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2 Corinthians 1:1-2— ADDRESS. The usual form of address at the beginning of a Greek letter was A. B. χαίρειν (see Acts 23:26); and this is adopted by St. James in his Epistle (Jam 1:1), and is followed, among other Christian writers, by Ignatius in his letters (πλεῖστα χαίρειν is his ordinary formula). St. Paul, original in this as in all else, struck out a form for himself. He replaces χαίρειν by χάρις καὶ εἰρήνη (1 Thess.), which in subsequent letters is expressed more fully, as here, χάρις καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. (In 1 and 2 Tim. he adds ἔλεος.) The simple greeting of ordinary courtesy is thus filled with a deep religious meaning. Grace is the keynote of the Gospel; and peace, the traditional and beautiful salutation of the East, on Christian lips signifies not earthly peace merely, but the peace of God (Php 4:7). The first instance of the combination of χάρις with εἰρήνη is noteworthy, viz., they are coupled in the Priestly Benediction at Numbers 6:24.—ἀπόστολος Χρ. Ἰη.: St. Paul’s letters are all semi-official, except perhaps that to Philemon; and thus they usually begin with the assertion of his apostolic office. This it would be especially necessary to emphasise in a letter to Corinth, where his authority had been questioned quite recently (2 Corinthians 10:10 ff.), and where the names of Apollos and Peter had formerly been set in opposition to his (1 Corinthians 1:12).—διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ: he is ever anxious (see reff.) to explain that his apostleship was not assumed of himself; it is a mission from God; he is a σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς.—καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ ἀδελφός: Timothy now occupies the place at St. Paul’s side which was filled by Sosthenes when 1 Cor. was written (1 Corinthians 1:1). Timothy had been despatched to Macedonia (Acts 19:22) to go on to Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:17), but St. Paul seems to have had a suspicion that he might be prevented from arriving there (1 Corinthians 16:10). From the facts that we now find him in Macedonia, and that there is no mention of him in chap. 2 Corinthians 12:16-18, it is likely that he was prevented from reaching Corinth by some causes of which we are unaware.—τῆ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ κ.τ.λ.: the letter is addressed primarily to the Christian congregation at Corinth, and secondarily to the Christians throughout Achaia. It is thus a circular letter, like that to the Galatians or Ephesians, and so at the end we do not find salutations to individuals, as in 1 Cor. and in the other letters addressed to particular Churches. The words τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορίνθῳ suggest the idea of settled establishment; the Church at Corinth had now been for some time in existence.—ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ: the Roman province of Achaia included the whole country which we call Greece (excluding Macedonia), and it is in this large sense that the name is used here (cf. 2 Corinthians 9:2 below).

2 Corinthians 1:2. ἀπὸ Θεοῦ πατρὸς κ.τ.λ.: this coupling of the names of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as alike the source of grace and peace is most significant in its bearing upon St. Paul’s Christology (cf. 2 Corinthians 13:13).

I. The Obedience of the Corinthians to the Instructions of the First Epistle (2 Corinthians 1:3 to 2 Corinthians 7:16). This is the main topic of the first section of this Epistle. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 : THANKSGIVING; GOD’S CONSOLATIONS AND THE SYMPATHY OF SORROW. St. Paul’s habit is to begin his letters with an expression of thankfulness for the Christian progress of his correspondents. The only exceptions are the Epp. to Titus and to the Galatians (in this case he had received bad news from Galatia). In 1 Timothy 1:12 the cause of his thankfulness is the exhibition of the Divine mercy to himself; and this Epistle begins with a like thought, from which he passes (2 Corinthians 1:14) to his confident belief that the Corinthian Christians are still his καύχημα. It was especially important that a letter which was so largely taken up with rebuke and with the assertion of his apostolical authority should begin with a message of sympathy and hopefulness (2 Corinthians 1:11 ff.).

2 Corinthians 1:3. εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς κ.τ.λ.: blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Note that τοῦ Κυρίου is dependent on Θεός as well as on πατήρ; cf. Ephesians 1:17, and John 20:17, Revelation 1:6. This is the starting-point of the Christian revelation, that the Supreme is “the God and Father” of Jesus Christ; He is εὐλογητός (בָּרוּךְ), the Object of His creatures’ blessing. The verb is not expressed, but the analogy of 1 Peter 4:11 would indicate that ἐστίν rather than ἔστω should be understood. A doxology is not a prayer, but (cf. Matthew 6:13, and John 12:13, a close parallel) a thankful and adoring statement of the Divine goodness and power.—ὁ πατὴρ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν: the Father of mercies, sc., from whom merciful acts proceed; οἰκτιρμός, compassion, is the very characteristic of a Father’s providence; see reff. and Luke 6:36.—καὶ Θεὸς πάσης παρακλήσεως: and God of all comfort, sc., from whom every consolation proceeds. We have παράκλησις applied to God in O.T., e.g., in Ps. 93:19, αἱ παρακλήσεις σου ἠγάπησαν τὴν ψυχήν μου; and the word is adopted in the N.T. for the Divine comfort not only by St. Paul (see reff.), but by St. Luke (Luke 2:25 and Acts 9:31), and by St. John, who describes alike the Spirit (John 14:16; John 15:26; John 16:7) and the Son (1 John 2:1) as the παράκλητος.

2 Corinthians 1:4. ὁ f1παρακαλῶν ἡμᾶς κ.τ.λ.: who comforteth us in all our affliction (the def. art. indicating trials actually existing). The verb παρακαλεῖν has three shades of meaning, (a) to beseech, eighteen times in St. Paul, (b) to exhort, seventeen times, (c) to comfort, thirteen times, of which seven are in this Epistle, where the word occurs altogether seventeen times. Cf. 2 Corinthians 1:6, 2 Corinthians 2:7-8, 2 Corinthians 5:20, 2 Corinthians 6:1, 2 Corinthians 7:6-7; 2 Corinthians 7:13, 2 Corinthians 8:6, 2 Corinthians 9:5, 2 Corinthians 10:1, 2 Corinthians 12:8; 2 Corinthians 12:18, 2 Corinthians 13:11.—εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι κ.τ.λ.: to the end that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction (sc., any that may happen to arise). This is the final purpose of God’s gifts of grace, viz., that they may not only be a blessing to the individual, but through him and as reflected from him to his fellows.—ἧς παρακαλούμεθα: through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are being comforted of God. ἧς, for ἥν, has been attracted into the case of παρακλήσεως (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19, chap. 2 Corinthians 10:13, Ephesians 2:10).

2 Corinthians 1:5. ὅτι καθὼς περισσύει κ.τ.λ.: for as Christ’s sufferings flow over abundantly to us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ. That the Christian is a fellow-sufferer with Christ is frequently urged by St. Paul (Romans 8:17, Php 3:10, Colossians 1:24; see esp. chap. 2 Corinthians 4:10-11 below, and cf. Mat_20:22). Here he dwells on the thought that this fellowship in suffering implies also the consolation and strength which flow from union with Christ; cf. 1 Peter 4:13.

2 Corinthians 1:6-7. We follow the reading of the Revisers (see crit. note) and translate: But whether we be afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we be comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient endurance of the same things which we also suffer: and our hope for you is steadfast; knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so also are ye of the comfort. This is an expansion of the εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι κ.τ.λ. of 2 Corinthians 1:4 : the Apostle’s afflictions and consolations alike are for the sake of his converts; they and he have a common fellowship in Christ, with all which that involves of sympathy with each other. The nearest parallel (see reff.) is Ephesians 3:13, διὸ αἰτοῦμαι μὴ ἐνκακεῖν ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσίν μου ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ἥτις ἐστὶν δόξα ὑμῶν. For the constr. εἴτε … εἴτε cf. chap. 2 Corinthians 5:13 and 1 Corinthians 12:26. Note that ἐνεργεῖσθαι is always in the N.T. middle, not passive, and is used intransitively (see Romans 7:5, chap. 2 Corinthians 4:12, Galatians 5:6, Ephesians 3:20, Colossians 1:29, 1 Thessalonians 2:13); when the verb is used of God it is always in the active voice (1 Corinthians 12:6, Galatians 2:8, etc.).—ἐν ὑπομονῇ: ὑπομονή means expectation or hopeful waiting in the canonical books of the LXX; but is often used for steadfast endurance in Ecclus. and in 4 Macc. (see 4Ma 17:12). It is a favourite word with St. Paul in this latter sense, in which it is always used in the N.T. (cf., e.g., Luke 21:19, 1 Timothy 6:11); for the juxtaposition of ὑπομονή and παράκλησις see Romans 15:5.—τῶν f1αὐτῶν παθημάτων: the sufferings which the Corinthian brethren must endure are here represented as the same as those of the Apostle; i.e., the reference is not to any special affliction such as that alluded to in 2 Corinthians 1:8, but to the troubles which came upon him in the general discharge of his Apostolic office and upon all those who were engaged in the struggle against Judaism on the one side and heathendom on the other.

2 Corinthians 1:7. καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς κ.τ.λ.: and our hope for you is steadfast, knowing (we should expect εἰδότων, but cf. Romans 13:11) that as ye are partakers of the sufferings (see reff. for κοινωνός with a gen. objecti), so also are ye of the comfort. The main idea of this section is well given by Bengel: “Communio sanctorum … egregie representatur in hac epistola”.