1 Now I, Paul, myself make request to you by the quiet and gentle behaviour of Christ, I who am poor in spirit when with you, but who say what is in my mind to you without fear when I am away from you:
For his letters, they say, have weight and are strong; but in body he is feeble, and his way of talking has little force.
Take my yoke on you and become like me, for I am gentle and without pride, and you will have rest for your souls;
For this reason I make request to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you will give your bodies as a living offering, holy, pleasing to God, which is the worship it is right for you to give him.
And I was with you without strength, in fear and in doubt.
On account of such a one I will have glory: for myself I will take no glory, but only in my feeble body.
If I have to take credit to myself, I will do so in the things in which I am feeble.
And because the revelations were so very great, in order that I might not be overmuch lifted up, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, one sent from Satan to give me pain. And about this thing I made request to the Lord three times that it might be taken away from me. And he said to me, My grace is enough for you, for my power is made complete in what is feeble. Most gladly, then, will I take pride in my feeble body, so that the power of Christ may be on me.
I said before, and still say it before I come, as being present for the second time, though I am still away from you, to those who have done wrong before, and to all the others, that if I come again I will not have pity; Seeing that you are looking for a sign of Christ giving out his word in me; who is not feeble in relation to you, but is strong in you: For he was feeble in that he was put to death on the cross, but he is living by the power of God. And we are feeble in him, but we will be living with him through the power of God in relation to you.
But you have knowledge that with a feeble body I was preaching the good news to you the first time;
These words of love to you at the end are in my writing, Paul's writing, and this is the mark of every letter from me.
Still, because of love, in place of an order, I make a request to you, I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner of Christ Jesus:
Who did no evil, and there was no deceit in his mouth: To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips; but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness:
I, John, your brother, who have a part with you in the trouble and the kingdom and the quiet strength of Jesus, was in the island which is named Patmos, for the word of God and the witness of Jesus.
I say this by way of shaming ourselves, as if we had been feeble. But if anyone puts himself forward (I am talking like a foolish person), I will do the same.
Give attention to the things which are before you. If any man seems to himself to be Christ's, let him keep in mind that we are as much Christ's as he is.
My words to you are without fear, I am full of pride on account of you: I have great comfort and joy in all our troubles.
We then, working together with God, make our request to you not to take the grace of God to no purpose.
I, Paul, send you these words of love in my writing. If any man has not love for the Lord, let him be cursed. Maran atha (our Lord comes).
But I have, in some measure, less fear in writing to you to put these things before you again, because of the grace which was given to me by God,
And Isaiah says without fear, Those who were not searching for me made discovery of me; and I was seen by those whose hearts were turned away from me.
Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your King comes to you, gentle and seated on an ass, and on a young ass.
His coming will not be with fighting or loud cries; and his voice will not be lifted up in the streets. The crushed stem will not be broken by him; and the feebly burning light will he not put out, till he has made righteousness overcome all.
He will not let a crushed stem be quite broken, and he will not let a feebly burning light be put out: he will go on sending out the true word to the peoples. His light will not be put out, and he will not be crushed, till he has given the knowledge of the true God to the earth, and the sea-lands will be waiting for his teaching.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 10
There was no place in which the apostle Paul met with more opposition from false apostles than at Corinth; he had many enemies there. Let not any of the ministers of Christ think it strange if they meet with perils, not only from enemies, but from false brethren; for blessed Paul himself did so. Though he was so blameless and inoffensive in all his carriage, so condescending and useful to all, yet there were those who bore him ill-will, who envied him, and did all they could to undermine him, and lesson his interest and reputation. Therefore he vindicates himself from their imputation, and arms the Corinthians against their insinuations. In this chapter the apostle, in a mild and humble manner, asserts the power of his preaching, and to punish offenders (v. 1-6). He then proceeds to reason the case with the Corinthians, asserting his relation to Christ, and his authority as an apostle of Christ (v. 7-11), and refuses to justify himself, or to act by such rules as the false teachers did, but according to the better rules he had fixed for himself (v. 12-18).
2Cr 10:1-6
Here we may observe,
2Cr 10:7-11
In these verses the apostle proceeds to reason the case with the Corinthians, in opposition to those who despised him, judged him, and spoke hardly of him: "Do you,' says he, "look on things after the outward appearance? v. 7. Is this a fit measure or rule to make an estimate of things or persons by, and to judge between me and my adversaries?' In outward appearance, Paul was mean and despicable with some; he did not make a figure, as perhaps some of his competitors might do: but this was a false rule to make a judgment by. It should seem that some boasted mighty things of themselves, and made a fair show. But there are often false appearances. A man may seem to be learned who has not learned Christ, and appear virtuous when he has not a principle of grace in his heart. However, the apostle asserts two things of himself:-
2Cr 10:12-18
In these verses observe,