2 Corinthians 11

2 Corinthians 11:1

D. Paul’s Assertion of His Apostleship (11:1-15) 11:1 Oh, that you would bear with me in a little follyand indeed you do bear with me. Paul wishes they would put up with him as he indulges in boasting. But then he senses that they are already doing it, so the request is unnecessary. 11:2 Three reasons are then given why he should make this request of them. The first reason is that he was jealous for the Corinthians with godly jealousy. He had betrothed them to one husband, that he might present them as a chaste virgin to Christ. Paul felt a personal responsibility for the spiritual welfare of the Corinthian saints. His desire was that in a coming day, i.e., at the Rapture, he could present them to the Lord Jesus, uncorrupted by the false teachings that were then prevalent. It was because he was thus jealous over them that he was willing to indulge in what seemed to be folly. 11:3 The second reason for Paul’s playing the fool was his fear that the saints might be deceived and their minds might be corrupted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. Here simplicity means singleheartedness. He wanted them to be devoted to the Lord Jesus alone, and not to allow their hearts’ affections to be drawn away by anyone else. Then, too, he wanted them to be unspotted in their devotedness to the Lord. The apostle remembers how the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness. He did it with an appeal to her mind or intellect. That is exactly what the false teachers were doing in Corinth. Paul would have the heart of the Corinthian virgin to be undivided and unspotted. Note that Paul treats the account of Eve and the serpent as fact, not myth. 11:4 The third reason why the apostle was willing to indulge in a little folly was that the Corinthians had shown a readiness to listen to false teachers. When anyone came to Corinth actually preaching another Jesus, and professing to dispense a different spirit than the Holy Spirit, and proclaiming a different gospel, the Corinthians put up with such a one quite willingly. They showed a lovely toleration of these views. Paul is saying sarcastically, If you do that with others, why don’t you do it with me?The final words, you may well put up with it! must be understood as irony. The apostle is not endorsing their acceptance of heresy, but chiding them for their gullibility and lack of discernment. 11:5 The reason they should be willing to put up with Paul is that he is not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles. The expression, most eminent, is used in sarcasm. The literal (and modern-sounding!) rendering is the super-apostles.The Reformers quoted this verse to refute the papal notion that Peter was the chief apostle and that the popes inherited this primacy. 11:6 Though Paul might have been untrained in speech, he certainly was not deficient in knowledge. This should have been obvious to the Corinthians, because it was from the apostle that they had received their knowledge of the Christian faith. Whatever Paul’s deficiencies might have been as far as eloquence was concerned, he apparently had made himself intelligible to the saints at Corinth. They themselves would have to bear witness to this. 11:7 If his unpolished speech was not the reason the Corinthians had taken such a negative attitude toward him, perhaps it was because he had committed an offense in humbling himself that they might be exalted. The rest of the verse explains what he means here. When the apostle was with the Corinthians he did not receive any financial assistance from them. Perhaps they felt he had committed a sin in taking such a humble place that they might have a high one. 11:8 The expression, I robbed other churches, is a figure of speech known as hyperbole. It is an exaggerated statement designed to produce a real effect on the mind. Paul does not mean he literally robbed other churches, of course, but it simply means that while he was serving the Lord at Corinth he received financial assistance from other churches so that he might serve the Corinthians without any remuneration at all from them. 11:9 There were times during his stay at Corinth when the Apostle Paul was actually in need. Did he make known that need to the Corinthians and insist on help from them? He certainly did not. Some brethren who came from Macedonia supplied what he lacked in material things. In every way possible the apostle kept himself from being burdensome to the Corinthians, and he intended to continue so doing. With regard to the Corinthians, he would not insist on his right as an apostle to be cared for by them. 11:10 Paul is determined that no one will rob him of his ground of boasting in the regions of Achaia, where Corinth is located. He is doubtless referring here to his critics who used his abstinence as an argument against him. They said he realized he was not a true apostle, and that is why he did not insist on being supported by the Christians (1 Cor. 9). In spite of the charges of his critics, he will continue to boast that he served the Corinthians without taking any money from them. 11:11 Why will he boast like this? Because he does not love the Corinthians? God knows this is not so! His heart was full of the deepest affection for them. It seemed that no matter what the apostle did, he was criticized. If he had taken money from the Corinthians, his opponents would have said he was just preaching for what he got out of it. By not taking money from them he subjected himself to the charge that he did not really love them. But God knows the truth of the matter, and Paul is content to leave it with Him. 11:12 It seems clear that the Judaizers expected, demanded, and received money from the Corinthians. Like most cultists, they would not have served unless it paid them financially. Paul was determined to continue his policy of not receiving money from the believers in Corinth. If the false teachers wanted to engage in a boasting match with him, let them follow his policy. But he knew they would never be able to boast of serving without monetary reward. Thus he cut out this ground of boasting from under them. 11:13 Paul’s real estimate of these men, pent up so far in the Letter, at last bursts forth. He can contain himself no longer! He must call them what they are. Such are false apostles in the sense that they never were commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ. They either assumed the office themselves or had it conferred on them by other men. They are deceitful workers, and this describes the methods by which they went about from church to church seeking to gain adherents to their false teachings. Transforming themselves into apostles of Christ, they pretended to represent Him. Paul has no desire to be on the same level as such men. The things which the apostle says of these Judaizing teachers are true of false teachers in the present day. Evil, we all know, could never tempt us if we saw it simply as it is; disguise is essential to its power; it appeals to man through ideas and hopes which he cannot but regard as good (Selected). 11:14 The apostle has just said that his critics in Corinth posed falsely as apostles of Christ. But he is not surprised at this when he thinks of the tactics of their master: And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.Satan is commonly pictured today as a horned, evil-looking red creature with a tail. But such, of course, is far removed from the manner in which he presents himself to men. Others think of Satan in connection with a poor drunkard, wallowing in the gutter on Skid Row. But this, too, is a false impression of what Satan is really like. This verse tells us that he masquerades as an angel of light. Perhaps by way of illustration we might say he poses as a minister of the gospel, wearing religious clothing, and standing in the pulpit of a fashionable church. He uses religious words such as God, Jesus, and the Bible. But he deludes his hearers, teaching that salvation is by good works or by human merit. He does not preach redemption through the blood of Christ. 11:15 J. N. Darby once stated that Satan is never more satanic than when he carries a Bible. This is the thought in verse 15. If Satan himself poses falsely, it is not surprising if his agents do the same. How do they pose? As false teachers? As atheists? As infidels? The answer is no. They pose as ministers of righteousness. They profess to be ministers of religion. They profess to lead people in the way of truth and righteousness, but they are agents of the evil one. Their end will be according to their works. They destroythey will be destroyed. Their deeds lead men to their doom; they themselves will be led to final perdition.

2 Corinthians 11:16

E. Paul’s Sufferings for Christ Support His Apostleship (11:16-33) 11:16 In saying all this, Paul hopes that no one will think of him as a boasting fool. But if they insist on doing so, yet let them receive him as a fool so that he also might boast a little. Notice the also in the latter part of this verse: that I also may boast a little. This word has real significance. The false teachers were doing plenty of boasting. Paul says, in effect, Even if you have to look on me as a fool, which I am not, even then receive me so that I may do a little boasting like these other men do.11:17 This verse has two possible interpretations. Some suggest that what Paul is saying here, though it was truly inspired, was not given to him by commandment of the Lord. The other interpretation is that what Paul is doing here, that is, boasting, is not according to the Lord in the sense that it did not follow the Lord’s example. The Lord Jesus never boasted. Phillips apparently adopts the first view by translating: I am not now speaking as the Lord commands me but as a fool who must be ‘in on’ this business of boasting.But we prefer the second view that boasting was not according to the Lord, and that Paul was acting in seeming foolishness by thus engaging in self-glory. Ryrie comments: He had to indulge in it [boasting], he says, against his natural instincts, so that he could call some significant facts to their attention.11:18 The Corinthians had recently heard a great deal from men who were engaging in self-glory according to corrupt human nature. If the Corinthians thought that the false teachers had sufficient cause for glorying, let them consider his boasts and see if they were not well-grounded. 11:19 Paul again resorts to satire. What he was asking them to do with himself, they were doing with others daily. They considered themselves too wise to be taken in by foolishness. But that was exactly what was happening, as he goes on to explain. 11:20 They were willing to put up with the type of man described. Who was the man described? It is obvious from what follows that he was the Judaizing teacher, the false apostle who was preying on the Corinthians. First, he brought them into bondage. This speaks undoubtedly of the slavery of the law (Act_15:10). He taught that faith in Christ was not sufficient for salvation, but that people must also obey the Law of Moses. Second, he devoured the saints, in the sense that he made heavy financial demands on them. He did not serve them for the sake of love, but was interested in the monetary return. The expression, one takes from you, is a metaphor for fishing or hunting. The false teacher tried to make these people his prey, leading them about as he desired. It was characteristic of these men that they exalted themselves by pride and boastfulness. By criticizing others, they always tried to make themselves appear greater in the sight of men. Finally, they struck the believers on the face, a great indignity. We need not hesitate to understand this literally, because arrogant churchmen down through the years have actually struck their parishioners as a way of asserting their authority. The apostle marvels that the Corinthians were willing to put up with such abusive treatment from these false teachers, and yet they were not willing to bear with him in his loving warnings and admonitions to them. Darby states: It is wonderful what people will suffer from what is falsevery much more than they will endure from what is true.11:21 In this verse some have suggested that Paul is saying: I speak thus, by way of disparaging myself, as though when I was with you in person, I had been weak and afraid to assert my authority in the way which these men do.Another suggestion is that the meaning is: In saying this, I disparage myself, because if that is strength, then I have been weak. Phillips’ translation agrees with this latter view: I am almost ashamed to say that I never did brave strong things like that to you.Paul says that if the way the false teachers acted is real strength, then he has to say to his shame that he never showed that kind of strength, but rather weakness. Yet he quickly adds that in whatever aspect these other men had reason to be bold, he certainly had the same right to be bold as they. Moffatt states it well with these words: but let them vaunt as they please, I am equal to them (mind, this is the role of a fool!). With that introduction the Apostle Paul launches into one of the most magnificent sections in this Epistle, showing his right to the claim as a true servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. You will remember that the question had been raised in the church at Corinth as to whether Paul was a true apostle. What credentials could he show that he had received a divine call? How could he prove to anyone’s satisfaction that he was equal to the twelve apostles, for instance? He is ready with his answer, but perhaps it is not exactly what we would expect. He does not bring forth a diploma to show he had graduated from some seminary. Neither does he bring an official letter, signed by the brethren in Jerusalem, stating that they had ordained him to the work. He does not present his personal accomplishments or skills. Rather, he brings before us a moving record of sufferings he had endured in the work of the gospel. Do not miss the drama and the pathos of this portion of 2 Corinthians.

Picture the intrepid Paul as he hastens ceaselessly over land and sea on his missionary journeys, constrained by the love of Christ, and willing to endure untold hardships if only men might not perish for want of the gospel of Christ. Rarely can we read these verses without being deeply moved and greatly shamed. 11:22 The false teachers made much of their Jewish ancestry. They claimed to be full-blooded Hebrews, descended from Israel, and of the seed of Abraham. They still labored under the delusion that this family tree gave them favor in the sight of God. They did not realize that God’s ancient people, Israel, had now been set aside by God because of their rejection of the Messiah. They did not realize that as far as God was concerned, there was now no difference between Jew and Gentile: all were sinners, and all needed to be saved through faith in Christ alone. It is useless for them to boast in this regard. Their lineage did not give them any superiority over Paul, since he, too, was a Hebrew, an Israelite, and of the seed of Abraham. But these were not the things which proved him to be an apostle of Christ. And so he hurries on to the main portion of his argument: in one respect they could not excel himin hardships and sufferings. 11:23 They were ministers of Christ by profession; he was a servant in devotion, labor and suffering. The Apostle Paul could never forget he was a follower of the suffering Savior. He realized that the servant is not above his master, and that an apostle could not expect better treatment in the world than his Master had received. Paul reckoned that the more faithfully he served Christ and reproduced the Savior, the more abundantly he would suffer at the hands of men. To him, suffering was the mark or badge of Christ’s servants. Though he felt like a fool in thus boasting, necessity demanded that he speak the truth, and the truth was that these false teachers were not noted for their suffering.

They chose the easy path. They avoided reproach, persecution, and dishonor. For this reason Paul felt they were in a poor position to attack him as a servant of Christ. Let us now look at the catalog of hardships which Paul enumerates as supporting his claim to be a true apostle. In labors more abundant. He thinks of the scope of his missionary journeys, how he had traveled widely throughout the Mediterranean area to make Christ known. In stripes above measure. Here we have a description of the beatings which he received at the hands of the enemies of Christ, both heathen and Jewish. In prisons more frequently. The only one of these imprisonments recorded in the Scripture, up to this time in Paul’s career, is that of Act_16:23, where he and Silas were thrown into the jail at Philippi. Now we learn that this was only one of many imprisonments, that Paul was no stranger to the dungeon. In deaths often. Undoubtedly, as the apostle wrote this, he thought of his close escape from death at Lystra (Act_14:19). But he could also look back on other similar times when life was all but gone as a result of his persecutions. 11:24 The Law of Moses forbade the Jews to inflict more than forty stripes at one time (Deu_25:3). In order to make sure that they did not break this law, it was common for the Jews to inflict only thirty-nine stripes. These would be inflicted, of course, only in what they considered to be cases of deep guilt. The Apostle Paul here informs us that his own people according to the flesh had given him the full measure of punishment on five different occasions. 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods. The only case mentioned in the NT is that which occurred at Philippi (Act_16:22). But there were two other times when Paul suffered this painful and humiliating treatment. Once I was stoned. This is no doubt the occasion at Lystra, to which we have already referred (Act_14:19). This stoning was so severe that Paul’s body was dragged out of the city, supposedly dead. Three times I was shipwrecked. Not all Paul’s trials were directly from the hands of men. At times he was tossed about by the convulsions of nature. None of the shipwrecks mentioned here is recorded for us. (The shipwreck in Acts 27 on the way to Rome occurred later in Paul’s history.) A night and a day I have been in the deep. Again, no experience recorded in Acts seems to answer to this. There is a question whether the deep here refers to a dungeon, or the sea. If it means the sea, was Paul on a raft or in an open boat? If not, he could only have survived such an experience in the water by direct, miraculous intervention by the Lord. 11:26 In journeys often. If you turn to the maps at the back of most Bibles, you will usually find one labeled The Missionary Journeys of St. Paul. As you follow the lines showing the general routes he traveled, and realize how primitive transportation facilities were in those days, you will realize a little more the depth of meaning of this expression! Then Paul goes on to list eight different types of dangers which he encountered. There were perils of waters, referring to swollen rivers and streams. There were perils of robbers, since many of the routes which he traveled were infested with outlaws. He faced perils from his own countrymen, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles to whom he sought to bring the gospel. There were perils in the city, such as Lystra, Philippi, Corinth, and Ephesus. Also he faced perils in the wilderness, probably referring to the thinly populated areas in Asia Minor and Europe. He met perils in the seafrom storms, hidden rocks, and perhaps pirates. Finally, there were perils among false brethren, no doubt referring to those Jewish legalists who posed as Christian teachers. 11:27 Weariness refers to Paul’s incessant work, while toil carries with it the thought of the exhaustion and suffering connected with work. In sleeplessness often. On many of his trips it would doubtless be necessary for him to sleep out in the open. But with dangers besetting him on every hand, it would be necessary for him to pass many a sleepless night, watching for the approach of danger. In hunger and thirst, in fastings often. The great apostle was often forced to go hungry and thirsty as he went about serving the Lord. Fastings here may mean those of a voluntary nature, but more probably they were forced on him through food shortages. In cold and nakedness. Sudden changes in weather, combined with the fact that he was often poorly shod and inadequately clothed, added these extreme forms of discomfort to his life. Hodge comments: The greatest of the apostles here appears before us, his back lacerated by frequent scourgings, his body worn by hunger, thirst, and exposure; cold and naked, persecuted by Jews and Gentiles, driven from place to place without any certain dwelling. This passage, more than any other, makes even the most laborious of the modern ministers of Christ hide their face in shame. What have they ever done or suffered to compare with what this apostle did? It is a consolation to know that Paul is now as pre-eminent in glory, as he was here in suffering. 11:28 Besides the other things, that is, those that were out of course or exceptional, Paul daily carried the steady burden of all the Christian churches on his heart. How significant it is that this climaxes all the other trials! Paul was a true pastor. He loved and cared for the Lord’s people. He was not a hireling shepherd, but a true undershepherd of the Lord Jesus. That is exactly what he is seeking to prove in this portion of Scripture, and from the standpoint of every reasonable person, he certainly has won his point.

His burden for the churches reminds us of the saying, Church making is heartbreaking. Church mending is never ending.11:29 This verse is closely linked with the previous verse. In verse 28 the apostle was saying he carried about daily the care of all the churches. Here he explains what he means. If he hears of some Christian who is weak, he feels that weakness himself. He endures the sufferings of others sympathetically.

If he learns that some brother in Christ has been offended, he burns with indignation. What affects the people of God affects him. He sorrows in their tragedies and rejoices in their triumphs. And all this exhausts the nervous energy of a servant of Christ. How well Paul knew it! 11:30 Not his successes, not his gifts or abilities, but his weaknesses, his reproaches, the indignities he enduredthese form the subject of his boasting. These are not the things that men usually boast about, or that make them famous. 11:31 In thinking of his sufferings and indignities, Paul’s mind instinctively goes back to the most humiliating moment in his entire career. If he is going to glory in the things that concern his weakness, then he cannot fail to mention the experience he had at Damascus. For any man to boast of such a humiliating experience is so contrary to human nature that Paul here calls on God to attest the truthfulness of what he says. 11:32 Fuller details of this episode are given in Act_9:19-25. After his conversion near Damascus, Paul began to preach the gospel in the synagogues there. At first his preaching aroused curious interest, but after a while the Jews plotted to kill him. They set a watch at the gates day and night, desiring to arrest him. 11:33 One night the disciples took the apostle, placed him in a basket, and lowered him through a window in the wall of the city to the ground outside. He was then able to escape. But why does Paul mention this incident? J. B. Watson suggests: He takes hold of what men made an occasion of shame and ridicule and sets it in the light of being another proof that the paramount interest in his life was to serve the Lord Christ, for whose sake he was prepared to sacrifice his personal pride and appear as a coward in the eyes of men.