Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 10:16
To preach the gospel in the [regions] beyond you, [and] not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.
16. to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you ] i.e. the rest of Greece, Italy and Spain. Cf. Rom 15:19; Rom 15:24; Rom 15:28. St Paul here attributes his further progress in the Gospel not to his own energy, but to their faith, another instance of his identification of himself with those in whom the same life dwelt. Cf. ch. 2Co 1:11.
and not to boast in another man’s line ] Literally, and not to have boasted. Both this word and the words translated enlarged and preach the gospel are in the past tense. St Paul here again reflects indirectly, but most severely upon his opponents. Our hope is first that your faith may increase, and then that we may congratulate ourselves on having carried the good tidings of the Gospel to those who as yet have not heard them, not, as others do, on the successes which by intruding into another man’s work, we have found ready made for us.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you – What regions are referred to here can be only a matter of conjecture. It may be that he wished to preach in other parts of Greece, and that he designed to go to Arcadia or Lacedaemon. Rosenmuller supposes that as the Corinthians were engaged in commerce, the apostle hoped that by them some tidings of the gospel would reach the countries with which they were engaged in traffic. But I think it most probable that he alludes to Italy and Spain. It is certain that he had formed the design of visiting Spain Rom 15:24, Rom 15:28; and he doubtless wished the Corinthians to aid him in that purpose, and was anxious to do this as soon as the condition of the eastern churches would allow it.
And not to boast in another mans line of things … – Margin, Rule, the same word ( kanon) which occurs in 2Co 10:13. The meaning is, that Paul did not mean to boast of what properly belonged to others. He did not claim what they had done as his own. He did not intend to labor within what was properly their bounds, and then to claim the field and the result of the labor as his. He probably means here to intimate that this had been done by the false teachers of Corinth; but so far was he from designing to do this, that he meant soon to leave Corinth, which was properly within his limits, and the church which he had founded there, to go and preach the gospel to other regions. Whether Paul ever went to Spain has been a question (see the note on Rom 15:24); but it is certain that he went to Rome, and that he preached the gospel in many other places after this besides Corinth.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. To preach the Gospel in the regions beyond you] He probably refers to those parts of the Morea, such as Sparta, c., that lay southward of them and to Italy, which lay on the west; for it does not appear that he considered his measure or province to extend to Libya, or any part of Africa. See the Introduction, sec. xii.
Not to boast in another man’s line] So very scrupulous was the apostle not to build on another man’s foundation, that he would not even go to those places where other apostles were labouring. He appears to think that every apostle had a particular district or province of the heathen world allotted to him, and which God commissioned him to convert to the Christian faith. No doubt every apostle was influenced in the same way; and this was a wise order of God; for by these means the Gospel was more quickly spread through the heathen provinces than it otherwise would have been. The apostles had deacons or ministers with them whose business it was to water the seed sown; but the apostles alone, under Christ, sowed and planted.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you; the apostle here expoundeth what he meaneth by the term magnified, or enlarged, in the preceding verse, viz. to have a door opened to preach the gospel in places whither it was not yet come. God honoureth persons when he maketh them instruments to bring any to an acquaintance with, and to the embracing of, his gospel, who formerly had been ignorant of it, and not acquainted with it.
And not to boast in another mans line of things made ready to our hand: he here seemeth to reflect on the false teachers crept into this church, who had nothing to boast in but a pretended building, upon other mens foundations, and carrying on a work by others made ready to their hands; and seemeth to prefer the work of conversion, and an instrumentality in that, before an instrumentality merely in edification, and carrying on the work of God already begun in peoples souls.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. Tothat is, so as topreach . . . beyond you (and) not to boast, c.
in another man’s line ofthings made ready to our handDo not connect “line ofthings,” &c. but “boast of things,” &c. Tomake this clearer, arrange the words thus, “Not to boast as tothings (already made by the preaching of others) ready to our hand inanother man’s line (that is, within the line, or sphere of labor,apportioned by God to another).”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
To preach the Gospel in the regions beyond you,…. Here the apostle clearly expresses what he hoped for, and explains what he meant by being enlarged according to rule; namely, that he should be at liberty to preach the Gospel elsewhere; and hoped he should be directed by the providence of God, to carry it into the more remote and distant parts of the world, where as yet Christ had not been named:
and not to boast in another man’s line: or enter into another man’s province, glory in other men’s labours, as did the false apostles: and boast
of things made ready to our hand; that is, of places cultivated and improved, by the preaching of the Gospel, so as to bring forth fruit to the honour and glory of God; where many souls were already converted, and churches were planted and put into good order, and were in a flourishing condition; see Ro 15:18.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Even unto the parts beyond you ( ). Compound adverb (, , beyond those places) used as preposition. Found only here and in ecclesiastical writers.
Things ready to our hand ( ). He had a plenty besides that he could use.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
In another man’s line [ ] . Line is the word previously rendered rule. He will not boast within the line drawn for another; in another’s field of activity. 155
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you,” (eis to humon euangelisasthai) “In the parts (regions) beyond you all to preach good tidings;” in areas where the gospel had not gone, western Greece, Rome, and Spain in particular, Rom 1:14-16; Rom 15:23-24.
2) “And not to boast,” (ouk kauchesasthai) “not to boast,” to take credit for success, as others had tried to claim credit for Paul’s labors in Corinth, 1Co 3:6-7.
3) “In another man’s line of things made ready to our hand,” (en allotrio kanoni eis ta etoma) “in another’s rule or order in the matters ready, at hand;” not to claim achievement that was really reached by others, where churches had already been planted, Rom 15:20-24; 1Co 3:10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(16) To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you.It is clear, from Rom. 15:19-24, that he is thinking (1) of Western Greece, (2) of Rome, (3, and chiefly) of Spain. There, apparently, he could hope to preach the gospel without even the risk of its being said that he was building on another mans foundation.
And not to boast in another mans line . . .The words, like those of 2Co. 10:15, are at once an answer to a charge and a tu quoque retort. Spain! Illyricum! he seems to say within himself. Will you say that I am transgressing boundaries and working on another mans lines there? Can you say that you are free from that charge in your work at Corinth?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. To preach the gospel It is for this that he would like to be magnified to a giant’s stature.
Regions beyond you A decidedly extended field!
Another man’s line As the Christines were doing.
Made ready to our hand A comfortable nest built by a preceding bird.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Co 10:16 . Infinitive without a connecting , and all the less therefore dependent in its turn on , but rather infinitive of the aim: we hope to become exceedingly large among you, in order to preach the gospel unto the lands lying beyond you, [316] not within the boundary-line of another to boast of what is already done . This negative part is a side-glance at the opponents who in Corinth, which lay within the range of the line drawn for Paul, and so , had boasted in regard to the circumstances of the church there, which they had, in fact, found already shaped before they came, consequently . Comp. Calvin: “quum Paulus militasset, illi triumphum agebant.” Beza and Billroth, also de Wette and Hofmann (who thinks all three infinitives dependent on . .), take the infinitive as epexegesis of . by adding an id est ; but this is precluded by the correct connection of with . For, if Paul hopes to become large among the Corinthians , this cannot mean the same thing as to preach away beyond Corinth ( . .). No; that . denotes the becoming capable for further extended working, the being put into a position for it, and accordingly the aim of this is: . Ewald would make the infinitives . and . dependent on . ., so that they would explain in what more precisely this rule consists; but this is forbidden by the fact that . is not placed before . . .
The adverb , ultra , is bad Greek. See Thomas Magister, p 336: (the rabble). Comp. Bos, Ellips. , ed. Schaef. pp. 288, 290.
before . does stand for (Flatt and others), but comp. 1Pe 1:25 ; Joh 8:26 1Th 2:9 .
. ] , not , is here used quite according to rule (in opposition to Rckert), since the . . is correlative to the as contrast (Hartung, Partikell. II. p. 125 f.). And this correlation demands that be understood not of the object of (Hofmann), but locally, to which also the very notion of (2Co 10:13 ) points: within the measuring-line drawn for another, i.e. as to substance: in the field of activity divinely destined for another.
On with ., in reference to , comp. Arist. Pol. v. 10.
[316] “Meridiem versus et occidentem; nam Athenis Corinthum venerat, Act 18:1 ,” Bengel.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.
Ver. 16. In the regions beyond you ] This was a piece of the braggadocio false apostles’ vain boasting, as it is now of the Jesuits, those Circulatores and Agyrtae, that compass sea and land, crack of what conversions they have wrought in India and Africa, and, Lampadius-like, take it ill at any man’s hand that commend them not every time they spit upon the ground. (Amm. Marcell.) Gaius Caligula the emperor was ready to destroy the whole senate, because they did not deify him for marching with his whole army to the ocean, and fetching thence a few oyster shells, Quibus spoliis acceptis magnifice gloriabatur, quasi oceano subacto. (Dio, in Vita Caligulae.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
16. ] [ so as ] (with a view) to preach the gospel as far as (see on ., 2Co 10:15 ) the parts beyond you (Wetstein quotes from Thomas Magister, . , la canaille ), not (with a view) to boast ourselves within another man’s line ( throughout seems to be used of a measuring line : according to the metaphor so common among us, ‘in his line,’ i.e. ‘within the line which Providence has marked out for him’) with regard to (or, ‘ to the extent of ;’ ‘to extend our boasting to’) things ready made to our hands.
2Co 10:16 . . . .: so as to preach the Gospel in the regions beyond you, i.e. (if we are to press the idea of direction in ), the western parts of Greece, Rome and Spain, which were “beyond,” if viewed from Jerusalem, the home of Christianity, whence St. Paul, like the other early preachers, received his “mission” (more probably, however, is used quite vaguely as is in Amo 5:27 , where the idea of direction cannot be read into it), and not to glory in another’s “line” about things made ready to our hand . This is what the intruders had done at Corinth, whose Church St. Paul had founded (1Co 3:6 ).
preach the gospel Greek. euangetizo. App-121.
in = unto. Greek. eis, as above.
beyond. Greek. huperekeina. Only here.
another man’s. Greek. allotrios, as in 2Co 10:15.
line. Same as “rule”, 2Co 10:13.
16.] [so as] (with a view) to preach the gospel as far as (see on ., 2Co 10:15) the parts beyond you (Wetstein quotes from Thomas Magister, . , la canaille),-not (with a view) to boast ourselves within another mans line ( throughout seems to be used of a measuring line: according to the metaphor so common among us, in his line,-i.e. within the line which Providence has marked out for him) with regard to (or, to the extent of; to extend our boasting to) things ready made to our hands.
2Co 10:16. , to) or in relation to. The antitheses are, in the places beyond you, and, as to the things (places) that are ready to our hand.- , those places, which are beyond) to which no person has yet come with the Gospel, towards the south and west; for he had come from Athens to Corinth, Act 18:1.- , not in another mans) The antithesis is, according to our rule [2Co 10:15].-) to intrude ourselves by boasting into [as to] those things (places) which are ready to our hand.-, ready. It denotes even more than .[71]
[71] Made ready for an occasion. But in a state of readiness, habitually ready.-ED.
2Co 10:16
2Co 10:16
so as to preach the gospel even unto the parts beyond you,-He hoped that when their faith was strengthened they would enable him in accordance with this rule to preach the gospel in regions beyond them. That is, that they would assist him while he was preaching in the regions beyond them.
and not to glory in anothers province in regard of things ready to our hand.-Paul did not like to build upon another mans foundation. It was his ambition to preach where the gospel was not known. So he did not boast of work done by others as these false apostles had done, taking his work, perverting it, and boasting of it as though done by themselves. Paul could not do this. When he said God had given him this rule, he did not mean that God required him to work without being chargeable to those to whom he preached, but that he had enabled him to work by it successfully.
preach: Rom 15:24-28
line: or, rule, 2Co 10:13
Reciprocal: Job 38:5 – who hath stretched Rom 1:15 – I
2Co 10:16. Line is used in the sense of rule and measure in the previous verses. Paul would not go into another man’s field of labor where the foundation work had been done already, then take advantage of it to have something for which to take credit.
Verse 16 Paul intended to go on and establish churches in other lands needing the gospel when he finished at Corinth. he did not need to seize someone else’s work as his opponents had done.
so as to preach the gospel even unto the parts beyond you, and not to glory in another’s province in regard of things ready to our hand. [Though God gave us so vast a bishopric, we indeed filled so much of it as to reach you. We were not so much smaller than this bishopric which God gave to us, that we had to stretch ourselves to cover it. To make a show of covering our territory we did not need to take possession of other men’s labors and claim the fruits of their ministry, as though they wrought as our agents. If we had done this, we would indeed be glorying beyond our measure. But thus far (i. e., as far as unto you) we have covered the province assigned to us and we have hope that as your faith groweth, and ye become subject to Christ through being subject to his true ministers, we ourselves shall grow and be magnified so that we shall more nearly attain to the magnitude of our great province. At present your vacillation and infidelity confine our labors to you. Having taken you as a fortress for Christ, we can not leave you assailed by Satan and half surrendered to him. When you are again established in the faith I expect to go on into Italy and into Spain, and do work in those parts of my province which lie far beyond you. It is no part of my plan or intention to take possession of some other man’s labor and glory in it, as you false leaders have done by coming to Corinth and taking possession of the church which I left there ready to your hand.]
10:16 To preach the gospel in the [regions] beyond you, [and] not to boast in {n} another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.
(n) In countries which other men have prepared and cultivated with the preaching of the Gospel.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes