Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 11:8
I robbed other churches, taking wages [of them,] to do you service.
8. I robbed other churches ] “An hyperbolical expression” (Meyer). And yet in one sense it was true, for the Corinthians were just as much bound to support the Apostle when at Corinth as any other Churches were when the Apostle was with them. And, therefore, if when at Corinth he availed himself of assistance from those other Churches, he was taking from them what they ought not to have been called upon to supply. Why he did so we are told in 2Co 11:12.
taking wages of them ] The Philippian Church, we learn from Php 4:15-16 (cf. next verse), is the Church referred to. Their liberality, St Paul felt, was not likely to be cast in his teeth, therefore he readily accepted it. In later days he again received their bounty with a willingness which would not, he knew, be misconstrued. This is an instance of that minute but undesigned agreement in points of detail which constitutes so strong an argument for the genuineness of most of the Scriptures of the N. T. For the word translated wages see St Luk 3:14; Rom 6:23 ; 1Co 9:7. It was most commonly used of a soldier’s pay, when given in kind.
to do you service ] Rather, towards my support in my ministry to you.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I robbed other churches – The churches of Macedonia and elsewhere, which had ministered to his needs. Probably he refers especially to the church at Philippi (see Phi 4:15-16), which seems to have done more than almost any other church for his support. By the use of the word robbed here Paul does not mean that he had obtained anything from them in a violent or unlawful manner, or anything which they did not give voluntarily. The word ( esulesa) means properly, I spoiled, plundered, robbed, but the idea of Paul here is, that he, as it were, robbed them, because he did not render an equivalent for what they gave him. They supported him when he was laboring for another people. A conqueror who plunders a country gives no equivalent for what he takes. In this sense only could Paul say that he had plundered the church at Philippi. His general principle was, that the laborer was worthy of his hire, and that a man was to receive his support from the people for whom he labored (see 1Co 9:7-14), but this rule he had not observed in this case.
Taking wages of them – Receiving a support from them. They bore my expenses.
To do you service – That I might labor among you without being supposed to be striving to obtain your property, and that I might not be compelled to labor with my own hands, and thus to prevent my preaching the gospel as I could otherwise do. The supply from other churches rendered it unnecessary in a great measure that his time should be taken off from the ministry in order to obtain a support.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. I robbed other Churches] This part of the sentence is explained by the latter, taking wages to do you service. The word signifies the pay of money and provisions given daily to a Roman soldier. As if he had said: I received food and raiment, the bare necessaries of life, from other Churches while labouring for your salvation. Will you esteem this a crime?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He interpreteth the term of robbed other churches, by a taking wages of them; which indeed is no robbery, as he had proved, 1Co 9:1-27. All the robbery that was in it lay in this, that his maintenance, in strictness of right, should have been proportionably from this, as well as from other churches; but for some reasons (which he thinks fit to conceal) he refused to receive any thing from this church; but spared them, and lived upon the maintenance he had from other churches, while he was doing them service. Either he saw the members of this church were poor, or that there were some in this clulrch who would sooner have taken advantage to reproach him for it, and so have hindered the success of the gospel. Whatever it was that caused the apostle to do it, certain it is, that he did it, and make it a great piece of his glorying.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. I robbedthat is, took fromthem in order to spare you more than what was their fair share ofcontribution to my maintenance, for example, the Philippian Church(Phi 4:15; Phi 4:16).
wages“subsidy.”
to do you serviceGreek,“with a view to ministration to you”; compare “supplied”(Greek, “in addition“), 2Co11:9, implying, he brought with him from the Macedonians,supplies towards his maintenance at Corinth; and (2Co11:9) when those resources failed (“when I wanted”)he received a new supply, while there, from the same source.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I robbed other churches,…. Meaning the churches of Macedonia; not that what he had of them was by force and rapine, or by plundering of them, and spoiling of their substance, and living upon them against their wills, as soldiers use a conquered people, though the allusion is to such a custom; for what he had of theirs was freely communicated to him; as appears from the following verse: but because these churches from whom he received were poor, and the Corinthians whom he served were rich, he calls it a robbing of the former, though there was no injury in the case, for it was voluntary, because it was expended for the service of the latter:
taking wages of them to do you service; or “for your ministry”; either to supply their poor, or rather to support the ministry of the Gospel among them. The apostle continues the metaphor, taken from soldiers, to whom wages are due for their warfare; as are also to the ministers of the Gospel, the good soldiers of Jesus Christ; since no man goes a warfare at his own charges and expense but is for by those in whose service he is: and therefore, though the apostle did not think it advisable to ask for, and insist upon wages from them at that time, for his service among them, yet he took it of others in lieu of it; and this he mentions, partly to show that wages were due to him for his ministry, and partly to observe to them who they were beholden to for the support of the Gospel at first among them; as also to stir them up to be serviceable to other churches, as others had been to them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
I robbed (). Old verb to despoil, strip arms from a slain foe, only here in N.T. He allowed other churches to do more than their share.
Taking wages ( ). For see on 1Cor 9:7; Rom 6:17. He got his “rations” from other churches, not from Corinth while there.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I robbed [] . Only here in the New Testament, though it appears in the verb iJerosulew to commit sacrilege, Rom 2:22, and in iJerosuloi robbers of churches, Act 19:37. Originally to strip off, as arms from a slain foe, and thence, generally, to rob, plunder, with the accompanying notion of violence. Paul thus strongly expresses the fact that he had accepted from other churches more than their share, that he might not draw on the Corinthians.
Wages [] . See on Rom 6:23.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) I robbed other churches,” (alias ekkiesias esulesa) “I robbed (deprived) other churches;” of a part of their collections, Php_4:15-16, in his apostolic labors, took their offerings, gifts, for my support.
2) “Taking wages of them; (labon opsonion) “taking wages, salary, or stipulated pay,” of them, as rations furnished a soldier as part of his pledged pay, 1Co 9:7.
3) “To do you service,” (pros ten humon diakonian) “For purpose of doing you common service of the ministry,” He also labored with his hands so as not to be burdensome or charged with preaching for money; Act 18:1-3; 1Co 4:12; 1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8. I robbed other churches He has intentionally, in my opinion, made use of an offensive term, that he might the more forcibly express the unreasonableness of the matter — in respect of his being despised by the Corinthians. “I have,” says he, “procured pay for myself from the spoils of others, that I might serve you. While I have thus spared you, how unreasonable it is to make me so poor a return!” It is, however, a metaphor, that is taken from what is customary among soldiers; for as conquerors take spoils from the nations that they have conquered, so every thing that Paul took from the Churches that he had gained to Christ was, in a manner, the spoils of his victories, though, at the same time, he never would have taken it from persons against their will, but what they contributed gratuitously was, in a manner, due by right of spiritual warfare. (825)
(825) “The word ἐσύλησα, rendered in our authorized version robbed, is derived from σύλη, spoils, and comes originally from the Hebrew verb שלל ( shalal), which is frequently employed to denote spoiling, or making booty. (See Isa 10:6; Eze 29:19.) — “The word ἐσύλησα, ” says Barnes, “means properly, ‘I spoiled, plundered, robbed,’ but the idea of Paul here is, that he, as it were, robbed them, because he did not render an equivalent for what they gave him. They supported him, when he was labouring for another people. A conqueror who plunders a country gives no equivalent for what he takes. In this sense only could Paul say, that he had plundered the Church at Philippi. His general principle was, that ’the labourer was worthy of his hire;’ and that a man was to receive his support from the people for whom he labored, (See 1Co 9:7,) but this rule he had not observed in this case.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) I robbed other churches, taking wages of them.The word for wagesstrictly rations, or wages in kind, rather than in moneyis found in Luk. 3:14; Rom. 6:23; 1Co. 9:7. Its use in the last-named passage had, perhaps, given occasion for a sneer. He too can take wages when it suits his purpose. From St. Pauls point of view, if what he had received had been wages at all, he had been guilty of an act of spoliation. He had received wages from one employer while he was acting in the service of another.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Robbed An indignant hyperbole. When his great ministerial labours interfered with his self-support, he accepted what they voluntarily offered, but were not obligated to give.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘I robbed other churches, taking wages of them that I might minister to you.’
Indeed he had done more. He had accepted money from other churches so as not to have to rely on them. ‘Robbed.’ Perhaps there is a sarcastic suggestion in the use of this word that his opponents were ‘robbing’ the Corinthians. They robbed the Corinthians, while he ‘robbed’ other churches. It may however signify that he is suggesting that he had taken as ‘wages’ what was not his due from other churches, because he did nothing for it, and it should have been paid by the church to which he was preaching. He is not really suggesting that he has robbed them, only describing it from the Corinthian viewpoint. The other churches had given quite willingly. Or it may include the thought that he found it hard to accept gifts from the Macedonians because he knew how poor they were, and felt that he was robbing them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Co 11:8. I robbed other churches, “I may almost, in this sense, be said to have robbed other churches; so freely have I received from them, at least taking wages as it were of them, for waiting upon you; for indeed I received a kind of stipend from them while I abode at Corinth.” The word , rendered robbed, properly signifies, I took the spoils: it is a military term, as is the next also , wages, or rather pay.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Co 11:8 . Further information as to the previous . . .
] I have stripped , plundered, a hyperbolical , impassioned expression, as is at once shown by after it. The ungrateful ones are to be made aware, in a way to put them thoroughly to shame, of the forbearance shown to them.
The meant were beyond doubt Macedonian . Comp. 2Co 11:9 .
. . .] contemporaneous with , and indicating the manner in which it was don.
] pay (see on Rom 6:23 ), i.e. payment for my official labou.
] Aim of the . ., so that the emphatic corresponds to the emphatic . Paul had therefore destined the pay taken from other churches to the purpose of rendering (gratuitously) his official service to the Corinthians , to whom he travelled from Macedonia (Act 17:13 f., Act 18:1 ) in order to preach to them the gospe.
. . .] and during my presence with you I have, even when want had set in with me, burdened no one . He thus brought with him to Corinth the money received from other churches, and subsisted on it (earning more, withal, by working with his hands); and when, during his residence there, this provision was gradually exhausted, so that even want set in ( ), he nevertheless importuned no one, but (2Co 11:9 ) continued to help himself on by Macedonian pecuniary aid (in addition to the earnings of his handicraft). Comp. on Phi 4:15 . Rckert thinks that Paul only sought to relieve his want by the manual labour entered on with Aquila, when the money brought with him from Corinth had been exhausted and new contributions had not yet arrived. But, according to Act 18:3 , his working at a handicraft of which, moreover, he makes no mention in this passage is to be conceived as continuing from the beginning of his residence at Corinth; how conceivable, nevertheless, is it that, occupied as he was so greatly with other matters, he could not earn his whole livelihood, but still stood in need of supplies! On , which is not to be taken “after my coming to you ” (Hofmann), comp. 1Co 16:6 ; Mat 13:56 .
] Hesychius: , I have lain as a burden on no one . It is to be derived from , paralysis, debility, torpidity ; thence , torpeo, Il. viii. 328; Plat. Men. p. 80 A B C; LXX. Gen 32:32 ; Job 33:19 ; hence : to press down heavily and stiffly on any one (on the genitive, see Matthiae, p. 860). Except in Hippocrates, p. 816 C, 1194 H, in the passive ( to be stiffened ), the word does not occur elsewhere in Greek; and by Jerome, Aglas. 10, it is declared to be a Cilician expression equivalent to non gravavi vos . Vulgate: “nulli onerosus fui.” Another explanation, quoted in addition to the above by Theophylact (comp. Oecumenius): “ I have not become indolent in my office” (so Beza, who takes , cum cujusauam incommodo ), would be at variance with the context. See 2Co 11:9 . Comp. also 2Co 12:13-14 . Besides, this sense would not be demonstrable for . but for . (Plutarch, Educ. p. 8 F).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them , to do you service.
Ver. 8. I robbed other churches ] Grandis metaphora, Great metaphor, th Piscator, I took maintenance from them (as the apostle presently expounds himself), I made a prey and prize of them, .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
8. ] The ‘ other churches ’ were the Macedonian, cf. 2Co 11:9 . Among them the Philippians were probably conspicuous, retaining as doubtless they did, their former affection to him; see Phi 4:15-16 .
is hyperbolic, to bring out the contrast, and shame them.
., See reff., wages ; more properly here subsidy.
. . .] in order to (to support me in) my ministration to you , gen. obj.
and stand in the emphatic positions, as contrasted. In the former sentence, he implied that he brought with him from Macedonia supplies towards his maintenance at Corinth: . . .: here, he speaks of a new supply during his residence with the Corinthians, when those resources failed .
] apparently = , ch. 2Co 12:16 . Hesych [16] interprets it . Jerome, Ep. cxxi. (cli.) ad Algasiam, qust. 10, vol. i. p. 879, says, ‘multa sunt verba, quibus juxta morem urbis et provinci su familiarius Apostolus utitur: e quibus ex. gr. pauca ponenda sunt Et, , hoc est, non gravavi vos quibus et aliis multis usque hodie utuntur Cilices.’ Theophylact and cum. mention a rendering, , : and Beza, following the etymology; interprets , ‘ cum cujusquam incommodo .’ But the former meaning suits the context better. The word is found no where else in Greek. occurs in Plutarch, de Liber. Educatione, p. 8, F (Wetst.), . . On the government of the genitive by verbs compounded with , see Matthi, 376.
[16] Hesychius of Jerusalem, cent y . vi.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Co 11:8 . . . .: I robbed other Churches, e.g. , Philippi (Phi 4:15 . He expresses himself hyperbolically to bring out his meaning; is a very strong word, see Act 19:37 , Rom 2:22 ), taking wages of them ( primarily means the rations supplied to a soldier, and thence his pay ; see reff.), that I might minister unto you . is not used here in special reference to the collection for the Judan Christians, as it was at 2Co 8:4 , 2Co 9:1 ; 2Co 9:13 , but in its most general sense; cf. 2Ti 4:11 , Heb 1:14 . . . .: and when I was present with you, i.e. , during his first visit to Corinth (see Act 18:1 ff.), and was in want (a condition which he recalls again, Phi 4:12 ), I was not a burden on any man . is the torpedo-fish, which paralyses its victims by contact, and then preys upon them; so signifies “to oppress heavily”. The compound verb is not found elsewhere in Greek literature (we have in Gen 32:25 , Job 33:19 ); Jerome says (Ep. cxxi. ad Algasiam ) that it is a Cilicianism, like in 1Co 4:3 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
robbed. Greek. sulao. Only here. Compare Act 19:37.
other. Greek. allos, as in 2Co 11:4. Compare 2Co 11:9.
churches. App-186.
wages. Greek. opsonion. See Rom 6:23.
to do you service. Lit, for (Greek. pros. App-104.) the service (Greek. diakonia. App-190.) of you.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
8.] The other churches were the Macedonian, cf. 2Co 11:9. Among them the Philippians were probably conspicuous, retaining as doubtless they did, their former affection to him; see Php 4:15-16.
is hyperbolic, to bring out the contrast, and shame them.
., See reff., wages; more properly here subsidy.
. . .] in order to (to support me in) my ministration to you, gen. obj.
and stand in the emphatic positions, as contrasted. In the former sentence, he implied that he brought with him from Macedonia supplies towards his maintenance at Corinth: . . .: here, he speaks of a new supply during his residence with the Corinthians, when those resources failed.
] apparently = , ch. 2Co 12:16. Hesych[16] interprets it . Jerome, Ep. cxxi. (cli.) ad Algasiam, qust. 10, vol. i. p. 879, says, multa sunt verba, quibus juxta morem urbis et provinci su familiarius Apostolus utitur: e quibus ex. gr. pauca ponenda sunt Et, , hoc est, non gravavi vos quibus et aliis multis usque hodie utuntur Cilices. Theophylact and cum. mention a rendering, , : and Beza, following the etymology; interprets , cum cujusquam incommodo. But the former meaning suits the context better. The word is found no where else in Greek. occurs in Plutarch, de Liber. Educatione, p. 8, F (Wetst.), . . On the government of the genitive by verbs compounded with , see Matthi, 376.
[16] Hesychius of Jerusalem, centy. vi.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Co 11:8. , I robbed) He imputes to himself the receiving of payment, to which he was most justly entitled, as robbery, and afterwards as sloth and a burden, comp. notes on 1Co 9:17. This word and wages are figurative expressions derived from military affairs.-, taking wages) for my journey, when I came to you. The antithesis is present, when I was with you [2Co 11:9].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Co 11:8
2Co 11:8
I robbed other churches, taking wages of them that I might minister unto you;-He accepted assistance from other churches while preaching to the Corinthians, but he does not mean that what he received was against the will of those helping him; but he deprived others of their goods by receiving help from them while preaching to the Corinthians. [There is a pointed contrast between others and you; and the language is very vigorous; the contribution from other churches he characterizes as robbery-the motive of which was service to you-though from another point of view it is simply wages. (1Co 9:7). In Corinth, as the sequel shows, the most scrupulous care must be taken to give no offense, and Paul would be less exposed to reproach, if he accepted nothing from the Corinthians for his services.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
2Co 11:9, Phi 4:14-16
Reciprocal: 2Ki 5:26 – Is it a time 1Co 13:7 – endureth 2Co 12:13 – I myself Phi 4:15 – in the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Co 11:8. To rob does not necessarily mean to take something wrongfully. A man will say he robbed his bees, and yet he would not have done any unlawful act. Paul means he called upon other churches to support him in his work for the people of Corinth. The church at Philippi was one that supported Paul in his labors in other places (Php 4:15). Wages means financial support for work in the Gospel field.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Co 11:8. Nay, I robbed other churches, taking wages of them that I might minister (gratuitously) to you;
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 8 Others were deprived of their needs so that Paul might preach to the Corinthians without charge.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
I robbed other churches [Paul again shows his emotion by the indignant hyperbole “robbed”], taking wages of them that I might minister unto you;
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 8
I robbed other churches, that is, I took from them, as is specified in the 2 Corinthians 11:9.