2 Corinthianschapter 1
24 verses · Paul · about AD 56 · Paul's letters
For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.
Introduction
Paul, Paul's letters, 2 Corinthians Overview.
This chapter opens a letter from Paul, with Timothy named beside him, to the church in Corinth and to the believers of the whole province of Achaia. Paul wrote it after a hard season with this church, when some there had come to doubt him. It begins with a greeting and turns at once to praise of God. Listen for the word comfort, which comes again and again in the opening verses. Listen also for a man explaining himself, since the second half answers a charge about a visit he did not make. Hear it as a pastor writing to people he loves.
Context
- Who
- A Corinthian church partly reconciled to Paul, with a faction still hostile.
- What
- The opening of Paul's second letter to Corinth, a blessing of God for comfort in trouble followed by a defence of his changed travel plans.
- Where
- Written from Macedonia to the church in Corinth and to the saints throughout the province of Achaia.
- When
- About AD 55 to 56, soon after the danger in the province of Asia that the chapter describes.
- Why
- To show the church that his sufferings served their comfort, and that he stayed away to spare them and kept his word as God keeps His.
Historical context
Keeping your word about a visit was a matter of honour in the ancient world. A man who announced a journey and then did not come could be accused of being unreliable, of saying yes and no in the same breath, which is the exact charge Paul answers here. Changing plans looked like weakness of character, not scheduling.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The affliction in Asia he refers to was severe enough that he says they despaired of life itself and felt they had received the sentence of death. He does not say what it was; guesses range from mob violence to a life-threatening illness, and the text withholds the detail.
The word he uses over and over in the opening, comfort, encouragement, carries the sense of someone called alongside to strengthen, not merely to console. He turns his own suffering into a resource: what he received he can now give away.
The mention of the Spirit as a down payment in their hearts uses a commercial term for a deposit that guarantees the full amount will follow. Anyone who had bought property or goods knew the word.
Significance
For a congregation that had been at odds with him, the tone of this opening mattered as much as its content. He begins not with a defence but with blessing God as the Father of mercies who comforts us in all our affliction.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
And his explanation for the changed itinerary reframes it entirely: he stayed away to spare them, not because he was fickle. God's promises in Christ are yes, and so, he insists, was his word to them.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
The God of All Comfort and the Sentence of Death in Asia
2 Corinthians 1:1-2
an apostle of Christ Jesus: Paul writes as an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, the phrase that opens Ephesians. He names the source of his office first, since the apostleship this letter defends was God's choice.
2 Corinthians 1:1
“Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,.... The inscription of this epistle is pretty much the same with that of the former; only whereas here he styles himself an apostle of Jesus Christ, there he says he was "called" to be one: for he did not assume that character and office without the call of Christ, and will of God; and which he chooses to mention, in opposition to the false apostles, who had neither.”
Grace and peace to you: Didymus the Blind notes that one grace is named from the Father and the Son together, since the Son gives what the Father gives. The greeting is a prayer.
2 Corinthians 1:2
So then having brought the whole nation together in one, and saluted them with his accustomed greeting, for, saith he, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Homily 1 on 2 Corinthianspatristic
4 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:2
“Grace be to you and peace - See Rom 1:7.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 1:2
“Grace be to you,.... This salutation is the same with that in the former epistle, and is common to all his epistles; See Gill on Rom 1:7.”
2 Corinthians 1:2
“And now he employs the customary greeting, about which has been spoken in other places.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on 2 Corinthianspatristic
2 Corinthians 1:2
“Since the gift of God and of Christ is one and the same, Paul wants them to be partakers in the grace of God, that is, in the grace of Jesus Christ.”
Ambrosiaster · written before 384 · Commentary on Paul's Epistlespatristic
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
the God of all comfort: Verse 4 gives comfort its Greek verb, parakaleo, to call alongside. The purpose clause holds the teaching: He comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble. Comfort received becomes comfort given.
2 Corinthians 1:3
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ - A solemn and beautiful introduction, highly suitable to the apostolical spirit. The Father of mercies, and God of all comfort - Mercies are the fountain of comfort; comfort is the outward expression of mercy. God shows mercy in the affliction itself.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:3
“Now, if the title of Father may be claimed for (Marcion's) sterile god, how much more for the Creator? To none other than Him is it suitable, who is also "the Father of mercies," and (in the prophets) has been described as "full of compassion, and gracious, and plenteous in mercy.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book Vpatristic
so that we can comfort those in any trouble: Comfort is given to be passed on. John Wesley reasons that a man who has known every kind of affliction can comfort others in all.
2 Corinthians 1:4
“Who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them who are in any affliction - He that has experienced one kind of affliction is able to comfort others in that affliction. He that has experienced all kinds of affliction is able to comfort them in all.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Corinthians 1:5-7
the sufferings of Christ overflow to us: , Paul writes, naming his own afflictions as a share in Christ's. In verse 6 his trouble and his comfort are both spent for Corinth: If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.
2 Corinthians 1:5
If as the sufferings of Christ abound so also comfort abounds through Christ, let us welcome the great encouragement of Christ's sufferings and let them abound in us, if we indeed yearn for the abundant comfort with which all who mourn will be comforted, though perhaps it will not be alike for everyone. For if the comfort were alike for everyone, it would not be written, "As the sufferings of Christ abound for us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ."
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Exhortation to Martyrdom 42patristic
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:5
“For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us - As we are called to experience the same sufferings which Christ endured; as we are called to suffer in his cause, and in the promotion of the same object. The sufferings which they endured were in the cause of Christ and his gospel; were endured in endeavoring to advance the same object which Christ sought to promote; and were substantially of the same nature.”
If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation: Both sides of Paul's experience are spent on the church. Matthew Henry draws from the verse that the favours God gives are meant to make us useful to others as well as cheerful ourselves.
2 Corinthians 1:6
“And whether we be afflicted - See on 2Co 1:4 (note). Which is effectual - There is a strange and unusual variation in the MSS. and versions in this passage. Perhaps the whole should be read thus: For if we be afflicted, it is for your encouragement and salvation; and if we be comforted, it is also for your encouragement, which exerted itself by enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. This transposition of the middle and last clauses is authorized by the best MSS. and versions.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
our hope for you is sure: Paul's confidence rests on a shared life. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read a fellowship of comfort between the apostle and the church, matching the fellowship of suffering already there.
2 Corinthians 1:8-9
the hardships we encountered: Paul leaves unnamed the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia, a burden far beyond our ability to endure. Verse 9 names its purpose: under the sentence of death, Paul learned to trust in God, who raises the dead.
2 Corinthians 1:8
"I die daily," (says he); that is, undoubtedly, in the perils of the body, in which "he even fought with beasts at Ephesus," -even with those beasts which caused him such peril and trouble in Asia, to which he alludes in his second epistle to the same church of Corinth: "For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed above measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life."
Tertullian · written before 220 · On the Resurrection of the Fleshpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:8
“Our trouble which came to us in Asia - To what part of his history the apostle refers we know not: some think it is to the Jews lying in wait to kill him, Act 20:3; others, to the insurrection raised against him by Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen, Act 19:23; others, to his fighting with beasts at Ephesus, 1Co 15:32, which they understand literally; and others think that there is a reference here to some persecution which is not recorded in any part of the apostle’s history.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the sentence of death: The word rendered sentence meant a verdict, and Albert Barnes reads it as Paul feeling condemned to die with no hope of acquittal. John Chrysostom adds that the verdict stayed in Paul's expectation and was never carried out. The rescue taught trust in the God who raises the dead.
2 Corinthians 1:9
“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves - Margin, “answer.” The word rendered “sentence” (ἀπόκριμα apokrima) means properly an answer, judicial response, or sentence; and is here synonymous with verdict. It means that Paul felt that he was condemned to die; that he felt as if he were under sentence of death and with no hope of acquittal; he was called to contemplate the hour of death as just before him. The words “in ourselves,” mean, against ourselves; or, we expected certainly to die.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:9
“God's raising the dead is a proof of his almighty power. He that can do this can do any thing, can do all things, and is worthy to be trusted in at all times. Abraham's faith fastened upon this instance of the divine power: He believed God who quickeneth the dead, Rom. iv.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Corinthians 1:10-11
delivered us from such a deadly peril: The Corinthians share Paul's rescue as you help us by your prayers, so their prayers are named as a real means God used. The many who prayed become the many who give thanks.
2 Corinthians 1:10
“WHEN children are learning their grammar, they have to pay particular attention to the tenses of the verbs. And it is also important for Christians to remember their tenses—to remember the past, the present and the future. Our text brings all three very vividly before us and reminds us that God has delivered, does deliver and will yet deliver. First, let us think for a little while concerning the past. How old are you, my Friend? How many of your years have you employed profitably and how many have you allowed to run to waste?”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2718: “The Tenses” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
as you help us by your prayers: The rescue was God's work. John Gill still names the prayers of the saints as helping causes in obtaining it. Matthew Henry draws the lesson that trust in God does not set aside the means He has appointed, and prayer is one of those means.
2 Corinthians 1:11
“Ye also helping together by prayer for us - Tyndale renders this in connection with the close of the previous verse; “we trust that yet hereafter he will deliver us, by the help of your prayer for us.” The word rendered “helping together,” means cooperating, aiding, assisting; and the idea is, that Paul felt that his trials might be turned to good account, and give occasion for thanksgiving; and that this was to be accomplished by the aid of the prayers of his fellow Christians. He felt that the church was one, and that Christians should sympathize with one another.”
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:11
“You also helping together by prayer for us,.... Though the apostle ascribes their deliverance solely to God, as the author and efficient cause of it; yet he takes notice of the prayers of the saints for them, as helping causes or means of their obtaining it.”
Our Conscience Bears Witness: We Wrote Plainly
2 Corinthians 1:12-14
Our conscience testifies: , Paul writes, and his defense against the rival teachers opens with how he has lived. He lived in the holiness and sincerity that are from God, in the grace of God.
2 Corinthians 1:12
“For our rejoicing is this - Ἡ καυχησις. Our boasting, exultation, subject of glorying. The testimony of our conscience - Μαρτυριον της συνειδησεως· That testimony or witness which conscience, under the light and influence of the Spirit of God, renders to the soul of its state, sincerity, safety, etc. In simplicity - Ἁπλοτητι· from α, denoting unity or together, and πελω, to be; or from α, negative, and πολυς, many; not compounded, having one end in view, having no sinister purpose, no by end to answer. Instead of ἁπλοτητι, many MSS. and versions have ἁγιοτητι, holiness.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:12
“Some of the oldest manuscripts and versions, however, support it. godly sincerity--literally, "sincerity of God"; that is, sincerity as in the presence of God (1Co 5:8). We glory in this in spite of all our adversities. Sincerity in Greek implies the non-admixture of any foreign element.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
beyond your ability to read and understand: Paul answers a charge that his letters hid a second meaning. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take him to mean that the Corinthians could compare his letters and his conduct and find them agree.
2 Corinthians 1:13
“I would translate, "None other things than what ye know by reading (by comparing my former Epistle with my present Epistle), or even know as a matter of fact (namely, the consistency of my acts with my words)." even to the end--of my life.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
already understood us in part: Paul says the Corinthians have already understood us in part, which may mean that only part of the church yet stood with him. The boasting on both sides waits for the day of our Lord Jesus.
2 Corinthians 1:14
Hence arises the difference of tone in different parts of this Epistle. See Introduction. your rejoicing--your subject of glorying or boast. "Are" (not merely shall be) implies the present recognition of one another as a subject of mutual glorying: that glorying being about to be realized in its fulness "in the day (of the coming) of the Lord Jesus."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:14
“Have acknowledged us in part - Απο μερους may signify here not in part, but some of you; and it is evident, from the distracted state of the Corinthians, and the opposition raised there against the apostle, that it was only a part of them that did acknowledge him, and receive and profit by his epistles and advice. We are your rejoicing, etc. - You boast of us as the ministers of Christ through whom ye have believed; as we boast of you as genuine converts to the Christian faith, and worthy members of the Church of God.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Not Yes and No: Why Paul Changed His Route
2 Corinthians 1:15-17
I planned to visit you first: Paul had planned to visit you first, on his way to Macedonia and again on the return. The plan changed, and Paul puts the charge in his own words before his critics can, asking whether he planned carelessly or by human standards.
2 Corinthians 1:15
“And in his confidence - In this confidence of my integrity, and that you had this favorable opinion of me, and appreciated the principles of my conduct. I did not doubt that you would receive me kindly, and would give me again the tokens of your affection and regard. In this Paul shows that however some of them might regard him, yet that he had no doubt that the majority of the church there would receive him kindly. I was minded - I willed (ἐβουλόμην eboulomēn); it was my intention.”
to return to you from Macedonia: The first plan gave Corinth two visits, one on the way north and one on the way back. Albert Barnes notes that Corinth lay off the direct road from Ephesus to Macedonia, so the plan was a detour made for their sake. The route ended in Judea.
2 Corinthians 1:16
“To pass by you into Macedonia - He had purposed to go to Macedonia first, and then from Macedonia return to them, and probably winter in Corinth. Therefore we must understand the δι’ ὑμων, by you, as implying that he would sail up the Aegean Sea, leaving Corinth to the west; though he might have taken it in his way, and have gone by land through Greece up to Macedonia.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
did I do it carelessly?: The word rendered carelessly meant lightness, and Albert Barnes gives it the sense of fickleness. John Gill notes that Paul had spoken of coming only if the Lord willed, so a changed plan broke no promise. Paul asks the question his critics were asking.
2 Corinthians 1:17
“When I therefore was thus minded - When I formed this purpose; when I willed this, and expressed this intention. Did I use lightness? - The word ἐλαφρια elaphria (from ἐλαφρός elaphros) means properly lightness in weight. Here it is used in reference to the mind; and in a sense similar to our word levity, as denoting lightness of temper or conduct; inconstancy, changeableness, or fickleness.”
2 Corinthians 1:18-20
as surely as God is faithful: Paul grounds his consistency in God's character, as surely as God is faithful. Verse 20 states the doctrine the defense was leading to: all the promises of God find their Yes in Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:18
“But as God is true - Setting the God of truth before my eyes, I could not act in this way: and as sure as he is true, so surely were my purposes sincere; and it was only my uncertainty about your state that induced me to postpone my visit. See 2Co 1:23.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
in Him it has always been: Paul moves from his travel plans to the Christ he preached. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the unchanging Son of God as proof that the message about Him cannot change either.
all the promises of God: John Wesley reads the Yes as God's side of each promise and the Amen as the answer of those who believe it. John Chrysostom names the promises he has in mind, the resurrection, incorruption and the rewards to come. None of them wavers.
2 Corinthians 1:20
“The whole range of Old Testament and New Testament promises are secure in their fulfilment for us in Christ. unto the glory of God by us--Greek, "for glory unto God by us" (compare 2Co 4:15), that is, by our ministerial labors; by us His promises, and His unchangeable faithfulness to them, are proclaimed.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:20
“For all the promises of God are yea and amen in him - Are surely established in and through him. They are yea with respect to God promising; amen, with respect to men believing; yea, with respect to the apostles; amen, with respect to their hearers.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 Corinthians 1:20
“If in the promises that the ministers of the gospel make as common men, and about their own affairs, they see cause sometimes to vary from them, yet the promises of the gospel covenant, which they preach, stand firm and inviolable. Bad men are false; good men are fickle; but God is true, neither fickle nor false.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 Corinthians 1:21-22
God who establishes both us and you: Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ, and every verb that follows names God. The Spirit in our hearts is His pledge, arrabon, a commercial term for a down payment that guarantees the full sum to come.
2 Corinthians 1:21
“Having received the sacraments, you have fully understood everything that you were baptized in the name of the Trinity. In all that we have done, the mystery of the Trinity has been preserved. Everywhere, there is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one operation, one sanctification, although some things may seem special. How? God who anointed you, and sealed you, and placed the Holy Spirit in your heart. Therefore, you have received the Holy Spirit in your heart.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On the Sacraments, Book 6, Chapter 2patristic
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:21
“Now he which stablisheth us - He who makes us firm (ὁ βέβαιῶν ἡμᾶς ho bebaiōn hēmas); that is, he who has confirmed us in the hopes of the gospel, and who gives us grace to be faithful, and firm in our promises. The object of this is to trace all to God, and to prevent the appearance of self-confidence, or of boasting. Paul had dwelt at length on his own fidelity and veracity. He had taken pains to prove that he was not inconstant and fickle-minded.”
2 Corinthians 1:21
“I say, to the glory of God - For it is God alone that is able to fulfil these promises. That establisheth us - Apostles and teachers. With you - All true believers.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
as a pledge of what is to come: A first payment promised the rest. John Wesley separates a pledge, handed back when the debt is paid, from an earnest, which is kept and completed. Augustine of Hippo writes that we receive a little of the Spirit's gifts in this life to teach us to long for their fullness.
2 Corinthians 1:22
“Who also hath sealed us - Stamping his image on our hearts, thus marking and sealing us as his own property. And given us the earnest of his Spirit - There is a difference between an earnest and a pledge. A pledge is to be restored when the debt is paid; but an earnest is not taken away, but completed.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:22
“Who hath also sealed us - Not only deeply impressed His truth and image upon our hearts; but, by the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, attested the truth of our extraordinary unction or calling to the ministry. And given the earnest of the Spirit - Τον αρραβωνα του Πνευματος. From this unction and sealing we have a clear testimony in our souls, the Divine Spirit dwelling constantly in us, of our acceptance with God, and that our ways please him.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 Corinthians 1:22
“What shall we say then? Has not the flesh even now (in this life) the spirit by faith? so that the question still remains to be asked, how it is that the animate (or natural) body can be said to be sown? Surely the flesh has received even here the spirit-but only its "earnest; " whereas of the soul (it has received) not the earnest, but the full possession.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On the Resurrection of the Fleshpatristic
2 Corinthians 1:22
“The Holy Spirit is given to the believer now as a first instalment to assure him his full inheritance as a son of God shall be his hereafter (Eph 1:13, 14). "Sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession" (Ro 8:23). The Spirit is the pledge of the fulfilment of "all the promises" (2Co 1:20).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Corinthians 1:23-24
I call God as my witness: Paul puts the delay under an oath: it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. Verse 24 sets the limit of his authority, because it is by faith that you stand firm.
2 Corinthians 1:23
“I call God for a record upon my soul - Was not St. Paul now speaking by the Spirit? And can a more solemn oath be conceived? Who then can imagine that Christ ever designed to forbid all swearing?”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:23
“I came not as yet--Greek, "no longer"; that is, I gave up my purpose of then visiting Corinth. He wished to give them time for repentance, that he might not have to use severity towards them.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 Corinthians 1:23
“He assures them that this is the true reason, after this very solemn manner: I call God for a record upon my soul --a way of speaking not justifiable where used in trivial matters; but this was very justifiable in the apostle, for his necessary vindication, and for the credit and usefulness of his ministry, which was struck at by his opposers.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Not that we lord it over your faith: Paul softens the oath of the verse before. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that he claimed authority in discipline, while in matters of faith he was only a helper of their joy. John Chrysostom observes that he wrote your faith rather than you, since no one can compel belief.
2 Corinthians 1:24
“Not for that we have dominion over your faith - I will not come to exercise my apostolical authority in punishing them who have acted sinfully and disorderly; for this would be to several of you a cause of distress, the delinquents being friends and relatives; but I hope to come to promote your joy, to increase your spiritual happiness, by watering the seed which I have already sowed. This I think to be the meaning of the apostle.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
2 Corinthians 1:24
“Not that we have dominion over your faith - This is the prerogative of God alone. But are helpers of your joy - And faith from which it springs. For by faith ye have stood - To this day.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: A solemn introduction of blessing to God, suited to the spirit of an apostle, as Wesley classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Comfort, nine times in five verses | In the Berean text a word of the comfort family stands nine times in verses 3 to 7: once in verse 3, three times in verse 4, once in verse 5, three times in verse 6 and once in verse 7. The site's published exposition of verses 3 and 4 gives the Greek verb behind it and reads comfort as a calling alongside. The repetition carries the paragraph's point, that comfort received from God becomes comfort given to others.This site's published exposition of 2 Corinthians 1:3, The exposition_notes row on 2 Corinthians 1:3 to 4, citing Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible. | 2 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:4, 2 Corinthians 1:6 |
| Delivered, and will deliver | Verse 10 names one rescue three times, first as past and then twice as future: He will yet again deliver us. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the oldest manuscripts read will deliver in the middle clause, which is why the Berean text has two futures after the past. Charles Spurgeon preached the verse as a lesson in tenses, teaching believers to remember the past, the present and the future of God's help.Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2718, "The Tenses", on 2 Corinthians 1:10. | 2 Corinthians 1:10 |
| Yes and No | Yes stands six times and No four times in the Berean text of verses 17 to 20. The pair begins as a charge about Paul's travel plans at verse 17 and ends at verse 20 as a statement about Christ, in whom every promise of God is Yes. John Chrysostom reads the turn as Paul answering the fear that his preaching might waver as his journeys had.John Chrysostom, Homily 3 on 2 Corinthians, on 2 Corinthians 1:18. | 2 Corinthians 1:17, 2 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Corinthians 1:19, 2 Corinthians 1:20 |
| Four works of God | Verses 21 and 22 name four acts with God as their subject: He establishes, He anointed, He placed His seal, and He put His Spirit in our hearts. Ambrose of Milan reads the verses as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit at work in one operation. The list ends Paul's defence by resting the standing of the church, and his own, on God.Ambrose of Milan, On the Sacraments, Book 6, Chapter 2, on 2 Corinthians 1:21. | 2 Corinthians 1:21, 2 Corinthians 1:22 |
How the chapter is built
7 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verses 1 and 2 give the greeting. Verses 3 to 7 bless the God of all comfort. Verses 8 to 11 tell of the danger in Asia and of the church's prayers. Verses 12 to 14 state Paul's boast, a clear conscience in his dealings with them. Verses 15 to 22 answer the charge over his changed plans by the faithfulness of God, and verses 23 and 24 give his reason for staying away.
Where it stands in the letter
The chapter opens the letter and picks up a promise left open at 1 Corinthians 16:5, the visit Paul said he would make. Its last two verses run straight into 2:1 to 4, where he explains the painful visit he chose not to repeat and the letter he wrote instead. The comfort of verses 3 to 7 returns at 7:6 and 7, when Titus reaches Paul in Macedonia.
The debated reading: the trouble in Asia
Paul does not name the danger of verse 8. Adam Clarke lists the readings: the plot of Acts 20:3, the riot raised by Demetrius in Acts 19, the fight with beasts at Ephesus of 1 Corinthians 15:32, or a persecution recorded nowhere else (Commentary on the Bible, on 2 Corinthians 1:8). John Wesley thinks it probably the trouble of Acts 19 (Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on 2 Corinthians 1:8). Tertullian ties it to the beasts at Ephesus (On the Resurrection of the Flesh, on 2 Corinthians 1:8). Matthew Henry leaves the question open, since Paul was in deaths often (Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 1:8). The page settles none of them.
The debated reading: yes, yes and no, no
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set out Alford's reading of verse 17, that Paul asks whether he affirms and denies the same thing, and judge that the doubled words stand for a single yes and no as at Matthew 5:37 (Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, on 2 Corinthians 1:17). John Chrysostom reads verse 18 as Paul turning from his journeys to his preaching, which never wavered (Homily 3 on 2 Corinthians, on 2 Corinthians 1:18).
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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 context
Charles Hodge, An Exposition of 2 Corinthians; Charles Spurgeon, My Grace Is Sufficient (sermon) and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.
The form and classifications
Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2657, "All the Promises", on 2 Corinthians 1:20; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on 2 Corinthians 1:3 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 2 Corinthians, on 2 Corinthians 1:1.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Corinthians; Augustine of Hippo; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Didymus the Blind, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; Frederic Godet, Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians; John Chrysostom; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 292.