Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly. 2 Corinthians 11:1-6 Self-vindication F. W. Robertson, M. A. The next two chapters are entirely occupied with the boastings of an inspired apostle; in the previous chapters we find him refuting separately each charge, till at last, as if stung and worn out at their ingratitude, he pours out, unreservedly, his own praises in self-vindication. All self-vindication, against even false accusations, is painful; not after Christian modesty, yet it may sometimes be a duty. I. THE EXCUSES ST. PAUL OFFERED FOR THIS MODE OF VINDICATION. 1. It was not merely for his own sake, but for the sake of others (vers. 2, 3). Clearly this was a valid excuse. To refuse to vindicate himself under the circumstances would have been false modesty. Notice two words here —(1) "Jealousy." This was not envy that other teachers were followed, but anxiety lest they might lead the disciples astray. He was jealous for Christ's sake, not his own.(2) "Simplicity." Now people suppose this means what a child or a ploughman can understand: but in this sense Paul was not simple. St. Peter says there are things hard to be understood in his epistles. We often hear it alleged against a book or a sermon that it is not simple. But if it is supposed that the mysteries of God can be made as easy of comprehension as a newspaper article or a novel, we say that such simplicity can only be attained by shallowness. "Simple" means unmixed, or unadulterated. We have an example in those Judaisers who said, "Except ye be circumcised, ye cannot be saved": they did not deny the power of the Cross: they said something was to be mixed with it. 2. It was necessary. Character is an exceedingly delicate thing, that of a Christian man especially so. It is true no doubt, to a certain extent, that the character which cannot defend itself is not worth defending, and that it is better to live down evil reports. But if a character is never defended, it comes to be considered as incapable of defence. Besides, an uncontradicted slander may injure our influence. And therefore St. Paul says boldly, "I am not a whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles." Some cannot understand this. But Christian modesty is not the being or affecting to be ignorant of what we are. If a man has genius, he knows he has it. If a man is falsely charged with theft, there is no vanity in his indignantly asserting that he has been honest all his life long. Christian modesty consists rather in this — in having before us a sublime standard, so that we feel how far we are from attaining to that. Thus we can understand Paul saying that he is "not behind the chiefest of the apostles," and yet that he is "the chief of sinners." II. THE POINTS OF WHICH ST. PAUL BOASTED. 1. That he had preached the essentials of the gospel (ver. 4). His matter had been true, whatever fault they might have found with his manner. St. Paul told them that, better far than grace of language, etc., was the fact that the truth he had preached was the essential truth of the gospel. 2. His disinterestedness (ver. 7). St. Paul had a right to be maintained by the Church, "The labourer is worthy of his hire." And he had taken sustenance from other churches, but he would not take anything from the Corinthians, simply because he desired not to leave a single point on which his enemies might hang an accusation. There is something exquisitely touching in the delicacy of the raillery with which he asked if he had committed an offence in so doing. He asked them whether they were ashamed of a man of toil. Here is great encouragement for those who labour; they have no need to be ashamed of their labour, for Christ Himself and His apostle toiled for their own support. The time is coming when mere idleness and leisure will be a ground for boasting no more, when that truth will come out in its entireness, that it is the law of our humanity that all should work, whether with the brain or with the hands, and when it will be seen that he who does not or will not work, the sooner he is out of this work-a-day world of God's, the better. 3. His sufferings (vers. 23-28). It is remarkable that St. Paul does not glory in what he had done, but in what he had borne; he does not speak of his successes, but his manifold trials for Christ. 4. His sympathy (ver. 29). This power of entering into the feelings of every heart as fully as if he himself had lived the life of that heart, was a peculiar characteristic of St. Paul. To the Jew he became as a Jew, etc. Conclusion: All these St. Paul uses as evidences of his apostolic ministry, and they afford high moral evidence of the truth of Christianity. It gives quite a thrill of delight to find that this earth has ever produced such a man as St. Paul. He was no fanatic, but was calm, sound, and wise. And if he believed, with an intellect so piercing, so clear, and so brilliant, he must indeed be a vain man who will venture any longer to doubt. ( F. W. Robertson, M. A. )

Benson Commentary 2 Corinthians 11:1 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. 2 Corinthians 11:1 . Would to God — Rather, I wish; (for the word God is not in the original text;) you could bear a little with me — So does he pave the way for what might otherwise have given offence; in my folly — Of commending myself, which to many may appear folly; and really would be so if it were not, on this occasion, absolutely necessary for the maintaining of my authority among you. For, &c. — I therefore do it because I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy — Jealousy is a passion which renders a person impatient of a rival or partner, with respect to a thing or person beloved. By telling them he was jealous over them, the apostle gives them to know he so exceedingly loved them, that he could not bear that any should pretend to have more regard for them than he had; and withal that he feared lest their affections should be alienated not only from him, but also from Christ, through the insinuations of false teachers among them, and they should be rendered unfaithful to him here, and unfit to be presented to him as his spouse hereafter. For — By successfully preaching the gospel to you, and bringing you into the engagements of the Christian covenant; I have espoused you to one husband — Even to him whose servant and ambassador I am, and have led you into a holy contract with him, which hath been mutually scaled; that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ — Pure in affection, and spotless in your conduct. “Here,” says Whitby, “is thought to be an allusion to the ????????? of the Lacedemonians,” a sort of magistrates, whose office it was to educate and form young women, especially those of rank and figure, designed for marriage, and then to present them to those who were to be their husbands; and if this officer permitted them, through negligence, to be corrupted, between the espousals and consummation of the marriage, great blame would naturally fall upon him. “The Greek commentators, however, agree with our translation, rendering ????????? , here used, by ?????????? , I have espoused you. As therefore the Jews say that Moses espoused Israel to God in mount Sinai, when he made them enter into covenant with him; so, saith the apostle here, by converting you to the Christian faith, I have espoused you to one husband, even Christ.” The betrothing of persons to Christ is accomplished in the present life, but their marriage is to take place in the life to come; when they shall be brought home to their husband’s house, to live with him for ever. And the apostle, having betrothed the Corinthian believers to Christ, was anxious to preserve them chaste or true to their future spouse, that when the time of their marriage came, they might not be rejected by him. 2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 . But I fear — Love is full of these fears; lest by any means — By some means or other; as the serpent — A most apposite comparison; deceived Eve — Simple, ignorant of ill; by his subtlety — Which is in the highest degree dangerous to such a disposition; so your minds — (We might therefore be tempted, even if there were no sin in us;) should be corrupted — Losing their virginal purity; from the simplicity that is in Christ — Namely, that simplicity which is lovingly intent on him alone. “That it was the devil who beguiled Eve, our Lord hath intimated, by calling him a murderer from the beginning, and a liar, John 8:44 . The same also St. John hath intimated, by giving the name of the old serpent to him who is called the devil and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world, Revelation 12:9 ; Revelation 20:2 . Besides, in the history of the fall, the serpent is said to have been punished, as a rational and accountable agent. Wherefore, what Moses hath written of the fall, is not an apologue, or fable, with a moral meaning, as Middleton and others contend, but a true history of things really done, in which the devil was the chief actor.” — Macknight. See note on Genesis 3:1-15 . 2 Corinthians 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him . 2 Corinthians 11:4-6 . For if he that cometh — After me, with such extraordinary pretences; preach another Jesus — Can point out to you another Saviour; whom we have not preached — Who shall better or equally deserve your attention and regard; or if ye receive another spirit — By his preaching, which ye have not received — By ours, and which can bestow upon you gifts superior to those which you received through our ministry; or another gospel — Bringing you tidings equally happy, evident, and important, with those which we brought you; ye might well bear with him — In his pretensions to exceed us, and there would be some excuse for your conduct; but how far this is from being, or so much as seeming to be, the case, I need not say. For I suppose — ????????? , I reckon, or, I conclude, upon most certain knowledge; that I was not a whit behind — I was in nothing inferior to; the very chiefest apostles — Either in spiritual gifts, or the greatness of my labours and sufferings, or in the success of my ministry. By the chiefest apostles, St. Paul meant Peter, James, and John, whom he called pillars, Galatians 2:9 . Let the Papists reconcile this account which Paul gives of himself as an apostle, with their pretended supremacy of Peter over all the apostles. But, or for, though I be rude, or unskilful, in speech — Speaking in a plain, unadorned way, like an unlearned person, as the word ??????? , here used, properly signifies. “The apostle,” says Macknight, “called himself unlearned in speech, because, in preaching, he did not follow the rules of the Grecian rhetoric. His discourses were not composed with that art which the Greeks showed in the choice and arrangement of their words, and in the disposition of their periods. Neither were they delivered with those modulations of voice, and with those studied gestures, wherewith the Greeks set off their orations. This sort of eloquence the apostle utterly disclaimed, for a reason mentioned 1 Corinthians 1:17 . It seems the faction in Corinth had objected to him his want of these accomplishments.” Or, as some think, the irony of the faction was levelled, not against the apostle’s style, but against his pronunciation and action in speaking, which, through some bodily infirmity, was ungraceful and unacceptable. See on 2 Corinthians 10:10 . Probably the faction objected both imperfections to him. Yet not in knowledge — If I be unskilful in speech, I am not so in the knowledge of the gospel of Christ, and of the dispensations which were introductory to it. But we have been thoroughly made manifest, &c. — You have had sufficient proof of my acquaintance with the great doctrines of Christianity, and what my gifts are, and therefore you ought not to call in question my authority as an apostle, or my ability to teach, direct, and govern your church, nor to prefer another in opposition to me. 2 Corinthians 11:5 For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. 2 Corinthians 11:6 But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things. 2 Corinthians 11:7 Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely? 2 Corinthians 11:7-9 . Have I committed an offence — Will any turn this into an objection; in abasing myself — Stooping to work at my trade; that ye might be exalted — To the dignity of being the children of God; because I have preached the gospel to you free of expense. “This the apostle’s enemies said was a presumption, that he knew himself to be no apostle; or, if he was an apostle, it showed that he did not love the Corinthians. The first of these objections he had answered in his former epistle, ( 1 Corinthians 9:3-19 ,) by proving his right to a maintenance, and by declaring that he declined using that right, merely to make his preaching the more acceptable and successful. The second objection he answers in this chapter, 2 Corinthians 11:11-15 .” I robbed — Greek, ??????? , I spoiled, as it were, other churches — (It is a military term;) taking wages — ??????? , pay, (another military word,) of them, when I first came to you; to do you service — To serve your best interests by converting you to, and instructing you in, the faith of the gospel. It appears from Php 4:15-16 , that it was from the church at Philippi that he received the support here spoken of. For the brethren there, “being strongly impressed with a sense of the advantages which mankind derived from the gospel, were so anxious to render the apostle’s preaching in Corinth successful, that, during his residence there, they sent him money, to prevent his being burdensome to the Corinthians. His acceptance of these presents he called a spoiling of the Philippians, because, as he was not labouring among them, he took their money without giving them any thing in return for it; and a taking of wages: but it was for a service performed, not to the Philippians, but to the Corinthians.” And when I was present with you and wanted — The gains of my labour not quite supplying my necessities; I was chargeable to no man — Of your church, or of Corinth. The word here used, ??????????? , appears to be derived from ????? , which, Elian says, is the name of a fish, called by the Latins torpedo, because it deprives those who touch it of the sense of feeling. According to this derivation of the word, the apostle’s meaning is, I benumbed, or oppressed, or hurt, no one. See the notes of Joach. Camerar. For what was lacking — For my support; the brethren from Macedonia supplied — Though it seems the apostle generally maintained himself by his own labour, he was sometimes so occupied in preaching, and in the other functions of his ministry, that he had little time for working. This was the case when he was first at Corinth, at which time the Philippians relieved him. For he chose to receive help from the poor of that place, rather than from the rich Corinthians. In all things I have kept myself from being burdensome to you — In any way whatever; and will keep myself — So long as God shall enable me. 2 Corinthians 11:8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them , to do you service. 2 Corinthians 11:9 And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself . 2 Corinthians 11:10 As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. 2 Corinthians 11:10-12 . As the truth of Christ is in me — As sure as I am a true Christian, and an apostle. The expression has the nature of an oath. See on Romans 9:1 . No man shall stop me of this boasting — For I will receive nothing from you. Wherefore — For what reason have I resolved on this? Is it, as my enemies tell you, because I do not love you, and will not be obliged to you? God knoweth that is not the case. But what I do, &c. — As if he had said, The true reason why I do so, and resolve to continue the same course, is this; that I may cut off occasion, namely, of reproaching me, or boasting of themselves, from them which desire occasion for so doing; that wherein they glory — Namely, of their preaching freely, at least sometimes, or some of them, or pretending to do so; they may be found even as we — To have no advantage over me in this respect. It would seem that the false teachers at Corinth, in imitation of the apostle, pretended to take nothing for their preaching, and boasted of their disinterestedness. Nevertheless, on other pretences they received presents from their disciples in private, nay, extorted them. See 2 Corinthians 11:20 . Wherefore, to put these impostors to shame, and to oblige them really to imitate him, the apostle declared that he never had taken any thing, nor ever would take any thing from the Corinthians, whether in public or in private, on any account whatever. 2 Corinthians 11:11 Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth. 2 Corinthians 11:12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. 2 Corinthians 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 . For such are false apostles — Whatever they may pretend to the contrary, being destitute of that divine mission which all the true apostles have; deceitful workers — Pretending to great disinterestedness in their work, while their only design is to promote their own interest; transforming themselves into the appearance of apostles of Christ — By pretending to preach the gospel without reward. And no marvel they assume that appearance; for Satan himself — In subordination to whom they act, can put on such deceitful appearances, and be transformed into an angel of light — Wearing, on certain occasions, a mask of sanctity and religion, in his attempts to deceive and insnare the souls of men, so that one would imagine his suggestions to be of a celestial and divine original. “In this manner, it may be supposed, Satan transformed himself, when he tempted our Lord in the wilderness; and in like manner also when he tempted our first mother Eve. Evil spirits are called angels of darkness, because they employ themselves in promoting error and wickedness, which is spiritual darkness. Whereas, good angels are called angels of light, because they employ themselves in promoting truth and virtue, which is spiritual light.” Therefore, it is no great thing — Nothing extraordinary; if his ministers also, under his influence, be transformed — That is, make themselves to appear; as ministers of righteousness — False teachers are justly called ministers of Satan, because they are employed in disseminating error, whereby Satan’s kingdom is supported in the world. And, on the other hand, with equal propriety are the teachers of true doctrine called ministers of righteousness, because of the efficacy of true doctrine to promote righteousness in them who receive it: whose end — Notwithstanding all their disguises; shall be according to their works — Here the end, as in Romans 6:21 , signifies the final issue of a course of action; consequently the retribution which shall be made to the actor. 2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:16 I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. 2 Corinthians 11:16-17 . I say again — He premises a new apology to this new commendation of himself; let no man think me a fool — In boasting thus of myself; let no one think I take any pleasure in doing it, or that I do it without a very strong reason. Let the provocation I have received be considered: let the necessity of the circumstance, and the importance of my character, be duly weighed, and I shall surely be excused. But if otherwise — If any one do think me foolish herein, yet bear with my folly, and hear me patiently without offence; that I may boast myself a little — As well as others. That which I speak — On this head; I speak it not after the Lord — Not by any immediate direction or inspiration from Christ; nor after his example, and in such a way as seems worthy of him; but as it were foolishly, &c. — In such a manner as many may think foolish, and indeed would be foolish, were I not compelled to it in order that I may vindicate my apostleship, and confirm you in the truth. 2 Corinthians 11:17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. 2 Corinthians 11:18 Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. 2 Corinthians 11:18-21 . Seeing that many glory after the flesh — In circumcision, Jewish extraction, and other outward privileges and qualifications; I will glory also — In the same manner; nor can my seeming folly offend you; for ye — The disciples of the false apostles; suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wonderfully wise — And in your extraordinary wisdom can cherish that arrogant temper in others. As if he had said, Being such very wise men, I hope you will bear with this piece of folly in me as you bear with it in others. This is written in the highest strain of ridicule, as is plain from the next verse, where, in mockery, he mentions their abjectly bearing the contumelious and injurious behaviour of the false teachers, as an example of their wisdom in bearing. But it was a bearing, not with fools, but with knaves, to their own cost. By taking notice of that circumstance, therefore, the apostle placed their pretended wisdom in a truly ridiculous light. For, &c. — Your patience in bearing is indeed very great; for ye suffer — Not only the folly, but the gross abuses of those false teachers; ye take it patiently if a man — Any of the false teachers; bring you into bondage — Lord it over you in the most arbitrary manner. If a man devour you — By his exorbitant demands, notwithstanding his boast of not being burdensome; if he take of you — Gifts and presents, pretending to exact nothing as due; if he exalt himself — By the most unbounded self- commendation; if he smite you on the face — Treat you as disgracefully as if he did so. I speak — What I have now said; concerning reproach — Namely, the reproach which they cast upon you Gentiles as uncircumcised and profane, while they are all of a holy nation: or, I mean it of those reproaches with which they load me and my fellow-labourers; as though we had been weak — Or contemptible, in comparison of them, and could have used no such authority over you. Howbeit, whereinsoever any is bold — Thinks he may value and extol himself; ( I speak foolishly — That is, in appearance;) I am bold also — I have as much to say for myself, as he has for himself. 2 Corinthians 11:19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. 2 Corinthians 11:20 For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you , if a man take of you , if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. 2 Corinthians 11:21 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. 2 Corinthians 11:22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. 2 Corinthians 11:22 . Are they Hebrews? — Descended from Heber, (see Genesis 11:14 ,) and speaking the Hebrew language, though with some variation; so am I — Paul indeed was a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, but his father and mother were Hebrews, Php 3:5 . And having been sent to Jerusalem when young, he was instructed by Gamaliel, a noted Jewish doctor, Acts 22:3 . So that in Jerusalem he perfected himself both in the language and religion of his nation, on all which accounts he was truly a Hebrew descended of Hebrews. Are they Israelites? — Descended from Jacob, who, in preference to his brother Esau, was chosen to be the root of the visible church of God in that early age, and was called Israel for the reason mentioned Genesis 32:28 . This appellation, therefore, signified that the persons to whom it was given were members of God’s visible church by their descent from Jacob, and consequently were distinguished from proselytes who were members by circumcision, and not by descent. Are they the seed of Abraham? — Inasmuch as Abraham, being constituted a father of many nations, had two kinds of seed; the one by natural descent, called his seed by the law; the other by faith, called that which is of the faith of Abraham, see Romans 4:13 ; Romans 4:16 . Macknight thinks, that by the seed of Abraham, the apostle intended here his seed by faith, or his spiritual seed; because if he had meant his natural seed, this question would have been the same with the preceding: a tautology, he thinks, not to be imputed to the apostle. 2 Corinthians 11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 2 Corinthians 11:23-25 . Are they ministers of Christ? — “St. Paul does not compare himself with the false teachers as an apostle, but as a minister of Christ simply. And to show how much he exceeded them in that inferior character, he mentions his labours in the ministry, and his sufferings undergone in his many journeys and voyages, for the sake of spreading the gospel. And from his account it appears, that none of the heroes of antiquity, however vehemently actuated by the love of fame, or of military glory or power, either did or suffered as much in the pursuit of their objects, as the Apostle Paul did and suffered for Christ and his gospel.” I am more so than they; in labours more abundant — Sustained for a long series of years; in stripes above measure — All endured for Christ and his cause. In prisons more frequent — In the narrative of Paul’s travels and sufferings, contained in the Acts, we only read of his being imprisoned once, before this epistle was written, namely, at Philippi. But doubtless many particulars of his life, besides the imprisonments here referred to, were omitted in that history, for the sake of brevity. In deaths oft — Surrounding me in the most dreadful forms. Of the Jews five times received I — In their synagogues, and before their courts of judgment; forty stripes, save one — According to the law, punishment by stripes was restricted to forty, at one beating, Deuteronomy 25:3 ; but the whip with which these stripes were given, consisting of three separate cords, and each stroke being counted as three stripes, thirteen strokes made thirty-nine stripes, beyond which they never went. See Whitby. As the apostle, before his conversion, had been very active in inflicting this punishment on the disciples of Christ, he could not complain when he himself was treated in the same manner by the zealots for the law. Thrice was I beaten with rods — By the Roman lictors or beadles, at the command of their superior magistrates. In his history, contained in the Acts, we find no mention made of his being punished with stripes, and only one instance occurs there of his being beaten with rods. See the margin. Once was I stoned — Namely, at Lystra, at which time he was left for dead. Thrice I suffered shipwreck — Before his voyage to Rome, in which he was shipwrecked at Malta; of these we have no account in the Acts. A night and a day I have been in the deep — Probably floating on some part of a shipwrecked vessel, by which, possibly, he escaped to shore. This, it is likely, happened in one of the three shipwrecks mentioned in the preceding clause. 2 Corinthians 11:24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 2 Corinthians 11:25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 2 Corinthians 11:26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 2 Corinthians 11:26-27 . In journeyings — For the sake of preaching the gospel; often — In which I have been exposed to a variety of dangers, from waters, robbers, my own countrymen, and the heathen. In perils in the city — From tumults. Of these dangers, frequent mention is made in the Acts: as in Damascus; after that, in Jerusalem; then in Antioch, in Pisidia, Iconium, Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth, and Ephesus; all before the writing of this epistle. In dangers in the wilderness — Of perishing by want, or by wild beasts; in the sea — From storms and pirates; among false brethren — Who, amidst specious pretensions of love and affection, secretly watched, if not to destroy me, at least to injure my character, and ruin my usefulness. In weariness — Through my incessant labours; and painfulness — Or fatiguing toil. The latter of the words here used, ?????? , implies more than ????? , the former, namely, such hard labour as caused great fatigue. In watchings often — Continuing many nights without sleep, which might happen from various causes, besides that mentioned Acts 20:11 , when he continued his discourse till break of day. In hunger and thirst — Not having the necessaries of life at hand. In cold and nakedness — Having no place where to lay my head, and no convenient raiment to cover me; and yet appearing before noblemen, governors, and kings, and not being ashamed. 2 Corinthians 11:27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 2 Corinthians 11:28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 2 Corinthians 11:28-31 . Besides those things that are without — These external troubles which I have mentioned; that which cometh upon me daily — Greek, ? ??????????? ??? ? ??? ’ ?????? , that which rusheth upon me daily, or that which is my daily pressure. The expression denotes a crowd of people surrounding and pressing upon a person, in order to bear him down, and trample upon him; an idea which is elegantly applied to his cares respecting the churches; crowding in upon his mind, and ready to overwhelm it. And this is very properly mentioned here among his sufferings, being certainly not one of the least of them, as may be easily inferred from the account which he has given in this and in his former epistle, of the exceeding grief which the errors and irregularities of the single church of Corinth caused him. In saying, the care of all the churches, he signified he was deeply concerned for the prosperity, even of those which he had not seen in the flesh. St. Peter himself could not have said this in so strong a sense. Who is weak — Namely, in grace, and therefore oppressed with a variety of doubts and fears, and cast down; and I am not weak — By sympathy, as well as by condescension, manifested in complying with their weakness. Who is offended — Hindered in or turned out of the good way; and I burn not — With zeal and desire to restore him: or am not pained, as though I had fire in my bosom? So that he had not only the care of the churches, but every person therein. If I must needs glory — And I am heartily sorry that any such necessity is laid upon me; I will glory of the things that concern my infirmities — In my sufferings for Christ, of various kinds, such as I have specified, (see 2 Corinthians 12:10 ,) sufferings which show my weakness, and his strength, and therefore humble me, and exalt him. And in what I have said, I have only spoken the exact truth, without reigning or aggravating any one circumstance; for God knoweth that I lie not — Even that eternal Majesty of heaven and earth; who is blessed for evermore. This clause is added to increase the solemnity of his appeal to God for the truth of what he had said, and was going further to say; and that not only concerning his deliverance at Damascus, but concerning the visions and revelations of the Lord, to be mentioned in the next chapter. 2 Corinthians 11:29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? 2 Corinthians 11:30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. 2 Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. 2 Corinthians 11:32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: 2 Corinthians 11:32-33 . In Damascus, &c. — As if he had said, I must be permitted to add one circumstance more to illustrate the dangers to which I was exposed, as soon as I engaged in the Christian cause, and the remarkable interposition of Divine Providence for my preservation: the governor under Aretas — King of Arabia and Syria, of which Damascus was a chief city, willing to oblige the Jews, kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison — That is, setting guards at all the gates, day and night; desirous, or, determining, to apprehend me — And to deliver me to them. And in such a danger, where even the form of a trial was not to be expected, what could I do but flee? Through a window — Therefore, of a house which stood on the city wall; I was let down in a basket — With ropes; and escaped his hands — The assistance of good men co-operating with the care of God. Now, who that considers and credits the above brief account, though of but a part of the labours and sufferings which the apostle voluntarily sustained, that he might testify to mankind the gospel of the grace of God, can for a moment question his certain knowledge of the truth and importance of that gospel; especially as he neither reaped, nor could expect to reap, any worldly benefit whatever from preaching it? Did he do and suffer all these things to spread a doctrine which, for any thing he knew to the contrary, might be false; or if true, was not important to the salvation of the human race? Surely no man can suppose it, without first supposing that the apostle was destitute of common sense. Consider this, reader, and remember, at the same time, how the Lord sanctioned and confirmed his testimony, by signs and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will, and then think how thou shalt escape if thou reject or neglect such a gospel, or the great salvation revealed in and by it. 2 Corinthians 11:33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 2 Corinthians 11:1 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. Chapter 24 GODLY JEALOUSY. 2 Corinthians 11:1-6 (R.V) ALL through the tenth chapter there is a conflict in the Apostle’s mind. He is repeatedly, as it were, on the verge of doing something, from which he as often draws back. He does not like to boast-he does not like to speak of himself at all-but the tactics of his enemies, and the faithlessness of the Corinthians, are making it inevitable. In 2 Corinthians 11:1-33 . he takes the plunge. He adopts the policy of his adversaries, and proceeds to enlarge on his services to the Church: but with magnificent irony, he first assumes the mask of a fool. It is not the genuine Paul who figures here; it is Paul playing a part to which he has been compelled against his will, acting in a character which is as remote as possible from his own. It is the character native and proper to the other side; and when Paul, with due deprecation, assumes it for the nonce, he not only preserves his modesty and his self-respect, but lets his opponents see what he thinks of them. He plays the fool for the occasion, and of set purpose; they do it always, and without knowing it, like men to the manner born. But it is the Corinthians who are directly addressed. "Would that ye could bear with me in a little foolishness: nay indeed bear with me." In the last clause, ???????? may be either imperative (as the Revised Version gives it in the text,) or indicative (as in the margin: "but indeed ye do bear with me"). The use of ???? rather favors the last; and it would be quite in keeping with the extremely ironical tone of the passage to render it so. Even in the First Epistle, Paul had reflected on the self-conceit of the Corinthians: "We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ." That self-conceit led them to think lightly of him, but not just to east him off; they still tolerated him as a feeble sort of person: "Ye do indeed bear with me." But whichever alternative be preferred, the irony passes swiftly into the dead earnest of the second verse: "For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ." This is the ground on which Paul claims their forbearance, even when he indulges in a little "folly." If he is guilty of what seems to them extravagance, it is the extravagance of jealousy-i.e., of love tormented by fear. Nor is it any selfish jealousy, of which he ought to be ashamed. He is not anxious about his private or personal interests in the Church. He is not humiliated and provoked because his former pupils have come to their spiritual majority, and asserted their independence of their master. These are common dangers and common sins; and every minister needs to be on his guard against them. Paul’s jealousy over the Corinthians was "a jealousy of God": God had put it into his heart, and what it had in view was God’s interest in them. It distressed him to think, not that his personal influence at Corinth was on the wane, but that the work which God had done in their souls was in danger of being frustrated, the inheritance He had acquired in them of being lost. Nothing but God’s interest had been in the Apostle’s mind from the beginning. "I betrothed you," he says, "to one husband"-the emphasis lies on one- "that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ." It is the Church collectively which is represented by the pure virgin, and it ought to be observed that this is the constant use in Scripture, alike in the Old Testament and the New. It is Israel as a whole which is married to the Lord; it is the Christian Church as a whole (or a Church collectively, as here) which is the Bride, the Lamb’s wife. To individualize the figure, and speak of Christ as the Bridegroom of the soul, is not Scriptural, and almost always misleads. It introduces the language and the associations of natural affection into a region where they are entirely out of place; we have no terms of endearment here, and should have none, but high thoughts of the simplicity, the purity, and the glory of the Church. Glory is especially suggested by the idea of "presenting" the Church to Christ. The presentation takes place when Christ comes again to be glorified in His saints; that great day shines unceasingly in the Apostle’s heart, and all he does is done in its light. The infinite issues of fidelity and infidelity to the Lord, as that day makes them manifest, are ever present to his spirit; and it is this which gives such divine intensity to his feelings wherever the conduct of Christians is concerned. He sees everything, not as dull eyes see it now, but as Christ in His glory will show it then. And it takes nothing less than this to keep the soul absolutely pure and loyal to the Lord. The Apostle explains in the third verse the nature of his alarm. "I fear," he says, "lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity" (and the purity) "which is toward Christ." The whole figure is very expressive. "Simplicity" means singleness of mind; the heart of the "pure virgin" is undivided; she ought not to have, and will not have, a thought for any but the "one man" to whom she is betrothed. "Purity" again is, as it were, one species of "simplicity"; it is "simplicity" as shown in the keeping of the whole nature unspotted for the Lord. What Paul dreads is the spiritual seduction of the Church, the winning away of her heart from absolute loyalty to Christ. The serpent beguiled Eve by his craftiness; he took advantage of her unsuspecting innocence to wile her away from her simple belief in God and obedience to Him. When she took into her mind the suspicions he raised, her "simplicity" was gone, and her "purity" followed. The serpent’s agents - the servants of Satan, as Paul calls them in 2 Corinthians 11:15 -are at work in Corinth; and he fears that their craftiness may seduce the Church from its first simple loyalty to Christ. It is natural for us to take ??????? and ??????? in a pure ethical sense, but it is by no means certain that this is all that is meant; indeed, if ??? ??? ????????? be a gloss, as seems not improbable, ??????? may well have a different application. "The simplicity which is toward Christ," from which he fears lest by any means "their minds" or "thoughts" be corrupted, will rather be their whole-hearted acceptance of Christ as Paul conceived of Him and preached Him, their unreserved, unquestioning surrender to that form of doctrine { ????? ??????? , Romans 6:17 } to which they had been delivered. This, of course, in Paul’s mind, involved the other-there is no separation of doctrine and practice for him; but it makes a theological rather than an ethical interest the predominant one; and this interpretation, it seems to me, coheres best with what follows, and with the whole preoccupation of the Apostle in this passage. The people whose influence he feared were not unbelievers, nor were they immoral; they professed to be Christians, and indeed better Christians than Paul; but their whole conception of the Gospel was at variance with his; if they made way at Corinth, his work would be undone. The Gospel which he preached would no longer have that unsuspicious acceptance; the Christ whom he proclaimed would no longer have that unwavering loyalty; instead of simplicity and purity, the heart of the "pure virgin" would be possessed by misgivings, hesitations, perhaps by outright infidelity; his hope of presenting her to Christ on the great day would be gone. This is what we are led to by 2 Corinthians 11:4 , one of the most vexed passages in the New Testament. The text of the last word is uncertain: some read the imperfect ????????? ; others, including our Revisers, the present ???????? . The latter is the better attested, and suits best the connection of thought. The interpretations may be divided into two classes. First, there are those which assume that the suppositions made in this verse are not true. This is evidently the intention in our Authorized Version. It renders, "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." But-we must interpolate-nothing of this sort has really taken place; for Paul counts himself not a whit inferior to the very chiefest Apostles. No one-not even Peter or James or John-could have imparted anything to the Corinthians which Paul had failed to impart; and hence their spiritual seduction, no matter how or by whom accomplished, was perfectly unreasonable and gratuitous. This interpretation, with variations in detail which need not be pursued, is represented by many of the best expositors, from Chrysostom to Meyer. "If," says Chrysostom in his paraphrase, "if we had omitted anything that should have been said, and they had made up the omission, we do not forbid you to attend to them. But if everything has been perfectly done on our part, and no blank left, how did they" (the Apostle’s adversaries) "get hold of you?" This is the broad result of many discussions; and it is usual-though not invariable - for those who read the passage thus to take ??? ???????? ????????? in a complimentary, not a contemptuous, sense, and to refer it, as Chrysostom expressly does, to the three pillars of the primitive Church. The objections to this interpretation are obvious enough. There is first the grammatical objection, that a hypothetical sentence, with the present indicative in the protasis ( ?? ... ????????, ?? ... ????????? ), and the present indicative in the apodosis ( ???????? ), can by no plausibility of argument be made to mean, "If the interloper were preaching another Jesus you would be right to bear with him." Even if the imperfect is the true reading, which is improbable, this translation is unjustified. But there is a logical as well as a grammatical objection. The use of ??? ("for") surely implies that in the sentence which it introduces we are to find the reason for what precedes. Paul is afraid, he has told us, lest the Church should be seduced from the one husband to whom he has betrothed her. But he can never mean to explain a real fear by making a number of imaginary suppositions; and so we must find in the hypothetical clauses here the real grounds of his alarm. People had come to Corinth ? ????????? is no doubt collective, and characterizes the troublers of the Church as intruders, not native to it, but separable from it-doing all the things here supposed. Paul has espoused the Church to One Husband; they preach another Jesus. Not, of course, a distinct Person, but certainly a distinct conception of the same Person. Paul’s Christ was the Son of God. the Lord of Glory. He who by His death on the cross became Universal Redeemer, and by His ascension Universal Lord-the end of the Law, the giver of the Spirit; it would be another Jesus if the intruders preached only the Son of David, or the Carpenter of Nazareth, or the King of Israel. According to the conception of Christ, too, would be "the spirit" which accompanied this preaching, the characteristic temper and power of the religion it proclaimed. The spirit ministered by Paul in his apostolic work was one of power, and love, and, above all things, liberty; it emancipated the soul from weakness, from scruples, from moral inability, from slavery to sin and law; but the spirit generated by the Judaising ministry, the characteristic temper of the religion it proclaimed, was servile and cowardly. It was a spirit of bondage tending always to fear. { Romans 8:15 } Their whole gospel-to give their preaching a name it did not deserve { Galatians 1:6-9 } -was something entirely unlike Paul’s both in its ideas and in its spiritual fruits. Unlike-yes, and immeasurably inferior, and yet in spite of this the Corinthians put up with it well enough. This is the plain fact ( ???????? ) which the Apostle plainly states. He had to plead for their toleration, but they had no difficulty in tolerating men who by a spurious gospel, an unspiritual conception of Christ, and an unworthy incapacity for understanding freedom, were undermining his work, and seducing their souls. No wonder he was jealous, and angry, and scornful, when he saw the true Christian religion, which has all time and all nations for its inheritance, in danger of being degraded into a narrow Jewish sectarianism; the kingdom of the Spirit lost in a society in which race gave a prerogative, and carnal ordinances were revived; and, worse still, Christ the Son of God, the Universal reconciler, known only "after the flesh," and appropriated to a race, instead of being exalted as Lord of all, in whom there is no room for Greek or Jew, barbarian or Scythian, bond or free. The Corinthians bore with this nobly ( ????? ); but he who had begotten them in the true Gospel had to beg them to bear with him. There is only one difficulty in this interpretation, and that is not a serious one: it is the connection of 2 Corinthians 11:5 with what precedes. Those who connect it immediately with 2 Corinthians 11:4 are obliged to supply something: for example, "But you ought not to bear with them, for I consider that I am in nothing behind the very chiefest apostles." I have no doubt at all that ?? ???????? ????????? -the superlative apostles-are not Peter, James, and John, but the teachers aimed at in 2 Corinthians 11:4 , the ????????????? of 2 Corinthians 11:13 ; it is with them, and not with the Twelve or the eminent Three, that Paul is comparing himself. But even so, I agree with Weizsacker that the connection for the ??? in 2 Corinthians 11:5 must be sought further back-as far back, indeed, as 2 Corinthians 11:1 . "You bear well enough with them, and so you may well bear with me, as I beg you to do; for I consider," etc. This is effective enough, and brings us back again to the main subject. If there is a point in which Paul is willing to concede his inferiority to these superlative apostles, it is the nonessential one of utterance. He grants that he is rude in speech - not rhetorically gifted or trained-a plain, blunt man who speaks right on. But he is not rude in knowledge: in every respect he has made that manifest, among all men, toward them. The last clause is hardly intelligible, and the text is insecure. The reading ???????????? is that of all the critical editors; the object may either be indefinite (his competence in point of knowledge), or, more precisely, ??? ?????? itself, supplied from the previous clause. In no point whatever, under no circumstances, has Paul ever failed to exhibit to the Corinthians the whole truth of God in the Gospel. This it is which makes him scornful even when he thinks of the men whom the Corinthians are preferring to himself. When we look from the details of this passage to its scope, some reflections are suggested, which have their application still. (1) Our conception of the Person of Christ determines our conception of the whole Christian religion. What we have to proclaim to men as gospel - what we have to offer to them as the characteristic temper and virtue of the life which the Gospel originates-depends on the answer we give to Jesus’ own question, "Whom say ye that I am?" A Christ who is simply human cannot be to men what a Christ is who is truly divine. The Gospel identified with Him cannot be the s me; the spirit of the society which gathers round Him cannot be the same. It is futile to ask whether such a gospel and such a spirit can fairly be called Christian; they are in point of fact quite other things from the Gospel and the Spirit which are historically associated with the name. It is plain from this passage that the Apostle attached the utmost importance to his conceptions of the Person and Work of the Lord: ought not this to give pause to those who evacuate his theology of many of its distinctive ideas-especially that of the Preexistence of Christ-on the plea that they are merely theologoumena of an individual Christian, and that to discard them leaves the Gospel unaffected? Certainly this was not what he thought. Another Jesus meant another spirit, another gospel to use modern words, another religion and another religious consciousness; and any other, the Apostle was perfectly sure, came short of the grandeur of the truth. The spirit of the passage is the same with that in Galatians 1:6 ft., where he erects the Gospel he has preached as the standard of absolute religious truth. "Though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema." (2) "The simplicity that is toward Christ" the simple acceptance of the truth about Him, an undivided loyalty of heart to Him-may be corrupted by influences originating within, as well as without, the Church. The infidelity which is subtlest, and most to be dreaded, is not the gross materialism or atheism which will not so much as hear the name of God or Christ; but that which uses all sacred names, speaking readily of Jesus, the Spirit, and the Gospel, but meaning something else, and something less, than these words meant in apostolic lips. This it was which alarmed the jealous love of Paul; this it is, in its insidious influence, which constitutes one of the most real perils of Christianity at the present time. The Jew in the first century, who reduced the Person and Work of Christ to the scale of his national prejudices, and the theologian in the nineteenth, who discounts apostolic ideas when they do not suit the presuppositions of his philosophy, are open to the same suspicion, if they do not fall under the same condemnation. True thoughts about Christ-in spite of all the smart sayings about theological subtleties which have nothing to do with piety-are essential to the very existence of the Christian religion. (3) There is no comparison between the Gospel of God in Jesus Christ His Son and any other religion. The science of comparative religion is interesting as a science; but a Christian may be excused for finding the religious use of it tiresome. There is nothing true in any of the religions which is not already in his possession. He never finds a moral idea, a law of the spiritual life, a word of God, in any of them, to which he cannot immediately offer a parallel, far more simple and penetrating, from the revelation of Christ. He has no interest in disparaging the light by which millions of his fellow-creatures have walked, generation after generation, in the mysterious providence of God; but he sees no reason for pretending that that light-which Scripture calls darkness and the shadow of death-can bear comparison with the radiance in which he lives. "If," he might say, misapplying the fourth verse-"if they brought us another savior, another spirit, another gospel, we might be religiously interested in them; but, as it is, we have everything already, and they, in comparison, have nothing." The same remark applies to "theosophy," "spiritualism," and other "gospels." It will be time to take them seriously when they utter one wise or true word on God or the soul which is not an echo of something in the old familiar Scriptures. 2 Corinthians 11:7 Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely? Chapter 25 FOOLISH BOASTING. 2 Corinthians 11:7-29 (R.V) THE connection of 2 Corinthians 11:7 with what precedes is not at once clear. The Apostle has expressed his conviction that he is in nothing inferior to "the superlative apostles" so greatly honored by the Corinthians. Why, then, is he so differently treated? A rudeness in speech he is willing to concede, but that can hardly be the explanation, considering his fullness of knowledge. Then another idea strikes him, and he puts it, interrogatively, as an alternative. Can it be that he did wrong-humbling himself that they might be exalted-in preaching to them the Gospel of God for naught, i.e., in declining to accept support from them while he evangelized in Corinth? Do they appreciate the interlopers more highly than Paul, because they exact a price for their gospel, while he preached his for nothing? This, of course, is bitterly ironical; but it is not gratuitous. The background of fact which prompted the Apostle’s question was no doubt this-that his adversaries had misinterpreted his conduct. A true apostle, they said, had a right to be maintained by the Church; The Lord Himself has ordained that they who preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel; but he claims no maintenance, and by that very fact betrays a bad conscience. He dare not make the claim which every true apostle makes without the least misgiving. It would be hard to imagine anything more malignant in its wickedness than this: Paul’s refusal to claim support from those to whom he preached is one of the most purely and characteristically Christian of all his actions. He felt himself, by the grace of Christ, a debtor to all men; he owed them the Gospel; it was as if he were defrauding them if he did not tell them of the love of God in His Son. He felt himself in immense sympathy with the spirit of the Gospel; it was the free gift of God to the world, and as far as it depended on him its absolute freeness would not be obscured by the merest suspicion of a price to be paid. He knew that in foregoing his maintenance he was resigning a right secured to him by Christ; { 1 Corinthians 9:14 } humbling himself, as he puts it here, that others might be spiritually exalted; but he had the joy of preaching the Gospel in the spirit of the Gospel-of entering, in Christ’s service, into the self-sacrificing joy of his Lord; and he valued this above all earthly reward. To accuse such a man. on such grounds, of having a bad conscience, and of being afraid to live by his work, because he knew it was not what it pretended to be, was to sound the depths of baseness. It gave Paul in some measure the Master’s experience, when the Pharisees said, "He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils." It is really the prince of the devils, the accuser of the brethren, who speaks in all such malignant insinuations; it is the most diabolical thing any one can do-the nearest approach to sinning against the Holy Ghost-when he sets himself to find out bad motives for good actions. As we shall see further on, Paul’s enemies made more specific charges: they hinted that he made his own out of the Corinthians indirectly, and that he could indemnify himself, for this abstinence, from the collection ( 2 Corinthians 12:16-18 , 2 Corinthians 8:8 ; 2 Corinthians 8:9 .). Perhaps this is why he describes his actual conduct at Corinth in such vigorous language ( 2 Corinthians 11:7-11 ), before saying anything at all of his motives. "I preached to you the Gospel of God," he says, "for nothing." He calls it "the Gospel of God" with intentional fullness and solemnity; the genuine Gospel, he means-not another, which is no gospel at all, but a subversion of the truth. He robbed other Churches, and took wages from them, in order to minister to the Corinthians. There is a mingling of ideas in the strong words here used. The English reader thinks of Paul’s doing less than justice to other Churches that he might do more than justice to the Corinthians; but though this is true, it is not all. Both "robbed" ( ?? ? ???? ) and "wages" ( ??????? ), as Bengel has pointed out, are military words, and it is difficult to resist the impression that Paul used them as such; he did not come to Corinth to be dependent on any one, but in the course of a triumphant progress, in which he devoted the spoils of his earlier victories for Christ to a new campaign in Achaia. Nay, even When he was with them and was "in want" (what a ray of light that one word ?????????? lets into his circumstances!), he did not throw himself like a benumbing weight on any one; what his own labors failed to supply, the brethren (perhaps Silas and Timothy) made good when they came from Macedonia. This has been his practice, and will continue to be so. He swears by the truth of Christ that is in him, that no man shall ever stop his mouth, so far as boasting of this independence is concerned, in the regions of Achaia. Why? His tender heart dismisses the one painful supposition which could possibly arise. "Because I love you not? God knoweth." Love is wounded when its proffered gifts are rejected with scorn, and when their rejection means that it is rejected; but that was not the situation here. Paul can appeal to Him who knows the heart in proof of the sincerity with which he loves the Corinthians. His fixed purpose to be indebted to no one in Achaia has another object in view. What that is he explains in the twelfth verse. Strange to say, this verse, like 2 Corinthians 11:4 , has received two precisely opposite interpretations. (1) Some start with the idea that Paul’s adversaries at Corinth were persons who took no support from the Church, and boasted of their disinterestedness in this respect. The "occasion" which they desired was an occasion of any sort for disparaging and discrediting Paul; and they felt they would have such an occasion if Paul accepted support from the Church, and so put himself in a position of inferiority to them. But Paul persists in his self-denying policy, with the object of depriving them of the opportunity they seek, and at the same time of proving them-in this very point of disinterestedness-to be in exactly the same position as himself. But surely, throughout both Epistles, a contrast is implied, in this very point, between Paul and his opponents: the tacit assumption is always that his line of conduct is singular, and is not to be made a rule. And in the face of 2 Corinthians 11:20 it is too much to assume that it was the rule of his Judaising opponents in Corinth. (2) Others start with the idea, which seems to me indubitably right, that these opponents did accept support from the Church. But even on this assumption opinions diverge. (a) Some argue that Paul pursued his policy of abstinence partly to deprive them of any opportunity of disparaging him, and partly to compel them to adopt it themselves ("that they may be found even as we"). I can hardly imagine this being taken seriously. Why should Paul have wanted to lift these preachers of a false gospel to a level with himself in point of generosity? To coerce them into a reluctant self-denial could be no possible object to him either of wish or hope. Hence there seems only (b) the other alternative open, which makes the last clause-"that wherein they boast, they may be found even as we"-depend, not upon "what I do, that I will do," but upon "them that desire occasion." What the adversaries desired was, not occasion to disparage Paul in general, but occasion of being on an equality with him in the matter in which they gloried-viz., their apostolic claims. They felt the advantage which Paul’s disinterestedness gave him with the Corinthians; they had not themselves the generosity needed to imitate it; it was not enough to assail it with covert slanders, { 2 Corinthians 12:16-18 } or to say that he was afraid to claim an apostle’s due; it would have been all they wanted had he resigned it. Then they could have said that in that in which they boasted-apostolic dignity-they were precisely on a level with him. But not to mention the spiritual motives for his conduct, which have been already explained, and were independent of all relation to his opponents, Paul was too capable a strategist to surrender such a position to the enemy. It would never be by action of his that he and they found themselves on the same ground. At the very mention of such an equality his heart rises within him. "Found even as we! Why, such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ." Here, at last, the irony is cast aside, and Paul calls a spade a spade. The conception of apostleship in the New Testament is not that dogmatic traditional one, which limits the name to the Twelve, or to the Twelve and the Apostle of the Gentiles; as we see from passages like 2 Corinthians 8:23 , Acts 14:4 ; Acts 14:14 , it had a much larger application. What Paul means when he calls his opponents false apostles is not that persons in their position could have no right to the name; but that persons with their character, their aims, and their methods, would only deceive others when they used it. It ought to cover something quite different from what it actually did cover in them. He explains himself further when he calls them "deceitful workers." That they were active he does not deny; but the true end of their activity was not declared. As far as the word itself goes, the "deceit" which they used may have been intended to cloak either their personal or their proselytizing views. After what we have read in 2 Corinthians 10:12-18 , the latter seems, preferable. The Judaising preachers had shown their hand in Galatia, demanding openly that Paul’s converts should be circumcised, and keep the law of Moses as a whole; but their experience there had made them cautious, and when they came to Corinth they proceeded more diplomatically. They tried to sap the Pauline Gospel, partly by preaching "another Jesus," partly by calling in question the legitimacy of Paul’s vocation. They said nothing openly of what was the inevitable and intended issue of all this-the bringing of spiritual Gentile Christendom under the old Jewish yoke. But it is this which goes to the Apostle’s soul; he can be nothing but irreconcilably hostile to men who have assumed the guise of apostles of Christ, in order that they may with greater security subvert Christ’s characteristic work. Paul dwells on the deceitfulness of their conduct as its most offensive feature; yet he does not wonder at it, for even Satan, he says, fashions himself into an angel of light. It is no great thing, then, if his servants also fashion themselves as servants of righteousness. We can only tell in a general way what Paul meant when he spoke of Satan, the prince of darkness, transfiguring himself so as to appear a heavenly angel. He may have had some Jewish legend in his mind, some story of a famous temptation, unknown to us, or he may only have intended to represent to the imagination, with the utmost possible vividness, one of the familiar laws in our moral experience, a law which was strikingly illustrated by the conduct of his adversaries at Corinth. Evil, we all know, could never tempt us if we saw it simply as it is; disguise is essential to its power; it appeals to man through ideas and hopes which he cannot but regard as good. So it was in the very first temptation. An act which in its essential character was neither more nor less than one of direct disobedience to God was represented by the tempter, not in that character, but as the means by which man was to obtain possession of a tree good for food (sensual satisfaction), and pleasant to the eyes (aesthetic satisfaction), and desirable to make one wise (intellectual satisfaction). All these satisfactions, which in themselves are undeniably good, were the cloak under which the tempter hid his true features. He was a murderer from the beginning, and entered Eden to ruin man, but he presented himself as one offering to man a vast enlargement of life and joy. This is the nature of all temptations; to disguise himself, to look as like a good angel as he can, is the first necessity, and therefore the first invention of the devil. And all who do his work, the Apostle says, naturally imitate his devices. The soul of man is born for good, and will not listen at all to any voice which does not profess at least to speak for good: this is why the devil is a liar from the beginning, and the father of lies. Lying in word and deed is the one weapon with which he can assail the simplicity of man. But how does this apply to the Judaisers in Corinth? To Paul, we must understand, they were men affecting to serve Christ, but really impelled by personal, or at the utmost by partisan, feelings. Their true object was to win an ascendency for themselves, or for their party, in the Church; but they made their way into it as evangelists and apostles. Nominally, they were ministers of Christ; really, they ministered to their own vani