2 Corinthians · Chapter 4
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
John Wesley
V. 2. But have renounced-Set at open defiance.
The hidden things of shame-All things which men need to hide, or to be ashamed of.
Not walking in craftiness-Using no disguise, subtlety, guile. Nor privily corrupting the pure word of God-By any additions or alterations, or by attempting to accommodate it to the taste of the hearers.
Adam Clarke
Verse 2. But have renounced] apeipameqa. We have disclaimed the hidden things of dishonesty; ta krupta thv aiscunhv, the hidden things of shame; those things which wicked men do; and which they are ashamed to have known, and ashamed to own. Dr. Whitby thinks that the apostle refers to carnal abominations, of which the Jews and their rabbins were notoriously guilty. And it does appear from the first epistle that there were persons in Corinth who taught that fornication was no sin; and it appears also that several had taken the part of the incestuous person. Not walking in craftiness] panourgia. In subtlety and clever cunning, as the false teachers did, who were accomplished fellows, and capable of any thing. The word is compounded of pan, all, and ergon, work. Nor handling the word of God deceitfully] Not using the doctrines of the Gospel to serve any secular or carnal purpose; not explaining away their force so as to palliate or excuse sin; not generalizing its precepts so as to excuse many in particular circumstances from obedience, especially in that which most crossed their inclinations. There were deceitful handlers of this kind in Corinth, and there are many of them still in the garb of Christian ministers; persons who disguise that part of their creed which, though they believe it is of God, would make them unpopular, affecting moderation in order to procure a larger audience and more extensive support; not attacking prevalent and popular vices; calling dissipation of mind, relaxation; and worldly and carnal pleasures, innocent amusements, &c. In a word, turning with the tide, and shifting with the wind of popular opinion, prejudice, fashion, &c.
But by manifestation of the truth] An open, explicit acknowledgment of what we know to be the truth-what we are assured is the Gospel of Jesus; concealing nothing; blunting the edge of no truth; explaining spiritual things, not in the words of man’s wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit of God.
Commending ourselves to every man’s conscience] Speaking so that every man’s conscience shall bear its testimony that we proclaim the truth of God. This is one characteristic of Divine truth: even every man’s conscience will acknowledge it, though it speak decidedly against his own practices.
In the sight of God.] Whose eye is ever on the heart and conscience of man, and who always bears testimony to his own word.
Joseph Benson
Verses 1, 2. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry — Spoken of from verses 6-11 of the preceding chapter, with which this is closely connected; a ministry so superior to that wherewith Moses was intrusted; as we have received mercy — To be accounted faithful; as God has in mercy accepted us as his servants, and supported us in our work; we faint not — Under any of those sufferings which we are called to endure; nor desist, in any degree, from our glorious enterprise. But have renounced — Or set at open defiance; the hidden things of dishonesty — Or of shame, as thv aiscunhv properly signifies; all things which men need to hide or be ashamed of; not walking in craftiness — Using no disguise, subtlety, or guile; nor handling the word of God deceitfully — Not privily corrupting the pure truth of God by any additions of our own, or alterations, or by attempting to accommodate it to the taste of our hearers. But, by manifestation of the genuine and unsophisticated truth, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience — Appealing to the consciences of sinners for the truth and importance of our doctrine; or acting in such a manner as all men, in their consciences, if rightly informed, must approve of; in the sight of God — Whose eye we know is upon us, observing the secrets of our hearts, and therefore we desire, by the most perfect integrity and uprightness, to approve ourselves to him. The apostle does not mean that they actually recommended themselves to the conscience of every man, so that they had the approbation of every man; but that they behaved in such a manner as ought to have convinced every man of their honesty and fidelity in their preaching, and in the exercise of every other branch of their ministry.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 2. We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, or the shameful secrets of false teachers, who corrupt the word of God: 2 Corinthians 2:17. Not walking in craftiness, to make a gain of godliness, or turn the ministry to gain mankind with guile. Nor handling the word of God deceitfully, to flatter any man’s passions, or opinions; for if we seek to please men, we cease to be the servants of Christ. We know nothing of the wisdom of this world, but proclaim the gospel as the heralds of the Lord. We publish the law in the midst of the cities, and go through the nations in the fulness of the gospel of Christ. We make manifest the truth, and nothing but the truth, to gain the conscience, and to win the heart.
Daniel Whedon
2. Hidden things of dishonesty—Dishonesty is here the old English word for dishonour or shame; and this whole phrase means concealed deeds of shame. It refers not to obscene practices, but either to secret partisan managements imputed to Paul, or, more probably, to the methods by which the Jerusalem party obtained a foothold in the Corinthian Church. Paul’s unvailed gospel is too open and above-board for such secrecies. Craftiness—Unscrupulousness; the conduct of a party capable of any thing and of every thing. Handling the word… deceitfully—The same as 2 Corinthians 2:17, corrupting the word of God, that is, adulterating it with that obsolete Judaism which belittled Christ. Manifestation—Not only taking off the vail, but showing in clear, strong light the truth. Every man’s conscience—Literally, every conscience of men; the universal human conscience.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 1.-2. Parallel to 2 Corinthians 3:12, 13; as are 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 to 2 Corinthians 3:12-18.
Because of this: viz. the wonderful change in 2 Corinthians 3:18. This ministry: that of 2 Corinthians 3:6ff. As in 2 Corinthians 3:12, Paul now shows the bearing of his foregoing teaching upon his own conduct.
According as we have received mercy: stronger than 1 Corinthians 15:10. It is a humble acknowledgment of helplessness, unable to do any good to himself or others, and of the pity shown to him by God in making him a minister of the more glorious covenant. Whatever position we hold in the church is by the compassion of God. Cp. Exodus 33:19. Fail: turn out badly in something, to lose heart and give up through weariness or fear.
Hidden things of shame: the many and various things which shame compels us to hide, especially all unworthy motives and means. To these we shall turn if we become weary or timid in our work. But Paul, brave and persevering, had renounced them. He did so because he remembered the wonderful effect of the image reflected in the gospel glass, which in his ministry he held before men. Paul’s actual conduct, in accord with we have renounced etc., is portrayed in the rest of 2 Corinthians 4:2. Walk: as in 1 Corinthians 3:3; Romans 6:4. Craftiness: 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Corinthians 3:9: literally, doing anything to gain our ends. So Plato, Menexenus p. 247a: “All knowledge apart from righteousness and other virtue is craftiness, not wisdom.”
Using with guile the word of God: cp. “huckstering the word of God,” 2 Corinthians 2:17: using the Gospel as a means of working out our own secret and unworthy purposes. To do this, is to walk in craftiness. Manifestation of the truth: exact opposite of the foregoing. Manifestation: see under Romans 1:19; Colossians 4:4. The truth is made manifest to all, but not revealed to all.
The truth: including (Psalm 119:142, 151) the Law and (Colossians 1:5) the Gospel; as being words which correspond with reality. See note, Romans 1:18.
Conscience: see notes, 1 Corinthians 8:7; Romans 2:15. Every conscience of men: more forceful than “every man’s conscience.” Cp. Romans 2:9. Each individual conscience is to Paul a definite object of thought. The truth appeals to every conscience, however wicked and ignorant. For it sets forth, and agrees with, the spiritual realities of every man’s own heart, and proclaims that which every man’s heart knows to be true. For the written Law accords with the law written in the heart; and the Gospel accords with man’s need of salvation. Otherwise there would be no hope for the unsaved. And, by its appeal to each man’s conscience, the truth claims respect for those who announce it. Indeed, the preacher’s words will come with authority in proportion as they agree with the facts of his hearers’ inner life. And this will be in proportion as he makes manifest the whole truth. He who does this has therein sufficient commendation, and has no need for craft and guile. While speaking to men Paul stood before God: cp. 2 Corinthians 2:17; 5:11. And in His presence guile can find no place. This verse expounds, and accounts for, the “much openness of speech” in 2 Corinthians 3:12.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
John Wesley
V. 3. But if our gospel also-As well as the law of Moses.
Adam Clarke
Verse 3. But if our Gospel be hid] kekalummenon. Veiled; he refers to the subject that he had treated so particularly in the conclusion of the preceding chapter. If there be a veil on the Gospel, it is only to the wilfully blind; and if any man’s heart be veiled that hears this Gospel, it is a proof that he is among the lost, apollumenoi, those who are fully under the power of sin; who have given up themselves to work wickedness; persons who are mere heathens, or live like such, and yet such as Jesus Christ came to seek and save; for the word does not necessarily imply those that will perish eternally, but is a common epithet to point out a man without the Gospel and without God in the world. Christ commands his disciples in preaching the Gospel to go to probata ta apolwlota, the LOST sheep of the house of Israel; Matthew 10:6; for himself says, Matthew 18:11, and Luke 19:10: The Son of man is come zhthsai kai swsai to apolwlov, to seek and to SAVE that which is LOST. And such persons he represents under the parable of the lost sheep; for to find to apolwlov, that which is LOST, the good shepherd leaves the ninety-and-nine in the wilderness, and goes in search of it; Matthew 18:12; Luke 15:4. The word more properly signifies, in all those connections, and in the parallel passages, not those who ARE LOST, but those who are perishing; and will perish, if not sought and saved.
Joseph Benson
Verses 3, 4. But if our gospel also, (so it is in the original,) be hid — Kekalummenon, veiled, as well as the law of Moses; it is veiled to them that are lost — En toiv apollumenoiv, in those that are perishing, namely, in a state of ignorance and unbelief; of guilt, depravity, weakness, and wretchedness. “In 2 Corinthians 3:13, 14, the apostle had observed that there were two veils, by which the Israelites were blinded, or prevented from understanding the meaning of the law, and from perceiving that it was to be abolished by the gospel. The first was a veil which lay on the law itself. This veil was formed by the obscurity of the types and figures of the law, and was signified by Moses putting a veil upon his face when he delivered the law. The other veil lay upon their hearts, and was woven by their own prejudices and corrupt affections, which hindered them from discerning the true design of the law, and the intimations given in it concerning its abrogation by the gospel. Now, in allusion to these causes of the blindness of the Israelites, the apostle told the Corinthians that the gospel had been so plainly preached, and so fully proved, that if its divine original and true meaning was veiled, it was veiled only to them who destroyed themselves. It was not veiled by any veil lying on the gospel itself, but by a veil lying on the hearts of men, who would destroy themselves, by hearkening to their own prejudices and lusts.” — Macknight. In, or among whom the god of this world — Grandis et horribilis descriptio Satanæ, a grand and terrible description of Satan, says Bengelius. Satan is repeatedly styled by our Lord, the prince of this world. See John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; that is, the prince of those who are men of the world, (Psalm 17:14,) and who freely subject themselves to him. Thus, (Ephesians 6:12,) he and his associates in rebellion against God are termed the rulers of the darkness of this world. Satan is termed by the apostle here, the god of this world, because he makes use of the things of this world, especially of its riches, honours, pleasures, and various vanities, to obtain and establish his dominion over a great part of mankind, even over all that continue under the power of unbelief and sin. Hath blinded — Not only veiled; the minds of them that believe not — So that they have no true apprehension nor discernment of spiritual things: which indeed none can savingly know, nor duly appreciate, but by the teaching of the Spirit of God, (1 Corinthians 2:11,) even the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, by which alone the eyes of our understanding can be enlightened, Ephesians 1:17, 18: lest the light — Ton fwtismon, the illumination; of the glorious gospel of Christ, should shine — Or beam forth, as the apostles expression signifies; upon them — By our ministry. Illumination is properly the reflection, or propagation of light, from those who are already enlightened, to others; and the apostle appears to allude to the splendour of God’s majesty shining from Moses’s face on the people. Who is the image of God — This appellation is frequently given to Christ, who is so called, because, in his complete person, he was in such a sense God manifest in the flesh, and so exactly exhibited the Father to mankind, that they who saw him, saw the Father, as far as he could be seen on earth. See notes on John 14:7-11. Hence he is termed, (Hebrews 1:3,) the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person. Though the devil is said here to blind the minds of unbelievers, no person understands the apostle to mean that he hath the power of blinding men’s minds directly; far less that he hath the power of blinding them forcibly; for in that case, who could remain unblinded? But he means, that Satan blinds unbelievers, by suggesting those thoughts and imaginations, and exciting those lusts and passions, by which such as believe not are easily persuaded to shut their eyes against the light of the gospel, because it condemns their vicious practices. Thus our Lord testifies that men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. The ignorance, therefore, of unbelievers does not proceed from the obscurity of the gospel, but from their own lusts and passions, which, by the grace of God, not withheld from them, (for it visits all, Titus 2:11, 12,) they might resist and mortify, Romans 8:13; but to which they voluntarily, wickedly, and generally in opposition to their better judgment, yield themselves willing servants.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 3. But if our gospel be hid. The Greek has various bearings. Kekalummenon, covered, obscurely seen, veiled, or so dimly seen as not to perceive its beauty. In like manner the veil was on the jews, when Moses and the prophets were read. Their passions were so attached to a reigning Messiah, that they did not perceive that Christ must first suffer, and then enter into his glory. Therefore they saw no form nor comeliness in him that they should desire him.
Daniel Whedon
3. Hid—It is a marked defect that our translators failed to preserve the exact sense of this word, which is vailed, and so have lost the connexion for the English reader. Paul’s whole stress has been, (2 Corinthians 3:7-18,) that while the old covenant to which the Judaists hung so pertinaciously was a vailed one, and a vail is on the Jews’ heart in reading it, our gospel is an unvailed outbeaming of the truth and of the glorious face of Jesus the Messiah. But, he now says, if our gospel is vailed, it is vailed to the intrinsically blinded. It is a vail created by the glaze or scales on their own retinas. To them that are lost—Literally, to them that are being lost: or, who are perishing. The participle is present, and would include present as well as future perdition. But we believe the truer rendering to be, If our gospel is vailed, it is vailed by those perishing things with which the god of this world blinded the eyes of the unbelieving.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 3.-4. Parallel to 2 Corinthians 3:14, 15. Paul cannot forget that, although by manifesting the truth he recommends himself to every conscience, yet many reject his words.
My gospel: as in 1 Corinthians 15:1; Romans 2:16. In (or among) them that are perishing; recalls 2 Corinthians 2:15. They are pictured as standing round the Gospel, but unable, because it is veiled, to see the glory therein reflected. That the Gospel, like the Law, is veiled, Paul must admit. But it is so only among those in the way to destruction. The veiled Gospel is therefore a proof of their deadly peril. In whom etc.; says that the hindrance is in themselves, in a form which proves the assertion of 2 Corinthians 4:3.
In whom: graphic picture of the locality of the blinding, viz. that inmost chamber whence come their thoughts.
This age: as in Romans 12:2.
God of this age: the most tremendous title of Satan, as a supreme controlling power using for his own ends the men and things belonging to the present life. Him the men of this age (1 Corinthians 2:6ff) worship and serve. Cp. John 12:31; 14:30; Ephesians 2:2; 6:12; also Philippians 3:19.
Blinded: John 12:40; 1 John 2:11.
Blinded the thoughts: cp. 2 Corinthians 3:14. Their thoughts have no intelligence, and cannot see the gospel light.
Of the unbelievers: not needful to complete the sense, but added to point out the cause of their surrender to the cruelty of Satan. Paul refers only to those who heard and refused the Gospel. For this blinding was a punishment for rejecting the light. And rejection of the light of nature (Romans 1:21) would not make them unbelievers. Because they turned away from the glory reflected in the gospel mirror, God permitted Satan to destroy, in whole or in part their capacity for spiritual vision. That there may not shine etc.; cruel purpose (and inevitable result) of this blinding. It reveals the loss sustained by the blinded ones. It is as though, in the wilderness, that he might not look at the brazen serpent and live, one put out the eyes of a bitten man.
The glory of Christ: same as “glory of the Lord” in 2 Corinthians 3:18.
The Gospel of etc.: the gospel mirror in which the glory is reflected. The light-giving: “lest the Gospel shine upon them and give them light.” Image of God: 1 Corinthians 11:7; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3. Cp. Wisdom 7:26: “An outshining is (wisdom) of everlasting light, a spotless mirror of the energy of God, an image of His goodness.” And Philo (On Monarchy bk. ii. 5, On Dreams bk. i. 41, etc.) speaks often of “the Word” [ologov] as an “image of God.” See Lightfoot’s valuable note on Colossians 1:15. These words set forth an important relation of the Son to the Father. Of the invisible Father the Son is a visible manifestation and outshining, visible once on earth, though veiled in human flesh, and visible now to those who surround His throne. We know, in part, what God is because we have seen Christ reflected in the gospel mirror. That Christ is the image of God, reveals the greatness of His glory and of the light which proceeds from the Gospel in which His glory is reflected, and the infinite loss of those whose blinded thoughts cannot see this glorious light.
Many of those to whom Paul preached had evidently never seen the image of Christ portrayed in the Gospel. For they were unmoved by it. To them, therefore, the Gospel was veiled. And, since the truth was set plainly before them, the hindrance to sight was not in the Word but in the hearts of those who did not believe it. By not seeing the image set before them they proved themselves incapable of seeing it. And their blindness was so unnatural that it must have been inflicted. And it could be a work only of the enemy of the race. Since the blinded ones were wholly occupied with things of the present life and were thus prevented from beholding the Gospel light, Paul says that they were blinded by the God of this age. And, since the inevitable result of their blindness was that they were unable to see the light which shines forth from Him who reveals to men the face of God, he properly speaks of this as the dire purpose of the blindness inflicted by their foe.
This blindness was wrought, not only by Satan, but by God: as is taught expressly in 2 Thessalonians 2:9ff; Romans 11:8; John 12:40. In just punishment God surrenders to the cruelty of Satan those who reject the Gospel, that He may destroy their capacity for receiving it. This dual source of spiritual insensibility is illustrated in 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1. The blindness is also attributed to the word, and to those who preach it: Isaiah 6:10; Mark 4:11f. For, by God’s ordinance, the Gospel hardens those whom it fails to soften.
This blindness, though terrible, is not necessarily final; any more than is the death described in Romans 7:9ff. For Christ, who raises the dead, gives sight (Luke 4:18) to the blind. But the blindness and death are such as no earthly power can save from. Yet in our deepest darkness we know the direction of the light. And, as we turn towards it, the light of life by its creative power gives eyes to the blind.
Notice that, as in 1 Corinthians 3:23; 8:6; 11:3, the Father is called God even in distinction from the Son.
In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
John Wesley
V. 4. The God of this world-What a sublime and horrible description of Satan! He is indeed the god of all that believe not, and works in them with inconceivable energy.
Hath blinded-Not only veiled, the eye of their understanding. Illumination-Is properly the reflection or propagation of light, from those who are already enlightened, to others.
Who is the image of God-Hence also we may understand how great is the glory of Christ. He that sees the Son, sees the Father in the face of Christ. The Son exactly exhibits the Father to us.
Adam Clarke
Verse 4. In whom the god of this world, &c.] We see here that those whose minds are blinded, are they who believe not; and because they believe not, their minds continue in darkness, and are proper subjects for Satan to work on; and he deepens the darkness, and increases the hardness. But who is meant by the god of this world? It is generally answered, the same who is called the prince of this world, John 16:11. But the question recurs, who is the prince of this world? and the answer to both is, SATAN. The reader will do well to consult the notes on “Joh 12:31”, and the concluding observations on “Joh 14:30”. I must own I feel considerable reluctance to assign the epithet o qeov, THE God, to Satan; and were there not a rooted prejudice in favour of the common opinion, the contrary might be well vindicated, viz. that by the God of this world the supreme Being is meant, who in his judgment gave over the minds of the unbelieving Jews to spiritual darkness, so that destruction came upon them to the uttermost. Satan, it is true, has said that the kingdoms of the world and their glory are his, and that he gives them to whomsoever he will; Matthew 4:8, 9. But has God ever said so? and are we to take this assertion of the boasting devil and father of lies for truth? Certainly not. We are not willing to attribute the blinding of men’s minds to God, because we sometimes forget that he is the God of justice, and may in judgment remove mercies from those that abuse them; but this is repeatedly attributed to him in the Bible, and the expression before us is quite a parallel to the following, Isaiah 6:9: Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. MAKE the HEART of this PEOPLE FAT, and MAKE their EARS HEAVY, and SHUT their EYES; LEST they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, &c. And see the parallel places, Matthew 13:14, 15; Mark 4:12; John 12:40; and particularly Romans 11:8-10: God HATH GIVEN THEM THE SPIRIT of SLUMBER, EYES that they SHOULD not SEE, and EARS that they SHOULD not HEAR; let their EYES be DARKENED, &c. Now all this is spoken of the same people, in the same circumstances of wilful rebellion and obstinate unbelief; and the great God of heaven and earth is he who judicially blinds their eyes; makes their hearts fat, i.e. stupid; gives them the spirit of slumber: and bows down their back, &c. On these very grounds it is exceedingly likely that the apostle means the true God by the words the god of this world. And as to the expression this world, aiwnov toutou, we are not to imagine that it necessarily means wicked men, or a wicked age; for it is frequently used to express the whole mundane system, and all that is called time: Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither en toutw tw aiwni, in THIS WORLD, nor in the world to come; Matthew 12:32. In Luke 20:34, the children, uioi tou aiwnov toutou, of THIS WORLD, mean simply mankind at large in their state of probation in this lower world, in opposition to their state in the world to come. The same meaning the word has in several other places, to which l need not refer; it simply implying the present state of things, governed by the Divine providence, in contradistinction from the eternal state: and it is very remarkable that, in 1 Timothy 1:17, God himself is called basileuv twn aiwnwn, the King of the WORLD; what we call King eternal; but here it evidently means him who governs both worlds, and rules in time and eternity. This character among the Asiatics is considered essential to God; and therefore in the very first surat of the Koran he is called [Arabic] Rubbi Alalameen, “the Lord of both worlds,” an expression perfectly similar to that above. But it is needless to multiply examples; they exist in abundance. Some, and particularly the ancient fathers, have connected tou aiwnov toutou with twn apistwn, and have read the verse: But God hath blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world, &c. Irenæus, Tertullian, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Photius, Theophylact, and Augustine, all plead for the above meaning; and St. Augustine says that it was the opinion of almost all the ancients.
Lest the light of the glorious Gospel] They have resisted the grace which God gave them, and have refused to yield to the evidences which amply prove the Messiahship of Jesus; and therefore their eyes were judicially darkened, as it is said in the prophet: He hath closed their eyes, and hath given them the spirit of slumber. That is, they have shut their eyes against the light, and their blindness and stupor are the consequence. By glorious Gospel we are to understand the luminous Gospel; that which comes with so much light and evidence to every candid mind. Who is the image of God] Christ is called, Hebrews 1:3, the brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of his person. See the note there.
Joseph Benson
Verses 3, 4. But if our gospel also, (so it is in the original,) be hid — Kekalummenon, veiled, as well as the law of Moses; it is veiled to them that are lost — En toiv apollumenoiv, in those that are perishing, namely, in a state of ignorance and unbelief; of guilt, depravity, weakness, and wretchedness. “In 2 Corinthians 3:13, 14, the apostle had observed that there were two veils, by which the Israelites were blinded, or prevented from understanding the meaning of the law, and from perceiving that it was to be abolished by the gospel. The first was a veil which lay on the law itself. This veil was formed by the obscurity of the types and figures of the law, and was signified by Moses putting a veil upon his face when he delivered the law. The other veil lay upon their hearts, and was woven by their own prejudices and corrupt affections, which hindered them from discerning the true design of the law, and the intimations given in it concerning its abrogation by the gospel. Now, in allusion to these causes of the blindness of the Israelites, the apostle told the Corinthians that the gospel had been so plainly preached, and so fully proved, that if its divine original and true meaning was veiled, it was veiled only to them who destroyed themselves. It was not veiled by any veil lying on the gospel itself, but by a veil lying on the hearts of men, who would destroy themselves, by hearkening to their own prejudices and lusts.” — Macknight. In, or among whom the god of this world — Grandis et horribilis descriptio Satanæ, a grand and terrible description of Satan, says Bengelius. Satan is repeatedly styled by our Lord, the prince of this world. See John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; that is, the prince of those who are men of the world, (Psalm 17:14,) and who freely subject themselves to him. Thus, (Ephesians 6:12,) he and his associates in rebellion against God are termed the rulers of the darkness of this world. Satan is termed by the apostle here, the god of this world, because he makes use of the things of this world, especially of its riches, honours, pleasures, and various vanities, to obtain and establish his dominion over a great part of mankind, even over all that continue under the power of unbelief and sin. Hath blinded — Not only veiled; the minds of them that believe not — So that they have no true apprehension nor discernment of spiritual things: which indeed none can savingly know, nor duly appreciate, but by the teaching of the Spirit of God, (1 Corinthians 2:11,) even the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, by which alone the eyes of our understanding can be enlightened, Ephesians 1:17, 18: lest the light — Ton fwtismon, the illumination; of the glorious gospel of Christ, should shine — Or beam forth, as the apostles expression signifies; upon them — By our ministry. Illumination is properly the reflection, or propagation of light, from those who are already enlightened, to others; and the apostle appears to allude to the splendour of God’s majesty shining from Moses’s face on the people. Who is the image of God — This appellation is frequently given to Christ, who is so called, because, in his complete person, he was in such a sense God manifest in the flesh, and so exactly exhibited the Father to mankind, that they who saw him, saw the Father, as far as he could be seen on earth. See notes on John 14:7-11. Hence he is termed, (Hebrews 1:3,) the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person. Though the devil is said here to blind the minds of unbelievers, no person understands the apostle to mean that he hath the power of blinding men’s minds directly; far less that he hath the power of blinding them forcibly; for in that case, who could remain unblinded? But he means, that Satan blinds unbelievers, by suggesting those thoughts and imaginations, and exciting those lusts and passions, by which such as believe not are easily persuaded to shut their eyes against the light of the gospel, because it condemns their vicious practices. Thus our Lord testifies that men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. The ignorance, therefore, of unbelievers does not proceed from the obscurity of the gospel, but from their own lusts and passions, which, by the grace of God, not withheld from them, (for it visits all, Titus 2:11, 12,) they might resist and mortify, Romans 8:13; but to which they voluntarily, wickedly, and generally in opposition to their better judgment, yield themselves willing servants.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 4. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. But we are clear of their blood. We have manifested the truth; the fault is wholly their own, and they are left without excuse. The veil, the same veil of unbelief which blinded their fathers, still blinds their children. The gospel light shines with splendour like the sun, but the darkness does but faintly perceive it. They hear it, or hear its report with hearts unclean, with passions which blind their eyes. For the god of this world, to whom they willingly bow, hath so blinded their minds with sin, that the glory of Christ, the image of God, is not perceived; while he who sees Christ with eyes of faith, sees the Father also. This image is not to be understood of the moral image of God in which Adam was created, but as in Colossians 1:15, the image of the invisible God, the Son, Eautou, of Himself. Romans 8:3. Christ is the image of his perfections, beaming out in a plenitude of wisdom, power, and love; and in all the forms of grace and mercy to a fallen world. — But though those unbelievers are indeed lost by sin; yet as they are spared, we must still dig about the roots of the barren figtree, for who can tell the power of truth and grace.
Daniel Whedon
4. Blinded is aoristic, and would seem to refer specially to the time when Jesus was personally visible to men on earth. The perishing things would, in the specific case of the Judaists, be the Mosaic ritual and traditions, through adhering to which Christ is either rejected or reduced to mere humanity. The same process, however, of blindness from the god of this world, is constantly recurring from perishing mundane things of every kind. God of this world—It is hardly wonderful that the Marcionites, or ultra-Paulines, who rejected not only the ritual and circumcision of the Old Testament, but even its Jehovah as an evil deity, quoted this as a chief proof-text. The ablest of the patristical commentators, Tertullian, Augustine, Chrysostom, and others, refuted them, as Alford remarks, by a violation of grammar, referring god to the true God, and translating unbelievers of this world. The process by which the god of this world blinds men is described by Jesus in John 5:44. Them which believe not—This blinding is not the antecedent but the consequent of their free unbelief. Evidence was at first ample; faith was in their full power; the rejection of Christ was free and voluntary, and the yielding to the blinding sway of the god of this world which followed was a self-surrender to falsehood and wickedness of the most guilty kind. This was the exact history of the Jewish rejection of Christ as recorded in the gospels. At first the Jews paused and deliberated; they then rejected; and then, to them, blinded by the god of this world, the gospel was vailed, and they were given over to crucify Him whom they had rejected. The phrase god of this world was not, perhaps, unknown in Jewish literature. Olshausen quotes from Schoettgen the words of Jalkut Ruberic: “God the first is God the living, god the second is Sammael.” In John’s gospel Satan is thrice called “Prince of this world,” 2 Corinthians 12:31; 14:30; 16:11. World, in John, is kosmov—the space world; in the present text it is aiwn, or time-world; the dispensation extending to the second advent. Lest—The error of the Jews, and of Paul’s Judaistic-Christian opponents, was the ignoring the divine in Christ; the former utterly rejecting him as an impostor, the latter accepting him as a mere human continuator of Mosaicism. St. Paul now shows them what a divinity they rejected. The light… Christ—Literally, the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Compare note on 3:18. The god of this world, blinding their eyes, shuts out the incoming rays from the gospel, or glad news of Christ’s glory. How great that glory is, St. Paul now declares. Image… God—As our bodily eyes behold the image of the firmament, with the sun or, perhaps, the stars, reflected in the clear surface of a placid lake, so does the image of God, viz., Christ, disclose itself in the gospel. From that image pours a light of glory; but upon these seared eyes in vain. The god of this world has glazed their retinas, and that glaze is a vail upon the gospel. To the eye of a hardened unbelief, the true Christ is invisible.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 3.-4. Parallel to 2 Corinthians 3:14, 15. Paul cannot forget that, although by manifesting the truth he recommends himself to every conscience, yet many reject his words.
My gospel: as in 1 Corinthians 15:1; Romans 2:16. In (or among) them that are perishing; recalls 2 Corinthians 2:15. They are pictured as standing round the Gospel, but unable, because it is veiled, to see the glory therein reflected. That the Gospel, like the Law, is veiled, Paul must admit. But it is so only among those in the way to destruction. The veiled Gospel is therefore a proof of their deadly peril. In whom etc.; says that the hindrance is in themselves, in a form which proves the assertion of 2 Corinthians 4:3.
In whom: graphic picture of the locality of the blinding, viz. that inmost chamber whence come their thoughts.
This age: as in Romans 12:2.
God of this age: the most tremendous title of Satan, as a supreme controlling power using for his own ends the men and things belonging to the present life. Him the men of this age (1 Corinthians 2:6ff) worship and serve. Cp. John 12:31; 14:30; Ephesians 2:2; 6:12; also Philippians 3:19.
Blinded: John 12:40; 1 John 2:11.
Blinded the thoughts: cp. 2 Corinthians 3:14. Their thoughts have no intelligence, and cannot see the gospel light.
Of the unbelievers: not needful to complete the sense, but added to point out the cause of their surrender to the cruelty of Satan. Paul refers only to those who heard and refused the Gospel. For this blinding was a punishment for rejecting the light. And rejection of the light of nature (Romans 1:21) would not make them unbelievers. Because they turned away from the glory reflected in the gospel mirror, God permitted Satan to destroy, in whole or in part their capacity for spiritual vision. That there may not shine etc.; cruel purpose (and inevitable result) of this blinding. It reveals the loss sustained by the blinded ones. It is as though, in the wilderness, that he might not look at the brazen serpent and live, one put out the eyes of a bitten man.
The glory of Christ: same as “glory of the Lord” in 2 Corinthians 3:18.
The Gospel of etc.: the gospel mirror in which the glory is reflected. The light-giving: “lest the Gospel shine upon them and give them light.” Image of God: 1 Corinthians 11:7; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3. Cp. Wisdom 7:26: “An outshining is (wisdom) of everlasting light, a spotless mirror of the energy of God, an image of His goodness.” And Philo (On Monarchy bk. ii. 5, On Dreams bk. i. 41, etc.) speaks often of “the Word” [ologov] as an “image of God.” See Lightfoot’s valuable note on Colossians 1:15. These words set forth an important relation of the Son to the Father. Of the invisible Father the Son is a visible manifestation and outshining, visible once on earth, though veiled in human flesh, and visible now to those who surround His throne. We know, in part, what God is because we have seen Christ reflected in the gospel mirror. That Christ is the image of God, reveals the greatness of His glory and of the light which proceeds from the Gospel in which His glory is reflected, and the infinite loss of those whose blinded thoughts cannot see this glorious light.
Many of those to whom Paul preached had evidently never seen the image of Christ portrayed in the Gospel. For they were unmoved by it. To them, therefore, the Gospel was veiled. And, since the truth was set plainly before them, the hindrance to sight was not in the Word but in the hearts of those who did not believe it. By not seeing the image set before them they proved themselves incapable of seeing it. And their blindness was so unnatural that it must have been inflicted. And it could be a work only of the enemy of the race. Since the blinded ones were wholly occupied with things of the present life and were thus prevented from beholding the Gospel light, Paul says that they were blinded by the God of this age. And, since the inevitable result of their blindness was that they were unable to see the light which shines forth from Him who reveals to men the face of God, he properly speaks of this as the dire purpose of the blindness inflicted by their foe.
This blindness was wrought, not only by Satan, but by God: as is taught expressly in 2 Thessalonians 2:9ff; Romans 11:8; John 12:40. In just punishment God surrenders to the cruelty of Satan those who reject the Gospel, that He may destroy their capacity for receiving it. This dual source of spiritual insensibility is illustrated in 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1. The blindness is also attributed to the word, and to those who preach it: Isaiah 6:10; Mark 4:11f. For, by God’s ordinance, the Gospel hardens those whom it fails to soften.
This blindness, though terrible, is not necessarily final; any more than is the death described in Romans 7:9ff. For Christ, who raises the dead, gives sight (Luke 4:18) to the blind. But the blindness and death are such as no earthly power can save from. Yet in our deepest darkness we know the direction of the light. And, as we turn towards it, the light of life by its creative power gives eyes to the blind.
Notice that, as in 1 Corinthians 3:23; 8:6; 11:3, the Father is called God even in distinction from the Son.
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
John Wesley
V. 5. For-The fault is not in us, neither in the doctrine they hear from us. We preach not ourselves-As able either to enlighten, or pardon, or sanctify you.
But Jesus Christ-As your only wisdom, righteousness, sanctification. And ourselves your servants-Ready to do the meanest offices. For Jesus' sake-Not for honour, interest, or pleasure.
Adam Clarke
Verse 5. For we preach not ourselves] We neither proclaim our own wisdom nor power; we have nothing but what we have received; we do not wish to establish our own authority, nor to procure our own emolument. But Christ Jesus the Lord] We proclaim the author of this glorious Gospel as CHRIST, o cristov, the same as jyvmh hammashiach, the MESSIAH, the Anointed One; him of whom the prophets wrote; and who is the expectation, as he is the glory, of Israel, We proclaim him as JESUS [vwhy Yehoshua, the Saviour and Deliverer, who saves men from their sins. See Matthew 1:21. And we proclaim Jesus of Nazareth to be the long-expected Messiah; and that there will be none other. And farther we proclaim this Jesus the Messiah to be the LORD, o kuriov, the great Ruler who has all power in heaven and earth; who made and governs the world; and who can save to the uttermost all that come to God through him. Such was the Redeemer preached by St. Paul.
And ourselves your servants] Labouring as fervently and as faithfully for your eternal interests as your most trusty slaves can do for your secular welfare. And we do this for Christ’s sake; for although we by our labour show ourselves to be your servants, yea, your slaves, doulouv, yet it is a voluntary service; and we are neither employed by you nor receive our wages from you. We belong to Jesus; and are your servants on his account, and by his order.
Joseph Benson
Verses 5, 6. For, &c. — As if he had said, The cause of their continuing in unbelief, and perishing, is not in us, nor in the doctrine they hear from us; for we preach not ourselves — As able either to enlighten, or pardon, or sanctify mankind; but Christ Jesus the Lord — Their only infallible Teacher, all-sufficient Saviour, and righteous Governor; their only wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; and ourselves your servants — Ready to do the meanest offices, and advance the best interests of you, and all the other disciples of Christ, to whom we minister; for Jesus’s sake — Out of love to him, and with a view to his glory; and not for honour, interest, pleasure, or any worldly consideration. For — To produce in us this disposition, and to qualify us for this great and important work; God, who — In the first creation of this world; commanded the light to shine out of darkness — By his infinitely powerful word; hath shined in our hearts — And not only in the hearts of us apostles, and his other ministers, but in the hearts of all those whom the god of this world no longer blinds, and thereby shuts them up in unbelief: to give the light of the knowledge, &c. — Prov fwtismon thv gnwsewv, &c. In order to our illumination with, or to impart the lustre of; the knowledge of the glory of God — Of his glorious perfections, especially of his glorious love, and his glorious image, see on 2 Corinthians 3:18; in the face of Jesus Christ — Which reflects this glory in another manner than the face of Moses did. Or, as en proswpw Ihsou Cristou, may be properly rendered, in the person of Jesus Christ; for undoubtedly the glory here spoken of was reflected not merely from his face, but from his whole person, through the union of Deity with humanity in him, and all the wonderful things he did and suffered in consequence of it.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 5. We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord. 1 Corinthians 2:2. John 17:3. Hebrews 1:2. We so preach him in all the glory of his person and offices, as to excite men to believe on his name for salvation and eternal life. We preach him as the Lord and heir of all; for all things are put under him. Psalm 110:1. We are sent by him to minister to you, and to be faithful in all things, that we may give up our account with joy.
Daniel Whedon
5. Preach not ourselves—Literally, Proclaim not ourselves. The professed party of Christ might, in fact, think so little of Christ as to have ample room for proclaiming themselves; but Paul’s ideal of Christ left no room for any rival or substitute. Christ is the Lord, and we are servants. For Jesus’ sake—On his account, and in order to the extension of his gospel.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 5.-6. These verses justify by contrasted denial, the foregoing description of the Gospel preached by Paul. Its grandeur moves him to rebut a possible or actual insinuation against himself.
Proclaim: as heralds, Romans 2:21.
Ourselves: i.e. our own authority, skill, power, etc.
As Lord: as claiming the homage and obedience of all, and claiming to be the aim of their life and effort.
Servants: see under Romans 1:1.
Ourselves your servants, or slaves: strange proclamation. Cp. 1 Corinthians 9:19; 2 Corinthians 1:24. As a servant or slave toils not for his own profit, except indirectly, but for his master’s, so Paul puts forth all his powers, forgetful of himself, to advance the highest interests of his readers.
Because of Jesus: constrained (2 Corinthians 4:14) by His love to men. This proclamation reveals “the glory of Christ” who has gained over Paul a victory so complete.
Because God etc.: a fact which moved Paul and his companions to become servants because of Jesus. Cp. “because of this” in 2 Corinthians 4:1.
Who said etc.: the first word of creation, Genesis 1:3. Out of the bosom of darkness, light sprang at the bidding of God: graphic picture. Who has shined: has irradiated by His own light, i.e. by a display of Himself. The creative power which at the first changed darkness into light by a word is at work again in the word of the Gospel. Thus the grandeur of the Old Creation reveals that of the New.
To-bring-to-light etc.: great purpose of the shining forth of this divine light in the heart.
Bring to light: same word as light-giving in 2 Corinthians 4:4. The knowledge of the glory of God: to make known the grandeur of God, as the shining forth of light makes an object known. In the face of Christ: from which shines forth the light which reveals the glory of God. While we gaze upon that face as reflected in the gospel mirror, i.e. while we contemplate His character as portrayed in the Gospel, we behold in the face of Christ the greatness of God. That the light which filled Paul’s heart was an outshining of God in creative power, and that it had shone forth in him that men might know and wonder at the grandeur of God, moved him to devote himself to the service of men by proclaiming this glorious Gospel.
Notice the three steps of 2 Corinthians 4:1-6; viz. 1, 2: 3, 4: 5, 6; each culminating in a description of the Gospel. In the 1st and 3rd Paul explains his own conduct; in the 2nd, that of the unbelievers. Also the close connection of 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 with 2 Corinthians 4:1-6. Each begins with the practical effect on Paul with the grandeur of the Gospel; then passes on to treat of its rejection by some; and concludes with a still nobler description of its purpose and efficacy. And they are introduced by similar words. Prompted by the reference to Moses in (5, 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 deals with the Jews: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, with unbelievers generally. A link binding the whole together is the conspicuous word veil.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
John Wesley
V. 6. For God hath shined in our hearts-The hearts of all those whom the god of this world no longer blinds. God who is himself our light; not only the author of light, but also the fountain of it.
To enlighten us with the knowledge of the glory of God-Of his glorious love, and of his glorious image.
In the face of Jesus Christ-Which reflects his glory in another manner than the face of Moses did.
Adam Clarke
Verse 6. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness] The apostle refers here to Genesis 1:3. For when God created the heavens and the earth DARKNESS was on the face of the deep; and God said, Let THERE BE LIGHT; and there was light. Thus he caused the light to shine out of darkness.
Hath shined in our hearts] He has given our hearts the glorious light of the Gospel, as he has given the world the glorious light of the sun. As sure, therefore, as God is the author of the light and the creator of the universe, so sure is he the author of the Gospel; it is no human invention; and is as far beyond the power of man’s wisdom and might, as the creation of the world is beyond all created power, energy, and skill.
The light of the knowledge] To give us that light, that we might enlighten others; this appears to me to be the design of the apostle’s prov fwtismon thv gnwsewv thv doxhv tou qeou, or, as Dr. Whitby paraphrases it, to give us, and enable us to give to others, the light of the knowledge of God through Christ.
In the face of Jesus Christ.] It is in and through Jesus that we can receive the Divine light, and it is in and by him that we can be made partakers of the Divine glory. The light mercy, holiness, and glory of God, are reflected upon and communicated to us through Jesus the Christ; and it is en proswpw, in the appearance and person of Jesus Christ that these blessings are communicated to us.
Joseph Benson
Verses 5, 6. For, &c. — As if he had said, The cause of their continuing in unbelief, and perishing, is not in us, nor in the doctrine they hear from us; for we preach not ourselves — As able either to enlighten, or pardon, or sanctify mankind; but Christ Jesus the Lord — Their only infallible Teacher, all-sufficient Saviour, and righteous Governor; their only wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; and ourselves your servants — Ready to do the meanest offices, and advance the best interests of you, and all the other disciples of Christ, to whom we minister; for Jesus’s sake — Out of love to him, and with a view to his glory; and not for honour, interest, pleasure, or any worldly consideration. For — To produce in us this disposition, and to qualify us for this great and important work; God, who — In the first creation of this world; commanded the light to shine out of darkness — By his infinitely powerful word; hath shined in our hearts — And not only in the hearts of us apostles, and his other ministers, but in the hearts of all those whom the god of this world no longer blinds, and thereby shuts them up in unbelief: to give the light of the knowledge, &c. — Prov fwtismon thv gnwsewv, &c. In order to our illumination with, or to impart the lustre of; the knowledge of the glory of God — Of his glorious perfections, especially of his glorious love, and his glorious image, see on 2 Corinthians 3:18; in the face of Jesus Christ — Which reflects this glory in another manner than the face of Moses did. Or, as en proswpw Ihsou Cristou, may be properly rendered, in the person of Jesus Christ; for undoubtedly the glory here spoken of was reflected not merely from his face, but from his whole person, through the union of Deity with humanity in him, and all the wonderful things he did and suffered in consequence of it.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 6. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts. After God had created the matter and masses of heaven and earth, when darkness was on the face of the deep, he said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” Then the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. The same miracle he has now repeated in the gospel age. He, the Sun of righteousness, illuminates the mind with the light of the glory of God. Nay, more; he shines into the heart with all the renovating influences of light, and life, and love. He gives us the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Daniel Whedon
6. For—To assign the reason why we are ready thus to humble ourselves, God has wrought in our hearts an illumination as wonderful as his first speaking mundane light into existence. Out of darkness, such as was once in our hearts. An allusion to Genesis 1:3. Shined… God—Literally, God hath shined into our heart even to a radiation (into our hearts) of the knowledge of the glory of God. And that radiation into our hearts of the knowledge of the glory of God comes from the face of Jesus Christ, the image of God, appearing in the gospel.
2. Antithesis of apostolic trials and triumphs resulting in glory, |2 Corinthians 4:7-5:5.
In the divine glow of martyrly enthusiasm of this passage—a passage which doubtless did much towards rousing the Christian heroism of the martyr age—Paul draws, in a series of antitheses, the sublime contrast between the more than golden treasure and the earthen vessels in which it was contained—a contrast meeting in contact in his own person. By the glorifying power of the treasure the vessel could bear unbroken all the raps the world could administer. The striking sentiment of Whitefield runs through the whole, that “a minister is immortal until his work is done;” and then, it may be added, he is doubly immortal. Paul views his preservation as essentially a sort of bodily immortalization. The life, life of Jesus, which conserves and immortalizes his present body amid daily deaths, is the same divine vitality as will produce his resurrection and glorification; and his own very suffering and death are transfigured into a oneness with the divine martyrdom of Jesus, the dying of the Lord.
Through the whole lofty passage the Corinthian opponents entirely sink from view, and do not reappear until 2 Corinthians 10:1.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 5.-6. These verses justify by contrasted denial, the foregoing description of the Gospel preached by Paul. Its grandeur moves him to rebut a possible or actual insinuation against himself.
Proclaim: as heralds, Romans 2:21.
Ourselves: i.e. our own authority, skill, power, etc.
As Lord: as claiming the homage and obedience of all, and claiming to be the aim of their life and effort.
Servants: see under Romans 1:1.
Ourselves your servants, or slaves: strange proclamation. Cp. 1 Corinthians 9:19; 2 Corinthians 1:24. As a servant or slave toils not for his own profit, except indirectly, but for his master’s, so Paul puts forth all his powers, forgetful of himself, to advance the highest interests of his readers.
Because of Jesus: constrained (2 Corinthians 4:14) by His love to men. This proclamation reveals “the glory of Christ” who has gained over Paul a victory so complete.
Because God etc.: a fact which moved Paul and his companions to become servants because of Jesus. Cp. “because of this” in 2 Corinthians 4:1.
Who said etc.: the first word of creation, Genesis 1:3. Out of the bosom of darkness, light sprang at the bidding of God: graphic picture. Who has shined: has irradiated by His own light, i.e. by a display of Himself. The creative power which at the first changed darkness into light by a word is at work again in the word of the Gospel. Thus the grandeur of the Old Creation reveals that of the New.
To-bring-to-light etc.: great purpose of the shining forth of this divine light in the heart.
Bring to light: same word as light-giving in 2 Corinthians 4:4. The knowledge of the glory of God: to make known the grandeur of God, as the shining forth of light makes an object known. In the face of Christ: from which shines forth the light which reveals the glory of God. While we gaze upon that face as reflected in the gospel mirror, i.e. while we contemplate His character as portrayed in the Gospel, we behold in the face of Christ the greatness of God. That the light which filled Paul’s heart was an outshining of God in creative power, and that it had shone forth in him that men might know and wonder at the grandeur of God, moved him to devote himself to the service of men by proclaiming this glorious Gospel.
Notice the three steps of 2 Corinthians 4:1-6; viz. 1, 2: 3, 4: 5, 6; each culminating in a description of the Gospel. In the 1st and 3rd Paul explains his own conduct; in the 2nd, that of the unbelievers. Also the close connection of 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 with 2 Corinthians 4:1-6. Each begins with the practical effect on Paul with the grandeur of the Gospel; then passes on to treat of its rejection by some; and concludes with a still nobler description of its purpose and efficacy. And they are introduced by similar words. Prompted by the reference to Moses in (5, 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 deals with the Jews: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, with unbelievers generally. A link binding the whole together is the conspicuous word veil.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
John Wesley
V. 7. But we-Not only the apostles, but all true believers. Have this treasure-Of divine light, love, glory.
In earthen vessels-In frail, feeble, perishing bodies. He proceeds to show, that afflictions, yea, death itself, are so far from hindering the ministration of the Spirit, that they even further it, sharpen the ministers, and increase the fruit.
That the excellence of the power, which works these in us, may undeniably appear to be of God.
Adam Clarke
Verse 7. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels] The original, ostrakinoiv skeuesin, signifies, more literally, vessels made of shells, which are very brittle; and as the shell is the outward part of a fish, it is very fit, as Dr. Hammond observes, to resemble our bodies in which our souls dwell. The Platonists make two bodies of a man: the one they call oxhma fuchv, the chariot of the soul; the other, that which we see and touch; and this they call ostrakinon which is the same to us as the shell is to the fish. The word ostrakon not only signifies a shell, or vessel made of shell, but also phlov wpthmenov, an earthen vessel which has been burnt in the kiln, and earthen vessels or pottery in general; the difference between skeuh ostrakina, earthen ware, and skeuh keramewv, the potter’s vessel, is this: the latter implies the vessel as it comes out of the hands of the potter BEFORE it is burnt; and the other is the vessel AFTER it has passed through the kiln. St. Chrysostom, speaking of this difference, observes that the vessels once baked in the kiln, if broken, are incapable of being restored, dia thn ek toupurov egginomenhn autoiv apax antitupian, because of the hardness once gotten by fire; whereas the others are of clay unbaken, if they be spoiled radiwvprov to deuteron epanelqh schma, they may easily, by the skill of the potter, be restored to some second form. See Hammond. This comports excellently with the idea of St. Paul: our bodies are in a recoverable form: they are very frail, and easily marred; but by the skill of the workman they may be easily built up anew, and made like unto his glorious body. The light and salvation of God in the soul of man is a heavenly treasure in a very mean casket. The rabbins have a mode of speech very similar to this. “The daughter of the emperor thus addressed Rabbi Joshua, the son of Chananiah: O! how great is thy skill in the law, and yet how deformed thou art! what a great deal of wisdom is laid up in a sordid vessel! The rabbi answered, Tell me, I pray thee, of what are those vessels in which you keep your wines? She answered, They are earthen vessels. He replied, How is it, seeing ye are rich, that ye do not lay up your wine in silver vessels, for the common people lay up their wine in earthen vessels? She returned to her father, and persuaded him to have all the wine put into silver vessels; but the wine turned acid; and when the emperor heard it he inquired of his daughter who it was that had given her that advice? She told him that it was Rabbi Joshua. The rabbi told the whole story to the emperor, and added this sentence: The wisdom and study of the law cannot dwell in a comely man. Cæsar objected, and said, There are comely persons who have made great progress in the study of the law. The rabbi answered, Had they not been so comely they would have made greater progress; for a man who is comely has not an humble mind, and therefore he soon forgets the whole law.” See Schoettgen. There is a great deal of good sense in this allegory; and the most superficial reader may find it out.
That the excellency of the power may be of God; and not of us.] God keeps us continually dependent upon himself; we have nothing but what we have received, and we receive every necessary supply just when it is necessary; and have nothing at our own command. The good therefore that is done is so evidently from the power of God, that none can pretend to share the glory with him.
Joseph Benson
Verse 7. But we — The apostles, and all other ministers of Christ, yea, and all true believers; have this treasure — Of the gospel, or of the truth and grace of God; in earthen vessels — In frail, feeble, perishing bodies, formed out of the dust of the earth, and, because of sin, returning to it; mean, vile, compassed about with infirmity, and liable to be broken in pieces daily. Even the whole man, the soul as well as body, is but a vessel, in which the treasure is lodged, and upon which it confers a value and dignity, but from which it receives none, but is rather disgraced and injured, by being deposited in such a mean and impure vessel. The gospel is properly termed a treasure, 1st, Because of its great excellence, manifested in the truth and importance of its doctrine; the equity, purity, goodness, and clearness of its precepts; the suitableness, value, and certainty of its promises, the awfulness and terror of its threatenings, revealed for our warning and caution. 2d, Because it is the means of enriching us, even in this world, with the truest and most valuable treasure; a treasure, of all others, the most suited to our rational and immortal nature, and which as far exceeds the riches of this world, as the soul exceeds the body, as heaven exceeds earth, or eternity time, namely, divine knowledge, — rendering us wise unto eternal salvation; true holiness, conforming us to the image of him that created us; and solid happiness, giving us, in communion with God, an earnest of our future inheritance. 3d, Because it offers to us, and shows us how to attain, the greatest and most valuable treasure in the life to come, even all the joys and glories of the heavenly state. That the excellency of the power may be of God — This power is three-fold: 1st, The inherent virtue of the gospel doctrine, whereby, when understood, believed, and laid to heart, it shows itself to be quick and powerful, spirit and life; becoming a seed of genuine repentance, of justifying faith, of immortal hope, of sincere love, and new obedience. 2d, Those miraculous operations, whereby God bore witness to, sealed, and confirmed the truth and importance of the doctrine of his first messengers. 3d, Those ordinary influences of his Spirit as a Spirit of truth and grace; of light, life, purity, and comfort, which fails not to accompany the faithful preaching of it in every age. By this three-fold energy, the gospel overcame of old, and still overcomes, the obstacles in the way of its progress: 1st, From within, through the corruption of nature, the prejudice of education, the love of false religion, unbelief, the love of sin, and of the world. 2d, From without, as the contradiction of philosophers, of heathen, Jewish, or Christian priests and magistrates; of sinners of all descriptions; persecutions from Jews and Gentiles, and the carnal part of mankind in every age; reproaches, spoiling of goods, imprisonments, racks, tortures, and martyrdoms. 3d, From the gospel itself, exhibiting, as an object of confidence, love, obedience, and worship, one who was crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness. For, as Macknight observes, “the greatness of this power can only be estimated by the greatness of the obstacles which it had to remove, and by the greatness of the effects which it then produced. No sooner was the gospel preached in any country, whether barbarous or civilized, than great numbers forsook idolatry, and devoted themselves to the worship of the true God. Moreover, instead of wallowing, as formerly, in sensuality, and practising all manner of wickedness, they became remarkably holy. But it is evident, that before such an entire change in the faith [and practice] of any heathen could take place, the prejudices of education were to be overcome; the example of parents, relations, and teachers, was to be set aside; the reproaches, calumnies, and hatred of persons most dear to the convert, were to be disregarded; the resentment of magistrates, priests, and all whose interests were any way connected with the established religion, was to be borne; in short, the ties of blood and friendship were to be broken, considerations of ease and interest were to be silenced; nay, the love of life itself was to be cast out; all which were obstacles to the heathen changing their faith and practice, next to insurmountable;” and such as could not have been overcome by any natural power, which the first preachers of the gospel can be supposed to have possessed.
The beautiful and strong expression here used by the apostle, ina h uperbolh thv dunamewv h tou Qeou, evidently contains an ellipsis, which Grotius supplies thus, That the excellency, &c., may appear to be of God. Men, it must be observed, are always inclined to ascribe to second causes effects which belong only to the first cause. Whenever we see any effects which astonish us, instead of elevating our thoughts to God, and giving him the glory, we meanly sink into creature admiration, and creature attachments, as if the events were to be ascribed to instruments. Thus the heathen beholding the sun, and the astonishing effects produced by it in the world, took it for a god; not considering that it was only a servant, and an image of God, the invisible Sun. The Lycaonians, seeing Paul and Barnabas work a miracle, would have sacrificed to them, not considering that they were only instruments of the divine power. Nay, and the Jews, although instructed in the knowledge of the true God, yet when they saw Peter and John restore a cripple, crowded about them, greatly wondering, as though the miracle was to be ascribed to their power or holiness. And even the Apostle John, illuminated as he was by the Spirit of truth, suffered himself to be surprised at two different times by this imprudent inclination, (so natural is it to all mankind!) for, being dazzled with the glory of the angel who talked with him, he fell prostrate before him, and would have adored him, had not the angel corrected his folly. Now to prevent every thing of this kind, which would have entirely frustrated the design of the gospel, (which is to draw people from the creature to the Creator,) the power intended to convert the nations is put into earthen vessels, that a sight of the meanness of the instruments might prevent men from ascribing any thing to them. And the weaker the instruments are, the more is the divine power manifested and known to be of God, because there is no proportion between the instruments and the work. How glorious was the power which triumphed over the proud and mighty Pharaoh by the simple rod of Moses; that overthrew the walls of Jericho by the sounding of rams’ horns! And how illustrious the power which triumphed over principalities and powers, by the doctrine of the cross preached by mortals — sinners — men, mean and despised — by tax-gatherers, fishermen, and tent-makers; men without letters — arms — power — intrigue; men, poor, persecuted, forsaken! Yet idols fell: temples were demolished: oracles struck dumb: the reign of the devil abolished: the strongest inclinations of nature conquered: ancient habits and customs changed: superstitions annihilated: people flocking in crowds to adore the Crucified! The great and the small, the learned and the ignorant; kings and their subjects; yea, whole provinces and kingdoms, presenting themselves at the foot of the cross! Surely this is the finger of God, or rather it is the outstretched arm of Jehovah!
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 7. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, as stated on Philippians 3:21, and not like the manna in a golden pot. The humility of our condition derogates nothing from the divinity of our mission. Workmen should be dressed like workmen, and conformably to the work they have to do. Our real glory consists in the dignity of our mission, the unsearchable riches of the gospel, in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, in all the powers of grace to regenerate the world.
Daniel Whedon
7. Treasure… vessels—The divine gold gives even now its own lustre and imperishability to the brittle clay. Excellency of the power… of God— The fragility of the clay proves that it is divinized. Its natural weakness proves that it survives by God’s power.
Joseph Agar Beet
II CORINTHIANS
SECTION 7. — PAUL PROCLAIMS THE GOSPEL
AMID DEADLY PERIL, WHICH HOWEVER
REVEALS THE POWER OF GOD; AND CANNOT
DETER HIM, FOR IT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY
ENDLESS LIFE. CH. 4:7-5:10
We have, however, this treasure in earthenware vessels, in order that the excess of the power may be God’s and not from us: in everything being afflicted, but now helpless, perplexed, but not utterly perplexed, pursued, but not deserted, thrown down, but not perishing: always bearing about in the body the putting to death of Jesus, that also the life of Jesus may be made manifest in our body. For always we who live are being given up to death because of Jesus, in order that also the life of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death is at work in us, but life in you.
But having the same spirit of faith according as it is written, “I have believed: for which cause I have spoken,” (Psalm 116:10,) also we believe: for which cause we also speak. Knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sake, that grace, having multiplied, may by the greater number cause the thanksgiving to abound for the glory of God. For which cause we do not fail. For if indeed our outward man is corrupting nevertheless the inward man is being renewed day by day. For the momentary lightness of our affliction is working out for us exceedingly to excess an eternal weight of glory; while we do not look at the things seen, but at the things not seen: for the things seen are temporary; but the things not seen, eternal. For we know that, if our earthly house of the tent be taken down, a building from God we have, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. For indeed in this tent we groan, longing to put on as overclothing our dwelling-place which is from heaven. If, at any rate, also clothed, not naked, we shall be found. For indeed we who are in the tent groan, being burdened: because we do not wish to lay aside our clothing but to put on overclothing, that the mortal may be swallowed up by life. And He who has wrought in us for this very thing is God, who has given to us the earnest of the Spirit. Being then of good courage always, and knowing that while at home in the body we are away from home from the Lord- For by faith we walk, not by appearance. But we are of good courage, and are well-pleased rather to go away from home from the body, and to go home to the Lord. For which cause we also make it a point of honour, whether at home or away from home, to be well-pleasing to Him. For all of us must needs be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may obtain the things done through the body, in view of the things he has practised, whether good or bad.
The grandeur of the Gospel, expounded in '(5, 6, Paul now reconciles with the unfavorable circumstances of those who proclaim it, by giving in 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 the purpose of their afflictions, viz. to reveal the power of God; and sets forth in 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:10 the motives which prompt and enable him to speak amid hardships and perils so great.
Ver. 7. This treasure: the life-giving Gospel of the glory of God. Earthenware vessels: human bodies, liable to be destroyed in the confusion of the world and the storm of persecution.
In order that etc.; implies that the earthenware vessels are part of a deliberate purpose of God.
The excess of the power: which preserves unbroken these fragile vessels, thus proving that it exceeds the force of the storm around. May be God’s. God designed that the vessels should be preserved by His own power; and not by a power inherent in, and proceeding from the vessels, as would have been had they consisted of material strong enough to resist the storm. And for this end He committed the gospel treasure to men whose bodies were liable to be destroyed by the foes whose fury He foresaw the Gospel would arouse.
From us: as if we were the source of power.
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
John Wesley
V. 8. We are troubled, &c.-The four articles in this verse respect inward, the four in the next outward, afflictions. In each clause the former part shows the earthen vessels; the latter, the excellence of the power. Not crushed-Not swallowed up in care and anxiety.
Perplexed-What course to take, but never despairing of his power and love to carry us through.
Adam Clarke
Verse 8. We are troubled on every side] We have already seen, in the notes on the ninth chapter of the preceding epistle, that St. Paul has made several allusions to those public games which were celebrated every fifth year at the Isthmus of Corinth; and those games have been in that place particularly described. In this and the three following verses the apostle makes allusion to the contests at those games; and the terms which he employs in these verses cannot be understood but in reference to those agonistical exercises to which he alludes. Dr. Hammond has explained the whole on this ground; and I shall here borrow his help. There are four pairs of expressions taken from the customs of the agones. 1. Troubled on every side, yet not distressed. 2. Perplexed, but not in despair. 3. Persecuted, but not forsaken. 4. Cast down, but not destroyed. Three of these pairs belong to the customs of wrestling; the fourth, to that of running in the race.
Troubled on every side, &c.] en panti qlibomenoi. The word qlibesqai, belongs clearly to palh wrestling. So says Aristotle, Rhet. lib. i. cap. 5, (and the Scholiast on that place,) o gar dunamenov-qlibein kai katecein, palaistikov. “He that can gripe his adversary, and take him up, is a good wrestler;” there being two dexterities in that exercise: 1. to gripe, and 2. to throw down, which Hesychius calls wqein and kratein; the first of these is here mentioned, and expressed by qlibesqai, to be pressed down; to which is here opposed, as in a higher degree, stenocwreisqai, to be brought to distress, as when one cannot get out of his antagonist’s hands, nor make any resistance against him. So in Isaiah: stenocwroumenoi ou dunameqa macesqai, we are brought to such extremities that we can fight no longer.
Perplexed, but not in despair] aporoumenoi, allJ ouk
exaporoumenoi. The word aporeisqai, to be in perplexity, is fit for the wrestler, who being puzzled by his antagonist’s skill knows not what to do: so in Hesychius, aporountev, amhcanountev, they that are not able to do or attempt any thing, yet are not exaporoumenoi, they miscarry not finally, orqoi istamenoi, stand after all upright; ouk apoginwskontev kai httwmenoi, despair not, nor are they overcome, but find a happy issue out of all, being at last conquerors.
Joseph Benson
Verses 8-12. We are troubled — The four articles in this verse respect inward, the four in the next outward afflictions. In each clause the former part shows the earthen vessels; the latter, the excellence of the power. Yet not distressed — Stenocwroumenoi, pressed into a strait place, so as to find no way of escape; perplexed — The word aporoumenoi, so rendered, signifies persons involved in evils from which they know not how to extricate themselves: but not — Exaporoumenoi, reduced to such despair as to give up all hope of deliverance from God. Persecuted — Continually by men; but not forsaken — Of God; cast down — By our enemies; but not destroyed — Entirely by them. Always — Wherever we go; bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus — Continually expecting to lay down our lives as he laid down his; that the life also of Jesus — Who is now triumphant above all hostile power; might be made manifest in our body — That is, in the preservation of it, feeble as it is, and exposed continually to destruction. Or the expression may mean, that we, through our various dangers and sufferings, being conformed to his life here, may hereafter rise from the dead, and be glorified like him. For we who live — Those of us, the apostles and ministers of Christ, who are not yet killed for the testimony of Jesus; are always delivered unto death — Are perpetually in the very jaws of destruction, which we willingly submit to, that we may obtain a better resurrection. So then — Or so that, upon the whole; death worketh in us — Is very busy, active, and always at work, to bring us under its power by these sufferings; but life in you — Spiritual life has been conveyed to you by our ministry: or the sense may be, we undergo many miseries, and are in continual danger of death; but you are in safety, and enjoy all the comforts of life!
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 8, 9. We are troubled, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair. Paul here uses a figure which rhetors call the paradiastole, which grants one thing but denies another. In the plenitude of his soul he poured forth eloquence which contained the utmost force of argument, and all the spontaneous beauties of figure. Where is the earthly lord who had servants like these? Killed indeed all the day long, but not destroyed; and servants that faint not in his work.
Daniel Whedon
8, 9. We are troubled—Tightly pressed. Yet not distressed—Not crushed together. Perplexed—Dubious, but not desperate. Persecuted— Pursued, (as by a huntsman,) but not by God abandoned to his power. Cast down—Prostrated, but not destroyed.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 8.-9. Description of the weakness of the earthenware vessels, and of their preservation.
Helpless: confined in narrow space. Same word in 2 Corinthians 6:12; Romans 2:9. See notes. This verse proves that it denotes something worse than afflicted. At every point difficulties press upon them: but they are not without way of escape.
Perplexed: not knowing which way to go, seeing no way open to them. Utterly-perplexed: same word as “without-way-of-escape” in 2 Corinthians 1:8. Although there seemed to be no way open to them, they were not absolutely without a way. This is not contradicted, but confirmed, by 2 Corinthians 1:8. From their own point of view there was then no way of escape: but God made one.
Pursued: as in Romans 12:14.
Not deserted, or not left behind in peril: not abandoned to their pursuers. Cp. Hebrews 13:5.
Thrown down: as if in their flight.
Not perishing: a last triumphant denial. Notice the climax. At every step they are heavily pressed: but their path is not hedged up. They do not know which way to go: but they are not altogether without a way of escape. Enemies pursue them: but they are not left alone in their flight. They fall: but even then they survive.
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Adam Clarke
Verse 9. Persecuted, but not forsaken] diwkomenoi, allJ ouk egkataleipomenoi. The diwkomenoi, pursued, is peculiar to the dromov, or race, when one being foremost others pursue, and get up close after him, endeavouring to outstrip him, but cannot succeed: this is the meaning of ouk egkataleipomenoi, not outstripped, or outgone, as the word implies. So in PLUTARCH: touv apoleifqentav ou stefanousi, they do not crown them that are distanced or left behind. So says the apostle, 1 Corinthians 9:24: All run, but only ONE receiveth the PRIZE. Cast down, but not destroyed.] kataballomenoi allJ ouk apollumenoi. This also belongs to wrestlers, where he that throws the other first is conqueror. And so Hesychius: katabalei, vikhsei, riyei, to cast down is to overcome, to throw. And then, the being not destroyed signifies that, although they were thrown down-cast into troubles and difficulties, yet they rose again, and surmounted them all.
Joseph Benson
Verses 8-12. We are troubled — The four articles in this verse respect inward, the four in the next outward afflictions. In each clause the former part shows the earthen vessels; the latter, the excellence of the power. Yet not distressed — Stenocwroumenoi, pressed into a strait place, so as to find no way of escape; perplexed — The word aporoumenoi, so rendered, signifies persons involved in evils from which they know not how to extricate themselves: but not — Exaporoumenoi, reduced to such despair as to give up all hope of deliverance from God. Persecuted — Continually by men; but not forsaken — Of God; cast down — By our enemies; but not destroyed — Entirely by them. Always — Wherever we go; bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus — Continually expecting to lay down our lives as he laid down his; that the life also of Jesus — Who is now triumphant above all hostile power; might be made manifest in our body — That is, in the preservation of it, feeble as it is, and exposed continually to destruction. Or the expression may mean, that we, through our various dangers and sufferings, being conformed to his life here, may hereafter rise from the dead, and be glorified like him. For we who live — Those of us, the apostles and ministers of Christ, who are not yet killed for the testimony of Jesus; are always delivered unto death — Are perpetually in the very jaws of destruction, which we willingly submit to, that we may obtain a better resurrection. So then — Or so that, upon the whole; death worketh in us — Is very busy, active, and always at work, to bring us under its power by these sufferings; but life in you — Spiritual life has been conveyed to you by our ministry: or the sense may be, we undergo many miseries, and are in continual danger of death; but you are in safety, and enjoy all the comforts of life!
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 8, 9. We are troubled, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair. Paul here uses a figure which rhetors call the paradiastole, which grants one thing but denies another. In the plenitude of his soul he poured forth eloquence which contained the utmost force of argument, and all the spontaneous beauties of figure. Where is the earthly lord who had servants like these? Killed indeed all the day long, but not destroyed; and servants that faint not in his work.
Daniel Whedon
8, 9. We are troubled—Tightly pressed. Yet not distressed—Not crushed together. Perplexed—Dubious, but not desperate. Persecuted— Pursued, (as by a huntsman,) but not by God abandoned to his power. Cast down—Prostrated, but not destroyed.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 8.-9. Description of the weakness of the earthenware vessels, and of their preservation.
Helpless: confined in narrow space. Same word in 2 Corinthians 6:12; Romans 2:9. See notes. This verse proves that it denotes something worse than afflicted. At every point difficulties press upon them: but they are not without way of escape.
Perplexed: not knowing which way to go, seeing no way open to them. Utterly-perplexed: same word as “without-way-of-escape” in 2 Corinthians 1:8. Although there seemed to be no way open to them, they were not absolutely without a way. This is not contradicted, but confirmed, by 2 Corinthians 1:8. From their own point of view there was then no way of escape: but God made one.
Pursued: as in Romans 12:14.
Not deserted, or not left behind in peril: not abandoned to their pursuers. Cp. Hebrews 13:5.
Thrown down: as if in their flight.
Not perishing: a last triumphant denial. Notice the climax. At every step they are heavily pressed: but their path is not hedged up. They do not know which way to go: but they are not altogether without a way of escape. Enemies pursue them: but they are not left alone in their flight. They fall: but even then they survive.
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
John Wesley
V. 10. Always-Wherever we go.
Bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus-Continually expecting to lay down our lives like him.
That the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body-That we may also rise and be glorified like him.
Adam Clarke
Verse 10. Always bearing about in the body, &c.] Being every moment in danger of losing our lives in the cause of truth, as Jesus Christ was. We, in a word, bear his cross, and are ready to offer up our lives for him. There is probably an allusion here to the marks, wounds, and bruises which the contenders in those games got, and continued to carry throughout life. That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest] That in our preservation, the success of our ministry, and the miracles we work, we might be able to give the fullest demonstration that Jesus is risen again from the dead; and that we are strengthened by him to do all these mighty works.
Joseph Benson
Verses 8-12. We are troubled — The four articles in this verse respect inward, the four in the next outward afflictions. In each clause the former part shows the earthen vessels; the latter, the excellence of the power. Yet not distressed — Stenocwroumenoi, pressed into a strait place, so as to find no way of escape; perplexed — The word aporoumenoi, so rendered, signifies persons involved in evils from which they know not how to extricate themselves: but not — Exaporoumenoi, reduced to such despair as to give up all hope of deliverance from God. Persecuted — Continually by men; but not forsaken — Of God; cast down — By our enemies; but not destroyed — Entirely by them. Always — Wherever we go; bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus — Continually expecting to lay down our lives as he laid down his; that the life also of Jesus — Who is now triumphant above all hostile power; might be made manifest in our body — That is, in the preservation of it, feeble as it is, and exposed continually to destruction. Or the expression may mean, that we, through our various dangers and sufferings, being conformed to his life here, may hereafter rise from the dead, and be glorified like him. For we who live — Those of us, the apostles and ministers of Christ, who are not yet killed for the testimony of Jesus; are always delivered unto death — Are perpetually in the very jaws of destruction, which we willingly submit to, that we may obtain a better resurrection. So then — Or so that, upon the whole; death worketh in us — Is very busy, active, and always at work, to bring us under its power by these sufferings; but life in you — Spiritual life has been conveyed to you by our ministry: or the sense may be, we undergo many miseries, and are in continual danger of death; but you are in safety, and enjoy all the comforts of life!
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 10. Bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. The jews of Antioch and Iconium, who had pursued him to Lystra with a view to kill him, stoned him in that city. Acts 15:19. Thrice was he scourged by the Roman lictors, and five times whipped in the synagogues. His body was a living sacrifice to God, crucified with Christ.
Daniel Whedon
10. Always bearing a virtual martyrdom in the body; which martyrdom is truly one with the dying of the Lord; that the death-defying life of Jesus might be made manifest.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 10. While apparently continuing the description of his hardships Paul now explains their relation to the sufferings of Christ, and then states their divine purpose. Thus 2 Corinthians 4:10a is parallel to 2 Corinthians 4:7a, which is developed in 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9; and 2 Corinthians 4:10b to 2 Corinthians 4:7b. Always: parallel to “in everything,” 2 Corinthians 4:8. The putting to death: the whole process which ended in the death of Christ.
Carrying about etc.: explained in 2 Corinthians 4:11, “given up to death because of Jesus.” Paul’s hardships and deadly peril arose from the same cause as those which led Christ to the cross; and were therefore in some sense a repetition and reproduction of them. Cp. 2 Corinthians 1:5, “sufferings of Christ; Philippians 3:10; Colossians 1:24. Thus in his own body Paul was carrying about wherever he went, so that many could see it, a picture of the putting to death of Jesus. In order that etc.; lays stress on the divine purpose of these perils. Also the life: the resurrection life, placed in conspicuous contrast to the death, of Christ.
Made manifest. Paul’s body, rescued by God’s power from deadly peril, was a conspicuous picture of Jesus alive after He had been put to death. For the miraculous power which raised Christ from the grave saved Paul from going down into it. Cp. 2 Corinthians 13:4. It was a picture of Christ’s death that it might be also a picture of His life; in order that thus the power (2 Corinthians 4:7) of God might be manifested.
For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
John Wesley
V. 11. For we who yet live-Who are not yet killed for the testimony of Jesus.
Are always delivered unto death-Are perpetually in the very jaws of destruction; which we willingly submit to, that we may obtain a better resurrection.
Adam Clarke
Verse 11. For we which live] And yet, although we are preserved alive, we are in such continual dangers that we carry our life in our hands, and are constantly in the spirit of sacrifice. But the life-the preserving power, of Christ is manifest in our continual support.
Joseph Benson
Verses 8-12. We are troubled — The four articles in this verse respect inward, the four in the next outward afflictions. In each clause the former part shows the earthen vessels; the latter, the excellence of the power. Yet not distressed — Stenocwroumenoi, pressed into a strait place, so as to find no way of escape; perplexed — The word aporoumenoi, so rendered, signifies persons involved in evils from which they know not how to extricate themselves: but not — Exaporoumenoi, reduced to such despair as to give up all hope of deliverance from God. Persecuted — Continually by men; but not forsaken — Of God; cast down — By our enemies; but not destroyed — Entirely by them. Always — Wherever we go; bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus — Continually expecting to lay down our lives as he laid down his; that the life also of Jesus — Who is now triumphant above all hostile power; might be made manifest in our body — That is, in the preservation of it, feeble as it is, and exposed continually to destruction. Or the expression may mean, that we, through our various dangers and sufferings, being conformed to his life here, may hereafter rise from the dead, and be glorified like him. For we who live — Those of us, the apostles and ministers of Christ, who are not yet killed for the testimony of Jesus; are always delivered unto death — Are perpetually in the very jaws of destruction, which we willingly submit to, that we may obtain a better resurrection. So then — Or so that, upon the whole; death worketh in us — Is very busy, active, and always at work, to bring us under its power by these sufferings; but life in you — Spiritual life has been conveyed to you by our ministry: or the sense may be, we undergo many miseries, and are in continual danger of death; but you are in safety, and enjoy all the comforts of life!
Daniel Whedon
11. For—Explanatory of the last verse. We, apostles, which live, are daily martyred in possibility, that the divine conserving life of, or from, Jesus, may appear by our very immortalized mortality.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 11. Explains and justifies 2 Corinthians 4:10. We who live: in contrast to Christ who died, and to the death into which day by day they are being given up. They were living victims of death. Given-up: as in Romans 1:24.
Are given-up: each day death was there and then claiming them for its prey. Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:31; Romans 8:36. Because of Jesus: because they obeyed Him by proclaiming the Gospel. Since this moved the enemies to persecute, by them probably Paul looks upon himself as given-up. By taking steps to kill him, his enemies were practically handing him over to the king of terrors. But the purpose which follows reminds us that even the purposes of bad men were used by God to work out His own purposes. Cp. Acts 2:23.
That also the life etc.: emphatic repetition of 2 Corinthians 4:10b, fixing our attention upon the divine purpose of these perils. Mortal flesh: more vivid picture than “our body” in 2 Corinthians 4:10. That Paul’s body was flesh and blood, and thus by its very nature exposed to death, revealed the greatness of the power which preserved it safe even in the jaws of death. Notice the name Jesus four times in 2 Corinthians 4:10, 11; as though Paul loved to repeat it.
So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
John Wesley
V. 12. So then death worketh in us, but life in you-You live in peace; we die daily.
Yet-Living or dying, so long as we believe, we cannot but speak.
Adam Clarke
Verse 12. Death worketh in us, &c.] We apostles are in continual danger, and live a dying life; while you who have received this Gospel from us are in no danger.
Joseph Benson
Verses 8-12. We are troubled — The four articles in this verse respect inward, the four in the next outward afflictions. In each clause the former part shows the earthen vessels; the latter, the excellence of the power. Yet not distressed — Stenocwroumenoi, pressed into a strait place, so as to find no way of escape; perplexed — The word aporoumenoi, so rendered, signifies persons involved in evils from which they know not how to extricate themselves: but not — Exaporoumenoi, reduced to such despair as to give up all hope of deliverance from God. Persecuted — Continually by men; but not forsaken — Of God; cast down — By our enemies; but not destroyed — Entirely by them. Always — Wherever we go; bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus — Continually expecting to lay down our lives as he laid down his; that the life also of Jesus — Who is now triumphant above all hostile power; might be made manifest in our body — That is, in the preservation of it, feeble as it is, and exposed continually to destruction. Or the expression may mean, that we, through our various dangers and sufferings, being conformed to his life here, may hereafter rise from the dead, and be glorified like him. For we who live — Those of us, the apostles and ministers of Christ, who are not yet killed for the testimony of Jesus; are always delivered unto death — Are perpetually in the very jaws of destruction, which we willingly submit to, that we may obtain a better resurrection. So then — Or so that, upon the whole; death worketh in us — Is very busy, active, and always at work, to bring us under its power by these sufferings; but life in you — Spiritual life has been conveyed to you by our ministry: or the sense may be, we undergo many miseries, and are in continual danger of death; but you are in safety, and enjoy all the comforts of life!
Daniel Whedon
12. So then—Thus far both sides of the antithesis have united in the apostles. In this verse they are divided between the apostles and the Corinthians. The death side is effective to magnifying God’s power in us, but the life side, alone in you. The life in you is manifested not by supernatural conservation amid martyrdoms, for those you do not encounter; but as vitalizing you even now with a resurrection life from Christ. See verse 14.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 12. Inference from 2 Corinthians 4:7-11.
Death: the abstract principle personified. In the plots and attacks of enemies Death was active, stretching out its hand to take them. And in their spared life, preserved by God’s power and spent in proclaiming the Gospel, the abstract principle of Life was at work among their hearers. The preachers daily felt themselves sinking into the grave: and their daily deliverance was daily working eternal life among their converts. Review of 2 Corinthians 4:7-12. Although a bearer of treasure so great, Paul was in momentary peril of destruction. His wonderful preservation day by day was evidently wrought by divine power greater than the destructive forces around, even by the power which raised Jesus from the grave. He therefore cannot doubt that it was in order to manifest this power to men around, and thus make him wherever he went a visible picture of the resurrection of Christ, that he was permitted to be exposed to perils so tremendous. Thus even the perils of the apostles advanced, and were designed to advance, the great purpose of their lives. If in themselves death was at work, consuming their life, yet the very life they lived, unconsumed in fire, was working out eternal life for those around. How terrible a picture does this give of the greatness and constancy of their perils! Their spared life was an ever recurring miracle.
Just as the death of Christ, which at first seemed to disprove His Messiahship, gave occasion for the great proof of it, viz. His resurrection; so the apostles’ perils, which seemed to be inconsistent-with their claim to be ambassadors of God, really supported this claim by giving occasion for display of the preserving power of God.
Ver. 13.-5:10. Having explained the purpose and result of the perils around, Paul now gives the motives which enable him to continue his work in spite of them. He can do this because, led by the Spirit, he believes the promises of God. By faith he knows (2 Corinthians 4:14) that God will raise him from the dead in company with his converts; that (2 Corinthians 4:1-4) if his present body die a better one awaits him; that (2 Corinthians 4:6-8) death will but remove him to the presence of Christ; and that (2 Corinthians 4:10) from Him he will receive due reward for his work.
We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
John Wesley
V. 13. Having the same spirit of faith-Which animated the saints of old; David, in particular, when he said,
I believed, and therefore have I spoken-That is, I trusted in God, and therefore he hath put this song of praise in my mouth.
We also speak-We preach the gospel, even in the midst of affliction and death, because we believe that God will raise us up from the dead, and will present us, ministers, with you, all his members, faultless before his presence with exceeding joy. Psalm 116:10.
Adam Clarke
Verse 13. We having the same spirit of faith] As David had when he wrote Psalm 116:10: I believed, therefore have I spoken: we also believe that we shall receive the fulfilment of all God’s promises; and being fully convinced of the truth of the Christian religion, we speak and testify that our deliverance is from God; and that he does not fail those who trust in him, and that he saves to the uttermost them who come unto him through Christ Jesus.
Joseph Benson
Verses 13-15. We having the same spirit — Which you have, because we have the same faith: or, we have the same spirit of faith which animated the saints of old, David in particular, when he said, I believed, and therefore have I spoken — That is, I trusted in God, and therefore he has put this song of praise in my mouth. We also believe — Have the same confidence that God will also deliver us out of our troubles; and therefore speak — Declare this our confidence by preaching the gospel openly, even in the midst of affliction and death, supported by an inward consciousness of our integrity, and animated by a powerful sense of duty to God, and a persuasion that he who raised up the Lord Jesus — The first-fruits of them that sleep; shall raise us up also, and present us, ministers, with you — With all his members, faultless before his presence with exceeding joy. For all things — Whether adverse or prosperous; are for your sakes — For the profit of all that believe as well as all that teach; that the abundant, pleonasasa, overflowing grace — Which preserves you and us alive, both in soul and body; might abound yet more through the thanksgiving of many — For thanksgiving invites more abundant grace.
Daniel Whedon
13. We—Apostles. The same… faith—As the psalmist who wrote the quoted words. Spirit of faith—Not merely temper of faith, but the divine Spirit with our spirit inspiring assurance, at the same time attesting itself. I believed… spoken—Essentially quoted from Psalms 116:10
Psalm 116:10, where the
exact Hebrew is, “I believe, for I spoke;” the connexion between speaking and faith is in both psalmist and apostle the same. Firm faith is instinctively vocal; it seeks to express the great truth it realizes—to create the same blessed realization in others. We also inherit the inspired faith and readiness for the same giving of our testimony as the saints of the Old Testament.
Joseph Agar Beet
Verse 13. A new branch of the subject.
Spirit of faith: the Holy Spirit moving men to believe the promises of God, especially the promise of resurrection and of life with Christ. Cp. 1 Corinthians 4:21; Ephesians 1:17. Although faith is the condition (Galatians 3:14) on which we receive the Spirit, yet, when received, by revealing to us (Romans 5:5) the love of God, He works in us a firmer and broader confidence in God. The assurance which enabled Paul to pursue his apostolic path, he felt to be a work of the Spirit. The same Holy Spirit: who moved the Psalmist to write.
I believed: for which cause I spoke: word for word from Psalm 116:10, LXX. The original Hebrew is very difficult. It may perhaps be rendered “I have believed when I say, I have been much afflicted:” i.e. “I tell the story of my affliction with faith in God.” But the words quoted, though not an exact rendering, sum up accurately the sense of the whole Psalm. Like Paul, the writer has been in deadly peril; and has been delivered by God, in answer to his prayer. His deliverance has given him strong confidence in God, a confidence which finds expression in this Psalm.
Also we believe: as did the Psalmist.
Speak: viz. the Gospel which Paul, rescued from peril, preaches. The Psalmist’s faith, strengthened by peril and deliverance, moved him to song: Paul’s faith moves him to proclaim the Gospel, undeterred by the prospect of future perils. But it was the same faith, wrought by the same Spirit. And in each case faith found suitable utterance. As usual, the real reference is not so much to the words quoted as to their entire context. The rest of (7 is an exposition of the faith which moved Paul to speak even amid deadly peril.
Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
Adam Clarke
Verse 14. Knowing that he which raised up the Lord, &c.] And though we shall at last seal this truth with our blood, we fear not, being persuaded that as the body of Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Father, so shall our bodies be raised, and that we shall have an eternal life with him in glory.
Joseph Benson
Verses 13-15. We having the same spirit — Which you have, because we have the same faith: or, we have the same spirit of faith which animated the saints of old, David in particular, when he said, I believed, and therefore have I spoken — That is, I trusted in God, and therefore he has put this song of praise in my mouth. We also believe — Have the same confidence that God will also deliver us out of our troubles; and therefore speak — Declare this our confidence by preaching the gospel openly, even in the midst of affliction and death, supported by an inward consciousness of our integrity, and animated by a powerful sense of duty to God, and a persuasion that he who raised up the Lord Jesus — The first-fruits of them that sleep; shall raise us up also, and present us, ministers, with you — With all his members, faultless before his presence with exceeding joy. For all things — Whether adverse or prosperous; are for your sakes — For the profit of all that believe as well as all that teach; that the abundant, pleonasasa, overflowing grace — Which preserves you and us alive, both in soul and body; might abound yet more through the thanksgiving of many — For thanksgiving invites more abundant grace.
Daniel Whedon
14. Raised up—The same reasoning as in chap. 15, that the resurrection of Christ is the basis and assurance of ours. The spirit of faith, of the last verse, is a knowing, in this. Raise up us also… with you—A decisive proof that St. Paul did not expect the second advent before his own death. On the contrary, he expected that both himself and the Corinthians would pass through death and the resurrection.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 14.-15. Knowing that etc.: parallel with “we believe,” giving the assurance which moves him to speak. Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:58; Romans 5:3. By faith he knows. So 2 Corinthians 5:1. For he believes, on sufficient grounds, that which will come true. Such belief is knowledge.
Raised the Lord Jesus: the divine act on which rests Paul’s assurance that he will himself be raised. Cp. 1 Corinthians 6:14; Romans 8:11. With Jesus. Since our resurrection at the last day is a result of Christ’s resurrection, wrought by the same power, in consequence of our present spiritual union with Christ, and is a part of that heritage which we share with Christ, Paul overlooks the separation in time and thinks of his own resurrection and Christ’s as one divine act. Cp. Colossians 3:1; Ephesians 2:5f.
Will present: before the throne amid the splendors of that day. Cp. Colossians 1:22.
With you] Amid perils Paul is encouraged by knowing that in glory he will be accompanied by those whom he his now laboring to save. These words keep before us the thought of “at work with you” in 2 Corinthians 4:12. They are also a courteous recognition of his readers’ true piety. 2 Corinthians 4:15 develops with you in 2 Corinthians 4:14, thus leading the way to (8.
All things, or all these things: all Paul’s hardships and perils. Cp. 2 Corinthians 5:18.
That grace having etc.; expounds for your sake. All these perils Paul endures in order that the pardoning favor of God may multiply, i.e. may shine on a larger number of persons; that thereby the favor of God may increase abundantly the thanksgiving which from this larger number will go up to God, and may thus manifest the grandeur of God. Cp.2 Corinthians 1:11; Romans 3:7.
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
John Wesley
V. 15. For all things-Whether adverse or prosperous. Are for your sakes-For the profit of all that believe, as well as all that preach.
That the overflowing grace-Which continues you alive both in soul and body.
Might abound yet more through the thanksgiving of many-For thanksgiving invites more: abundant grace.
Adam Clarke
Verse 15. For all things are for your sakes] We proclaim all these truths and bear all these sufferings for your sakes, thinking all our sufferings nothing if we can gain converts to Christ, and build believers up on their most holy faith.
That the abundant grace] hJ cariv pleonasasa. The abounding benefit-the copious outpouring of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, by which you have been favoured and enriched, may, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God: i.e. that the gratitude of the multitudes which have been converted may keep pace with the blessings which they have received, and perisseush, abound, as these blessings have abounded.
Joseph Benson
Verses 13-15. We having the same spirit — Which you have, because we have the same faith: or, we have the same spirit of faith which animated the saints of old, David in particular, when he said, I believed, and therefore have I spoken — That is, I trusted in God, and therefore he has put this song of praise in my mouth. We also believe — Have the same confidence that God will also deliver us out of our troubles; and therefore speak — Declare this our confidence by preaching the gospel openly, even in the midst of affliction and death, supported by an inward consciousness of our integrity, and animated by a powerful sense of duty to God, and a persuasion that he who raised up the Lord Jesus — The first-fruits of them that sleep; shall raise us up also, and present us, ministers, with you — With all his members, faultless before his presence with exceeding joy. For all things — Whether adverse or prosperous; are for your sakes — For the profit of all that believe as well as all that teach; that the abundant, pleonasasa, overflowing grace — Which preserves you and us alive, both in soul and body; might abound yet more through the thanksgiving of many — For thanksgiving invites more abundant grace.
Daniel Whedon
15. With you, I say, (see last verse,) for all things in the glorious provisions made through Christ’s death, and insured by his resurrection, are not only for us apostles, but also for your sakes. A divine reason is now given why these provisions are not limited to apostles, but flow over to embrace the whole Church: namely, in order that (literally) the abounding grace may, through the thanksgiving of a greater number, redound to God’s glory. The greater the number saved the more immense the gratitude, and, in climax, the more superabounding the glory thence accruing.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 14.-15. Knowing that etc.: parallel with “we believe,” giving the assurance which moves him to speak. Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:58; Romans 5:3. By faith he knows. So 2 Corinthians 5:1. For he believes, on sufficient grounds, that which will come true. Such belief is knowledge.
Raised the Lord Jesus: the divine act on which rests Paul’s assurance that he will himself be raised. Cp. 1 Corinthians 6:14; Romans 8:11. With Jesus. Since our resurrection at the last day is a result of Christ’s resurrection, wrought by the same power, in consequence of our present spiritual union with Christ, and is a part of that heritage which we share with Christ, Paul overlooks the separation in time and thinks of his own resurrection and Christ’s as one divine act. Cp. Colossians 3:1; Ephesians 2:5f.
Will present: before the throne amid the splendors of that day. Cp. Colossians 1:22.
With you] Amid perils Paul is encouraged by knowing that in glory he will be accompanied by those whom he his now laboring to save. These words keep before us the thought of “at work with you” in 2 Corinthians 4:12. They are also a courteous recognition of his readers’ true piety. 2 Corinthians 4:15 develops with you in 2 Corinthians 4:14, thus leading the way to (8.
All things, or all these things: all Paul’s hardships and perils. Cp. 2 Corinthians 5:18.
That grace having etc.; expounds for your sake. All these perils Paul endures in order that the pardoning favor of God may multiply, i.e. may shine on a larger number of persons; that thereby the favor of God may increase abundantly the thanksgiving which from this larger number will go up to God, and may thus manifest the grandeur of God. Cp.2 Corinthians 1:11; Romans 3:7.
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
John Wesley
V. 16. Therefore-Because of this grace, we faint not. The outward man-The body.
The inward man-The soul.
Adam Clarke
Verse 16. For which cause we faint not] ouk ekka koumen. See Clarke on “2 Corinthians 4:1”. Here we have the same various reading; egkakoumen, we do no wickedness; and it is supported by BDEFG, and some others: but it is remarkable that Mr. Wakefield follows the common reading here, though the various-reading is at least as well supported in this verse as in verse first. The common reading, faint not, appears to agree best with the apostle’s meaning.
But though our outward man] That is, our body-that part of us that can be seen, heard, and felt, perish-be slowly consumed by continual trials and afflictions, and be martyred at last;
Yet the inward man] Our soul-that which cannot be felt or seen by others, is renewed-is revived, and receives a daily increase of light and life from God, so that we grow more holy, more happy, and more meet for glory every day.
It was an opinion among the Jews that even spirits stood in need of continual renovation. They say that “God renews the angels daily, by putting them into the fiery river from which they proceeded, and then gives them the same name they had before.” And they add, that in like manner he renews the hearts of the Israelites every year, when they turn to him by repentance. It is a good antidote against the fear of death to find, as the body grows old and decays, the soul grows young and is invigorated. By the outward man and the inward man St. Paul shows that he was no materialist: he believed that we have both a body and a soul; and so far was he from supposing that when the body dies the whole man is decomposed, and continues so to the resurrection, that he asserts that the decays of the one lead to the invigorating of the other; and that the very decomposition of the body itself leaves the soul in the state of renewed youth. The vile doctrine of materialism is not apostolic.
Joseph Benson
Verses 16, 17. For which cause — Because of which abounding grace that supports us; we faint not — Under any of our present pressures; but though our outward man — The body; perish — Be worn out and brought to dust prematurely, by our continual labours and sufferings; our inward man — The soul; is renewed day by day — After the divine nature and likeness, receiving fresh degrees of spiritual strength, purity, and consolation, in proportion as the body grows weaker, and we feel our dissolution approaching. And it is reasonable that this should be the case; for our light affliction — To parautika elafron thv qliyewv, momentary lightness, or light thing (as Macknight renders it) of our affliction; worketh, or rather worketh out, for us a far more exceeding weight of glory — That is, a weight of glory far exceeding the affliction, both in degree and duration: or, far greater than we could have received if we had not passed through the affliction. For the affliction, by correcting our faults, exercising and thereby increasing our graces, and purging us as gold and silver are purified in the furnace, increases our holiness and conformity to God, and thereby prepares us for a greater degree of future felicity than could otherwise have been assigned us; God also as certainly rewarding his people hereafter for their sufferings patiently endured, as for their labours diligently and cheerfully accomplished. “The Hebrew word,” as Macknight justly observes, “answering to glory, signifies both weight and glory. Here the apostle joins the two significations in one phrase; and describing the happiness of the righteous, calls it not glory simply, but a weight of glory, in opposition to the light thing of our affliction; and an eternal weight of glory, in opposition to the momentary duration of our affliction: and a more exceeding eternal weight of glory, as beyond comparison greater than all the dazzling glories of riches, fame, power, pleasure, or any thing which can be possessed in the present life. And after all it is a glory not yet to be revealed; it is not yet fully known.” But, as Blackwell (Sacred Classics, vol. 1. p. 332) well expresses it, “This is one of the most emphatic passages in all St. Paul’s writings, in which he speaks as much like an orator, as he does as an apostle. The lightness of the trial is expressed by to elafron thv qliyewv, the lightness of our affliction, which is but for a moment; as if he had said, It is even levity itself in such a comparison. On the other hand, the kaq’ uperbolhn eiv uperbolhn, which we render far more exceeding, is infinitely emphatical, and cannot be fully expressed by any translation. It signifies that all hyperboles fall short of describing that weighty, eternal glory, so solid, so lasting, that you may pass from hyperbole to hyperbole, and yet when you have gained the last, you are infinitely below it.” Indeed, as another eminent writer observes, the beauty and sublimity of St. Paul’s expressions here, as descriptive of heavenly glory, opposed to temporal afflictions, surpass all imagination, and cannot be preserved in any translation or paraphrase, which after all must sink far, very far below the astonishing original.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 16. The inward man is renewed day by day. See on 2 Corinthians 5:17. Isaiah 40:31.
Daniel Whedon
16. For which cause—From this embracement of you all in the glories of Christ’s resurrection. Faint not—Falter not (note verse 1) through fear, despondency, or endurance of hardship and wear-out. But the reverse, though our outward, bodily, man perish, by hardship and wear-out, the inward, spirit, is renewed, so as to administer a refreshment and indestructibility for the time being to an earthly vessel. Day by day—Each day has its waste and repair. Nevertheless the renewal does not fully replace the waste, for the earthly is slowly or rapidly transitory. The machine will run down or be violently struck down. Still, as the cessation is in the outward man, and the renewal is in the inward, the fountain of energy will empower the inward to survive the wreck of the outward.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 16. We do not fail: as in 2 Corinthians 4:1. Paul there said that because of the grandeur of the Gospel he does not turn out badly in the day of trial as he would do if through craft he concealed it. He now says that because he knows that God will raise him from the dead, and knows that in the resurrection he will be accompanied by his readers and that his hardships are increasing the praises which will for ever go up to God, for this cause he does not lose heart in face of peril and forbear to proclaim the Gospel. For which cause thus corresponds inversely to “knowing that etc.” in 2 Corinthians 4:14; and is practically parallel to “for which cause etc.” in 2 Corinthians 4:13.
But if indeed etc.: contrast to losing heart in the conflict; and the secret of not doing so.
The outward man: the body, which alone is visible.
Is corrupting: wearing out and being destroyed by hardships. Nevertheless: conspicuous contrast.
Inward man: same words in same sense in Romans 7:22. It is the invisible and nobler part of the man.
Is renewed; denotes in Colossians 3:10 gradual restoration to the primeval image of God lost by sin. But here since we have no reference to sin or imperfection, it denotes probably the healing day by day of the wounds inflicted upon Paul’s own spirit by personal peril and by anxiety for the churches. Of such wounds we find abundant marks on the pages of this epistle. They were gradually wearing out his body. But the daily application of healing balm kept them from injuring his real inner life. Consequently, he does not grow weary in his work.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
John Wesley
V. 17. Our light affliction-The beauty and sublimity of St. Paul's expressions here, as descriptive of heavenly glory, opposed to temporal afflictions, surpass all imagination, and cannot be preserved in any translation or paraphrase, which after all must sink infinitely below the astonishing original.
Adam Clarke
Verse 17. For our light affliction, &c.] Mr. Blackwall, in his sacred classics, has well illustrated this passage. I shall here produce his paraphrase as quoted by Dr. Dodd: “This is one of the most emphatic passages in all St. Paul’s writings, in which he speaks as much like an orator as he does as an apostle. The lightness of the trial is expressed by to elafron thv qliyewv, the lightness of our affliction; as if he had said, it is even levity itself in such a comparison. On the other hand, the kaqJ uperbalhn eiv uperbolhn, which we render far more exceeding, is infinitely emphatical, and cannot be fully expressed by any translation. It signifies that all hyperboles fall short of describing that weight-eternal glory, so solid and lasting, that you may pass from hyperbole to hyperbole, and yet, when you have gained the last, are infinitely below it. It is every where visible what influence St. Paul’s Hebrew had on his Greek: dbk cabad, signifies to be heavy, and to be glorious; the apostle in his Greek unites these two significations, and says, WEIGHT of GLORY.” St. Chrysostom’s observations on these words are in his very best manner, and are both judicious and beautiful: tiohsi parallhla ta paronta toiv mellousi. to parautika prov to aiwnion. to elafron prov to baru. thn qliyin prov thn doxan. kai oude toutoiv arkeitai, allJ eteran tiqhsi lexin,diplasiazwn authn, kai legwn, kaqJ uperbolhn eiv eperbolhn-toutesti, megeqov uperbolikwv
uperbolikon.
“The apostle opposes things present to things future; a moment to eternity; lightness to weight; affliction to glory. Nor is he satisfied with this, but he adds another word, and doubles it, saying, kaqJ uperbolhn eiv uperbolhn. This is a magnitude excessively exceeding.” See Parkhurst, sub voce uperbolh.
Joseph Benson
Verses 16, 17. For which cause — Because of which abounding grace that supports us; we faint not — Under any of our present pressures; but though our outward man — The body; perish — Be worn out and brought to dust prematurely, by our continual labours and sufferings; our inward man — The soul; is renewed day by day — After the divine nature and likeness, receiving fresh degrees of spiritual strength, purity, and consolation, in proportion as the body grows weaker, and we feel our dissolution approaching. And it is reasonable that this should be the case; for our light affliction — To parautika elafron thv qliyewv, momentary lightness, or light thing (as Macknight renders it) of our affliction; worketh, or rather worketh out, for us a far more exceeding weight of glory — That is, a weight of glory far exceeding the affliction, both in degree and duration: or, far greater than we could have received if we had not passed through the affliction. For the affliction, by correcting our faults, exercising and thereby increasing our graces, and purging us as gold and silver are purified in the furnace, increases our holiness and conformity to God, and thereby prepares us for a greater degree of future felicity than could otherwise have been assigned us; God also as certainly rewarding his people hereafter for their sufferings patiently endured, as for their labours diligently and cheerfully accomplished. “The Hebrew word,” as Macknight justly observes, “answering to glory, signifies both weight and glory. Here the apostle joins the two significations in one phrase; and describing the happiness of the righteous, calls it not glory simply, but a weight of glory, in opposition to the light thing of our affliction; and an eternal weight of glory, in opposition to the momentary duration of our affliction: and a more exceeding eternal weight of glory, as beyond comparison greater than all the dazzling glories of riches, fame, power, pleasure, or any thing which can be possessed in the present life. And after all it is a glory not yet to be revealed; it is not yet fully known.” But, as Blackwell (Sacred Classics, vol. 1. p. 332) well expresses it, “This is one of the most emphatic passages in all St. Paul’s writings, in which he speaks as much like an orator, as he does as an apostle. The lightness of the trial is expressed by to elafron thv qliyewv, the lightness of our affliction, which is but for a moment; as if he had said, It is even levity itself in such a comparison. On the other hand, the kaq’ uperbolhn eiv uperbolhn, which we render far more exceeding, is infinitely emphatical, and cannot be fully expressed by any translation. It signifies that all hyperboles fall short of describing that weighty, eternal glory, so solid, so lasting, that you may pass from hyperbole to hyperbole, and yet when you have gained the last, you are infinitely below it.” Indeed, as another eminent writer observes, the beauty and sublimity of St. Paul’s expressions here, as descriptive of heavenly glory, opposed to temporal afflictions, surpass all imagination, and cannot be preserved in any translation or paraphrase, which after all must sink far, very far below the astonishing original.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 17, 18. Our light affliction is but for a moment. Here we have the true spirit of heroism. We see the veteran in war: jucundi sunt acti labores, past labours are pleasant. Prisons, and frequent deaths, are of small account compared with the weight of glory. We forget the storms and tempests, for the sunbeams which succeed are eternal. But it should especially be noted, that all the sanctifying transformations of the Holy Spirit are produced by looking, not at the things which are seen, lest we sink like Peter when he looked at the waves, but at the glories of the celestial kingdom; the things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard. In all these acts of divine contemplation we see the Lord, we see his glory, and become prepared for the exceeding great reward.
Daniel Whedon
17. For our light affliction—Literally, the immediate lightness of our affliction. Worketh—The continuous present is working. This very affliction, while wasting, is, through the power of Christ, working out a divine result. The wonderful result is a weight of glory; a glory so massive, so solid, that it is a weight. The darkness of Egypt was so dense that it could be “felt.” The celestial glory is so dense that it can be weighed. This weight of glory is not a transient radiance, but outlasts the sun; is eternal. It never grows any lighter or thinner. And as to amount, the apostle troubles the energies of the Greek language to express it. It is kaq’ uperbolhn eiv uperbolhn, if any body knows what that is. Good scholars view this as a Hebraism, according to which intensity is expressed by repetition of the same word, as if it were aboundingly abounding. So verse 16, day by day, is in St. Paul’s Hebraized Greek, day day. So Theophylact, quoted in Bloomfield’s “Recensio Synoptica,” renders it uperbolikwv uperbolikon, surpassingly surpassing. But we cannot help suspecting, though we find no suggestion of the kind in our commentators, that the idea of progression is expressed in the preposition, upon an abounding to an abounding: taking stand upon one abounding and mounting up to another. We might then freely render it, “is working out an abounding upon abounding eternal weight of glory.” The abounding does not qualify the verb, (as Meyer and Alford,) but it qualifies eternal weight, which is a unit which, so far from diminishing, is ever more and more increasing and over-swelling. It is ever abounding and superabounding. The phrase, then, if we view it correctly, suggests the idea of eternal progression in glory.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 17.-18. Explains 2 Corinthians 4:16, by stating a truth which daily restores Paul’s inner man; and which teaches him to “exult in afflictions,” thus saving him from the injuries these might otherwise inflict on his spirit.
Works out for us glory: viz. his reward for preaching the Gospel, (cp. Daniel 12:3,) which could not have been his had he not exposed himself to the hardship and peril involved in his work. In this sense the glory was a result of the affliction, which compared with it was momentary and light. Or, in more forceful words, the momentary lightness itself works out etc.
Exceedingly, to excess: the manner and the extent of the working out of glory.
Eternal weight: in strong contrast to the momentary lightness. In a manner and to an extent passing all comparison Paul’s present hardship and peril are producing for him a glory which by its greatness and endlessness make them appear both light and momentary. He thus heaps word on word to convey a truth passing all human language or thought.
While we look etc.: Paul’s state of mind while writing 2 Corinthians 4:17. It explains, and nothing else can, his foregoing words. Only to those whose eyes are fixed on the unseen can hardships like his appear momentary and light.
Looking: more fully looking with a purpose, especially with a view to avoid, imitate, or obtain. Same word in Romans 16:17; Philippians 3:17; 2:4. We fix our eyes on things beyond mortal vision and make them the objects of our pursuits. For this, 2 Corinthians 4:18b gives a good reason. 2 Corinthians 4:17 accounts for the daily inward renewing by pointing to the coming glory: 2 Corinthians 4:18 notes the subjective condition (which Paul proves to be reasonable) of the present effect of this coming glory.
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
John Wesley
V. 18. The things that are seen-Men, money, things of earth. The things that are not seen-God, grace, heaven.
Adam Clarke
Verse 18. While we look not at the things which are seen] mh skopountwn. While we aim not at the things which are seen; do not make them our object; are not striving to obtain them; for they are not worthy the pursuit of an immortal spirit, because they are seen; they are objects to which the natural eye can reach; and they are proskaira, temporary; they are to have a short duration, and must have an end. But the things which we make our scope and aim are not seen; they are spiritual, and therefore invisible to the eye of the body; and besides, they are aiwnia, eternal-things that are permanent; that can have no end; they are things which belong to God; holiness, happiness, and the endless communication and fruition of himself.
But we must remark that the light afflictions work out this far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory only to those who do not look at the things which are seen. A man may be grievously afflicted, and yet have his eye bent on temporal good; from his afflictions he can derive no benefit; though many think that their glorification must be a necessary consequence of their afflictions, and hence we do not unfrequently hear among the afflicted poor, “Well, we shall not suffer both here and in the other world too.” Afflictions may be means of preparing us for glory, if, during them, we receive grace to save the soul; but afflictions of themselves have no spiritual nor saving tendency; on the contrary, they sour the unregenerated mind, and cause murmurings against the dispensations of Divine Providence. Let us, therefore, look to God, that they may be sanctified; and when they are, then we may say exultingly, These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. O world to come, in exchange for the present! O eternity, for a moment! O eternal communion in the holy, blessed, and eternal life of God, for the sacrifice of a poor, miserable, and corrupted life here on earth! Whoever sets no value on this seed of a blessed eternity knows not what it comprehends. That which the eyes of the flesh are capable of perceiving is not worthy of a soul capable of possessing God. Nothing which is of a perishable nature can be the chief good of a being that was made for eternity!-Quesnel.
II CORINTHIANS
Joseph Benson
Verse 18. While we look — That is, this weight of glory will be wrought out for us while we look, or provided we look, namely, by faith and expectation; not at the things which are seen — Men, money, honour, pleasure, the things of earth; for to look at these will only render us more earthly and carnal, more unfit for the heavenly state; but at the things which are not seen — God, Christ, grace, glory; the things of heaven: to look at which with faith, desire, and expectation, will naturally tend to render us more heavenly, holy, and divine, in our intentions and affections. The word skopew here used, and rendered to look, properly signifies to look or aim at a mark which we intend to hit, or an object which we wish to lay hold on, and consequently endeavour to obtain; our English word scope, or mark aimed at, is derived from the same Greek theme. For the things which are seen, &c. — As if he had said, We have great reason to desire, expect, and aim at the latter, rather than the former; for the former, being visible, are also temporal, or temporary and transient; but the others, which are invisible, are eternal, and therefore suited to the duration of that immortal soul which God hath given us, and in the felicity of which our true happiness must consist. This quality of future happiness, that it is eternal, not only implies that its joys and glories will have no end, not even after a duration hath passed beyond all computation of numbers, or conception in thought, but also that these joys will suffer no interruption or abatement whatever, in the course of a duration absolutely everlasting.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Ver. 17, 18. Our light affliction is but for a moment. Here we have the true spirit of heroism. We see the veteran in war: jucundi sunt acti labores, past labours are pleasant. Prisons, and frequent deaths, are of small account compared with the weight of glory. We forget the storms and tempests, for the sunbeams which succeed are eternal. But it should especially be noted, that all the sanctifying transformations of the Holy Spirit are produced by looking, not at the things which are seen, lest we sink like Peter when he looked at the waves, but at the glories of the celestial kingdom; the things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard. In all these acts of divine contemplation we see the Lord, we see his glory, and become prepared for the exceeding great reward.
Daniel Whedon
18. Look—The expressive Greek word signifies to look at a mark, to fix our gaze upon a definite object or prospect. Seen, by the bodily eye, the eye of the outward, (ver. 16,) and which can see only the outward. Not seen—We must see the unseen if we would see the true and the real. Our eyes are material, and can see only material things. Seen—Are visible. Temporal—An expressive Greek word again, for a season, season-lasting. The visibles are temporaries: the invisibles—the great unseen, the stupendous frame-works, beheld only by the eye of the inward, (ver. 16,) are eternal, aeonic, belonging to the aeons, cycles, ages, time-worlds, of the invisible. As opposed to the temporal, which is limited, they are unlimited. Revelation contemplates the settlements of the judgment day as finalities; and if the rolling aeons make any change, revelation knows, certainly says, nothing about them. See on Matthew 25:46. It is deeply true that our eyes can see nothing but the changing. And science states this fact more intensely than popular observation. Astronomy beholds the visible universe as ever moving with amazing rapidity. The laws by which these changes work are, indeed, held by science to be immutable; but no eye, no telescope, can see these laws; they are inward, and beheld only by the eye of the inward. And by the eye of the inward it is seen that the universal outward is completely ruled by the inward. But as laws are nothing in themselves, except by the force that moves things in accordance with laws, so the inward eye perceives that FORCE, in order to act harmoniously in accordance with rational law, must spring from an infinitely rational Source, which, as the primal spring of all force, must be Almighty. Thus most truly does our philosopher-apostle declare that it is the seen which is transient, and the not seen which is permanent—nay, eternal.
Blessed are they whose spiritual inward can see that the world unvailed by revelation is included in the real and the eternal; and that the blessed eternal is theirs. So far as the spirit of faith animates them, they realize that our bodily frames may safely and cheerfully be allowed to dissolve in earnest duty under the eye of the Master. Whether our outward shall disappear by decay or death, a serene hope unfolds an unfading future before the eye of the soul. That future, from the standpoint of a frail present, the apostle is now about to contemplate in the next chapter.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 17.-18. Explains 2 Corinthians 4:16, by stating a truth which daily restores Paul’s inner man; and which teaches him to “exult in afflictions,” thus saving him from the injuries these might otherwise inflict on his spirit.
Works out for us glory: viz. his reward for preaching the Gospel, (cp. Daniel 12:3,) which could not have been his had he not exposed himself to the hardship and peril involved in his work. In this sense the glory was a result of the affliction, which compared with it was momentary and light. Or, in more forceful words, the momentary lightness itself works out etc.
Exceedingly, to excess: the manner and the extent of the working out of glory.
Eternal weight: in strong contrast to the momentary lightness. In a manner and to an extent passing all comparison Paul’s present hardship and peril are producing for him a glory which by its greatness and endlessness make them appear both light and momentary. He thus heaps word on word to convey a truth passing all human language or thought.
While we look etc.: Paul’s state of mind while writing 2 Corinthians 4:17. It explains, and nothing else can, his foregoing words. Only to those whose eyes are fixed on the unseen can hardships like his appear momentary and light.
Looking: more fully looking with a purpose, especially with a view to avoid, imitate, or obtain. Same word in Romans 16:17; Philippians 3:17; 2:4. We fix our eyes on things beyond mortal vision and make them the objects of our pursuits. For this, 2 Corinthians 4:18b gives a good reason. 2 Corinthians 4:17 accounts for the daily inward renewing by pointing to the coming glory: 2 Corinthians 4:18 notes the subjective condition (which Paul proves to be reasonable) of the present effect of this coming glory.
John Wesley
V. 1. Therefore having this ministry-Spoken of, 2 Corinthians 3:6. As we have received mercy-Have been mercifully supported in all our trials.
We faint not-We desist not in any degree from our glorious enterprise.
Adam Clarke
Verse 1. Seeing we have this ministry] The Gospel, of which he gave that noble account which we read in the preceding chapter. We faint not] We meet with many tribulations, but are supported in and through all by the grace of the Gospel. Instead of ouk ekkakoumen, we faint not, ouk egkakoumen, we act not wickedly, is the reading of ADFG, and some others. Wakefield thinks it the genuine reading; it certainly makes a very good sense with what goes before and what follows. If we follow this reading the whole verse may be read thus: Wherefore, as we have obtained mercy, or been graciously intrusted, hlehqhmhn, with this ministry, we do not act wickedly, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, &c.
Joseph Benson
Verses 1, 2. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry — Spoken of from verses 6-11 of the preceding chapter, with which this is closely connected; a ministry so superior to that wherewith Moses was intrusted; as we have received mercy — To be accounted faithful; as God has in mercy accepted us as his servants, and supported us in our work; we faint not — Under any of those sufferings which we are called to endure; nor desist, in any degree, from our glorious enterprise. But have renounced — Or set at open defiance; the hidden things of dishonesty — Or of shame, as thv aiscunhv properly signifies; all things which men need to hide or be ashamed of; not walking in craftiness — Using no disguise, subtlety, or guile; nor handling the word of God deceitfully — Not privily corrupting the pure truth of God by any additions of our own, or alterations, or by attempting to accommodate it to the taste of our hearers. But, by manifestation of the genuine and unsophisticated truth, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience — Appealing to the consciences of sinners for the truth and importance of our doctrine; or acting in such a manner as all men, in their consciences, if rightly informed, must approve of; in the sight of God — Whose eye we know is upon us, observing the secrets of our hearts, and therefore we desire, by the most perfect integrity and uprightness, to approve ourselves to him. The apostle does not mean that they actually recommended themselves to the conscience of every man, so that they had the approbation of every man; but that they behaved in such a manner as ought to have convinced every man of their honesty and fidelity in their preaching, and in the exercise of every other branch of their ministry.
Joseph Sutcliffe
Verse 1. Seeing we have this ministry, of grace and reconciliation to a guilty world; the ministry of righteousness, not of condemnation; the ministry of life, and not of death; we have lived in the spirit of our mission, and in full conformity to our calling. If judges and magistrates keep up the dignity of their courts, it will never do for the ambassadors of heaven to lower the style of their address, especially when addressing the enemies of the truth.
Daniel Whedon
1. This ministry—The ministry of ever-increasing glory just described, shed from the image of Christ as beaming from the gospel. Faint not—We falter not from timidity before the sons of the letter, the Corinthian Jew-Christians, upon whose heart still rests the vail.
Joseph Agar Beet
Ver. 1.-2. Parallel to 2 Corinthians 3:12, 13; as are 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 to 2 Corinthians 3:12-18.
Because of this: viz. the wonderful change in 2 Corinthians 3:18. This ministry: that of 2 Corinthians 3:6ff. As in 2 Corinthians 3:12, Paul now shows the bearing of his foregoing teaching upon his own conduct.
According as we have received mercy: stronger than 1 Corinthians 15:10. It is a humble acknowledgment of helplessness, unable to do any good to himself or others, and of the pity shown to him by God in making him a minister of the more glorious covenant. Whatever position we hold in the church is by the compassion of God. Cp. Exodus 33:19. Fail: turn out badly in something, to lose heart and give up through weariness or fear.
Hidden things of shame: the many and various things which shame compels us to hide, especially all unworthy motives and means. To these we shall turn if we become weary or timid in our work. But Paul, brave and persevering, had renounced them. He did so because he remembered the wonderful effect of the image reflected in the gospel glass, which in his ministry he held before men. Paul’s actual conduct, in accord with we have renounced etc., is portrayed in the rest of 2 Corinthians 4:2. Walk: as in 1 Corinthians 3:3; Romans 6:4. Craftiness: 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Corinthians 3:9: literally, doing anything to gain our ends. So Plato, Menexenus p. 247a: “All knowledge apart from righteousness and other virtue is craftiness, not wisdom.”
Using with guile the word of God: cp. “huckstering the word of God,” 2 Corinthians 2:17: using the Gospel as a means of working out our own secret and unworthy purposes. To do this, is to walk in craftiness. Manifestation of the truth: exact opposite of the foregoing. Manifestation: see under Romans 1:19; Colossians 4:4. The truth is made manifest to all, but not revealed to all.
The truth: including (Psalm 119:142, 151) the Law and (Colossians 1:5) the Gospel; as being words which correspond with reality. See note, Romans 1:18.
Conscience: see notes, 1 Corinthians 8:7; Romans 2:15. Every conscience of men: more forceful than “every man’s conscience.” Cp. Romans 2:9. Each individual conscience is to Paul a definite object of thought. The truth appeals to every conscience, however wicked and ignorant. For it sets forth, and agrees with, the spiritual realities of every man’s own heart, and proclaims that which every man’s heart knows to be true. For the written Law accords with the law written in the heart; and the Gospel accords with man’s need of salvation. Otherwise there would be no hope for the unsaved. And, by its appeal to each man’s conscience, the truth claims respect for those who announce it. Indeed, the preacher’s words will come with authority in proportion as they agree with the facts of his hearers’ inner life. And this will be in proportion as he makes manifest the whole truth. He who does this has therein sufficient commendation, and has no need for craft and guile. While speaking to men Paul stood before God: cp. 2 Corinthians 2:17; 5:11. And in His presence guile can find no place. This verse expounds, and accounts for, the “much openness of speech” in 2 Corinthians 3:12.