Commentari biblici

In this chapter the apostle goes on with his discourse, in opposition to the false apostles, who were very industrious to lessen his interest and reputation among the Corinthians, and had prevailed too much by their insinuations. I. He apologizes for going about to commend himself, and gives the reason for what he did, 2Co 11:1-4. II. He mentions, in his own necessary vindication, his equality with the other apostles, and with the false apostles in this particular of preaching the gospel to the Corinthians freely, without wages, 2Co 11:5-15. III. He makes another preface to what he was about further to say in his own justification, 2Co 11:16-21. And, IV. He gives a large account of his qualifications, labours, and sufferings, in which he exceeded the false apostles, 2Co 11:22-33.

This chapter 2 Corinthians 11 is connected in its general design with the preceding. The object of Paul is to vindicate himself from the charges which had been brought against him, and especially to vindicate his claims to the apostolic office. It is ironical in its character, and is of course severe upon the false teachers who had accused him in Corinth. The main purpose is to state his claims to the office of an apostle, and especially to show that when he mentioned those claims, or even boasted of his labors, he had ground for doing so. It would seem that they had charged him with "folly" in boasting as he had done. Probably the false teachers were loud in proclaiming their own praise, but represented Paul as guilty of folly in praising himself. He therefore 2 Corinthians 11:1 asks them if they could bear with him a little further in his folly, and entreats them to do it. This verse contains the scope of the chapter; and the remainder of the chapter is an enumeration of the causes which he had for his boasting, though probably each reason is adapted to some form of accusation brought against him.

Having entreated them to bear with him a little further, he states the reasons why he was disposed to go into this subject at all; 2 Corinthians 11:2-4. It was not because he was disposed to sound his own praise, but it was from love to them. He had espoused them as a chaste virgin to Christ. He was afraid that their affections would be alienated from the Redeemer. He reminded them of the manner in which Eve was tempted; and he reminded them that by the same smooth and plausible arts their affections might also be stolen away, and that they might be led into sin. He reminds them that there was danger of their receiving another gospel, and expresses the apprehension that they had done it, and that they had embraced a deceiver; 2 Corinthians 11:4.

Having made this general statement of his design, Paul now goes more into detail in answering the objections against him, and in showing the reasons which he had for boasting as he had done. The statement in answer to their objections relates to the following points:

(1) He had supposed that he was not behind the chiefest of the apostles. He had supposed that he had claims to the apostolic office of as high an order as any of them. Called to the work as he had been, and laboring as he had done, he had regarded himself as having an indisputable claim to the office of an apostle. True, they had charged him with being rude in speech, a charge which he was not disposed to deny, but in a far more important point than that he had showed that he was not disqualified for the apostolic office. In knowledge, the main qualification, he had not been deficient, as probably even his opponents were disposed to admit 2 Corinthians 11:5-6.

(2) he had not deprived himself of the claims to the office and honors of an apostle by declining to receive from them a compensation, and by preaching the gospel without charge; 2 Corinthians 11:7-9. Probably they had alleged that this was a proof that he knew that he had no claim to the honors of an apostle. He, therefore, states exactly how this was. He had" received" a support, but he had robbed other churches to do it. And even when he was with them, he had received supplies from a distant church in order that he might not be burdensome to them. The charge was therefore groundless, that he knew that he had no right to the support due to an apostle.

(3) he declares it to be his fixed purpose that no one should prevent his boasting in that manner. And this he did because he loved them, and because he would save them from the snares of those who would destroy them. He therefore stated the true character of those who attempted to deceive them. They were the ministers of Satan, appearing as the ministers of righteousness, as Satan himself was transformed into an angel of light; 2 Corinthians 11:10.

(4) Paul claims the privilege of boasting as a fool a little further; 2 Corinthians 11:16. And he claims that as others boasted, and as they were allowed to do so by the Corinthians, he had also a right to do the same thing. They suffered them to boast; they allowed them to do it even if they devoured them, and smote them, and took their property. It was but fair, therefore, that he should be allowed to boast a little of what he was and of what he had done; 2 Corinthians 11:17-20.

(5) he goes, therefore, into an extended and most tender description of what he had suffered, and of his claims to their favorable regard. He had all the personal advantages arising from birth which they could pretend to. He was a Hebrew, of the seed of Abraham, and a minister of Christ; 2 Corinthians 11:21-23. He had endured far more labors and dangers than they had done; and in order to set this before them he enumerates the trials through which he had passed, and states the labors which constantly came upon him; 2 Corinthians 11:23-30. Of these things, of his sufferings, and trials, and infirmities, he felt that he had a right to speak, and these constituted a far higher claim to the confidence of the Christian church than the endowments of which his adversaries boasted.

(6) as another instance of peril and suffering, he refers to the fact that his life was endangered when he was in Damascus, and that he barely escaped by being lowered down from the wall of the city, 2 Corinthians 11:31-33. The conclusion which Paul doubtless intends should be derived from all this is, that he had far higher grounds of claim to the office of an apostle than his adversaries would admit, or than they could furnish themselves. He admitted that he was weak and subject to infirmities; he did not lay claim to the graces of a polished elocution, as they did; but if a life of self-denial and toil, of an honest devotion to the cause of truth at imminent and frequent hazard of life, constituted an evidence that he was an apostle, he had that evidence. They appealed to their birth, their rank, their endowments as public speakers. In the quiet and comfort of a congregation and church established to their hands; in reaping the avails of the labors of others; and in the midst of enjoyments, they coolly laid claims to the honors of the ministerial office, and denied his claims. In trial, and peril, and labor, and poverty; in scourges, and imprisonments, and shipwrecks; in hunger and thirst; in unwearied traveling from place to place: and in the care of all the congregations, were his claims to their respect and confidence, and he was willing that anyone that chose should make the comparison between them. Such was his "foolish" boasting; such his claims to their confidence and regard.

The apostle apologizes for expressing his jealousy relative to the true state of the Corinthians; still fearing lest their minds should have been drawn aside from the simplicity of the Gospel, 2 Corinthians 11:1-3; From this he takes occasion to extol his own ministry, which had been without charge to them, having been supported by the Churches of Macedonia while he preached the Gospel at Corinth, 2 Corinthians 11:4-11. Gives the character of the false apostles, 2 Corinthians 11:12-16. Shows what reasons he has to boast of secular advantages of birth, education, Divine call to the ministry, labors in that ministry, grievous persecutions, great sufferings, and extraordinary hazards, vv. 16-33.

INTRODUCTION TO 2 Corinthians 11

In this chapter, the apostle continues his discourse concerning the false teachers; blames the Corinthians for their connivance at them, and subjection to them; gives a true and ample description of them; compares himself with them, and by various instances shows, that he was greatly superior to them: and whereas self commendation was necessary, and could not be avoided in this argument, and this might look like folly, and by some be deemed such, he entreats the Corinthians that they would bear with him in it, as well as in his reproofs and admonitions to them, 2 Corinthians 11:1 and assigns his godly jealousy over them, as the reason why he entered into this subject, and proceeded in such a way of reasoning on it; and the rather this might be bore with in him, since he had such a concern in espousing them to Christ; his end in which was, to present them a chaste virgin to him, 2 Corinthians 11:2 and what this jealousy was he explains, lest their minds should be corrupted by the false teachers, and they should forsake the pure and simple Gospel of Christ; which he exemplifies in the instance of Eve being deceived by the serpent, 2 Corinthians 11:3 and proceeds to blame them for preferring these false teachers to the faithful ministers of the word; seeing, put them in the best light they could, it was but the same Jesus they preached, and not another and a better Saviour; and it was but the same spirit of faith they received through their ministry, and not another and a better; and the same Gospel they brought, and did not come with better news, or more joyful tidings; had this been the case, there would have been some reason for extolling one above another, 2 Corinthians 11:4 for which there was not the least foundation, especially with respect to the Apostle Paul, who was not inferior to the chief of the true apostles of Christ, and therefore could not be at all behind these men, 2 Corinthians 11:5 and seeing it might be objected to him that he was rude in speech, when these were men of great eloquence, he allows it; but then affirms he was not so in knowledge, in which he exceeded them; for the truth of which, lie appeals to the Corinthians themselves, 2 Corinthians 11:6 and he suggests, that it was very ungrateful in them, that inasmuch as he humbled himself when among them, by working with his own hands, that they might be exalted, that they should despise him on that account, and prefer these avaricious men before him, 2 Corinthians 11:7 when that he might be able to preach the Gospel freely, he took of other churches, 2 Corinthians 11:8 and particularly was supplied by the Macedonian brethren, and so was not at all chargeable and burdensome to them, and he was determined ever to remain so, 2 Corinthians 11:9 and which he confirms by an oath, that no man should ever be able to prevail upon him to take anything of the churches in the region of Achaia, in which Corinth was, 2 Corinthians 11:10 and whereas it might be insinuated that such a resolution showed that he had no true affection for them, this he denies, and appeals to the omniscient God for the truth of his love to them, 2 Corinthians 11:11 but the true reason why he had so determined, was to prevent the false teachers having any opportunity to reproach him, and exalt themselves, 2 Corinthians 11:12 and this leads him on to a description of them, by their ambition and arrogance, in assuming a title that did not belong to them; by their crafty, cunning, and deceitful manner of working, and by their hypocrisy in mimicking the apostles of Christ, 2 Corinthians 11:13 nor need this seem strange to any, when Satan himself has been transformed into an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:14 and whom, the apostle suggests, these men imitated; whose ministers they were, though they looked like ministers of righteousness, and on whom the apostle denounces severe punishment, 2 Corinthians 11:15 and as he saw himself under a necessity of boasting, in order to stop the mouths of these men, to vindicate himself, and prevent mischief being done by them, he renews his entreaty in 2 Corinthians 11:1 that the Corinthians would not reckon him as a fool; or if they did, that they would bear with his folly, and suffer him to boast of himself a little, 2 Corinthians 11:16 and that the Christian religion, and the Gospel of Christ, might not come under any reproach and blame, for his conduct in this particular, he observes, that what he was about to say on this head of boasting, was not by any order or direction from the Lord, but of himself, and might have the appearance of folly in it, 2 Corinthians 11:17 and the rather he might be indulged in it, seeing many, even the false teachers, had gloried in a carnal way, and of outward things, and which made it necessary that he should glory also, 2 Corinthians 11:18 and which foolish boasting in them, even many of the Corinthians had bore with, and that with a great deal of pleasure; and therefore might suffer him, a single man, to boast a little of himself unto them, whom he ironically calls wise, 2 Corinthians 11:19 of which he gives instances, by being brought into bondage, devoured, pillaged, insulted, and abused, by the false teachers, 2 Corinthians 11:20 nor had they abused and reproached them only, but the apostle also, as weak and contemptible; but then he would not bear it, but would boldly engage and enter the lists with them, though this might be by some reckoned foolish boasting, 2 Corinthians 11:21 and then follows the comparison between him and them, by which it appears that he was upon an equal foot with them, on account of nation, descent, and parentage, 2 Corinthians 11:22 that he was superior to them as a minister of the Gospel, as was manifest by his more abundant labours in it, and by his sufferings for it, the dangers he was exposed unto on account of it, and the many hardships he endured in the ministration of it, of which he gives a variety of particulars, 2 Corinthians 11:23 to which he adds, besides these things, and all other outward ones, that the daily care of all the churches of Christ was upon him, 2 Corinthians 11:28 and such was his sympathy with all sorts of Christians, even the weak and offended brethren, that he was affected with them, bore their infirmities, and sought to reconcile and make them easy, which greatly increased the weight of business that was upon him, 2 Corinthians 11:29 and seeing there was a necessity of glorying, he chose to glory in his infirmities and sufferings, and on which he had mostly enlarged, 2 Corinthians 11:30 and for the glory of divine Providence, and to express his thankfulness for the mercy, he relates a particular instance of deliverance from imminent danger; for the truth of which he appeals to the God and Father of Christ, the eternally blessed One, 2 Corinthians 11:31 the danger he escaped, the manner and means of the escape, and the place where, are particularly mentioned, 2 Corinthians 11:32.

CHAPTER 11

2 Corinthians 11:1. ἀνείχεσθε] Elz.: ἠνείχεσθε, following min. Chrys. Theophyl. But the former is decisively attested by B D E G L M (א has ἀνάσχεσθε) and many min., also Chrys. ms. Damasc. Theoph. ms. K and several min., as also Theodoret, have ἀνέχεσθε, which appears to be a corruption of the original ἀνείχεσθε, easily arising from the ἀνέχεσθε that soon follow.

τῇ ἀφροσύνῃ] So Mill, Beng. Matth. Griesb. Scholz, Reiche, following K L and many min. Copt. Chrys. Theodoret, Damasc. Oec. Theophylact, ms. But there is far more support for the reading of Lachm. Rück. and Tisch.: τι ἀφροσύνης, following B D E א, min. (Elz. has τι τῆς ἀφρ., following F G, min. vss. Fathers). This τι ἀφροσύνης is to be held as the original, not, however, as if Griesbach’s reading had arisen only from a copyist’s error of itacism (τῇ for τι, as Rinck holds, Lucubr. crit. p. 167, and Rück.), but on account of the relatively preponderant attestation, and because the following ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνέχεσθέ μου most naturally suggested to the copyists to regard μου as the object of ἀνείχεσθε, to which then the genitive ἀφροσύνης was no longer suitable. Τῇ ἀφροσύνῃ had to be made out of it (in regard to folly), and thereupon the superfluous τι easily disappeared through the following τῇ. The reading μικρὸν τῆς ἀφροσύνης μου (F G, It. Vulg.) is explained partly from imperfect critical restoration (of the genitive), partly as an indication of the right construction.—2 Corinthians 11:3. οὕτω] is wanting in B D* F G א, It. Copt. Goth. Arm. Clem. Epiph. Lucif. Gaud.; deleted by Lachm. and Rück. An addition.

After ἁπλότητος B F G א, min. Syr. p. (with asterisk), Aeth. Copt. Goth. Boern. Pol. Aug. Beda have καὶ τῆς ἁγνότητος (so Lachm.); D E, Clar. Germ. Epiph. (once) change the order of the two parts; Epiph. (once) has ἁγνείας instead of ἁγνότητος. After 2 Corinthians 11:2 (ἁγνήν) ἁγνότητος was written alongside as a gloss on ἁπλότητος, and was already at an early date incorporated in the text, partly behind, partly before ἁπλότ.—2 Corinthians 11:4. ἀνείχεσθε] The form ἠνείχεσθε (Elz.) is condemned here also by decisive evidence. Comp. 2 Corinthians 11:1. Lachm. reads ἀνέχεσθε, but only supported by B, where it has arisen from the apparent grammatical necessity of the present. Fritzsche also, on account of this necessity, declares for the present; but see the exegetical remarks.—2 Corinthians 11:6. φανερωθέντες] Lachm. Tisch. and Rück. read φανερώσαντες, supported by B F G א* 17. φανερωθέντες was explained by the gloss φανερώσαντες ἑαυτούς, as is actually the reading in M, 108** Arm., and thus the active participle came into the text, where it was the more easily retained, as it could be referred without difficulty to τὴν γνῶσιν.—2 Corinthians 11:14. θαυμαστόν] B D* F G א, 17, 39, 67** 74, Or. have θαῦμα. So Lachm. Tisch. and Rück. The former is a gloss.—2 Corinthians 11:16. The order κἀγὼ μικρ. τι καυχ. (Elz. has μικρ. τ. κἀγὼ καυχ.) has decisive attestation.—2 Corinthians 11:21. ἠσθενήσαμεν] Lachm. has the perfect, but follows only B א, 80.—2 Corinthians 11:27. ἐν before κόπῳ is on decisive evidence, with Lachm. Tisch. and Rück., to be deleted as an addition.—2 Corinthians 11:28. ἐπισύστασίς μου] B F G א*: ἐπίστασίς μοι; so Lachm. Rück. Ἐπίστασις is supported also by D E א** 39, al., which have the reading ἐπίστασίς μου. Comp. also instantia mea in Vulg. Boern. Ambrosiast. Pel. The word ἐπισύστασις has crept in from Acts 24:12, because ἐπίστασις was not understood, and μου is a hasty correction.—2 Corinthians 11:32. θέλων] is wanting in important witnesses, deleted by Lachm. Rück. and Tisch. An exegetical addition.

CONTENTS.

The apostle’s self-glorying against his opponents. (1) Introduction, 2 Corinthians 11:1-4. (2) Theme of the self-praise, 2 Corinthians 11:5 f. (3) Vindication of the special boast that he had preached to his readers gratuitously (2 Corinthians 11:7-9), a practice which he will continue to observe on account of his opponents (2 Corinthians 11:10-15). Then, (4) after a repeated entreaty for patience towards the folly of his self-glorying, which entreaty he accompanies with bitter remarks. (2 Corinthians 11:16-20), he compares himself with his enemies (a) in general, 2 Corinthians 11:21; (b) specially as a Jew, 2 Corinthians 11:22; (c) as a servant of Christ, 2 Corinthians 11:23 ff., in which latter relation he vindicates his sufferings, toils, and dangers, as things of which he will glory (2 Corinthians 11:23-30). Lastly, (5) after a solemn assurance that he does not lie, he begins an account of his experiences of suffering (2 Corinthians 11:31-33), which, however, is not continued.

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.

Would to God - Greek, "I would" (Ὄφελον Ophelon). This expresses earnest desire, but in the Greek there is no appeal to God. The sense would be well expressed by "O that," or "I earnestly wish."

Ye could bear with me - That you would bear patiently with me; that you would hear me patiently, and suffer me to speak of myself.

In my folly - Folly in boasting. The idea seems to be, "I know that boasting is generally foolish, and that it is not to be indulged in. But though it is to be generally regarded as folly, yet circumstances compel me to it, and I ask your indulgence in it." It is possible also that his opponents accused him of folly in boasting so much of himself.

And indeed bear with me - Margin, "Ye do bear." But the text has probably the correct rendering. It is the expression of an earnest wish that they would tolerate him a little in this. He entreats them to bear with him because he was constrained to it.