Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 5:2
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
2. For in this ] i.e. this tabernacle.
we groan ] Cf. Rom 8:23.
to be clothed upon ] i.e. to put on in addition. See 1Co 15:53. “The flesh will not be annihilated, but spiritualized, glorified and beautified, as the human body of Christ was at the Transfiguration.” St Jerome, cited by Bp Wordsworth. The Greek for the ‘fisher’s coat’ spoken of in Joh 21:7 is, as Dean Stanley reminds us, derived from the word used here.
with our house ] Rather, dwelling-place. The word house ( ) is more absolute, dwelling-place ( ) has reference to the inhabitant. Bengel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For in this – In this tent, tabernacle, or dwelling. In our body here.
We groan – compare note, Rom 8:22. The sense is, that we are subjected to so many trials and afflictions in the present body; that the body is subjected to so many pains and to so much suffering, as to make us earnestly desire to be invested with that body which shall be free from all susceptibility to suffering.
Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house … – There is evidently here a change of the metaphor which gives an apparent harshness to the construction. One idea of the apostle is, that the body here, and the spiritual body hereafter, is a house or a dwelling. Here he speaks of it as a garment which may be put on or laid off and of himself as earnestly desiring to put on the immortal clothing or vestment which was in heaven. Both these figures are common in ancient writings, and a change in this manner in the popular style is not unusual. The Pythagoreans compared the body to a tent, or hut, for the soul; the Platonists liken it to a vestment – Bloomfield. The Jews speak of a vestment to the soul in this world and the next. They affirm that the soul had a covering when it was under the throne of God, and before it was clothed with the body. This vestment they say was the image of God which was lost by Adam. After the fall, they say Adam and all his posterity were regarded as naked.
In the future world they say the good will be clothed with a vestment for the soul which they speak of as lucid and radiant, and such as no one on earth can attain – Schoettgen. But there is no reason to think that Paul referred to any such trifles as the Jews have believed on this subject. He evidently regarded man as composed of body and soul. The soul was the more important part, and the body constituted its mere habitation or dwelling. Yet a body was essential to the idea of the complete man; and since this was frail and dying, he looked forward to a union with the body that should be eternal in the heavens, as a more desirable and perfect habitation of the soul. Mr. Locke has given an interpretation of this in which he is probably alone, but which has so much appearance of plausibility that it is not improper to refer to it. He supposes that this whole passage has reference to the fact that at the coming of the Redeemer the body will be changed without experiencing death; (compare 1Co 15:51-52); that Paul expected that this might soon occur; and that he earnestly desired to undergo this transformation without experiencing the pains of dying. He therefore paraphrases it, For in this tabernacle I groan, earnestly desiring, without putting off this mortal, earthly body by death, to have that celestial body superinduced, if so be the coming of Christ shall overtake me in this life, before I put off this body.
With our house – The phrase to be clothed upon with our house seems to be harsh and unusual. The sense is plain, however, that Paul desired to be invested with that pure, spiritual, and undecaying body which was to be the eternal abode of his soul in heaven. That he speaks of as a house ( oiketerion), a more permanent and substantial dwelling than a tent, or tabernacle.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Co 5:2-3
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon.
A Christians uneasiness in the mortal body and desire of the heavenly happiness
I. We are to consider a Christians groans while he is in the body under present uneasiness. In this we groan. And while we are in this tabernacle we groan, being burdened.
1. As to what the body is the more immediate seat and subject of. Of this kind we may consider the following instances.
(1) The weakness and disorder of the bodily nature.
(2) Weariness of labour. The Christian life is a state of warfare as well as service.
(3) The afflictions and sufferings of life.
(4) The dissolution of the bodily frame. There is a natural love in the soul to the body arising from the close union and long intimacy together.
2. What the body may further occasion to the soul; and in several ways occasions uneasiness.
(1) It is a great hindrance to our spiritual attainments, and to all our improvements in knowledge and grace. How often do the necessities and pleasures of the bodily life hinder a wise improvement of opportunities? We are apt to indulge in sloth, and regret the necessary pains of higher improvement.
(2) It is a great occasion of sin, as well as of imperfection. The depravation of nature seems interwoven with the bodily constitution, and by the laws of union between the body and soul, the one is much affected by the other (Rom 6:13). The sensible world round about us powerfully strikes our sensible natures, and proves a dangerous snare. It gives a great advantage to the devils temptations.
(3) It exposes them to many troubles. How many calamities befall us by accident or violence, by the hand of Providence or our own mistake!
(4) The necessary distance and absence from the Lord.
II. I am to consider a Christians desires of the heavenly happiness. He earnestly desires to be clothed upon with his house which is from heaven. There is the weight of their present burdens. They not only groan, but desire, and the groanings breed desires. Oppressed nature longs for rest. Besides, there is the excellency of the heavenly state, or the object of their desires. In 2Co 5:4 he speaks of being clothed upon, or covered all over with it, and mortality being swallowed up of life. Even the mortal part, or what was before mortal of us, will become immortal. He represents the future state by a presence with Christ. Present with the Lord. The peculiar temper of a Christians mind with reference to it.
1. He describes it by their faith of the heavenly blessedness. This he expresses in 2Co 5:1 by knowledge.
2. There is their preparation for it. This we have in 2Co 5:5 –Now He who hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who hath also given to us the earnest of His Spirit.
3. Their courage, or fortitude of mind. This is mentioned in 2Co 5:6 –Therefore we are confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. In 2Co 5:8, We are confident, I say. We have bravery sufficient to support our minds in the prospects and conflicts with death; we dare to die rather than not be with the Lord.
4. Complacency, or willingness (2Co 5:8).
5. Their constant endeavours. This we find in 2Co 5:9 –Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. His favour is our happiness living and dying, in this world and in the other. I shall only further observe that the word also imports ambition; and it is as if he had said, This is the highest honour of which we are ambitious, and what we propose as the proper prize.
III. I shall close this subject with two or three practical remarks.
1. We may learn from hence the nature of the present state. It is made up, according to this account of it, of groans and desires. The one is the fruit of fallen nature, the other of the renewed nature. The one is the effect of the curse, the other of Divine grace.
2. The difference between sincere Christians and other men. They groan under their present burdens indeed, and have sometimes a larger share than other men, but then they have their desires too. But now wicked men have groans without desires; they have no desires of the heavenly state.
3. We should look well to our interest in the heavenly glory.
4. The happiness of departed saints. They have the full satisfaction of their highest desires, and the perfection of their felicity and joy. (W. Harris, D. D.)
The desire for immortality
I. The reasons for this groaning are–
1. The pressures and miseries of the present life (2Co 5:4). We are burdened–
(1) With sin. To a waking conscience this is one of the greatest burdens that can be felt (Rom 7:24). It is not the bare trouble of the world which sets the saints a-groaning, but indwelling corruption, which may be cast out, but is not cast out. A gracious heart seeth this is the greatest evil, and therefore would fain get rid of it.
(2) With miseries (Rom 8:20-21). It is a groaning world, and Gods children bear a part in the concert (Gen 47:7). There are many things to wean a Christian from the present life.
(a) Manifold temptations from Satan (1Pe 5:8-9).
(b) Persecutions from the world.
(3) Sharp afflictions from God Himself. God is jealous of our hearts. He is fain to embitter our worldly portion, that we may think of a remove to some better place and state. We would sleep here if we did not sometimes meet with thorns in our bed.
2. Our having had a taste of better things (Rom 8:23). The firstfruits show us what the harvest will be, and the taste what the feast will prove.
(1) We have but a glimpse of Christ as He showeth Himself through the lattice, but there we shall see Him with open face.
(2) Our holiness is not perfect, and therefore we long for more. The new nature is seed (1Jn 1:9; 1Pe 1:2). As a seed will work through the dry clods, that it may grow up into its perfect estate, so doth this seed of God work towards its final perfection.
(3) Our comforts are not perfect. The joys of the Spirit are unspeakable things; but at His right hand there is fulness, pleasures for evermore (Psa 16:11). These the soul longeth for.
3. The excellency of this estate. It is great ingratitude and folly that, when Christ hath procured a state of blessedness for us at a very dear rate, we should value it no more.
4. The three theological graces.
(1) Faith. They that believe that there is another sort of life infinitely more desirable than this will find their affections stirred towards it, for sound persuasion showeth itself in answerable affections (Heb 11:13; 2Pe 3:12).
(2) Love. They that love Christ will long to be with Him (Php 1:23; cf. Col 3:1).
(3) Hope. What you hope for will be all your desire (Php 1:20). 5 The Holy Ghost stirreth up in us these groans partly by revealing the object in such a lively manner as it cannot otherwise be seen (Eph 1:17-18; 1Co 2:22), partly by His secret influences, as He stirreth up holy ardours in prayer (Rom 8:25-26).
6. All the ordinances of the gospel serve to awaken them. The Word is Gods testament, wherein such rich legacies are bequeathed to us that every time we read it, or hear it, or meditate upon it, we may get a step higher, and advance nearer heaven (1Pe 5:4; Psa 119:96). So for prayer–it is but to raise those heavenly desires. We long in the Lords Supper for new wine in our Fathers kingdom, to put an heavenly relish upon our hearts.
7. These desires are necessary because of their effect. What maketh the Christian so industrious, so patient, so self-denying, so watchful? Only because he breatheth after heaven with so much earnestness.
8. The state of the present world doth set the saints longing for heaven. For this world is vexatious, the pleasures of it are mere dreams, and the miseries of it are real, many, and grievous.
II. Objections met.
1. But how can Christians groan for their heavenly state, since there is no passage to it but by death, and it is unnatural to desire our own death?
(1) They do not simply desire death for itself, which in itself is an evil, but as a means to enjoy these better things (Php 1:23).
(2) Death is sweetened to them. By Christs death it is made their friend, a passage to an endless life (1Co 3:22; Rom 8:38).
2. But must all sincere Christians thus groan and long? Many groan at the least thought of death.
(1) Somewhat of this there must be in all that believe; they all groan in this tabernacle, and desire to be dissolved. How can you labour for that which you do not earnestly desire and groan after?
(2) Much of what is here expressed may belong to an heroical degree of grace not vouchsafed to all Christians. But yet still we must be growing up to this frame of heart. Here are marks to aim at. (T. Manton, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. For in this we groan] While in this state, and in this body, we are encompassed with many infirmities, and exposed to many trials, so that life is a state of discipline and affliction, and every thing within and around us says, “Arise and depart, for this is not your rest!” Those who apply these words to what they call the apostle’s sense of indwelling sin, abuse the passage. There is nothing of the kind either mentioned or intended.
Desiring to be clothed upon with our house] This and the following verses are, in themselves, exceedingly obscure, and can be only interpreted by considering that the expressions used by the apostle are all Jewish, and should be interpreted according to their use of them. Schoettgen has entered largely into the argument here employed by the apostle, and brought forth much useful information.
He observes, 1. That the Hebrew word labash, which answers to the apostle’s , to be clothed, signifies to be surrounded, covered, or invested with any thing. So, to be clothed with the uncircumcision, signifies to be uncircumcised. Yalcut Rubeni, fol. 163.
On the words, Ex 24:18, Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount, Sohar Exod., fol. 77, has these words, He went into the midst of the cloud, as if one put on a garment; so he was CLOTHED with the CLOUD. Sohar Levit., fol. 29: “The righteous are in the terrestrial paradise, where their souls are clothed with the lucid crown;” i.e. they are surrounded, encompassed with light, c.
2. The word beith, HOUSE, in Hebrew often denotes a cover, case, or clothing. So, in the Targum of Onkelos, beith appei, the HOUSE or the FACE, is a veil and so beith etsbaim, the HOUSE of the FINGERS, and beith yad, the HOUSE of the HAND, signify gloves; beith regalim, the HOUSE of the FEET, shoes. Therefore, – , to be clothed on with a house, may signify any particular qualities of the soul; what we, following the very same form of speech, call a habit, i.e. a coat or vestment. So we say the man has got a habit of vice, a habit of virtue, a habit of swearing, of humility, c., c.
3. The Jews attribute garments to the soul, both in this and the other world and as they hold that all human souls pre-exist, they say that, previously to their being appointed to bodies, they have a covering which answers the same end to them before they come into life as their bodies do afterwards. And they state that the design of God in sending souls into the world is, that they may get themselves a garment by the study of the law and good works. See several proofs in Schoettgen.
4. It is plain, also, that by this garment or covering of the soul they mean simply what we understand by acquiring the image of God-being made holy. This image they assert “Adam lost by his fall, and they represent man in a sinful state as being naked.” So they represent the Israelites before their making the molten calf, as having received holy garments from Mount Sinai but afterwards, having worshipped the calf, they were stripped of these, and left naked.
5. But notwithstanding they speak of this clothing as implying righteous and holy dispositions, and heavenly qualities, yet they all agree in assigning certain vehicles to separate spirits, in which they act; but of these vehicles they have strange notions; yet they acknowledge that without them, whether they be of light, fire, c., or whatever else, they cannot see and contemplate the Supreme Wisdom. In Synopsis Sohar, page 137, we have these words: “When the time draws near in which a man is to depart from this world, the angel of death takes off his mortal garment and clothes him with one from paradise, in which he may see and contemplate the Supreme Wisdom and therefore the angel of death is said to be very kind to man, because he takes off from him the garment of this world, and clothes him with a much more precious one prepared in paradise.”
When the apostle says that they earnestly desired to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, he certainly means that the great concern of all the genuine followers of God was to be fully prepared to enjoy the beatific vision of their Maker and Redeemer.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We are so confident of such a blessed state, that we passionately desire to be invested into it; and this groaning is also an evidence of it, for the desire of grace shall not be made frustrate; desirous that our mortality may put on immortality, and our corruption may put on incorruption. It is against the nature of man to desire death, which is the stripping or unclothing the soul of flesh; but not to desire that the garment of immortality may be put upon mortality, which is that our house from heaven, which is mentioned in 2Co 5:1.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. For in thisGreek,“For also in this”; “herein” (2Co8:10). ALFORD takesit, “in this” tabernacle. 2Co5:4, which seems parallel, favors this. But the parallelism issufficiently exact by making “in this we groan” refergenerally to what was just said (2Co5:1), namely, that we cannot obtain our “house in theheavens” except our “earthly tabernacle” be firstdissolved by death.
we groan (Ro8:23) under the body’s weaknesses now and liability to death.
earnestly desiring to beclothed upontranslate, “earnestly longing to haveourselves clothed upon,” c., namely, by being found aliveat Christ’s coming, and so to escape dissolution by death(2Co 5:1 2Co 5:4),and to have our heavenly body put on over the earthly. The groans ofthe saints prove the existence of the longing desire for the heavenlyglory, a desire which cannot be planted by God within us in vain, asdoomed to disappointment.
our housedifferentGreek from that in 2Co 5:1;translate, “our habitation,” “our domicile”; ithas a more distinct reference to the inhabitant than thegeneral term “house” (2Co5:1) [BENGEL].
from heavenThisdomicile is “from heaven” in its origin, and is tobe brought to us by the Lord at His coming again “from heaven”(1Th 4:16). Therefore this”habitation” or “domicile” is not heaven itself.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For in this we groan earnestly,…. Meaning either for this happiness we groan, or rather in this tabernacle we groan. These words are a reason of the former, proving that the saints have a building of God; and they know they have it, because they groan after it here; for the groanings of the saints are under the influence and direction of the Spirit of God, who makes intercession for them, as for grace, so for glory, according to the will of God: and this groaning is further explained by
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven; by which is meant not the glorified body in the resurrection morn; for though the bodies of the saints will be glorious, incorruptible, powerful, and spiritual, they are not said to be celestial, nor will they be from heaven, but be raised out of the earth: besides, the apostle is speaking of an habitation the soul will go into, and is desirous of going into as soon as it removes out of the earthly house of the body, and of a clothing it desires to be clothed with as soon as it is stripped of the garment of the flesh: wherefore, by the house from heaven must be meant the heavenly glory, which departed souls immediately enter into, and are arrayed with, even the white and shining robes of purity, perfection, and glory they shall be clothed with, as soon as ever their tabernacles are unpinned and dissolved. The Jews indeed speak of a celestial body which the soul shall be clothed with immediately upon its separation from the earthly body, and much in such figurative terms as the apostle does in this, and the following verse;
“when a man’s time is come, say they d, to go out of this world, he does not depart until the angel of death has stripped him of the clothing of body, (see 2Co 5:4) and when the soul is stripped of the body, by the angel of death, it goes , “and is clothed with that other body”, which is in paradise, of which it was stripped when it came into this world; for the soul has no pleasure but in the body, which is from thence, and it rejoices because it is stripped of the body of this world, “and is clothed with another perfect clothing”.”
And a little after,
“the holy blessed God deals well with men, for he does not strip men of their clothes until he has provided for them other clothes, more precious and better than these, except the wicked of the world, who return not to their Lord by perfect repentance; for naked they came into this world, and naked (see 2Co 5:3) they shall return hence.”
And in another place e,
“the soul does not go up to appear before the Holy King, until it is worthy to be clothed , “with the clothing which is above”.”
d Zohar in Exod. fol. 62. 1, 2. e Zohar in Exod. fol. 92. 2. Vid. fol. 84. 3. & in Gen. fol. 49. 3. & Caphtor, fol. 18. 2. & 78. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven ( ). First aorist middle infinitive of late verb , double compound (, ) to put upon oneself. Cf. for a fisherman’s linen blouse or upper garment (Joh 21:7). is old word used here of the spiritual body as the abode of the spirit. It is a mixed metaphor (putting on as garment the dwelling-place).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
In this. Tabernacle. As if pointing to his own body. See on 1Co 14:54.
Earnestly desiring [] . The participle has an explanatory force, as Act 27:7, “because the wind did not suffer us.” We groan because we long. Rev., longing. The compounded preposition ejpi does not mark the intensity of the desire, but its direction.
To be clothed upon [] . Only here and ver. 4. Compare ejpenduthv fisher’s coat, Joh 21:7 (see note). Lit., to put on over. The metaphor changes from building to clothing, a natural transformation in the mind of Paul, to whom the hail – cloth woven for tents would suggest a vesture.
House [] . Not oijkia house, as ver. 1. This word regards the house with special reference to its inhabitant. The figure links itself with building, ver. 1, as contrasted with the unstable tent.
From heaven [ ] . As from God, ver. 1.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For in this we groan,” (kai gar entouto stenazomen) “For in this indeed we groan,” In this earthly house we groan, awaiting our adoption, the redemption of the body, Rom 8:23; 2Co 5:4. We here groan and sigh for freedom from the body of pain.
2) “Earnestly desiring “ (epipothountes) “greatly yearning or desiring;” until then we groan, desiring to serve God in this temporal body, as the Holy Spirit helps us, Rom 7:15-25; Rom 8:26-27.
3) “To be clothed upon,” (ependusasthai) “to be clothed or dressed up, to put on the sinless, painless body, of heaven’s nature of holiness, 2Co 5:4. To dress up in an immortal, undying, celestial body is a noble desire, 1Co 15:52-53.
4) “With our house which is from heaven,” (to oiketerion hemon to eks ouranou) “the dwelling place (house), the one (coming) out of heaven,” Joh 14:1-3. This will be brought to us from the Lord at His coming, 1Th 4:16; Rev 21:2; Php_1:23.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(2) For in this we groan.The groaning here, and in 2Co. 5:4, may, of course, be a strong way of expressing the burden and the weariness of life, but taken in connection with what we have already seen in the Epistle, as pointing to the pressure of disease, we can scarcely fail to find in it the utterance of a personal or special suffering. (See Notes on 2Co. 1:8-9.)
Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon.The words have suggested the question whether St. Paul spoke of the spiritual body to be received at the resurrection (1Co. 15:42-49), or of some intermediate stage of being, like that represented in the visions which poets have imagined and schoolmen theorised about, in the visions of the world of the dead in the Odyssey (Book 11), in the neid (Book vi.), in Dantes Divina Commedia throughout. The answer to that question is found in the manifest fact that the intermediate state occupied but a subordinate position in St. Pauls thoughts. He would not speak overconfidently as to times and seasons, but his practical belief was that he, and most of those who were then living, would survive till the coming of the Lord (1Co. 15:52; 1Th. 4:15). He did not speculate accordingly about that state, but was content to rest in the belief that when absent from the body he would in some more immediate sense, be present with the Lord. But the longing of his soul was, like that of St. John (Rev. 22:20), that the Lord might come quicklythat he might put on the new and glorious body without the pain and struggle of the dissolution of the old. In the words be clothed upon (literally, the verb being in the middle voice, to clothe ourselves, to put on) we have a slight change of imagery. The transition from the thought of a dwelling to that of a garment is, however, as in Psa. 104:1-3, sufficiently natural. Each shelters the man. Each is separable from the man himself. Each answers in these respects to the body which invests the spirit.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. In this Tabernacle; that is, hut or cottage.
Desiring to be clothed Wishing to be rid of the corruption of our bodies, and to be clothed, to be overclad, with immortality. The Greek verb for clothed has a double preposition, super-investured. The soul in the resurrection is clothed with a body, which body is over-clothed with the investiture of immortality from above. The transition of figure from building to clothing is very easy, for our clothes are but a tighter house: one is a habit, and the other a habitation. There is no reference here to an intermediate disembodied state; not because Paul did not believe in one, but because, viewing the resurrection to be the true ultimate of hope, he overleaps in thought and wish all that lies between him and it.
Our house from heaven Not, as above remarked, that St. Paul really supposed his resurrection body would come from heaven, but that the gift or over-vestment of immortality would. So in Mat 21:25 it is asked, “The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men?” So Joh 3:27, “Except it be given him from heaven,” that is, from God. Bloomfield quotes Theophylact as saying, “Not that the body descends from heaven, but that we have thence , the gift of immortality.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven, if so be that (or ‘inasmuch as’) being clothed we shall not be found naked.
The contrast goes on. In our earthly tent we groan (or ‘in this situation we groan’), we are afflicted, we suffer hardship. We long to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven. The ‘longing for’ stresses that it is still future. That is not because we are sick of life but because amidst the toils of life we look forward to something far, far better. The Greeks who thought about it groaned because they wanted to get rid of their bodies. They wanted to be ‘free spirits’. They thought that getting rid of their bodies would solve their problems. But Paul groans because he wants the perfect heavenly body rather than his imperfect one. He wants to be transformed in himself. He does not want to be ‘naked’.
But then he enters a caveat lest any wrongly assume that such will automatically be theirs whatever the state of their hearts before God. ‘That is if we are one of those who will be so clothed, and not one of those who are found naked, that is without a resurrection body, because we are not in Christ.’ We can compare 1Co 9:27 for such a sudden application of the thought that none should be presumptious.
The thought of ‘nakedness’ appals Paul. It not only signifies being ‘without a body’, but also signifies ‘laid bare to God’ with no hope of mercy, and no means of atonement. They would be ‘found naked’ at the judgment, deeply and despairingly aware of their nakedness, and their sinful state, as Adam and Eve were in the Garden after they had sinned (Gen 3:10). Babylon’s punishment was to have its nakedness exposed and its shame uncovered (Isa 47:3), and fallen Israel’s judgment was that it would be left naked and bare, with its shame exposed to all (Eze 23:29). Compare Isa 20:2-4; Eze 16:7; Hos 2:3. This is the fate of all who do not respond fully to Christ in faith and trust.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Co 5:2. For in this we groan, The following seems the best and most unexceptionable exposition of the very difficult passage before us: “And in this view we groan, through that intenseness of spirit with which we are earnestly and perpetually desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven; since, being so clothed upon, we should not be found naked, and exposed to any evil and inconvenience, how entirely soever we may be stripped of every thing that we can call our own here below. And moreover we who are yet in this tabernacle do groan, not onlywith those longings after a blessed immortality, but also being burthened with the present weight of many infirmities and calamities. For which cause, nevertheless, we would not be unclothed or stripped of the body; for that is what we cannot consider as in itself desirable; but rather, if it might be referred to our own choice, clothed upon immediately with a glory like that which shall invest the saints after the resurrection; that so what is mortal, corruptible, and obnoxious to these disorders, burdens, and sorrows, may all be so absorbed and swallowed up by life, as if it were annihilated by that divine vigour and energy which shall then exert itself in and upon us.” See 1Co 15:53-54.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Co 5:2 . Confirmation of the certainty expressed in 2Co 5:1 , not an explanation why he should precisely mention the fact that he has such comfort in the prospect of death (Hofmann) as if, instead of , or some similar verbum, declarandi had precede.
] does not here any more than elsewhere mean merely for (see, on the other hand, Hartung, Partikell. I. p. 138), but it means for also , so that is connected with . Previously, namely, the case was supposed: ; to which this now corresponds, so that the train of thought is: “we know that, in case our present body shall have one day been destroyed, we have a body in heaven; for if this were not so, we should not already in the present body be sighing after the being clothed upon with the heavenly.” [208] This longing is an inward assurance of the fact that, if our earthly house, et.
] The emphasis is on : for also in this . Not merely perhaps after the supposed as possible (2Co 5:1 ) shall we long for the heavenly body, but already now , while we are not yet out of the earthly body but are still in it, we are sighing to be clothed upon with the heavenly. This is proved to be the right interpretation by the parallel in 2Co 5:4 , where our is represented by . On , also , in the sense of already or already also , see Hartung, l.c. p. 135; Stallbaum, ad Plat. Gorg . p. 467 B; Fritzsche, ad Lucian . p. 5 ff. With , according to the supposition of Grotius and others, including Fritzsche and Schrader, is to be mentally supplied, so that, as is often the case in the classic writers, the pronoun is referred to a word which was contained only as regards the sense in what preceded. See Fritzsche, Diss. I. p. 47; Hermann, ad Viger. p. 714; Seidler, ad Eur. El . 582. Rckert wrongly thinks that Paul in that case must have written . This prevalent phenomenon of language applies, in fact, equally in the case of all demonstrative and relative pronouns; see the passages in Matthiae, p. 978 f. Seeing, however, that the following . proves that Paul also, in , was regarding the body under the figure of a dwelling , and seeing that he himself in 2Co 5:4 has expressly written instead of , the supplying of is to be preferred (so Beza and others, including Olshausen, Osiander, Neander, Ewald [209] ). Others take as propterea (see on Joh 16:20 ; Act 24:16 ), and refer it partly to what was said in 2Co 5:1 , as Hofmann: “on account of the death in prospect” (comp. Estius, Flatt, Lechler, p. 138), or Delitzsch, p 436: “in such position of the case;” partly to what follows, which would be the epexegesis of it (Erasmus, Usteri, Billroth, the latter with hesitation). So also Rckert: in this respect . But the parallel of 2Co 5:4 is decidedly against all these views, even apart from the fact that that over which we sigh is in Greek given by with the dative or by the accusative, and hence Hofmann’s view in particular would have required or .
contains the reason of the sighing: because we long for , etc. Paul himself gives further particulars in 2Co 5:4 . Hofmann wrongly thinks that Paul explains his sighing from the fact , that his longing applies to that clothing upon, instead of which death sets in . The latter point is purely imported in consequence of his erroneous explanation of . It is the sighing of the longing to experience the last change by means of the being clothed upon with the future body . This longing to be clothed upon with the heavenly body (not, as Bengel and many of the older expositors would have it: with the glory of the transfigured soul , to which view Hofmann also comes in the end, since he thinks of the eternal light in which God dwells and Christ with Him lives) extorts the sighs . Against the reference of . to an organ of the intermediate state, see on 2Co 5:3 , Remark. According to Fritzsche, the participle is only a continuation of the discourse by attaching another thought: “ in hoc corpore male nos habentes suspiramus et coeleste superinduere gestimus .” But in that case no logical reference would be furnished for ; besides, it seems unwarrantable to supply male nos habentes , since Paul himself has added quite another participle; and in general, wherever the participle seems only to continue the discourse, there exists such a relation of the participle to the verb , as forms logically a basis for the participial connection. Comp. Eph 5:16 . According to Schneckenburger, stands for , so that the chief fact is expressed by the participle (Ngelsbach on the Iliad , pp. 234, 280, Exo 3 ; Seidler, ad Eur. Iph. T. 1411; Matthiae, p. 1295 f.). An arbitrary suggestion, against the usage of the N. T., which is different even in the passages quoted by Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 275 [E. T. 320], and to be rejected also on account of 2Co 5:4 , .
The distinction between and is rightly noted by Bengel: “ est quiddam magis absolutum, respicit incolam,” house habitation (Jud 1:6 ; Eur. Or. 1114; Plut. Mor. p. 602 D; 2Ma 11:2-3 ; 2MMal 2:15 ).
] that which proceeds from heaven ; for it is , 2Co 5:1 . God furnishes from heaven the resurrection-body (1Co 15:38 ) through Christ (Phi 3:21 ), in the case of the dead, by means of raising, in the case of the living, by means of transforming (1Co 15:51 ). The latter is what is thought of in the present passag.
] With this Paul passes to another but kindred figure, namely, that of a robe , as also among the Rabbins (Schoettgen, Hor. p. 693) and the Neo-Platonists (Gataker, ad Anton . p. 351; Bos, Exercit . p. 60; Schneckenburger, Beitr. p. 127) the body is frequently represented as the robe of the soul. See also Jacobs, ad Anthol. XII. p. 239. But he does not simply say , but , to put on over (which is not to be taken with Schneckenburger of the succession ; see, on the contrary, Plut. Pelop . 11 : , Herod. i 195: ), because the longing under discussion is directed to the living to see the Parousia and the becoming transformed alive. This transformation in the living body, however, is in so far an , as this denotes the acquisition of a new body with negation of the previous death (the ). This is not at variance with 1Co 15:53 , where the simple is used of the same transformation; for in that passage is the subject which puts on, and, consequently, is quite equivalent to , because in the latter case, as at the present passage, the self-conscious Ego [210] is the subject.
Regarding , in which does not make the meaning stronger ( ardenter cupere), as it is usually taken, but only indicates the direction of the longing ( ), see Fritzsche, ad Rom. I. p. 30 f.
[208] If that were not correct, it would be absurd, instead of being contented with the earthly habitation, to be longing already in it after being clothed upon with the heavenly habitation. Quite similar is the argument in Rom 8:22 .
[209] See also Klpper in the Jahrb. fr deutsche Theol . 1862, p. 13.
[210] The inward man. He is put on with the earthly body, and sighs full of longing to put on over it the heavenly body.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
Ver. 2. For in this ] That is, in this tabernacle of the body. How willingly do soldiers burn their huts, when the siege is ended; being glad that their work is done, and that they may go home and dwell in houses.
We groan earnestly ] As that avis Paradisi, which being once caught and engaged, never leaves sighing, they say, till set at liberty. (Macrob.) The Greeks call the body , the soul’s bond, and , quasi , the soul’s sepulchre.
To be clothed upon ] By a sudden change, and not to die at all, as 1Th 4:17 ; 1Co 15:51-52 . Quis enim vult mori? prorsus nemo. For who wishes to die, certainly no man. Death when it comes will have a bout with the best, as it had with Hezekiah, David, Jonah, others. For nature abhors it, and every new man is two men. But when a Christian considers that non nisi per angusta ad angusta perveniatur, that there is no passing into Paradise but under the flaming sword of this angel death that standeth at the porch; that there is no coming to the city of God, but through his strait and heavy lane; no wiping all tears from his eyes, but with his winding sheet, he yields, and is not only content, but full glad of his departure; as in the mean while he accepts life rather than affects it, he endures it rather than desires it,Phi 1:23Phi 1:23 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2. ] For also (our knowledge, that we possess such a building of God, even in case of our body being dissolved, is testified by the earnest desire which we have, to put on that new body without such dissolution taking place . See the similar argument in Rom 8:18-19 ) in this (viz. , as Beza, Meyer, Olsh., al. The rendering , ‘ wherefore ,’ some referring it to the foregoing, ‘propter hoc quod dictum est,’ Est., some to the following, is inconsistent with , which is parallel with it, 2Co 5:4 . The stress is not necessarily on , ‘ in this,’ as contrasted with ‘out of this,’ as Meyer, who joins with ; but see above) we groan (see Rom 8:23 ), longing (i.e. because we desire, the reason of . ., not ardently desire: the prep. does not intensify, but denotes the direction of the wish, as , Act 27:7 ) to put on over this (‘ superinduere :’ viz. by being alive at the day of Christ , and not dissolved as in 2Co 5:1 : see on 2Co 5:4 below.
The similitude is slightly changed: the house is now to be put on , as an outer garment, over the fleshly body ) our dwelling-place (‘ est quiddam magis absolutum, , domicilium, respicit incolam :’ Bengel. So Eur. Orest. 1113, ) from heaven (i.e. = 2Co 5:1 , but treated now as if brought with the Lord at His coming, and put upon us who are alive and remain then.
‘Itaque,’ says Bengel, ‘hoc domicilium non est clum ipsum ’):
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Co 5:2-3 and 2Co 5:4 form two parallel sentences, both introduced by , of which either may be used to elucidate the other. Both bring out the Apostle’s shrinking from death, i.e. , the act of dying, and his half-expressed anxiety that he may survive until the Day of Christ ( cf. 1Th 4:15 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
2Co 5:2 . . . .: for indeed in this, sc. , in this tabernacle ( cf. 2Co 5:3 ), we groan, sc. , being weighed down by the body, longing to be clothed upon, i.e. , to have the heavenly body put on in addition, like an outer garment over our mortal flesh, with our habitation which is from heaven, sc. , which is brought thence by the Lord at His Coming ( cf. 1Th 4:16 , Rev 21:2 , and Ascension of Isaiah (ed. Charles), iv. 16, ix. 17). The verb always expresses in St. Paul a yearning for home; here it is used of the heavenly home-sickness of the saints.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
groan. See Rom 8:23.
clothed upon. Greek. ependuomai. Here and 2Co 5:4. Compare Joh 21:7.
house. Greek. ciketerion. Only here and Jud 1:6.
from. Greek. ek. App-104.
heaven. Singular. See 2Co 5:1
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2.] For also (our knowledge, that we possess such a building of God, even in case of our body being dissolved, is testified by the earnest desire which we have, to put on that new body without such dissolution taking place. See the similar argument in Rom 8:18-19) in this (viz. , as Beza, Meyer, Olsh., al. The rendering , wherefore,-some referring it to the foregoing,-propter hoc quod dictum est, Est., some to the following,-is inconsistent with , which is parallel with it, 2Co 5:4. The stress is not necessarily on , in this, as contrasted with out of this, as Meyer, who joins with ; but see above) we groan (see Rom 8:23), longing (i.e. because we desire, the reason of . ., not ardently desire: the prep. does not intensify, but denotes the direction of the wish, as , Act 27:7) to put on over this (superinduere: viz. by being alive at the day of Christ, and not dissolved as in 2Co 5:1 :-see on 2Co 5:4 below.
The similitude is slightly changed: the house is now to be put on, as an outer garment, over the fleshly body) our dwelling-place ( est quiddam magis absolutum,-, domicilium, respicit incolam: Bengel. So Eur. Orest. 1113,- ) from heaven (i.e. = 2Co 5:1, but treated now as if brought with the Lord at His coming, and put upon us who are alive and remain then.
Itaque, says Bengel, hoc domicilium non est clum ipsum):
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Co 5:2. , in this) The same phrase occurs, ch. 2Co 8:10, and elsewhere.-, we groan) The epitasis[25] follows, we do groan being burdened, 2Co 5:4.-, a dwelling-place, a domicile) , a house, is somewhat more absolute; , a domicile, has reference to the inhabitant.- ) which is from heaven: here signifies origin, as, of the earth, Joh 3:31. Therefore this domicile (abode) is not heaven itself.-, [to have the clothing put upon us] to be clothed upon) It is in the Middle voice: , the clothing, viz., the body: hence the expression, being clothed [2Co 5:3], refers to those living in the body; , the clothing upon, refers to the heavenly and glorious habitation, in which even the body, the clothing, will be clothed. As the clothing of grass is its greenness and beauty, Mat 6:30, so the heavenly glory is the domicile and clothing of the whole man, when he enters into heaven.
[25] See App. Strengthening of the words already used by something additional on their repetition.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Co 5:2
2Co 5:2
For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven:-In the mortal body we suffer, grow weary. As years and labors press upon us, we are burdened and sigh for rest. We groan from a sense of weakness, desiring earnestly to be immortalized, or freed from pain and suffering. The Christian through faith in the glory of the future yearns for rest from weariness and sufferings of mortality.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
we: 2Co 5:4, Rom 7:24, Rom 8:23, 1Pe 1:6, 1Pe 1:7
earnestly: Phi 1:23
clothed: 2Co 5:3, 2Co 5:4, 1Co 15:53, 1Co 15:54
Reciprocal: Gen 3:21 – make Gen 18:27 – dust 2Ki 2:12 – he saw him Job 10:11 – clothed Psa 38:9 – groaning Rom 8:26 – with 2Co 7:7 – earnest 2Ti 4:8 – that love
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Co 5:2. In this we groan refers to the natural desire that every man has for something better than he now has in his fleshly body with all of its tendencies toward disease and decay. (See Rom 8:22-23.) House which is from heave n; the design of this house, and the power of carrying it out, exists in heaven the place of God.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Co 5:2. For verily in this (tabernacle) we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heavenviewed as from heaven, because the distinguishing properties of the resurrection-body will be the efflux of that resurrection-life which resides in the Lord from heaven. And, as Bengel says, if it be from heaven, the thing meant cannot be heaven itself.
It will be observed that a new figure is here introduced; the glorified body, first held forth as a house, is now figured as a clothing. But the one figure is not substituted for the other; the two are combined; and by what in ordinary writings would be called a mixture of metaphors, we are said to be clothed upon with a house. But besides that the Scripture figures form so light a vehicle for conveying spiritual truths that the thing figured often shines through, and, in fact, absorbs, the figure, it so happens that in the present case the incongruity is only apparent. For our house which is from heaven will be no such gross fabric as the word house might suggest, but of such refined and subtle spirituality that, to represent it as a clothing of celestial radiance enshrining the perfected spirit, if a figure at all, is one as natural as it is beautiful.[1]
[1] To one accustomed (says Dean Stanley) to make Cilician hair-cloth into tents, the double metaphor of a habitation and of a vesture would naturally occur; and he refers to Psa 104:2. Who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment, who stretchest forth the heaven like a curtain (of the tent).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
For in this, that is, in this ruinous earthly tabernacle.
Observe here, The strength and vehemency of the saints’ affection, we groan; the word signifies such a groaning as of a man that has a load or burden lying upon him, which makes him fetch his wind from his very bowels: as there are groans which proceed from sorrow, so there are groans which arise from desire and hope. Thus here, We groan, earnestly desiring.
Observe, 2. What is the subject which the apostle’s groaning desires were carried out after; namely, to be clothed with a celestial body, instead of that clogging body of earthly corruption which here they carried about with them, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon, &c.
Learn thence, That such as do believe and wait for a blessed immortality, do groan for it, and earnestly desire it, because of the miseries and pressures by sin and sorrow in this present life; because they have already a taste of the happiness and glory of the life to come; and because the Holy Spirit doth excite and stir up these groaning desires in the hearts of believers; Rom 8:23 We also, that have the first fruits of the Spirit, do groan within ourselves.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 2 While enduring this life’s suffering, it is natural to long for that better specially prepared house (or clothing).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
For verily in this we groan [Rom 7:24; Rom 8:23], longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven:
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 2
We groan; under the burdens of anxiety and suffering.–To be clothed upon; to be invested with, or received into.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be {a} clothed upon with our house which is from {b} heaven:
(a) He calls the glory of immortality, which we will be as it were clothed with, a garment.
(b) Heavenly, not that the substance of it is heavenly, but rather the glory of it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Paul changed his figure slightly. God will clothe us with a new and better garment. Until then we groan because we feel the pains associated with mortality, namely, our physical limitations, sickness, and the increasing disability that accompanies advancing age. This new covering apparently awaits us immediately after death and before our resurrection. It is therefore probably an intermediate body.
Even though there is no specific instruction concerning an intermediate body and its characteristics in Scripture, its existence seems beyond doubt. References to believers after death and before resurrection suggest that they have bodies (cf. Lazarus, Luk 16:19-25; Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, Mat 17:1-3, et al; the martyred dead in heaven, Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:13-17). These bodies evidently will not be suitable for eternal existence since God will replace them with resurrection bodies. [Note: John F. Walvoord, ed., Lewis Sperry Chafer’s Systematic Theology, abridged ed., 2:506-7. See also Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, 4:414-15.] Another view sees this "building" or "dwelling" as our heavenly home. [Note: See Hodge, pp. 107-28; and Joe L. Wall, Going for the Gold, pp. 44-48.] God has also prepared a dwelling place for our resurrection bodies, but that does not seem to be in view here.
2Co 5:3 is parenthetic. Paul clarified that believers who die are not disembodied spirits until the resurrection of their bodies. Another interpretation sees believers as unclothed (without an intermediate body) between their death and resurrection. [Note: E.g., Barnett, pp. 262-63; and Martin, p. 106.] Those who hold this view understand Paul to be saying that he did not look forward to his disembodied condition. He anticipated the time when God would clothe him with an immortal body (at his resurrection).
"Greeks celebrated exercise in the nude, though even they regarded nakedness as shameful in some situations (Polybius 14.5.11). Although Romans favored nakedness less than Greeks (Juvenal Sat. 1.71), they had adopted the custom of nude bathing from Greeks (Plutarch Marcus Cato 20.5-6; Roman Q. 40, Mor. 274A), and Corinth had notable public baths (as well as public latrines). For most Jews, however, nudity remained scandalous." [Note: Keener, p. 180.]
I believe that one of the strongest arguments that we will never be disembodied spirits is that the Bible consistently views humans as unified beings. It does not describe the body as merely the house that the real person lives in. That is a Platonic concept that the early Gnostics and other anthropological dualists held. Rather, the Bible describes people as consisting of material and immaterial parts. If we were to lack material substance (either mortal or immortal), we would seemingly be less than human beings.