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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadHeinrich Meyer Commentary - 2 Corinthians 11:10 - 11:10
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2Co_11:10. Not in form an oath, but a very solemn assurance of the καὶ τηρήσω : there is truth of Christ in me, that, etc. That is to say: By the indwelling truth of Christ in me I assure you that, etc. The apostle is certain that as generally Christ lives in him (Gal_2:20), Christ’s mind is in him (see on 1Co_2:16), Christ’s heart beats in him (Php_1:8), Christ speaks in him (2Co_13:3), all, namely, through the Spirit of Christ, which dwells in him (Rom_8:9 ff.); so, in particular, also truth of Christ is in him, and therefore all untruthfulness, lying, hypocrisy, etc., must be as foreign to him as to Christ Himself, who bears sway in him. The ὅτι is the simple that, dependent on the idea of assurance, which lies at the bottom of the clause ἔστιν ἀλήθ . Χ . ἐν ἐμοί , and has its specific expression in this clause. Comp. ζῶ ἐγὼ , ὅτι , Rom_14:11. See Fritzsche, ad Rom. II. p. 242 f. Rückert’s view is more far-fetched: that ὅτι κ . τ . λ . is the subject, of which Paul asserts that it is ἀλήθεια Χριστοῦ in him, i.e. what he says is a proposition, which just as certainly contains truth, as if Christ Himself said it. Olshausen attenuates the sense at variance with its literal tenor into: “as true as I am a Christian.” The thought is really the same in substance as that in Rom_9:1 : ἀλήθειαν λέγω ἐν Χριστῷ , οὐ ψεύδομαι , but the form of the conception is differen.
ἡ καύχησις αὕτη οὐ φραγ . εἰς ἐμέ ] this self-boasting will not be stopped in reference to me. The gloriatio spoken of, namely as to preaching gratuitously, is personified; its mouth is not, as to what concerns the apostle, to be stopped, so that it must keep silence. Hofmann, not appreciating this personification, takes offence at the fact that the καύχησις is supposed to have a mouth, while Rückert resorts to an odd artificial interpretation of φραγ . εἰς ἐμέ (will not be cooped up in me). Just because the καυχᾶσθαι is an action of the mouth, the personified καύχησις has a mouth, which can be stopped. Comp. Theodore.
φραγήσεται ] Comp. Rom_3:19; Heb_11:33; LXX. Psa_106:42; Job_5:16; 2Ma_14:36; Wetstein, ad Rom. l.c.; Jacobs, ad Anthol. XII. p. 297. It cannot surprise us that τὸ στόμα is not expressly subjoined, since this is obvious of itself, seeing that the καύχησις is conceived as speaking. There is nothing in the context to justify the derivation of the expression from the damming up of running water, as Chrysostom and Theophylact, also Luther (see his gloss), and again Hofmann take it. There is just as little ground for de Wette’s suggestion, that φραγήσεται is meant of hedging in a way (Hos_2:6).
εἰς ἐμέ ] For, if Paul should so conduct himself that he could no longer boast of preaching gratuitously, the mouth of this καύχησις would, in reference to him, be stopped. In this εἰς ἐμέ , as concerns me, there is implied a tacit comparison with others, who conducted themselves differently, and in regard to whom, therefore, the mouth of καύχησις αὕτη would be stoppe.
ἐν τοῖς κλίμασι τῆς Ἀχ .] is more weighty, and at the same time more tenderly forbearing, than the direct ἐν ὑμῖν , which would be πληκτικώτερον (Chrysostom).