2 Corinthians 11

2 Corinthians 11:1

1. Folly—The apparent personal vanity of proclaiming his own personal qualities, his official dignity, or his eminent services. And indeed bear— Bloomfield understands this as an affectionate repetition: “Now, do bear with me.” More correctly, Alford makes the verb indicative: But, indeed, you do bear with me. He thus delicately acknowledges them not intolerant, and makes their forbearance thus far a hope for further indulgence.

2 Corinthians 11:2

2. For—Reason for his earnest desire for their patient acceptance of the boast he is about to rehearse. Espoused you—Of the verb here used in the Greek there is a noun from the same root, signifying an espouser, whose office it was to procure and arrange the marriage. Among the Spartans a noun of the same root signified the educator and preparer of the virgin for marriage. St. Paul’s language, though the allusion to either here is not to be pressed, is doubtless suggested and shaped by these customs peculiar to antiquity. Chaste virgin—So the Church is the bride, the Lamb’s wife. Such, as many suppose, is the allegorical basis of Solomon’s Song.

2 Corinthians 11:3

3. The serpent—St. Paul is jealous, lest as the serpent seduced Eve, so the Christine will seduce away the Corinthian Church. He here supposes even the Gentile Corinthians to be acquainted with and believers in the Genesis history. Simplicity—Singleness of devotion.

2 Corinthians 11:4

4. For—In proof of their readiness for the seducer. They were ready to bear very finely the announcements by the Christine of his false Jesus, spirit, and gospel. He that cometh—Literally, the comer. Wordsworth contrasts this comer, who was not sent, with the apostle, which means one sent. One is self-sent, the other is God-sent. Another Jesus—The spurious Jesus of the seducers. Another spirit—Than the true Holy Spirit, by whom, through Christ, ye are regenerated. Might… bear—The verb is indicative. Ye… bear—The same Greek for bear, as in 2 Corinthians 11:1. And Paul is here hinting how ready they were to bear with his detractors. Well— êáëùò, ironical, beautifully. I, Paul, am obliged to entreat you repeatedly to bear with me; but, reversely, you can bear the details of their false schemes wonderfully well. Such a fact might well make Paul jealous of their fidelity.

2 Corinthians 11:5

5. I am justly jealous at this for the following reason: I suppose— Literally, I reckon myself not to have been at all inferior to these over-much apostles.The allusion, as the best scholars now agree, is not to either of the twelve apostles, but to the pretended and pretentious apostles, whose preaching is characterized in the last verse. The over-much apostles is an epithet which characterizes the assumption of the party.

2 Corinthians 11:6

6. Rude in speech—The Greek word for rude signifies non-professional, implying the absence of a literary or scholarly finish of style. The accusation from his detractors he left undenied, but he balanced it by yet not in knowledge. Thus Paul here gives himself the character which modern Greek scholars would attribute to him, namely, unfinished in style but deep in thought. Made manifest—Whether rude or deep we have been unconcealed; we are transparent to your view.

2 Corinthians 11:7

7. Committed… offence—As towards the Corinthians the offence would be the placing them in the beggarly position of receiving gratuitous benefit, and so (2 Corinthians 11:10) showing want of love, Paul admits the fact of a determination, to cut off all chance for his detractors, to receive no pay from Corinth. Abasing myself—By working at his trade of tent-making, as he did for months with Aquila at Corinth. Acts 18:3. Exalted—Into a powerful Christian Church. Freely—Gratuitously.

2 Corinthians 11:8

8. Robbed—An indignant hyperbole. When his great ministerial labours interfered with his self-support, he accepted what they voluntarily offered, but were not obligated to give.

2 Corinthians 11:9

9. Wanted—Was in need of funds. From Macedonia—Silas and Timothy, who, coming from Macedonia, found Paul lonely, dispirited, and working at his trade, brought him glad news, needed funds, and brotherly re-enforcement in preaching the gospel. Burdensome—A figurative word borrowed from the torpedo, which by its touch torpifies. St. Paul did not by pecuniary pressure torpify or burden the Corinthians. The harsh figure, perhaps, was borrowed from the sarcasms of his detractors. So will I—The principle required it, and his will was firm.

2 Corinthians 11:10

10. As—A solemn asseveration. Stop me—Fence me off. Wordsworth suggests this as a happy image drawn from the wall across the isthmus of Corinth, fencing the regions of Achaia from Northern Greece, whence Paul was writing.

2 Corinthians 11:11

11. It was not from want of love that St. Paul thus left Corinth in the shade.

2 Corinthians 11:12

12. Occasion—Chance for detraction. Wherein they glory—The chance they sought was, to say that in the matter of their glory, namely, the receiving apostolic wages, they were as Paul. This occasion, or chance of both having their pay and equalling him, he was determined not, by taking pay, to allow them.

2 Corinthians 11:13

13. For—I will give them no occasion, for the following reason. False apostles—As, above, they were overmuch apostles. Deceitful workers— Treacherous machinators; one of whose twofold machinations we have described above.

2 Corinthians 11:14

14. Transformed… light—This may be an allusion to the appearance of Satan at the temptation, and Milton on that hint has so described the scene.

2 Corinthians 11:15

15. End—Their final retribution.

2 Corinthians 11:16

16. I say again—The apostle here resumes from 2 Corinthians 11:1 his apologetic, ironical, and hesitating preamble to the daring issue begun at 2 Corinthians 11:22. Fool—He dwells upon these imputations, as if to show that he knew all they could say, and was prepared to brave the whole. Otherwise—If you will not consent to hold me as no fool. A little—Diminishing in irony.

2 Corinthians 11:17

17. Not after the Lord—The great body of commentators we have consulted have interpreted Paul as confessing that the measurement that here follows was discordant with the spirit of Christ. Bloomfield alone asks: “Why, then, do we not understand Paul as sincerely and truly confessing that he was a fool?” Certainly he means the reverse. And these hard sayings against himself are but his defiant re-echoings of the taunts, actual or expected, of his detractors. One of those taunts was, or would be, that his boasting was un-Christlike. But, first, whose denunciations of the wickedness of his adversaries were ever more terrible than the Lord’s? and, second, what is there un-Christlike in Paul’s magnificent measurement of himself with his adversaries that now soon follows? Paul’s meaning is:What I now speak I speak, forsooth, not after the Lord, do I!

2 Corinthians 11:18

18. I will glory also—But not after the flesh.

2 Corinthians 11:19

19. Ye… are wise—Severe irony, preparatory to giving, next verse, the most eminent instance of their said wisdom!

2 Corinthians 11:20

20. For ye suffer—Paul now describes, in somewhat figurative terms, the treatment these Corinthians, in their fancied wisdom, tamely accepted from the Christine false apostles. Bondage—To this authority and these false doctrines. Devour you—Use and ruin you for his own advantage. Take of you—Exact wages from you as apostles. Smite you on the face—The last of insults.

2 Corinthians 11:21

21. St. Paul now declares that all this reproach upon himself is ironical. Render it thus: In regard to all this matter of reproach, I am talking as if I really had been weak. However, I am now going to be bold, (foolish, my enemies may call it,) if any body ever was. And so he forthwith boldly proceeds to bring his opponents to close issue.

2 Corinthians 11:22-13

II. OF THE APOSTLE WITH HIS , SHOWING HIS OWN , 2 Corinthians 11:22 to 2 Corinthians 13:10.From this long level of preliminary apologies and explanations the apostle now suddenly takes an upward spring, and maintains an eagle flight to the end of the epistle. Claiming to boast not of great talents or grand exploits, and with an occasional flash of irony, he rehearses his sufferings and humiliations for Christ, as well as his revelations and self-sacrifices; and from this elevation comes down in authority upon the infected part of the Corinthian Church.St. Paul unfolds his equality to, and immense superiority over, his opponents—

2 Corinthians 11:23

23. Ministers—The Greek word technically for deacons, and genetically for humble servitors of any kind. As a fool—The echo from the other side is a stronger term for madness than any yet used. Are they servants of Christ? And now I am, by their outcry, a greater infatuate than ever when I boldly reply, I more. The abrupt and concise υπερεγω, above, I is, indeed, a bold fling.

It may mean, above them am I, that is, as a servant of Christ; or it may mean, above a servant of Christ am I. The import, at any rate, is, If these are, forsooth, servants of Christ, I am something above that; and the result is, If I am merely a servant of Christ, they are below that—none at all. That this last inference is meant is plain from 13-15. Labours… stripes… prisons… deaths—Four generic bodily endurances. The details that follow are specialties included under the four.The next two verses give the numerical figures of bodily sufferings so severe as to leave distinct traces on the memory of the number.

2 Corinthians 11:24

24. The Jews—A less honourable epithet than either of the three in 2 Corinthians 11:22, used here to intimate to the Judaizers whence his severest persecutors came. John, in his gospel, uses the word Jews in the same adverse sense. Note, John 1:19. Five times—A most bitter recollection; for the stripes of antiquity were deaths in the amount of agony they inflicted and the probability of death as the result. Note, John 19:1.

Stripes—In italics as not being in the Greek; it being unnecessary to Paul’s readers, who knew what the terrible number forty save one indicated. Forty stripes was the limit by law, (Deuteronomy 25:1;) but Jewish custom, in its caution against accidentally breaking the law, limited it in Paul’s time to thirty-nine. Says Stanley: “The culprit was bound by both hands to a pillar; the officer of the synagogue stripped off his clothes until his back was bared. The officer then ascended a stone behind. The scourge consisted of four thongs of calf skin, and two of asses’ skin. The culprit bent to receive the lashes.

The officer struck with one hand with all his force. A reader meanwhile read, first, Deuteronomy 28:58-59; next, Deuteronomy 29:8; lastly, Psalms 78:38. It was so severe a punishment that death often ensued.” The thrice thirteen strokes were impartially distributed; thirteen on the back, thirteen on the right shoulder, and thirteen on the left shoulder.

2 Corinthians 11:25

25. The above stripes being specially from Jews, these rods were doubtless in Gentile hands. The Roman rods often inflicted death. As a Roman citizen, Paul was by law exempt from this punishment, but he was doubtless often out of reach of law. So at Philippi he suffered it, following it with protest, and at Jerusalem narrowly escaped it. Acts 16:37; Acts 22:25. Once… stoned—At Lystra. Acts 14:19. Thrice… shipwreck—In addition to the one in Acts 28, which was much later than this writing. A night and a day—Twenty-four hours. Not, as some interpret, that Paul was sunk in the deep that time and saved from drowning by miracle. The natural image is, that he was floating that time in the deep, on a fragment of a wrecked ship.

2 Corinthians 11:26

26. Perils—The spontaneous repetition of the word gives a lively variety to the style. Waters—Rather, rivers; which had to be crossed without bridges, with liability to drowning. These Paul would plentifully find in his first missionary journey. Countrymen… heathen—Nearly all the persecutions of his earlier ministry were from Jews; later, from Romans. City—As at Ephesus, Corinth, and Jerusalem. False brethren—Who capped the climax of perils. He has just mentioned perils from Jews and from Gentiles; he now mentions, as third, his perils from the Judaizers themselves, who, as followers of Christ, claimed to be brethren, but whose claim was false.

2 Corinthians 11:27

27. An enumeration of bodily privations. Painfulness—The aches resulting from overwork. Watchings—Sleeplessnesses. Fastings—Not voluntary fastings, but inability to procure food.

2 Corinthians 11:28

28. Are without—Are outside this list of physical trials, and which are outside my proper apostolic endurances. That… daily—The onslaught, or rush, upon me daily; namely, the distracting care of all. The word care has the same Greek as the word thought in Matthew 6:25, where see note.

2 Corinthians 11:29

29. The distraction of this care arises from its carrying the apostle’s soul, as it were, out of himself into a sympathy and identification with its various individual objects. Weak… weak—He becomes weak by tender sympathy with the weak, feeling for their infirmities, and trying, with them, to rise into strength. This weakness may consist in want of Christian faith, morality, or firm purpose. Offended—Made by some one to stumble or falter in his Christian course. Burn not—He cannot say I stumble with him, but I burn in shame and sorrow for him. The I in this last clause is, according to the Greek, emphatic. If any one is weak, I am sympathetically weak with him; if any stumble, the man to burn with agony thereat is I.

2 Corinthians 11:30

30. Stanley inadvertently says, at 2 Corinthians 11:22, that we lose sight of the false teachers until 2 Corinthians 12:11. St. Paul in these two verses, 30, 31, has them right face to face. If I am compelled by my traducers in self-defence to glory, I will evade the charge of being a boaster by centering my glorying, not upon my powers and exploits, but upon mine infirmities.

2 Corinthians 11:31

31. This adjuration that I lie not, is, like that in Romans 9:1, a denial in the very word, lie, of his assailants. Though a large number of Paul’s endurances were known to the Corinthians, and though all here enumerated were analogous to those known, yet the full amount, the sum total, could not be sworn to by any one, even of St. Paul’s companions, as Timothy, Titus, Luke, Trophimus, etc.; but so much could be attested by all that this, his solemn oath, could meet the lie given him by his assailants for the purpose not only of abasing his boasts, but also to sink him to the earth as a falsifier. It is strange that Alford and other commentators should be at a loss to account for the earnestness of this adjuration. The point at which it touches is the very crisis of the life-struggle between St. Paul and his opponents.

2 Corinthians 11:32

32. In Damascus—The narrative in Acts 9:23-25, (where see notes,) agrees with this, except that Luke specifies only the Jewish share of the plot against St. Paul. Governor—Ethnarch, or viceroy. See note to Matthew 2:22. With a garrison—Probably an extemporized garrison of Jews. Apprehend me—Paul’s only crime as viewed by the Jews there, as with these Judaizers here in Corinth, was his embodying Gentiles into an uncircumcised Christianity. In a question of this kind the ethnarch could have felt no opposition to Paul; and the true solution of his hostility is probably furnished by Michaelis, (quoted by Meyer:) “Jewish gold probably accounts for the conduct of the emir.”

2 Corinthians 11:33

33. Window—Or, kiosk, based upon and projecting over the wall. From a similar window Eutychus fell to the ground, as stated Acts 20:9. Basket—Bloomfield describes it as a very strong netting made of cords, for the purpose of a net for taking fish, or, rather, a hamper for carrying fish, “a fish-hamper.” Stanley says: “There is a spot still pointed out on the eastern wall, itself modern, as the scene of Paul’s escape. Close by is a cavity in the ancient burial ground, where he is said, in the local legends, to have concealed himself; and formerly a tomb was shown of a St. George, who was martyred in furthering the escape.

It is curious that in the present traditions of Damascus the incidents of this escape have almost entirely eclipsed the story of his conversion.” And, we may add, that the popular interest in such an incident very probably gave it that notoriety in his own day which rendered it an effective reminder against his opponents that any sufferings he had to narrate were credible. “An apostle in a basket” is an object quite likely to attract attention, and suggestive of some reflections and lessons. Let no man be ashamed of any predicament, however humble, in which he may be found in a career of good-doing. Alford, we think, mistakes the point when he supposes Paul tells this story of the basket as a self-humbling fact, likely to be quoted ever after to his disgrace. The infirmity of the narrative in which St. Paul glories is simply the fact that he was the object of united Gentile and Jewish hostility for Christ, and a refugee from their hands; not especially because he escaped in a basket. The man who could work at tent making for the glory of a gratuitous gospel, would see slight disgrace in a rope-hamper; far less the man who could boast of being five times striped with Jewish thongs, and thrice with the Roman rods.