{"id":28958,"date":"2022-09-24T13:02:40","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T18:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-2-corinthians-1123\/"},"modified":"2022-09-24T13:02:40","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T18:02:40","slug":"exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-2-corinthians-1123","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-2-corinthians-1123\/","title":{"rendered":"Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 11:23"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are they ministers of Christ? I (speak as a fool) I [am] more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. <\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

23. Are they ministers of Christ<\/em>?] St Paul here cannot be content with the simple ‘so am I.’ These men (see ch. 2Co 10:7<\/span>; 1Co 1:10<\/span>) claimed to be in some special sense Christ’s ministers. But when the Apostle thinks of the singleness of his devotion to Christ’s cause, of which he had so frequently boasted (ch. 2Co 2:17<\/span>, 2Co 4:5 , 2Co 6:4-10<\/span>, 2Co 7:2<\/span>, &c.), and of the nature of his services as compared with theirs, his spirit rises within him. ‘I may speak like a madman,’ he cries (see next note), ‘but I cannot contain myself at such a charge. What have they<\/em> done for the cause of Him whose name they falsely arrogate to themselves, compared to the services I have rendered? I use no mere words of vaunting, but appeal to the devotion of a life to His Gospel.’<\/p>\n

I speak as a fool<\/em> ] Rather as a madman<\/em> ( scarse wise<\/em>, Rhemish. Our translation is Tyndale’s). The word in the original is stronger than that in 2Co 11:16<\/em> ; 2Co 11:19<\/em><\/span><\/em>. St Paul is not thinking here so much of the impression his words may produce on the Corinthians, as of the fact that all ‘boasting’ in God’s sight is ‘excluded’ by the ‘law of faith’ (Rom 3:27<\/span>; cf. Luk 17:10<\/span>). Mad indeed is it to boast of anything as constituting a claim on God for reward. But facts are facts, and they may be appealed to, not for self-glorification, but (ch. 2Co 12:11<\/span>) to confute pretensions which ought never to have been advanced.<\/p>\n

in labours more abundant<\/em> ] Cf. 1Co 15:10<\/span>. He now commences the proof of this assertion, and it consists not in words but in deeds. He appeals to “a life hitherto without precedent in the history of the world. Self-devotion at particular moments, or for some special national cause, had been often seen before; but a self-devotion involving sacrifices like those here described, extending through a period of at least fourteen years, and in behalf of no local or family interest, but for the interest of mankind at large, was up to this time a thing unknown.” Stanley. De Wette would translate more abundantly<\/em> (the word is an adverb in the original) and connect it with what has gone before, ‘in labours I am more abundantly a minister of Christ than they.’<\/p>\n

in prisons more frequent<\/em> ] “What is left out is more than is enumerated.” Chrysostom. There is but one<\/em> imprisonment mentioned up to this time in the Acts (ch. Act 16:23<\/span>). So there is but one<\/em> beating with rods (see below). The Acts of the Apostles, being written with a special purpose (see note on ch. 2Co 1:8<\/span>, 2Co 6:5<\/span>), does not attempt to give a full<\/em> account of St Paul’s labours and sufferings. See Stanley’s note on 2Co 11:21<\/em><\/span> and Paley, Horae Paulinae, Ep. to Corinth<\/em>. 9. Estius accounts it a proof of St Paul’s modesty that he had never mentioned these things even to a friend so intimace as St Luke.<\/p>\n

in deaths oft<\/em> ] Cf. ch. 2Co 1:9-10 , 2Co 4:11<\/span>; 1Co 15:31<\/span>. “Perils containing<\/em> death,” i.e. as a possible event. Chrysostom.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Are they ministers of Christ? – <\/B>Though Jews by birth yet they claimed to be the ministers of the Messiah.<\/P>

I speak as a fool – <\/B>As if he had said, Bear in mind, in what I am now about to say, that he who speaks is accused of being a fool in boasting. Let it not be deemed improper that I should act in this character, and since you regard me as such, let me speak like a fool. His frequent reminding them of this charge was eminently suited to humble them that they had ever made it, especially when they were reminded by an enumeration of his trials, of the character of the man against whom the charge was brought.<\/P>

I am more – <\/B>Paul was not disposed to deny that they were true ministers of Christ. But he had higher claims to the office than they had. He had been called to it in a more remarkable manner, and he had shown by his labors and trials that he had more of the true spirit of a minister of the Lord Jesus than they had. He therefore goes into detail to show what he had endured in endeavoring to diffuse the knowledge of the Saviour; trials which the had borne probably while they had been dwelling in comparative ease, and in a comfortable manner, free from suffering and persecution.<\/P>

In labors more abundant – <\/B>In the kind of labor necessary in propagating the gospel. Probably he had now been engaged in the work a much longer time than they had, and had been far more indefatigable in it.<\/P>

In stripes – <\/B>In receiving stripes; that is, I have been more frequently scourged; 2Co 11:24<\/span>. This was a proof of his being a minister of Christ, because eminent devotedness to him at that time, of necessity subjected a man to frequent scourging. The ministry is one of the very few places, perhaps it stands alone in this, where it is proof of special qualification for office that a man has been treated with all manner of contumely, and has even been often publicly whipped. What other office admits such a qualification as this?<\/P>

Above measure – <\/B>Exceedingly; far exceeding them. He had received far more than they had, and he judged, therefore, that this was one evidence that he had been called to the ministry.<\/P>

In prisons more frequent – <\/B>In the Book of Acts , Luke mentions only one imprisonment of Paul before the time when this Epistle was written. That was at Philippi with Silas, Act 16:23<\/span> ff. But we are to remember that many things were omitted by Luke. He does not profess to give an account of all that happened to Paul; and an omission is not a contradiction. For anything that Luke says, Paul may have been imprisoned often. He mentions his having been in prison once; he does not deny that he had been in prison many times besides; see on Act 16:24<\/span>.<\/P>

In deaths oft – <\/B>This is, exposed to death; or suffering pain equal to death; see on 2Co 1:9<\/span>. No one familiar with the history of Paul can doubt that he was often in danger of death.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Verse 23. Are they ministers of Christ<\/B><\/I>] So we find that these were professors of Christianity; and that they were genuine Jews<\/I>, and such as endeavoured to incorporate both<\/I> systems, and, no doubt, to oblige those who had believed to be circumcised; and this appears to have been the bondage<\/I> into which they had brought many of the believing Corinthians.<\/P>

<\/P>

I<\/B><\/I> am <\/B>more<\/B><\/I>] More of a minister of Christ than they are, and have given fuller proofs of it. I have suffered persecution for the cross of Christ, and of the Jews<\/I> too; and had I preached up the necessity of circumcision<\/I>, I should have been as free from opposition as these are.<\/P>

<\/P>

In labours more abundant<\/B><\/I>] Far from sitting down to take my ease in a Church already gathered into Christ; I travel incessantly, preach every where, and at all risks, in order to get the heathen brought from the empire of darkness into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.<\/P>

<\/P>

In stripes above measure<\/B><\/I>] Being beaten by the heathen<\/I>, who had no particular rule<\/I> according to which they scourged criminals; and we find, from Ac 16:22<\/span>; Ac 16:23<\/span>, that they beat Paul unmercifully<\/I> with many stripes<\/I>. See the note on the above passage.<\/P>

<\/P>

In prisons more frequent<\/B><\/I>] See Ac 21:11<\/span>, and the whole of the apostle’s history; and his long imprisonment of at least two years<\/I> at Rome, Ac 28:16<\/span>; Ac 28:30<\/span>. It does not appear that there is any one instance of a false apostle having been imprisoned for the testimony of Christ; this was a badge of the true apostles.<\/P>

<\/P>

In deaths oft.<\/B><\/I>] That is, in the most imminent dangers. See 1Co 15:31<\/span>; 2Co 4:11<\/span>. And see the apostle’s history in the Acts.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Will they glory in this, that they are ministers of Christ, <\/B>employed as the servants of Christ in preaching the gospel? I should not boast about this, (in that I may seem to speak as a fool<\/B>), but I am much more a minister than they, both with respect to my call to the work, and also my performing of it. I had a more immediate call and mission to the work than what they can boast of, and I have done more in that work than any of them have done. <\/P>

In labours more abundant; <\/B>I have travelled more to preach it, I have laboured more in the propagation of it. <\/P>

In stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent; <\/B>I have suffered more for the preaching of it, I have been oftener whipped, oftener imprisoned, than any of them ever were: see 2Co 6:4<\/span>,5<\/span>. <\/P>

In deaths oft; <\/B>I have been oftener in hazard of my life: he calls dangers threatening death, deaths, <\/I>as 2Co 1:10<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

23. I speak as a fool<\/B>rather,as Greek,<\/I> “I speak as if beside myself<\/I>“;stronger than “as a fool.” <\/P>

I am more<\/B>namely, inrespect to the credentials and manifestations of my ministry, morefaithful and self-denying; and richer in tokens of God’s recognitionof my ministry. Old authorities read the order thus, “In prisonsabove measures, in stripes more abundantly” (English Version,<\/I>less accurately, “more frequent”). Ac16:23-40<\/span> records one case of his imprisonment with stripes.CLEMENT OF ROME[First Epistle to the Corinthians<\/I>] describes him as havingsuffered bonds seven times. <\/P>

in death oft<\/B> (2Co 4:10<\/span>;Act 9:23<\/span>; Act 13:50<\/span>;Act 14:5<\/span>; Act 14:6<\/span>;Act 14:19<\/span>; Act 17:5<\/span>;Act 17:13<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Are they ministers of Christ<\/strong>?…. The apostle could have answered to this question that they were not, being neither sent by Christ, nor preachers of him, and who sought their own things and not his, being false apostles, and deceitful workers; but he chose not to litigate this point with them, and by a rhetorical concession allows it; and replies,<\/p>\n

I speak as a fool<\/strong>; that is, he might be thought to speak as such an one, for what he afterwards says; and if he was, he must be content, he could not help it, there was a necessity for it, to stop the mouths of these vain boasters:<\/p>\n

I am more<\/strong>; that is, more a minister of Christ than they, more manifestly so than they were; yea, he was more than an ordinary minister of Christ, he was an apostle, the apostle of the Gentiles, and laboured and suffered more than even the rest of the true apostles of Christ, and therefore must be greatly superior to the false ones:<\/p>\n

in labours more abundant<\/strong>; in taking fatiguing journeys, preaching the Gospel constantly, administering ordinances, working with his own hands, c.<\/p>\n

in stripes above measure<\/strong> which were cruelly and unmercifully inflicted on him by his enemies, and which he afterwards mentions:<\/p>\n

in prisons more frequent<\/strong>; as at Philippi, and so after this at Jerusalem, and Rome, and perhaps in other places, though not recorded; Clemens Romanus says h, that he was seven times in bonds:<\/p>\n

in deaths oft<\/strong>; that is, frequently in danger of death, in such afflictions and evils as threatened with death, and therefore are so called; see 2Co 1:8<\/span>.<\/p>\n

h In Epist. ad Corinth, i. p. 14. Ed. Oxon. 1669.<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

As one beside himself <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). Present active participle of <\/SPAN><\/span>. Old verb from <\/SPAN><\/span> (, <\/SPAN><\/span>), beside one’s wits. Only here in N.T. Such open boasting is out of accord with Paul’s spirit and habit.<\/P>

I more <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). This adverbial use of <\/SPAN><\/span> appears in ancient Greek (Euripides). It has no effect on <\/SPAN><\/span>, not “more than I,” but “I more than they.” He claims superiority now to these “superextra apostles.”<\/P>

More abundant <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). See on 7:15<\/span>. No verbs with these clauses, but they are clear.<\/P>

In prisons <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Plural also in 6:5<\/span>. Clement of Rome (Cor<\/I>. V.) says that Paul was imprisoned seven times. We know of only five (Philippi, Jerusalem, Caesarea, twice in Rome), and only one before II Corinthians (Philippi). But Luke does not tell them all nor does Paul. Had he been in prison in Ephesus? So many think and it is possible as we have seen.<\/P>

Above measure <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). Old adverb from the participle <\/SPAN><\/span> (<\/SPAN><\/span>, to hurl beyond). Here only in N.T.<\/P>

In deaths oft <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). He had nearly lost his life, as we know, many times (2Cor 1:9<\/span>; 2Cor 4:11<\/span>). <\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Ministers of Christ Referring to his opponents’ claim to have a closer connection with Christ than he had. See the note on 1Co 1:12<\/span>. <\/P>

As a fool [] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Only here in the New Testament. See the kindred parafronia madness, 2Pe 2:16<\/span>. Lit., being beside myself Rev., as one beside myself. This expression is stronger than that in ver. 21, because the statement which it characterizes is stronger. Up to this point Paul has been asserting equality with the other teachers. Now he asserts superiority “I more;” and ironically characterizes this statement from their stand – point as madness. <\/P>

More abundant [] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Lit., more abundantly, as Rev. <\/P>

Stripes above measure [] <\/SPAN><\/span>. This peculiar form of suffering is emphasized by details. He specifies three Roman scourgings, and five at the hands of the Jews. Of the former, only one is recorded, that at Philippi (Act 16:22<\/span>, 23<\/span>. See on Act 22:25<\/span>), and none of the latter. The Jewish scourge consisted of two thongs made of calf ‘s or ass’s skin, passing through a hole in a handle. Thirteen blows were inflicted on the breast, thirteen on the right, and thirteen on the left shoulder. The law in Deu 25:3<\/span> permitted forty blows, but only thirty – nine were given, in order to avoid a possible miscount. During the punishment the chief judge read aloud Deu 28:58<\/span>, 59<\/span>; Deu 29:9<\/span>; Psa 68:38<\/span>, 39<\/span>. The possibility of death under the infliction was contemplated in the provision which exonerated the executioner unless he should exceed the legal number of blows. Paul escaped Roman scourging at Jerusalem on the ground of his Roman citizenship. It is not related that he and Silas urged this privilege at Philippi until after the scourging. It is evident from the narrative that they were not allowed a formal hearing before the magistrates; and, if they asserted their citizenship, it may have been that their voices were drowned by the mob. That this plea did not always avail appears from the case cited by Cicero against Verres, that he scourged a Roman citizen in spite of his continued protest under the scourge, “I am a Roman citizen” (see on Act 16:37<\/span>), and from well – known instances of the scourging of even senators under the Empire. <\/P>

Prisons. At Philippi, and other places not recorded. <\/P>

Deaths. Perils of death, as at Damascus, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Thessalonica, Beroea.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) “Are they ministers of Christ?”<\/strong> (diakonoi Christou eisin) “are they common ministers of Christ?” they who disparage my ministry, try to cut me down?<\/p>\n

2) (I speak as a fool) I am more,”<\/strong> (paraphronon lalo huper ego) “I speak as being out of my mind, I am more,” beyond them as a common minister of Christ, superior in all things by which a true minister of Christ may be tested, Mat 5:11-12<\/span>; Mat 20:27-28<\/span>.<\/p>\n

3) “In labours more<\/strong> abundantly “<\/strong> (en kopois perissoteros) “in labors, more abundantly,” I labor, as a preacher of the gospel and to preach the gospel, Act 20:33-35<\/span>; 1Co 15:10<\/span>.<\/p>\n

4) “In stripes above measure,”<\/strong> (en plegais huperballontos) “in stripes excessively,” Act 16:23<\/span>; Act 20:23<\/span>, in most every city, bonds and afflictions awaited him. Remember Paul continued eleven years in the mission ministry after this letter.<\/p>\n

5) “In prisons more frequent,”<\/strong> (en phulakais perissoteros) “in prisons more frequently,” often, Act 16:23<\/span> at Philippi, and Andronicus and Junicas were fellow-prisoners with him again, Rom 16:7<\/span>, how many more times we do not know, Act 21:33<\/span>; at Jerusalem; Act 23:35<\/span> at Caesarea; Act 28:30<\/span>; at Rome, etc.<\/p>\n

6) “In deaths often,”<\/strong> (en thanatois pollakis) “In death’s (clutches) many times,” in perils or dangers of death repeatedly, Act 9:23<\/span>; Act 14:19<\/span>; 1Co 15:30-31<\/span>; 2Co 1:19<\/span>; 2Co 6:9<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

23. Are they ministers of Christ? Now when he is treating of matters truly praiseworthy, he is no longer satisfied with being on an equality with them, but exalts himself above them. For their carnal glories he has previously been scattering like smoke by a breath of wind, (857) by placing in opposition to them those which he had of a similar kind; but as they had nothing of solid worth, he on good grounds separates himself from their society, when he has occasion to glory in good earnest. For to be a servant of Christ is a thing that is much more honorable and illustrious, than to be the first-born among all the first-born of Abraham’s posterity. Again, however, with the view of providing against calumnies, he premises that he speaks as a fool “Imagine this,” says he, “to be foolish boasting: it is, nevertheless, true.” <\/p>\n

In labors. By these things he proves that he is a more eminent servant of Christ, and then truly we have a proof that may be relied upon, when deeds instead of words are brought forward. He uses the term labors here in the plural number, and afterwards labor What difference there is between the former and the latter I do not see, unless perhaps it be, that he speaks here in a more general way, including those things that he afterwards enumerates in detail. In the same way we may also understand the term deaths to mean any kind of perils that in a manner threatened present death, instances of which he afterwards specifies. “I have given proof of myself in deaths often, in labors oftener still.” He had made use of the term deaths in the same sense in the first chapter. (2Co 1:10<\/span>.) <\/p>\n

(857) “ Car quant a leurs gloires charnelles, qui n’estoyent que choses vaines, iusques yci il les a fait esuanoir comme en soufflant dessus.” — “For as to theft carnal glories, which were but vain things, he has hitherto made them vanish by, as it were, blowing upon them.” <\/p>\n

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

(23) Are they ministers of Christ?<\/strong>It is obvious that this title was claimed by the rival teachers in some special sense. They were ministers of Christ in a nearer and a higher sense than others. This again falls in with all that has been said as to the nature and pretensions of those who said, I am of Christ. (See Notes on 2Co. 10:7<\/span>; 1Co. 1:12<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

I speak as a fool.<\/strong>The form of the Greek verb is slightly varied, and means, more emphatically than before, I speak as one who is insane; I speak deliriously.<\/em> In this instance, as before, we must believe that the Apostle is using, in a tone of indignant irony, the very words of insult which had been recklessly flung at him.<\/p>\n

In labours . . .<\/strong>All that follows up to 2Co. 11:28<\/span>, inclusive, is a proof of his claim to call himself a minister of Christ. The word labours is, of course, too vague to admit of more than a general comparison with the picture of his life presented in the Acts of the Apostles. The more specific statements show us that the writer of that book tends to understate rather than exaggerate the labours and sufferings of the Apostle. It tells us, up to this time, only of one imprisonment, at Philippi (Act. 16:23<\/span>), and leaves us to conjecture where and under what circumstances we are to look for the others. In the deaths oft, we trace an echo of the sentence of death, the dying daily (see Notes on 2Co. 1:9<\/span>; 2Co. 4:10<\/span>); but the words probably include dangers to life of other kinds as well as those arising from bodily disease.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2<\/strong>. By incomparably greater sufferings<\/strong>, 2Co 11:23-33<\/span>.<\/p>\n

With consummate skill St. Paul, (in whose ears are echoing the retorts of his foes, “What a boaster!”) shows off here, not his victories and conquests, not the oratory he had displayed, the converts he had gained, the Churches he had founded; but the unparalleled sufferings and disgraces he had undergone. He enumerates them almost statistically, classifying their sorts, and giving their figures. But, all the while, the more profoundly he thus humbles himself, the more transcendent is his superiority over his easy-living adversaries.<\/p>\n

Of a large number of the sufferings here undergone, Luke’s brief sketch in the Acts gives no account. This confirms Paley’s argument for the truth of Christianity, drawn from the sufferings of the early Christian preachers. It shows, too, that in accounting for the writing of some of the epistles we may easily suppose voyages and journeys unmentioned by Luke. When, for instance, Luke informs us (Act 20:31<\/span>) that Paul spent three continuous years at Ephesus, it is as when we say that a young man spends four years at college; that is, without counting three months each year of vacation.<\/p>\n

As both a catalogue and a picture the present section is strikingly parallel to 2Co 4:8-12 ; 2Co 6:5-10<\/span>.<\/p>\n

The endurances enumerated are, 2Co 11:23-27<\/span>, bodily; 2Co 11:28-29<\/span>, mental; 2Co 11:32-33<\/span>, a single notable event.<\/p>\n

2Co 11:23<\/span> gives four general bodily endurances, of which all that follow are specials.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

23<\/strong>. <\/strong> Ministers<\/strong> The Greek word technically for deacons, <\/em> and genetically for humble servitors <\/em> of any kind. <\/p>\n

As a fool<\/strong> The echo from the other side is a stronger term for madness <\/em> than any yet used. Are they servants of Christ? And now I am, by their outcry, a greater infatuate than ever when I boldly reply, I more<\/strong>. The abrupt and concise , above, <\/em> I <\/strong> is, indeed, a bold fling. It may mean, above them am I, <\/em> that is, as a servant of Christ; or it may mean, above a servant of Christ am I. <\/em> The import, at any rate, is, If these are, forsooth, servants of Christ, I am something above that; and the result is, If I am merely a servant of Christ, they are below that none at all. That this last inference is meant is plain from 13-15. <\/p>\n

Labours stripes prisons deaths<\/strong> Four generic bodily endurances. The details that follow are specialties included under the four.<\/p>\n

The next two verses give the numerical figures of bodily sufferings so severe as to leave distinct traces on the memory of the number.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

‘Are they servants (ministers – diakonoi) – of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labours more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often.’<\/p>\n

Do they claim to be servants of Christ? (They may well have been able to claim that they had actually been to some extent His disciples while he was on earth, even though they were not behaving like it). He will now speak as though he was a bit mad, otherwise he would not think of boasting in this way. He is even more a genuine servant of Christ. Whatever their claims he has worked harder and more abundantly for Christ than any of them, he has been in prison for Christ more often, he has been beaten for Christ more times than he can count, he has indeed often stared death in the face for Christ’s sake.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2Co 11:23<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>I am more:<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> Or, I am more so. In stripes above measure, <\/em>should rather be read, in stripes far exceeding; <\/em>for these words, as the other particulars of this verse, should be taken comparatively, with reference to the false apostle; with whom St. Paul is comparing himself in the ministry of the Gospel. Unless this be so understood, there will seem to be a disagreeable tautology in the following verses; which, taking these words in a comparative sense, are proofs of his saying, In stripes I am exceedingly beyond him; for, of the Jews five times, <\/em>&c. See on Deu 25:3<\/span>. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2Co 11:23<\/span> . In the case of those three Jewish predicates the aim was reached and the emotion appeased by the brief and pointed . Now, however, he comes to the main point, to the relation towards Christ<\/em> ; here cannot again suffice, but a must come in (comp. Theodoret), and the holy self-confidence of this gushes forth like a stream (comp. 2Co 6:4<\/span> ff.) over his opponents, to tear down their fancies of apostolic dignit.<\/p>\n

] also ironical, but stronger than . : in madness<\/em> (Herod. iii. 24; Dem. 1183. 1; Soph. Phil.<\/em> 804) I speak!<\/em> For Paul, in the consciousness of his own humility as of the hateful arrogance of his foes, conceives to himself a: ! as the judgment which will be pronounced by the opponents upon his ; they will call it a (Eur. Hipp.<\/em> 232)!<\/p>\n

] He thus concedes to his opponents the predicate only apparently<\/em> (as he in fact could not really<\/em> do so according to 2Co 11:13-15<\/span> ); for in there lies the cancelling<\/em> of the apparent concession, because, if he had granted them to be actually Christ’s servants, it would have been absurd to say: I am more!<\/em> Such, however, is the thought: “servants of Christ are they? Well, if they are such, still more<\/em> am I!” The meaning of is not, as most<\/em> (even Osiander and Hofmann) assume: “I am a servant of Christ in a higher degree than they” (1Co 15:10<\/span> ), but: I am more than servant of Christ<\/em> ; for, as in there lay the meaning: I am the same<\/em> (not in reference to the degree<\/em> , but to the fact<\/em> ), so must there be in the meaning: I am something more<\/em> . Thus, too, the meaning, in accordance with the strong , appears far more forcible and more telling against the opponents. [335] is used adverbially<\/em> (Winer, p. 394 [E. T. 526]); but other undoubted Greek examples of this use of are not found, as that in Soph. Ant.<\/em> 514 ( ) is of doubtful explanatio.<\/p>\n

. . .] Paul now exchanging sarcasm for deep earnest, under the impulse of a noble (Xen. Apol.<\/em> i. 2) and “argumentis quae vere testentur pectus apostolicum” (Erasmus), begins his justification of the , so that is to be taken instrumentally: through more exertions<\/em> , etc. The comparative<\/em> is to be explained from the comparison with the of the opponents. The adverb<\/em> , however, as often also in classic writers, is attached adjectivally ( sc.<\/em> ) to the substantive. So also de Wette. [336] Comp. Luk 24:1 ; 1Co 12:31<\/span> ; Phi 1:26<\/span> ; Gal 1:13<\/span> ; see Ast, ad Plat. Polit.<\/em> p. 371 f.; Bernhardy, p. 338. Billroth, Osiander, Hofmann, and the older commentators incorrectly hold that is to be supplied: “I am so in a yet much more extraordinary way in labours.” Apart from the erroneous explanation of , which is herein assumed, the subsequent is against it, for this with supplied would be absurd. Hofmann would make a new series begin with . ; but this is just a mere makeshift, which is at variance with the symmetrical onward flow of the passage with . Beza, Flatt, and many others supply or ; but this is forbidden by 2Co 11:26<\/span> , where (after the parenthesis of 2Co 11:24-25<\/span> ) the passage is continued without<\/em> , so that it would be impossible to supply or furthe.<\/p>\n

. .] by strokes endured beyond measure<\/em> .<\/p>\n

. .] by more imprisonments<\/em> . Clement, ad Cor<\/em> . i. 5 : , in which reckoning, however, the later imprisonments (in Jerusalem, Caesarea, Rome) are include.<\/p>\n

] , Chrysostom. Comp. 1Co 15:31 ; 2Co 4:11<\/span> ; Rom 8:36<\/span> ; and Philo, Flacc<\/em> . p. 990 A: , Lucian, Tyr<\/em> . 22; Asin.<\/em> 23. See on this use of in the plural, Stallbaum, ad Plat. Crit.<\/em> p. 46 C; Seidler, ad Eur. El<\/em> . 479.<\/p>\n

[335] So that the absolute is not to be explained , but . Our view is already implied in the plus<\/em> (not magis<\/em> ) ego<\/em> of the Vulgate. Luther also has it, recently Ewald; and Lachm. writes as one word. Comp. also Klpper, p. 97.<\/p>\n

[336] In the Vulgate this view has found distinct expression at least in the first clause; “in laboribus plurimis<\/em> .”<\/p>\n

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

DISCOURSE: 2041
ST. PAULS ZEAL ILLUSTRATED AND IMPROVED<\/strong><\/p>\n

2Co 11:23-29<\/span>. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?<\/em><\/p>\n

THE people of the world are in the habit of representing religious persons as defective in every mental attainment, and negligent in the discharge of every social duty: and it becomes Christians not only to cut off all occasion for such reproach, but so to conduct themselves as to be able to appeal to all who know them, that they are in no respect below any other people who are similarly circumstanced with themselves. As St. Paul, when his adversaries sought to detract from his character, silenced them by this challenge, Whereinsoever any is bold, I am bold also: are they Hebrews? so am I; are they Israelites? so am I; are they the seed of Abraham? so am I: so ought Christians in every department of life to be able to challenge competition with other men, and boldly to say, Are they modest, prudent, kind, faithful, diligent? so am I. This they should be able to do in reference to all heathen virtues, and worldly attainments. But in relation to every thing of a spiritual nature, the Christian should so far excel, that no worldly person should be able to come near him. Our blessed Lord intimates this in the question which he puts to us; What do ye more than others? We ought to do more than any other people in the world either do or can do; and, like the Apostle in our text, we should be able to enumerate many things, in which our adversaries, even the best of them, can bear no competition with us.
It is well for the Church of God that St. Paul was so calumniated by his enemies: for, if he had not been so traduced, he never would have recorded the extent of his labours, respecting which, from the brief history of them in the Acts of the Apostles, we should not have formed any adequate conception. True it is, indeed, that he again and again acknowledges, that, if not so compelled to declare the truth, he would have been a fool for boasting in this manner: and we too shall be guilty of the most egregious folly, if we without necessity proclaim our own goodness; but still, I say again, we should be inferior to the world in nothing that pertains to this life, and superior to them in every thing that pertains to the life to come.
From this account, which the Apostle gives of his own labours, we shall take occasion,<\/p>\n

I.<\/p>\n

To place them more distinctly before you<\/p>\n

Of course, it is only a cursory notice that we can take of them: and indeed it is the accumulated mass, rather than any minute particulars, which will best answer our end in this discourse. Yet, that we may have something of a distinct view of his labours, let us notice,<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

His sufferings<\/p>\n

[St. Paul, at his conversion, had been told by the Saviour what great things he should suffer for his Masters sake: and truly they were great, greater far than those which fell to the share of any other Apostle. He was in stripes above measure, being five times scourged by the Jews to the utmost extremity that their law allowed; and thrice by the Romans, though in direct opposition to the Roman law. In prisons all the Apostles had been; but not so frequently as he. So often was he in deaths, that he felt himself standing in jeopardy every hour, and could appeal to God that he died daily [Note: 1Co 15:30-31<\/span>.]. Thrice did he suffer shipwreck: and on one of those occasions he floated on a piece of the wreck a day and a night, every moment in danger of being consigned to a watery grave. On one occasion he was stoned (at Lystra), and actually left for dead: and doubtless he would have died, if God had not, by a miraculous power, raised him up again, and restored him to the use of his limbs [Note: All these were prior to his sufferings recorded in the latter part of the Acts of the Apostles.].<\/p>\n

What patience, what resignation, what fortitude, must the Apostle have possessed, when he could persevere in the midst of such continued and severe trials as these! And how strange does it appear, that in every place such bonds and such afflictions should await such a man as he; whose only fault was, that he loved his God and Saviour, and loved his fellow-creatures too even beyond his own life! But so it was; and so it will be, as long as ungodly men shall have it in their power to put forth into exercise their enmity against God: and, in proportion as any man resembles Paul in his zeal for Christ, and in his love to men, he will meet with the very same treatment that the Apostle did: and if he be not persecuted unto death, as Paul was, he will be indebted for his protection, not to the abated hostility of men, but to the laws of the land in which he dwells.]<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

His dangers<\/p>\n

[These were incessant, wherever he moved. Sometimes he was in peril by waters, that is by rivers, which he was obliged to ford, or more probably by land floods, which he could neither foresee nor escape: sometimes by robbers, who, conceiving him to be carrying money with him from one Church to another, lay in wait to plunder him. Sometimes by his own countrymen, who were incensed against him for going to the Gentiles: and at other times by the heathen, who were indignant at his endeavours to overthrow idolatry. In the city, he was beset by enraged mobs; in the wilderness, by ravenous beasts; and, in the sea, by frequent tempests, or by pirates, more to be dreaded than death itself.
But who would have thought that persons professing love to Christ should be found adverse to him; and that he should be in as much danger from their envy and jealousy, their subtilty and malignity, as from the more open assaults of professed enemies! Yet amidst his other perils he mentions those in which he was among false brethren, who sought by misrepresentations to subvert his influence, and by treachery to destroy his life. Alas! alas! that such impiety should ever be concealed under a cloak of zeal for Christ! Yet the faithful minister shall find that such monsters do exist; and that there are yet in the Church, no less than in the apostolic age, wolves in sheeps clothing, who, if only they can find opportunity to exercise their predominant dispositions, will tear in pieces the Church, and spare neither the shepherd nor the sheep [Note: Act 20:29<\/span>.].]<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

His privations<\/p>\n

[Amidst all his labours, he was often destitute of the comforts, yea, and of the common necessaries of life; so that, in addition to all the weariness and painfulness of his exertions, he was exposed to hunger and thirst, and cold and nakedness, not having clothing to protect him from the inclemencies of the weather, nor food to sustain his feeble body. And, as if all these privations were not sufficient, he often added to them by voluntary fastings, and by a sacrifice of needful sleep, that so he might be able to support himself without being burthensome to any, and make himself an example to those who accused him of seeking only his temporal advancement.
How lightly and thoughtlessly do we read this account, as though there were nothing very extraordinary in it! But if we had only to spend one single week in such trials as his, we should soon see what astonishing grace he must have had, that could enable him to bear them for a series of years, and even to take pleasure in them, if only his Lord and Saviour might be glorified by means of them [Note: ver. 30. with 2Co 12:10<\/span>.]!]<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

His cares<\/p>\n

[These, under such circumstances, were truly overwhelming. The Churches every where, whether planted by him or not, looked to him for guidance and direction in all their difficulties; so that there was a weight upon his mind sufficient to depress any one who did not feel his consolations and supports. The trials of Moses being great, seventy persons were appointed to bear the burthen with him. But Paul had to bear his burthens all alone. He was the referee of all; the counsellor of all; the director of all. Nor did he attend merely to the general concerns of all the Churches: no; he bore in mind the case of every individual that was brought before him; and laboured as much for the benefit of each, as if he had no other object to engage his mind. For this he could appeal to the Corinthians themselves; Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? If any, through prejudice, or ignorance of Christian liberty, or through any other cause, were weak, he sympathized with them, and accommodated himself to their feeble state, and laboured by all possible means to comfort and encourage them. In like manner, if any were stumbled either by the artifices of false teachers, or the violence of persecution, he burned with an ardent desire to restore their minds, and to establish their hearts.]
Such was the life of that holy man; and such were the labours in which it was continually occupied. We will now endeavour,<\/p>\n

II.<\/p>\n

To suggest such considerations as obviously arise from them<\/p>\n

But where shall we begin? or, once begun, where shall we end? We must of necessity confine ourselves to a few which are of most general utility. Let us see then in these labours of his,<\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

The incalculable value of the soul<\/p>\n

[If we were to judge by the conduct of all around us, we should suppose that the soul were of no value: for the generality of men pay no more attention to their souls than if there were no future state of existence: and of those who profess to care for their souls, how few labour for their welfare with becoming zeal! If they be called upon to bear some reproach, or to sustain some temporal loss, they are ready to draw back, as though the interests of their souls were not worth the sacrifice. They are more terrified at the sneers of a fellow-creature, than at the threatenings of their God; and more desirous of the applause of man, than of the approbation of their Judge. But look at the Apostle Paul: Did he think so lightly of immortal souls? Would he have laboured and suffered so much for them, if they were of no more value than men in general account them? Surely, either he was wrong, or we; if the souls of men deserved no more attention than is usually paid to them, he was a foolish and mad enthusiast: but if we may at all estimate their value by his labours for them, then are the world mad, in paying so much attention to worthless vanities, and in so little regarding what is of more value than the whole world. O ye careless ones, whatever be your rank or age, let me expostulate with you on your more than brutish folly ]<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

The vast importance of the Gospel<\/p>\n

[When we urge on men the necessity of believing in Christ, and of living altogether by faith on him, they reply that there is no need of that entire surrender of ourselves to Christ; and that to condemn all who will not comply with such requisitions is uncharitable in the extreme. When we urge them also to use all possible means for the conversion of the heathen, they tell us that we may safely leave them to their respective creeds; and that God is too merciful ever to condemn them. But, if this be true, how can we account for the conduct of the Apostle? Why did he labour so for the conversion of Jews or Gentiles, if either Jews or Gentiles could be saved in any other way than through faith in Christ? Some<\/em> labours and some<\/em> sufferings we may suppose a man to undergo for the sake of proselyting others to his own opinions; but who would endure all that Paul endured, and that<\/em> too so continually, and for so long a series of years, if he had not known that the everlasting welfare of men depended on their acceptance or rejection of his message? Know ye then that the record of God, even that record which says, God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son; he that hath the Son, hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life; that record, I say, is true: and just so many of you as are living simply by faith on Christ, and receiving every thing out of his fulness, are in a state of salvation: but every other person without exception is under condemnation, and the wrath of God abideth on him.<\/p>\n

And here let me caution those who are convinced of this truth, to hold it fast and glory in it, though earth and hell should conspire to turn them from it: for if the Apostles laboured so much and endured so much to impart the knowledge of it to others, much more should we be in earnest to secure an interest in it for ourselves ]<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

The spirit with which alone men should enter on the ministerial office<\/p>\n

[Many, in undertaking this office, have no view but to their own case, or interest, or honour: and if in these things pre-eminence is to consist, they would have no objection to equal the very chiefest Apostles. But if their preferment is to resemble that of St. Paul, they care not how many get before them: they have no taste for such things; and if they had ever so small a measure of them, they would account it much more an occasion of complaint than any ground of glorying. But it was in labours and sufferings that St. Paul gloried; first, because they were the best proofs of his ministerial fidelity [Note: 2Co 6:4<\/span>.]; and, next, because they were the means of magnifying the grace of Christ, whose strength was perfected in his weakness [Note: 2Co 12:9<\/span>.]. Would to God that more of his spirit were found amongst us! There would not then be such difficulty in finding men to go forth to the work of missions. Now, the leaving of earthly friends, the incurring of some danger from foreign climes, the having but small provision, and looking forward to many difficulties and privations; these are such formidable obstacles, that but few are willing to encounter them. But they who have so little zeal for God, as not to be willing to encounter trials and afflictions in his service, are not fit for the ministry in any place: they may satisfy themselves with a ceremonious round of duties; but they will not so satisfy their God, who requires his stewards to be faithful, and his soldiers to war a good warfare. We must tread in the steps of Paul, if ever we would save ourselves and them that hear us ]<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

The proper influence of redeeming love<\/p>\n

[Look at the text, all ye who profess to believe in Christ. See what faith will do, wherever it exists in truth. Look and see what ye have ever done for the Lord that can be compared with this: say whether the best amongst you have not cause to blush and mourn for your unprofitableness? If you ask the Apostle Paul, what it was that animated him to such exertions, he will tell you, The love of Christ constraineth me. This it was that carried him forward in the midst of so many difficulties, and enabled him to bear up under such accumulated afflictions. This made him ready to be bound or to die, at any time or at any place, content that Christ should be magnified in his body whether by life or death. Beloved brethren, thus will it work in you: it will fill you with zeal for God, and with love to man. It will make you earnestly desirous to spread the knowledge of the Saviour throughout the world; and will render sacrifices, whether of ease or property, delightful to you. You will account it an unspeakable honour that you are permitted to do or suffer any thing for the advancement of his glory; just as the Apostles, after having been imprisoned and beaten by the Jewish council, departed, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for their Redeemers sake. Rise up then, ye servants of the Lord Jesus, and gird yourselves to your Masters work. Let each inquire, What can I do for Christ? How can my time, my property, my talents, my influence be made serviceable to his cause? It is said of the angels, that they do their Makers will, hearkening to the voice of his word; do ye thus look for the first intimations of your Saviours will. If the most arduous and self-denying office be proposed, be ready instantly to say, Here am I; send me [Note: Isa 6:8<\/span>.]. So will you approve yourselves his disciples indeed, and reap a glorious recompence in the great day of his appearing.]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n


<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

XVIII<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

SAUL FROM HIS CONVERSION TO HIS ORDINATION<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

See list of references below.<\/p>\n

The theme of this section is the history of Saul from his conversion and call to the apostleship, up to his ordination as an apostle to the Gentiles; that is, it extends from Act 9<\/span> over certain parts of Acts up to chapter 13, but not all of the intervening chapters of Acts. The scriptures are Act 9:17-30<\/span> ; Act 11:25-30<\/span> ; Act 22:17-21<\/span> ; Gal 1:5-24<\/span> ; Act 15:23-41<\/span> ; 2Co 11:23-27<\/span> ; 2Co 11:32-33<\/span> ; 2Co 12:1-4<\/span> ; Act 26:20<\/span> , which you have to study very carefully in order to understand this section. The time covered by this period is at least nine years, probably ten years, of which we have very scanty history. We have to get a great part of our history from indirect references, and therefore it takes a vast deal of study to make a connected history of this period.<\/p>\n

Two scriptures must here be reconciled, Act 9:19-26<\/span> and Gal 1:15-18<\/span> . The particular points conflicting are that Luke in Act 9<\/span> seems to say that immediately, or straightway, after his conversion Saul commenced to preach at Damascus, and the Galatian passage says that straightway after his conversion he went into Arabia and remained there a long time before he returned to Damascus. The precise question involved in the account is, Did Paul commence to preach “straightway” after his conversion, as Luke seems to represent it, or did he wait nearly three years after his conversion before he began to preach? Luke’s account in Act 9<\/span> seems on its face to be a continuous story from Damascus back to Jerusalem, without a note of time, except two expressions: “And he was certain days with the disciples that were at Damascus,” and then a little lower down he uses the expression, “when many days were fulfilled.” Luke’s account says nothing about Saul’s leaving Damascus, his long absence and return there. In a very few words only he tells the story of three years. With his account only before us, we would naturally infer that Saul began to preach in Damascus “straightway” after his conversion, but we would also infer that this preaching was continuous there after he commenced, until he escaped for his life to go to Jerusalem. But the Galatian account shows that he left Damascus straightway after his conversion, went into Arabia, returned to Damascus, and then took up his ministry there, and, after three years, went to Jerusalem. This account places the whole of his Damascus ministry after his return there.<\/p>\n

The issue, however, is not merely between Luke’s “straightway” and the Galatian “straightway,” though this is sharp, but so to insert the Galatian account in the Acts account as not to mar either one of the accounts, and yet to intelligently combine the two into one harmonious story. In Hackett on Acts, “American Commentary,” we find the argument and the arrangement supporting the view that Paul commenced to preach in Damascus before he went into Arabia, and in chapter II of Farrar’s Life of Paul we find the unanswerable argument showing that Paul did not commence to preach until after his return from Arabia, and that his whole ministry at Damascus was after that time, and then was continued until he escaped and went to Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

The Hackett view, though the argument is strong and plausible in some directions, breaks down in adjustment of the accounts, marring both of them, and failing utterly in the combination to make one intelligent, harmonious story. The author, therefore, dissents strongly from the Hackett view and supports strongly that of Farrar. In other words, we put in several verses of the letter to the Galatians right after Act 9:19<\/span> .<\/p>\n

Let us take Act 9<\/span> , commencing with Act 9:17<\/span> : “And Ananias departed, and entered into the house; and laying his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared unto thee in the way which thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight; and he arose and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened. And he was certain days with the disciples that were at Damascus.” And Gal 1:15<\/span> reading right along: “But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; straightway I conferred not with flesh and blood; neither went I up to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before me: but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned unto Damascus.” All of that must follow Act 9:19<\/span> . Then we go back and read, beginning at Act 9:20<\/span> : “And straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son of God,” that is, straightway after he returned from Arabia. Then read to Act 9:25<\/span> , and turn back to Gal 1:18<\/span> : “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas.” Then go with Act 9:26<\/span> : “And when he was come to Jerusalem, he essayed to join himself to the disciples.” The following is a harmony of these scriptures:<\/p>\n

It is intensely important that you have this harmony of all these scriptures. You divide all of this into four parts just like the Broadus method in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I have in four parallel columns made the harmony complete in the passages mentioned, showing how far to read, and then taking up the one that supplies, so that one can read the entire story without a break. In column 1 of this harmony read Act 9:17-19<\/span> ; in column 2, Gal 1:15-17<\/span> ; returning to column 1 read Act 9:20-25<\/span> and 2Co 11:32-33<\/span> ; then in column 2, Gal 1:18<\/span> (except the last clause); then back to column I and read Act 9:26-27<\/span> ; in column 2, Gal 1:18<\/span> (last clause) and Gal 1:19-20<\/span> ; then back to column I, read Act 9:28-29<\/span> (except last clause); then in column 3 read Act 22:17-21<\/span> ; in column 1, Act 9:29<\/span> (last clause) to Act 9:31<\/span> ; in column 2, Gal 1:21-24<\/span> ; in column 4, Act 11:25-30<\/span> ; Act 12:25<\/span> . This is the harmonious story of Paul. Then read for purposes of investigation, Act 15:23-41<\/span> in order to get the information about his Cilician work, also read 2Co 11:23-27<\/span> to find out what part of the sufferings there enumerated took place in Cicilia. Then read 2Co 12:1-4<\/span> , as this pertains to Cilicia. Then read Act 26:20<\/span> and ask the question, When did he do this preaching in Judea, and was it during his Cilician tour? This gives all the scriptures. Carefully read it over in the order in which the scriptures are given. It makes the most perfect story that I have ever read. It does not mar any one of the four separate cases. It does combine into one harmonious story and gives us an excellent harmony of these scriptures.<\/p>\n

The value of this harmony is very evident. This arrangement mars no one of the several accounts of the story, but does combine them into one harmonious story, and provides an explanation for Luke’s “certain days,” “many days,” the Galatian “three years,” Luke’s “straightway,” and the Galatian “straightway.”<\/p>\n

With this harmony before us, we can see why Luke is so very brief on the account of Paul in Act 9<\/span> . His plan is to tell the story of the Jerusalem church up to the end of Act 12<\/span> . All matters apart from that are briefly noted, and only as they connect with Jerusalem, the center. But from Act 13<\/span> he makes Antioch the center, and we are told of his arrest, and later on he shifts back to Jerusalem, and then back to Rome, and thus winds up the history. Remember the centers: First center, Jerusalem; second center, Antioch; third center, Jerusalem, and fourth center, Rome.<\/p>\n

Saul did not commence preaching at Damascus immediately after his conversion because he had nothing to preach. He had not yet received the gospel. A man cannot by sudden wrench turn from propagating the Pharisee persecution to propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ. He must have the gospel first, and must receive it direct from the Lord. After you take up the New Testament passages showing how he received the gospel, you will see that he did not receive it while at Damascus. Indeed, we have the most positive proof that he did not receive it there.<\/p>\n

But why did he go into Arabia, where in Arabia, and how long there? Being willing to accept Christ as his Saviour, he needs time for adjustment. He needs retirement. He needs, like every preacher needs after conversion, his preparation to preach and to know what to preach. He went into Arabia for this purpose, and, of course, Arabia here means the Sinaitic Peninsula, or Mount Sinai. Up to his conversion he had been preaching Moses and the law given on Mount Sinai. Now he goes into Arabia to Mount Sinai, the very place where God gave the law to Moses, to study the law and the gospel, and comes back to us, having received of the Lord the gospel as explained in Galatians.<\/p>\n

There are some analogous cases. The other apostles had to have three years of preparation, and under the same teacher, Jesus. They would have done very poor preaching if they had started immediately after their conversion. Jesus kept them right there, and trained them for three years. Now Paul commences with the three years’ training, and he goes to Arabia and receives the three years’ preparation under the same teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He not only knows the facts of the gospel as we know them from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but as one that was there right at the time, and he gets it firsthand from the Lord Jesus Christ himself telling him all the important facts bearing upon the remaining of the incarnation of Jesus, where he came from in coming to the earth, how much he stooped, what the coming signified, of his death, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension. We get the harmony of the gospel by studying the books, but he did not get it as we do, but by direct revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ. He introduces a statement concerning the revelation that he received, and he is careful to tell the Corinthian church how that Christ died, was buried, and rose again in three days. It took three years and a half in the analogous cases of other apostles.<\/p>\n

Elijah went into Arabia and into this very mountain when he was perplexed; and there came an earthquake, and God was not in the earthquake; and there came a fire, and God was not in the fire, but there came a still, small voice showing Elijah what he must do. Take the case of Moses when the revelation was made to him that he was to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians. God told him the methods and the means and sent him into the same Sinaitic Peninsula. He stayed there forty years in study and preparation, and then delivered Israel.<\/p>\n

John the Baptist remained in the wilderness thirty years in order to preach six months. Neither did Jesus open his mouth to preach a sermon until after his baptism, and was led into the wilderness and tempted of the devil, and then came back and immediately commenced to preach. More hurtful mistakes are made by unprepared people taking hold of the Scriptures than in any other way. A certain colonel, when asked by a zealous young preacher, “Well, colonel, what do you think of my sermon,” answered, “Zealous, but weak.”<\/p>\n

We have only to read Gal 4<\/span> to see the significance of Sinai and Jerusalem, which shows the revolutions which took place in his mind while he was in Arabia. If the apostle Paul had not gone into Arabia, but had been sent to Judea under the old covenant, which is Jerusalem, as Jerusalem now is, the Christian world would have been a Jewish sect. You have only to read to see how certain of the apostles clung to the forms and customs of the Jewish law and claimed that one could not be a Christian without becoming a Jew and being circumcised. What would have been the effect if God had not selected this great life and revealed to him the ministry of the gospel that had been rejected by the Jews and given to the Gentiles, so that foreigners and aliens might become citizens and saints? For a more elaborate discussion of this subject see the author’s sermon on the Arabian visit.<\/p>\n

Just before the ministry at Damascus he went into Arabia and returned. He was in Arabia over two, perhaps three years. As he stayed about three years before he went back to Jerusalem, his ministry was not very long in Damascus. The record says, “straightway in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus,” etc. What kind of sermons did they have? The Jews over at Damascus that were still holding to the Mosaic law could not yet understand this revolutionary preaching, and right there at Damascus, he received one of the five Jewish scourgings that are mentioned in 2 Corinthians, which gives a list of the number of times he received the forty stripes save one, and the number of times beaten with the Roman rods, and the number of times scourged with the Jewish scourge. Finding the scourging was not sufficient, they laid a plot against him. They conspired and set a watch at every gate all around the city to kill him. The walls at Damascus have houses built on them, as you can see to this day. They put him in a basket and from a window in the upper story they letrbim down by the wall. Aretas was king of Damascus at this time) and he stationed soldiers at every gate to keep watch, and while they were watching the gates, Paul escaped from the window in an upper story, as given in the thrilling account of 2Co 11:32-33<\/span> . Also Luke gives the account, saying that the brethren let him down in a basket by the wall. Now he being let down, started to Jerusalem. Three years have elapsed since he left there, a persecutor, and he returns now a preacher of the Lord Jesus Christ. That presents this connected account.<\/p>\n

But why did he want to go to Jerusalem to see Peter? Commentaries say he wanted to get information from Peter; Catholics say that Peter was Pope. Whatever he wanted to get, I think he derived nothing from Peter. When he came there they expressed distrust of him. If he had commenced to preach at Damascus “straightway” after his conversion, in three years’ time some notice would have gotten to Jerusalem, and there would not have been this distrust when he got there. Only one had heard of this change and his beginning to preach, and that was Barnabas, of the Jewish church. When Barnabas related Paul’s experience, they received him and he went in and out among them. But he was there only two weeks.<\/p>\n

He commenced immediately to preach to the Grecians, and it stirred up the people as it did at Damascus, and they were so intensely stirred that they laid a plan to kill him. So he left, and there are two reasons for his leaving. When the brethren saw the Jews were about to kill him, they sent him to Caesarea and over to Tarsus. That is one of the reasons for his leaving. Paul gives an entirely different reason. He says, “And it came to pass when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the Temple, I was in a trance, and Jesus came unto me saying, Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. Get thee far hence and preach to the Gentiles,” and he, therefore, went.<\/p>\n

Here was the Cilician ministry, its sufferings and its revelations. He was over there five years, and some of the sufferings enumerated in 1 Corinthians II are bound to have occurred in that period; some of the shipwrecks, some of the scourges, some of these stonings. In 2Co 12<\/span> he says, “I knew a man in Christ, fourteen years ago,” so if you drop back fourteen years you find yourself there with Paul in Cilicia. In 2Co 12:1-4<\/span> we find the revelations that occurred there. One of the revelations there was that marvelous revelation that he received (2Co 12:4<\/span> ): “How that he was caught up into Paradise.” Here the question arises, Was it in this tour that he preached on the coasts of Judea? In Acts he seems to say that he preached at Damascus first and then at Jerusalem, and in Cilicia, and on the coasts of Judea. We have no history of his preaching on the Judean coasts beyond his statement, and if he did not preach on the coasts of Judea at that time, when do we find a period in his life before that where he could have preached on the Judean coasts? On his way to the Jerusalem conference. Therefore, he says, “While I was in Cilicia, and the five years I was at Tarsus, and just a little way from Tarsus on the Judean coasts.”<\/p>\n

Let us consider the Antioch ministry. The record says Barnabas had gone to Tarsus in order to find Saul and bring him back with him, and that Barnabas and Saul preached a year at Antioch. A great many were brought into the church. It was the first time in the world where Jew and Gentile were in the same church together, socially, eating and drinking with each other. But Paul now makes his second visit to Jerusalem. The last of chapter II tells us that Agabus, one of the prophets, foretold a drought in Judea, and Paul and Barnabas took a collection over to them. Later, when Paul is making his last visit to Jerusalem, Agabus meets him and gives that remarkable prophecy which we find in Act 21<\/span> , about what would happen to Paul if he went to Jerusalem, he having received the revelation from the Holy Spirit. But the condition of Jerusalem when he arrived was awful. Herod, as we find in Act 12<\/span> , was persecuting the church, and had killed James and imprisoned Peter. Paul comes just at that time. On his return to Antioch he finds a new companion, Mark.<\/p>\n

The Romanists place here Peter’s first visit to Rome. They take two passages of scripture, one Act 2<\/span> , where Peter visits all parts, and they say when he left Jerusalem this time he went to Rome, and got back to Jerusalem in time for that big council in Act 15<\/span> . So far as Bible history goes, there is not a bit of testimony that Peter ever saw Rome. I think he did, but we do not get it from the Bible.<\/p>\n

Here arises another question, Did the shock of our Lord’s appearance to Saul on the way to Damascus, likely injure him physically in a permanent way, and permanently affect his sensibilities? My opinion is that it did. He was never a strong man after that. His eyes always gave him trouble. Though the scales fell from his eyes, and he was not entirely blind, his eyes were weak, and he had to grope his way in walking. There are two pictures of Paul which greatly contrast his physical appearance. Raphael gives us a famous cartoon of Paul at Athens, and one of the most famous pictures of the great apostle. We find a copy of it in most Bible illustrations, certainly in any Roman Catholic Bible. Another picture is by the artist, Albrecht Durer. It is called a medallion, a carved picture, and it presents a little, ugly, weak, bald-headed, blear-eyed Jew. Durer’s picture is the one that fits Paul’s account of himself, and not Raphael’s.<\/p>\n

I here commend, in addition to Conybeare and Howson’s Life of Paul<\/em><\/strong> and Farrar’s History<\/em><\/strong> , Lightfoot on Galatians.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS<\/strong> 1. What is the theme of this section?<\/p>\n

2. What is the scriptures?<\/p>\n

3. What is the time covered by this period?<\/p>\n

4. What two scriptures must here be reconciled?<\/p>\n

5. What is the problem here?<\/p>\n

6. What is the Hackett view of it?<\/p>\n

7. What is the real solution of it?<\/p>\n

8. Show how the scriptures are made to fit this scheme.<\/p>\n

9. How may we show the harmony of these scriptures?<\/p>\n

10. What is the value of this harmony?<\/p>\n

11. Why did not Saul commence preaching at Damascus immediately after his conversion?<\/p>\n

12.Why did he go into Arabia, where in Arabia, & how long there?<\/p>\n

13. What are the analogous cases cited?<\/p>\n

14.What was the added value of this preparation to Saul?<\/p>\n

15.What sermon commended in this connection & have you read it?<\/p>\n

16. Describe the ministry at Damascus.<\/p>\n

17. Why did he want to go to Jerusalem to see Peter?<\/p>\n

18. Explain the distrust there & its bearing on preceding question.<\/p>\n

19. How long was he there?<\/p>\n

20. What of his ministry while there?<\/p>\n

21. What two reasons for his leaving?<\/p>\n

22. How long was the Cilician ministry, and what its sufferings and its revelations?<\/p>\n

23. Was it in this tour that be preached on the coasts of Judea?<\/p>\n

24. Describe the Antioch ministry, and how long was it?<\/p>\n

25. What carried Paul on his second visit to Jerusalem, and when does Agabus again appear in this history?<\/p>\n

26. What was the condition of Jerusalem when he arrived?<\/p>\n

27. Where do the Romanists place Peter’s first visit to Rome?<\/p>\n

28. On Paul’s return to Antioch, what new companion had he?<\/p>\n

29. Did the shock of our Lord’s appearance, to Saul on the way to Damascus likely injure him physically in a permanent way, and permanently affect his sensibilities?<\/p>\n

30. What two pictures of Paul greatly contrast his physical appearance, and which is most likely true to nature?<\/p>\n

31. What special authority on this period, in addition to Conybeare and Howson, and Farrar’s History, commended?<\/p>\n

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am<\/em> more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ver. 23. In labours more abundant<\/strong> ] Chrysostom calleth Paul, Insatiabilem Dei cultorem, <\/em> an unweariable servant of God. <\/p>\n

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

23.<\/strong> ] Meyer remarks, that all three points of Judaistic comparison, of so little real consequence in the matter, were dismissed with the short and contemptuous , ‘ that am I too<\/em> .’ But that is not enough, now that we are come to the great<\/em> point ot comparison; the consciousness of his real standing, and their nullity as ministers of Christ requires the , and the holy earnestness of this consciousness pours itself forth as a stream over the adversaries, so as to overwhelm their conceited aspirations to apostolic dignity.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> . <\/strong> <\/strong> .] stronger than . : I say it as a madman<\/strong> . Hardly, as Meyer, spoken from a consciousness of the verdict which the opponents would pronounce on this , but rather, as De W., from a deep sense of his own unworthiness, and conscious how utterly untrue was <\/strong> , in any boasting sense. He therefore repudiates it even more strongly than the .<\/p>\n

<\/strong> must not be misunderstood. He concedes<\/em> to them their being . ., and assumes ( ) for himself, something more<\/em> , if more abundant labours and sufferings are to be any criterion of the matter. That this is the sense is obvious from the comparison being in the amount<\/em> of labours and sufferings, and not (as Meyer), that he denies to them the . . and merely puts it hypothetically. ‘Well, then, if they<\/em> are to be considered . ., I<\/em> must be something more<\/em> .’ If so, the comparison would be not in the degree<\/em> of ministerial self-sacrifice, but in the credentials of the ministry itself. Both<\/em> are now assumed to be ministers: but if so, Paul is a minister in a much higher degree, more faithful, more self-denying, richer in gifts and divine tokens, than they. The preposition is used adverbially, see reff.<\/p>\n

<\/strong> .] By<\/strong> (the is instrumental [ in<\/strong> (the matter of) or, by<\/strong> (virtue of)]: the direct dative is adopted 2Co 11:26<\/span> : these facts are proofs of the<\/em> <\/strong> , not as Estius, al., parallel with it<\/em> , which would only apply to the comparatives and not to ) labours<\/strong> (occurring) more abundantly<\/strong> (the adverbs belong to the substantives in each case and are used adjectively; so , Gal 1:13<\/span> ; , Php 1:26 ), by prisons<\/strong> (imprisonments) more abundantly<\/strong> (but one<\/em> such is mentioned in the Acts (Act 16:23<\/span> ff.) previous to the writing of this Epistle.<\/p>\n

Clement, in the celebrated passage of his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians (c. v. p. 220) on the labours of Paul, describes him as . This whole catalogue should shew the chronologists of the Apostle’s life and epistles how exceedingly unsafe it is to build only<\/em> on the history in the Acts for a complete account of his journeys and voyages), by stripes more exceedingly<\/strong> (particularized below), by deaths often<\/strong> (see reff. and ch. 2Co 4:10<\/span> . Such was the danger escaped at Damascus, Act 9:23<\/span> , at Antioch in Pisidia, Act 13:50<\/span> , at Iconium, Act 14:5-6<\/span> , at Lystra, ib. 19, at Philippi, 16, at Thessalonica, Act 17:5<\/span> f., at Bera, ib. 13, and doubtless many others of which we know nothing. See below).<\/p>\n

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2Co 11:23<\/span> . . . . .: are they Christ’s ministers?<\/em> (as they specially claimed to be; cf.<\/em> 2Co 10:7<\/span> ) I speak as one beside himself<\/em> ( sc.<\/em> , as if he would say “this is mad boasting indeed; for what office can<\/em> be higher than this?”); I am more, i.e.<\/em> , I am that in a higher degree than they ( being used adverbially), as is proved by my trials in the service of the Gospel. The summary which follows is of deep interest for the student of St. Paul’s life; he goes into more definite detail than elsewhere ( cf.<\/em> 1Co 4:11-13<\/span> , chap. 2Co 4:7-10<\/span> , 2Co 6:4-10<\/span> ), and gives us a more vivid picture of his extraordinary labours than would be possible to form from the narrative in the Acts<\/em> alone. It will be remembered that his missionary career lasted for ten or eleven years after this Epistle was written, and that therefore we cannot regard these verses as giving us a complete<\/em> list of his trials. . . .: in labours more abundantly, sc.<\/em> , than they ( cf.<\/em> 1Co 15:10<\/span> ), in prisons more abundantly<\/em> (up to this point in his life we only know of one imprisonment, viz.<\/em> , at Philippi, Act 16:23<\/span> , but there must have been others; cf.<\/em> Rom 16:7<\/span> , where he speaks of Andronicus and Junias as having been his “fellow-prisoners” on some occasion to which no other allusion had been preserved. Afterwards we read of his being imprisoned at Jerusalem (Act 21:33<\/span> ), at Csarea (Act 23:35<\/span> ) and at Rome (Act 28:30<\/span> ), besides which the evidence of the Pastoral Epistles gives another Roman imprisonment. Clement of Rome ( 5) speaks of St. Paul as seven<\/em> times in bonds; cf.<\/em> 2Co 6:5<\/span> above), in stripes above measure<\/em> , details of which are given in the following verses ( cf.<\/em> Act 21:32<\/span> ), in deaths oft, i.e.<\/em> , in frequent perils of death ( cf.<\/em> Act 9:23<\/span> ; Act 14:19<\/span> , etc., and chaps. 2Co 1:10<\/span> , 2Co 6:9<\/span> ).<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

as a fool = being beside myself. Greek. paraphroneo. Compare 2Pe 2:15 (madness). <\/p>\n

more. Greek. huper (App-104., here used adverbially). The Ellipsis of any object adds emphasis. <\/p>\n

labours. Greek kopos. See 2Co 11:27. <\/p>\n

more abundant. See 2Co 1:12. <\/p>\n

above measure. Greek huperballontos. Only here. Compare 2Co 3:10 (excel). See Act 16:23. <\/p>\n

more frequent. Same as “more abundant”, above. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

23.] Meyer remarks, that all three points of Judaistic comparison, of so little real consequence in the matter, were dismissed with the short and contemptuous ,-that am I too. But that is not enough, now that we are come to the great point ot comparison; the consciousness of his real standing, and their nullity as ministers of Christ requires the , and the holy earnestness of this consciousness pours itself forth as a stream over the adversaries, so as to overwhelm their conceited aspirations to apostolic dignity.<\/p>\n

. .] stronger than . :-I say it as a madman. Hardly, as Meyer, spoken from a consciousness of the verdict which the opponents would pronounce on this ,-but rather, as De W., from a deep sense of his own unworthiness, and conscious how utterly untrue was , in any boasting sense. He therefore repudiates it even more strongly than the .<\/p>\n

must not be misunderstood. He concedes to them their being . ., and assumes () for himself, something more, if more abundant labours and sufferings are to be any criterion of the matter. That this is the sense is obvious from the comparison being in the amount of labours and sufferings,-and not (as Meyer), that he denies to them the . . and merely puts it hypothetically. Well, then, if they are to be considered . ., I must be something more. If so, the comparison would be not in the degree of ministerial self-sacrifice, but in the credentials of the ministry itself. Both are now assumed to be ministers: but if so, Paul is a minister in a much higher degree, more faithful, more self-denying, richer in gifts and divine tokens, than they. The preposition is used adverbially, see reff.<\/p>\n

.] By (the is instrumental [in (the matter of) or, by (virtue of)]:-the direct dative is adopted 2Co 11:26 :-these facts are proofs of the ,-not as Estius, al., parallel with it, which would only apply to the comparatives and not to ) labours (occurring) more abundantly (the adverbs belong to the substantives in each case and are used adjectively; so , Gal 1:13; , Php 1:26),-by prisons (imprisonments) more abundantly (but one such is mentioned in the Acts (Act 16:23 ff.) previous to the writing of this Epistle.<\/p>\n

Clement, in the celebrated passage of his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians (c. v. p. 220) on the labours of Paul, describes him as . This whole catalogue should shew the chronologists of the Apostles life and epistles how exceedingly unsafe it is to build only on the history in the Acts for a complete account of his journeys and voyages), by stripes more exceedingly (particularized below), by deaths often (see reff. and ch. 2Co 4:10. Such was the danger escaped at Damascus, Act 9:23, at Antioch in Pisidia, Act 13:50, at Iconium, Act 14:5-6, at Lystra, ib. 19, at Philippi, 16, at Thessalonica, Act 17:5 f., at Bera, ib. 13, and doubtless many others of which we know nothing. See below).<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2Co 11:23. , ministers) outwardly.[80]- , I speak as a fool) Paul wrote these things, while he constantly laboured to deny himself.-) above, [I am] more than they. The more a man suffers, the more he ministers.-, more abundantly) The false apostles had also experienced labours and imprisonments, but in a less degree, the other hardships were peculiar to Paul.<\/p>\n

[80] And yet there was no need of this distinction, if the Critical Note on this passage be compared: It is a question; for he affirms, that they were not the ministers of Christ, 2Co 11:15. The Germ. Ver. agrees with this.-E. B.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2Co 11:23<\/p>\n

2Co 11:23 <\/p>\n

Are they ministers of Christ?-They called themselves apostles and ministers; but Paul called them false apostles and ministers of Satan. [This defines fairly accurately who they were. They claimed to be more genuinely ministers of Christ than Paul. That is, they were Judaizers seeking to ground all Christian faith, first of all in Jewish form and ceremony.]<\/p>\n

(I speak as one beside himself)-[This is a strong expression, and is said out of the consciousness of ill desert and utter insufficiency. Feeling himself to be in himself both impotent and unworthy, this self-laudation, though having reference only to his infirmities and to what God had done in him and by him, was in the highest degree painful and humiliating to him.]<\/p>\n

I more;-He claimed to be something beyond the ordinary servant of Christ. [This is the frantic boast which he proceeds to justify in a fragment of biography which must ever be accounted as the most remarkable and unique in the worlds history.]<\/p>\n

in labors more abundantly,-More abundant in labors necessary to propagate the gospel and more indefatigable in it. [The comparison between himself and them were reference to these conclusively shows how far they were from being ministers of Christ. They did not labor, but claimed the fruits of his labor. (2Co 10:15-16). But comparison, in fact, was out of the question-the sufferings of Paul in laboring for the advancement of the cause of Christ were unparalleled and alone. The few lines he devotes to them are the most vivid light on the apostolic age and the apostolic career.]<\/p>\n

in prisons more abundantly,-[Luke mentions only one imprisonment of Paul before this time. That was at Philippi. (Act 16:23-39). But we must remember that many things which actually occurred were omitted by Luke. He does not profess to give an account of all that happened to Paul.]<\/p>\n

in stripes above measure,-[This probably refers to scourgings inflicted by the heathen, which were not limited to forty stripes save one to which the Jews were restricted.]<\/p>\n

in deaths oft.-He suffered as though he died, for we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh (2Co 4:11). No one familiar with his life can doubt that he was often in danger of death. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

ministers: 2Co 3:6, 2Co 6:4, 1Co 3:5, 1Co 4:1, 1Th 3:2, 1Ti 4:6 <\/p>\n

I am: 2Co 11:5, 2Co 12:11, 2Co 12:12 <\/p>\n

in labours: 1Co 15:10, Col 1:29 <\/p>\n

in stripes: 2Co 11:24, 2Co 11:25, 2Co 6:4, 2Co 6:5, Act 9:16 <\/p>\n

in prisons: Act 9:16, Act 16:24, Act 20:23, Act 21:11, Act 24:26, Act 24:27, Act 25:14, Act 27:1, Act 28:16, Act 28:30, Eph 3:1, Eph 4:1, Eph 6:20, Phi 1:13, 2Ti 1:8, 2Ti 1:16, 2Ti 2:9, Phm 1:9, Heb 10:34 <\/p>\n

in deaths: 2Co 1:9, 2Co 1:10, 2Co 4:11, 2Co 6:9, Act 14:19, 1Co 15:30-32, Phi 2:17, Col 1:24 <\/p>\n

Reciprocal: 2Ch 18:26 – Put Psa 34:19 – Many Psa 71:20 – which Psa 119:109 – My soul Pro 24:16 – a just Isa 61:6 – named Jer 36:5 – General Jer 37:15 – the princes Joe 1:13 – ye ministers Mat 20:12 – borne Mat 20:27 – whosoever Mat 23:11 – General Mar 10:26 – out Mar 13:9 – take Luk 6:22 – when men Act 5:18 – General Act 15:26 – hazarded Act 16:22 – the magistrates Act 20:19 – temptations Act 21:13 – for Act 21:31 – as Act 26:17 – Delivering Rom 5:3 – but we Rom 8:35 – shall tribulation Rom 15:16 – I should Rom 16:7 – kinsmen 1Co 4:11 – and are buffeted 1Co 10:13 – hath 1Co 15:31 – die 2Co 1:5 – as 2Co 4:8 – troubled 2Co 4:17 – our 2Co 7:5 – our 2Co 10:7 – even 2Co 11:15 – the ministers 2Co 11:21 – I speak 2Co 11:27 – weariness 2Co 11:28 – those 2Co 12:10 – in infirmities Gal 5:11 – why Gal 6:17 – I bear Phi 3:8 – for whom Col 1:7 – a Col 1:23 – whereof 1Th 3:7 – in all 1Th 5:12 – labour 1Ti 4:10 – therefore 2Ti 3:11 – Persecutions Heb 11:36 – bonds Heb 11:37 – being destitute 1Pe 1:6 – manifold Rev 2:3 – hast laboured<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

PAULS SUFFERINGS<\/p>\n

In labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.<\/p>\n

2Co 11:23<\/p>\n

The world now knows for what principles the great Apostle of the Gentiles suffered; but he was regarded by his contemporaries as a subverter of ancient customs, as a bringer-in of strange doctrines, as one who was turning the world upside down.<\/p>\n

I. What was St. Pauls object in recounting these labours and trials of his?We are sure that it was in no spirit of boasting. Self-assertion or even self-vindication must have been painful to a mind like his. It was simply to vindicate his Masters cause, and his own right to represent that cause. There were those who had disputed his claim because he had not been originally called by the Master Himself. He had to show what were the real tokens of the Divine acceptance. They were not such as would dazzle the world. The world was not to be won to the cause of the Crucified by human learning, grace, or eloquence. But the world was to be won by suffering. The Saviour Whom St. Paul preached was a crucified Saviour, the glory in which St. Paul gloried was in the Cross. And it was by suffering that the world was won to the cause of Christ.<\/p>\n

II. Several lessons may be drawn from St. Pauls recounting of his sufferings.<\/p>\n

(a) The sure triumphs of truth.<\/p>\n

(b) The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.<\/p>\n

(c) The impulse which he gave for sending forth holy men who are even now winning over the heathen for the Redeemers inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. And not by his example only, but by his writings.<\/p>\n

III. May the example of him who was in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft, rebuke the easy self-indulgence of our times. May the contemplation of the life of the great Apostle show us what are the true signs and tokens of Gods acceptance. May the meditation on his writings convince us of the truth for which he was called on both to do and to suffer. Days of persecution may yet be in store for us; how should we endure them? Dare we suffer as well as do for Christs sake?<\/p>\n

Illustration<\/p>\n

St. Chrysostom beautifully says: The Apostle endured shipwreck, but in those sufferings he stayed the shipwreck of the world. A night and day he was in the depth of the sea that he might draw mankind from the depth of that error in which they lay. He suffered weariness that he might refresh the weary. He gave his back to the smiters that he might bind up the wounds of those who had been wounded by the devil. He went down to prison that he might lead forth the captives of sin lying bound in their prison-house and restore those to light who lay in darkness. He was in death oft that he might deliver his brethren from more grievous death. Three times he received forty stripes, save one, that he might free those who persecuted him from the scourge of the devil. He was beaten with rods that he might make them know the blessing of that rod and staff by which man is comforted. He was stoned that he might lead them to prefer the Bread of Life to senseless stonesthe idols to which they had been long time subject. He was in the wilderness that he might lead them out of their wanderings in the ways of error and in the wilderness of sin, and might lead them to heaven. He was in perils in the city that he might show them that City which is above, and make them citizens of the New Jerusalem. He suffered in hunger and thirst to deliver them from the hunger of the soul, and to satisfy their thirst for the waters which fail not. He endured nakedness in order that they might be clothed with the robe of righteousness. He burned that he might quench for them the fiery darts of the devil. The martyr dies but once; but this blessed saint, the chosen vessel of the Lord, endured countless troubles that he might win souls to Christ. (St. Chrysostom on the Priesthood.)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2Co 11:23. See the comments on verse 1 for the sense in which he speaks as a fool, also those on verse 21 for the relation between the weaknesses of which he boasted, and the services he was rendering to Christ in spite of those supposed defects. Paul was more of a minister (servant) than his critics, and he specifies a number of facts as proof. His labors were more in that he carried the Gospel to a multitude of countries, whereas his objectors were located around Corinth. The stripes will be noticed at verses 24 and and 25. Acts 16 gives an account of one imprisonment, but secular history relates a great many times at which Paul was placed in prison because of his work for Christ. In deaths oft is figurative, meaning he was frequently in danger of death. (See 1Co 15:30-32.)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2Co 11:23. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more. Be it so that his opponents are ministers of Christ, but at least he himself will claim to be one, and a great deal more, referring to the labours and sufferings which he is now to detail, exceeding that (perhaps) of all the other apostles together,<\/p>\n

in labours more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly.[1] Clement, in his (First) Epistle to the Corinthians (5), referring to the labours of our apostle, says: under-going imprisonment seven times. But since the imprisonment at Philippi (Act 16:24) is the only one recorded before the date of this Epistle, Clement, says Lightfoot (p. 48, note 3), must have derived his more precise information from some other source,<\/p>\n

[1] This clause, which in the received text comes after the next one, precedes it in the best text.<\/p>\n

in stripes more abundantlyreferred to before (2Co 6:5), and particularized in the next two verses,<\/p>\n

in deaths ofthairbreadth escapes from it: compare 2Co 4:11, always delivered unto death for Jesus sake, and see Rom. 16:34. Of such narrow escapes the apostles life was full.<\/p>\n

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Verse 23<\/strong> <\/strong> In Christianity, he was their superior. They might claim he was mad for making such a statement and he admits it. While they lived off of another man’s labors ( 2Co 10:15-16 ), he excelled in real labor. As proof of his labor, he lists sufferings and not accomplishments. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

2Co 11:23-25. Are they ministers of Christ? St. Paul does not compare himself with the false teachers as an apostle, but as a minister of Christ simply. And to show how much he exceeded them in that inferior character, he mentions his labours in the ministry, and his sufferings undergone in his many journeys and voyages, for the sake of spreading the gospel. And from his account it appears, that none of the heroes of antiquity, however vehemently actuated by the love of fame, or of military glory or power, either did or suffered as much in the pursuit of their objects, as the Apostle Paul did and suffered for Christ and his gospel. I am more so than they; in labours more abundant Sustained for a long series of years; in stripes above measure All endured for Christ and his cause. In prisons more frequent In the narrative of Pauls travels and sufferings, contained in the Acts, we only read of his being imprisoned once, before this epistle was written, namely, at Philippi. But doubtless many particulars of his life, besides the imprisonments here referred to, were omitted in that history, for the sake of brevity. In deaths oft Surrounding me in the most dreadful forms. Of the Jews five times received I In their synagogues, and before their courts of judgment; forty stripes, save one According to the law, punishment by stripes was restricted to forty, at one beating, Deu 25:3; but the whip with which these stripes were given, consisting of three separate cords, and each stroke being counted as three stripes, thirteen strokes made thirty-nine stripes, beyond which they never went. See Whitby. As the apostle, before his conversion, had been very active in inflicting this punishment on the disciples of Christ, he could not complain when he himself was treated in the same manner by the zealots for the law. Thrice was I beaten with rods By the Roman lictors or beadles, at the command of their superior magistrates. In his history, contained in the Acts, we find no mention made of his being punished with stripes, and only one instance occurs there of his being beaten with rods. See the margin. Once was I stoned Namely, at Lystra, at which time he was left for dead. Thrice I suffered shipwreck Before his voyage to Rome, in which he was shipwrecked at Malta; of these we have no account in the Acts. A night and a day I have been in the deep Probably floating on some part of a shipwrecked vessel, by which, possibly, he escaped to shore. This, it is likely, happened in one of the three shipwrecks mentioned in the preceding clause.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly [1Co 15:10], in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft. [1Co 15:31 . On Jewish grounds Paul claimed equality, but as a minister of Christ, superiority. Knowing that his enemies would say that it accorded with his general insanity to thus assert his superiority, he ironically admits his madness in thus asserting that his ministerial labors exceeded those of his easy-living adversaries–theirs being in fact no labor at all, but rather an effort to steal the credit of his labors. This verse gives the general bodily distresses endured, while the next three tell of special cases. According to Acts, Paul had, up to this date, been imprisoned but once, and was afterwards imprisoned thrice. Clement of Rome, who wrote toward the close of the first century, says that Paul was imprisoned seven times. Paul’s life for long periods was hourly exposed to death (Act 9:23; Act 13:50; Act 14:5-6; Act 14:19; Act 17:5; Act 17:13); but the best comment on this expression is the catalogue of sufferings which follow.] <\/p>\n

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Verse 23 <\/p>\n

Above measure; above the measure of such sufferings inflicted upon them.–In deaths; in imminent exposure to death.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I [am] {n} more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in {o} deaths oft.<\/p>\n

(n) Paul being honourable indeed, defends his ministry openly, not for his own sake, but because he saw his doctrine come into danger.<\/p>\n

(o) In danger of present death.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The apostle listed general afflictions he had suffered in the service of Christ (2Co 11:23) and then cited specific examples (2Co 11:24-25). He turned from nationality (2Co 11:23) to achievements (2Co 11:24-29). Here he claimed superiority to his critics, not just equality with them. He proceeded from speaking as a fool (2Co 11:16-17; 2Co 11:21) to talking like a madman (2Co 11:23).<\/p>\n

His opponents claimed to be servants of Christ (2Co 11:23), but really they were masquerading as such (2Co 11:13). Paul alone was the true servant of the Lord. However instead of citing successes that he had experienced in his ministry, the awards that he had received from others, he listed his apparent defeats. Thus he boasted in his weaknesses (2Co 11:30; cf. 2Co 12:5; cf. 2Co 12:9-10).<\/p>\n

". . . Paul is not in fact magnifying self in the passage which is now beginning-in this, too, there is complete disparity between himself and his adversaries-but he is magnifying, as he does throughout this epistle, the amazing grace of God which in the midst of afflictions and sufferings is sufficient for his every need." [Note: Hughes, p. 406.] <\/span><\/p>\n

Paul’s writing of 2 Corinthians fits into Luke’s chronology of his life at Act 20:2, so everything that Paul described here occurred before Act 20:2. Paul’s life involved many more dangerous experiences than we read about in Acts. Paul referred to many imprisonments (2Co 11:23), but Acts only records one before this time (i.e., in Philippi, Act 16:23-40).<\/p>\n

"Prison (cf. Act 16:23) was merely detention until trial or execution, but having been in prison and bonds were matters of grave shame in the culture-not a typical subject of boasting!" [Note: Keener, p. 234.] <\/span><\/p>\n

The apostle mentioned numberless beatings (2Co 11:23), whereas Acts only records one by now (also in Philippi, Act 16:22-23). The only record of a near fatal experience in Acts before this was Paul’s stoning at Lystra (Act 14:19), though Paul said he had often been in danger of dying (2Co 11:23). Paul claimed to have received whippings by the Jews five times (2Co 11:24), but Acts says nothing about any of these. It does not mention the three beatings (by the Gentiles, 2Co 11:25; cf. 2Ti 3:11) either.<\/p>\n

"The fact that St Paul was thrice treated in this way is evidence that being a Roman citizen was an imperfect protection when magistrates were disposed to be brutal." [Note: Plummer, p. 325.] <\/span><\/p>\n

Paul had already experienced shipwreck three times by now, though Luke recorded none of these in Acts. Paul’s night and day in the sea (2Co 11:26) also comes as news to the reader of Acts.<\/p>\n

"Ancient sources suggest that shipwreck was a common experience for those who spent much time on the sea (cf. Ps.-Phoc.25), especially if they traveled even during the more dangerous seasons. Some would view surviving them (especially multiple times), however, as divine protection or even vindication." [Note: Keener, p. 234.] <\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously in Acts Luke gave us only a highly selective account of the Apostle Paul’s very difficult life.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are they ministers of Christ? I (speak as a fool) I [am] more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 23. Are they ministers of Christ?] St Paul here cannot be content with the simple ‘so am I.’ These men (see ch. 2Co 10:7; 1Co 1:10) claimed … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 11:23”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}