《The Pulpit Commentaries–2 Corinthians (Vol. 1)》(Joseph S. Exell)

Contents and the Editors

One of the largest and best-selling homiletical commentary sets of its kind. Directed by editors Joseph Exell and Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones, The Pulpit Commentary drew from over 100 authors over a 30 year span to assemble this conservative and trustworthy homiletical commentary set. A favorite of pastors for nearly 100 years, The Pulpit Commentary offers you ideas and insight on "How to Preach It" throughout the entire Bible.

This in-depth commentary brings together three key elements for better preaching:

  • Exposition-with thorough verse-by-verse commentary of every verse in the Bible.
  • Homiletics-with the "framework" or the "big picture" of the text.
  • Homilies-with four to six sermons sample sermons from various authors.

In addition, this set also adds detailed information on biblical customs as well as historical and geographical information, and translations of key Hebrew and Greek words to help you add spice to your sermon.

All in all, The Pulpit Commentary has over 22,000 pages and 95,000 entries from a total of 23 volumes. The go-to commentary for any preacher or teacher of God's Word.
About the Editors

Rev. Joseph S. Exell, M.A., served as the Editor of Clerical World, The Homiletical Quarterly and the Monthly Interpreter. Exell was also the editor for several large commentary sets like The Men of the Bible, The Pulpit Commentary, Preacher's Homiletic Library and The Biblical Illustrator.

Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones was born in London on January 14, 1836. He was educated at Corpus Christi, Cambridge where he received his B.A. in 1864. He was ordered deacon in 1865 and ordained as a priest is the following year. He was professor of English literature and lecturer in Hebrew at St. David's College, Lampeter, Wales from 1865-1870. He was rector of St. Mary-de-Crypt with All Saints and St. Owen, Gloucester from 1870-1877 and principal of Gloucester Theological College 1875-1877. He became vicar and rural dean of St. Pancras, London 1877-1886, and honorary canon since 1875. He was select preacher at Cambridge in 1883,1887,1901, and 1905, and at Oxford in 1892 and 1903. In 1906 he was elected professor of ancient history in the Royal Academy. In theology he is a moderate evangelical. He also edited The Pulpit Commentary (48 vols., London, 1880-97) in collaboration with Rev. J. S. Exell, to which he himself contributed the section on Luke, 2 vols., 1889, and edited and translated the Didache 1885. He passed away in 1917 after authoring numerous individual titles.

00 Introduction

Introduction.

VERY little is needed by way of introduction to the Second Epistle; for it is, in fact, a sequel to the First.

The apostle's departure from Ephesus had been precipitated by the tumult, in which, as appears from various scattered references, he had incurred extreme danger of his life. He went straight to Trees, still eager to preach the gospel of Christ. He had told Titus to meet him there; and it was the first place where he could hope to receive any tidings as to the reception by the Corinthians of his first letter — a point respecting which he was painfully anxious. But either St. Paul arrived at Trees earlier than the time appointed, or the journey of Titus had been delayed. St. Paul was preaching with success — "a door was opened for him in the Lord;" but the anxiety to which he found himself a prey rendered it impossible for him to continue his mission. Seeking some relief for the intolerable oppression of his spirit, he hurried to Macedonia, and there, perhaps in Philippi, he first met Titus. The meeting at once relieved the tension of his feelings, and caused an outburst of joy. For the tidings which Titus had to tell were good. He had been cordially received. The First Epistle had caused among the Corinthians an outburst of salutary grief, of yearning affection, of holy zeal. They had listened to the apostle's message with fear and trembling. The offender had been promptly and even severely dealt with. The news appeared at first to be so encouraging that St. Paul, with deep thankfulness, determined to send Titus, with "the brother whose praise is in the gospel," to finish the good work which he had begun, and to arrange about the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem. And as, this time, Titus was not only ready but anxious to go, St. Paul began to dictate the letter of which .Titus was to be the bearer.

But little by little the apostle learnt — what perhaps Titus, out of kindness and sympathy, might not have deemed it necessary at once to tell him — that there was another side to the picture. His change of plan about the double visit had given rise to a charge of levity, and many remarks most injurious to his character had been industriously disseminated, especially, it would seem, by some Jewish emissary. His opponents hinted at his cowardice in not coming; his vacillation and insincerity in changing his mind; the conscious inferiority which made him abstain from any claim to maintenance; the meanness of his aspect; the baldness and simplicity of his speech; the fact that he had no commendatory letters from Jerusalem; his dubious position as regards the Law. They insinuated doubts about his perfect honesty. They charged him with underhand guile, and fraudulent or self-interested designs with reference to the collection. They even ventured to hint their doubt as to his perfect sanity. Such charges would have been hard to endure at any time. They were so especially at a time when the apostle was suffering overwhelming distress — a combination of fears without and fightings within, which produced a mental and physical prostration. It became a duty and a necessity, however distasteful, to defend himself. Personally he neither required nor cared for any self defence. But before God in Christ he felt bound to clear his character from these detestable innuendoes, because they were liable, if unnoticed, to hinder his work both in Corinth and in other Churches; and his work had on him a sacred claim. Hence, though nothing was more repellent to his sensitive humility than any semblance of egotism or boasting, he is driven by the unscrupulosity of his opponents to adopt such a tone of self defence that the word "boasting" occurs in this Epistle no less than twenty-nine times. He neither could nor would appeal to any letters of commendation or to any certificate from his brother apostles, because he had received his own apostolate direct from God; and hence he is forced to appeal, on the one hand to his visions and revelations, and on the other hand to the seal of approval which in every way God had set to his unparalleled activity and devotion.

These circumstances sufficiently mark out the characteristics of the letter.

1. It entirely differs from the First Epistle. That is a letter in which he dealt with practical and speculative difficulties, answering the inquiries and correcting the abuses of a most unsatisfactory Church. The Second Epistle is the impassioned self defence of a wounded spirit to erring and ungrateful children. It is the apostle's Apologia pro vita end.

2. Hence, as hope is the keynote of the Epistles to the Thessalonians, joy of that to the Philippians, faith of that to the Romans, heavenly things of that to the Ephesians, affliction is the one predominant word and thought in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.

3. As Bengel says, "It reminds us of an itinerary, but interwoven with the noblest precepts." "The very stages of his journey," says Dean Stanley, "are impressed upon it — the troubles at Ephesus, the anxiety of Troas, the consolation of Macedonia, the prospect of moving to Corinth."

4. It is the least systematic, as the First Epistle is the most systematic, of all St. Paul's writings,

5. It is the most emotional, and therefore in some respects — in its style, expressions, and causal connections — the most difficult of St. Paul's Epistles. The labouring phraseology, the interchange of bitter irony with deep pathos, the manner in which he is haunted and possessed and mastered by word after word which seizes his imagination — now "tribulation," now "consolation,'' now "boasting," now "weakness," now "simplicity," now "manifestation" — only serve to throw into relief the frequent bursts of rushing and impassioned eloquence. The sorrow and tenderness displayed are a measure of the insolence and wrong which called out in the concluding chapters so stern an indignation.

6. At the end of the ninth chapter there is a sudden, startling, and complete break in the whole manner and tone of the Epistle. The remainder (2 Corinthians 10:1-13:10) seems to be written in a mood so wholly different from that of the former, that some have even (though needlessly) supposed that it really was a separate Epistle. Vehement though suppressed indignation, scathing irony, strong denunciation, commanding authority, take the place of the pathetic tenderness and effusive thankfulness which are predominant in the previous chapters. This phenomenon of a tone suddenly changed is found in other writings both sacred and secular, and may be accounted for by circumstances under which the apostle wrote.

7. The analysis of the Epistle in minor details will be found in the notes. The main divisions are: 2 Corinthians 1-7., hortatory and personal, with an undercurrent of calm apology; 2 Corinthians 8, 9., directions and remarks about the collection; 2 Corinthians 10-13., impassioned defence of himself and his apostolic position against the calumnies of his enemies.

01 Chapter 1

Verses 1-24

EXPOSITION

Address and greeting (2 Corinthians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 1:2). Thanksgiving for the comfort sent to him by God, wherein, as in his affliction which rendered it necessary, they sympathetically shared (2 Corinthians 1:3-11). He has earned a right to their sympathy by his sincerity (2 Corinthians 1:12-14). His change of purpose with respect to a visit to Corinth, with digression on the unchangeableness of the gospel (2 Corinthians 1:15-22). Explanation of his Reasons (2 Cor. 1:22-2 Cor. 2:4).

2 Corinthians 1:1

By the will of God (see 1 Corinthians 1:1). In the face of Judaizing opponents, it was essential that he should vindicate his independent apostolate (Acts 26:15-18). And Timothy. Timothy had been absent from St. Paul when he wrote the First Epistle, and Sosthenes had taken his place, whether as amanuensis or merely as a sort of joint authenticator. Our brother; literally, the brother, as in 1 Corinthians 1:1. The brotherhood applies both to St. Paul and to the Corinthians; there was a special bond of brotherhood between all members of "the household of faith." The saints. Before the name "Christians" had come into general use, "saints" (Acts 9:13) and "brethren" were common designations or' those who were "faithful in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 1:1). In all Achaia. In its classical sense Achaia means only the northern strip of the Peloponnesus; as a Roman province the name included both Hellas and the Peloponnesus. Hero St. Paul probably uses it in its narrower sense. The only strictly Achaian Church of which we know is Cenchrea, but doubtless there were little Christian communities along the coasts of the Corinthian gulf. To the Church at Athens St. Paul never directly alludes. This letter was not in any sense an encyclical letter; but even if it were not read in other communities, the Corinthians would convey to them the apostle's greeting.

2 Corinthians 1:2

Grace be to you and peace. On this pregnant synthesis of the Greek and Hebrew greetings, see 1 Corinthians 1:3; Romans 1:7.

2 Corinthians 1:3.

Blessed be God (Ephesians 1:3). This outburst of thanksgiving was meant to repress the relief brought to the overcharged feelings of the apostle by the arrival of Titus, with news respecting the mixed, but on the whole good, effect produced at Corinth by the severe remarks of his first letter. It is characteristic of the intense and impetuous rush of emotion which we often notice in the letters of St. Paul, that he does not here state the special grounds for this impassioned thanksgiving; he only touches upon it for a moment in 2 Corinthians 2:13, and does not pause to state it fully until 2 Corinthians 7:5-16. It is further remarkable that in this Epistle almost alone he utters no thanksgiving for the moral growth and holiness of the Church to which he is writing. This may be due to the fact that there was still so much to blame; but it more probably arose from the tumult of feeling which throughout this letter disturbs the regular flow of his thoughts. The ordinary "thanksgiving" for his readers is practically, though indirectly, involved in the gratitude which he expresses to God for the sympathy and communion which exists between himself and the Church of Corinth. Even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek is the same as in Ephesians 1:3, where, literally rendered, it is, "Blessed be the God and Father." The same phrase is found also in 1 Peter 1:3; Co 1 Peter 1:3. The meaning is not, "Blessed be the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (although the expression, "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ," occurs in Ephesians 1:17 : comp. John 20:17), but "Blessed be God, who is also the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," and who is therefore "our Father" by adoption and redemption, as well as our God by creation. The Father of mercies. This corresponds to a Hebrew expression, and means that compassionateness is the most characteristic attribute of God, and emanation from him. He is the Source of all mercy; and mercy

"Is an attribute of God himself."

He is "full of compassion, and gracious, tong-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth" (Psalms 86:15). "The Law," says the Talmud, "begins and ends with an act of mercy. At its commencement God clothes the naked; at its close be buries the dead" ('Sotah,' f. 14, 1). Thus every chapter but one of the Koran is headed, "In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful;" and it is an Eastern expression to say of one that has died that. "he is taken to the mercy of the Merciful." Comp. "Father of glory," Ephesians 1:17; 1 Corinthians 2:8 ("of spirits," Hebrews 12:9; "of lights," James 1:17). The plural, "compassions,'' is perhaps a plural of excellence, "exceeding compassion" (Romans 12:1), and may be influenced by the Hebrew word rachamim, often literally rendered by St. Paul "bowels." The article in the Greek ("the Father of the compassions") specializes themercy. The God of all comfort. So in 2 Corinthians 13:11 God is called "the God of love and peace;" Romans 15:5, "the God of patience and of comfort;" Romans 2:15, "the God of hope." This word "comfort" (unfortunately interchanged with "consolation" in the Authorized Version) and the word "affliction" (varyingly rendered by "trouble" and "tribulation" in the Authorized Version), are the keynotes of this passage; and to some extent of the whole Epistle. St. Paul is haunted as it were and possessed by them. "Comfort," as verb or substantive, occurs ten times in Romans 2:3-7; and "affliction" occurs four times in succession. It is characteristic of St. Paul's style to be thus dominated, as it were, by a single word (comp. notes on 2 Corinthians 3:2, 2 Corinthians 3:13; 2 Corinthians 4:2; see note on 2 Corinthians 10:8). The needless variations of the Authorized Version were well intentioned, but arose from a false notion of style, a deficient sense of the precision of special words, and an inadequate conception of the duties of faithful translation, which requires that we should as exactly as possible reflect the peculiarities of the original, and not attempt to improve upon them.

2 Corinthians 1:4

Who comforteth us. The "us" implies here, not only St. Paul and Timothy, but also the Corinthians, who are one with them in a bond of Christian unity which was hitherto undreamed of, and was a new phenomenon in the world. St. Paul always uses the first person in passages where he is speaking directly of individual feelings and experiences. In other passages he likes to lose himself, as it were, in the Christian community. The delicate play of emotion is often shown by the rapid interchanges of singular and plural (see 2 Corinthians 1:13, 2 Corinthians 1:15, 2 Corinthians 1:17; 2 Corinthians 2:1, 2 Corinthians 2:11, 2 Corinthians 2:14, etc.). The present, "comforteth," expresses a continuous experience, with which the Christians of the first age were most happily familiar (John 14:16-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:16, 2 Thessalonians 2:17). In all our affliction. The collective experience of affliction is sustained by the collective experience of comfort. That we may be able to comfort. Thus St. Paul takes "a teleological view of sorrow." It is partly designed as a school of sympathy. It is a part of the training of an apostle, just as suffering is essential to one who is to be a sympathetic high priest (Hebrews 5:1, Hebrews 5:2). In any trouble. The original more forcibly repeats the words, "in all affliction." Wherewith we ourselves are comforted. By means of the comfort which God gives us, we can, by the aid of blessed experience, communicate comfort to others.

2 Corinthians 1:5

As the sufferings of Christ abound in us; rather, unto us."The sufferings of Christ" are the sufferings which he endured in the days of his flesh, and they were not exhausted by him, but overflow to us who have to suffer as he suffered, bearing about with us his dying, that we may share his life (2 Corinthians 4:10). The idea is, not that he is suffering in us and with us, but that we have "a fellowship in his sufferings" (Philippians 3:17); Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ;" Hebrews 13:13, "Bearing his reproach." Our sufferings are the sufferings of Christ because we suffer as he suffered (1 Peter 4:13) and in the same cause. Aboundeth by Christ. If his sufferings, as it were, overflow to us, so too is he the Source of our comfort, in that he sendeth us the Comforter (John 14:16-18).

2 Corinthians 1:6

And; rather, but.The verse expresses the additional thought that the comfort (i.e.encouragement and strengthening) of the apostle, as well as his affliction, was not only designed for his own spiritual training, but was the source of direct blessing to his converts, because it enabled him, both by example (Philippians 1:14) and by the lessons of experience, to strengthen others in affliction, and so to further their salvation by teaching them how to endure (Romans 5:1-21 :34). The affliction brings encouragement, and so works endurance in us, and, by our example and teaching, in you.