AFTER Paul had written and sent his first letter to the Corinthian church, in addition to the anxious concern which he continued to feel on account of those difficulties and dissensions which were the occasion of his writing, he could not but be solicitous in respect to the manner in which they would receive his expostulations and reproofs. He was then at Ephesus, and intended to remain there (1 Cor. 16:8) for some time longer; but, being compelled to leave the city by the violent hostility of Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen, (Acts 19:23 to 20:1,) he travelled north, towards Macedonia, looking for the return of Titus, whom he is supposed to have sent to Corinth, and from whom he expected to hear tidings of that church, especially in reference to the reception of his First Epistle. (2 Cor. 2:13.)

      When he arrived in Macedonia, he met Titus, (2 Cor. 7:5-7,) who informed him of the favorable reception of his Epistle, and of the salutary effects which it had produced. This Second Epistle was, accordingly, written from Macedonia, after receiving the report of Titus. Its object was to express the satisfaction which Paul felt in the manner in which his former reproofs had been received, and in the marks of repentance and reformation which they had manifested; and, also, to communicate to them other instructions on various subjects, such as the circumstances of their case seemed to require.

      1. And Timothy. It would seem, from the circumstance that the name of Timothy is here associated with that of Paul, that he did not go to Corinth, as Paul had intended, (1 Cor. 4:17, 18,) but that he went only to Macedonia, and remained there until Paul joined him. In fact, Paul intimates a doubt whether he would actually reach Corinth, in his allusion to the subject in 1 Cor. 16:10. His primary destination was Macedonia, as is stated in the account in the Acts. (19:21, 22.)--Achaia; the province of which Corinth was the capital. [396]

      4. Our tribulation. Paul, and probably Timothy with him, had been exposed to great danger at Ephesus, (Acts 19:23-41;) and his mind appears to have been oppressed at this time with much anxiety and dejection. (Compare v. 8, 2:13.)

      8. Asia; that province of Asia Minor of which Ephesus was the capital. See 1 Pet. 1:1, where it is enumerated with the other provinces.--Pressed, by the violent hostility of enemies.

      9. Sentence of death in ourselves; a strong presentiment that we should not escape death.

      12. Fleshly wisdom; human wisdom.--Had our conversation; regulated our conduct.--More abundantly, more especially.

      13. Read or acknowledge; know or acknowledge. The word read would seem to be used, in this connection, in a sense analogous to that in which the word hear is often employed; as in John 8:43.

      14. In part; in some degree.--Are--ours; are to be ours. The apostle expresses a similar sentiment, in another of his Epistles. (1 Thess.2:19.)

      15. In this confidence; namely, his confidence in their regard and attachment to him.--I was minded to come; I had intended to come.--A second [397] benefit. He had already once visited Corinth, when he first planted the gospel there.

      17. Did I use lightness? was it through lightness or fickleness of mind that I did not carry this design into effect?--According to the flesh; insincerely and dishonestly, as men often do.--Yea, yea, and nay, nay; one thing in promise and profession, and another in secret design.

      19. Silvanus; Silas, who is often mentioned in the Acts as Paul's companion in labor and suffering.

      20. In him; in Christ.--Are yea, are faithful and true.

      21. Anointed us; consecrated us to his service; anointing having been, in ancient times, a ceremony of consecration.

      22. The earnest of the Spirit; the influences of the Spirit, as the earnest and pledge of the faithful fulfilment of the divine covenant.

      23. To spare you, &c. The idea seems to be, that his reason for not going to them, as he had intended, was to spare them the pain of a personal interview under the peculiar circumstances of the case.

      24. The meaning is, that he disavows, on the part of himself and Timothy, all authority to exercise spiritual dominion over them; their province was only to aid and guide them in their efforts to attain eternal life.

      1. In heaviness; in sadness.

      2. He wished to regard his spiritual children as the source of joy and happiness to him, and accordingly he did not wish to be the means of giving pain to them.

      3. That my joy is the joy of you all, that my enjoyment consists in promoting and witnessing yours.

      4. I wrote unto you; referring to his former Epistle.

      5. It is generally supposed that the [398] individual whose case is considered in 1 Cor. 5: is referred to in this passage. (5-8.) The meaning of this verse is not clear. The idea may be, that the pain which that case had given the apostle was only a partial and temporary interruption to the joy and satisfaction which the church at Corinth had generally afforded him.

      6. It would seem that Paul had learned, perhaps through Titus, (see ch. 7:5-7,) that the church had exercised towards this offending member the discipline which he had recommended in the former Epistle.

      7. Ye ought rather to forgive him; that is, ye ought now to forgive him.

      8. Confirm; restore and establish.

      11. Get an advantage; by retaining in his kingdom one, who, being penitent, ought now to be restored to the kingdom of Christ. (Compare 1 Cor. 5:5.)

      12. Troas was on the coast near the north-eastern corner of the Egean Sea, on the way from Ephesus to Macedonia.

      13. I had no rest in my spirit. He felt so solicitous to hear from Corinth that he could not continue in his work at Troas, although a favorable opportunity for effort seemed to be open there before him. He accordingly went on into Macedonia, hoping to find Titus there.

      14. In every place; that is, wherever we go. Though he left a favorable opening for usefulness in Troas he found that he was made the instrument of disseminating the knowledge of God in Macedonia.

      15. We are unto God a sweet savor; our labors and instrumentality are acceptable to God.

      16. The savor of death unto death; by being the means of greatly aggravating their sin. For the guilt and condemnation of the sinner is in proportion to the light and the privileges which he enjoys.--For these things; for such high responsibilities. [399]

      1. Do we begin? must we begin? is it necessary?

      2. The meaning is, that the feelings of attachment and regard which subsisted between Paul and the Corinthian church were universally known.

      3. The epistle of Christ ministered by us; the work of Christ, performed by our instrumentality.--Tables; tablets.

      4. Such trust; such confidence.--Through Christ to God-ward; in God through Christ.

      6. Not of the letter; not of the written law, that is, of the Old Testament dispensation.--Of the spirit; off the gospel, which had yet been communicated thus far chiefly by direct spiritual influences, and not by written records.--Killeth; denounces death.

      7. The ministration of death; the ministration of that covenant which denounced death.--In stones; referring to the two tables of stone on which the ten commandments were written.--Was glorious; in respect to the circumstances of its first promulgation. Allusion is here made to the account recorded in Ex. 34:29, 30.--Was to be done away; was temporary and transient.

      8. The ministration of the Spirit, that is, of the gospel promulgated by the agency of the Spirit.

      10. No glory in this respect; that is, in comparison with the glory of the new dispensation.

      13. Put a veil over his face; symbolical of the mystery under which spiritual truth was veiled, in the old dispensation; so that the children of Israel could not understand the true end and design of these temporary ordinances, which were enjoined upon them. [400]

      14. Which veil is done away; which mystery is solved.

      16. When it shall turn; that is, when the heart of the children of Israel shall turn.

      17. That Spirit; the spirit spoken of in v. 6,--namely, the spiritual dispensation. The Lord is the foundation and support of it.--Liberty; freedom from the darkness and bondage in which the soul had often been enveloped under the old dispensation.

      1. This ministry; the charge of the new and glorious dispensation referred to in the last chapter.

      3. Is hid; remains unknown; is not received.

      7. Earthen vessels; it is committed to an obscure and unworthy instrumentality.--May be of God; may appear evidently to be of God.

      10. Bearing about in the body, &c.; continually exemplifying in our lives that endurance of suffering which characterized the life of the Savior. The word dying is put for suffering, in antithesis to the word life. Cases of this kind often occur among the sacred writers, where words are used in one or the other of the parallel clauses of a sentence, with some latitude of meaning, in order to preserve a contrast of expression in the two clauses. For examples, see the word hate, in Matt. 6:24, and in Rom. 9:13.

      11. Delivered unto death; exposed to death. [401]

      12. The meaning is, we give ourselves up to the power and dominion of death, that spiritual life may be bestowed upon you.

      13. The same--according as it is written; that is, the same spirit with that referred to in the passage in which it is written, &c. (Ps. 116:10.)

      15. Of many; of the many saved by it.

      16. We faint not, we are not discouraged.--Our outward man; that which pertains to present and temporal welfare.--The inward man; the soul, in respect to its spiritual interests.

      17. Light affliction; light in comparison with the glory which shall follow.

      18. We look not at; we do not regard.--The things which are seen; the things relating to this life, that is, the sufferings of which he had been speaking.

      1. Of this tabernacle. A tabernacle is a tent,--that is, a movable and temporary dwelling,--and hence is an appropriate image of the frailty and transitoriness of the mortal body.

      2. We groan; under the burdens of anxiety and suffering.--To be clothed upon; to be invested with, or received into.

      3. The meaning seems to be, if we shall be so happy as to be thus clothed and not left destitute and naked.

      4. Not for that we would be unclothed, &c. The feeling is not impatience to leave this scene of painful and laborious duty; but rather a desire to enjoy the happiness of the new spiritual existence.

      5. The earnest of the Spirit; the influences of the Spirit as the earnest, or pledge of the divine love.

      6. Are at home in; reside in. [402]

      7. We walk; that is, we live and act.

      8. Confident; strong in our hope of life and happiness beyond the grave, and in our desire to attain to it,--referring apparently to the earnest desire alluded to v. 2. The term is explained in v. 8.

      10. Receive the things, &c.; receive according to the things, &c.

      11. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord; experiencing the fear of the Lord,--that is, being influenced by it,--we are faithful in our duty of persuading men.--Are made manifest unto God; our fidelity is fully known to him. The latter clause of the verse would seem to refer to false teachers in the Corinthian church, whose piety was apparent only, not heartfelt and sincere.

      13. Be beside ourselves; be carried away with ardent zeal.

      16. Know we no man after the flesh, we do not regard, or attach importance to, the earthly conditions and relations of men.--Though we have known Christ, &c.; though we have, in former times, had worldly and carnal ideas of the person and mission of Christ. Such is perhaps the meaning, though the passage has been greatly controverted.

      18. All things are of God; the change, eat as it is, is wholly the work of god.--The ministry of [403] reconciliation; the commission to offer reconciliation.

      21. To be sin for us; to be condemned for us,--subject to the terrible penalties of sin in our stead.--Made the righteousness of God; made subjects of the righteousness of God.

      1. The grace of God; the favor referred to above, that is, the offer of reconciliation and pardon.

      2. He saith; Isa. 49:8.

      3. The ministry; the ministry, or instrumentality to which the gospel was intrusted, including probably here the whole body of believers.

      7. On the right hand and on the left; protected by it on all sides.

      8. By honor, &c.; whether our course leads through honor or dishonor.--As deceivers; as supposed deceivers, that is, being so regarded by men.

      12. Not--in us, &c.; ye are not straitened in our affection for you, but in your own regard and affection forms.

      13. For a recompense; that is, that they might make a suitable return for his kindness and love for them.

      14. Unequally yoked together; joined with them in any of the pursuits or associations of life. This prohibition is often, though without reason, supposed to refer specially to marriage. It seems, however, to be more general in its meaning, referring to connections of every kind.--Unbelievers; idolatrous heathen. The term, as used here, cannot justly be considered as intended to include individuals not professedly pious in a Christian land. (See 1 Cor. 7:39.) [404]

      17. The unclean thing; the sinful pursuits and pleasures of the idolatrous world around them.

      2. Receive us; receive our instructions and admonitions.

      4. The comfort and joy spoken of by the apostle in this verse, is that which resulted from the intelligence which Titus brought him, as explained in v. 6, 7.

      5. Fightings; the encountering of opposition and hostility.

      8. With a letter; with his first Epistle to them, which was filled with reproofs.--I did repent; I did regret the necessity of sending, such a communication.

      10. Worketh--death,--worketh evil; that is, it is mere suffering, conducive to no good end. [405]

      11. Indignation; earnest disapprobation of the sins which the apostle had exposed.--Revenge. The words revenge and vengeance are often used, in the New Testament, in the sense of the execution of judgment. The apostle seems to refer particularly to their promptness in punishing the person whose case is the subject of consideration in 1 Cor. 5:

      12. For his cause that suffered wrong. It is uncertain to whom Paul refers in this expression. It may be to himself, as injured by the reproach which the case brought indirectly upon him; or it may be to some individual at Corinth injured by the offence. The meaning is, that he was not governed by any personal considerations, but by regard for the general welfare of the church.

      13. Your comfort; comfort in you, that is, in the intelligence which Titus brought respecting you.

      1. We do you to wit; we make known to you.

      2. In a great trial; in a time of great trial.

      3. To their power; to the extent of their power.

      4. The fellowship of the ministering, &c.; the charge of conveying the contribution to those for whom it was intended.

      5. Not as we hoped; not merely as much as we hoped.

      6. Finish in you the same grace, call upon you to finish the work, by your contributions. [406]

      7. In this grace; liberality.

      8. The forwardness of others; the readiness and zeal of others, that is, of the churches in Macedonia.

      9. The grace; the goodness and mercy.

      15. This language refers to the gathering of the manna. (Ex. 16:18,) and is used here as illustrative of the nature of Christian liberality.

      17. The exhortation; the request which I made that he would go to you.

      18. The brother, whose praise, &c. It is not known to whom Paul here refers. Some conjecture that it was Luke; others, Mark; others, Silas or Barnabas.

      19. This grace; this gift; that is, the contribution before referred to.--And declaration of your ready mind; that is, to the manifestation of your ready liberality.

      20. In this abundance; in respect to this property, namely, the money contributed.

      21. For honest things; things reputable, free from all appearance of wrong.

      22. Our brother. There are no means of ascertaining what individual is here referred to. [407]

      23. Whether any, &c.; if any.

      24. And of our boasting, &c.; that is, show that the praises we have given you were deserved.

      1 . The ministering to the saints; the contribution of which he had been speaking.--It is superfluous; that is, perhaps it is superfluous; I might consider it so.

      2. The forwardness of your mind; our readiness and liberality.--Achaia. Paul often uses the term Achaia, instead of Corinth, in these Epistles, as if he intended to address the Christians of the province, as well as those of the city. Perhaps he designed particularly to include the church in Cenchrea, a seaport near Corinth, which is repeatedly alluded to. (Rom. 16:1. Acts 18:18.)--A year ago. Paul had written to them on this subject in his former Epistle. Some have supposed that there was an interval of about a year between the two communications.--Provoked,--incited, stimulated; that is, to imitation.

      3. The brethren; those referred to in the last chapter. (16-18, 22.)--In this behalf; in this respect.

      4. Confident boasting; the confident assurances which he had given the Macedonians that the churches of Achaia were ready to contribute liberally.

      5. Make up beforehand; have it collected beforehand.--As a matter of bounty, &c.; that is, made in a liberal, not in a covetous spirit.

      7. As he purposeth in his heart; as he himself, of his own accord, desires and intends.--Or of necessity; under any species of compulsion.

      9. This language, descriptive of the character of the benevolent man, is quoted from Ps. 112:9. [408]

      10. He that ministereth seed to the sower; he who is the Fountain and Source of all human supplies.

      12. Of this service; that is, the contribution.--But is abundant also, &c.; that is, it promotes the giving of glory to God by thanksgiving and praise in the manner specified in the following verses.

      13. By the experiment; the experience; that is, by being the objects of it, and enjoying the relief which it affords.

      14. Which long after you; with feelings of affection and gratitude.

      15. We shall not be surprised at the indications of great interest and solicitude, on the part of the apostle, manifest in all that he says in this and in the preceding chapter, in respect to this contribution, when we consider that, in endeavoring to accomplish such a measure, he was carrying out the principles of Christianity into an entirely new and untried field. At the present age of the world, and in Christian lands, we cannot well appreciate the novelty and boldness of such an undertaking as the attempt, at that day, to induce an extended and continued contribution of money, from the middle and lower classes of society, to raise a fund for the relief of sufferers perhaps a thousand miles remote from them, and whom they had never seen; and to combine, too, for this purpose, two distant provinces, having no connection with each other whatever, except the bonds of a spiritual sympathy. These contributions for the distressed Christians at Jerusalem (compare Acts 11:29, 30) were demonstrating the power of Christianity to produce results which the world had never witnessed before, and successful as they were, they became the germ and the beginning of the great principle of organized and combined benevolence, which has since, in every age, been one of the most marked and striking characteristics of Christianity.

      1. Am base. This expression is supposed to refer to some personal peculiarities of the apostle, such as have often characterized men of uncommon intellect, and which are more distinctly alluded to in v. 10.

      2. That I may not be bold; that I may not have cause to be bold.--Confidence; severity.--Walked according to the flesh; acted in an unchristian manner.

      3. Walk in the flesh; have our sphere of labor and warfare in this world. [409]

      6. To revenge; to condemn and punish.

      10. Say they; that is, the enemies of Paul among the Corinthians.--His bodily presence, &c. Tradition states that Paul was small of stature, pale and emaciated in countenance, and of a form bent and unsymmetrical. This seems to have been made matter of reproach against him by his enemies.

      13. The measure of the rule; the extent of the commission.

      14. Beyond our measure; beyond our proper sphere.

      15. That we shall be enlarged by you, &c. The meaning, is that, when their faith was established, he hoped that, through their instrumentality, there would be an extension of the kingdom of Christ into the surrounding regions.

      2. Jealous; watchful and solicitous. [410] --I have espoused you, &c.; from his peculiar relation to them as their spiritual father, he felt himself responsible in some sense for their purity, and for their preparation for a final union with Christ.

      4. He that cometh; referring probably to other teachers who came and attempted to supersede Paul in his influence and ascendency over the church.--Preacheth another Jesus; that is, if there were really another Jesus to preach. The idea is, that, if they imagined that there could be two Saviors, two spirits, and two gospels, then they might have some reason for listening to one who came to form and lead among them a new influence diverse from that of Paul.

      6. Rude in speech; unskilful in oratory.--Made manifest; made known; that is, they had had abundant opportunities to try and prove his character.

      7. In abasing myself; referring to his laborious services, and the reproach and danger which he had incurred in their behalf.

      8. I robbed other churches, that is, I took from them, as is specified in the next verse.

      10. In the, regions of Achaia. For certain reasons intimated in v. 12, Paul appears to have been particularly unwilling to receive any pecuniary aid from the churches in Achaia. It was in Corinth that he labored in his occupation of tent-maker, (Acts 18:3;) and from this passage it appears that, though he was willing to receive supplies from the Macedonian Christians he would not do it from those of Corinth. We often have occasion thus to observe that the apostolical arrangements were not conformed to any settled and uniform system, but were accommodated to the varying circumstances of each individual case.

      11. The idea is, that his unwillingness to receive pecuniary aid from them, did not arise from want of affection or confidence, but from other reasons.

      12. That wherein they glory, inasmuch as they glory.--They may be found, &c.; they may feel bound to follow my example in this respect. [411]

      15. His ministers; his servants; those who execute his purposes.

      16. Receive me, that I may boast; allow me to boast.

      17. After the Lord; after or according to the proper spirit of a follower of the Lord.

      20. Smite you on the face; treat you in the most injurious and insolent manner.

      21. This language is obscure; no satisfactory explanation of it has been given.

      22. Are they; that is, the enemies who had attempted to supplant him at Corinth.

      23. Above measure; above the measure of such sufferings inflicted upon them.--In deaths; in imminent exposure to death.

      24. Forty--save one. By a command recorded in Deut. 25:2, 3, the punishment of scourging is limited to forty stripes. It was the custom of the Jews to stop short, by one, of the permitted number, in token of their desire to keep unquestionably within the law. Very few of the instances of suffering and danger here referred to are mentioned in the book of the Acts.

      25. With rods. One case of this nature is mentioned Acts 16:22, 23.--Stoned; Acts 14:19. Besides this, the apostle, on another occasion, narrowly escaped being stoned. (Acts 14:5.)--Shipwreck. He suffered shipwreck after this, on his voyage to Rome, (Acts 27:) which makes four instances in which he encountered this terrible form of danger.--In the deep; floating in the sea, sustained by some frail support, probably after shipwreck.

      27. In reading this formidable catalogue of perils and calamities, [412] (24-27,) we cannot but be impressed with the care of divine Providence manifested in the wonderful preservation of the apostle through a series of dangers of so extraordinary a number and character. We must remember, too, that the apostle persisted in a course of life which uniformly led to these results, in simple attestation of the fact of his supernatural interview with the Savior, as recorded Acts 9:3-8, and as repeatedly narrated and alluded to by himself. (Acts 22:6-11. 26:12-19. 1 Cor. 9:1.) This interview was the origin and foundation of his belief. The circumstances were such that he could not have been mistaken in regard to it, and the description which he here gives of the mode of life which he had led in consequence of his testimony, is evidence, which it would be difficult to question, that he was honest and sincere. So that here is a point where the question of the miraculous origin of Christianity is brought within a very narrow compass.

      28. The care; that is, the solicitude and interest which he felt in them all.

      29. Burn not; am not troubled. The idea is, that he felt in himself every reproach or suffering which affected any brother Christian.

      30. Infirmities; dangers and sufferings.

      32. In Damascus, &c. The apostle here mentions a case of imminent danger that he had incurred, which had been omitted in the preceding enumeration.--Kept the city--with a garrison; guarded the gates with armed men. This was done at the instigation of the. Jews, as would appear from the account of Luke. (Acts 9:24, 25.)

      2. A man in Christ; a Christian, referring doubtless to himself.--Caught up; suddenly transported.--The third heaven; the spiritual heaven, the abode of the blessed. It is often thus designated by Jewish writers, to distinguish it from the region of the clouds, which they called the first heaven, and that of the heavenly bodies, which was the second. It is called paradise in v. 4.

      4. Commentators have indulged themselves in many fanciful speculations in regard to this statement respecting the entrance of the apostle into the spiritual world. We are not, [413] however, authorized to add any thing to the account here given, or to understand by it any thing more than Paul intended that this language should distinctly convey; which is, simply, that he received a special mark and token of the divine favor, in being admitted to an unusual communication with the spiritual world, of the nature and circumstances of which, however, he purposely withholds all information.

      5. Of such a one; of one receiving such a proof of the divine regard.--Of myself; of my own personal character and actions.

      7. The abundance of the revelations; the greatness and extraordinariness of the revelation referred to above.--A thorn in the flesh; some peculiar and long-continued temptation or trial, the nature of which he chose to conceal.

      12. Were wrought among you; that is, by him, when he went first to plant the gospel among them.

      13. This wrong; if this be a wrong, forgive it.

      14. The third time I am ready, &c. Once he had been among them; a second time he had intended to go, but circumstances had prevented. This, therefore, was the third time of his forming such a design.--The children. They were his children in a spiritual sense.

      15. Though the more, &c.; that is, even though it should be so.

      16. Be it so, I did not, &c.; that is, perhaps it is so said, namely, that I did not burden you, but being crafty, &c. The verses which follow [414] contain his reply to this supposed charge.

      19. That we excuse ourselves; that we wish to defend ourselves.

      1. I am coming; that I have formed the intention of coming.--In the mouth, &c.; Deut. 19:15. In a manner somewhat analogous, he was to bear his repeated testimony before them.

      3. Of Christ speaking in me; of my claim to authority from Christ. Which; that is, Christ.

      4. Through weakness; in his state of humiliation.

      5. Reprobates; sinners guilty and condemned.

      7. Not that we should, &c.; that is, not for that purpose.--As reprobates, so regarded.

      10. Should use sharpness; should feel urged to reproach, you with even greater severity. [415]

[AINT 396-416]