2 Corinthians 13
LenskiCHAPTER XIII
III. Paul Warns the Corinthians regarding What He Will Do, if Necessary, when He Comes
2 Corinthians 13:1
1 This is the third time I am coming to you. See 12:14. The repetition is emphatic. In 12:20, 21 and in 13:2 he also mentions his coming. All of these accumulated references to his coming, save 12:14, have the note of warning. 1 Cor. 4:18 indicates the reason; in Corinth some had puffed themselves up as though Paul would not dare to come. Such bold talk may not have died down as yet although Paul had been on the way for some time. The force of “this third time” would, then, be: I have been in Corinth twice, once after founding your church, and I shall come even a third time now that it is necessary.
Paul follows this reminder with a cold legal statement, which is abbreviated from Deut. 19:15: By mouth of two witnesses and of three shall every matter be established. That, Paul says, is what this my third coming means if there should be any in Corinth who need this procedure when I come. The corroborating testimony of at least two witnesses was required by the Jews when legal action was to be taken, that of three was considered a maximum. The same principle holds good in law everywhere. The Christian Church cannot possibly dispense with this principle when it deals with cases of discipline, and its action may be that of expulsion from the congregation. Jesus subjected himself to this principle of law, John 5:31, etc.; 8:17, 18; he prescribed it for us in Matt. 18:16; Paul holds to it in 1 Tim. 5:19.
Paul’s word is intended as a warning. He has just mentioned repentance (12:21). He hopes that there will be no unrepentant sinners with whom he must deal when he arrives. They will get a fair trial, indeed, but a trial they will get.
Paul would, of course, not take such cases into his own hands and out of the hands of the congregation, he would not act as judge supreme and dictate the verdict by virtue of his apostolic authority. In 1 Cor. 5:3–5 he did the very opposite; in 2 Cor. 1:24 he declares the direct opposite. The congregation alone can expel. It hears the necessary witnesses, it passes every motion in every case. What would be Paul’s function? The same as that which he exercised in his letters: to advise and to guide the congregation in the true spirit of Christ.
Since the time of Chrysostom Paul’s word about the two or three witnesses has been referred to his two previous visits in Corinth and the third which is about to follow. We are told that τρίτον and τριῶν correspond, that “this third time” is repeated because it would be the third witness against the impenitent in Corinth. When it is asked how Paul could note a parallel such as that, we are told that this is “rabbinical” and therefore quite possible for Paul. Paul’s stay of one and one-half years in Corinth took place prior to any trouble that had occurred there. His second visit took place prior to First Corinthians and had no bearing on recent developments. Two or three visits by the same man could not resemble two or three testimonies by different witnesses.
The essential thing is that different persons serve as witnesses. No rabbi would regard the same man as three witnesses!
2 Corinthians 13:2
2 Pointing the Corinthians to Deut. 19:15 is itself significant, and this is followed by language that is just as plain if not plainer. I have said in advance and I say in advance as present a second time and (as) absent now to those who have hitherto been sinning and to all the rest that, if I come back, I will not spare. Paul states in 1:23 that he had purposely delayed his coming in order to spare. It is an evangelical delay which allows the sinners who have merited discipline time to repent and to amend, which also does not hurry the congregation in its discipline. Paul now forewarns all concerned that his delayed arrival will bring this period to an end. “If I come back” (πάλιν as in 2:1) denotes expectancy and not doubt. It is the Christian’s “if” which places the future into God’s hands.
In 1 Cor. 5:3 Paul has used the same expressions which he employs here. There he wrote “absent in the body yet present in the spirit, I … as present”; hence he says here: “as present the second time and (as) absent now.” In 1 Cor. 5:3 the time for sparing one impenitent sinner had come to an end; here the time for sparing a number of such sinners was now approaching its end. In 1 Cor. 5:3 Paul spoke ὡςπαρών, “as if present”; here he speaks ὡςπαρὼντὸδεύτερον, “as if present the second time.” When he writes “the second time” he refers to 1 Cor. 5:3 as being the first time when he had to speak in advance to the Corinthians as he must now. The parallel is too marked to be denied.
Those who hold to the hypothesis of a visit of Paul’s to Corinth between First and Second Corinthians disregard the connection of our passage with 1 Cor. 5:3. They let ὡς mean “when”: “when I was present the second time on that hypothetical visit.” All that which makes this second visit impossible should be repeated here. In addition we may note that in accordance with this hypothesis παρών is given the sense of an imperfect tense, ἀπών that of a present tense. Καί combines the two participles and cannot be deleted. This hypothesis separates the participles: “I have told you before when I was present the second time” on that hypothetical visit, “and I tell you before when I am now absent” What Paul plainly says is that when he arrives he will not spare, that he has been telling and is now telling the Corinthians this in advance “as if (already) present the second time though (καί) now (still) absent.”
“Those who have been sinning” are the ones mentioned in 12:21 where they are designated by the same perfect participle with the addition that they had not repented. Impenitent sinners dare not be indefinitely spared. “And to all the rest” means all the rest of the congregation. If they do not take action against the impenitent sinners before Paul arrives in Corinth, Paul will not permit them to remain inactive after he arrives. We feel that Paul hopes that the congregation will take energetic action before he gets to Corinth. We decline to make “all the rest” mean still other sinners besides those mentioned in 12:21, such as 12:20 indicates. We have already seen that in all probability those mentioned in 12:20 and in 12:21 were the same persons. In addition to the sinners that call for action Paul warns also the congregation which needs to provide that action.
2 Corinthians 13:3
3 The statement continues: I shall not spare since you are seeking a proof of the Christ speaking in me, (of the Christ) who is not weak toward you but is powerful among you. Yes, he was crucified due to weakness but he lives due to God’s power! Yes, we on our part are weak in him, but we shall live with him due to God’s power toward you.
Δοκιμή is an actual “proof,” the result of a genuine test. The Corinthians are seeking such real proof, and Paul says that they will certainly get it when he arrives. The proof is to demonstrate “the Christ speaking in Paul,” the Christ “who is not weak toward you but is powerful among you.” We take this to be Paul’s own statement regarding what the Corinthians want to see demonstrated by Paul. He says that this Christ “speaks,” makes utterance in him, i.e., is not silent. Paul calls himself Christ’s mouthpiece. This speaking consists in the letters and the oral messages which Paul has been sending to the Corinthians and includes the letter which he is now sending. This speaking sounds strong (10:10). What does it really amount to?
The relative clause answers that question. Paul informs the Corinthians, both those who still raise such a question as well as all the rest who hear such a question raised, that the Christ speaking in Paul is certainly “not weak toward you Corinthians,” a Christ who only utters (λαλέω) empty words through Paul’s mouth, but a Christ who “is powerful among you.” Both of the verbs are in the present tense. The Corinthians already have the greatest proof of the power of this Christ in all that he has wrought in the Corinthians; v. 5 points them to this proof. The Corinthians had better put themselves to the proof in order to realize what they themselves are, namely that Christ is in them with his blessed, saving power. But if they must, in addition, have proof of the opposite kind, proof of the disciplinary power of Christ, they shall get what they are seeking—“I will not spare.” Paul has been sparing the Corinthians (1:24) in the hope that they would not need and require this proof which is bound to be rather painful. But since, after all, they seem not to be satisfied unless it is furnished them they shall get what they want.
2 Corinthians 13:4
4 The two καὶγάρ are parallel; the one deals with Christ, the other with Paul and his assistants. Both are concessive (B.-D. 457); we translate “yes” or “and indeed” (the idea is not “for,” our versions). Both concessions are wiped out by the strong adversative ἀλλά. “Yes, he was crucified due to weakness.” Christ was certainly weak, so utterly weak and helpless that his enemies triumphed over him, nailed him to the cross where he died the most painful and the most ignominious death. Paul names the extreme point of Christ’s weakness. This, moreover, is the Christ whom Paul preaches, who speaks in Paul, this Christ crucified, whose earthly life ended in the most abject weakness. Well, then the sinners in Corinth have nothing to fear from such a Christ! Let such a Christ threaten through Paul’s letters all he pleases!
Ah, “but he lives due to God’s power!” God’s power raised him from the dead, exalted him in glory and majesty, gave him a name above every name, etc., Phil. 2:9–12. “He was crucified” is one past act, “he lives” is eternal activity. The two ἐκ denote source, the death came “out of weakness,” the living “out of no less than God’s power,” and no greater power than this exists. Do the sinners in Corinth and any others who are misled by them want a proof of this Christ’s power? Does anyone imagine that it cannot or will not be furnished? Yes, it is the crucified Christ, the Redeemer and the hope of sinners, who speaks in Paul; but it is also this Christ of God’s power, the divine Lord and Judge, the terror of all impenitent sinners.
The first statement deals strictly with Christ alone; the second, in close parallel, adds “us” (Paul and his assistants) to this Christ. “Yes, we on our part are weak in him.” Because they are joined to him (5:17), his weakness, which is evidenced in dying on the cross, is in a manner repeated in all his true ministers. They suffer persecution and insult as he did, are hated by the world and all impenitent sinners as he was. Weakness, Paul says, is our lot “in him” (some texts have “with him”). We, too, look as if we might be easily derided and outfaced. Is this all?
“But we shall live with him due to God’s power toward you!” That is the other part of the story. The tense is the future and might thus be dated at the final resurrection; but the final phrase “toward or in regard to you” forbids this. Due to God’s power Christ’s ministers now live together with him. This is called the logical future by some. As being weak in him we shall ever live with him by God’s own power. It is the same power that raised up and exalted Christ. Eph. 1:18, 19. With this power you Corinthians have to reckon when you are dealing with us, Christ’s ministers.
The last phrase “toward you” lends a startling turn to the statement. For the point to be noted is not that Paul and his assistants should live with Christ due to God’s power (ἐκ again source) and enjoy this life merely for themselves. Their whole life by God’s power makes its impact upon the Corinthians. Yes, it is in one sense nothing but lowly weakness (12:9, 10), and it does not even pretend to be anything else; but thus it shall ever be filled with God’s own power toward the Corinthians in all that these ministers have to do with them.
Does anyone in Corinth seek proof of the Christ speaking in Paul? He should be satisfied, more than satisfied, with God’s power in the weak, crucified Christ, with this same power in the weak ministers of Christ, whose voice is that of Christ, all his power coming to them through it.
2 Corinthians 13:5
5 In view of the conditions that have been existing in Corinth, where even impenitent sinners are found (12:21), the Corinthians should do something that is far more profitable to themselves than to demand proof of the Christ speaking in Paul. Start trying your own selves whether you are in the faith, start putting your own selves to the proof! Or do you not fully know your own selves, (namely this about yourselves) that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you, indeed, are disproved! Moreover, I hope that you will know that we on our part are not disproved!
This should be the real concern of the Corinthians. The present imperatives are conative. When it is used in an evil sense πειράζω means to “tempt”; here it is used in the good sense and has the meaning to “try” and is followed by the synonym “to subject to a test” as coins are tested to determine their genuineness and their full weight. Note the terms: δοκιμή in v. 3—δοκιμάζω in this verse—also ἀδόκιμος three times—and δόκιμος once. We attempt to translate with English words that are also derived from the same root: proof—put to the proof—disproved (hence rejected; “reprobate” in our versions)—approved (tested out, proved and thus accepted as genuine).
The Corinthians are to apply the right tests to themselves as to “whether they are in the faith.” We do not see how “the faith” can be anything but objective faith: the Christian doctrine and the confession which all believers have. The subjective feature is found in the copula and in the preposition “whether you are in.” One is “in” the objective faith when he has personal, subjective faith and with his whole heart believes the objective faith. The assertion that “the faith” is never used objectively must be challenged as being incorrect.
To try and test oneself is simple enough. A few honest questions honestly answered soon reveal where one stands. There is “the faith” itself, the gospel with its contents. Does my heart receive that, receive it in toto, receive it without change of any kind? Do I reject that or any part of it? Does my heart truly believe this gospel of Christ? Do I trust it? Is my confidence full and strong?
“Or” is not disjunctive, it presents only the alternative: “Or do you not fully know your own selves,” i.e., realize concerning yourselves this essential “that Jesus Christ is in you?” This alone could be the alternative. The Corinthians must have this realization “unless you, indeed, are disproved,” i.e., tested and found false, spurious, either not believing the real gospel but something else or only pretending to believe the gospel while not really believing it. Our versions translate “reprobate,” a word that is so forcefully used in 1 Cor. 9:27 by Paul regarding himself. Of course, if the Corinthians do not truly know that Jesus Christ is in them, if, in fact, they are spurious believers, they will not feel like trying and proving whether they are in the faith. Paul’s question probes them. It does not mince matters in the least.
True believers never resent that, only people who could not stand a real test are resentful. Εἰμήτι implies that such a thing as the Corinthians being disproved or spurious cannot be possible. Note the expressions “to be in the faith”—“Jesus Christ in you.” Each defines the other. He is in us when we are in him (John 15:5); this blessed fact may be expressed in either way. This is the mystical union, but ever as mediated only by the gospel (objectively) and by faith (subjectively).
“Jesus Christ” is the Savior’s personal and his official name which includes who he is and what he has done and still does. Paul uses the simplest form of the name because the test that he wants made is not to be involved or difficult. We realize that Jesus Christ is “in” us when our hearts hold fast to him in trust and respond to the call and the prompting of his Word. Only the absence of these reactions could prove the absence of Jesus Christ in us.
2 Corinthians 13:6
6 Δέ = “moreover.” The idea to be conveyed is not that, whether the Corinthians are approved or disproved, Paul hopes that they know that he and his assistants are not disproved; the idea is that the Corinthians are not disproved (spurious coins, rejected), and that Paul hopes that for this very reason they will know that he and his assistants are likewise not disproved. Spurious Christians would not be able to know, their judgment would be worth nothing; but Christians who are able to test themselves and to realize their own genuineness, one may hope, will know the genuineness also of Christ’s true ministers. If they are able to detect the presence of Jesus Christ in themselves they should be able to recognize others in whom Christ’s power operates, especially those who helped to put Christ into their hearts. Knowing that Paul and his assistants are not disproved but approved of Christ, they will not listen to talk about a test to see whether Christ really speaks in Paul.
2 Corinthians 13:7
7 Now we are praying God that you come to do nothing evil, not (with the selfish motive) that we on our part may appear approved, but in order that you on your part may begin doing the (morally) excellent thing while (or: and that, δέ) we on our part are as if disproved.
Δέ adds this further statement about the intercession which Paul and his assistants are making for the Corinthians. Their prayer is “that you may come to do nothing evil” (ὑμᾶς is the subject of the infinitive, compare ποιῆτε). The aorist is important here: “may come to do.” Paul is not speaking in general about doing any kind of evil; he is speaking about the specific act of siding with the impenitent sinners in Corinth so that when Paul arrives he will have to show himself approved by dealing unsparingly with them.
While they are praying thus, the great concern of Paul and of his assistants is by no means that they on their part “appear” before the eyes of the Corinthians as approved or genuine because of their success in keeping the Corinthians from making a serious mistake. Paul and his assistants know that they are approved of Christ, how they may appear to the Corinthians is a secondary matter. Paul has his hopes in regard to that (v. 6), and that is enough.
No; the motive behind this prayer is the thought that the Corinthians may begin doing the noble or excellent thing, the one that is pertinent to the situation, namely turning against the impenitent sinners in their midst. The tense is again important, it is a conative present subjunctive: “may begin doing.” They cannot begin too soon. In fact, Paul hopes for a speedy answer to these prayers so that when he gets to Corinth he will find that the congregation has cleansed itself, that he does not need to use unsparing vigor upon it to get it to act.
What if “we on our part are as if disproved,” as having no opportunity by disciplinary action and by taking the congregation itself unsparingly to task like a father applying the rod (1 Cor. 4:21) to show that Christ speaks in us with God’s power? What of it? Some may desire to see such a δοκιμή or proof (v. 3). Paul and his assistants will be glad to dispense with it. There are many pleasanter ways in which to show that they are approved and accepted of Christ. Note ὡς, “as if,” which matches the preceding φανῶμεν, “may appear” (aorist subjunctive).
2 Corinthians 13:8
8 In order to explain somewhat this chief purpose of the prayer, which is directed entirely toward the end that the Corinthians may do the excellent thing even though Paul and his assistants get no special opportunity to appear as approved and genuine, Paul adds regarding themselves: For we are not able to do a thing against the truth but (are able to do something only) in the interest of truth.
The ἀλήθεια, “reality,” “truth,” does not mean the actual facts as they exist in Corinth so that Paul would say that he and his assistants cannot go counter to what these facts demand but can do only what these facts require. “The truth” = the blessed reality comprised in the gospel. Paul and his assistants are devoted wholly to this truth. They have no selfish interest such as thinking that they must stand before the Corinthians as approved, as tried and true. Just as their interest is only that the Corinthians may make no mistake, may do only the excellent thing, so their one interest is the divine, blessed truth of the gospel. Their arms are paralyzed so they cannot do even a single thing κατά, “against” that truth, but these arms are energized ever to do all that can possibly be done ὑπέρ, “in favor” of that truth.
We note how necessary it is that Paul rise to this highest plane. Κακόν and καλόν are only the moral aspects, “bad”—“excellent”; moreover, both refer only to the Corinthians. The interest which Paul has in the Corinthians as to whether they may make a moral mistake or not in their present situation is of importance for Paul and his assistants only in its connection with the truth, with the gospel, against which they could not dream of doing a thing, in favor of which they use their every effort. So, as far as they are concerned, all self-interest is barred completely, is replaced by the interest in the Corinthians, and even this interest in the Corinthians is one that is connected only with the great ἀλήθεια, the gospel truth, whose sum and substance is Christ, the Truth.
2 Corinthians 13:9
9 The very verb δυνάμεθα, “we are able, have power,” recalls the opposites power and weakness that were used in v. 3, 4. So this explanation is added: For we rejoice whenever we are weak while you are powerful; this, in fact (καί), we pray for, (namely) your complete outfitting. The Corinthians must not worry about Paul and his assistants. They rejoice whenever they are weak, for they know then that they are strong (12:10), for God’s power works in their weakness. Hence they are willing to appear totally weak. All that they desire is that the Corinthians may be powerful, i.e., that in their weakness, too, God’s power may show itself most effectively (v. 4). For this also Paul and his assistants are ever praying, namely for the complete fitting out of all that the Corinthians may need.
The rare word κατάρτισις appears only here in the Bible; the verb is used several times (see v. 11). Κατά in the compound is perfective: a fitting out that is thorough and complete. Note the English “artisan.” The genitive ὑμῶν is objective. Being completely fitted out, the Corinthians would again have their congregation in order as it should be; they would appear as the product of a good artisan.
2 Corinthians 13:10
10 For this reason I write these things while absent in order that when present I may not deal sharply, according to the authority which the Lord gave me for upbuilding and not for wrecking. Paul would like to see the Corinthians themselves put everything in good order in advance of his arrival. For this reason he is writing these things, in order to help them. If, in spite of everything, they prove dilatory, he will, when he comes, necessarily have to use sharpness. The aorist implies one decisive act. He will then wait and spare no longer (v. 2). He will then have to use the full authority given him by the Lord. This is no papistic, legalistic, or autocratic authority. The Lord never gave him anything of this kind. Paul defines it well: it is “for upbuilding and not for wrecking.”
We may call it the gospel authority. See John 20:21–23. Paul says the same thing about it here that he did in 10:8, that the Lord gave it to him for upbuilding and not for wrecking. The false apostles did the reverse; they wrecked what had been built up. Regarding the wrecking which Paul does see the grand passage 10:4, 5. The point to be noted here is that if after coming to Corinth Paul did not finally take strong measures by not using his divinely given authority he himself would be helping to wreck. To be guilty of anything like that is impossible to him.
IV. The Conclusion
2 Corinthians 13:11
11 Finally, brethren, farewell! Let yourselves be completely fitted out, let yourselves be admonished, keep minding the same things, live in peace! And the God of the love and peace will be with you. Our versions are correct in rendering χαίρετε “farewell,” valete. Some commentators think that this is wrong because this is one of five imperatives. The number five should have been a clue to them.
This first stands by itself: “good-bye.” Then there comes a rhetorical four in two pairs. The two passives are permissive: “Let yourselves be completely fitted out, let yourselves be admonished!” See the noun in v. 9 regarding the first. As a meaning for the second our versions think of being comforted, but Paul has been admonishing, and he surely asks the Corinthians to let themselves be admonished, i.e., to accept the admonitions which will enable them to fit themselves out completely.
The next two also go together, for when they keep setting their minds on the same thing they will live in peace. By “the same thing” Paul means the one which he has been presenting in this epistle.
Paul seals these admonitions with the sweet promise that “the God of the love and peace will be with you.” One article combines the two genitives and makes a unit of them. That is the purpose of the article. The article at the same time makes “love and peace” specific. It is not only love or peace but the love and peace of which God alone is the source. On “love” see 2:4; on “peace” 1:2. The view that this promise is Pelagian, that the Corinthians must deserve this presence of God before they can obtain it, is unwarranted.
Paul writes to “brethren.” He makes the same promise to them that Jesus made to the eleven in John 14:23. After we have been converted, God is with us; he will remain and not withdraw if we remain faithful, and the more we prove faithful, the fuller and the richer his presence in and with us will be.
2 Corinthians 13:12
12 Salute each other with a holy kiss! On this ancient custom see 1 Cor. 16:20; Rom. 16:16.
There salute you all the saints! These are all the brethren who are with Paul at the time of his writing. To say that this is the real “farewell” and not χαίρετε in v. 11 is, of course, not correct, for this is the greeting that is being sent by friends. On “saints” see 1:1.
2 Corinthians 13:13
13 Paul closes with what has come to be called and with what is used as the New Testament trinitarian benediction, the counterpart to the Old Testament trinitarian benediction found in Num. 6: 22–27. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit (be) with you all! The order of the persons as well as the order of their gifts are significant. We have “the Lord Jesus Christ” first, then “God”; we have “the love of God” second and not first. This benediction is pronounced upon people who are already Christians.
The love of God referred to is the love with which God embraces his own and not the love which reaches out to make men his own. God’s love is able to bestow thousands of gifts upon believers which he could not possibly bestow upon people who are not yet believers or who are unbelievers. “The love of God” properly occupies the second place in this benediction.
“The grace—the love—the communion” are not conceived in the abstract but as including all gifts and blessings that emanate from them. Nor are grace, love, communion conceived as being separate from each other. We see that grace is only a form of love, love toward the undeserving. In 1:2 grace emanates from both God and Christ. So both grace and love toward believers also involve communion with them, and communion involves grace and love toward them. In fact, communion is the crowning form of grace and love. We should guard against intellectual distinctions. The rationalism which finds “communion” incongruous and not a true third in this trio gives evidence of the fact that it does not rightly understand what any of the three are.
Yet each concept is distinct in the union of the three, and each is in its proper place. It is pure, unmerited grace on which every believer depends until he draws his last breath. He is and remains a sinner until his end. The blood of Christ’s grace must cleanse him daily. By grace alone he enters heaven at last. “Grace” keeps its full connotation of guilt and sin, of unmerited pardon in 1:2 and here at the end. It is always “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.” To think that this dissociates it from the Father and from the Spirit is to think that it is dissociated from the love and the communion, neither of which is true or could be true. The Triune God is the fount of grace for us in Christ Jesus. Read the exegesis of John 1:16.
“The Lord” = he who has purchased and won us and to whom we belong; “Jesus” = the name he bore here on earth when he came to save us with his grace; “Christ” = this person in his saving office. Each part of his name glows with grace, and this form of his name has become infinitely precious to the church from the days of the apostles onward.
We have already shown how “the love of God” follows. It is again the love of full comprehension and corresponding purpose which in this benediction enfolds those who have been won by Christ’s grace. Since it is here ascribed to “God,” the infinitude of this love is emphasized. And this includes the infinitude of its blessedness for us. If the sinner bows his head at the pierced feet of the Lord because he is overwhelmed by the grace, shall he not be utterly lost in this ocean of the love which is as great and as blessed as God himself? Our little understanding staggers and falls, and only worship and adoration are left.
The third place in this trio belongs to the heavenly word κοινωνία, “union with,” “communion” or fellowship. The Holy Spirit stoops down to us and enfolds us in his communion in which are found all the grace and the love. Not from afar are these extended to us but in a union which is beyond our comprehension. Yet we must not drift into what is called Schwaermerei, the false mysticism in which some revel. This communion is mediate, its means are Word and sacrament. In these the Spirit becomes one with us, and we with him. Apart from the means we are far from the Spirit.
The personality of the Spirit is often denied by rationalism. Only a person can establish communion. The Holy Spirit is here named beside the other two persons. So much for this passage. The full answer to unitarianism is compiled from the whole domain of Scripture revelation in any good dogmatics.
“With or in company with you all” is itself communion and fellowship. With the picture of the great apostle spreading his hands over the Corinthians with this profound New Testament benediction his voice sinks into silence. But the benediction remains upon our hearts.
Soli Deo Gloria
B.-D. Friedrich Blass’ Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch, vierte, voellig neugearbeitete Auflage, besorgt von Albert Debrunner.