2 Corinthianschapter 13
14 verses · Paul · about AD 56 · Paul's letters
This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
Introduction
Paul, Paul's letters, 2 Corinthians Overview.
Paul wrote this chapter, with Timothy named beside him in the letter's first verse, to the church of God in Corinth and the saints throughout Achaia. It is the last chapter of the letter, written just before Paul came to Corinth for the third time. After three chapters of defence, he turns the question around and asks the church to test itself. Listen for the words of testing and proof. Listen also for how the warning gives way to joy, peace and greeting. Hear the closing blessing as words spoken over a church that had quarrelled with the man who blessed it.
Context
- Who
- A church about to receive Paul in person for the third time.
- What
- The closing chapter of the letter, with Paul's last warning before his third visit, a call to self-examination, and a final blessing.
- Where
- Written from Macedonia to the church at Corinth, which Paul was about to visit for the third time.
- When
- About AD 55 to 56, shortly before the months in Greece that Luke records in Acts 20:2 and 3.
- Why
- To bring the church to repentance before he arrived, so that he would not need to use his authority severely when he came.
Historical context
The rule he cites, every charge established by the evidence of two or three witnesses, comes straight from the Law of Moses and governed Jewish judicial procedure. Applying it here signals that his coming visit will involve formal examination of accusations, not private grumbling.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The word he uses for testing and for being disqualified belongs to the assaying of metals: coinage was checked for purity, and false coin was rejected. Corinth, a commercial city handling money constantly, knew the process. Paul turns it on them, examine yourselves, test yourselves, before they test him.
His plan to be severe if necessary rests on the authority he says the Lord gave him for building up and not for tearing down, and he says he hopes the letter will make severity unnecessary.
The closing greeting mentions the holy kiss, the ordinary Mediterranean greeting between family members, adopted by these congregations as the sign that they were kin.
Significance
For the Corinthians, the last chapter put the choice in their hands. He would rather be thought weak and find them strong; his prayer is for their restoration, not his vindication.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
And the letter that began with comfort ends with one of the oldest three-fold blessings in Christian use, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, spoken over a church that had spent two years fighting with the man saying it.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
By Two or Three Witnesses: This Time He Will Not Spare
2 Corinthians 13:1-2
the third time I am coming to you: Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses cites Deuteronomy 19:15. Judgment on unrepentant sin at the third visit will follow the law's standard of evidence.
2 Corinthians 13:1
“This is the third time I am coming to you--not merely preparing to come to you. This proves an intermediate visit between the two recorded in Ac 18:1; In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established--Quoted from De 19:15, Septuagint.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
2 Corinthians 13:1
“This is the third time ... - see the note on 2Co 12:14. For an interesting view of this passage, see Paley’s Horae Paulinae on this Epistle, No. 11: It is evident that Paul had been to Corinth but once before this, but he had resolved to go before a second time, but had been disappointed. In the mouth of two or three witnesses ... - This was what the Law of Moses required; Deu 20:16; see the note on Joh 8:17; compare Mat 18:16. But in regard to its application here, commentators are not agreed.”
Cross references
2 Corinthians 13:1
- QuotingDeuteronomy 19:15“A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
'In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established'
If I return, I will not spare anyone: Paul repeats a warning already given. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown think these were probably the very words of his earlier threat, spoken again now from a distance. John Chrysostom reads the verse as notice that there would be no further delay if Paul found the church unchanged.
2 Corinthians 13:2
“I told you before, etc. - As Calmet maintains that Paul had already been twice at Corinth, it is well to hear his reasons: “St. Paul came to Corinth the latter end of the year of our Lord 52, and remained there eighteen months, Act 18:1, etc. He came there a second time in the year 55, but stayed only a short time, as he had to return speedily to Ephesus, 1Co 16:7; hence it is that St. Luke makes no mention of this second journey in the Acts.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 13:2
“The antithesis between "the second time" and "now" is palpable. if I come again, &c.--that is, whensoever I come again (Ac 20:2). These were probably the very words of his former threat which he now repeats again.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Corinthians 13:3-4
you are demanding proof: The false apostles demanded proof that Christ is speaking through me, and Paul grounds his answer in the cross and resurrection. He was indeed crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power, the shape traced since 4:7.
2 Corinthians 13:3
“Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me - see the notes on the previous chapters. They had called in question his apostolic authority; they had demanded the evidence of his divine commission. He says that he would now furnish such evidence by inflicting just punishment on all offenders, and they should have abundant proof that Christ spoke by him, or that he was inspired.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 13:3
“Since--The reason why he will not spare: Since ye challenge me to give a "proof" that Christ speaks in me. It would be better if ye would "prove your own selves" (2Co 13:5).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
crucified in weakness: Christ's weakness at the cross is the pattern for Paul's. John Chrysostom teaches that Christ chose to endure what seemed weakness, and that His power was never lessened by it. Albert Barnes refers the weakness to the human nature Christ took, as in Philippians 2:7 and 8.
2 Corinthians 13:4
“For though he was crucified through weakness - It is true Christ was crucified, and his crucifixion appeared to be the effect of his weakness; yet even this was not so; he gave up his life, none could take it away from him; and in his last struggle, had he even been deficient in power, he could have had more than twelve legions of angels to support him against the high priest’s mob, Mat 26:53; but how then could the Scripture be fulfilled? And had he not died, how could the human race have been saved?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 13:4
“He was crucified through weakness - Through the impotence of human nature. We also are weak with him - We appear weak and despicable by partaking of the same sufferings for his sake.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Test Yourselves: Is Christ in You?
2 Corinthians 13:5-6
Examine yourselves: Paul turns the demand for proof back on his accusers with peirazo and dokimazo: Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Adokimos means to fail the test, and honest self-examination will show that we have not failed the test.
2 Corinthians 13:5
“Examine yourselves - see the note on 1Co 11:28. The particular reason why Paul calls on them to examine themselves was, that there was occasion to fear that many of them had been deceived. Such had been the irregularities and disorders in the church at Corinth; so ignorant had many of them shown themselves of the nature of the Christian religion, that it was important, in the highest degree, for them to institute a strict and impartial examination to ascertain whether they had not been altogether deceived.”
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 13:5
“Know ye not yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - All Christian believers know this, by the witness and by the fruit of his Spirit. Some translate the words, Jesus Christ is among you; that is, in the church of Corinth; and understand them of the miraculous gifts and the power of Christ which attended the censures of the apostle.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Corinthians 13:5
“Examine--Greek, "Try (make trial of) yourselves." prove your own selves--This should be your first aim, rather than "seeking a proof of Christ speaking in me" (2Co 13:3). your own selves--I need not speak much in proof of Christ being in me, your minister (2Co 13:3), for if ye try your own selves ye will see that Christ is also in you [CHRYSOSTOM], (Ro 8:10).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
we have not failed the test: The test turns back on the testers. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown reason that the Corinthians are the fruit of Paul's ministry, so to doubt his apostleship is to doubt their own faith. Adam Clarke reads the verse as confidence that God had confirmed Paul's preaching among them.
2 Corinthians 13:6
“Ye shall know that we are not reprobates - Ye have had, and ye shall have, the fullest proof that I have preached the true faith among you; and that God has confirmed it by his testimony; and thus that I am proved and manifested to be what I ought to be, and shown to be approved of God.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 13:6
"I trust that" your own Christianity will be recognized by you (observe, "ye shall know," answers to "know your own selves," 2Co 13:5) as sufficient "proof" that ye are not reprobates, but that "Christ speaks in me," without needing a proof from me more trying to yourselves. If ye doubt my apostleship, ye must doubt your own Christianity, for ye are the fruits of my apostleship.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Corinthians 13:7-8
we pray to God: Paul prays that you will do what is right, even if we appear to have failed. His own vindication matters less than their obedience.
2 Corinthians 13:7
“Now I pray to God that ye do no evil - I earnestly desire that you may do right, and only right; and I beseech God that it may be so, whatever may be the result in regard to me, and whatever may be thought of my claims to the apostolic office. This is designed to mitigate the apparent severity of the sentiment in 2Co 13:6. There he had said that they would find him fully endowed with the power of an apostle. They would see that he was able abundantly to punish the disobedient.”
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 13:7
“This is the most desirable thing we can ask of God, both for ourselves and for our friends, to be kept from sin, that we and they may do no evil; and it is most needful that we often pray to God for his grace to keep us, because without this we cannot keep ourselves. We are more concerned to pray that we may not do evil than that we may not suffer evil.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Corinthians 13:7
“I pray--The oldest manuscripts read, "we pray." not that we should appear approved--not to gain credit for ourselves, your ministers, by your Christian conduct; but for your good [ALFORD].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
only for the truth: Paul's authority is bound by the truth. Matthew Henry takes the verse to mean that if the Corinthians did no evil, Paul had no power to punish them. John Chrysostom adds that God would not allow Paul to punish a church that had repented, even if he wished to.
2 Corinthians 13:8
“Paul is saying this because there is no power against the truth. They cannot reprove someone who is living a good life, but only someone who is an enemy of the law. This power will come to nothing if people have done what is good.”
Ambrosiaster · written before 384 · Commentary on Paul's Epistlespatristic
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 13:8
“For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth - As we are the apostles of God, we cannot bring to you any false doctrine; and, as we profess to be under the influence of God’s Spirit, we cannot do any thing that is opposed to that truth, or which might be prejudicial to it. On the contrary, what we say and do is for that truth, to propagate and establish it. The Gospel of Jesus is truth; and my testimony concerning it is truth also.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 13:8
“Our apostolic power is given us that we may use it not against, but for the furtherance of, the truth. Where you are free from fault, there is no scope for its exercise: and this I desire.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Corinthians 13:9-10
we rejoice when we are weak: The letter itself is the alternative to severity in person, written so that when I am present I will not need to be severe. Its purpose clause gives the authority's aim: for building you up.
2 Corinthians 13:9
“For we are glad when we are weak ... - We rejoice in your welfare, and are willing to submit to self-denial and to infirmity if it may promote your spiritual strength.”
not for tearing you down: The letter is written to spare the visit. Adam Clarke notes that the word for severe means a cutting off, and reads the letter as a warning meant to bring reform first.
2 Corinthians 13:10
“Therefore I write these things - I only threaten you now, by this epistle, to put you on your guard, and lead you to reformation before I visit you that I may not then have to use sharpness, αποτομια, a cutting off, employing thus my apostolical authority to inflict punishment; a power which God has given me, rather to be employed in your edification than in your destruction.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Farewell, and the Grace of the Three
Aim for perfect harmony: The closing exhortations answer the letter's opening themes, as encourage one another echoes the paraklesis, comfort, of 1:3-7. Be of one mind answers the divisions listed in 12:20.
2 Corinthians 13:11
“Be perfect - Aspire to the highest degree of holiness. Be of good comfort - Filled with divine consolation. Be of one mind - Desire, labour, pray for it, to the utmost degree that is possible.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Corinthians 13:12-13
Greet one another with a holy kiss: names the early church's customary greeting, philema hagion. It marks full fellowship restored after a letter spent defending Paul against division and suspicion.
2 Corinthians 13:12
“But when is peace more to be concluded with brethren than when, at the time of some religious observance, our prayer ascends with more acceptability; that they may themselves participate in our observance, and thereby be mollified for transacting with their brother touching. their own peace? What prayer is complete if divorced from the "holy kiss? " Whom does peace impede when rendering service to his Lord? What kind of sacrifice is that from which men depart without peace?”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Prayerpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 13:12
“He would have them testify their affection to one another by the sacred rite of a kiss of charity, which was then used, but has long been disused, to prevent all occasions of wantonness and impurity, in the more declining and degenerate state of the church.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
All the saints send you greetings: The greeting comes from the believers around Paul. Albert Barnes places them in Macedonia, probably at Philippi, and Adam Clarke agrees. John Chrysostom sees the greeting joining distant saints to the Corinthians, as the holy kiss joined those near at hand.
2 Corinthians 13:13
“All the saints salute you - That is, all who were with Paul, or in the place where he was. The Epistle was written from Macedonia, probably from Philippi. See the introduction, section 3.”
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit: The letter closes with the fullest trinitarian benediction in the epistles, a distinct gift for each person of the Godhead. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit set a deliberate order.
2 Corinthians 13:14
"The grace of Christ" comes first, for it is only by it we come to "the love of God" the Father (Joh 14:6). The variety in the order of Persons proves that "in this Trinity none is afore or after other" [Athanasian Creed]. communion--joint fellowship, or participation, in the same Holy Ghost, which joins in one catholic Church, His temple, both Jews and Gentiles.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
4 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 13:14
“If there is one grace, one peace, one love and one fellowship on the part of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, surely there is one operation, and where there is one operation, certainly the power cannot be divided or the substance separated.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On the Holy Spirit 1.12.13patristic
2 Corinthians 13:14
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.... Meaning either the love of Christ; see 2Co 8:9 which is the same with that of his Father's, is as early, and of the same nature, being a love of complacency and delight; and which, as it is without beginning, will be without end.”
2 Corinthians 13:14
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ - All the favor and beneficence that come from and through the Redeemer of the world; as the Lord, the ruler and governor of all things; as Jesus, the Savior of all men by his passion and death; as Christ, the distributer of all that Divine unction which enlightens, comforts, harmonizes, and purifies the mind. May this most exalted, glorious, and all-sufficient Savior, be ever with you!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 13:14
“And the communion - Or fellowship. Of the Holy Ghost - In all his gifts and graces. It is with great reason that this comprehensive and instructive blessing is pronounced at the close of our solemn assemblies; and it is a very indecent thing to see so many quitting them, or getting into postures of remove, before this short sentence can be ended.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: A written warning sent ahead of the visit, to put the church on its guard and lead it to reform before Paul came, as Clarke classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Two or three witnesses | Verse 1 quotes the rule that every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. The site's published exposition of the verse traces it to Deuteronomy 19:15 and reads Paul's use of it as a promise that his judgment will follow the law's standard of evidence.This site's published exposition of 2 Corinthians 13:1, The exposition_notes row on 2 Corinthians 13:1, citing Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible. | 2 Corinthians 13:1 |
| Proof and testing | The Corinthians demand proof at verse 3, and Paul answers with examine yourselves and test yourselves at verse 5. Test comes four times from verse 5 to verse 7, twice in verse 5 and once each in verses 6 and 7. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that you will realize at verse 6 answers see for yourselves at verse 5, and that the church should prove itself before seeking a proof from Paul.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 13:6. | 2 Corinthians 13:3, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Corinthians 13:6, 2 Corinthians 13:7 |
| Weakness and power | Verse 3 says Christ is not weak in dealing with them but powerful among them. Verse 4 sets weakness against power twice, first of Christ crucified and raised, then of Paul, and verse 9 rejoices when we are weak but you are strong. Matthew Henry reads verse 4 as the pattern: as Christ was crucified in weakness and lives by God's power, so the apostles, weak in the world's eyes, showed the power of God.Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 13:4. | 2 Corinthians 13:3, 2 Corinthians 13:4, 2 Corinthians 13:9 |
| The threefold blessing | Verse 14 names three gifts and three Persons: the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain why grace comes first, since only by the grace of Christ do we come to the love of God, and they hold that the varied order of the Persons in Paul's letters shows that none of the three is before or after another.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 13:14. | 2 Corinthians 13:14 |
How the chapter is built
7 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verses 1 to 4 give the warning of the third visit, resting on the rule of two or three witnesses and on the pattern of Christ's weakness and power. Verses 5 to 10 turn the test on the church, with Paul's prayer that they do right and his reason for writing before he comes. Verses 11 to 14 bid farewell, call for peace and one mind, send greetings, and close with the blessing.
Where it stands in the letter
Chapter 12 ended with Paul's fear that he would find quarrels and unrepented sin when he came. Chapter 13 answers that fear with a warning and a way to avoid it. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the farewell of verse 11 also means rejoice, so the letter returns to the joy Paul spoke of in 1:24 (Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 13:11).
The debated reading: the third time
Matthew Henry reads verse 1 as counting Paul's two letters as visits made in writing (Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 13:1). Albert Barnes, following Paley, holds that Paul had been to Corinth only once and had twice resolved to come (Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, on 2 Corinthians 13:1). Adam Clarke reports Calmet's reasons for holding that Paul had already been there twice, the second time on a short visit that Luke does not record (Commentary on the Bible, on 2 Corinthians 13:2).
The debated reading: Christ in you
John Wesley reads verse 5 of what all believers know by the witness and the fruit of the Spirit, and records that some translate it Christ among you, of the miraculous gifts that attended Paul's censures (Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on 2 Corinthians 13:5). John Chrysostom thinks Paul speaks here of the faith that relates to miracles (Homily 29 on 2 Corinthians, on 2 Corinthians 13:5).
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on 2 Corinthians 13:10; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, on 2 Corinthians 13:11 and John Chrysostom, Homily 30 on 2 Corinthians, on 2 Corinthians 13:14.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Frederic Godet, Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians; James Denney, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.