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2Co_10:15. As οὐκ εἰς τὰ ἄμετρα καυχ . is evidently intended to resume the οὐχὶ εἰς τὰ ἄμετρα καυχ . in 2Co_10:13, and as 2Co_10:14 is merely a confirmatory statement occasioned by ἐφικέσθαι ἄχρι κ . ὑμῶν , it is most natural and logically most suitable, with Lachmann, Osiander, Ewald, to place the whole of 2Co_10:14 in a parenthesis (not the second half of the verse merely, as is done by Griesbach, Scholz, de Wette, Hofmann), so that καυχώμενοι depends on the καυχησόμεθα to be supplied in the second clause of 2Co_10:13, not on οὐ γὰρ … ὑπερεκτείν . ἑαυτούς (de Wette, Hofmann). To attach it, with Rückert (comp. Tischendorf), to ἐφθάσαμεν is quite unsuitable, because the latter contains an historical remark,—only made, moreover, in passing,—and thus heterogeneous elements would be combine.
ἐν ἀλλοτρίοις κόποις ] object of the negatived εἰς τὰ ἄμετρα καυχᾶσθαι . With his opponents it was the case that their unmeasured boasting referred to labours which were done by others, but were boasted of by them as their work.
ἐλπίδα δὲ ἔχοντες ] but having doubtless hope, when your faith increases, to become large among you according to our rule abundantly, i.e. but doubtless hoping, with the growth of your faith, to attain among you this, that starting from you we may be able still further abundantly to extend our working according to the measure of our destination. This meaning Paul expresses figuratively, and that with faithful adherence to the figure used in 2Co_10:13-14. He, namely, who can work far off, is a man of great stature, who without overstretching himself reaches afar; hence μεγαλυνθῆναι .[312] Further: because Paul still thinks of working forth to distances indefinitely remote, he hopes to become large εἰς περισσείαν (comp. Pro_21:5). Still he knows that this wide working, on which he cherishes the hope of being able to enter, will be in keeping with the line drawn for him by God—i.e. the spatial limit divinely appointed for him—and thus will be no ὑπερεκτείνειν ἑαυτ .; hence κατὰ τὸν κανόνα ἡμῶν ,[313] which Beza ought not to have taken for ἘΝ Τῷ ΚΑΝΌΝΙ ἩΜ . (comp. 2Co_10:13). Further: the possibility of this wider working will not set in, if the faith of the Corinthians does not grow, namely, intensively, by becoming always purer, firmer, and more living than now, because Paul will not sooner be able to leave Corinth and travel onward; hence αὐξανομ . τῆν πίστεως ὑμῶν ,[314] so that thus—and what a wholesome impulse ought this to be to them—it is the Corinthians themselves, among whom he will see himself brought to the point of being able to extend his working further; hence ἐν ὑμῖν [315] μεγαλυνθ .: among you to become large in order to further abundant workin.
εἰς περισσείαν ] for Paul knew that he was destined to preach the gospel among all nations (Rom_1:14-15, and see on Rom_15:23; Rom_15:33; Act_19:21); hence beyond doubt he had already at that time the intention of proceeding by way of Rome to Spain. Thus in μεγαλυνθῆναι … εἰς περισσείαν the whole grand feeling of his apostolic destiny finds earnest and true expression. Rückert, on the contrary, sees a touch of irony, as if Paul would say: if the Corinthians would become a church as perfect as he wishes and expects, there will thence accrue a gain also for him; he, too, will then grow with them, and become capable not only of doing in the midst of them what is necessary, but also of doing yet something more, of growing, as it were, beyond the proper stature, etc. But both κατὰ τὸν κανόνα ἡμῶν and εἰς περισσείαν are at variance with the character of irony. If Paul had wished to express himself ironically, he would have written possibly ἐν ὑμῖν μεγαλυνθῆναι ὀλίγον or the like, which would have expressed something different from what he properly meant.
[312] μεγαλ . is by most taken as celebrari, which departs from the figure and hence is at variance with the context (Luk_1:46; Act_5:13; Act_10:46; Act_19:17; Php_1:20). So Flatt, Billroth, and Ewald: “to be exceedingly praised, instead of being bitterly blamed,” to which κατὰ τ . κανόνα ἡμῶν is not suitable. The whole figure demands the explanation to become large (Mat_23:5; Luk_1:58), and only thus does it stand in its right relation to, and bearing on, αὐξανομ . τ . πιστ . ὑμ . Theodoret seems to have understood μεγαλ . rightly, since he explains it: περαιτέρω πορευθῆναι . Comp. Luther: “proceed further,” which explains the figurative expression no doubt, but does not translate it. Osiander understands under it an actual glorifying of the office,—that its influence, greatness, and glory shall become advanced. Hofmann: that the continuation of the preaching in the far West will make him still greater, whereby he will have still more ground for boasting—a view made impossible by the fact that ἐν ὑμῖν must be joined with μεγαλ . κ . τ . λ . With all such interpretations the bold, concrete figure, which is set forth in μεγαλυνθ ., is—in opposition to the connection—abandoned according to a subjective standard of taste, as if it were too strong and harsh. Erasmus in his Annot. (not in the Paraphr.) aptly says: “Significat se sperare futurum ut in dies crescente fide Corinthiorum creseat et ipse et major majorque fiat.”
[313] Rückert, at variance with the context, understands under κανών here the apostle’s rule of not working where others had already wrought. See against this, ver. 13.
[314] Bengel rightly remarks on the present participle: “Paulus Corinthios neque ante tempus omittere voluit, neque alios diutius differre.” Olshausen erroneously thinks that Paul was waiting for the completion of faith among the Corinthians. The apostle rather means the proportionate increase of the faith of the readers, which hitherto had not attained such a degree of development as to make it possible for him to withdraw his working from them and extend the sphere of his activity further. This delicate reference of αὐξανομ . τ . πίστ . ὑμῶν , which appeals to the whole sense of honour in the readers, and according to which Paul makes his further working at a distance depend on their Christian progress, is missed by Hofmann, who explains αὐξανομ . κ . τ . λ . merely in the sense of coincidence in time (while faith grows). This is bound up with his incorrect joining of ἐν ὑμῖν with αὐξανομ . See the following note.
[315] This ἐν ὑμῖν is not, with Luther, Castalio, Beza, Mosheim, Billroth, de Wette, Hofmann, to be joined to αὐξανομ . (whereby either ὑμῶν or ἐν ὑμῖν at any rate, even with the meaning imported into it by Hofmann: “within your own sphere,” would seem very superfluous); nor yet is it to be taken as per vos (Erasmus, Grotius, Flatt), which only impairs the vividness and completeness of the figure, and in substance is already contained in αὐξανομ . τ . πίστ . ὑμ .