14 Behold, this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be in laziness a charge; for I do not seek yours, but you; for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers; but a prudent wife is from Jehovah.
And with this confidence I purposed to come to you previously, that ye might have a second favour;
Not [as] chiding do I write these things to you, but as my beloved children I admonish [you]. For if ye should have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus *I* have begotten you through the glad tidings.
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children; but the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the righteous [man].
shepherd the flock of God which [is] among you, exercising oversight, not by necessity, but willingly; not for base gain, but readily; not as lording it over your possessions, but being models for the flock. And when the chief shepherd is manifested ye shall receive the unfading crown of glory.
For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of boasting? [are] not *ye* also before our Lord Jesus at his coming? for ye are our glory and joy.
Thus, yearning over you, we had found our delight in having imparted to you not only the glad tidings of God, but our own lives also, because ye had become beloved of us.
For we have not at any time been [among you] with flattering discourse, even as ye know, nor with a pretext for covetousness, God [is] witness; nor seeking glory from men, neither from you nor from others, when we might have been a charge as Christ's apostles;
And Jehovah has blessed my master greatly, and he is become great; and he has given him sheep and cattle, and silver and gold, and bondmen and bondwomen, and camels and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master after she had grown old; and unto him has he given all that he has.
So that, my brethren, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, thus stand fast in [the] Lord, beloved.
This third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every matter be established. I have declared beforehand, and I say beforehand as present the second time, and now absent, to those that have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare.
If any one be hungry, let him eat at home, that ye may not come together for judgment. But the other things, whenever I come, I will set in order.
Let no one seek his own [advantage], but that of the other.
I have coveted [the] silver or gold or clothing of no one.
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy; and say unto them, unto the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Corinthians 12
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
In this chapter the apostle proceeds in maintaining the honour of his apostleship. He magnified his office when there were those who vilified it. What he says in his own praise was only in his own justification and the necessary defence of the honour of his ministry, the preservation of which was necessary to its success. First, He makes mention of the favour God had shown him, the honour done him, the methods God took to keep him humble, and the use he made of this dispensation (v. 1-10). Then he addresses himself to the Corinthians, blaming them for what was faulty among them, and giving a large account of his behaviour and kind intentions towards them (v. 11-21).
2Cr 12:1-10
Here we may observe,
2Cr 12:11-21
In these verses the apostle addresses himself to the Corinthians two ways:-