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Ambrosiaster

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,043 passages across 16 books

Commentary

421–440 of 1,043
2 Corinthians 11:22

Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.

Paul is making it clear that he is the equal of the men to whom he referred above. His purpose was to show that the disparaging opinions by which they were judging him were false.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 11:23

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.

The other apostles labored, but not as much as Paul. He used to earn his living with his own hands, from early morning until about eleven o’clock, and from then until four in the afternoon he would engage in public disputation with such energy that he would usually persuade those who spoke in opposition to him.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 11:25

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;

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..

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 11:26

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;

Paul was in danger from rivers in winter, when there was constant rain and rivers often overflowed their banks. The danger at sea which he is alluding to here was the danger that in a shipwreck the soldiers guarding prisoners on board would kill them all rather than risk letting them swim to safety..

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 11:27

In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Some of Paul’s sleepless nights were voluntary, but others were forced on him. When he was in dire straits, he had to stay awake and seek God’s help. Furthermore he taught not only in the daytime but at night as well. He was cold and exposed when he was shipwrecked on the island of Malta, where the local people came to his rescue..

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 11:28

Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

This happened because Paul adopted the habit of teaching the people entrusted to him on a daily basis. He worked during the day and taught at night, for he did not hesitate to put himself out for their sakes..

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 11:29

Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?

Paul is saying that he suffers in sympathy with everybody and that he shares their pain in order to provide medicine for the wound. He presses the point in order to show how carefully he is guarding and ruling the church entrusted to him. In this way he shows that he should not be considered inferior to the other apostles, seeing that he labored more than all of them.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 11:30

If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.

Paul is saying this because if a Christian must boast, he should boast in humility, from which comes growth in God’s sight.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 11:31

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

Paul calls God as his witness in order that what he says may be readily believed.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 11:32

In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me:

The governor of Damascus, seeing that the Jews had set a trap for the apostle, wanted to bring this wicked scheme to pass by a wrongful use of his power. He intended to capture Paul both in order to keep the Jews happy and to demonstrate that he was doing his job properly. This occurred at the very beginning of Paul’s ministry..

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 11:33

And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.

Some people say that this action was not worthy of Paul, because he was not set free by the help of God. But what need was there for that when he could be delivered by the help of men? The time when God’s help is necessary is when human help fails.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:1

It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

Paul is now going to describe how he has been raised up in order that the Corinthians might understand how great and how wonderful the things said to him were and that they might realize that he is not inferior in any way to the other apostles.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:2

I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

Paul mentions both things because either is possible. It may seem to someone that it is nothing much to be caught up into the third heaven, since that is where the moon is, but that is not right. What this means is that he was caught up beyond all the stars of the universe into the heaven which is third in the hierarchy of spiritual heavens.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:3

And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

Paul says that he was caught up twice—first into the third heaven and then into paradise, which is where the Lord said that the thief on the cross would be with him..

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:6

For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

Paul says this because if someone proclaims his own worth in God’s sight he is not unwise, for what he says is true. So if anyone talks about the things which have been revealed to him, he is not foolish, though if he keeps quiet about them he is wise.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:7

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

Paul is testifying that God makes provision for those who have done well, while at the same time he allows them to be cast down by various trials. This is both so that they shall not be deprived of the fruits of their labors and that they may be enriched by their trials so that they may have even greater eternal rewards.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:8

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

Although he asked three times, his request was not granted. It is not that he was disregarded but that he was making a plea which was against his own best interests.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:9

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Paul is clearly teaching that the time for boasting is when one is being humiliated by unjust injuries. Christ gives us the power to endure these so that what previously appeared to be painful and loathsome may be accepted with gladness.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:11

I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.

Paul is saying that he has been forced to disclose the truth of the matter. He is certainly not foolish, having spoken the truth about himself, but is abasing himself in this way in order to make it clear that he is not putting his own merits on display voluntarily.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 12:12

Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

Paul humbles himself only to rise to his true height. He talks about his patience because for a long time he put up with them as if they were sick people. His intention was to cure them of their errors by using the medicine of signs and wonders.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

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