Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 2 Corinthians 1:23 - 1:23

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Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 2 Corinthians 1:23 - 1:23


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23. Ἐγὼ δὲ μάρτυρα τὸν θεὸν ἐπικαλοῦμαι ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχήν. But I call God for a witness upon my soul. Ἐγώ and τ. θεόν are emphatic; ‘God is faithful (2Co 1:18), and it is God who sealed us (2Co 1:22), and I call Him as a witness.’ As the order shows, ἐπὶ τ. ἑμ. ψ. belongs to ἐπικαλοῦμαι, ‘I invoke upon my soul God as a witness’: not, ‘against my soul, on which will come the penalty if I lie.’ He appeals to God, τὸν τῶν ἐννοιῶν ἐπόπτην (Theodoret), to investigate his soul, and see whether he is not true in what he says, as in Est 5:1, ἐπικαλεσαμένη τὸν πάντων ἐπόπτην θεόν. The middle voice shows that God is invoked as a witness on his side (Antipho 114, 32; Plato, Laws 664 c). Comp. ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τὸν κύριον or τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου (Act 22:16; Rom 10:13; 1Co 1:2; 2Ti 2:22; 1Pe 1:17, where we have a similar predicate), and Καίσαρα ἐπικαλοῦμαι (Act 25:11; Act 26:32; Act 28:19). ‘As my life shall answer for it’ is as incorrect as ‘against my soul.’

φειδόμενος ὑμῶν. With emphasis: it was to spare you, and not out of levity or carelessness. Had he come, he must have used great severity, ἐν ῥάβδῳ (1Co 4:21), and this he did not desire to do or think wise. In making this personal declaration he naturally falls into the singular; Timothy and others are not concerned. But, as Chrysostom points out, he was not acting κατὰ σάρκα in this. It was not merely because he did not like to be severe, that he abstained from visiting them: he was acting under the guidance of the Spirit, as in Act 16:7.

οὐκέτι ἦλθον εἰς Κόρινθον. I came no more (2Co 5:16; Gal 3:25; Eph 2:9; Phm 1:16, &c.), i.e. after his former visits. After the long stay, during which he had founded the Church, he had paid the Corinthians a short and painful visit. This short visit probably took place before he wrote the letter mentioned in 2Co 2:3; 2Co 2:9 and 2Co 7:8, part of which we seem to have in 10–13, where the visit is alluded to several times (2Co 12:14; 2Co 12:21, 2Co 13:12). But it is not alluded to in 1 Corinthians, because, when that was written, the visit had not taken place. The hypothesis that 10–13 is part of the otherwise lost letter is confirmed by this verse. In 2Co 13:2 he says, ἐὰν ἔλθω εἰς τὸ πάλιν οὐ φείσομαι. Here he says, φειδόμενος ὑμῶν οὐκέτι ἦλθον εἰς Κόρινθον. The latter statement looks like a clear reference to the former threat. Chrysostom makes it refer to 2Co 12:21, which supports the hypothesis equally well; but the reference to 2Co 13:2 is much clearer. We have similar correspondences between 2Co 13:10 and 2Co 2:3, and between 2Co 10:6 and 2Co 2:9. See Kennedy, Second and Third Corinthians, pp. 79 ff.