TRV
Translation
King James Version
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
Complete Jewish Bible
Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
Berean Standard Bible
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
American Standard Version
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep;
World English Bible Messianic
Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep.
Geneva Bible (1599)
I was thrise beaten with roddes: I was once stoned: I suffered thrise shipwracke: night and day haue I bene in the deepe sea.
Young's Literal Translation
thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice was I shipwrecked, a night and a day in the deep I have passed;
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In the KJVVerse 29,015 of 31,102
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Commentary on 2 Corinthians 11 verses 22–33
22 ¶ Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?
30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:
33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.
Here the apostle gives a large account of his own qualifications, labours, and sufferings (not out of pride or vain-glory, but to the honour of God, who had enabled him to do and suffer so much for the cause of Christ), and wherein he excelled the false apostles, who would lessen his character and usefulness among the Corinthians. Observe,
I. He mentions the privileges of his birth (Co2 11:22), which were equal to any they could pretend to. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews; of a family among the Jews that never intermarried with the Gentiles. He was also an Israelite, and could boast of his being descended from the beloved Jacob as well as they, and was also of the seed of Abraham, and not of the proselytes. It should seem from this that the false apostles were of the Jewish race, who gave disturbance to the Gentile converts.
II. He makes mention also of his apostleship, that he was more than an ordinary minister of Christ, Co2 11:23. God had counted him faithful, and had put him into the ministry. He had been a useful minister of Christ unto them; they had found full proofs of his ministry: Are they ministers of Christ? I am more so.
III. He chiefly insists upon this, that he had been an extraordinary sufferer for Christ; and this was what he gloried in, or rather he gloried in the grace of God that had enabled him to be more abundant in labours, and to endure very great sufferings, such as stripes above measure, frequent imprisonments, and often the dangers of death, Co2 11:23. Note, When the apostle would prove himself an extraordinary minister, he proves that he had been an extraordinary sufferer. Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles, and for that reason was hated of the Jews. They did all they could against him; and among the Gentiles also he met with hard usage. Bonds and imprisonments were familiar to him; never was the most notorious malefactor more frequently in the hands of public justice than Paul was for righteousness' sake. The jail and the whipping-post, and all other hard usages of those who are accounted the worst of men, were what he was accustomed to. As to the Jews, whenever he fell into their hands, they never spared him. Five times he fell under their lash, and received forty stripes save one, Co2 11:24. Forty stripes was the utmost their law allowed (Deu 25:3), but it was usual with them, that they might not exceed, to abate one at least of that number. And to have the abatement of one only was all the favour that ever Paul received from them. The Gentiles were not tied up to that moderation, and among them he was thrice beaten with rods, of which we may suppose once was at Philippi, Act 16:22. Once he was stoned in a popular tumult, and was taken up for dead, Act 14:19. He says that thrice he suffered shipwreck; and we may believe him, though the sacred history gives a relation but of one. A night and a day he had been in the deep (Co2 11:25), in some deep dungeon or other, shut up as a prisoner. Thus he was all his days a constant confessor; perhaps scarcely a year of his life, after his conversion, passed without suffering some hardship or other for his religion; yet this was not all, for, wherever he went, he went in perils; he was exposed to perils of all sorts. If he journeyed by land, or voyaged by sea, he was in perils of robbers, or enemies of some sort; the Jews, his own countrymen, sought to kill him, or do him a mischief; the heathen, to whom he was sent, were not more kind to him, for among them he was in peril. If he was in the city, or in the wilderness, still he was in peril. He was in peril not only among avowed enemies, but among those also who called themselves brethren, but were false brethren, Co2 11:26. Besides all this, he had great weariness and painfulness in his ministerial labours, and these are things that will come into account shortly, and people will be reckoned with for all the care and pains of their ministers concerning them. Paul was a stranger to wealth and plenty, power and pleasure, preferment and ease; he was in watchings often, and exposed to hunger and thirst; in fastings often, it may be out of necessity; and endured cold and nakedness, Co2 11:27. Thus was he, who was one of the greatest blessings of the age, used as if he had been the burden of the earth, and the plague of his generation. And yet this is not all; for, as an apostle, the care of all the churches lay on him, Co2 11:28. He mentions this last, as if this lay the heaviest upon him, and as if he could better bear all the persecutions of his enemies than the scandals that were to be found in the churches he had the oversight of. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not? Co2 11:29. There was not a weak Christian with whom he did not sympathize, nor any one scandalized, but he was affected therewith. See what little reason we have to be in love with the pomp and plenty of this world, when this blessed apostle, one of the best of men that ever lived, excepting Jesus Christ, felt so much hardship in it. Nor was he ashamed of all this, but, on the contrary, it was what he accounted his honour; and therefore, much against the grain as it was with him to glory, yet, says he, if I must needs glory, if my adversaries will oblige me to it in my own necessary vindication, I will glory in these my infirmities, Co2 11:30. Note, Sufferings for righteousness' sake will, the most of any thing, redound to our honour.
In the last two verses, he mentions one particular part of his sufferings out of its place, as if he had forgotten it before, or because the deliverance God wrought for him was most remarkable; namely, the danger he was in at Damascus, soon after he was converted, and not settled in Christianity, at least in the ministry and apostleship. This is recorded, Act 9:24, Act 9:25. This was his first great danger and difficulty, and the rest of his life was a piece with this. And it is observable that, lest it should be thought he spoke more than was true, the apostle confirms this narrative with a solemn oath, or appeal to the omniscience of God, Co2 11:31. It is a great comfort to a good man that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is an omniscient God, knows the truth of all he says, and knows all he does and all he suffers for his sake.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 22–33. Public domain.
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Ephrem the SyrianAD 373
HYMNS ON PARADISE 6.22
The East has grown luminous with the saints, with them the West has become brilliant, the North is raised up by them, from them the South has learned. They have ascended to the firmament and opened it, they have gone down to the sea and explored it.
AmbrosiasterAD 384
COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES
Paul suffered the beating with rods at the hands of Gentiles. He was stoned by the Jews in a city of Lycaonia. Someone who sailed as much as he did would easily have been shipwrecked three times. He was adrift at sea on his journey to Rome, when he had appealed to Caesar..
John ChrysostomAD 407
Homily 25 on 2 Corinthians
"Thrice was I beaten with rods once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck." And what has this to do with the Gospel? Because he went forth on long journeys; and those by sea. "A night and a day I have been in the deep." Some say this means out on the open sea, others, swimming upon it, which is also the truer interpretation. There is nothing wonderful, at least, about the former, nor would he have placed it as greater than his shipwrecks.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
In 2 Corinthians 11:25, the Apostle Paul continues his poignant "fool's speech," a rhetorical device employed to reluctantly defend his authentic apostleship against the false teachers in Corinth. This verse offers a stark, harrowing glimpse into the extreme physical suffering and life-threatening perils Paul endured—from brutal beatings and stoning to multiple shipwrecks and being adrift at sea—all for the sake of the Gospel. It serves as a powerful testament to his unwavering commitment to Christ and a counter-narrative to the worldly boasting of those who challenged his authority.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Paul's account in this verse is a powerful example of Testimony and Pathos. He is not merely listing facts but presenting a deeply personal witness to his suffering, which serves to establish the authenticity of his apostolic calling. The cumulative effect of the rapid succession of severe trials ("thrice," "once," "thrice," "a night and a day") creates a sense of overwhelming hardship, evoking Pathos—a strong emotional response of sympathy and awe in the reader. The phrase "in the deep" functions as Symbolism, representing not only a literal physical location but also the profound depths of despair, vulnerability, and utter helplessness Paul experienced. This vivid imagery contrasts sharply with the superficial boasting of the false apostles, underscoring the authentic and costly nature of true ministry. The passage also employs a form of Climax, moving from specific, brutal punishments to the prolonged, isolating horror of being lost at sea, building the intensity of his suffering.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Paul's litany of sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11:25 is not merely a personal anecdote but a profound theological statement on the nature of Christian ministry and discipleship. It reveals that faithfulness to Christ often entails suffering, aligning the apostle's experience with the pattern of Christ's own life and passion. Paul's endurance demonstrates that God's power is perfected in weakness, and that divine strength is most evident when human resources are exhausted. His willingness to suffer for the Gospel underscores the immense value he placed on Christ and the salvation message, viewing his afflictions as a privilege that allowed him to participate in Christ's sufferings and to manifest His life.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Paul's testimony in 2 Corinthians 11:25 offers enduring lessons for believers navigating the complexities of faith in a fallen world. It challenges the modern tendency to equate God's blessing solely with comfort, prosperity, or ease, reminding us that true faithfulness often involves hardship, opposition, and profound sacrifice. Paul's unwavering commitment through beatings, stoning, shipwrecks, and being adrift in the deep serves as a powerful call to perseverance, demonstrating that the authenticity of our faith is often forged and revealed in times of adversity. When we face our own "deep" moments—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual trials—we can draw immense encouragement from Paul's example, knowing that God's sustaining grace is sufficient, and His strength is truly made perfect in our weakness, as Paul himself articulates in 2 Corinthians 12:9. This verse compels us to examine our own resilience in faith, to trust in God's sovereign power through all of life's storms, and to embrace the cost of discipleship as a mark of genuine commitment to Christ.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why does Paul list these specific sufferings, and why now?
Answer: Paul lists these specific, harrowing sufferings reluctantly, as part of his "fool's speech" in 2 Corinthians 11. He is compelled to do so to defend his genuine apostolic authority against false teachers who were boasting in their worldly credentials and undermining Paul's ministry in Corinth. Unlike them, Paul's "boasting" is in his weaknesses and the immense hardships he endured for Christ, demonstrating that true ministry is characterized by self-sacrifice and reliance on God's power, not by outward success or comfort. This list serves as irrefutable evidence of his dedication and the authenticity of his calling.
Are all of Paul's sufferings mentioned in this verse recorded elsewhere in the New Testament?
Answer: Not all of them are explicitly detailed in the book of Acts, which chronicles much of Paul's missionary journeys. The "thrice beaten with rods" refers to Roman floggings, one of which is recorded in Acts 16:22-23 in Philippi. The "once was I stoned" is clearly documented in Acts 14:19 at Lystra. However, while Acts records one major shipwreck later in Paul's ministry on the way to Rome (Acts 27), the "thrice I suffered shipwreck" and the subsequent "night and a day I have been in the deep" must refer to earlier, unrecorded incidents. This highlights that Acts is not an exhaustive biography but a selective account, and Paul's life involved far more unwritten perils.
What does "a night and a day I have been in the deep" precisely mean?
Answer: This phrase means Paul spent a full 24-hour period (a "nychthḗmeron") in the open sea, completely exposed and adrift. "The deep" (Greek: bythós) refers to the vast, open ocean. This likely implies he was clinging to wreckage after a shipwreck, or perhaps even treading water, for an extended period. It underscores an experience of extreme vulnerability, isolation, and near-death, where survival would have been miraculous and entirely dependent on divine intervention. It is a powerful image of utter helplessness and reliance on God's sustaining power.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Paul's catalog of sufferings in 2 Corinthians 11:25 finds its ultimate meaning and purpose in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Paul's experiences of beatings, stoning, shipwrecks, and being adrift in the deep are not merely random misfortunes but echo the pattern of suffering that is central to the Christian faith, a pattern supremely exemplified by Christ Himself. Just as Christ endured immense physical and emotional agony, culminating in the crucifixion, so Paul's life became a living testament to the cost of discipleship and the identification with his suffering Lord. Paul understood that his afflictions allowed him to "fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions" for the sake of the church (Colossians 1:24), not in terms of atonement, but in bearing witness to the ongoing reality of the cross in the world. His survival through these deadly perils, much like Christ's resurrection from the grave, testifies to God's triumphant power over death and despair. Thus, Paul's suffering is not a sign of weakness but a profound demonstration of the power of the resurrected Christ working through him, enabling him to proclaim the Gospel even from the brink of death, mirroring the ultimate victory of the Lamb of God who was slain but lives forevermore. His life, marked by suffering and divine preservation, becomes a powerful illustration of the truth that "if we suffer with him, we may also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:17), pointing always to the one who suffered supremely to bring salvation.