Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 11:4
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him.]
4. he that cometh ] This shews that the false teachers came from elsewhere, whence they brought their corruptions. Chrysostom. Cf. Act 15:1; Act 15:24; Gal 2:4; Gal 2:12. Otherwise, says Olshausen, they would have been excommunicated.
another Jesus ] The word is not the same as that translated another below. In this case it means the same Jesus (“the historical Jesus,” Stanley), but preached in such a way as to produce a different impression. Cf. the Greek in Gal 1:6-7.
or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received ] Literally, whom (or which) ye did not receive. The preaching of Jesus after quite another fashion, that of bondage to law (Act 15:1; Gal 4:21), would involve the communication of a different spirit (see last note) to the spirit of liberty made known by St Paul (Rom 8:2; Rom 8:15). For the nature of the false teaching at Corinth, see Introduction to the First Epistle, p. 11, and 2Co 11:22.
another gospel ] i.e. a different Gospel. See last note.
ye might well bear with him (or it)] These words have generally been regarded as ironical, nobly would ye bear with him (Alford, Plumptre), and explained of the ready reception which the false teachers had met with. But a comparison with Gal 1:7, difficult as that passage is, makes it probable that no irony whatever is intended. “Had they preached another Gospel altogether, there would have been some reason in listening to them.” But they do not do this. They profess to preach the same Lord and the same Gospel, only they depreciate the authority of him from whom you first received it. Such men have no raison d’tre, no standing-ground among you. They have none in my position in the Church, for it is equal to that of any of the Apostles ( 2Co 11:5). They have none in my disregard of the technical rules of oratory, for I am not lacking in knowledge. They have none, in fact, in any way, for I challenge the closest investigation into my conduct ( 2Co 11:6). In one point, I admit ( 2Co 11:7), they have an apparent advantage. But even that vanishes on investigation. See notes below.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For if he that cometh … – There is much difficulty in this verse in ascertaining the true sense, and expositors have been greatly perplexed and divided in opinion, especially with regard to the true sense of the last clause, ye might well bear with him. It is difficult to ascertain whether Paul meant to speak ironically or seriously; and different views will prevail as different views are taken of the design. If it be supposed that he meant to speak seriously, the sense will be, If the false teacher could recommend a better Saviour than I have done, or a Spirit better able to sanctify and save, then there would be a propriety in your receiving him and tolerating his doctrines. If the former, then the sense will be, You cannot well bear with me; but if a man comes among you preaching a false Saviour, and a false Spirit, and a false doctrine. then you bear with him without any difficulty.
Another interpretation still has been proposed, by supposing that the word me is to be supplied at the close of the verse instead of him, and then the sense would be, If you receive so readily one who preaches another gospel, one who comes with far less evidence that he is sent from God than I have, and if you show yourselves thus ready to fall in with any kind of teaching that may be brought to you, you might at least bear with me also. Amidst this variety it is not easy to ascertain the true sense. To me it seems probable, however, that Paul spoke seriously, and that our translation has expressed the true sense. The main idea doubtless is, that Paul felt that there was danger that they would be corrupted. If they could bring a better gospel, a more perfect system, and proclaim a more perfect Saviour, there would be no such change. But that could not be expected. It could not be done.
If therefore they preached any other Saviour or any other gospel; if they departed from the truths which he had taught them, it would be for the worse. It could not be otherwise. The Saviour whom he preached was perfect, and was able to save. The Spirit which he preached was perfect, and able to sanctify. The gospel which he preached was perfect, and there was no hope that it could be improved. Any change must be for the worse; and as the false teachers varied from his instructions, there was every reason to apprehend that their minds would be corrupted from the simplicity that was in Christ. The principal idea, therefore, is, that the gospel which he preached was as perfect as it could be, and that any change would be for the worse. No doctrine which others brought could be recommended because it was better. By the phrase he that cometh is meant doubtless the false teacher in Corinth.
Preacheth another Jesus – Proclaims one who is more worthy of your love and more able to save. If he that comes among you and claims your affections can point out another Christ who is more worthy of your confidence, then I admit that you do well to receive him. It is implied here that this could not be done. The Lord Jesus in his character and work is perfect. No Saviour superior to him has been provided; none but he is necessary.
Whom we have not preached – Let them show, if they can, that they have any Saviour to tell of whom we have not preached. We have given all the evidence that we are sent by God, and have laid all the claim to your confidence, which they can do for having made known the Saviour. They with all their pretensions have no Saviour to tell you of with whom we have not already made you acquainted. They have no claims, therefore, from this quarter which we have not also.
Or if ye receive another spirit … – If they can preach to you another Sanctifier and Comforter; or if under their ministry you have received higher proofs of the power of the Spirit in performing miracles; in the gift of tongues; in renewing sinners and in comforting your hearts. The idea is, that Paul had proclaimed the existence and agency of the same Holy Spirit which they did; that his preaching had been attended with as striking proofs of the presence and power of that Spirit; that he had all the evidence of a divine commission from such an influence attending his labors which they could possibly have. They could reveal no spirit better able to sanctify and save; none who had more power than the Holy Spirit which they had received under the preaching of Paul, and there was therefore no reason why they should be corrupted or seduced from the simple doctrines which they had received and follow others.
Or another gospel … – A gospel more worthy of your acceptance – one more free, more full, more rich in promises; one that revealed a better plan of salvation, or that was more full of comfort and peace.
Ye might well bear with him – Margin, with me. The word him is not in the Greek; but is probably to be supplied. The sense is, there would then be some excuse for your conduct. There would be some reason why you should welcome such teachers. But if this cannot be done; if they can preach no other and no better gospel and Saviour than I have done, then there is no excuse. There is no reason why you should follow such teachers and forsake those who were your earliest guides in religion. – Let us never forsake the gospel which we have until we are sure we can get a better. Let us adhere to the simple doctrines of the New Testament until some one can furnish better and clearer doctrines. Let us follow the rules of Christ in our opinions and our conduct; our plans, our mode of worship, our dress, and our amusements, engagements, and company, until we can certainly ascertain that there are better rules. A man is foolish for making any change until he has evidence that he is likely to better himself; and it remains yet to be proved that anyone has ever bettered himself or his family by forsaking the simple doctrines of the Bible, and embracing a philosophical speculation; by forsaking the scriptural views of the Saviour as the incarnate God, and embracing the views which represent him as a mere man; by forsaking the simple and plain rules of Christ about our manner of life, our dress, and our words and actions, and embracing those which are recommended by mere fashion and by the customs of a frivolous world.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. For if he that cometh] The false apostle, who came after St. Paul had left Corinth.
Preacheth another Jesus] Who can save more fully and more powerfully than that Jesus whom I have preached.
Or if ye receive another spirit] And if in consequence of believing in this new saviour ye receive another spirit, the gifts, graces, and consolations of which are greater than those which ye have received from the Holy Ghost, which has been given to you on your believing on the Christ whom we preached.
Or another Gospel] Containing more privileges, spiritual advantages, and stronger excitements to holiness, than that which we have preached and which ye have accepted, ye might well bear with him. This would be a sufficient reason why you should not only bear with him, but prefer him to me.
Others think that the last clause should be rendered, Ye might well bear with ME-notwithstanding he brought you another Jesus, spirit, and gospel, ye might bear with me, who have already ministered so long to and done so much for you. But the former sense seems best.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
How our translators have interpreted ,
ye might well bear, I cannot tell: the words manifestly are to be interpreted, you have well borne, and so are plainly a reflection upon some in this church, who had patiently endured false teachers, who had preached other doctrine than what Paul had preached. And this the apostle giveth as a reason of his fear, lest they should be corrupted and drawn away from the simplicity of the gospel. This certainly is more obviously the sense of the words, than what others incline to, who make the sense this: If any other could come to you, who could preach to you a better Jesus, a more excellent Saviour, than we have done; or a more excellent spirit than him whom you have received; or a more excellent doctrine than the doctrine of the gospel, which we have preached; you might bear with him. For I see no pretence to interpret the verb as in the potential mood, it is manifestly the indicative mood; and declareth, not what they might do, but what they had done; which made the apestle jealous of them, lest they should be perverted. And our Saviour, Joh 5:43, hath taught us, that those who with the most difficulty receive those who come to them in Gods name, are always most easy to receive those who come in their own name, without any due authority or commission from God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. if, c.which in factis impossible. However, if it were possible, ye might then bear withthem (see on 2Co 11:1). Butthere can be no new Gospel there is but the one which Ifirst preached; therefore it ought not to be “borne” byyou, that the false teachers should attempt to supersede me.
he that comeththehigh-sounding title assumed by the false teachers, who arrogatedChrist’s own peculiar title (Greek, Mat 11:3;Heb 10:37), “He that iscoming.” Perhaps he was leader of the party which assumedpeculiarly to be “Christ’s” (2Co 10:7;1Co 1:12); hence his assumptionof the title.
preacheth . . . receiveispreaching . . . ye are receiving.
Jesusthe “Jesus”of Gospel history. He therefore does not say “Christ,”which refers to the office.
another . . . anotherGreek,“another Jesus . . . a different Spirit . . . a differentGospel.” Another implies a distinct individual of thesame kind; different implies one quite distinct in kind.
which ye have notreceivedfrom us.
spirit . . . received . . .gospel . . . acceptedThe will of man is passive in RECEIVINGthe “Spirit”; but it is actively concurrent with the willof God (which goes before to give the good will) in ACCEPTINGthe “Gospel.”
ye might well bear withhimThere would be an excuse for your conduct, though a bad one(for ye ought to give heed to no Gospel other than what ye havealready heard from me, Gal 1:6;Gal 1:7); but the false teachersdo not even pretend they have “another Jesus” and a”different Gospel” to bring before you; they merely try tosupplant me, your accredited Teacher. Yet ye not only “bearwith” them, but prefer them.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For if he that cometh,…. Meaning either some particular man, the apostle might have had some information of, who came from Judea to Corinth, under the character of a true apostle; or anyone of the false apostles whatever, who came of their own accord, and was never sent by Christ, or by any of his churches:
preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached; that is, if he proposes and recommends in his ministry, a better Saviour and Redeemer than had been preached by the apostles; one that was better qualified, and more fit for the purposes of salvation; one that they could more safely venture their souls upon, and believe in, as the alone able and all sufficient Saviour, a thing impossible to be: or the sense is, if this other apostle taught the doctrine of salvation by Christ, in another and better method and in a clearer manner, more to the honour of the Redeemer, the glory of God, and the good of their souls, they would have some reason then to pay a greater regard to him:
or if ye receive another spirit which ye have not received; a better spirit than the Spirit of God, which the had received through the preaching of the Gospel by the apostles; either for graces, for they had received him as a spirit of regeneration and conversion, of sanctification and faith, of adoption and liberty, of peace and joy, and comfort; or for gifts, both ordinary and extraordinary, which could not possibly be; the spirit which the contrary ministers brought with it, and tended to not generate in them, must be the reverse of this, even a spirit of bondage again to fear:
or another Gospel which ye have not accepted, or “embraced”; a better Gospel than had been preached by the apostles, and received by them; which contained more wholesome doctrines, more comfortable truths, more excellent promises, better tidings of good things, than those of peace, pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation, by a crucified Jesus; proposed a better scheme of things, more for the honour of the divine perfections, and for the comfort and safety of believers; and which laid a better foundation for faith and hope, and tended more to encourage true religion and powerful godliness:
ye might well bear with him; receive his doctrine, submit to his authority, and prefer him to the apostles: but since another and a better Saviour than Jesus of Nazareth could not be proposed, or the doctrine of salvation by him be preached in another and better manner than it was; nor had they received, nor could they receive, another and a better spirit, than the spirit of grace and truth, which was communicated to them, through the apostle’s ministry; nor was a better and a more excellent Gospel preached to them, than what they had heard; therefore they ought not to connive at, indulge and tolerate, such a false apostle among them, which it seems they did; and was the reason of the apostle’s fears and jealousies, before expressed: and besides, supposing that this man that was among them, and caressed by many of them, did preach the same Jesus, and the same doctrine of salvation by him, and the same Spirit and power went along with his ministry, it being the same Gospel that was preached by Paul and others, there was no reason why he should be set up above them, who had been the instruments of conveying the Gospel, and the Spirit of it, to them, long before he was known by them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Another Jesus ( ). Not necessarily a different Jesus, but any other “Jesus” is a rival and so wrong. That would deny the identity.
A different spirit ( ). This is the obvious meaning of in distinction from as seen in Acts 4:12; Gal 1:6. But this distinction in nature or kind is not always to be insisted on.
A different gospel ( ). Similar use of .
Ye do well to bear with him ( ). Ironical turn again. “Well do you hold yourselves back from him” (the coming one, whoever he is). Some MSS. have the imperfect (did bear with).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Another Jesus – another Spirit [ – ] . Rev., another Jesus, a different Spirit. See on Mt 6:24. Another denies the identity; a different denies the similarity of nature. It is the difference of “individuality and kind” (Alford). See on Gal 1:6, 7.
Ye might well bear [ ] . Following the reading which makes the verb in the imperfect tense, putting the matter as a supposed case. The Rev. follows the reading ajnecesqe, present tense, and puts it as a fact : ye do well to bear. Lit., ye endure them finely. The expression is ironical. You gladly endure these false teachers, why do you not endure me?
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus,” (ei men gar ho erchomenos allon lesoun kerussei) “For if indeed he who comes proclaims another Jesus,” another savior or deliverer, besides the virgin born Jesus of Nazareth, the resurrected Jesus, Gal 1:6-8.
2) “Whom we have not preached,” (hon ouk ekeruksamen) “whom we did not proclaim, preach, or declare,” a savior unknown to and undeclared by us, 1Co 1:18; 1Co 1:21; 1Co 1:23.
3) “Or if ye receive another spirit,” (he pneuma heteron lambanete) “or should you all receive a different spirit,” a spirit of a different kind, 1Jn 4:1-3; 1Ti 4:1.
4) “Which ye have not received,” (ho ouk elabete) “which ye did not receive (of us),” of our message, the Holy Spirit that convicts, converts, and leads, Rom 5:5; Rom 8:14-16.
5) “Or another gospel,” (he euangelion heteron) “or another (different) gospel,” of another kind, as the social gospel, 2Co 11:6-7.
6) “Which ye have not accepted,” (ho ouk edeksasthe) “which ye did not receive,” of us, or of Christ, 1Co 15:1-3.
7) “Ye might well bear with him,” (kalos anechesthe) “You all may well endure (examine) him, such an one, 1Jn 4:1-2. Be cautious about novelty in the gospel story, lest you become unstable.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
4. For if he that cometh. He now reproves the Corinthians for the excessive readiness, which they showed to receive the false apostles. For while they were towards Paul himself excessively morose and irritable, (808) so that on any, even the least occasion, they were offended if he gave them even the slightest reproof, there was, on the other hand, nothing that they did not bear with, on the part of the false Apostles. They willingly endured their pride, haughtiness, and unreasonableness. An absurd reverence of this nature he condemns, because in the mean time they showed no discrimination or judgment. “How is it that they take (809) so much liberty with you, and you submit patiently to their control? Had they brought you another Christ, or another gospel, or another Spirit, different from what you received through my hands, I would assuredly approve of your regard for them, for they would be deserving of such honor. But as they have conferred upon you nothing, that I had not given you previously, what sort of gratitude do you show in all but adoring those, to whom you are indebted for nothing, while you despise me, through whom God has bestowed upon you so many and so distinguished benefits?” Such is the reverence that is shown even at this day by Papists towards their pretended Bishops. For while they are oppressed by their excessively harsh tyranny, (810) they submit to it without difficulty; but, at the same time, do not hesitate to treat Christ himself with contempt. (811)
The expressions — another Christ, and another gospel, are made use of here in a different sense from what they bear in Gal 1:8. For another is used there in opposition to what is true and genuine, and hence it means false and counterfeit. Here, on the other hand, he means to say — “If the gospel had come to you through their ministry, and not through mine.”
(808) “ Trop chagrins, difficiles, mal-aises a contenter, et faciles a estre irritez;” — “Excessively fretful, hard to please, not easily satisfied, and very readily provoked.”
(809) “ Entreprenent et vsurpent;” — “Assume and usurp.”
(810) “ Leur dure et insupportable tyrannie;” — “Their harsh and intolerable tyranny.”
(811) “ Mais de Christ, il ne leur en chaut, et ne font point de conscience de l’auoir en mespris;” — “But as for Christ, they do not care for him, and they make no scruple to hold him in contempt.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus.The singular points, like the any man, such an one, of 2Co. 10:7; 2Co. 10:11, to an individual teacher who had made himself conspicuously prominent. The words throw light on Gal. 1:7-8. The false teachers in Galatia and those at Corinth were doing the same thing. In the absence of fuller knowledge of what they taught, it is difficult to define accurately what precise form of error is alluded to. One thing, at least, is clearthat their Jesus was not his Jesusnot the Friend and Brother of mankind who had died for all men, that He might reconcile them to God. Reasoning from probabilities, we may, perhaps, infer that they spoke of Him as the head of a Jewish kingdom, requiring circumcision and all the ordinances of the Law as a condition of admission to it.
If ye receive another spirit.Better, a different spirit, as showing that the word is not the same as in the previous clause. The words point, it is clear, to a counterfeit inspiration, perhaps like that of those who had interrupted the praises of the Church with the startling cry, Anathema to Jesus! (See Note on 1Co. 12:3.) Such as these were the false prophets of 2Pe. 2:1; 1Jn. 4:3, simulating the phenomena of inspiration, perhaps thought of by the Apostles as really acting under the inspiration of an evil spirit.
Which ye have not received.Better, did not receive, as referring definitely to the time of their conversion.
Another gospel, which ye have not accepted.Better, as before, a different gospel, which ye did not accepti.e., different from that which you did accept from me. His gospel, he seems to say, was one of pardon through faith working by love: theirs was based on the old Pharisaic lines of works, ritual, ceremonial and moral precepts, standing in their teaching on the same footing.
Ye might well bear with him.Better, the adverb being emphatic, and intensely ironical, nobly would ye bear with him. He means, of course, that they have done much more than tolerate the preachers of the false gospel, and have paid them an extravagant deference. On a like use of irony in our Lords teaching, see Note on Mar. 7:9.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. For In proof of their readiness for the seducer. They were ready to bear very finely the announcements by the Christine of his false Jesus, spirit, and gospel.
He that cometh Literally, the comer. Wordsworth contrasts this comer, who was not sent, with the apostle, which means one sent. One is self-sent, the other is God-sent.
Another Jesus The spurious Jesus of the seducers.
Another spirit Than the true Holy Spirit, by whom, through Christ, ye are regenerated.
Might bear The verb is indicative.
Ye bear The same Greek for bear, as in 2Co 11:1. And Paul is here hinting how ready they were to bear with his detractors.
Well , ironical, beautifully. I, Paul, am obliged to entreat you repeatedly to bear with me; but, reversely, you can bear the details of their false schemes wonderfully well. Such a fact might well make Paul jealous of their fidelity.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if you receive a different spirit, which you did not receive, or a different gospel, which you did not accept, do you do well to bear with it (or ‘him’)?’
The ‘if’ is with the indicative suggesting something that has actually happened. We might translate ‘when’. The context explains what he means. The point is that another husband, another Jesus, is being preached and is distracting her from the One to Whom she is espoused. Indeed the speed with which they have responded to the new teachers makes him feel that they are quite ready to be unfaithful. As a ‘father’ he is distraught.
He applies the same principle to the receiving of spirit and to the message of the Gospel. He fears that they have been willing to respond to a different spirit than the life-giving spirit of Christ ( 2Co 3:6 ; 2Co 3:17; 1Co 15:45) or the Holy Spirit (Joh 7:39; Joh 20:22) and to a different Gospel. This reminds us of 1 Corinthians 12-14 where there was also warning of the need to ensure that the right Spirit is speaking to them. To open themselves to other spirits will result in them being deceived. So here they are in danger of responding to wrong spirits and listening to a watering down of the Good News.
‘Do you do well to bear with it?’ This final question is to make them stop and think. Perhaps they will pause in their folly and remain faithful after all to Christ as portrayed by Paul. Or we may translate ‘you bear with it well’, as a sarcastic comment.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Co 11:4. Ye might well bear, &c. You would kindly, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Co 11:4 An ironical (and therefore not conflicting with Gal 1:18 ) reason assigned for that anxiety. For if, indeed, my opponents teach and work something so entirely new among you, one would not be able to blame you for being pleased with it .
Regarding , if indeed , see Hartung, Partikell. II. p. 414 f.; Klotz, ad Devar. p. 522.
] does not refer to , 2Co 11:3 (Kniewel). It might doubtless mean the first comer, as Emmerling and Billroth hold (Bernhardy, p. 318), comp. Gal 5:10 ; but, since Paul manifestly has in view the conduct of the whole fraternity of opposing teachers (see immediately, 2Co 11:5 ), it is rather this totum genus that is denoted by , and that concretely, and in such a fashion that their emergence is vividly illustrated by reference to one definitely thought of, of whom, however, the point is left undetermined who he is: is qui venit . Comp. Fritzsche, Diss. II. p. 65; Khner, ad Xen. Anab. v. 8. 22. The word exhibits the persons meant in the light of outsiders , who come to Corinth and there pursue their courses in opposition to the apostle. They are intruders (comp. 2Co 3:1 ), and by the present tenses their coming and practices are denoted as still presently prevailing, just as this corrupting intercourse had been already going on for a considerable time. Ewald thinks here, too, of a special individual among the counter-apostle.
] i.e. so preaches of Jesus, that the Jesus now preached appears not to be the same as was previously preached, [317] consequently as if a second Jesus. Hence, to explain it more precisely, there is added: : who was not the subject-matter of our preaching, of whom we have known nothing and preached nothing , therefore not the crucified Saviour (1Co 2:2 ) through whom men are justified without the law, etc. negatives simply the identity, at the same time the similarity of nature: an other Jesus a different spirit . Comp. Act 4:12 ; Gal 1:6-7 ; 1Co 12:9 ; 1Co 15:40 .
. . .] , or , in order to describe this reformatory working from another side, another kind of Spirit , etc. As the false apostles might have boasted that only through them had the right Jesus been preached to the Corinthians, [318] they might also have added that only through their preaching had the readers received the true Holy Spirit, whom they had not before received, namely, when Paul had taught them ( ). Moreover, it is decidedly clear from . . . that it cannot have been (this in opposition to Beyschlag) a more exact historical information and communication regarding Jesus, by means of which the persons concerned attempted to supplant Paul among the Corinthians. It was by means of Judaistic false doctrines; comp. 2Co 11:13 ff. See also Klpper, p. 79 f.
] for the Pauline gospel was accepted by the readers at their conversion: the gospel brought by the false apostles was of another kind ( ), which was not before accepted by them. Rckert arbitrarily says that is equivalent to , and that the former is used only to avoid the repetition of the latter. How fine and accurate, on the other hand, is Bengel’s remark: “Verba diversa, rei apta; non concurrit voluntas hominis in accipiendo Spiritu, ut in recipiendo evangelio.” Comp. on the distinction between the two words, Theile, ad Jacob . p. 68.
] , like praeclare in the ironical sense of with full right . See on Mar 7:9 ; Fritzsche, ad Marc. p. 271 ff.; Diss. II. p. 72 f.; and regarding the ironical use of the adjective , Stallb. ad Rep. p. 595 C, 607 E. According to Hofmann, is an expression of an earnest approval, which, however, is cancelled of itself by the impossibility of the case which is put. But in the protasis the case, in fact, is just simply put , not put as impossible (comp. Gal 1:8-9 ); hence in the apodosis an on the seducers, or a severe censure of those who did not withstand them, would have had its place in the mind of the apostle rather than a earnestly meant. The imperfect does not, indeed, in strict logic suit and in the protasis, and we should expect , as is actually the reading of B. But it is not on that account to be explained as if . . . stood in the protasis (if the comer was preaching ye would, etc.), as Chrysostom, Luther, Castalio, Cornelius a Lapide, and many others, including Baur, l.c. p. 102, explained it, which is wrong in grammar; nor is along with an otherwise correct view of the protasis
to be taken in the historical sense, as has been attempted by some, as interrogatively ( have you with right tolerated it? ), such as Heu-mann, by others, such as Semler, [319] in the form of an indignant exclamation ( you have truly well tolerated it! ), both of which meanings are logically impossible on account of the difference of tenses in the protasis and apodosis. No; we have here the transition from one construction to the other . When Paul wrote the protasis, he meant to put in the apodosis; but when he came to the apodosis, the conception of the utter non-reality of what was posited in the protasis as the preaching of another Jesus , etc., induced him to modify the expression of the apodosis in such a way, that now there is implied in it a negatived reality , [320] as if in the protasis there had stood . . . For there is not another Jesus; comp. Gal 2:6 . Several instances of this variation in the mode of expression are found in classical writers. See Khner, II. p. 549; Klotz, ad Devar. p. 489. Comp. on Luk 17:6 . The reason for the absence of in the apodosis is, that the contents of the apodosis is represented as sure and certain. See Krger, 65, 5; Stallb. ad Plat. Sympos. p. 190 C; Khner, ad Xen. Andb. vii. 6. 21; Bremi, ad Lys. Exc. IV. p. 438 ff.
[317] If Paul had written , the reading of F G, Arm. Vulg., the meaning of it would be: he preaches that not Jesus, but another is the Christ. How unsuitable this is, is self-evident.
[318] Against the interpretation that it was a spiritual, visionary Christ whom the Christine party had given out for the true one (Schenkel, de Wette, and others), see Beyschlag, 1865, p. 239 f.
[319] He is followed recently by Hilgenfeld in his Zeitschr . 1865, p. 261.
[320] Here, too, the delicate and acute glance of Bengel saw the correct view: “Ponit conditionem, ex parte rei impossibilem; ideo dicit in imperfecto toleraretis ; sed pro conatu pseudapostolorum non modo possibilem, sed plane presentem; ideo dicit in praesenti praedicat . Conf. plane Gal 1:6 f.” Comp. also 1Co 3:11 . Rckert refines and imports a development of thought, which is arbitrarily assumed, and rests on the presupposition that there is no irony in the passage. With the same presupposition Hofmann assumes the intermingling of two thoughts, one referring to the present, the other to the past, which would amount to a confusion of ideas without motive. This also in opposition to Klpper, p. 84, who thinks that Paul does not wish to charge the readers with the for the immediate present , but had been distinctly aware that they had tolerated, etc. In that case we should have here a singular forbearance and a singular form of its expression , the former as undeserved as the latter is unlogical. There was as little need for the alleged forbearance toward the readers as in ver. 19 f.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(11) For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. (5) For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. (6) But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things. (7) Have I committed an offense in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely? (8) I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service. (9) And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. (10) As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. (11) Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth. (12) But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. (13) For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. (14) And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. (15) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
In the opening of this paragraph, in which , Paul speaks of one coming, and preaching another Jesus, or another Spirit, or Gospel, to which he adds, ye might well bear with him; the meaning at first sight, doth not seem so clear to be understood, In the margin of the Bible, the words bear with him, are rendered bear with me. And certain it is, that neither the one, nor the other, him, or me, are in the original. But it should seem, that as the Apostle was complaining of their late unkindness to his person, and the jealousy he felt, lest they should be led away, from his ministry; he put the issue of judgment upon this point: that if there was a preacher, that could hold forth another Jesus, more divine, more lovely? more powerful to save; and more easy of access, to commit their souls into his hands for Salvation, and happiness, than Paul had shewed them: or another Holy Ghost, more lovely and loving, more effectual to regenerate their fallen nature, and to lead them more effectually to Christ: or, in short, another Gospel, which contained more glad tidings, than he had preached; there might be a cause for suspending their attention to him. The Apostle stated the argument in this manner, by way of making it, the more manifest to their own hearts, how very weak, and childish it must have been in them, to pause for a moment over the reception of such a Gospel as he had brought for them, in proclaiming God’s Christ, and God’s Spirit, in all the fulness of grace, mercy, and salvation.
I pause, at what the Apostle saith concerning the transformation of Satan into an angel of light, to make a short observation, which may not be improper, Satan hath no power, to act as an angel of light; for by his apostacy, he is become an angel of darkness, Jud 1:6 . But in his temptations, as in his first lie to Eve, he put on the appearance of meaning good, when the most desperate evil he intended; so in all his after temptations on our nature, his devilish sagacity will assume sometimes the most specious appearances of light, like the shining bogs of the earth, to decoy the incautious traveler into utter darkness; when his whole design is ruin, and destruction, And the Apostle explains what he saith in allusion to Satan, by exemplifying it in the conduct of his ministers. Who more zealous, more apparently earnest for the divine glory, than those who hold forth the importance of a good life, as they call it? What volumes upon volumes have been published, and sermons upon sermons preached, in insisting upon good works, as among the means of salvation? What multitudes of studied compositions have been, still are, and must continue to be, as long as men untaught and unsent of God, minister in holy things, sent forth into the world, which like the heathen moralist descant upon the loveliness of virtue, and recommend men to follow after it in order to obtain the favor of God? And indeed, if such preachers of virtue and moral goodness, as they call it, had hearers of pure and virtuous hearts, able to the performance; (though even in this case, it would be totally, foreign to the Gospel of Christ;) there would be nothing cruel or offensive in such preaching and doctrine. But when it be considered, that all men are guilty, sinful, and stand, condemned before God; that none of the sons, or daughters of Adam, have any power of themselves to any one act of goodness; such Preachers are like the Physicians Job speaks of: forgers of lies, and physicians of no value, Job 13:4 . How different are all such to Paul’s preaching. And I brethren, (said he,) when I came unto you declaring the testimony of God; determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified: 1Co 2:1-2 . This was Paul’s Gospel. And elsewhere he saith: If any man preach any other gospel, let him be accursed, Gal 1:9 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him .
Ver. 4. But if he that cometh ] Giddy hearers, whirred about with every novelty, have no mould but what the next teacher casts them into; being blown like glasses into this or that shape at the pleasure of his breath. SeeJoh 5:43Joh 5:43 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4, 5. ] The thought here seems to be this: ‘If these new teachers had brought with them a new Gospel , superseding that which I preached, they might have some claim to your regard. But, since there is but one gospel, that which I preached to you, and which they pretend to preach also, I submit that in that one no claim to regard is prior to mine.’ Observe, that the whole hypothesis is ironical : it is fixed and clear that there can be no such new gospel : therefore the inference is the stronger. For (the whole sentence is steeped in irony: ‘the serpent deceived Eve by subtlety : I fear for you, but not because the new teachers use such subtlety if they did, if the temptation were really formidable, there would be some excuse.’ All this lies in the ) if indeed ( introduces a reality , and is full here of deep irony. Cf. Il. . 135, : ‘if the Achans shall really give me another gift;’ and . 138 142, , ‘if ye really are, &c., ye verily will’. See Hartung, Partikellehre, ii. 414) he that cometh (viz. the false teachers generically thus designated: but here too perhaps there is irony: was a ) is preaching (the indicative pres. carries on the ironical assumption, so . below) another Jesus whom we preached not, or ye are receiving a different Spirit ( , distinctive of individuality, of kind), which ye received not (from us), or another gospel which ye accepted not ( ., ., ‘verba diversa, rei apta. Non concurrit voluntas hominis in accipiendo Spiritu, ut in recipiendo evangelio.’ Bengel. But singularly enough, in English, usage has attached the voluntary act to the verb ‘ accept ’) ye with reason bear with him (irony again: for they not only bore with, but preferred them to their father in the faith. The sense is: “there seems to be some excuse in that case, but even in that, really there is none, for your tolerating him.” On the rec., Bengel remarks: ‘Ponit conditionem, ex parte rei, impossibilem: ideo dicit in imperfecto, toleraretis : sed pro conatu pseudapostolorum, non modo possibilem, sed plane prsentem: ideo dicit in prsenti, prdicat .’ Similarly Meyer. See Winer, edn. 6, 42. 2. That the rendering above given is right, seems to me beyond question. It is the only one which reaches the depth of the exquisite irony of the sentence, at the same time that it satisfies all grammatical requirements.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Co 11:4 . . . .: for if he that cometh ( may point to some one conspicuous opponent, but it would not be safe to press this, or to lay stress on the verb as indicating one who comes without authorised mission , as at Joh 10:8 ; it is probably a quite indefinite phrase, “if any one comes and preaches,” etc.) preacheth another Jesus whom we did not preach ( not “another Christ,” “a new Messiah,” for of this false teachers at Corinth were not guilty; but “another Jesus,” i.e. , a different representation of the historical Person, Jesus of Nazareth, from that which St. Paul put forward when at Corinth; see reff.), or if ye receive a different Spirit which ye did not receive, sc. , a Spirit different from Him whom you received at your baptism ( is the regular verb with ; cf. Joh 20:22 , Act 8:15 ; Act 10:47 ; Act 19:2 , Rom 8:15 , 1Co 2:12 , Gal 3:2 ; it expresses the co-operation of the will in a degree which , the verb used in the next clause of “accepting” the Gospel, does not; see Act 7:38 ; Act 17:11 , 1Th 1:6 , etc.), or a different Gospel which ye did not accept, sc. , when the Gospel was first brought to you by me, ye bear with him finely! is ironical, as at Mar 7:9 = praeclare. This facile acceptance of novelty is the cause of his anxiety; cf. 1Co 3:11 , Gal 1:6-8 . Such instability is always a danger in the case of newly-founded Churches.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
if. App-118.
preacheth. On. kerusso. App-121.
another. Greek. allos. App-124.
Jesus. App-98.
not. Greek. ou. App-106.
another. Greek hetaros. App-124.
spirit. App-101., Compare verses: 2Co 11:13-15,
another. Greek. heteros as above. Compare Gal 1:1, Gal 1:6, Gal 1:7.
gospel. Compare App-140.
ye might, &c. The meaning is, if the false teacher professed to bring a fresh gospel, might be some excuse for their hearing what he had to say, that it is the same as Paul’s message.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
4, 5.] The thought here seems to be this:-If these new teachers had brought with them a new Gospel, superseding that which I preached, they might have some claim to your regard. But, since there is but one gospel, that which I preached to you, and which they pretend to preach also, I submit that in that one no claim to regard is prior to mine. Observe, that the whole hypothesis is ironical: it is fixed and clear that there can be no such new gospel: therefore the inference is the stronger. For (the whole sentence is steeped in irony:-the serpent deceived Eve by subtlety: I fear for you, but not because the new teachers use such subtlety-if they did, if the temptation were really formidable, there would be some excuse. All this lies in the ) if indeed ( introduces a reality, and is full here of deep irony. Cf. Il. . 135, : if the Achans shall really give me another gift; and . 138-142, , if ye really are, &c., ye verily will. See Hartung, Partikellehre, ii. 414) he that cometh (viz. the false teachers generically thus designated: but here too perhaps there is irony: was a ) is preaching (the indicative pres. carries on the ironical assumption, so . below) another Jesus whom we preached not, or ye are receiving a different Spirit (, distinctive of individuality, of kind), which ye received not (from us), or another gospel which ye accepted not (., .,-verba diversa, rei apta. Non concurrit voluntas hominis in accipiendo Spiritu, ut in recipiendo evangelio. Bengel. But singularly enough, in English, usage has attached the voluntary act to the verb accept) ye with reason bear with him (irony again: for they not only bore with, but preferred them to their father in the faith. The sense is: there seems to be some excuse in that case,-but even in that, really there is none,-for your tolerating him. On the rec., Bengel remarks: Ponit conditionem, ex parte rei, impossibilem: ideo dicit in imperfecto, toleraretis: sed pro conatu pseudapostolorum, non modo possibilem, sed plane prsentem: ideo dicit in prsenti, prdicat. Similarly Meyer. See Winer, edn. 6, 42. 2. That the rendering above given is right, seems to me beyond question. It is the only one which reaches the depth of the exquisite irony of the sentence, at the same time that it satisfies all grammatical requirements.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Co 11:4. , if) He lays down a condition, on the part of the real fact, which is impossible; he therefore says in the imperfect, you might tolerate it [but as the condition is impossible, you ought not tolerate it]; but as regards the attempt of the false apostles, not only is the condition laid down possible, but is actually realized and present. He therefore says in the present, preacheth [not Imperf. as, , Ye might tolerate it]; comp. Gal 1:6-7.-) The reason of Pauls fear was the yielding character of the Corinthians.- , he that cometh) any one; out of Judea, if you please; Gen 42:5, , they came with those that came. [He already states, what the Corinthians were in duty bound to allow to be stated, 2Co 11:1.-V. g.]- , another-a different) These words are different from each other. See Act 4:12, note. separates [from the true person] by a far less definite boundary here than .[76]- , ye have not received.- , ye have not accepted) Distinct words, well suited to the respective subjects; the will of man does not concur in receiving [-] the Spirit, as in accepting [] the Gospel.[77]- , or another gospel) The words, if there be, or, if you receive, are appropriately [for convenience sake] left to be understood.- , you might well bear with) This forbearance, as being likely to lead to corruption [2Co 11:3], is not approved, but the word, with , is used as at Mar 7:9. The fulness [saturitas, fulness to satiety] of the Corinthians is noticed, and their eagerness for a more novel and splendid Christianity, if any such was to be found.
[76] , according to Tittmann, denotes another, without regard to any diversity or difference, save that of number. indicates not merely another, but also one different. , according to Ammonius, is said in the case of two; , in the case of more than two.-ED.
[77] The Engl. V. has happily expressed the distinction by received, , of a thing in receiving which we are passive, and which is not dependent on our will: accepted, of that, the receiving of which is at our own will; to receive to ones self, to accept, to welcome.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Co 11:4
2Co 11:4
For if he that cometh preached another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if ye receive a different spirit, which ye did not receive, or different gospel, which ye did not accept, ye do well to bear with him.-Exactly what the false teachers taught is not clear. They denied that Paul was an apostle and sought to supersede his influence and authority among them, and probably sought to reinstate the law of Moses, yet this is not clear. This shows that men may acknowledge many of the leading truths of the Christian religion, yet so pervert the teachings as to make it another gospel. If he who comes should preach another Jesus, or if they received a different spirit bestowing miraculous powers, or a different gospel plan of salvation from that they received from Paul, then they might bear with him. But these teachers came with nothing different, acknowledging the Jesus that Paul preached, the same spirit, the same plan of salvation, yet denied that Paul, working miracles by the Spirit, was a teacher from God, and so perverted the teachings of the Spirit. Paul seems to think there was more inconsistency in acknowledging Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and then changing their teachings, than in denying outright that Jesus is the Christ, or that the Spirit was sent from God. Many now do as these false teachers did-acknowledge Jesus and the Spirit, and the gospel from God, yet change and pervert the teaching. They are placed by Paul as he did these early teachers, in company with the serpent in Eden deceiving Eve.
[The import of this verse is not quite clear, and commentators differ in their interpretation. But it is clear enough that the reference is to the Judaizing teachers who threatened to carry away the Galatian Christians. (Gal 1:6-9). In this case the import is that Paul might well be jealous over them, for they seemed ready to drink in the teaching of these men. In the interpretation of the passage it is necessary to bear in mind that Paul begins this paragraph with the wish that the Corinthians would bear with me in the constrained foolishness of boasting, to which he adds, but indeed ye do bear with me. He gives us a reason for this earnestness, his godly jealousy, which fills him with great anxiety as to their spiritual welfare. He then adverts (verses 3, 4) to the source of his fear of their estrangement from Christ through the perverse teaching of those who were preaching another Jesus than the crucified and risen Christ whom he himself had preached to them, and were consequently inculcating a different gospel from that which they had received from him. What now could be more appropriate and more closely connected with this than to end with the enforcement of the earnest entreaty which begins this train of thought by saying, ye do well to bear with me in his anxious effort to expose every such adversary of the truth and to hold them in steadfast loyalty to the redeeming Christ of the gospel which he preached. He had said in full form of expression, but indeed ye do bear with me, and after presenting his argument in justification of this entreaty repeats it in elliptical form, and according to usage the word to be supplied is the one that is found in the complete form of expression already employed. To suppose that Paul, after speaking of the false teachers who would preach a different gospel for his, ironically says, ye do well to bear with him, is absurd; for this would require emphasis upon the pronoun and hence demand its actual appearance in the sentence. The simple construction is that Paul, after entreating them to bear with him in his efforts to detach them from false teachers, shows from the character of their teaching that the Corinthians would do well to bear with him in his effort and accordingly urges them to do so.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
preacheth: Act 4:12, 1Ti 2:5
receive: 1Co 12:4-11, Gal 3:2, Eph 4:4, Eph 4:5
another gospel: Gal 1:7, Gal 1:8
with him: or, with me
Reciprocal: Job 13:2 – General Pro 28:10 – causeth Act 18:14 – bear Rom 1:11 – that 1Co 1:13 – Christ 1Co 4:6 – these 1Co 12:3 – no man 1Co 14:37 – any 2Co 3:8 – the ministration 2Co 6:6 – by the 2Co 10:7 – even 2Co 11:1 – bear with me a 2Co 12:12 – General Gal 1:6 – unto Gal 2:8 – the same Eph 4:14 – tossed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Co 11:4. The last word of this verse has been supplied by the King James translators. The marginal reading gives it “with me,” which is Justified by both the original Greek and the connection in the passage. If he that cometh, etc., does not express any ques-as to whether these false teachers came with their evil doctrines, but rather that they actually were doing so. (See verses 19, 20.) Paul is reasoning that since they have been tolerating these unworthy teachers, they certainly ought to listen to him. Moffatt translates the last phrase, “Why not put up with me,” which makes good sense and is also in agreement with the context.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Co 11:4. For if he that cometh (any one so coming) preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if ye receive a different spirit which ye did not receive, or a different gospel which ye did not accept, ye do well to bear with him. The import of this verse is not quite clear, and opinions about it are divided. But it seems clear enough that the reference is to intruding zealots, the same Judaizing party which threatened to carry away the Galatian Christians (see the terrible severity with which they are described in Gal 1:6-9). In this case the import is, I may well be jealous over you; for ye seem ready to drink in the teaching of men who come to you preaching another Jesus, and a different gospel, and claiming a spirit very different from that which we brought to you and ye received: right gladly do ye listen to such; may ye not well, then, listen to me? What follows seems to shew that this is what is intended, though the suppressed irony is very keen.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
As if the apostle had said, “It is one Christ, one Spirit, one gospel, and not many which we have preached, and you have received; now, if your new teachers, the false apostles, have another Christ to set forth, more excellent gifts of the Spirit to boast of, another gospel to preach unto you, which I never preached amongst you, let them be heard and received:” But this being impossible, they might well bear with him in his modest boasting and glorying in what he had done and suffered amongst them, by whose ministry they were at first converted to Christianity.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 4 If the false teacher, who probably stands for all the false teachers, had presented another plan of salvation or savior, Paul might understand their hearing him out. These claimed to preach the same Savior and salvation, yet denied what He had taught.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
2Co 11:4-6. For if he that cometh After me, with such extraordinary pretences; preach another Jesus Can point out to you another Saviour; whom we have not preached Who shall better or equally deserve your attention and regard; or if ye receive another spirit By his preaching, which ye have not received By ours, and which can bestow upon you gifts superior to those which you received through our ministry; or another gospel Bringing you tidings equally happy, evident, and important, with those which we brought you; ye might well bear with him In his pretensions to exceed us, and there would be some excuse for your conduct; but how far this is from being, or so much as seeming to be, the case, I need not say. For I suppose , I reckon, or, I conclude, upon most certain knowledge; that I was not a whit behind I was in nothing inferior to; the very chiefest apostles Either in spiritual gifts, or the greatness of my labours and sufferings, or in the success of my ministry. By the chiefest apostles, St. Paul meant Peter, James, and John, whom he called pillars, Gal 2:9. Let the Papists reconcile this account which Paul gives of himself as an apostle, with their pretended supremacy of Peter over all the apostles. But, or for, though I be rude, or unskilful, in speech Speaking in a plain, unadorned way, like an unlearned person, as the word , here used, properly signifies. The apostle, says Macknight, called himself unlearned in speech, because, in preaching, he did not follow the rules of the Grecian rhetoric. His discourses were not composed with that art which the Greeks showed in the choice and arrangement of their words, and in the disposition of their periods. Neither were they delivered with those modulations of voice, and with those studied gestures, wherewith the Greeks set off their orations. This sort of eloquence the apostle utterly disclaimed, for a reason mentioned 1Co 1:17. It seems the faction in Corinth had objected to him his want of these accomplishments. Or, as some think, the irony of the faction was levelled, not against the apostles style, but against his pronunciation and action in speaking, which, through some bodily infirmity, was ungraceful and unacceptable. See on 2Co 10:10. Probably the faction objected both imperfections to him. Yet not in knowledge If I be unskilful in speech, I am not so in the knowledge of the gospel of Christ, and of the dispensations which were introductory to it. But we have been thoroughly made manifest, &c. You have had sufficient proof of my acquaintance with the great doctrines of Christianity, and what my gifts are, and therefore you ought not to call in question my authority as an apostle, or my ability to teach, direct, and govern your church, nor to prefer another in opposition to me.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if ye receive a different spirit, which ye did not receive, or a different gospel, which ye did not accept, ye do well to bear with him. [These first four verses are introductory. The apostle, seeing the effect which the self-glorification of these false teachers has had upon certain of the Corinthians, determines, for a time, to adopt their tactics, descend to the foolishness of boasting, and thus overcome them on their own ground. Paul, in his consecration to Christ and forgetfulness of self, could not thus descend to the level of boasting, even though he merely related facts, without a sense of shame and a petition for consideration. When he considers the folly of the situation, it seems to him that the Corinthians could not put up with it, but when he remembers their affection for him, he is sure they will. He tells them that nothing but the strongest motives could induce him to thus belittle himself, but he found such a motive in his extreme jealousy for them on Christ’s behalf. As the paranymph, or “bridegroom’s friend” (Joh 3:29), the one whose office it was to procure and arrange the marriage, he had espoused them to one husband, even Christ, and had so instructed and led them as to present them pure and spotless before the Lord at his coming. But now he feared that as the serpent led Eve into sin by his crafty wickedness, so these false teachers were corrupting the church at Corinth from that simplicity of doctrine and purity of life which they owed to Christ, their espoused husband. Now, if these false teachers (and Paul speaks of one of them as a sample of them all) had come professing to preach another Jesus and another religious spirit, and a different gospel from any that Paul preached, there might have been sonic excuse in giving them a patient hearing. But such had not been the case. Professedly they were preaching the same Jesus, etc., that he did, and so the Corinthians were without excuse in permitting them to assail Paul. They had sold their apostle and had received nothing in exchange for him. With the next verse his boasting begins, but in a very mild and apologetic form.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 4
He that cometh; referring probably to other teachers who came and attempted to supersede Paul in his influence and ascendency over the church.–Preacheth another Jesus; that is, if there were really another Jesus to preach. The idea is, that, if they imagined that there could be two Saviors, two spirits, and two gospels, then they might have some reason for listening to one who came to form and lead among them a new influence diverse from that of Paul.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
11:4 {2} For if he that cometh preacheth {e} another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him].
(2) He shows that they deceive themselves, if they look to receive from any other man, either a more excellent Gospel, or more excellent gifts of the Holy Spirit.
(e) A more perfect doctrine of Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Jesus they were preaching was different enough from Him whom Paul preached that Paul could say their Jesus was a different person. The "if" in this verse does not represent a hypothetical possibility but a past reality. In listening to the false teachers’ message the church was under the influence of some sort of spirit, but it was not the Holy Spirit. They were in danger of accepting a different gospel (cf. 2Co 10:5; Gal 1:8-9). In all this they were bearing up "beautifully." Paul described ironically their accepting it all very graciously and submissively from the false apostles (cf. 2Co 10:7). Since they showed such remarkable toleration of false teachers surely they owed their father in the faith the same toleration.
This is the second reason the Corinthians should bear with Paul (2Co 11:1): their willingness to accept visitors who presented an adulterated message.