

has espoused them; in order to lead them back from the false apostles

to Christ, he is obliged to boast as an apostle of Christ, in a way

which, but for the motive, would be "folly."

godly jealousy--literally, "jealousy of God" (compare

2Co 1:12,

"godly sincerity," literally, "sincerity of God"). "If I am immoderate,

I am immoderate to God" [BENGEL]. A jealousy which

has God's honor at heart

(1Ki 19:10).

I . . . espoused you--Paul uses a Greek term applied properly to

the bridegroom, just as he ascribes to himself "jealousy," a feeling

properly belonging to the husband; so entirely does he identify himself

with Christ.

present you as a chaste virgin to Christ--at His coming, when the

heavenly marriage shall take place

(Mt 25:6;

Re 19:7, 9).

What Paul here says he desires to do, namely, "present" the Church as

"a chaste virgin" to Christ, Christ Himself is said to do in the

fuller sense. Whatever ministers do effectively, is really done by

Christ

(Eph 5:27-32).

The espousals are going on now. He does not say "chaste

virgins"; for not individual members, but the whole body of believers

conjointly constitute the Bride.

3. I fear--

(2Co 12:20);

not inconsistent with love. His source of fear was their yielding

character.

subtilty--the utter foe of the "simplicity" which is intent on

ONE

object, Jesus, and seeks none "other," and no "other" and different

Spirit

(2Co 11:4);

but loves him with tender SINGLENESS OF AFFECTION.

Where Eve first gave way, was in mentally harboring for a moment the

possibility insinuated by the serpent, of GOD not

having her truest interests at heart, and of this "other" professing

friend being more concerned for her than God.

corrupted--so as to lose their virgin purity through seducers

(2Co 11:4).

The same Greek stands for "minds" as for "thoughts"

(2Co 10:5,

also see on

2Co 10:5);

intents of the will, or mind. The oldest manuscripts

after "simplicity," add, "and the purity" or "chastity."

in Christ--rather, "that is towards Christ."

4. if, &c.--which in fact is impossible. However, if it

were possible, ye might then bear with them (see on

2Co 11:1).

But there can be no new Gospel; there is but the one

which I first preached; therefore it ought not to be "borne" by you,

that the false teachers should attempt to supersede me.

he that cometh--the high-sounding title assumed by the false teachers,

who arrogated Christ's own peculiar title (Greek,

Mt 11:3,

and Heb 10:37),

"He that is coming." Perhaps he was leader of the party which assumed

peculiarly to be "Christ's"

(2Co 10:7;

1Co 1:12);

hence his assumption of the title.

preacheth . . . receive--is preaching . . . ye are receiving.

Jesus--the "Jesus" of Gospel history. He therefore does not say

"Christ," which refers to the office.

another . . . another--Greek, "another Jesus . . . a different Spirit . . . a different Gospel." Another implies a distinct

individual of the same kind; different implies one quite distinct in

kind.

which ye have not received--from us.

spirit . . . received . . . gospel

. . . accepted--The will of man is passive in RECEIVING the "Spirit"; but it is actively concurrent

with the will of God (which goes before to give the good will) in ACCEPTING the "Gospel."

ye might well bear with him--There would be an excuse for your

conduct, though a bad one (for ye ought to give heed to no Gospel other

than what ye have already heard from me,

Ga 1:6, 7);

but the false teachers do not even pretend they have "another Jesus"

and a "different Gospel" to bring before you; they merely try to

supplant me, your accredited Teacher. Yet ye not only "bear with" them,

but prefer them.

5. For--My claim is superior to that of the false teachers, "For," &c.

I suppose--I reckon [ALFORD].

I was not--Greek, "That I have not been, and am not."

the very chiefest apostles--James, Peter, and John, the

witnesses of Christ's transfiguration and agony in Gethsemane. Rather,

"those overmuch apostles," those surpassers of the apostles in

their own esteem. This sense is proved by the fact that the context

contains no comparison between him and the apostles, but only between

him and the false teachers;

2Co 11:6

also alludes to these, and not to the apostles; compare also the

parallel phrase, "false apostles" (see on

2Co 11:13

and

2Co 12:11)

[ALFORD].

6. rude--Greek, "a common man"; a "laic"; not

rhetorically trained; unskilled in finish of diction.

1Co 2:1-4, 13;

2Co 10:10, 11,

shows his words were not without weight, though his

"speech" was deficient in oratorical artifice. "Yet I am not so in my

knowledge"

(2Co 12:1-5;

Eph 3:1-5).

have been . . . made manifest--Read with the oldest

manuscripts, "We have made things (Gospel truths) manifest," thus

showing our "knowledge." English Version would mean, I leave it

to yourselves to decide whether I be rude in speech . . . :

for we have been thoroughly (literally, "in everything") made manifest

among you (literally, "in respect to you"; "in relation to you"). He

had not by reserve kept back his "knowledge" in divine mysteries from

them

(2Co 2:17; 4:2;

Ac 20:20, 27).

in all things--The Greek rather favors the translation,

"among all men"; the sense then is, we have manifested the whole truth

among all men with a view to your benefit [ALFORD]. But the Greek in

Php 4:12,

"In each thing and in all things," sanctions English Version,

which gives a clearer sense.

7. Have I--literally, "OR have I?" Connected with

2Co 11:6,

"Or will any of you make it an objection that I have preached to you

gratuitously?" He leaves their good feeling to give the answer, that

this, so far from being an objection, was a decided superiority in him

above the false apostles

(1Co 9:6-15).

abasing myself--in my mode of living, waiving my right of maintenance,

and earning it by manual labor; perhaps with slaves as his fellow

laborers

(Ac 18:3;

Php 4:12).

ye . . . exalted--spiritually, by your admission to Gospel privileges.

because--"in that."

gospel of God--"of God" implies its divine glory to which they were

admitted.

freely--"without charge."

8. I robbed--that is, took from them in order to spare you more

than what was their fair share of contribution to my maintenance, for

example, the Philippian Church

(Php 4:15, 16).

wages--"subsidy."

to do you service--Greek, "with a view to ministration to you";

compare "supplied" (Greek, "in addition"),

2Co 11:9,

implying, he brought with him from the Macedonians, supplies

towards his maintenance at Corinth; and

(2Co 11:9)

when those resources failed ("when I wanted") he received a

new supply, while there, from the same source.

9. wanted--"was in want."

chargeable--Greek, "burdensome," literally, "to torpify,"

and so to oppress. JEROME says it is a

Cilician word

(2Co 12:14, 16).

the brethren which came--rather, as Greek, "the brethren

when they came." Perhaps Timotheus and Silas

(Ac 8:1, 5).

Compare

Php 4:15, 16,

which refers to donations received from the Philippians (who were in

Macedonia) at two distinct periods ("once and again"), one at

Thessalonica, the other after his departure from Macedonia, that is,

when he came into Achaia to Corinth (from the church in which city he

would receive no help); and this "in the beginning of the Gospel," that

is, at its first preaching in these parts. Thus all three, the two

Epistles and history, mutually, and no doubt undesignedly, coincide; a

sure test of genuineness.

supplied--Greek, "supplied in addition," namely, in addition to

their former contributions; or as BENGEL, in addition to the supply

obtained by my own manual labor.

10. Greek, "There is (the) truth of Christ in me that," &c.

(Ro 9:1).

no man shall stop me of--The oldest manuscripts read, "This boasting

shall not be shut (that is, stopped) as regards me." "Boasting

is as it were personified . . . shall not have its mouth stopped as

regards me" [ALFORD].

11. Love is often offended at its favors being not accepted, as

though the party to whom they are offered wished to be under no

obligation to the offerer.

12. I will do--I will continue to decline help.

occasion--Greek, "the occasion," namely, of

misrepresenting my motives, which would be afforded to my detractors,

if I accepted help.

that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we--BENGEL joins this clause with "the occasion," namely,

of glorying or boasting; the occasion "that they may be

found (a point wherein they glory) even as we," that is, quite as

disinterested, or virtually, quite as gain-seeking and self-seeking. It

cannot mean that the false teachers taught gratuitously even as Paul

(compare

2Co 11:20;

1Co 9:12).

ALFORD less clearly explains by reference to

2Co 11:18,

&c., where the "glorying" here is taken up and described as "glorying

after the flesh"; thus it means, that in the matters of which they

beast they may be found even as we, that is, we may been a fair and

equal footing; that there may be no adventitious comparisons

made between us, arising out of misrepresentations of my course

of procedure, but that in every matter of boasting we may be fairly

compared and judged by facts; FOR

(2Co 11:13)

realities they have none, no weapons but misrepresentation, being

false apostles.

13. For--reason why he is unwilling they should be thought like him

[BENGEL].

such--they and those like them.

false apostles--those "overmuch apostles" (see on

2Co 11:5)

are no apostles at all.

deceitful workers--pretending to be "workmen" for the Lord, and really

seeking their own gain.

14. is transformed--rather, "transforms himself" (compare

Job 1:6);

habitually; the first occasion of his doing so was in tempting Eve.

"Himself" is emphatical: If their master himself, who is the

"prince of darkness," the most alien to light, does so, it is less

marvellous in the case of them who are his servants

(Lu 22:54;

Eph 6:12).

15. no great thing--no difficult matter.

if his ministers also--as well as himself.

righteousness--answering to "light"

(2Co 11:14);

the manifestation wherewith God reveals Himself in Christ

(Mt 6:33;

Ro 1:17).

end--The test of things is the end which strips off every

specious form into which Satan's agents may now "transform"

themselves (compare

Php 3:19, 21).

according to their works--not according to their pretensions.

16. I say again--again taking up from

2Co 11:1

the anticipatory apology for his boasting.

if otherwise--but if ye will not grant this; if ye will think me a

fool.

yet as a fool--"yet even as a fool receive me"; grant me the

indulgent hearing conceded even to one suspected of folly. The

Greek denotes one who does not rightly use his mental powers;

not having the idea of blame necessarily attached to it; one deceived

(2Co 11:17, 19).

that I--The oldest manuscripts read, "that I, too," namely,

as well as they, may boast myself.

17. not after the Lord--By inspired guidance he excepts this

"glorying" or "boasting" from the inspired authoritativeness which

belongs to all else that he wrote; even this boasting, though

undesirable in itself, was permitted by the Spirit, taking into account

its aim, namely, to draw off the Corinthians from their false teachers

to the apostle. Therefore this passage gives no proof that any portion

of Scripture is uninspired. It merely guards against his boasting being

made a justification of boasting in general, which is not ordinarily

"after the Lord," that is, consistent with Christian humility.

foolishly--Greek, "in foolishness."

confidence of boasting--

(2Co 9:4).

18. many--including the "false teachers."

after the flesh--as fleshly men are wont to boast, namely, of

external advantages, as their birth, doings, &c. (compare

2Co 11:22).

I will glory also--that is, I also will boast of such fleshly

advantages, to show you that even in these I am not their inferiors, and

therefore ought not to be supplanted by them in your esteem; though

these are not what I desire to glory in

(2Co 10:17).

19. gladly--willingly. Irony. A plea why they should "bear with"

(2Co 11:1)

him in his folly, that is, boasting; ye are, in sooth, so "wise"

(1Co 4:8, 10;

Paul's real view of their wisdom was very different,

1Co 3:1-4)

yourselves that ye can "bear with" the folly of others more

complacently. Not only can ye do so, but ye are actually

doing this and more.

20. For--Ye may well "bear with" fools; for ye even "bear with"

oppressors. Translate, "Ye bear with them."

a man--as the false apostles do.

bring you into bondage--to himself. Translate "brings," not "bring";

for the case is not merely a supposed case, but a case actually then

occurring. Also "devours" (namely, by exactions,

Mt 23:24;

Ps 53:4),

"takes," "exalts," "smites."

take of you--So the Greek for "take" is used for

"take away from"

(Re 6:4).

ALFORD translates, as in

2Co 12:16,

"catches you."

exalt himself--under the pretext of apostolic dignity.

smite you on the face--under the pretext of divine zeal. The height

of insolence on their part, and of servile endurance on yours

(1Ki 22:24;

Ne 13:25;

Lu 22:64;

Ac 23:2;

1Ti 3:3).

21. as concerning reproach--rather, "by way of dishonor (that is,

self-disparagement) I say it."

as though we . . . weak--in not similarly

(2Co 11:20)

showing our power over you. "An ironical reminiscence of his own

abstinence when among them from all these acts of self-exaltation at

their expense" (as if such abstinence was weakness) [ALFORD]. The "we" is emphatically contrasted with the

false teachers who so oppressively displayed their power. I speak so as

though WE had been weak when with you, because we did not show our

power this way. Howbeit (we are not really weak; for), whereinsoever

any is bold . . . I am bold also.

22. Hebrews . . . Israelites . . . the seed of

Abraham--A climax. "Hebrews," referring to the language and

nationality; "Israelites," to the theocracy and

descent from Israel, the "prince who prevailed with God"

(Ro 9:4);

"the seed of Abraham," to the claim to a share in the Messiah

(Ro 11:1; 9:7).

Compare

Php 3:5,

"An Hebrew of the Hebrews," not an Hellenist or Greek-speaking Jew, but

a Hebrew in tongue, and sprung from Hebrews.

23. I speak as a fool--rather, as Greek, "I speak as if

beside myself"; stronger than "as a fool."

I am more--namely, in respect to the credentials and

manifestations of my ministry, more faithful and self-denying; and

richer in tokens of God's recognition of my ministry. Old authorities

read the order thus, "In prisons above measures, in stripes more

abundantly" (English Version, less accurately, "more frequent").

Ac 16:23-40

records one case of his imprisonment with stripes. CLEMENT OF ROME [First Epistle to

the Corinthians] describes him as having suffered bonds seven

times.

in death oft--

(2Co 4:10;

Ac 9:23; 13:50; 14:5, 6, 19; 17:5, 13).

24.

De 25:3

ordained that not more than forty stripes should be inflicted To avoid

exceeding this number, they gave one short of it: thirteen strokes with

a treble lash [BENGEL]. This is one of those

minute agreements with Jewish usage, which a forger would have not been

likely to observe.

25. The beating by Roman magistrates at Philippi

(Ac 16:23)

is the only one recorded in Acts, which does not profess to give a

complete journal of his life, but only a sketch of it in connection

with the design of the book, namely, to give an outline of the history

of the Gospel Church from its foundation at Jerusalem, to the period of

its reaching Rome, the capital of the Gentile world.

once was I stoned--

(Ac 14:19).

thrice . . . shipwreck--before the shipwreck at Melita

(Ac 27:44).

Probably in some of his voyages from Tarsus, where he stayed for some

time after his conversion, and from which, as being a seafaring place,

he was likely to make missionary voyages to adjoining places

(Ac 9:30; 11:25;

Ga 1:21).

a night and a day . . . in the deep--probably in part swimming or in

an open boat.

26. In--rather, "By": connected with

2Co 11:23,

but now not with "in," as there, and as in

2Co 11:27,

where again he passes to the idea of surrounding circumstances or

environments

[ALFORD,

ELLICOTT and others].

waters--rather, as Greek, "rivers," namely, perils by the flooding

of rivers, as on the road often traversed by Paul between Jerusalem and

Antioch, crossed as it is by the torrents rushing down from Lebanon. So

the traveller Sport lost his life.

robbers--perhaps in his journey from Perga to Antioch in Pisidia.

Pisidia was notorious for robbers; as indeed were all the mountains that

divided the high land of Asia from the sea.

the heathen--Gentiles.

in the city--Damascus,

Ac 9:24, 25;

Jerusalem,

Ac 9:29;

Ephesus,

Ac 19:23.

false brethren--

(Ga 2:4).

27. fastings--voluntary, in order to kindle devotions

(Ac 13:2, 3; 14:23;

1Co 9:27);

for they are distinguished from "hunger and thirst," which were

involuntary [GROTIUS]. However, see on

2Co 6:5.

The context refers solely to hardships, not to self-imposed

devotional mortification. "Hunger and thirst" are not synonymous with

"foodlessness" (as the Greek of "fasting" means), but are its

consequences.

cold . . . nakedness--"cold" resulting from "nakedness," or

insufficient clothing, as the Greek often means: as "hunger and

thirst" result from "foodlessness." (Compare

Ac 28:2;

Ro 8:35).

"When we remember that he who endured all this was a man constantly

suffering from infirm health

(2Co 4:7-12; 12:7-10;

Ga 4:13, 14),

such heroic self-devotion seems almost superhuman" [CONYBEARE and HOWSON].

28. without--"Beside" trials falling on me externally, just

recounted, there is "that which cometh upon me (literally,

the impetuous concourse to me of business; properly, a crowd rising up against one again and again, and ready to bear him down),

the care of all the churches" (including those not yet seen in the

flesh,

Col 2:1):

an internal and more weighty anxiety. But the oldest manuscripts

for "that which cometh," read, "the pressure": "the pressing

care-taking" or "inspection that is upon me daily." ALFORD translates, "Omitting what is BESIDES"; namely, those other trials besides

those recounted. But the Vulgate, ESTIUS,

and BENGEL, support English Version.

the care--The Greek implies, "my anxious solicitude for all the

churches."

29. I . . . weak--in condescending sympathy with the weak

(1Co 9:22).

"Care generates sympathy, which causes the minister of Christ

personally to enter into the feelings of all his people, as if he stood

in their position, so as to accommodate himself to all" [CALVIN].

offended--by some stumbling-block put in his way by others: the "weak"

is most liable to be "offended."

I burn not--The "I" in the Greek is emphatic, which it is not in

the former clause, "I am not weak." I not only enter into the feeling of

the party offended, but I burn with indignation at the offender,

I myself taking up his cause as my own. "Who meets with a

stumbling-block and I am not disturbed even more than himself"

[NEANDER].

30. glory of . . . infirmities--A striking contrast!

Glorying or boasting of what others make matter of shame,

namely, infirmities; for instance, his humbling mode of escape

in a basket

(2Co 11:33).

A character utterly incompatible with that of an enthusiast (compare

2Co 12:5, 9, 10).

31. This solemn asseveration refers to what follows. The

persecution at Damascus was one of the first and greatest, and having

no human witness of it to adduce to the Corinthians, as being a fact

that happened long before and was known to few, he appeals to God for

its truth. Luke

(Ac 9:25)

afterwards recorded it (compare

Ga 1:20),

[BENGEL]. It may ALSO refer

to the revelation in

2Co 12:1,

standing in beautiful contrast to his humiliating escape from

Damascus.

32. governor--Greek, "Ethnarch": a Jewish officer to whom

heathen rulers gave authority over Jews in large cities where they were

numerous. He was in this case under Aretas, king of Arabia. Damascus

was in a Roman province. But at this time, A.D. 38

or 39, three years after Paul's conversion, A.D.

36, Aretas, against whom the Emperor Tiberius as the ally of Herod

Agrippa had sent an army under Vitellius, had got possession of

Damascus on the death of the emperor, and the consequent interruption

of Vitellius' operations. His possession of it was put an end to

immediately after by the Romans [NEANDER]. Rather,

it was granted by Caligula (A.D. 38) to Aretas,

whose predecessors had possessed it. This is proved by our having no

Damascus coins of Caligula or Claudius, though we do have of their

immediate imperial predecessors and successors [ALFORD].