Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 11:19
For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye [yourselves] are wise.
19. For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise ] Literally, For gladly do ye tolerate men without understanding, being prudent (or perhaps better sensible men). The word here translated suffer is translated bear with in 2Co 11:4. The translation here is Wiclif’s. It is a question (see next note) whether either of the two members of this sentence is to be taken literally. But that its general purpose is ironical there can be no doubt. Cf. 1Co 4:10.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For ye suffer fools gladly – You tolerate or endure those who are really fools. This is perhaps, says Dr. Bloomfield, the most sarcastic sentence ever penned by the apostle Paul. Its sense is, You profess to be wondrous wise. And yet you who are so wise a people, freely tolerate those who are foolish in their boasting; who proclaim their own merits and attainments. You may allow me, therefore, to come in for my share, and boast also, and thus obtain your favor. Or it may mean, You are so profoundly wise as easily to see who are fools. You have great power of discernment in this, and have found out that I am a fool, and also that other boasters are fools. Yet knowing this, you bear patiently with such fools; have admitted them to your favor and friendship, and I may come in among the rest of the fools, and partake also of your favors. They had borne with the false apostles who had boasted of their endowments, and yet they claimed to be eminent for wisdom and discernment.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. Ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.] A very fine irony. Ye are so profoundly wise as to be able to discern that I am a fool. Well, it would be dishonourable to you as wise men to fall out with a fool; you will therefore gladly bear with his impertinence and foolishness because of your own profound wisdom.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ye freely suffer others foolishly glorying and boasting of themselves, therefore do ye suffer me therein to judge yourselves wise, and it belongs to the wise to bear with such as are not so wise as themselves.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. gladlywillingly. Irony. Aplea why they should “bear with” (2Co11:1) him in his folly, that is, boasting; ye are, in sooth, so”wise” (1Co 4:8;1Co 4:10; Paul’s real view oftheir wisdom was very different, 1Co3:1-4) yourselves that ye can “bear with” the folly ofothers more complacently. Not only can ye do so, but ye areactually doing this and more.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For ye suffer fools gladly,…. They bore with the false apostles, who were fools; were continually proclaiming their folly, boasting of themselves, ascribing that to themselves which did not belong to them, and were puffed up by their fleshly minds; they indulged these men in their folly, and that with pleasure and delight; they not only winked at it, and overlooked it, but were pleased with it: seeing ye yourselves are wise; acting like men who count themselves wise, and keep fools for their pleasure, diversion, and sport. These words may be considered either as spoken seriously by the apostle, and as wondering that they should suffer such fools to go on in their vain boasts, and especially with pleasure; since they were men of wisdom, who were otherwise taught of God, and by the word; they had been made wise unto salvation, and were enriched in all utterance, and in all knowledge; they had been instructed by the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, and in the mysteries of his Gospel; and therefore it was surprising that they could bear with such vain and foolish men, and especially with delight; for though it is the part of a wise man to bear with fools, yet not with pleasure; so that this carries in it a tacit reproof to them: or else the last clause may be considered as spoken ironically, and as a severe jibe upon their folly for tolerating such a parcel of fools among them; as if he should say, you show yourselves to be men of wisdom, as you would be thought to be; you act the wise part, do not you, in suffering such empty headed men to converse with you, and delight in their vain talk and conversation? however, the whole furnishes out an argument for the apostle, and which he means to improve; that if they could suffer and bear with such fools, and so many of them, and that gladly, then they might and ought to bear a little with him in his folly, which is what he entreats of them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Gladly (). Irony again. Cf. in 11:4 (Mr 7:9). So as to (being wise).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1 ) “For ye suffer fools gladly “ (hedeos gar anechesthe ton aphronon) “For you all gladly endure fools,” foolish ones, and “we are fools for Christ’s sake,” in the eyes of the worldly, 1Co 4:10; Act 17:18; Act 26:28-32, while rejoicing in your superiority.
2) “Seeing ye yourselves are wise,” (phronimoi ontes) “Seeing you all are prudent;” this is ironic. Though the Corinth brethren had tolerated the accusations of false prophets he suggested that they had not, but should, extend the same indulgent toleration of self-commendation to him.
EFFECTS OF BOASTING
Lord Bacon told Sir Edward Cooke, when he boasted, “The less you speak of your greatness, the more I shall think of it.” Mirrors are the accompaniments of dandies, not heroes. The men of history were not perpetually looking in the glass to make sure of their own size. Absorbed in their work, they did it, and did it so well, that the wondering world saw them to be great, and labeled them accordingly.
-S. Coley
NOT BOASTING
I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be; but, by the grace of God, I am not what I was.
-John Newton
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
19. For ye bear with fools willingly. He calls them wise — in my opinion, ironically. He was despised by them, which could not have been, had they not been puffed up with the greatest arrogance (843) He says, therefore — “Since you are so wise, act the part of wise men in bearing with me, whom you treat with contempt, as you would a fool.” Hence I infer, that this discourse is not addressed to all indiscriminately, but some particular persons are reproved, who conducted themselves in an unkind manner. (844)
(843) “ D’vne merueilleuse arrogance;” — “With an amazing arrogance.”
(844) “ Enuers luy;” — “Towards him.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) Ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.He falls back into the strain of irony of 1Co. 4:8-10, to which, indeed, the whole passage presents a striking parallelism. He assumes that in their serene, self-complacent wisdom they will be willing to tolerate even those whom they look upon as half-insane. He drives the sarcasm home by urging that they tolerate those who are morally in a far worse condition.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Ye are wise Severe irony, preparatory to giving, next verse, the most eminent instance of their said wisdom!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise yourselves. For you bear with a man, if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, if he smites you on the face.’
It has become necessary because, in their supposed wisdom, it appears that they listen to fools. Let them then bear with him as he speaks like a fool. They think that they are ‘wise’, but he speaks of their ‘wisdom’ sarcastically because they are clearly not behaving wisely at all. They put up with those who enslave them, who force them to do what they want; with those who devour their possessions by living lavishly off them; with those who ‘take them’ (make them captives to their false teaching or even possibly sexually misuse their daughters under the pretence of religion); with those who exalt themselves and treat them roughly so as to demonstrate that they are in charge. And the mesmerised Corinthians are putting up with it because of the great claims these people are making.
Note the contrast with Paul. Instead of bringing them into bondage he betrothed them to Christ (2Co 11:2). Instead of devouring their possessions he refused in any way to be a charge on them (2Co 11:9). Instead of making them captive to his own teaching he brought them the truth (2Co 11:10). Instead of lording it over them he has been meek and gentle among them (2Co 10:1) and loved them (2Co 11:11). Can they not see the difference?
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Co 11:19 . Not the motive inducing, but an ironical ground encouraging , the just said : For willingly you are patient with the irrational (to whom I with my belong), since ye are rational people! The more rational person is on that account the more tolerant toward fools. Hence not: although you are rational (Ewald and the older commentators).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.
Ver. 19. For ye suffer fools ] Inter indoctos etiam Corydus sonat. (Quintilian.) Wise men hold them for fools whom fools admire for wise men. As one saith of attorneys, Quod inter opiliones se iactitent iurisperitos, inter iurisperitos ne opilionum quidem aestimatione habeantur. (Rex Platonicus.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
19. ] Bitterly ironical. They were as 1Co 4:8 , so full of wisdom as to be able to tolerate complacently, looking down from the ‘sapientum templa serena,’ the follies of others. This, forsooth, encourages him to hope for their forbearance and patronage. Compare the earnestness of 1Co 3:1-4 . And the irony does not stop here: it is not only matter of presumption that they would tolerate fools with complacency, but the matter of fact testified it: they were doing this: and more .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Co 11:19 . . . .: for ye bear with the foolish, i.e. , the false teachers, gladly, being wise yourselves , the latter clause being, of course, ironical, although (see reff.) it was true that was a quality which he had seriously ascribed to the Corinthians in a former letter. His point is that, as they have borne with the self-commendation of the pseudo-apostles, they should extend the same indulgent toleration to him. He then goes on to remind them of the insolence and ill-treatment which they had endured at the hands of these self-constituted spiritual guides.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
suffer. Same as “bear with”, 2Co 11:1.
gladly. Greek. hedeos. Only here, 2Co 12:9, 2Co 12:15. Mar 8:12, Mar 8:37,
seeing, &c. Literally being wise.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
19.] Bitterly ironical. They were -as 1Co 4:8, -so full of wisdom as to be able to tolerate complacently, looking down from the sapientum templa serena, the follies of others. This, forsooth, encourages him to hope for their forbearance and patronage. Compare the earnestness of 1Co 3:1-4. And the irony does not stop here: it is not only matter of presumption that they would tolerate fools with complacency, but the matter of fact testified it: they were doing this: and more.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Co 11:19. ) [gladly] willingly.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Co 11:19
2Co 11:19
For ye bear with the foolish gladly, being wise yourselves.-Before presenting his claims as a child of Abraham, he tells them that they are wise (in their own conceits), that they can afford to bear with him while he meets the foolish on their own ground to show that he has greater claims than they.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
seeing: 1Co 4:10, 1Co 8:1, 1Co 10:15, Rev 3:17
Reciprocal: Act 8:10 – they Rom 1:14 – both to 2Co 11:1 – in 2Co 11:16 – receive me Gal 5:20 – heresies
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Co 11:19-20. These verses are referred to in the comments on verse 4. The argument Paul is making is that, he is entitled to the friendly consideration of the brethren for his whim (as they seemed to think his ideas were), when they were giving these other persons such tolerance. Especially since the apostle had nothing questionable in his case, while these other men did have. This paragraph describes what they were doing and the Corinthians were “putting up” with it. The brethren considered themselves wise, yet they endured those they considered as fools; they even tolerated many injustices from these fools. An instance is that of being brought into bondage to the ordinances of the old law. Not that they literally were led to adopt those institutions, but suffered themselves to become confused over them. (See chapter 3.)
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Co 11:19. For ye bear for the foolish gladly, being wise yourselves. As the wise, pitying the foolish, put up with their foolishness, so put ye up with me while I tell you what I have to boast of. The irony here is obvious and keen.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 19 They thought so highly of themselves that they patiently listened to foolish boasters.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
For ye bear with the foolish gladly, being wise yourselves.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
The apostle was most ironical in these verses (cf. 1Co 4:10). The Corinthians considered themselves unusually wise, but they were being unusually foolish by not only humoring the fools in their midst but doing so gladly. They were absurdly tolerant. They submitted to the teaching of the false apostles even though it resulted in their own enslavement. Probably this teaching involved the Judaizing error (i.e., submission to the Mosaic Law is necessary for justification and or sanctification, cf. Gal 2:4; Gal 5:1). The false teachers had evidently devoured the Corinthians’ financial contributions. They had abused them and exalted themselves at their expense. Hitting in the face may have occurred (cf. Act 23:2; 1Co 4:11), but it definitely pictures the most insulting and harmful conduct. How inconsistent this behavior was with the manner of the Savior.
Ironically Paul feigned shame that he had behaved so weakly among them. Really it was the Corinthian Christians who should have been ashamed (cf. 1Co 6:5; 1Co 15:34). Paul’s conduct had been Christ-like. Now he was experiencing abuse for such gentleness, as his Master had.