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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 2 Corinthians 5:13 - 5:13
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13. εἴτε γὰρ ἐξέστημεν, θεῷ· εἴτε σωφρονοῦμεν, ὑμῖν. For whether we went mad (it was) for God; or whether we are in our right mind, (it is) for you. The change from aorist to present must be marked: the datives are commodi, and must be translated alike. S. Paul had his speaking with tongues, his revelations, his ecstasies; and for all that side of his life his critics had said with Festus (Act 26:24), as His critics had said of Christ (Mar 3:21), that he was mad. ‘Be it so,’ he replies; ‘let us allow that at such times I was beside myself; it was to God and in His service that I was so. But now and generally I am in my right mind; and it is to you and in your service that I am so. Take whichever side of my life you like; assume that the whole of it is madness, or the whole of it sanity; where does selfishness come in? There is no room for it either in what is directed to God’s glory or in what is devoted to your edification.’ If ἐξέστημεν refers to one event, and not to the different occasions on which he had exceptional spiritual experiences, it must be referred to the Rapture recorded in 2Co 12:1-5 rather than to his conversion, for the latter, by turning him into an Apostle, was as much ὑμῖν as θεῷ. Assuming that 2Co 12:1-5 was written before this, this may be a direct reference to it. It was one instance of his being ‘beside himself,’ of which he had ‘gloried’ to the Corinthians. See Swete on Mar 5:15. For εἴτε … εἴτε … see on 2Co 1:6.