Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 7:14
For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which [I made] before Titus, is found a truth.
14. I am not ashamed ] Rather, ‘I was not ashamed,’ i.e. at his return.
but as we spake ] i.e. when we were with you.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For if I have boasted anything to him … – This seems to imply that Paul had spoken most favorably to Titus of the Corinthians before he went among them. He had probably expressed his belief that he would be kindly received; that they would be disposed to listen to him, and to comply with the directions of the apostle; perhaps he had spoken to him of what he anticipated would be their liberality in regard to the collection which he was about to make for the poor saints at Jerusalem.
I am not ashamed – It has all turned out to be true. He has found it as I said it would be. All my expectations are realized; and you have been as kind, and hospitable, and benevolent as I assured him you would be.
As we spake all things to you in truth – Everything which I said to you was said in truth. All my promises to you, and all my commands, and all my reasonable expectations expressed to you, were sincere. I practiced no disguise, and all that I have said thus far turned out to be true.
Even so our boasting … – My boasting of your character, and of your disposition to do right, which I made before Titus has turned out to be true. It was as I said it would be. I did not commend you too highly to him, as I did not overstate the matter to you in my Epistle.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. For if I have boasted] The apostle had given Titus a very high character of this Church, and of their attachment to himself; and doubtless this was the case previously to the evil teacher getting among them, who had succeeded in changing their conduct, and changing in a great measure their character also; but now they return to themselves, resume their lost ground, so that the good character which the apostle gave them before, and which they had for a time forfeited, is now as applicable to them as ever. Therefore his boasting of them is still found a truth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The apostle here multiplieth expressions to sweeten the Corinthians, by all manner of ways declaring his value for and affection towards them. It appeareth by this, that the apostle had at some time before spoken something to Titus in commendation of this church of Corinth, which he here calleth a
boasting of them; he now again boasted, that he had said nothing but the truth, which Titus had experienced, and reported to him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. anythingthat is, at all.
I am not ashamed“Iam not put to shame,” namely, by learning from Titus that youdid not realize the high character I gave him of you.
as . . . all things . . . intruth, even so our boasting . . . is found a truthAs ourspeaking in general to you was true (2Co1:18), so our particular boasting to Titus concerning youis now, by his report, proved to be truth (compare 2Co9:2). Some oldest manuscripts read expressly, “concerningyou”; this in either reading is the sense.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For if I have boasted anything to him of you,…. As of their faith in Christ, of their liberality to the saints, their affection for him, and obedience to him as children to a father:
I am not ashamed; since these all appeared to be true; as he must have been had they been otherwise:
but as we spake all things to you in truth; that is, our preaching among you was true; all the doctrines we delivered to you were truth; our word was not yea and nay, but uniform, and all of a piece:
even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth; some understand this of the boasting which the apostle made concerning Titus, in his epistle to them, highly commending him, and which they found to be in all things exactly true; but the words rather design his boasting of the Corinthians unto Titus, which was found to be true by him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
If–I have gloried (—). Condition of first class. On this verb see 1Cor 3:21; 2Cor 5:12.
I was not put to shame ( ). First aorist passive indicative of . Paul had assured Titus, who hesitated to go after the failure of Timothy, that the Corinthians were sound at bottom and would come round all right if handled properly. Paul’s joy is equal to that of Titus.
In truth ( ). In the sharp letter as well as in I Corinthians. He had not hesitated to speak plainly of their sins.
Our glorying before Titus ( ). The two things were not inconsistent and were not contradictory as the outcome proved.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “For if I boasted anything to him of you,” (hoti ei ti auto huper humon kekauchemai) “Because if I have boasted anything to him on behalf of you all,” since my hopes of you all are fulfilled, and I did boast of you all, 2Co 9:2.
2) “I am not ashamed,” (ou kateschunthen) I am not ashamed,” or blushing because my boasting of you has been exposed, for it was not in vain, Rom 1:16; Rom 5:5; 2Ti 1:12.
3) “But as we spake all things to you in truth,” (all’ hos panta en aletheia elalesamen humin) “But (surely as) we spoke all things in truth to you all;” things proved to be truth, Joh 8:32; Psa 119:160.
4) “Even so our boasting,” (houtos kai he kauchesis hemon) “Even so also our boasting;” of your fidelity to us and God wilI be rewarded, 2Co 10:15.
5) “Which I made before Titus,” (epi titou) “which I made over you to Titus,” of your care for the cause of Christ, Gal 6:14.
6) “Is found a truth,” (alethia egenethe) “became truth, was found (to be) truthful, true;” evidence that Paul was a true apostle and prophet of God, Isa 8:20; Luk 16:29.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. But if I have boasted any thing to him. He shows indirectly, how friendly a disposition he had always exercised towards the Corinthians, and with what sincerity and kindness he had judged of them; for at the very time that they seemed to be unworthy of commendation, he still promised much that was honorable on their behalf. Here truly we have a signal evidence of a rightly constituted and candid mind, — reproving to their face those that you love, and yet hoping well, and giving others good hopes respecting them. Such sincerity ought to have induced them not to take amiss any thing that proceeded from him. In the mean time, he takes this opportunity of setting before them again, in passing, his fidelity in all other matters. “You have hitherto had opportunity of knowing my candor, so that I have shown myself to be truthful, and not by any means fickle. I rejoice, therefore, that I have now also been found truthful, when boasting of you before others.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) For if I have boasted any thing to him of you.It is obviously implied that he had boasted. He had encouraged Titus, when he sent him, with the assurance that he would find many elements of good mingled with the evil which he was sent to correct. And now St. Paul can add: I was not shamed (the tense requires this rendering) when he came back with his report.
Even so our boasting, which I made before Titus.The words I made are, as the italics show, not in the Greek. Some of the better MSS. give, indeed, your boasting, and with this reading the sense would be: As what I said of you to Titus turned out to be true, so I recognise that what you said to him of yourselves, of your zeal and longing (as in 2Co. 7:11), was spoken truly. The Received reading rests, however, on very good authority, and certainly gives a better sense: We spoke truly to you of your faults; we spoke truly to Titus of your good qualities.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Boasted ashamed Paul takes care to offer Titus to their high respect. Titus had justified his highest boasts.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shame, but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth.’
And he rejoices in the fact that his faith in them had been justified, so that Titus had been able to see that all he had boasted to him about the Corinthians, and boasted he had, had been proved true. Thus his truthfulness was established in every way, both his truthfulness to them and his truthfulness in his boasting to Titus.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Co 7:14 f. Polite statement of the reason why the joy of Titus had rejoiced him so greatl.
. .] Comp. 2Co 9:2 . Who could deny that Paul, both alone, of which he is thinking here, and in company with Timothy (at which then glances), had justly boasted before Titus ( coram Tito ) to the advantage of the Corinthians ( , comp. 2Co 9:2 )? See 1Co 1:4 ff. He had, in fact, founded the church and laboured so long in it, and they were in his heart, 2Co 7:3 .
] This . would have taken place, if Titus had experienced among you an opposite state of things, contradicting the truth of my . But when he came to you: , Chrysosto.
. . .] Opposite of .: “as we have spoken everything truly to you , our boasting before Titus has also become truth.” No doubt Paul is here making a passing allusion to the attack on his veracity (comp. 2Co 1:17 ff.), and that in such a way as emphatically to confront it with, first, what was said by him ( ), and then the persons to whom he spoke ( ). Thus the first, and next to it the last, place in the arrangement of the sentence has the emphasis (Khner, II. p. 625).
] quite general: we have lied to you in nothing. Chrysostom and Billroth think that it applies to all the good, which Paul had said of Titus to the Corinthians , a purely arbitrary view, not to be guessed by any reade.
] i.e. truthfully . Comp. Col 1:6 ; Joh 17:19 ; Pind. Ol. vii. 127. The adverbial use is genuine Greek (Matthiae, p. 1342; Bernhardy, p. 211), not a Hebraism (Rckert). See on Joh 17:19 .
] locuti sumus , quite general, and not to be limited, at variance with the context, to doctrine (Emmerling, Flatt, Hofmann, and others, following Theodoret).
] coram Tito . See Schaefer, Melet . p. 105; Fritzsche, Quaest. Luc . p. 139.
] se praestitit ; it has shown itself as truth by experience. Comp. 2Co 1:19 ; Rom 3:4 ; Rom 7:13 . Often so also in classic writers.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.
Ver. 14. I am not ashamed ] As I should have been, had it proved otherwise. Lying is a blushful sin, and therefore the liar denies his own lie, because he is ashamed to be taken with it; and our ruffians revenge it with a stab.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14. ] This increased joy was produced by the verification which my former boasting of you to Titus now received.
] see one particular in which he boasted of them, ch. 2Co 9:2 .
.] I was not put to shame, viz. by being shewn, on Titus’s coming to you, to have boasted in vain.
] ‘But truthfulness was shewn to be my constant rule of speech, to whomsoever I spoke.’ But as we spoke (generally, not merely in our teaching, as Theodoret, al.) all things in truth (truthfully) to you, so also our boasting concerning you (gen. obj.: the rec. agrees better with the comparison, of ‘our words’ in general, with ‘our boasting’ in particular: but on that very account it is probably an alteration: and this is the implied meaning at all events) before Titus was (was proved to be: was, as shewn by proof) truth . De W. suggests that the Apostle had described (by anticipation) to Titus in glowing terms the affection and probable prompt obedience of the Corinthians, as an encouragement to his somewhat unwelcome journey.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Co 7:14 . . . .: for if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, i.e. , have boasted of you ( cf. 2Co 9:2 , 2Co 12:5 ), I was not put to shame, sc. , by the vanity of my boasting being exposed; but as we spake all things to you in truth (this he is continually insisting on, e.g. , at 2Co 1:18 , 2Co 2:17 , 2Co 4:2 , etc.), so our glorying also, viz., that made before Titus ( cf. Mar 13:9 for with the gen.), was found (not “is found” as A.V., but “was found” as at 1Co 1:30 ) to be truth .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
if. App-118.
boasted = gloried. Greek. kauchaomai. See Rom 2:17.
ashamed. Greek. kataischund. See Rom 5:5.
spake. Greek. laleo. App-121.
even so, &c. = so our glorying also.
boasting = glorying, as in 2Co 7:4.
before. Greek. epi. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14.] This increased joy was produced by the verification which my former boasting of you to Titus now received.
] see one particular in which he boasted of them, ch. 2Co 9:2.
.] I was not put to shame, viz. by being shewn, on Tituss coming to you, to have boasted in vain.
] But truthfulness was shewn to be my constant rule of speech, to whomsoever I spoke. But as we spoke (generally, not merely in our teaching, as Theodoret, al.) all things in truth (truthfully) to you, so also our boasting concerning you (gen. obj.: the rec. agrees better with the comparison, of our words in general, with our boasting in particular: but on that very account it is probably an alteration: and this is the implied meaning at all events) before Titus was (was proved to be: was, as shewn by proof) truth. De W. suggests that the Apostle had described (by anticipation) to Titus in glowing terms the affection and probable prompt obedience of the Corinthians, as an encouragement to his somewhat unwelcome journey.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Co 7:14. , , I have boasted, I am not ashamed) ch. 2Co 9:4, 2Co 12:6.-, all things) He suitably refers to ch. 2Co 1:18.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Co 7:14
2Co 7:14
For if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shame;-He had praised them to Titus, and he had not been put to shame by their showing that they were not worthy of the praise he had bestowed upon them. [He cannot refrain from a passing allusion to the charges of prevarication discussed in the first chapter (verses 15-19); he not only tells the truth about them as Titus had seen, but he has always told the truth to them.]
but as we spake all things to you in truth,-All he had said concerning them had proved to be true.
so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth.-[Though spoken incidentally, yet the revelation to the Corinthians that Paul had spoken of them in terms of commendation must have convinced them of his love for them. This is one of the objects, as appears from the whole epistle, he had much at heart.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
if: 2Co 7:4, 2Co 8:24, 2Co 9:2-4
we: 2Co 1:18-20
Reciprocal: Ezr 8:22 – I was ashamed 2Co 4:2 – by 2Co 6:7 – the word 2Co 9:3 – have 2Co 10:8 – I should not Eph 4:25 – speak Phi 1:20 – in nothing 2Th 1:4 – glory Tit 1:4 – Titus
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Co 7:14. Paul had boasted (spoken words of commendation) of the merits of the church at Corinth, even before the developments were completed. Now he is not ashamed (has no regrets) since his praise of them has been proven true.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Co 7:14. For if in any thing I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shamethe event has justified to himself the high character I gave him of you.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, How the apostle had formerly taken occasion to speak boastingly, and not without assurance, concerning the church of Corinth. “Now, says the apostle, whatever I said of you, is as infallibly and certainly true, as what I have heretofore either or spoken to you.”- Happy is it when a minister’s commendations of his people unto others, are not contradicted or gainsayed by the people themselves, but confirmed greatly.
Here, what St. Paul had boasted of the Corinthians, Titus found a truth.
Observe, next, With what inward affection Titus did embrace and receive the Corinthians, remembering with what great deference and regard they had received him; he is greatly affected towards you, upon his finding you so obedient to me. Nothing doth more endear a people to the ministers of Christ, than to find them obedient to their spiritual guides in things pertaining to godliness and religion: The affection of Titus is more abundant towards you, whilst he remebereth the obedience of you all.
Observe, lastly, What confidence the apostle had, that the church of Corinth would hearken to, and comply with his future admonitions, exhortations and reproofs: I have confidence in you in all things. It is a blessed thing when the ministers of the gospel and their beloved people have a mutual confidence in each other, and when that confidence on either side is not broken, but preserved and increased between them all their days; when, they can say of each other, as doth the apostle here, I rejoice that I have confidence in you in all things.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 14 It further seems Paul had eased these misgivings by telling Titus that the gospel would be well received by the Corinthians. Paul was not made ashamed because their actions had verified the truthfulness of his statements concerning their loyalty.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
For if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shame; but as we spake all things to you in truth, so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth. [Paul had evidently told Titus that he would find the Corinthians true and loyal, and ready to obey the apostle’s letter. Had events proved otherwise, Paul would have been put to shame in the eyes of Titus. But as the apostle, despite the accusations of the Corinthians to the contrary (2Co 1:15-17), had always spoken truth to them, so he had always been truthful in speaking to Titus about them. Paul’s affection for the Corinthians had not caused him to overstep the limits of perfect accuracy while boasting of them to Titus.]