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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 Corinthians 11:16 - 11:20
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Paul's Boast of His Apostolic Calling.
Paul deprecates the necessity of boasting:
v. 16. I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me that I may boast myself a little.
v. 17. That which I speak; I speak it not after the Lord, but, as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.
v. 18. Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also.
v. 19. For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.
v. 20. For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.
The apostle has now sufficiently characterized the nature of the false teachers and rejected their claims to consideration. He now, by way of contrast, records a testimony of his own apostolic labors and trials, not for self-glorification, See chap. 10:17, but as a necessary defense against the charges and insinuations of his enemies. In doing so, he returns to the thought of v. 1: I say again, Let no man think me to be foolish, lacking in good sense; but if it cannot be so, if you refuse to listen to my pleading, if you persist in regarding me as one bereft of his proper mind, yet receive me as a fool. The section of the letter now following he wants to have considered with all seriousness, for he intends it as a defense; but if they mill regard it as utter nonsense, then let them at least extend to him the forbearance usually allowed to a witless fellow, let them listen to his ramblings, as they choose to regard them, in order that he also might boast himself a little. Here is a thrust at the false apostles, for they, as slaves of selfishness, were far too prudent to undergo human suffering, far too lazy and unwieldy for a flight of heavenly ecstasy.
Almost every sentence shows that the apostle is battling with his own humility and diffidence in bringing his own person forward into such a prominent position. This he expresses at the very beginning: What I speak, not according to the Lord speak I, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of glorying. What he has arranged in his thoughts, what he has begun to express in words, is of a nature that he would rather not claim inspiration from the Holy Ghost for it, so thoroughly out of harmony with his own tastes it is. And yet the Spirit has moved him to write of his own labors, in order to confound the false teachers. For himself, he would prefer to regard it as a species of foolishness, this confidence of boasting, though confidence it is beyond doubt.
In further justification of his unusual spurt of boasting, he writes: Since many boast after the flesh, I also will boast. That was the feature which stood out so prominently in the case of the false teachers; they made it a practice to brag and boast of their experiences and of their accomplishments. With them it was second nature, with Paul it required a special effort. They always took care to have all the praise strike their own persons; he, on the contrary, praises his office, his labors and sufferings, whereby the glory of the Gospel was enhanced. The Corinthians would be all the more willing to overlook his foolishness, since they were showing this disposition at the present time: For gladly you bear with the foolish since you yourselves are wise. The words are written in sincere love and kindness, and yet with gentle mockery and censure. They were bearing without a word of dissatisfaction that false teachers were boasting before them and condemning the person and the work of Paul. In the richness of their experience and wisdom they would surely not mind it, therefore, if he would also do a little boasting and join the ranks of the fools for once; there could be no doubt that they would extend the same indulgent toleration to him.
The apostle now reminds the Corinthians of the insolence and ill-treatment which they had cheerfully endured at the hands of these self-appointed spiritual guides: For you bear it if one makes you servants (slaves), if one devours you, if one takes you captive, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you in the face. While Paul humbly stated that he wanted to be only the servant of the Lord's congregation, chap. 4:5, the false teachers deliberately assumed the lordship in the congregation; they enslaved the people spiritually, they made them bow under the yoke of their false doctrine and commandments of men. While Paul worked with his own hands, earning his maintenance for himself, these men were the embodiments of avarice; they robbed the members of their substance by greedily demanding support; they had no thought for the salvation of their people, but only for their own advantage and benefit. While Paul worked in every way to preserve the individual liberty of the Christians, as under obedience to the love of Christ only, these men captured them in the nets of their false doctrine; wrapping themselves in the innocent garments of sheep's' clothing, they gained the confidence of the people, until they had made them their willing captives. While Paul at all times was a model of humility, these men exalted themselves at the expense of their hearers, being full of pride and scorn. While Paul always treated all men with all kindness, the false teachers finally reached such heights of insolence that they did not hesitate to lay violent hands on the poor dupes that had given them their confidence; they offered the people the highest form of insult in the form of a blow in the face. And all this the Corinthians suffered, just as men today will bear at the hands of false teachers what they would not dream of enduring from a true teacher of the Gospel. The very fact of the selfish impertinence of the false teachers seems to keep their people cowed in helpless suffering.