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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 Corinthians 11:21 - 11:28
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The apostle's commendation of himself:
v. 21. I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit, whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.
v. 22. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
v. 23. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
v. 24. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
v. 25. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
v. 26. in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
v. 27. in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness;
v. 28. beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
Powerful irony and forceful reproach are contained in the first words of this section; for he truly must seem weak to the Corinthians in comparison with such spiritual bosses: To the disgrace (of you) I say it, as though it were so that we had become weak. It was a shame to the Corinthians that the apostle was obliged to write this way, as though he and his fellow-laborers appeared weak in comparison with the false apostles. The latter were regarded very highly in their eyes, from them they endured the most humiliating conduct, while the real teachers, to whom they owed all their spiritual riches, were despised in their eyes.
The apostle now changes to a tone of masterful assertion in bringing out his own claims: But in whatever things any one is bold, dares to boast, (I speak it foolishly), I also dare to boast. His whole life since his conversion, the whole course of his ministry, will justify him, will show what labors and sufferings he has borne. The apostle speaks in an altogether general way; he challenges any of the false teachers, although he regards his boasting as an act of foolishness. Thereby he intimates, as Luther says, that the opponents, that have nothing to show that will in any way compare with his record, are worse than fools with their bragging. For his own person, Paul begins with the very lowest advantage: Hebrews are they? I also. Israelites are they? I also. The seed of Abraham are they? I also. What the false teachers extolled beyond measure Paul places in the lowest place; even in this meanest and lowest advantage they were not ahead of him. For he was a Hebrew, a member of the Jewish nation, who retained the Jewish language and customs; he was an Israelite, a member of God's chosen people of the Old Testament; he was a descendant of Abraham, he inherited the Messianic promises given to Abraham. In this point, therefore, the false apostles could not exalt themselves above Paul.
But there is a more important comparison: Ministers of Christ they are? That was their boast, and Paul, for the sake of argument, lets it stand, saying, however, in turn: As one beside himself I speak, I am more. The great humility of the apostle compels him to use this strong word, accusing himself of madness for presuming to boast in this sacred matter. Nevertheless he insists that he is a servant of Christ in a higher degree than his opponents: he has a much better right to call himself a minister of the Lord. This assertion he proves not by the success which he has had in his labors, not by naming the number of souls that were gained by his preaching, but by a reference to his labors and his self-denial. For that is the test of a minister's faithfulness, that he denies himself for the sake of his Lord, that he cheerfully takes upon himself the shame and disgrace, the trials and sufferings and tribulations that are wont to accompany his office. Thus Paul was able to say of himself: In labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often. That was a summary of his sufferings: Not only now and then, but continually he was struggling under the load of his labors; not once, but often he was in prison, not only in Philippi. Act_16:1-40; Act_23:1-35, but also at other places, as the later epistles show; time and again he was subjected to beatings; frequently he was in perils of death. In all these facts the false teachers cannot stand a comparison, for they had had no such experiences in their work.
The apostle now gives a few details to support his contention. Five times, by order of some synagogue council, he had been sentenced to the beating spoken of Deu_25:3, which incidentally prohibited more than forty stripes, for which reason the Jews, with hypocritical carefulness, applied only thirty-nine blows lest they transgress the letter of the Law. This punishment was often so severe, as Josephus relates, that death followed. Not only the Jews maltreated him, but the heathen also had sentenced him three times to be beaten with rods. See Act_16:23-37. Once was he stoned, namely, at Lystra, on his first missionary journey, Act_14:19. Three times he suffered shipwreck, all these occasions being different from that spoken of Act_27:1-44. In one of these cases his life had been suspended by only a thread, since he had been a night and a day in the deep; clinging to some bit of wreckage, he had been tossed about by the waves for almost twenty-four hours before being rescued.
Paul now resumes his proof of the fact that he was a servant of Christ in a higher sense or degree than his opponents. He had made many journeys, the extent of which is merely indicated in Luke's account; he had been indefatigable in going from one country to another, in order to bring the Gospel to the heathen. On his journeys he had endured perils of rivers, when crossing dangerous torrents; perils of robbers, who infested remote mountain fastnesses, as in the Taurus Mountains in Asia Minor; perils on the part of his own people, the Jews, who often attempted to take his life, as well as on the part of the Gentiles, as at Iconium, Act_14:5, at Philippi, Act_16:20, and at Ephesus, Act_21:31; perils in the city, in populated districts with police protection; perils in the desert, in wild and remote regions; perils in the sea, such as he has just mentioned; perils among false brethren, very likely the Judaizing teachers, who now proved his bitter opponents. Paul had done the work of his ministry in hard labor and travail, often without an opportunity for sufficient sleep, since he used the nights to labor with his own hands. He had endured hunger and thirst, because he did not possess, or could not obtain, food. He had fasted frequently to inure his body against the hardships of his journeys and labors. He had suffered cold and nakedness, not having the necessary clothing to be provided for all the changes of weather in the various countries. See 2Ti_4:13. In this way Paul showed himself an example of a self-denying servant of Christ, for whom no trouble, no labor was too great, whom no hardships could deter, if the object was to serve the Lord.
But Paul endured also burdens and cares which came to him daily in the performance of his duty. He does not enumerate all the difficulties and hardships of either body and mind, but reminds the Corinthians only of the fact that there was the business which he had to attend to day by day, the many details which must be decided by him personally and which naturally pressed upon him, causing him many hours of anxiety and worry, with regard to all the congregations which he had founded.