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Ch. 2 Corinthians 1:1-2. Salutation

1. by the will of God] See note on 1 Corinthians 1.

and Timothy our brother] Literally, Timothy the brother. Wiclif, Tyndale, and Cranmer render ‘brother Timotheus.’ He is called sometimes Timothy and sometimes more fully Timotheus in the A. V. So we have Luke and Lucas, Mark and Marcus. He had therefore rejoined the Apostle after his mission to Macedonia, and possibly to Corinth. See Acts 19:22 and 1 Corinthians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 16:10, and notes. Timothy’s name is also found associated with that of the Apostle in the Epistles to the Philippians, Colossians, in both those to the Thessalonians, and in that to Philemon.

with all the saints which are in all Achaia] Chrysostom remarks that it is not St Paul’s custom to address the Churches thus in circular letters, and that the two Epistles to the Corinthians, that to the Galatians (which however was addressed, see chap. 2 Corinthians 1:2, to a region, not to a city), and that to the Hebrews (if it be St Paul’s) were the only exceptions. But this statement is not exactly accurate. If the Epistle to the Ephesians be identical with the Epistle to Laodicæa (and there are many reasons for supposing it to be so—see Colossians 4:16) the Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians must be added to the list. It is probable that Corinth was the only Christian Church of any note in Achaia, and that the few scattered Christians to be found elsewhere in that province were regarded as a part of that community. See notes on 1 Corinthians 1:2.

Achaia] We are to understand by this Hellas and the Peloponnesus, which, with Macedonia, made up the whole of Greece. Macedonia, however, was scarcely recognized by the Greeks in their best days as forming a part of their land. See Articles Achaia and Hellas in Smith’s Dictionary of Geography,

2. Grace] See note on 1 Corinthians 1:3, and below, 2 Corinthians 1:12.

be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ] Here, as in 1 Corinthians 1:3 (see note there), Jesus Christ is associated with the Father as the source of grace and peace.

3–14. The mutual interdependence of St Paul and the Corinthian Church

3. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ] Two feelings rise at once in the Apostle’s mind. The first is an overwhelming gratitude for his deliverance from his distress, the second the keen sense of his entire unity of heart and soul with the Corinthian Church, and his desire to impart to them whatever blessing he had received from God. Our version follows Wiclif here, substituting, however, even for and. The other English versions have God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, save the Rhemish, which renders accurately by the God and Father, &c. See John 20:17; 1 Peter 1:3 and note on 1 Corinthians 15:24the Father of mercies] Either (1), with Chrysostom, the God Whose most inherent attribute is mercy, or (2) the source from whence all mercies proceed. But perhaps the former involves the latter, a sense, however, of which the fact that ‘mercies’ is in the plural forbids us to lose sight. Cf. Ephesians 1:17; James 1:17. Even if we regard the phrase ‘Father of mercies’ as a Hebraism, it is stronger than the expression ‘merciful Father.’ So Estius, “valde multumque misericordem et beneficum.”

and the God of all comfort] Why does St Paul say ‘the Father of mercies and the God of comfort?’ Because the term ‘Father’ implies mercy, suggesting as it does the close and affectionate relation between God and man. See the O. T. passim, and especially Psalm 103:13. Compare also ‘Our Father which art in heaven.’ God is called ‘the God of comfort’ (see next note) because it comes from Him.

comfort] This word, or the verb compounded from it, occurs ten times in this and the next four verses. In our version, which here follows Tyndale, they are rendered indifferently by comfort and consolation, a rendering which considerably lessens the force of the passage. For consolation the Rhemish substitutes exhortation, and Wiclif monestynge (i.e. admonishing) and monestid, after the Vulgate, which renders indifferently by exhortatio and consolatio here. Perhaps the best words which can be found to express the double meaning of consolation and exhortation conveyed by the Greek are encourage and encouragement. Cheer would be more appropriate still had not the noun become almost obsolete. The original sense of the English word (late Latin confortare) denotes strengthening.

4. tribulation] Tribulatio, Vulgate. The word thus translated is rendered trouble in the next clause, and in the Vulgate by pressura, and is derived from a verb signifying to squeeze, press. The English word tribulation is derived from the Latin tribulo, to thresh. See Trench, Study of Words, Lect. 11.

that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble] St Paul represents affliction (1) as a school of sympathy, (2) as a school of comfort (or rather encouragement), 2 Corinthians 1:5, (3) as a school of assurance, 2 Corinthians 1:10.—Robertson.

by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God] We may observe here, as elsewhere in Scripture, that no gift is bestowed upon any one to keep to himself. If St Paul is encouraged by God, it is not only for his own sake, but that he may be able to impart to others the encouragement which he has received. See notes on First Epistle, especially on ch. 1 Corinthians 6:12, 1 Corinthians 8:13, 1 Corinthians 10:23, 1 Corinthians 14:5; 1 Corinthians 14:12. Cf. also John 15:1-17; Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 3:9; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Ephesians 4:16; Colossians 2:19.

5. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us] Rather super-abound unto us. All the principal English versions render in us, and thus many commentators have been misled. The word translated abound means to exceed, be over and above (Matthew 5:20; Matthew 14:20). Thus the meaning of the passage is that the sufferings of Christ overflow to us and that thus we are made partakers of them. See Matthew 20:22; Mark 10:38; Galatians 2:20; Hebrews 13:13. For (see notes on ch. 2 Corinthians 4:11-12) our sufferings for Christ’s sake arise from the same cause as His, namely the opposition of darkness to light, of death to the life that is imparted by Him to His members. Such passages as ch. 2 Corinthians 4:10; Colossians 1:24, carry the idea a step further, and represent Christ as suffering in His members, by virtue of His union with them. So also Matthew 25:40; Matthew 25:45; Acts 9:4; Galatians 6:17; Php 3:10.

6. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation] The same may be said of every kind of suffering endured for the cause of God and of truth. It is not merely, as in Hebrews 12:6 (Cf. Deuteronomy 8:5), that ‘whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth’ for his own sake, but that the sufferings one man endures for a good cause are the source of profit to others. Cf. chap. 2 Corinthians 4:15-16; Ephesians 3:13; 2 Timothy 2:10.

which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer] Is effectual may either be translated passively (as Chrysostom and the margin of A. V.) is wrought out, or, with most commentators, as middle, works actively in you. That is either (1) consolation and safety from the power of evil are wrought in you by the endurance of suffering, or (2) that consolation (or rather encouragement) and safety from evil work themselves out by the endurance of suffering. The former gives the simpler meaning, the latter is more according to the usus loquendi of the N. T.

7. And our hope of you is stedfast] Most editors agree in placing these words before ‘or whether we be comforted,’ &c. It would seem to be their most natural place, for not only do they come awkwardly before the word ‘knowing,’ but the expression of the hope is more appropriate in reference to the endurance by the Corinthians of suffering than to their enjoyment of encouragement. The majority of the best MSS. are in favour of this arrangement of the sentence. The text is in great confusion here.

as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation] Literally, sharers. See 1 Corinthians 1:9, and note. Christians ‘had all things,’ even sufferings, in ‘common.’ Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:46; 1 Corinthians 15:49. Also Romans 8:17-23, ch. 2 Corinthians 4:17. The words ‘shall ye be’ are not in the original. It would be better to supply ‘are,’ the encouragement being not a promise for the future, but a present possession. Observe the way in which ye and you are used indiscriminately as the nominative in the edition of 1611. Cf. also 2 Corinthians 1:13-14. In the later editions ye has been substituted. The substitution commenced in 1661, and gradually made its way after that time. The rule that ye is used only “in questions, entreaties, and rhetorical appeals” (see Abbott’s Shaksperian Grammar, 236) does not seem to hold good here.

8. For we would not … have you ignorant] A favourite expression with St Paul. Cf. Romans 1:13; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:13.

of our trouble which came to us in Asia] Some have referred these expressions (1) to the tumult at Ephesus, Acts 19. Others have supposed, in consequence of the very strong expressions here, that some other trouble, a grievous sickness perhaps, is referred to, especially as St Paul says in Asia, not in Ephesus. But Dean Stanley’s remark that “here, as elsewhere, we may observe the under-statement of St Paul’s sufferings in the Acts” (see also ch. 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 and notes), suggests the inference that the tumult at Ephesus was far more serious than it would appear to be from St Luke’s account. We can hardly suppose that the mere ‘dismissal of the assembly’ by the ‘town-clerk’ entirely appeased the multitude. And it is quite possible, since St Luke’s object in the Acts was rather a vindication of St Paul’s ministry than a glorification of his person, that he omits to mention a determined attempt upon St Paul’s life made by Demetrius and the craftsmen, as afterwards (Acts 23:12-15) by the Jews at Jerusalem. For the word translated trouble here and elsewhere, see note on 2 Corinthians 1:4.

Asia] By this is meant Asia Minor. So also Acts 2:9. But it seems (see Acts 16:6) not to have included the whole peninsula usually known by that name.

pressed] Literally, weighed down. Gravati, Calvin; greved, Wiclif, whom the other English versions followed till the Rhemish, from which the A. V. appears to have borrowed its pressed. The expression conveys the idea of anxiety, but is not irreconcileable with the notion of a prolonged effort to escape those who thirsted for his life.

out of measure] Cf. for the same Greek word (though it is variously rendered in English) Romans 7:13; 1 Corinthians 12:31; Galatians 1:13, and especially ch. 2 Corinthians 4:17. Dr Plumptre remarks that the word occurs exclusively in the Epistles of this period of St Paul’s life.

despaired] This expression confirms the idea of a plot to kill the Apostle. Literally, it means that he was utterly at a loss (rathlos, Meyer) to know what to do to protect his life. See ch. 2 Corinthians 4:8, where the same word occurs.