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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 2 Corinthians 3:2 - 3:2
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2. ἡ ἐπιστολὴ ἡμῶν ὑμεῖς ἐστέ. The metaphor is loosely used. The Corinthians are themselves a letter; the letter is written on the Apostle’s heart; it is also written on their hearts. There are two main points. 1. ‘We have got something better than ordinary letters; we have got yourselves, and the affectionate ties which bind us to you can be discerned by all the world.’ 2. ‘The testimony is not traced with ink on a perishable surface; it is written in living characters by the Spirit on imperishable souls.’ See Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 59. In Polycarp (11) there is a clear reference to this.
ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν. It is probable that in saying ‘hearts,’ not ‘heart’ (comp. 2Co 4:6, 2Co 7:3), the Apostle includes others with himself. Contrast ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν πεπλάτυνται (2Co 6:11), and see Lightfoot on 1Th 2:4 as against Conybeare and Howson II. pp. 95, 419. The Corinthians are his (and Timothy’s) συστατικὴ ἐπιστολή, because his message has found a place in their hearts (2Co 3:6), and because they had given him too a place in their affections (1Co 4:15).
γινωσκομένη καὶ ἀναγινωσκομένη. Another play upon words: see on 2Co 1:13. The translation ‘read’ is here so entirely appropriate, that to render ἀναγινωσκομένη ‘acknowledged, recognized, admitted’ is not allowable: see 2Co 3:15, where ‘read’ must be the meaning. All men, including the Corinthians themselves, could see the ties which bound S. Paul to them. Comp. 2Co 6:11, 2Co 7:3; Php 1:7. ἐπιστολὴν ἔμψυχον ἔχομεν τὰ καθʼ ἡμᾶς συνιστῶσαν ὑμῖν, τὴν πίστιν τὴν ὑμετέραν, τὴν πανταχοῦ γῆς καὶ θαλάττης ᾀδομένην (Theodoret).