2. I knew a man<\/em> ] That this is the Apostle is proved by 2Co 12:7<\/em><\/span>. The word knew<\/em> should, both here and in 2Co 12:3<\/em><\/span>, be rendered know.<\/p>\n in Christ<\/em> ] i.e. after his conversion, when he had become united to Christ.<\/p>\n above fourteen years ago<\/em> ] And yet, as Chrysostom and Calvin remark, he had kept silence about it all this time. The secret raptures of the soul should be matters between it and God, not subjects of boasting save where necessity compels it. After all the main point ( 2Co 12:6<\/em><\/span>) is what a man is<\/em>, not what he has seen, even of things beyond the sphere of sense. Whether this were the ‘revelation’ spoken of in Gal 1:12<\/span>; Gal 2:2<\/span>, we cannot tell. St Paul had many such revelations (see note on 1Co 9:1<\/span>), and he gives here no distinct intimation of the time at which the vision occurred.<\/p>\n whether out of the body<\/em> ] “The Apostle here by implication acknowledges the possibility of consciousness and receptivity in a disembodied state.” Alford.<\/p>\n I cannot tell<\/em> ] The fact<\/em> of the vision was certain enough. He saw clearly what God gave him permission to see, but whether the soul was rapt from his body left without life, or whether body and soul were caught up together to the third heaven and to Paradise, was known only to God.<\/p>\n the third heaven<\/em> ] Some commentators have explained this passage by the Jewish tradition (see Dean Stanley in loc<\/em>.) of seven<\/em> heavens. But if St Paul had this in his mind, he here meant the clouds<\/em>, a notion combated by Irenaeus, who (see next note) had unusually good opportunities of knowing the Apostle’s meaning. He says distinctly ( Adv. Haer<\/em>. ii. 30) that the third heaven is regarded by St Paul as a place preeminently exalted, and he rejects the idea of the seven heavens as taught by the Valentinian heretics, regarding it as absurd to suppose that four heavens remained as yet unexplored by St Paul. Some of the Jewish teachers held that there were two<\/em>, others that there were seven<\/em> heavens. So in Chagigah<\/em> f. 12 b, “R. Jehuda said there are two heavens, as it is said in Deu 10:14<\/span>, ‘the heavens and the heaven of heavens.’ Rish Lakish said there were seven, &c.” See also Debarim Rabba<\/em>, 2, fol. 253. 1. Rashi on Isa 44:8<\/span> says, “ye are my witnesses because I have opened to you the seven heavens (firmaments),” i.e. I have disclosed to you all that pertains to the knowledge of God.<\/p>\n I knew a man in Christ – <\/B>I was acquainted with a Christian; the phrase in Christ meaning nothing more than that he was united to Christ or was a Christian; see Rom 16:7<\/span>. The reason why Paul did not speak of this directly as a vision which he had himself seen was probably that he was accused of boasting, and he had admitted that it did not become him to glory. But though it did not become him to boast directly, yet he could tell them of a man concerning whom there would be no impropriety evidently in boasting. It is not uncommon, moreover, for a man to speak of himself in the third person. Thus, Caesar in his Commentaries uniformly speaks of himself. And so John in his Gospel speaks of himself, Joh 13:23-24<\/span>; Joh 19:26<\/span>; Joh 21:20<\/span>. John did it on account of his modesty, because he would not appear to put himself forward, and because the mention of his own name as connected with the friendship of the Saviour in the remarkable manner in which he enjoyed it, might have savored of pride. For a similar reason Paul may have been unwilling to mention his own name here; and he may have abstained from referring to this occurrence elsewhere, because it might savor of pride, and might also excite the envy or ill-will of others. Those who have been most favored with spiritual enjoyments will not be the most ready to proclaim it. They will cherish the remembrance in order to excite gratitude in their own hearts and support them in trial; they will not emblazon it abroad as if they were more the favorites of heaven than others are. That this refers to Paul himself is evident for the following reasons:<\/P> (1) His argument required that he should mention something that had occurred to himself. Anything that had occurred to another would not have been pertinent.<\/P> (2) He applies it directly to himself 2Co 12:7<\/span>, when he says that God took effectual measures that he should not be unduly exalted in view of the abundant revelations bestowed on him.<\/P> About fourteen years ago – <\/B>On what occasion or where this occurred, or why he concealed the remarkable fact so long, and why there is no other allusion to it, is unknown; and conjecture is useless. If this Epistle was written, as is commonly supposed, about the year 58 a.d., then this occurrence must have happened about the year 44 ad. This was several years after his conversion, and of course this does not refer to the trance mentioned in Act 9:9<\/span>, at the time when he was converted. Dr. Benson supposes that this vision was made to him when he was praying in the temple after his return to Jerusalem, when he was directed to go from Jerusalem to the Gentiles Act 22:17<\/span>, and that it was intended to support him in the trials which he was about to endure. There can belittle danger of error in supposing that its object was to support him in those remarkable trials, and that God designed to impart to him such views of heaven and its glory, and of the certainty that he would soon be admitted there, as to support him in his sufferings, and make him willing to bear all that should be laid upon him. God often gives to his people some clear and elevated spiritual comforts before they enter into trials as well as while in them; he prepares them for them before they come. This vision Paul had kept secret for fourteen years. He had doubtless often thought of it; and the remembrance of that glorious hour was doubtless one of the reasons why he bore trials so patiently and was willing to endure so much. But before this he had had no occasion to mention it. He had other proofs in abundance that he was called to the work of an apostle; and to mention this would savor of pride and ostentation. It was only when he was compelled to refer to the evidences of his apostolic mission that he refers to it here.<\/P> Whether in the body, I cannot tell – <\/B>That is, I do not pretend to explain it. I do not know how it occurred. With the fact he was acquainted; but how it was brought about he did not know. Whether the body was caught up to heaven; whether the soul was for a time separated from the body; or whether the scene passed before the mind in a vision, so that he seemed to have been caught up to heaven, he does not pretend to know. The evident idea is, that at the time he was in a state of insensibility in regard to surrounding objects, and was unconscious of what was occurring, as if he had been dead. Where Paul confesses his own ignorance of what occurred to himself it would be vain for us to inquire; and the question how this was done is immaterial. No one can doubt that God had power if he chose to transport the body to heaven; or that he had power for a time to separate the soul front the body; or that he had power to represent to the mind so clearly the view of the heavenly world that he would appear to see it; see Act 7:56<\/span>. It is clear only that he lost all consciousness of anything about him at that time, and that he saw only the things in heaven. It may be added here, however, that Paul evidently supposed that his soul might be taken to heaven without the body, and that it might have separate consciousness and a separate existence. He was not, therefore, a materialist, and he did not believe that the existence and consciousness of the soul was dependent on the body.<\/P> God knoweth – <\/B>With the mode in which it was done God only could be acquainted. Paul did not attempt to explain that. That was to him of comparatively little consequence, and he did not lose his time in a vain attempt to explain it. How happy would it be if all theologians were as ready to be satisfied with the knowledge of a fact, and to leave the mode of explaining it with God, as this prince of theologians was. Many a man would have busied himself with a vain speculation about the way in which it was done; Paul was contented with the fact that it had occurred.<\/P> Such an one caught up – <\/B>The word which is used here (<\/SPAN><\/span> harpazo) means, to seize upon, to snatch away, as wolves do their prey (Joh 12:10<\/span>); or to seize with avidity or eagerness Mat 11:12<\/span>; or to carry away, to hurry off by force or involuntarily; see Joh 6:15<\/span>; Act 7:39<\/span>; Act 23:10<\/span>. In the case before us there is implied the idea that Paul was conveyed by a foreign force; or that he was suddenly seized and snatched up to heaven. The word expresses the suddenness and the rapidity with which it was done. Probably it was instantaneous, so that he appeared at once to be in heaven. Of the mode in which it was done Paul has given no explanations; and conjecture would be useless.<\/P> To the third heaven – <\/B>The Jews sometimes speak of seven heavens, and Muhammed has borrowed this idea from the Jews. But the Bible speaks of but three heavens, and among the Jews in the apostolic ages also the heavens were divided into three:<\/P> (1) The aerial, including the clouds and the atmosphere, the heavens above us, until we come to the stars.<\/P> (2) The starry heavens, the heavens in which the sun, moon, and stars appear to be situated.<\/P> (3) The heavens beyond the stars. That heaven was supposed to be the residence of God, of angels, and of holy spirits. It was this upper heaven, the dwelling-place of God, to which Paul was taken, and whose wonders he was permitted to behold – this region where God dwelt; where Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father, and where the spirits of the just were assembled. The fanciful opinions of the Jews about seven heavens may be seen detailed in Schoettgen or in Wetstein, by whom the principal passages from the Jewish writings relating to the subject have been collected. As their opinions throw no light on this passage, it is unnecessary to detail them here.<\/P><\/p>\n 2Co 12:2<\/span><\/p>\n I knew a man in Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Seven blessings of being in Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be.<\/strong>—<\/p>\n Visible character, not private vision, the Christian mark<\/strong><\/p>\n That we may reach the apostles meaning here it is needful to look at what he writes immediately before our text. The favour which certain false teachers had met with in the Church at Corinth had compelled Paul, out of regard for the safety of the believers there, to remind them, by direct assertion, of his own superior claim. Such self-assertion was not agreeable to his own feelings. Yet his was not the self-assertion of vainglory. First and last he gives God the praise. He rejoices not, nor glories, in his strength, but in his infirmities; for it is through his human infirmities that Divine grace and power become more clearly manifest. These very weaknesses are turned to highest account. As a ground of glorying and of claim to their regard, he might urge the visions and revelations of the Lord with which he had been favoured, but he forbears. Meantime, we must note the fact of these visions and revelations. They point to intimate spiritual communications–openings, so to speak, into the higher sphere of Gods thought and presence, so bright as to cast into the shade, for the time being, all consciousness connected with the lower sphere of bodily existence. Any philosophy, or way of conceiving of things, which throws doubt on the spiritual contact of God with man, is fatal to spiritual life and growth. For such a way of thinking involves a partial dethronement of the universal God. Never in any age of the world does He shut Himself off from contact with His children. In dealing with claims to spiritual enlightenment and influence, it behoves us to consider them cautiously. And even when we feel sure of them it becomes us to be modest in the assertion thereof. If others assert such claims on their own behalf, we are in nowise bound either to admit or deny them. No man is authorised to demand from others respect for such claims except in so far as he can support them by outward evidence. It becomes us, then, to forbear as the Apostle Paul did. Visions and revelations from the Lord we may have–rapt and ecstatic states of mind–sweet and strengthening hours of devout meditation and prayer; but of these it becomes us not to speak in the way of mere assertion as ground of boasting or superiority. From whatever point we approach the matter we find that the last test of true religion is to be found in its manifestation in character and life. By their fruits ye shall know them, said Jesus. This is the Christian mark. All divinely inspired prophets and apostles speak in the same strain. If the word revealed within is as the candle of the Lord shining there, lighting up truth, justice, and love clearly to our apprehension, it must be borne in mind that such a light has not been given for private and selfish use. If this be forgotten, the light within becomes darkness. The ambition which seeks the regard of others beyond that which its actual merits justify is the sure token of spiritual poverty and vanity. I forbear, says the great apostle, lest any man should think of me above which he seeth me to be. And so let every man forbear from boastful reference to his superior illumination and cherish that wholesome fear that he should be judged worthy beyond the measure which his actual life testifies. For to this end was such vision given–that its light should shine by its good works, and God our heavenly Father be glorified in the lives of His faithful children. (John<\/em> Cordner.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 2<\/span>. I knew a man in Christ<\/B><\/I>] I knew a Christian, or a Christian man; for to such alone God now revealed himself, for vision and prophecy had been shut up from the Jews.<\/P> <\/P> Fourteen years ago<\/B><\/I>] On what occasion or in what place this transaction took place we cannot tell; there are many conjectures among learned men concerning it, but of what utility can they be when every thing is so palpably uncertain? Allowing this epistle to have been written some time<\/I> in the year 57, fourteen<\/I> years counted backward will lead this transaction to the year 42 or 43, which was about<\/I> the time that Barnabas brought Paul from Tarsus to Antioch, Ac 11:25-26<\/span>, and when he and Paul were sent by the Church of Antioch with alms to the poor Christians at Jerusalem. It is very possible that, on this journey, or while in Jerusalem, he had this vision, which was intended to be the means of establishing him in the faith, and supporting him in the many trials and difficulties through which he was to pass. This vision the apostle had kept secret for fourteen years<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> Whether in the body I cannot tell<\/B><\/I>] That the apostle was in an ecstasy<\/I> or trance<\/I>, something like that of Peter, Ac 10:9<\/span>, c., there is reason to believe but we know that being carried literally into heaven was possible to the Almighty. But as he could not decide himself, it would be ridiculous in us to attempt it.<\/P> <\/P> Caught up to the third heaven.<\/B><\/I>] He appeared to have been carried up to this place; but whether bodily<\/I> he could not tell, or whether the spirit were not separated for the time, and taken up to the third heaven, he could not tell.<\/P> <\/P> The third heaven<\/I>-The Jews talk of seven<\/I> heavens, and Mohammed has received the same from them; but these are not only fabulous<\/I> but absurd<\/I>. I shall enumerate those of the Jews.<\/P> <\/P> 1. The YELUM, or curtain<\/I>, – ” Which in the morning is folded up, and in the evening stretched out.” Isa 40:22<\/span>: He stretcheth out the heavens as a<\/I> CURTAIN, and spreadeth them out<\/I> as a tent to dwell in<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> 2. The firmament<\/I>, or EXPANSE, – “In which the sun, moon, stars, and constellations are fixed.” Ge 1:17<\/span>: And God placed them in the<\/I> FIRMAMENT of heaven<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> 3. The CLOUDS, or AETHER, – “Where the mill-stones are which grind the manna for the righteous.” Ps 78:23<\/span>, c.: Though he had commended the<\/I> CLOUDS from above, and opened the<\/I> doors of heaven, and had rained down manna<\/I>, c.<\/P> <\/P> 4. The HABITATION, – “Where Jerusalem, and the temple, and the altar, were constructed and where Michael the great prince stands and offers sacrifices.” 1Kgs 8:13<\/span>: I have surely built thee a<\/I> HOUSE TO DWELL IN, a settled place for<\/I> thee to abide in for ever<\/I>. “But where is heaven so called?” Answer: In Isa 63:15<\/span>: Look down from<\/I> HEAVEN, and behold from the<\/I> HABITATION, , of thy holiness<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> 5. The DWELLING-PLACE, – “Where the troops of angels sing throughout the night, but are silent in the day time, because of the glory of the Israelites.” Ps 42:8<\/span>: The Lord will<\/I> command his loving-kindness in the day time<\/I>, and in<\/I> the night his song shall be with me<\/I>. “But how is it proved that this means heaven? “Answer: From De 26:15<\/span>. Look down from thy holy habitation<\/I>, , the DWELLING-PLACE of thy holiness<\/I> and from heaven<\/I>, , and bless thy people Israel<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> 6. The FIXED RESIDENCE, – “Where are the treasures of snow and hail, the repository of noxious dews, of drops, and whirlwinds; the grotto of exhalations,” c. “But where are the heavens thus denominated?” Answer: In 1Kgs 8:39<\/span>; 1Kgs 8:49<\/span>, c.: Then hear thou in<\/I> HEAVEN thy<\/I> DWELLING-PLACE, , thy<\/I> FIXED RESIDENCE.<\/P> <\/P> 7. The ARABOTH, – Where are justice, judgment, mercy, the treasures of life peace and blessedness the souls of the righteous, the souls and spirits which are reserved for the bodies yet to be formed, and the dew by which God is to vivify the dead.” Ps 89:14<\/span>, Isa 59:17<\/span>; Ps 36:9<\/span>, Jdg 6:24<\/span>; Ps 24:4<\/span>; 1Sa 25:29<\/span>; Isa 57:20<\/span>: All of which are termed Araboth<\/I>, Ps 68:4<\/span>. Extol him who rideth on the heavens<\/I>, ba ARABOTH, by his<\/I> name Jah<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> All this is sufficiently unphilosophical, and in several cases ridiculous.<\/P> <\/P> In the sacred writings three<\/I> heavens only are mentioned. The first<\/I> is the atmosphere<\/I>, what appears to be intended by rekia<\/I>, the firmament or expansion, Ge 1:6<\/span>. The second<\/I>, the starry heaven; where are the sun, moon, planets, and stars; but these two are often expressed under the one term shamayim<\/I>, the two heavens<\/I>, or expansions, and in Ge 1:17<\/span>, they appear to be both expressed by rekia hashshamayim<\/I>, the firmament of heaven<\/I>. And, thirdly<\/I>, the place of the blessed<\/I>, or the throne of the Divine glory<\/I>, probably expressed by the words shemei hashshamayim<\/I>, the heavens of heavens<\/I>. But on these subjects the Scripture affords us but little light; and on this distinction the reader is not desired to rely.<\/P> <\/P> Much more may be seen in Schoettgen<\/I>, who has exhausted the subject; and who has shown that ascending to heaven<\/I>, or being caught up to heaven<\/I>, is a form of speech among the Jewish writers to express the highest degrees of inspiration<\/I>. They often say of Moses that he ascended on high, ascended on the firmament,<\/I> ascended to heaven<\/I>; where it is evident they mean only by it that he was favoured with the nearest intimacy with God, and the highest revelations relative to his will, c. If we may understand St. Paul thus, it will remove much of the difficulty from this place and perhaps the unspeakable words<\/I>, 2Co 12:4<\/span>, are thus to be understood. He had the most sublime communications from God, such as would be improper to mention, though it is very likely that we have the substance of these in his epistles. Indeed, the two epistles before us seem, in many places, to be the effect of most extraordinary revelations.<\/P> <\/p>\n Some doubt whether <\/span>, in this place, be so well translated <\/P> in Christ, <\/B>( so signifying, that the person spoken of was a Christian, one that had embraced the gospel), as by Christ, (as the particle is sometimes used), so signifying, that this vision was given to him by the grace and favour of Christ. The <\/P> man<\/B> he speaketh of was, doubtless, himself, otherwise it had been to him no cause or ground of glorying at all. Thus several times in Scripture, the penmen thereof speaking in commendation of themselves, they speak in the third person instead of the first. In his saying, it was <\/P> about fourteen years ago, <\/B>and in that we do not read that he did ever before publish it, he avoids the imputation of any boasting and glorying; and showeth, that had he not been now constrained, for the glory of God, and the vindication of his own reputation, to have spoken of it, he would not now have mentioned it. <\/P> Whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body. I cannot tell:<\/B> what the circumstances of the apostle were in this ecstasy, he professeth not to know; and therefore it seems too bold for us curiously to inquire, or positively to determine about it. It is not very probable that his soul was separated from his body; but whether his body was, by some angel, carried up to the sight of this vision, or things absent were made present to him, the apostle himself, being deprived of the use of his senses, could not tell. But <\/P> such an one<\/B> (he saith) he knew, <\/P> caught up to the third heaven; <\/B>by which he means the highest heavens, where God most manifesteth his glory, where the blessed angels see his face, and where are the just souls made perfect. The Scripture, dividing the world into the earth and the heavens, calleth all heaven that is not earth or water; hence it mentioneth an aerial heaven (which is all that space between the earth and the place where the planets and fixed stars are); hence we read of the fowls of the heaven, <\/I>Dan 4:12<\/I><\/span>, of the windows of heaven, <\/I>Gen 7:11<\/I><\/span>, of a starry heaven, <\/I>where the stars are, which are therefore called the stars of the heaven, <\/I>Gen 22:17<\/I><\/span>; and then the highest heaven; <\/I>which was meant in the Lords prayer, when we pray: Our Father which art in heaven; <\/I>and is called the heaven of heavens.<\/I> This is the heaven here spoken of. <\/P> <\/p>\n 2.<\/B> Translate, “I know,”not “I knew.” <\/P> a man<\/B>meaning himself.<\/I>But he purposely thus distinguishes between the rapt and glorified<\/I>person of 2Co 12:2<\/span>; 2Co 12:4<\/span>,and himself<\/I> the infirmity-laden victim of the “thorn inthe flesh” (2Co 12:7<\/span>).Such glory belonged not to him,<\/I> but the weakness<\/I> did.Nay, he did not even know whether he was in or out of the body whenthe glory was put upon him, so far was the glory from being his<\/I>[ALFORD]. His spiritualself was his highest and truest self: the flesh with its infirmitymerely his temporary self (Ro7:25<\/span>). Here, however, the latter is the prominent thought. <\/P> in Christ<\/B>a Christian(Ro 16:7<\/span>). <\/P> above<\/B>rather, simply”fourteen years ago.” This Epistle was written A.D.55-57. Fourteen years before will bring the vision to A.D.41-43, the time of his second visit to Jerusalem (Ac22:17<\/span>). He had long been intimate with the Corinthians, yet hadnever mentioned this revelation before: it was not a matter lightlyto be spoken of. <\/P> I cannot tell<\/B>rather asGreek,<\/I> “I know not.” If in the body,<\/I> he musthave been caught up bodily; if out of the body,<\/I> as seems to bePaul’s opinion,<\/I> his spirit must have been caught up out of thebody. At all events he recognizes the possibility of consciousreceptivity in disembodied spirits. <\/P> caught up<\/B> (Ac8:39<\/span>). <\/P> to the third heaven<\/B>evento,<\/I> c. These raptures<\/I> (note the plural,<\/I> “visions,””revelations,” 2Co 12:1<\/span>)had two degrees: first he was caught up<\/I> “to the thirdheaven,” and from thence to “Paradise” (2Co12:4<\/span>) [CLEMENT OFALEXANDRIA, Miscellanies,<\/I>5.427], which seems to denote an inner recess of the third heaven[BENGEL] (Luk 23:43<\/span>Rev 2:7<\/span>). Paul was permitted notonly to “hear” the things of Paradise, but to see also insome degree the things of the third heaven (compare “visions,”2Co 12:1<\/span>). The occurrence TWICEof “whether in the body . . . I know not, God knoweth,” andof “lest I should be exalted above measure,” marks twostages in the revelation. “Ignorance of the mode<\/I> does notset aside the certain knowledge of the fact.<\/I> The apostles wereignorant of many things” [BENGEL].The first heaven is that of the clouds, the air;<\/I> the second,that of the stars, the sky;<\/I> the third is spiritual<\/I> (Eph4:10<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n I knew a man in Christ about fourteen years ago<\/strong>,…. Which is to be understood of himself, as appears from 2Co 12:7<\/span>, where he speaks in the first person; and the reason why he here speaks in the third, is to show his modesty and humility, and how much he declined vain glory and popular applause; and whilst he is speaking of himself, studies as it were to conceal himself from being the person designed, and to draw off the mind of the reader from him to another person; though another cannot be intended, for it would not have been to his purpose, yea, quite beside it, when he proposes to come to visions and revelations he had of the Lord, to have instanced in the rapture of another. Moreover, the full and certain knowledge he had of this man, of the place he was caught up to, and of the things he there heard, best agrees with him; as also his attesting, in such a solemn way, his ignorance of the manner of this rapture, whether in the body or out of the body, and which he repeats and refers to the knowledge of God, clearly shows he must mean himself; besides, it would otherwise have been no instance of any vision of his, nor would the rapture of another have at all affected his character, commendation, and praise, or given him any occasion of glorying as this did: though he did not choose to take it, as is clear by his saying that if he gloried of it he should not be a fool, yet forbore, lest others should entertain too high an opinion of him; and after all, he was in some danger of being elated with this vision along with others, that the following sore temptation was permitted, to prevent his being exalted with it above measure: and when he calls this person, meaning himself, a “man”, it is not to distinguish him from an angel, whose habitation is in the third heaven, and so no wonderful thing to be found there; or from any other creature; nor perhaps only to express his sex, a man, and not a woman, though the Syriac version uses the word , peculiar to the masculine sex; but merely to design a person, and it is all one as if it had been said, I knew a person, or I knew one in Christ: and the phrase “in Christ”, is not to be connected with the word “know”, as if the sense was, that he called Christ to witness the truth of what he was about to say, and that what he should say was not with a view to his own glory, but to the glory and honour of Christ only; but it is to be connected with the word “man”, and denotes his being in Christ, and that either, as Dr. Hammond thinks, in a singular and extraordinary manner; as John is said to be “in the spirit”, Re 1:10<\/span>, that is, in an ecstasy; and so here this man was in the Spirit of Christ, and transported by him to see visions, and have revelations; or rather it intends a spiritual being in Christ, union to him, the effect of which is communion with him. The date of<\/p>\n fourteen years ago<\/strong>, may refer either to the time when the apostle first had the knowledge of his being in Christ, which was at his conversion; he was in Christ from all eternity, being given to him, chosen in him, loved by him; set as a seal upon his heart, as well as engraven on the palms of his hands, and represented by him, and in him, in the everlasting covenant; and so in time, at his crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session at the right hand of God; in consequence of all which, when the set time was come, he became a new creature, was converted and believed in Christ, and then he knew himself to be in him; he was in him secretly before, now openly; and this was about fourteen years before the writing of this epistle; the exact time of his conversion might well be known and remembered by him, it being in such an extraordinary manner: or also this date may refer to the time of his rapture, which some have thought was some time within the three days after his conversion, when he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank; some have thought it to be eight years after his conversion; but the most probable opinion is, that it was not at Damascus, but when he was come again to Jerusalem, and was praying in the temple, and was in a trance or ecstasy, Ac 22:17<\/span>, though the difference there is among chronologers, and the uncertainty of their conjectures, both as to the time of the apostle’s conversion, and the writing of this epistle, makes it very difficult to determine this point. They that make this rapture to be at the time of his conversion, seem to be furthest off of the truth of things; for whether his conversion be placed in the 34th year of Christ, as some, or in the 35th, as others, or in the 36th; and this epistle be thought to be written either in the 56th, or 58th, or 60th, the date of fourteen years will agree with neither: they indeed make things to agree together best, who place his conversion in the year 36, make this rapture to be eight years after, in the year 44, and this epistle to be written in the year 58. Dr. Lightfoot puts the conversion of the apostle in the year 34, the rapture of him into the third heaven, in the year 43, at the time of the famine in the reign of Claudius, Ac 11:28<\/span>, when he was in a trance at Jerusalem, Ac 22:17<\/span>, and the writing of this epistle in the year 57. That great chronologer, Bishop Usher, places Paul’s conversion in the year 35, his rapture in the year 46, and the writing of this epistle in the year 60. So that upon the whole it is hard to say when this rapture was; and it may be, it was at neither of the visions recorded in the Scripture, which the apostle had, but at some other time nowhere else made mention of: when, as he here says,<\/p>\n such an one was caught up to the third heaven<\/strong>, the seat of the divine Majesty, and the residence of the holy angels; where the souls of departed saints go immediately upon their dissolution; and the bodies and souls of those who have been translated, caught up, and raised already, are; and where the glorified body of Christ is and will be, until his second coming. This is called the “third” heaven, in respect to the airy and starry heavens. The apostle refers to a distinction among the Jews of <\/p>\n , “the supreme heaven, the middle heaven, and the lower heaven” f; and who also make a like division of worlds, and which they call , “the supreme world, and the middle world, and the lower world” g; and sometimes h the world of angels, the world of the orbs, and the world of them below; and accordingly the Cabalistic doctors talk of three worlds;<\/p>\n , “the third world”, they say i, is the supreme world, hidden, treasured, and shut up, which none can know; as it is written, “eye hath not seen”, c. and is the same with the apostle’s “third heaven”. The state and condition in which he was during this rapture is expressed by the following words, put into a parenthesis,<\/p>\n whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth<\/strong>: whether his soul remained in his body, and he was caught up soul and body into heaven, as Elijah was carried thither soul and body in a chariot with horses of fire or whether his soul was out of his body, and he was disembodied for a time, as Philo the Jew k says that Moses was , “without the body”, during his stay of forty days and as many nights in the mount; or whether this was not all in a visionary way, as John was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s day, and Ezekiel was taken by a lock of his head, and lifted up by the Spirit between earth and heaven, and brought “in the visions of God to Jerusalem”, cannot be said. The apostle did not know himself, and much less can any other be able to say how it was; it is best with him to refer and leave it to the omniscient God; one of the four persons the Jews say entered into paradise, who are hereafter mentioned in [See comments on 2Co 12:4]<\/span>, is said to have his mind snatched away in a divine rapture l; that is, he was not himself, he knew not where he was, or whether in the body or out, as says the apostle.<\/p>\n f Targum in 2 Chron. vi. 18. g Tzeror Hammor, fol. 1. 4. & 3. 2, 3. h Tzeror Hammor, fol. 83. 2. i Zohar in Numb. fol. 66. 3. k De Somniis, p. 570. l Cosri, p. 3. sect. 65. fol. 190. 1. 2.<\/p>\n I know a man <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Paul singles out one incident of ecstasy in his own experience that he declines to describe. He alludes to it in this indirect way as if it were some other personality.<\/P> Fourteen years ago <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). Idiomatic way of putting it, the preposition <\/SPAN><\/span> (before) before the date (Robertson, Grammar, p. 621f.) as in Joh 12:1<\/span>. The date was probably while Paul was at Tarsus (Acts 9:30<\/span>; Acts 11:25<\/span>). We have no details of that period.<\/P> Caught up <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). Second aorist passive participle of <\/SPAN><\/span>, to seize (see on Mt 11:12<\/span>).<\/P> Even to the third heaven <\/B> ( <\/SPAN><\/span>). It is unlikely that Paul alludes to the idea of seven heavens held by some Jews (Test. of the Twelve Pat._, Levi ii. iii.). He seems to mean the highest heaven where God is (Plummer). <\/P><\/p>\n l knew [] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Rev., correctly, I know. <\/P> Above fourteen years ago [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. Above, of A. V., is due to a misunderstanding of the Greek idiom. Lit., before fourteen years, that is, fourteen years ago, as Rev. <\/P> Caught up [Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>Deliverance from the deadly curse which sin entails (Rom 8:1<\/span>). In Noahs ark there was no deluge; in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Everlasting life. Of this Christ is the single source. Paul addresses the Church at Rome as alive unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Master said, Because I live ye shall live also. It is not I, said Paul, but Christ that liveth in me. If the nurseryman inserts the graft of a golden pippin into an apple tree, that graft might say truly, It is not I that live, but the whole tree liveth in me. So Divine a thing is this life that it is described as–<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>A new creation. This word new signifies also what is fresh, and unimpaired, and unworn, like a bright garment from its makers hand. How imperative is it that we keep this unspotted by the world! Not for ornament merely is it given, but for use.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Acceptance in the beloved. If we are received into favour, it is solely for Christs sake.<\/p>\n
V. <\/strong>Peace (Php 4:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n
VI. <\/strong>Fulness of spiritual supply (Col 2:10<\/span>). Ye are filled full in Christ. Why need I hunger when in my fathers house and in my Saviours heart are such wealth beyond a whole universe to drain?<\/p>\n
VII. <\/strong>Triumph Thanks be unto God who always causeth us to triumph in Christ! This is the believers battle-cry and paean of victory. Jesus gives the victory, and will bring us off more than conquerors. (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/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