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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
9. καὶ παρὼν πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ ὑστερηθείς. And when I was with you and was reduced to want (Luk 15:14). He brought Macedonian supplies with him and they were exhausted before fresh contributions from Macedonia came.
οὐ κατενάρκησα οὐθενός. I was a burden on no man. The verb is found here, 2Co 12:13-14, once in Hippocrates, and nowhere else in Greek literature. Jerome, in a letter to the Gallic lady Algasia (Ep. 121), says, Multa sunt verba, quibus juxta morem urbis et provinciae suae familiarius Apostolus utitur; e quibus exempli gratia οὐ κατενάρκησα ὑμῶν, h. e. non gravavi vos [nulli onerosus fui, Vulg.]. Quibus et aliis multis verbis usque hodie utuntur Cilices. Nee hoc miremur in Apostolo, si utatur ejus linguae consuetudine, in quâ natus est et nutritus. This lacks confirmation. The word looks more like a medical one, possibly picked up in the schools at Tarsus. Hippocrates (Art. 816 c), uses the passive in the sense of ‘being benumbed’ a sense which ναρκάω has in the active; τὴν ψυχὴν καὶ τὸ στόμα ναρκῶ (Plat. Meno 80 B). Comp. Gen 32:25-32; Job 33:19; Dan 11:6. The substantive νάρκη means ‘numbness,’ μικροῦ δεῖν ἁναισθησία (Galen); also the ‘electric fish’ which ναρκᾷν ποιεῖ ὦν ἅν κρατήσειν μέλλῃ ἰχθύων (Arist. Hist. Animal xi. xxv. 2). Here the ‘numbness’ is caused by pressure; ‘paralysing a man by squeezing money out of him.’
τὸ γὰρ ὑστέρημά μου. For my want the brethren, when they came from Macedonia, supplied. The relation between ὑστερηθείς and ὑστέρημα must be marked in translation. The compound προσανεπλήρωσαν means ‘supplied in addition,’ and this may refer to what Macedonia had contributed before, or to what the Apostle earned with his own hands. See on 2Co 9:12. The coincidence with Act 18:1; Act 18:5 must not be overlooked. There the arrival of S. Paul at Corinth, and the subsequent arrival of brethren from Macedonia, are recorded. Those brethren were Silas and Timothy; and that gives us a coincidence with 2Co 1:19, and also with the salutations of 1 and 2 Thes., both of which were written from Corinth. See Paley, Horae Paulinae, iv. 6, 7, viii. 4. But it is not certain that these ἀδελφοὶ ἀπὸ Μακεδονίας were Silas and Timothy.
ἑν παντὶ ἀβαρῆ ἐμαυτὸν ὑμῖν ἐτήρησα. In everything (2Co 4:8, 2Co 6:4, 2Co 7:16, 2Co 8:7, 2Co 9:8, 2Co 11:6) I kept myself from being burdensome, viz. during my stay; not ‘have kept myself’ (A.V.). The addition of καὶ τηρήσω shows that he has in no way repented of his ἁμαρτία (2Co 11:7): tantum abest ut poeniteat (Bengel). The rather rare word ἁβαρής occurs nowhere else in Biblical Greek. Arist. De Coelo I. viii. 16 is its earliest occurrence: and we have ἀβαρῆ ἑαυτὸν παρέχειν (C. I. 5361. 15). Comp. πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἐπιβαρῆσαί τινα ὑμῶν (1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8).
Why did S. Paul, who was so vehement (2Co 11:10, 1Co 9:15) in refusing maintenance from the congregations to which he was ministering, yet allow the Macedonian Churches to contribute to his support when he was labouring at Corinth and elsewhere? The answer to this shows us the main reason for the Apostle’s rejection of entertainment. He wished to be absolutely free and independent in his preaching, and to be under no temptation to ‘prophesy smooth things’ to those whose hospitality and alms he was accepting, nor to be open to the charge, ‘you are paid to say that.’ He must be free to rebuke, where rebuke was required, and his praise must be beyond the suspicion of being bought. There were other reasons also, such as a desire to avoid the accusation of greed (2Co 11:12). But the preservation of perfect liberty was the chief reason: and to accept help from Macedonia, when he was preaching at Corinth, did not interfere with his independence at Corinth.