27. in weariness and painfulness] In laboure and travayle<\/em> (Tyndale), more literally. So Cranmer also. Our translators followed the Geneva version. Cf. 2Th 3:8<\/span>, where the words in the Greek are the same as here.<\/p>\n in watchings<\/em> ] Literally, in sleeplessnesses<\/strong>, i.e. in repeated nights of sleeplessness, whether from anxiety or other causes.<\/p>\n in hunger and thirst<\/em> ] Cf. 1Co 4:11<\/span>; Php 4:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n in fastings often<\/em> ] “Voluntary ones, as he has before spoken of hunger and want.” Calvin. Cf. ch. 2Co 6:5<\/span>.<\/p>\n in cold and nakedness<\/em> ] Dr Plumptre reminds us of the sharp contrast between this view of the greatness of a teacher and that current among the Jews, who had a proverb that “a goodly house, a fair wife, and a soft couch” were the prerogatives of the “disciples of the wise.” He refers to Mat 23:6<\/span>. See also Mat 8:20<\/span>.<\/p>\n In weariness – <\/B>Resulting from traveling, exposure, labor, and want. The word <\/SPAN><\/span> kopos (from <\/SPAN><\/span> kopto, to beat, to cut) means, properly, wailing and grief, accompanied with beating the breast. Hence, the word means toil, labor, wearisome effort.<\/P> And painfulness – <\/B>This word (<\/SPAN><\/span> mochthos) is a stronger term than the former. It implies painful effort; labor producing sorrow, and in the New Testament is uniformly connected with the word rendered weariness (1 Thess, 2Co 2:9<\/span>; 2Th 3:8<\/span>), rendered in both those places travail.<\/P> In watchings often – <\/B>In loss of sleep, arising from abundant toils and from danger; see the note on 2Co 6:5<\/span>.<\/P> In hunger and thirst – <\/B>From traveling among strangers, and being dependent on them and on his own personal labors; see the note, 1Co 4:11<\/span>.<\/P> In fastings often – <\/B>Either voluntary or involuntary; see the note on 2Co 6:5<\/span>.<\/P> In cold and nakedness – <\/B>see the note, 1Co 4:11<\/span>.<\/P><\/p>\n 2Co 11:27-29<\/span><\/p>\n In weariness.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The weariness of life<\/strong><\/p>\n Weariness means to wear away the nervous sensibilities. Paul felt this. It is not lassitude which comes from indifference, but the exhaustion felt by the earnest and faithful soul. Let us thank God for restorative power. In nature how blessed this is! So with grace!<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The roots are so hidden. Like some garden weeds have roots that never seem uprooted, long white threads that interlace the earth and strangle other plants.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The battle is so varied. Like Stanleys passage of the Falls, enemies on both banks and on the island, mid-stream.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The avengements are so real. There is no escaping the voice! Thou art the man. And the soul cannot pretend not to hear. But think of this same Paul. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The answer is–Christ. More than conquerors!<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Round of same duties without a goal.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Growth a mockery merging into weakness.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Health into pain. Vision into dimness. Thought into blank!<\/p>\n Beside the care of all the Churches.<\/strong>—<\/p>\n Anxiety of the Churches<\/strong><\/p>\n The word care is anxiety–the same word by which Christ (Luk 8:4-15<\/span>) designates one of the three influences by which the good seed is stifled. St. Paul speaks here of it in the list of sufferings for Christs sake. That anxiety which our Lord reproved (Mat 6:25<\/span>, etc.; Luk 10:41<\/span>) has a namesake among the graces. St. Paul, who says (Php 4:6<\/span>), Be anxious about nothing, mentions this without apology as his daily experience. Just in proportion to the meanness of the one is the dignity of the other. The anxieties which choke the Word are commonly as selfish as they are earthly; those of which Paul was here capable are elevating, and, so far from choking the Word, grow out of it. Notice, respecting this care of all the Churches–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>As regards his government of the Churches, with what eagerness both of authority and argument does he throw himself into questions even of dress! (1Co 11:3-16<\/span>; cf. 1Ti 2:13-14<\/span>). In our ritual controversies we are certain that he would have laid down, as it is now thought tyranny to do, the law of obedience (1Co 14:36<\/span>).<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>His anxiety, as his Epistles show, was a doctrinal anxiety. He was fighting for Christ, and therefore was peremptory in his enforcement of doctrine.<\/p>\n Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?<\/strong>—<\/p>\n Sympathy and indignation<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>We sometimes find a person who is extremely amiable, one invaluable in hours of distress, to whom we fly in sorrow. And yet in this character, so attractive at first sight, there may be a fatal defect. There may be a want of strength–a sympathy not only with the erring, which is right, but with the error, which is wrong.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>On the other hand, we sometimes see a person of the greatest elevation and purity of character; we hear his judgment upon right and wrong; we fancy our own moral tone to be braced by his principles and example. And yet here too there may be something fatally wanting. He may be harsh, and have the effect of driving in upon itself, but not of correcting, that which is sinful in another. We feel, perhaps, that it would be impossible for us to confess a fault to such a person; therefore in his company we are tempted to deceive him if not ourselves, and that which is evil sinks the deeper in for being thus driven from the surface.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>By nature it was a strong character. Those whom he regarded as in error St. Paul once persecuted to the death. But, as soon as the love of Christ touched his heart, without losing one particle of strength, he learned to add to it tenderness. Knowing how much he had been forgiven, he knew how to forgive.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Now therefore his language is, Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is inexperienced or unstable in the life of God, living powerless in a perilous world, and I do not share his fears and sympathise with him to the full from the depth of my own experience? On the other hand, Who is offended, and I burn not? I am weak with the weak, but I am not weak towards their tempter. Read the passage in the first Epistle, in which he consigns to a terrible punishment the guilty person, and then read the passage in the second Epistle, in which, after a due interval of exclusion, he bids them to receive back and comfort the penitent offender.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Amongst you some are weak, vigorous in body, it may be, quick in mind, and yet weak. Some of you feel it, and accuse yourselves of it: I am so weak, so unstable, so irresolute, so soon shaken from my purpose. Now, then, St. Paul tells us here how we ought to deal with such weakness. He became weak along with it. This was the right way, he meant, to deal with weakness, to descend, as it were, to its level, and, in the very act of doing so, to help to raise it to his own. Do I recommend laxity of treatment? Far from it. Sympathy is not indulgence, for sympathy can rebuke severely, and severely punish. But there are two ways of doing everything; it is one thing to rebuke with sorrow, and another to rebuke or punish in coldness or in apathy.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Who is offended, and I burn not? It is the tendency of long carelessness, whether in an individual or in a community, to blunt the edge of the sense of sin. It is said of advancing age that its tendency is to make men more indulgent and less sanguine. Certainly we do find a great want in ourselves too often of righteous indignation. A strange companion, some of you may be saying, to that spirit of sympathy which has just been spoken of! St. Paul, however, did not think so. Now indignation is a dangerous quality to foster towards one of ourselves. But nevertheless it has its uses in the Christian scheme, and the loss of it causes a terrible injury to the health of a community, if not of an individual man. No tongue ever uttered words of such consuming indignation as those which Christ addressed to the Scribes and Pharisees. Would to God there were more who could be angry and sin not in the sight and hearing of some kinds of evil! It is the loss of this feeling which fills the courts of justice with records of unmanly aggressions upon the confiding and the feeble. (Dean Vaughan.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sympathy<\/strong><\/p>\n Many-sidedness, which is an invariable characteristic of all really great men, was indisputably a feature in St. Paul. No doubt it has risks and disadvantages. There is the chance of shallowness. It is often, and with supreme unfairness, identified with insincerity. Capriciousness, too, is imputed to these large and sensitive natures, because we cannot always find them in the same mood. Perhaps that one feature of nature which has done more than any other to conciliate the affection of the Church is sympathy. Sympathy is feeling with others, and it is quite a distinct thing from feeling for them. The latter is more of a quick and evanescent sentiment, good as far as it goes, but not often going far. Sympathy is a habit, or temper of mind, which means prayer and effort and sacrifice. Let us first select certain types of circumstance which sympathy springs to meet.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>First, let us not forget our apostles precept, Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and not be so ignorant as to suppose that men do not value sympathy with happiness, though they may need it more in sorrow. All conditions of life, as well as all classes of men, claim and appreciate sympathy. Our Lords presence at the marriage feast at Cana, as well as at the feast at Bethany after the raising of His friend Lazarus, is an instance in point. Disappointment and wounded self-love may occasionally have something to do with our lack of sympathy in a friends happiness, but thoughtlessness and a certain lazy selfishness have more.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>There are difficulties in religion, where honest and even reverent souls demand sympathy and do not always get it. Nothing so tends to discourage, or harden, or anger men into actual unbelief as a cold, harsh, dogmatic treatment of their difficulties. Sympathy here, indeed, must be prudent and frank.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>It is hardly necessary to add how needful and blessed in hours of personal sorrow is the felt sympathy of a friend. People who dont know are apt, by way of excusing themselves for negligence, to allege that sympathy at such times has no real value. Little they know about it. Here, again, we must premise that true sympathy has nothing morbid or softening about it. It braces, while it sighs; it points to Christ, instead of leaning on man. If it means tact and skill, it also means courage and power. In conclusion, let us say other things about sympathy. No doubt there are some people in whom it is a born instinct; so to speak, it is neither hard for them nor easy. It is a matter of course, for it is a part of themselves. Yet, even in them, it needs educating and disciplining by experience. Then let us be careful how, with the best meaning possible, we express sympathy with troubles and losses of which we have no sort of personal knowledge, thereby, it may be, making our kindly intended consolations clumsy, ludricrous, or even painful. Let us leave it to those who do know what they are doing, and so avoid the danger of making a second wound in our attempt to heal the first. Once more, no quality of the soul, when it is genuine and ripe and wise, is so gratefully accepted, so tenderly cherished, so lavishly repaid, as this grace of sympathy, and it does not need money, talent, cleverness–only the presence of love. The love of God and the love of man react upon each other. (Bp. Thorold.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 27. In weariness and painfulness<\/B><\/I>] Tribulations of this kind were his constant companions. Lord Lyttleton and others have made useful reflections on this verse: “How hard was it for a man of a genteel and liberal education, as St. Paul was, to bear such rigours, and to wander about like a vagabond, hungry and almost naked, yet coming into the presence of persons of high life, and speaking in large and various assemblies on matters of the utmost importance!” Had not St. Paul been deeply convinced of the truth and absolute certainty of the Christian religion, he could not have continued to expose himself to such hardships.<\/P><\/p>\n The apostle reckons up several afflictive evils, ordinarily incident to such as travel in foreign countries. Of this nature were the <\/P> weariness and painfulness, <\/B>the hunger and thirst, <\/B>the cold and nakedness, <\/I>here mentioned. He also mentioneth the watchings<\/I> and fastings, <\/I>as voluntary acts of discipline, which he used for the end mentioned, 1Co 9:27<\/span>, for the keeping under his body, and bringing it into subjection, and that he might the better attend and discharge the work of the ministry. <\/P> <\/p>\n 27. fastings<\/B>voluntary,<\/I>in order to kindle devotions (Act 13:2<\/span>;Act 13:3<\/span>; Act 14:23<\/span>;1Co 9:27<\/span>); for they aredistinguished from “hunger and thirst,” which wereinvoluntary<\/I> [GROTIUS].However, see on 2Co 6:5<\/span>. Thecontext refers solely to hardships,<\/I> not to self-imposeddevotional mortification. “Hunger and thirst” are notsynonymous with “foodlessness” (as the Greek<\/I> of”fasting” means), but are its consequences. <\/P> cold . . . nakedness<\/B>“cold”resulting from “nakedness,” or insufficient clothing, asthe Greek<\/I> often means: as “hunger and thirst” resultfrom “foodlessness.” (Compare Act 28:2<\/span>;Rom 8:35<\/span>). “When we rememberthat he who endured all this was a man constantly suffering frominfirm health (2Co 4:7-12<\/span>;2Co 12:7-10<\/span>; Gal 4:13<\/span>;Gal 4:14<\/span>), such heroicself-devotion seems almost superhuman” [CONYBEAREand HOWSON].<\/P><\/p>\n In weariness and painfulness<\/strong>,…. Through long journeys and frequent preaching; or “in labour and trouble”; or in troublesome labour, for all labour is not so; as hunting, hawking, c. though laborious, yet delightful but the labours of the apostle were painful and troublesome to the flesh, though he had much inward spiritual delight and pleasure in them:<\/p>\n in watchings often<\/strong>; being sometimes engaged at midnight, either in preaching, or praying, or staging psalms, and sometimes obliged to work early and late with his own hands to supply his necessities:<\/p>\n in hunger and thirst<\/strong>; as when at sea, or in wilderness places, or where no notice was taken of him for preaching the Gospel; he doing that freely without asking the assistance of any, which in some places would have been prejudicial to his designs, and the spread of the Gospel:<\/p>\n in fastings often<\/strong>; voluntary ones, which he engaged in, not as meritorious works, but to keep under his body, and as proper to attend the work of prayer at certain times:<\/p>\n in cold and nakedness<\/strong>; when travelling in the winter season, and but poorly clothed to keep him from the inclemencies of the weather; and having no certain dwelling place to retire unto and abide in, during any severe season there might be, and wanting the comforts of life to support him under such inconveniences.<\/p>\n In labour and travail <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Both old words for severe work, combined here as in 1Thess 2:9<\/span>; 2Thess 3:8<\/span>, “by toil and moil” (Plummer). The rest of the list is like the items in 2Co 6:4ff<\/span>.<\/P> In cold <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Old word from <\/SPAN><\/span>, to cool by blowing. See Ac 28:2<\/span>. See the picture of the aged Paul later in the Roman dungeon (2Ti 4:9-18<\/span>). <\/P> <\/p>\n Watchings. See on ch. 2Co 6:5<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “In weariness and painfulness,”<\/strong> (hopo kai mochtho) “in labor and hardship,” weariness and pain, or in labour and travail, 1Co 4:11-12<\/span>.<\/p>\n 2) “In watchings often,”<\/strong> (en agruniais pollakis) “in watchings many times;” Act 20:31<\/span>, night and day, in tears.<\/p>\n 3) “In hunger and thirst,”<\/strong> (en limo kai dipsei) “In famine and thirst,” 1Co 4:11<\/span>, 2Co 6:5<\/span>.<\/p>\n 4) “In fastings often,”<\/strong> (en nesteiais pollakis) “In fastings many times,” frequently, “involuntary, deprivation of food” — not devotional voluntary fastings, 2Co 6:5<\/span>.<\/p>\n 5) “In cold and nakedness,”<\/strong> (en psuchei kai gumnoteti) “in cold and in nakedness,” 1Co 4:11<\/span>; Act 28:2<\/span>.<\/p>\n By fastings I understand those that are voluntary, as he has spoken previously of hunger and want. Such were the tokens by which he showed himself, and on good grounds, to be an eminent servant of Christ. For how may we better distinguish Christ’s servants than by proofs so numerous, so various, and so important? On the other hand, while those effeminate boasters (862) had done nothing for Christ, and had suffered nothing for him, they, nevertheless, impudently vaunted. <\/p>\n It is asked, however, whether any one can be a servant of Christ, that has not been tried with so many evils, perils, and vexations? I answer, that all these things are not indispensably requisite on the part of all; (863) but where these things are seen, there is, undoubtedly, a greater and more illustrious testimony afforded. That man, therefore, who will be signalized by so many marks of distinction, will not despise those that are less illustrious, and less thoroughly tried, nor will he on that account be elated with pride; but still, whenever there is occasion for it, he will be prepared, after Paul’s example, to exult with a holy triumph, in opposition to pretenders (864) and worthless persons, provided he has an eye to Christ, not to himself — for nothing but pride or ambition could corrupt and tarnish all these praises. For the main thing is — that we serve Christ with a pure conscience. All other things are, as it were, additional. <\/p>\n (862) “Thrasones.” — See Calvin on the Corinthians, vol. 1, p. 98, n. 1. <\/p>\n (863) “ Il n’est pas necessairement requis que tous vniversellement endurent toutes telles fascheries;” — “It is not indispensably requisite that all universally endure all such vexations.” <\/p>\n (864) “ Des mercenaires;”. — “Hirelings.” <\/p>\n (27) In weariness and painfullness . . .<\/strong>The same combination meets us in 2Th. 3:8<\/span>, where the English version has labour and travail, as Tyndale and Cranmer have in this passage. Weariness and painfulness appear first in the Geneva version; toil and trouble<\/em> is, perhaps, the best English equivalent. From the use of the phrase in 2Th. 3:8<\/span>, it probably refers chiefly to St. Pauls daily labour as a tent-maker. The watchings indicate the sleepless nights spent in anxiety, or pain, or prayer. Hunger and thirst are named as privations incident to his journeys or his labours. Fastings, as distinguished from these, can hardly mean anything but times of self-chosen abstinence, of which we have at least two instances in Act. 13:2-3<\/span>, and which would be natural in St. Paul both as a Pharisee (see Notes on Mat. 6:16<\/span>, and Luk. 18:12<\/span>) and as a disciple of Christ (see Note on Mat. 9:15<\/span>). Cold and nakedness seem to speak not only of lonely journeys, thinly clad and thinly shod, on the high passes from Syria into Asia Minor, but also of lodgings without fire, and of threadbare garments. The whole passage reminds us of the narrative given by an old chronicler of the first appearance of the disciples of Francis of Assisi in England, walking with naked and bleeding feet through ice and snow, clothed only with their one friars cloak, shivering and frost-bitten (Eccleston, De Adventu Minorum<\/em>).<\/em> He obviously contrasts this picture of his sufferings with what the Corinthians knew of the life of his rivals, who, if they were like their brethren of Juda, walked in long robes, and loved the uppermost places at feasts (Mat. 23:6<\/span>). It had become a Jewish proverb that the disciples of the wise had a right to a goodly house, a fair wife, and a soft couch (Ursini. Antiqq. Hebr.<\/em> c. 5, in Ugolinis Thesaurus,<\/em> vol. xxi.).<\/p>\n 27<\/strong>. <\/strong> An enumeration of bodily privations. <\/p>\n Painfulness<\/strong> The aches resulting from overwork. <\/p>\n Watchings<\/strong> Sleeplessnesses. <\/p>\n Fastings<\/strong> Not voluntary fastings, but inability to procure food.<\/p>\n 2Co 11:27<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>In weariness and painfulness,<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> The latter of the words here used, , is more expressive than the former, : it signifies not only strenuous labour, but such as proceeds to a degree of great fatigue. What an idea does this verse give us of the Apostle’s fidelity and zeal!How hard was it for a man of a genteel and liberal education, as St. Paul was, to bear such rigours, and to wander about like a vagabond, hungry, and almost naked; yet coming into the presence of persons of high life; and speaking in large and various assemblies, on matters of the utmost importance! See the Inferences.<\/em> <\/p>\n 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Ver. 27. In weariness and painfulness<\/strong> ] Here is dainty rhetoric. Cicero calleth Aristotle’s Politics, Aureum flamen orationis, <\/em> a golden flood of eloquence in respect of the purity of the style and the excellency of the matter. May it not be more truly said of this great apostle’s writings? <\/p>\n 27.<\/strong> ] by labour and weariness, by watchings<\/strong> (see on ch. 2Co 6:5 ) frequently<\/strong> (the is here resumed, perhaps arbitrarily, perhaps also because and are more directly instrumental, ., &c., more conditionally), by hunger and thirst, by fastings frequently<\/strong> (voluntary fastings, ‘ad purificandam mentem et edomandam carnem,’ as Estius, see also ch. 2Co 6:5 note. De W. here too (see also Stanley) holds to ‘involuntary fastings;’ but he is clearly wrong, for . is distinguished from . . .), in cold and nakedness<\/strong> (insufficient clothing: or, literally, when thrust into prison after his scourgings, or after his shipwrecks).<\/p>\n 2Co 11:27<\/span> . . . . .: in labour and travail, in watchings often<\/em> (see on 2Co 6:5<\/span> ), in hunger and thirst<\/em> ( cf.<\/em> 1Co 4:11<\/span> , Phi 4:12<\/span> ), in fastings often, i.e.,<\/em> plainly, in involuntary deprivation of all food (the idea of voluntary devotional fastings is quite foreign to the context here, and to bring it in spoils the rhetorical force of the passage; see on 2Co 6:5<\/span> ), in cold and nakedness<\/em> ( cf.<\/em> 1Co 4:11<\/span> ).<\/p>\n weariness. Same as “labours”, 2Co 11:23. <\/p>\n painfulness. Greek. mochthos. Only here, 1Th 2:9. 2Th 3:8. <\/p>\n watehings. Greek. agrupnia. See 2Co 6:5. <\/p>\n thirst. Greek. dipsos. Only here. <\/p>\n cold. Greek. psuchos. See Act 28:2. <\/p>\n nakedness. Greek. gumnotes. See Rom 8:35, and compare 1Co 4:11. <\/p>\n 27.] by labour and weariness, by watchings (see on ch. 2Co 6:5) frequently (the is here resumed, perhaps arbitrarily, perhaps also because and are more directly instrumental,-., &c., more conditionally), by hunger and thirst, by fastings frequently (voluntary fastings, ad purificandam mentem et edomandam carnem, as Estius, see also ch. 2Co 6:5 note. De W. here too (see also Stanley) holds to involuntary fastings; but he is clearly wrong, for . is distinguished from . . .), in cold and nakedness (insufficient clothing:-or, literally, when thrust into prison after his scourgings,-or after his shipwrecks).<\/p>\n 2Co 11:27. , in) Five clauses; the second agrees with the first, the fourth with the third, in pleasant harmony.- , in hunger) Deu 28:48, , , .<\/p>\n 2Co 11:27<\/p>\n 2Co 11:27 <\/p>\n in labor and travail,-Wearisome toil and consequent exhaustion and suffering resulting from the hard work wherever he preached.<\/p>\n in watchings often,-He pursued the labor and travail by night as well as by day and so incurred the want of sleep. He also sacrificed sleep for teaching and preaching (Act 20:31), as well as for prayer and meditation (1Th 3:10).<\/p>\n in hunger and thirst,-The hunger and thirst endured was through lack of necessary food.<\/p>\n in fastings often,-The fastings were abstinence practiced when he preferred the service of Christ and labor for the salvation of men to the satisfaction of physical want. (2Co 6:5).<\/p>\n in cold and nakedness.-All these hardships were the necessary accompaniments of a life spent in traversing half-civilized countries, such as Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece. [He was insufficiently clad. In his labors his clothing became old and badly worn, and he had no friends to replace them, neither had he money with which to buy new ones.]<\/p>\n [In all this we cannot resist the impression of triumph with which Paul records the perils he had faced; so many they were, so various and so terrible, yet in the Lords service he had come safely through them all. It is a commentary from his own hand on his own words-As dying, and behold, we live. (2Co 6:9). In the retrospect all these perils show not only that he was a true servant of Christ, entering into fellowship with his Masters sufferings to bring blessings to men, but that he was owned by Christ as such. The Lord had delivered him from deaths so great; yes, and he would deliver him; and his hope was set on him for every deliverance he might need. (2Co 1:10). In all their kinds and degrees-violence, privation, exposure, fear-they are a historical testimony to the devotion with which Paul had served Christ. He bore in his body the marks which they had left, and to him they were the marks of Jesus (Gal 6:17); they identified him as Jesus Christs bond servant.] <\/p>\n weariness: 2Co 11:23, 2Co 6:5, Act 20:5-11, Act 20:34, Act 20:35, 1Th 2:9, 2Th 3:8 <\/p>\n in watchings: Act 20:31 <\/p>\n in hunger: Jer 38:9, 1Co 4:11, 1Co 4:12, Phi 4:12 <\/p>\n fastings: 2Co 6:5, Act 13:2, Act 13:3, Act 14:23, 1Co 7:5 <\/p>\n nakedness: Rom 8:35, Rom 8:36, Heb 11:37, Jam 2:15, Jam 2:16 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: 1Sa 17:42 – disdained 1Ki 13:14 – sitting 1Ki 17:10 – Fetch me Psa 109:24 – knees Mat 6:16 – when Mat 9:15 – and then Mat 11:8 – A man Mat 17:21 – but Mar 2:20 – and Mar 9:29 – fasting Luk 5:35 – and Luk 6:21 – ye that hunger Luk 16:21 – desiring Act 28:2 – because 1Co 9:27 – I keep 2Co 6:4 – necessities Phi 4:11 – in respect 2Ti 4:13 – cloak<\/p>\n 2Co 11:27. Weariness and painfulness. The Englishmen’s Greek New Testament renders this, “labor and toil.” It refers to the difficult tasks the apostle performed frequently in his work for the Master. Thayer defines the original for watchings by “sleeplessness.” Paul lay awake for hours, thinking and pondering over the situation, wondering what was coming next. Hunger and thirst refers to the times when Paul’s friends were prevented from administering to his needs, and he was left to suffer for the things necessary for his bodily comfort. Fastings is similar to the thought just explaind, with the added idea of a more extended abstinence from food. Cold was a result of the nakedness, or the shortage of necessary clothing, brought about by the conditions similar to those causing the hunger and thirst.<\/p>\n 2Co 11:27. in labour and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst (see 1Co 4:11; Php 4:12), in fastings oftennot voluntary fastings, which he would not mention as a privation he had endured, but in the sense of the next clause,in cold and nakednesssuch as he would doubtless often experience in his travels through inhospitable regions.<\/p>\n Verse 27<\/strong> <\/strong> He worked till work was painful and lost sleep to help others. <\/p>\nFuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>Weariness comes with temporary disappointment and defeat. God has promised to perfect that which concerneth us, but the way of perfection is just the way which wearies us. We are disappointed at the slow progress. And we are human. Think of Rebekah!–I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. The motherly anxiety was at work. As we get older we feel limitations of power. Disappointment is a cloud, and we wait till the heavens are clear and the all-revealing light comes again! But we are defeated too! But first defeat has made many a true general, has quickened many an inventor, like Watt, Stephenson, and Brunel. Weariness comes to student, explorer, missionary, and philanthropist saddened with ingratitude. But this is not the weariness of sin, that not only exhausts, but destroys.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Weariness comes with self-discovery. The volcano tells what is in the earth. The lightning reveals the latent electricity in the air. Passions and lusts reveal terrible possibilities in good men. David said, I am weary with my groaning, and again, I am weary of my crying. Conflict with sin in all its forms is weary work.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Weariness comes with unbelief. The Greeks had an underlying sadness in their outwardly beautiful life. It is faith which gives life and zest. Thomas Carlyle says, All epochs, wherein unbelief, under whatever form soever, maintains its sorry victory, should they ever for a moment glitter with a sham splendour, vanish from the eyes of posterity; because no one chooses to burden himself with study of the unfruitful. Men must be weary who have lost faith.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Weariness comes from solitude. The regiment is thinning in which you started. You have seen many arms of the soldiers dip below the downs into the valley. You are beginning in a human sense to feel solitary. The Master was weary in solitude: What, could ye not watch with Me one hour? So was Paul: At Athens alone. But the Christian is never alone. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. (W. M. Statham.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>Its unselfishness. These people were nothing to him. They were neither kinsfolk, neighbours, nor countrymen. They were converts, but his idea of his responsibility towards them was not to do his duty and then leave it. He was solicitous, even to pain, about their continuous welfare.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Its strictness.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Individual (2Co 11:29<\/span>). True he made the world his province, but he took a personal interest in his converts. See how he deals with the incestuous person. He never suffered the supposed interests of Churches to eclipse the value of souls. I knew an archbishop who failed not, whatever his distance or occupation, to write at certain intervals to a common northern townsman whom he had reclaimed from intemperance for his establishment in grace. (Dean Vaughan.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>There are two faults which alternate in human character–weakness and harshness.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Turn now, and see a character which, by Gods grace, combined both these virtues and avoided both these faults.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>The lesson for ourselves.<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Greek Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n