2 Corinthians 12
Commentary from 27 fathers
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.
οἶδα ἄνθρωπον ἐν Χριστῷ πρὸ ἐτῶν δεκατεσσάρων· εἴτε ἐν σώματι οὐκ οἶδα, εἴτε ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος οὐκ οἶδα, ὁ Θεὸς οἶδεν· ἁρπαγέντα τὸν τοιοῦτον ἕως τρίτου οὐρανοῦ.
Вѣ́мъ человѣ́ка ѡ҆ хрⷭ҇тѣ̀, пре́жде лѣ́тъ четырена́десѧти: а҆́ще въ тѣ́лѣ, не вѣ́мъ, а҆́ще ли кромѣ̀ тѣ́ла, не вѣ́мъ, бг҃ъ вѣ́сть: восхище́на бы́вша такова́го до тре́тїѧгѡ нб҃сѐ.
For that there are spiritual creatures in the heavens, all the Scriptures loudly proclaim; and Paul expressly testifies that there are spiritual things when he declares that he was caught up into the third heaven, and again, that he was carried away to paradise, and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. ... And for this reason he added, "Whether in the body, or whether out of the body, God knoweth," that the body might neither be thought to be a partaker in that vision, as if it could have participated in those things which it had seen and heard; nor, again, that any one should say that he was not carried higher on account of the weight of the body; but it is therefore thus far permitted even without the body to behold spiritual mysteries which are the operations of God, who made the heavens and the earth, and formed man, and placed him in paradise, so that those should be spectators of them who, like the apostle, have reached a high degree of perfection in the love of God.
Against Heresies Book 2
It, too, has eyes and ears of its own, by means of which Paul must have heard and seen the Lord; it has, moreover all the other members of the body by the help of which it effects all processes of thinking and all activity in dreams.
A Treatise on the Soul
Paul the apostle, he says, knew of this gate, partially opening it in a mystery, and stating "that he was caught up by an angel, and ascended as far as the second and third heaven into paradise itself; and that he beheld sights and heard unspeakable words which it would not be possible for man to declare."
Refutation of All Heresies Book 5
For the apostle, he says, does not suppose paradise to be in the third heaven, in the opinion of those who knew how to observe the niceties of language, when he says, "I know such a man caught up to the third heaven; and I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, God knoweth, that was caught up into paradise."
From the Discourse on the Resurrection
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
Had Paul been able to express the experiences gained from the third heaven and his progress, ascent or assumption to it, we should perhaps have known more about God—if this really was the secret meaning of his rapture. But since they were ineffable, let them have the tribute of our silence. Let us give this much attention to Paul when he says: “We know in part and we prophesy in part.” This and the like is the confession of one who is no mere layman in knowledge, of one who threatens to give proof of Christ speaking in him, of a great champion and teacher of truth.
Theological Oration 28
2–4Great indeed was this revelation. But this was not the only one: there were many others besides, but he mentions one out of many. For that there were many, hear what he says: "Lest I should be exalted overmuch through the exceeding greatness of the revelations." 'And yet,' a man may say, 'if he wished to conceal them, he ought not to have given any intimation whatever or said any thing of the sort; but if he wished to speak of them, to speak plainly.' Wherefore then is it that he neither spoke plainly nor kept silence? To show by this also that he resorts to the thing unwillingly. And therefore also he has stated the time, "fourteen years." For he does not mention it without an object, but to show that he who had refrained for so long a time would not now have spoken out, except the necessity for doing so had been great. But he would have still kept silence, had he not seen the brethren perishing. Now if Paul from the very beginning was such an one as to be counted worthy of such a revelation, when as yet he had not wrought such good works; consider what he must have grown to in fourteen years. And observe how even in this very matter he shows modesty, by his saying some things, but confessing that of others he is ignorant. For that he was caught up indeed, he declared, but whether "in the body" or "out of the body" he says he does not know. And yet it would have been quite enough, if he had told of his being caught up and had been silent [about the other]; but as it is, in his modesty he adds this also. What then? Was it the mind that was caught up and the soul, whilst the body remained dead? or was the body caught up? It is impossible to tell. For if Paul who was caught up and whom things unspeakable, so many and so great, had befallen was in ignorance, much more we. For, indeed, that he was in Paradise he knew, and that he was in the third heaven he was not ignorant, but the manner he knew not clearly.
Homily 26 on 2 Corinthians
You see how pressed Paul was to make his point, if he had to recall something which had happened as long as fourteen years before.
Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 12
He did not mention all the revelations (that would have been difficult, because there were many of them), nor did he pass over all of them in silence. But even about this one single revelation he speaks reluctantly, to show that he mentions even it against his will. He adds "in Christ," so that the false apostles would not say that he was caught up by demons, like Simon. Not without reason did he indicate the time; he did this so that you might learn that he did not relate this now without necessity, after fourteen years of silence. And if fourteen years before this he was deemed worthy of such a revelation, how great must he have been now, after so many dangers endured for Christ's sake?
Note his moderation: he admits that he does not know whether he was in the body or out of the body when he was caught up. "The third heaven" should be understood in the following way. Scripture calls the air heaven, as for example in the expressions: the birds of heaven, the dew of heaven. This is the first heaven. It further calls the firmament heaven as well. "God called," it says, "the firmament heaven" (Gen. 1:8). This is the second heaven. It also calls heaven that which was created together with the earth. This is the third heaven.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Then the Apostle describes these visions and revelations in details, speaking of himself as though of another person; hence he says, I know a man in Christ. He mentions two visions: the first begins here; the second at v. 3.
When speaking of the first vision, the Apostle makes use of a distinction, for he says in regard to this revelation that he knew certain things and other things not. But he knew three things, namely, the condition of the beholder; hence he says: I know a man in Christ; the time of the vision, that is, who fourteen years ago; and the high point of the vision, because he was caught up to the third heaven. And he says that he did not know the disposition of the beholder, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know.
Therefore let us see what he knew, so that through what is known we may more easily attain to what was not known. First of all, the condition of the beholder, which is praiseworthy, because he was in Christ, i.e., conformed to Christ. But on the contrary, no one is in Christ, unless he has charity, because "He who abides in love abides in God" (1 Jn. 4:16). Therefore, he knew that he had charity, which is contrary to what is stated in Ec. (9:1): "The righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hate man does not know." I answer that being in Christ can be taken in two ways: in one way by faith and the sacrament of faith according to Gal. (3:27): "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ," namely, by faith and the sacrament of faith. This is the sense in which the Apostle knew that he was in Christ. In another way a person is said to be in Christ through charity, and in this way no one knows for certain that he is in Christ, except by certain tests and signs, inasmuch as he feels himself disposed and joined to Christ in such a way that he would not permit himself to be separated from him for any reason including death. This the Apostle experienced in regard to himself, when he said: "For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:38). Hence, he could have had such signs that he was in the charity of Christ.
Secondly, the time of the vision, which was fitting, because it was fourteen years ago; for fourteen years had elapsed from the time he saw the vision, until he wrote this epistle, because when he wrote this epistle he had not yet been cast into prison. Hence it seems to have been written at the beginning of Nero's reign, by whom he was killed much later. Hence if we go back fourteen years from the beginning of Nero's reign, it is clear that the Apostle had these visions at the beginning of his conversion. For he had been converted to Christ in the same year that the Lord suffered. But Christ suffered near the end of Tiberius Caesar's reign, who was succeeded at death by the emperor Caius, who lived four years, after which Nero became emperor. Therefore, between Tiberius and Nero there were four years. Adding two years from Tiberius' reign, because he was not yet dead, when Paul was converted, and from Nero's reign the eight years which had passed until he wrote this epistle, there were fourteen years between the time of his conversion to the time he wrote this epistle. Therefore, some say quite probably that the Apostle had these visions during those three days after he was struck down by the Lord, when he remained neither seeing nor eating nor drinking (Ac. 9:9). But he recalls the time of his conversion to show that if he was so pleasing to Christ from the time of his conversion that he revealed such things to him, then how much more pleasing was he after fourteen years, when he had grown in charity before God and in the virtues and graces?
Thirdly, let us see the high point of the vision, because he was caught up (raptus) to the third heaven. But it should be noted that it is one thing to be the victim of thievery and another to be rapt. Properly speaking, the former takes place when something is taken away from another in a secret way, hence, in Gen. (40:13) Joseph said: "For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews." A person is properly speaking rapt when something is taken suddenly and by force: "As the torrent that passes swiftly (raptim)", i.e., suddenly and rapidly, "in the valleys" (Job 6:15). Hence it is that plunderers who despoil violently are called ravagers (raptores). But note that a man is said to be rapt from men, as Enoch: "He was caught up (raptim) lest evil change his understanding or guile deceive his soul" (Wis. 4:11); sometimes the soul is rapt from the body: "Fool! This night your soul is required of you" (Lk. 12:20). Sometimes a person is said to be rapt by himself, when for some reason he is made to be outside himself; and this is the same as ecstasy. But a man is made to be outside himself both by his appetitive power and by his cognitive power. For by the former a person is in himself, when he cares only for things that are his own; but he is made to be outside himself when he does not care about things that are his own, but about things that pertain to others; and this is the work of charity: "Love does not insist on its own way" (1 Cor. 13:5). Concerning this ecstasy Dionysius says in the Divine Names (chap. 4): "Ecstasy is produced by divine love not permitting one to be a lover of self but of the beloved," i.e., of the things loved. But a person is made to be outside himself according to the cognitive power when he is raised up above the human mode to see something. This is the rapture about which the Apostle is speaking here.
But it should be noted that a mode natural to human knowing is that a man know simultaneously with his mental power, which is the intellect, and with a bodily one, which is a sense. This is why a man in knowing has a free judgment of the intellect, when the senses are well disposed in their vigor and not hindered by a fettering, as happens during sleep. Therefore a man is made to be outside himself when he is removed from this natural disposition for knowing, namely, when the intellect, being withdrawn from the use of the senses and sense-perceptible things, is moved to see certain things. This occurs in two ways: first, by a lack of power, no matter how it is produced. This happens in phrenitis and other mental cases, so that this withdrawal from the senses is not a state of being elevated, but of being cast down, because their power has been weakened. But the other way is by divine power, and then it is, properly speaking, an elevation, because since the agent makes the thing it works on to be like itself, a withdrawal produced by divine power and above men is something higher than man's nature.
Therefore, a rapture of this sort is defined as "an elevation from that which is according to nature into that which is above nature, produced in virtue of a higher nature." In this definition are mentioned its genus, when it is called an elevation; the efficient cause, because it is by the power of a higher nature; and the two termini of the change, namely, the terminus from which and into which, when it is described as being from that which is according to nature into what is above nature. Thus it is clear what rapture is.
Then he mentions the terminus reached by the rapture, when he says, to the third heaven. But it should be noted that the third heaven is taken in three ways: in one way according to the things below the soul; in another way according to the things in the soul; and in a third way according to things above the soul. Below the soul are all bodies, as Augustine says in the book On The True Religion. And so we can think of a threefold heaven: the ethereal, sidereal, and empyrean. In this way the Apostle is said to have been rapt to the third heaven, i.e., to see things in the empyrean heaven; not to exist there, because then he would have known whether he was in the body or out of the body. Or according to Damascene, who does not admit an empyrean heaven, we can say that the third heaven, to which the Apostle was rapt, is above the eighth sphere, so that he could clearly see the things which exist above all corporeal nature.
But if we take heaven according to the things in the soul itself, then we should call heaven some altitude of mind which transcends natural human knowledge. Now there are three kinds of sight, namely, bodily, by which we can see and know bodies; spiritual or imaginary, by which we see likenesses of bodies; and intellectual, by which we know the nature of things in themselves. For the proper object of the intellect is the "what it is" (quod quid est) of things. But such a sight of things, if it takes place according to the natural mode (e.g. if I see something visible, if I imagine something previously seen, or if I understand through phantasms) cannot be called heaven. But each of these is called heaven when they are above the natural faculty of human knowledge. For example, if you see something with your bodily eyes above the faculty of nature, then you are rapt into the first heaven. This is the way Belshazzar was rapt, when he saw the handwriting on the wall, as it is stated in Dan. (5:5). But if you are raised up by the imagination or spirit to know something supernaturally, then you are rapt to the second heaven. This is the way Peter was rapt, when he saw the linen sheet descending from heaven (Ac. 10:11). But if a person were to see intelligible things themselves and their nature, not through sense-perceptible things not through phantasms, he would be rapt to the third heaven.
But it should be noted that to be rapt to the first heaven is to be alienated from the bodily senses. Hence, since no one can be totally withdrawn from the bodily senses, it is obvious that no one can be rapt in the strict sense to the first heaven, but only in a qualified sense, inasmuch as it sometimes happens that a person is so engrossed in one sense that he is withdrawn from the act of the others. One is rapt to the second heaven when he is alienated from sense to see imaginable things; hence, such a person is always said to be in ecstasy. And so when Peter saw the linen sheet (Ac. 10:11), it is said that he was in ecstasy. But Paul is said to have been rapt to the third heaven, because he was so alienated from the senses and lifted above all bodily things that he saw intelligible things naked and pure in the way angels and separated souls see them. What is more, he saw God in his essence, as Augustine expressly says in Gen. ad Litt.12 and in a Gloss, and ad Paulinus in the book, De Videndo Deum. Furthermore, it is not probable that Moses, the minister of the Old Testament to the Jews saw God, and the minister of the New Testament to the Gentiles, the teacher of the Gentiles, was deprived of this gift. Hence he says above (3:9): "For if there was splendor in the dispensation of condemnation, the dispensation of righteousness must far exceed it in splendor." That Moses saw God in his essence is clear, for he begged God: "Show me your face" (Ex. 33:13, Vulgate). And although it was denied him at that time, it is not stated that the Lord finally denied him. Hence, Augustine says that this was granted him by reason of what is stated in Num. (12:6): "If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house." For he saw God openly and not in a dark manner.
But would it have been possible for Paul to see God without being rapt? I answer: No, for it is impossible that God be seen in this life by a man not alienated from his senses, because no image or phantasm is a sufficient medium for showing God's essence; therefore, he must be abstracted and alienated from the senses.
In a third way, by taking heaven according to things above the soul; in this way the three heavens are the three hierarchies of angels. According to this the Apostle was rapt to the third heaven, i.e., to see God's essence as clearly as the angels of the higher and first hierarchy see him, because they see God in such a way as to receive illumination in God himself and to know the divine mysteries. This is the way Paul saw.
But if he saw God as the angels of the higher and first hierarchy do, then it seems that the Apostle was beatified and, consequently, was immortal. I answer that although he saw God in his essence, he was not absolutely beatified, but only in a qualified sense. Yet it should be noted that the vision of God by essence takes place by means of a certain light, namely, the light of glory, of which it says in Ps. 36 (9): "In your light we see light." But light is communicated to some things after the manner of a passing quality and to others after the manner of an inhering form, i.e., connaturally produced; but it is found in the air as a passing form and not as a permanent form, because it vanishes when the sun is absent. Similarly, the light of glory is infused in the mind in two ways: in one way, after the manner of a form connaturally made and permanent, and then it makes a mind beatified in the strict sense. This is the way it is infused in the beatified in heaven. Hence they are called comprehenders and, so to say, seers. In another way the light of glory affects a human mind as a passing quality; this is the way Paul's mind in rapture was enlightened by the light of glory. Hence, the very name, "rapture," suggests that this was done in a passing manner. Consequently, he was not glorified in the strict sense or had the mark of glory, because that brightness was not produced as a property. As a result it was not derived from the soul in the body, nor did he remain in this state permanently. Hence, when he was in rapture, he had only the act of the beatified, but he was not beatified. Thus it is clear what the Apostle saw in his rapture, namely, the condition of the beholder, the time of the vision, and the high point of the vision.
Then he tells what he did not know, namely, whether he was in the body or out of the body, although he says that God knew. Hence he says, whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. Some interpret this as meaning that the rapture referred to his body, saying that the Apostle did not say he did not know whether the soul was joined to the body in that rapture, but whether he was rapt according to the soul and body simultaneously, so as to have been transported bodily into heaven as Habakkuk was transported (Dan. 14:35-39), or whether it was according to the soul only that he enjoyed the vision of God, as it says in Ez. (8:3): "He brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem." This was the way a certain Jew understood, as Jerome mentions in the Prol. to Dan. 3ff., where he says: "Finally, he says that even our Apostle does not dare to say that he was rapt in the body, but he said: whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows." But Augustine disproves this interpretation in Gen. ad Litt.12, because it does not agree with the other words of the Apostle. For the Apostle says that he was rapt to the third heaven; hence he knew for certain that it was the third heaven. Consequently, he knew whether that heaven was corporeal or incorporeal, i.e., an incorporeal thing. But if it was incorporeal, he knew that he could not have been rapt there bodily, because a body cannot exist in an incorporeal thing. But if it had been corporeal, he knew that the soul was not there without the body, because the soul joined to the body cannot be in a place where there is no body, unless the incorporeal heaven is called a likeness of the bodily heaven. But if that were the case, the Apostle would not have said that he knew he was rapt to the third heaven, i.e., to a likeness of heaven, because by that same token it could be said that he was rapt in the body, i.e., in the likeness of a body.
Therefore it must be admitted according to Augustine that no one set in this life and living this mortal life can see the divine essence. Hence, the Lord says: "For man shall not see me and live" (Ex. 33:20), i.e., no man will see me, unless he is entirely separated from the body, namely, in such a way that his soul is not in the body as a form, or if it is as a form, nevertheless his mind is totally and altogether alienated from the sense in such a vision. Therefore, it must be said that the Apostle says he does not know whether the soul was entirely separated from the body in that vision. Hence he says, whether out of the body, or whether his soul existed in the body as a form, but his mind was alienated from the bodily senses; hence, he says, whether in the body. Even others concede this.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
καὶ οἶδα τὸν τοιοῦτον ἄνθρωπον· εἴτε ἐν σώματι εἴτε ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος οὐκ οἶδα, ὁ Θεὸς οἶδεν·
И҆ вѣ́мъ такова̀ человѣ́ка: а҆́ще въ тѣ́лѣ, и҆лѝ кромѣ̀ тѣ́ла, не вѣ́мъ: бг҃ъ вѣ́сть:
But since he (Paul) has described that assumption of himself up to the third heaven as something great and pre-eminent, it cannot be that these men ascend above the seventh heaven, for they are certainly not superior to the apostle. If they do maintain that they are more excellent than he, let them prove themselves so by their works, for they have never pretended to anything like [what he describes as occurring to himself]. And for this reason he added, "Whether in the body, or whether out of the body, God knoweth," that the body might neither be thought to be a partaker in that vision, as if it could have participated in those things which it had seen and heard; nor, again, that any one should say that he was not carried higher on account of the weight of the body; but it is therefore thus far permitted even without the body to behold spiritual mysteries which are the operations of God, who made the heavens and the earth, and formed man, and placed him in paradise, so that those should be spectators of them who, like the apostle, have reached a high degree of perfection in the love of God.
Against Heresies Book 2
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
Having spoken of the first rapture, the Apostle speaks of a second rapture. First, he mentions the rapture; secondly, its excellence (v. 4b).
It should be noted that a Gloss says that this rapture was distinct from the first, and if one considers the matter well, two things are written of the Apostle to which these two raptures can be referred. For in Acts (chap. 9) it is recorded that he remained for three days without seeing and without taking food or drink; and the first rapture can be referred to this event, namely, that he was rapt to the third heaven at that time. But in Acts (chap. 22) it says that he was in a trance in the temple; hence the second rapture can refer to this. But this does not seem to be a similar case, because when he was in the trance, the Apostle had been cast into prison; but the Apostle wrote this epistle long before that. Therefore it must be said that this rapture differs from the first in regard to that into which he was rapt. For in the first rapture he had been rapt to the third heaven, but in the second to the paradise of God.
But if you take the third heaven in a corporeal sense according to the first acceptation of the heavens, as mentioned above, or if it was an imaginary vision, it could be called a bodily paradise, so that he was rapt to an earthly paradise. But this is against the author's intention, according to whom we say that he was rapt to the third heaven, i.e., to a vision of intelligible things according to which they are seen in themselves and in their own natures, as has been said above. Hence, according to this we must not understand one thing by heaven and another by paradise, but one and the same thing by both, namely, the glory of the saints, but according to one thing in one case and according to another thing in the other case. For heaven suggests a certain loftiness accompanied by brightness, but paradise a certain joyful pleasantness. Now these two things are present in an excellent way in the saints and angels who see God, because there is present in them a most excellent brightness by which they see God, and a supreme agreeableness by which they enjoy God. Therefore, they are said to be in heaven as to the brightness and in paradise as to the pleasantness: "You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice" (Is. 66:14). Therefore, both of these were conferred on the Apostle, namely to be raised up to that most excellent clearness of knowledge, which he signifies when he says, to the third heaven, and to experience the agreeableness of the divine sweetness; hence he says, into paradise: "O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord" (Ps. 31:20); "To him who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna" (Rev. 2:17). This sweetness is the delight experienced in enjoying God, and is mentioned in Matt. (25:13): "Enter into the joy of your master." Thus the terminus of the rapture is clear, namely, into paradise, i.e., into that sweetness with which those who are in the heavenly Jerusalem are unceasingly refreshed.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
ὅτι ἡρπάγη εἰς τὸν παράδεισον καὶ ἤκουσεν ἄρρητα ρήματα, ἃ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπῳ λαλῆσαι.
ꙗ҆́кѡ восхище́нъ бы́сть въ ра́й, и҆ слы́ша неизречє́нны гл҃го́лы, и҆́хже не лѣ́ть є҆́сть человѣ́кꙋ глаго́лати.
Wherefore also the elders who were disciples of the apostles tell us that those who were translated were transferred to that place (for paradise has been prepared for righteous men, such as have the Spirit; in which place also Paul the apostle, when he was caught up, heard words which are unspeakable as regards us in our present condition), and that there shall they who have been translated remain until the consummation [of all things], as a prelude to immortality.
Against Heresies Book 5
Never mind those who pass sentence on apostles! It is a happy fact that Peter is on the same level with Paul in the very glory of martyrdom. Now, although Paul was carried away even to the third heaven, and was caught up to paradise, and heard certain revelations there, yet these cannot possibly seem to have qualified him for (teaching) another doctrine, seeing that their very nature was such as to render them communicable to no human being.
The Prescription Against Heretics
Why should I add more touching these two planks (as it were) of human salvation, caring more for the business of the pen than the duty of my conscience? For, sinner as I am of every dye, and born for nothing save repentance, I cannot easily be silent about that concerning which also the very head and fount of the human race, and of human offence, Adam, restored by exomologesis to his own paradise, is not silent.
On Repentance
Now this (mystery) was not made known to previous generations, as he says, it has been written, "By revelation was made known unto me the mystery; " and, "I have heard inexpressible words which it is not possible for man to declare." The light, (therefore,) which came down from the Ogdoad above to the Son of the Hebdomad, descended from the Hebdomad upon Jesus the son of Mary, and he had radiance imparted to him by being illuminated with the light that shone upon him. This, he says, is that which has been declared: "The Holy Spirit will come upon thee," (meaning) that which proceeded from the Sonship through the conterminous spirit upon the Ogdoad and Hebdomad, as far as Mary; "and the power of the Highest will overshadow thee," (meaning) the power of the anointing, (which streamed) from the (celestial) height above (through) the Demiurge, as far as the creation, which is (as far as) the Son. And as far as that (Son) he says the world consisted thus. And as far as this, the entire Sonship, which is left behind for benefiting the souls in Formlessness, and for being the recipient in turn of benefits,-(this Sonship, I say,) when it is transformed, followed Jesus, and hastened upwards, and came forth purified. And it becomes most refined, so that it could, as the first (Sonship), hasten upwards through its own instrumentality. For it possesses all the power that, according to nature, is firmly connected with the light which from above shone down (upon earth).
The Refutation of All Heresies - Book 7
This means that they cannot be expressed in a human language.
On First Principles 2.7.4
Elijah was taken up to heaven only, but Paul into heaven and paradise (for it was but fitting that the disciples of Jesus should receive more manifold grace) and “heard secret words that man may not repeat.” But Paul came down again from heaven, not because he was unworthy to abide in the third heaven but after enjoying gifts beyond man’s lot.
Catechetical Lecture 14:16
But wherefore was he also caught up? As I think, that he might not seem to be inferior to the rest of the Apostles. For since they had companied with Christ, but Paul had not: He therefore caught up unto glory him also. "Into Paradise." For great was the name of this place, and it was everywhere celebrated. Wherefore also Christ said, "To-day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise."
Homily 26 on 2 Corinthians
He saw the beautiful appearance of paradise, the dances of the saints in it and the harmonious sound of its hymnody.
Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church
But, even if the angels, whose nature is simple and spiritual, are said to have tongues with which they sing praises to their Lord and Creator and give him unceasing thanks, much more must the spiritualized bodies of men do so after the resurrection. For all the members of their glorified flesh will have tongues in their mouths, and they will give voice to their speaking tongues, and thus they will utter divine praises, the outpouring in words of their love and of the joys that fill even their senses. Doubtless the Lord will add this to the grace and glory of his saints in the time of his kingdom, that the more perfectly they attain to this blessed condition of body by a happy transformation, the more fully will they sing with tongue and voice. Being established in their spiritual bodies, they may speak, perchance, not with the tongues of men but with those of angels, such as the apostle heard in paradise.
Some argue that here Paul is referring to things which he actually saw, like the beauty of paradise and the choirs of the saints which are to be found there.
Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 348
So much for those who write false revelations!
Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church
All that is heard by the ears can be spoken. He did not hear audible sounds, nor did he see a vision composed of the corporeal images of sense perception, but it was by the intuitions of the understanding, being in rapture, while his will had no fellowship with the body.
Ascetical Homilies 4
From the third heaven, he says, he was again caught up — into paradise: he was caught up so that in this respect too he would not be inferior to the rest of the apostles, who had lived together with Christ. He uses the expression "into paradise" because the name of this place was commonly known, and the Lord Himself had promised it to the thief. He heard "unspeakable words," which to those who think in a human manner and have nothing spiritual "cannot be uttered." From this it is clear that the so-called "Revelation of Paul" is a spurious composition. For how could it be otherwise, if the words mentioned were unspeakable? Thus, in the literal sense, the third heaven and paradise are different places; but in the figurative sense, these words may have one meaning, or perhaps not one. Although much could be said concerning the figurative sense, we shall express only a little — that which is more convenient for understanding. The first heaven is the boundary and limit of ethics (τῆς ἠθικῆς), when someone has rightly formed his character. Then, philosophy (ἡ φυσική, natural philosophy) constitutes the second heaven, when someone, insofar as possible, acquires knowledge about the nature of things. Finally, the third heaven is theological knowledge (θεολογική), when someone, insofar as it is accessible, acquires through contemplation the capacity for apprehending the Divine and that which surpasses human understanding. Thus, in any case, Paul was caught up to places near the Trinity, that is, above all that exists, and was at the same time not in the body, because his mind was still sluggish. For in relation to Divine things, every mind is sluggish at the time when a person is caught up and seized by God, so that through Him he is aroused and acts. And since even among these regions there are degrees, he penetrates further into paradise, having penetrated into the most hidden mysteries of the Godhead. And since these are inaccessible to knowledge and unspeakable, no one will ever comprehend them unless he rises above human weakness.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Then he mentions the excellence of that rapture, because he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. This can be explained in two ways: in one way so that the word, "man," is construed with "may" and "utter." Then the sense is this: he heard secret words, i.e., he perceived an intimate understanding of God's secret essence, as though by words, which words it is not lawful to be uttered by a man. In the other way, so that "man" is construed only with "may not". Then the sense is this: he heard words, which it is not lawful to utter to a man, i.e., to an imperfect man.
But it should be noted according to Augustine that Paul was rapt to a vision of the divine essence, which of course, cannot be seen by any created likeness. Hence, it is clear that what Paul saw of the divine essence cannot be described by any human tongue; otherwise, God would not be incomprehensible. Therefore, according to the first explanation it must be said: he heard, i.e., considered, secret words, i.e., the magnificence of the godhead, which no man can utter. He says "heard" for "saw" because that consideration was according to an interior act of the soul, in which the same is heard and seen, as it says in Num. (12:8): "For I speak to him mouth to mouth." That consideration is called a vision, inasmuch as God is seen in it; and an utterance inasmuch as man in instructed about divine things in it.
And because such spiritual things are not to be disclosed to the simple and imperfect, but to the perfect, as it says in 1 Cor. (2:6): "Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom," it is explained in the second way, so that the secrets he heard there it is not lawful to man to utter, i.e., to the imperfect, but to the spiritual, among whom we speak wisdom: "It is the glory of God to conceal things" (Prov. 25:2), i.e., the fact that it is necessary to conceal the marvelous things of God pertains to God's glory. The Psalm is according to the translation of Jerome: "Your praise, O God, is silent to you" (cf. Ps. 108:2, Vulgate), that is, cannot be comprehended by our words.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιούτου καυχήσομαι, ὑπὲρ δὲ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐ καυχήσομαι εἰ μὴ ἐν ταῖς ἀσθενείαις μου.
Ѡ҆ таковѣ́мъ похвалю́сѧ: ѡ҆ себѣ́ же не похвалю́сѧ, то́кмѡ ѡ҆ не́мощехъ мои́хъ.
of instincts and resources, -thereby teaching us that greatness has its proofs in lowliness, just as (according to the apostle)there is power even in infirmity -imitate, if you can, the cells of the bee, the hills of the ant, the webs of the spider, and the threads of the silkworm; endure, too, if you know how, those very creatures which infest your couch and house, the poisonous ejections of the blister-beetle, the spikes of the fly, and the gnat's Sheath and sting.
Against Marcion Book 1
"On behalf of such an one will I glory?" wherefore? For if another were caught up, wherefore dost thou glory? Whence it is evident that he said these things of himself. And if he added, "but of myself I will not glory," he says nothing else than this, that, 'when there is no necessity, I will say nothing of that kind fruitlessly and at random;' or else he is again throwing obscurity over what he had said, as best he might. For that the whole discourse was about himself, what follows also clearly shows.
Homily 26 on 2 Corinthians
Notice his humility: he recounts this as if about someone else, for he says, "of such a one I will boast." But if it was another who was caught up, then why do you boast? So then, it is evident that he says this about himself.
He says this either in order to show that he would not have spoken of it without necessity, or, as one may suppose, in order to make his speech veiled.
That is, by afflictions, by persecutions.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Then when he says, On behalf of this man I will boast, he shows how he reacted to this glory. In regard to this he does three things. First, he shows that he did not glory in such revelations; secondly, he suggests that he has something else in which to glory (v. 6).
In regard to the first it should be noted that the statement, on behalf of this man I will boast [glory], but on my own behalf I will not boast, can be read in two ways. In one way so that the Apostle is showing that he is the one in whom he glories, i.e., that he is the one who saw these visions. In another way, to show that it was someone else who saw these visions. For it should be noted that there are two things to consider in man, namely, the gift of God and the human condition. If a person glories in a gift of God as received from God, that glorying is good, as has been stated above (10:17). But if he glories in that gift as though he had it of himself, then such glorying is evil: "What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?" (1 Cor. 4:7). According to this, therefore, the Apostle says, on behalf of this man, namely, for the visions and gifts conferred on me by God, I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, i.e., will not glory in them as though I were their source, because I had them from God. But if I must glory, I will glory in nothing except my weaknesses, i.e., I have nothing in which I can glory save in my own condition.
But if it is explained as showing that it was someone else who saw, even if it was he, then the sense is as though he were speaking of someone, saying, on behalf of this man I will boast, i.e., for the man who saw this and who received these gifts I will glory; but on my own behalf, as wishing to show that I am such a one, I will not boast except of my weaknesses, i.e., in the tribulations I suffer.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
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.
ἐὰν γὰρ θελήσω καυχήσασθαι, οὐκ ἔσομαι ἄφρων· ἀλήθειαν γὰρ ἐρῶ· φείδομαι δὲ μή τις εἰς ἐμὲ λογίσηται ὑπὲρ ὃ βλέπει με ἢ ἀκούει τι ἐξ ἐμοῦ.
А҆́ще бо восхощꙋ̀ похвали́тисѧ, не бꙋ́дꙋ безꙋ́менъ, и҆́стинꙋ бо рекꙋ̀: щаждꙋ́ же, да не (ка́кѡ) кто̀ вознепщꙋ́етъ ѡ҆ мнѣ̀ па́че, є҆́же ви́дитъ мѧ̀, и҆лѝ слы́шитъ что̀ ѿ менє̀.
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
"But if I should even desire to glory, I shall not be foolish; for I shall speak the truth."
How then saidst thou before, "Would that ye could bear with me a little in my foolishness;" and, "That which I speak, I speak not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly;" but here, "Though I should even desire to glory, I shall not be foolish?" Not in regard of glorying, but of lying; for if glorying be foolishness, how much more lying?
It is then with regard to this that he says, "I shall not be foolish." Wherefore also he added,
"For I shall speak the truth; but I forbear, lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth, or that he heareth from me." Here you have the acknowledged reason; for they even deemed them to be gods, on account of the greatness of their miracles. As then in the case of the elements, God hath done both things, creating them at once weak and glorious; the one, to proclaim His own power; the other, to prevent the error of mankind: so truly here also were they both wonderful and weak, so that by the facts themselves were the unbelievers instructed. For if whilst continuing to be wonderful only and giving no proof of weakness, they had by words tried to draw away the many from conceiving of them more than the truth; not only would they have nothing succeeded, but they would even have brought about the contrary. For those dissuasions in words would have seemed rather to spring of lowliness of mind, and would have caused them to be the more admired. Therefore in act and by deeds was their weakness disclosed.
Homily 26 on 2 Corinthians
How is it that, having said above that boasting is madness, he now says, "if I should wish to boast, I would not be foolish"? He said here "I would not be foolish" not in relation to the boasting, but in relation to the fact that he does not lie, for he adds, "because I will speak the truth." So the meaning is this: I am not foolish, because I speak the truth.
So that people would not deify him — this is the true reason why he always keeps silent about himself, and when he is compelled to say something, he speaks in a veiled manner so that they would not consider him superior. For he did not express it as "lest anyone should speak of me," but "lest anyone should think of me above that which I deserve." If on account of his miracles they wanted to sacrifice oxen to him (Acts 14:13), what would they not have done if he had revealed his revelations?
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
But because they could say to him, "O Apostle, it is not strange that you do not glory, because you have nothing in which to glory," he shows that even besides these visions he has something in which to glory. Although I might glory in such a man and not in myself, yet I can rightfully glory in myself, for if I should wish to boast either in such tribulations or in other things bestowed on me by God, or even for my infirmity, I shall not be a fool, i.e., I will not act foolishly. Why? For I will be speaking the truth about the other things in which I can glory besides those visions. He says, I shall not be a fool, because he gloried in the things he had; for when a person glories in things he does not have, he is speaking foolishly: "For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:17); and because he gloried with sufficient reason, as is clear from the foregoing.
Then when he says, But I refrain from it, he indicates the reason he does not glory in everything, if he can glory, the reason being that he wishes to spare them. Hence he says, I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. As if to say: I could glory in many other things, but I forbear, i.e., I glory sparingly, of I forbear commending myself, lest I become burdensome to you. For God has conferred on me such things that if you knew them, you would regard me as much greater; and these are the many charismatic gifts which the Apostle had and for which the men of this world are wont to commend others and regard them as great more than for doing something pleasing. Hence he says, I do not wish to be commended on these gifts; therefore I refrain, i.e., I do not glory. Why? So that no one may think more of me than what he sees in me or hears from me.
Or another way: man is known in two ways: by his manner of life and by his doctrine. Although he could have done so, the Apostle did not wish to say about himself certain things which went beyond his life and doctrine. Consequently, I refrain, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me, i.e., in my outward conduct, or hears from me, i.e., from the doctrine of my preaching and exhortation and instruction, because they might perhaps think him immortal or an angel: "A man of understanding remains silent" (Prov. 11:12): "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man quietly holds it back" (Prov. 29:11).
Or he says: But I refrain, on account of his detractors, namely, the false apostles, who said that he glories from elation without cause or for things that were not in him. Therefore, he says, But I refrain, i.e., I glory sparingly, so that no one, i.e., the false apostles, think of me as having an excessive spirit of elation, more than that which he sees in me or has heard from me, i.e., above the power of my merits: "O LORD, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high" (Ps. 131:1); "The greater you are, the more humble yourself in all things" (Sir. 3:10, Vulgate).
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
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.
Καὶ τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῶν ἀποκαλύψεων ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι, ἐδόθη μοι σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί, ἄγγελος σατᾶν, ἵνα με κολαφίζῃ ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι.
И҆ за премнѡ́гаѧ ѿкровє́нїѧ да не превозношꙋ́сѧ, даде́сѧ мѝ па́костникъ пло́ти, а҆́ггелъ сатани́нъ, да мѝ па́кѡсти дѣ́етъ, да не превозношꙋ́сѧ.
The Apostle Paul has, moreover, in the most lucid manner, pointed out that man has been delivered over to his own infirmity, lest, being uplifted, he might fall away from the truth. Thus he says in the second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: "And lest I should be lifted up by the sublimity of the revelations, there was given unto me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. And upon this I besought the Lord three times, that it might depart from me. But he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for strength is made perfect in weakness. Gladly therefore shall I rather glory in infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me." What, therefore? (as some may exclaim:) did the Lord wish, in that case, that His apostles should thus undergo buffering, and that he should endure such infirmity? Even so it was; the word says it. For strength is made perfect in weakness, rendering him a better man who by means of his infirmity becomes acquainted with the power of God. For how could a man have learned that he is himself an infirm being, and mortal by nature, but that God is immortal and powerful, unless he had learned by experience what is in both?
Against Heresies Book 5
The right to tempt a man is granted to the devil … whether God or the devil initiates the plan or for the purpose of the judgment of a sinner, who is handed over to the devil as to an executioner. This was the case with Saul. “The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled and stifled him.” Again, it may happen in order to humble a man, as St. Paul tells us that there was given to him a thorn, a messenger of Satan, to buffet him, and even this sort of thing is not permitted for the humiliation of holy men through torment of the flesh, unless it be done so that their power to resist may be perfected in weakness. The apostle himself handed Phigellus and Hermogenes over to Satan so that by being chastised they might not blaspheme. And so you see that, far from possessing power in his own right, the devil can more easily be granted it by the servants of God.
Flight in Time of Persecution 2.7
But what will excite my surprise still more is the case (next supposed by Marcion), that a God so good and gracious, and so averse to blows and cruelty, should have suborned the angel Satan-not his own either, but the Creator's-"to buffet" the apostle, and then to have refused his request, when thrice entreated to liberate him! It would seem, therefore, that Marcion's god imitates the Creator's conduct, who is an enemy to the proud, even "putting down the mighty from their seats.
Against Marcion Book 5
Plainly, the selfsame apostle delivered to Satan Hymenaeus and Alexander, "that they might be emended into not blaspheming," as he writes to his Timotheus. "But withal himself says that `a stake was given him, an angel of Satan, 'by which he was to be buffeted, lest he should exalt himself" If they touch upon this (instance) withal, in order to lead us to understand that such as were "delivered to Sam" by him (were so delivered) with a view to emendation, not to perdition; what similarity is there between blasphemy and incest, and a soul entirely free from these,-nay, rather elated from no other source than the highest sanctity and all innocence; which (elation of soul) was being restrained in the apostle by "buffets," if you will, by means (as they say) of pain in the ear or head? Incest, however, and blasphemy, deserved to have delivered the entire persons of men to Satan himself for a possession, not to "an angel" of his.
On Modesty
"And the Spirit of the Lord," says Scripture, "departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled and stifled him; " or the design is to humble, as the apostle tells us, that there was given him a stake, the messenger of Satan, to buffet him; and even this son of thing is not permitted in the case of holy men, unless it be that at the same time strength of endurance may be perfected in weakness.
On Flight in Persecution
Thus, moreover, the Apostle Paul, after shipwrecks, after scourgings, after many and grievous tortures of the flesh and body, says that he is not grieved, but benefited by his adversity, in order that while he is sorely afflicted he might more truly be proved. "There was given to me," he says, "a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be lifted up: for which thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me; and He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for strength is made perfect in weakness." When, therefore, weakness and inefficiency and any destruction seize us, then our strength is made perfect; then our faith, if when tried it shall stand fast, is crowned; as it is written, "The furnace trieth the vessels of the potter, and the trial of tribulation just men." This, in short, is the difference between us and others who know not God, that in misfortune they complain and murmur, while adversity does not call us away from the truth of virtue and faith, but strengthens us by its suffering.
Treatise VII. On the Mortality
That all good and righteous men suffer more, but ought to endure because they are proved. In Solomon: "The furnace proveth the vessels of the potter, and the trial of tribulation righteous men." Also in the fiftieth Psalm: "The sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; a contrite and humbled heart God will not despise." Also in the thirty-third Psalm: "God is nearest to them that are contrite in heart, and He will save the lowly in spirit." Also in the same place: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but out of them all the Lord will deliver them." Of this same matter in Job: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, naked also shall I go under the earth: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord, so it is done; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all these things which happened to him Job sinned in nothing with his lips in the sight of the Lord." Concerning this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." Also according to John: "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. But in the world ye shall have affliction; but have confidence, for I have overcome the world." Concerning this same thing in the second Epistle to the Corinthians: "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted. For which thing I thrice besought the Lord, that it should depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for strength is perfected in weakness." Concerning this same thing to the Romans: "We glory in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we also glory in afflictions: knowing that affliction worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope does not confound; because the love of God is infused in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given unto us." On this same subject, according to Matthew: "How broad and spacious is the way which leadeth unto death, and many there are who go in thereby: how straight and narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it!" Of this same thing in Tobias: "Where are thy righteousnesses? behold what thou sufferest." Also in the Wisdom of Solomon: "In the places of the wicked the righteous groan; but at their ruin the righteous will abound."
Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews
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
"And that I should not be exalted overmuch, through the exceeding greatness of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me."
What sayest thou? He that counted not the kingdom to be any thing; no, nor yet hell in respect of his longing after Christ; did he deem honor from the many to be any thing, so as both to be lifted up and to need that curb continually? for he did not say, 'that he "might" buffet me,' but "that he" may "buffet me." Yet who is there would say this? What then is the meaning of what is said? When we have explained what is meant at all by the "thorn," and who is this "messenger of Satan," then will we declare this also. There are some then who have said that he means a kind of pain in the head which was inflicted of the devil; but God forbid! For the body of Paul never could have been given over to the hands of the devil, seeing that the devil himself submitted to the same Paul at his mere bidding; and he set him laws and bounds, when he delivered over the fornicator for the destruction of the flesh, and he dared not to transgress them. What then is the meaning of what is said? An adversary is called, in the Hebrew, Satan; and in the third Book of Kings the Scripture has so termed such as were adversaries; and speaking of Solomon, says, 'In his days there was no Satan,' that is, no adversary, enemy, or opponent. What he says then is this: God would not permit the Preaching to progress, in order to check our high thoughts; but permitted the adversaries to set upon us. For this indeed was enough to pluck down his high thoughts; not so that, pains in the head. And so by the "messenger of Satan," he means Alexander the coppersmith, the party of Hymenaeus and Philetus, all the adversaries of the word; those who contended with and fought against him, those that cast him into a prison, those that beat him, that led him away to death; for they did Satan's business. As then he calls those Jews children of the devil, who were imitating his deeds, so also he calls a "messenger of Satan" every one that opposeth. He says therefore, "There was given to me a thorn to buffet me;" not as if God putteth arms into such men's hands, God forbid! not that He doth chastise or punish, but for the time alloweth and permitteth them.
Homily 26 on 2 Corinthians
Many people think this was some kind of headache, but in reality Paul is referring to the persecutions which he suffered, because they came from diabolical powers.
Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church
“And so,” they ask, “is the devil good because he is useful?” On the contrary, he is evil insofar as he is the devil, but God who is good and almighty draws many just and good things out of the devil’s malice. For the devil has to his credit only his will by which he tries to do evil, not the providence of God that draws good out of him. .
Therefore, in these trials which can be both our blessing and our bane, “we don’t know how we should pray,” yet, because they are hard, because they are painful, because they go against the feeling of our human weakness, by a universal human will we pray that our troubles may depart from us. But this need of devotion we owe to the Lord our God, that, if he does not remove them, we are not to think that he has deserted us but rather, by lovingly bearing evil, we are to hope for greater good. This is how power is made perfect in infirmity. To some, indeed, who lack patience, the Lord God, in his wrath, grants them what they ask, just as, on the other hand, he in his mercy refused the apostle’s requests.
Not everyone who spares is a friend, nor is everyone who strikes an enemy.… Love mingled with severity is better than deceit with indulgence. It is more profitable for bread to be taken away from the hungry, if he neglects right living because he is sure of his food, than for bread to be broken to the hungry, to lead him astray into compliance with wrongdoing. The one who confines the madman, as well as the one who rouses the lethargic, is troublesome to both but loves both. Who could love us more than God does? Yet he continually teaches us sweetly as well as frightens us for our good. Often adding the most stinging medicine of trouble to the gentle remedies with which he comforts us, he tries the patriarchs, even good and devout ones, by famine; he chastises a stubborn people with heavier punishments; he does not take away from the apostle the sting of the flesh, though asked three times, so as to perfect strength in weakness.
LETTER 93, To Vincent
By “messenger of Satan” Paul means the insults, attacks and riots which he had to face.
Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 349
[Syncletica] also said, ‘When the devil does not use the goad of poverty to tempt us, he uses wealth for the same purpose. When he cannot win by scorn and mockery, he tries praise and flattery. If he cannot win by giving health, he tries illness. If he cannot win by comfort, he tries to ruin the soul by vexations that lead us to act against our monastic vows. He inflicts severe sicknesses on people whom he wants to tempt and so makes them weak, and thereby shakes the love they feel towards God. But although the body is shattered and running a high temperature and thirsting unbearably, yet you, who endure all this, are a sinner; you should therefore remember the punishments of the next world, the everlasting fire, the torments of judgement. Then you will not fail in the sufferings of this present time, indeed you should rejoice because God has visited you. Keep saying the famous text: “The Lord hath chastened and corrected me: but he hath not given me over unto death” (Ps. 118:18). Iron is cleaned of rust by fire. If you are righteous and suffer, you grow to a higher sanctity. Gold is tested by fire. When a messenger from Satan is given to you to be a thorn in your flesh, lift up your heart, for you have received a gift like that of St Paul. If you suffer from fever and cold, remember the text of Scripture, “We went through fire and water,” and “thou broughtest us out into a place of rest” (Ps. 66:12). If you have overcome suffering, you may expect rest, provided you are following what is good. Cry aloud the prophet’s words, “I am poor and destitute and in misery” (Ps. 66:29). Threefold suffering like this shall make you perfect. He said also, “Thou hast set me at liberty when I was in trouble” (Ps. 4:1). So let this kind of self-discipline test our souls, for our enemy is always in sight.’
The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
Paul begged that the flesh’s thorn be removed from him, but he was not heard by the Lord. The devil prayed that he might strike Job with the harshest of disasters, and we know that this was subsequently granted him. But Paul was denied the fulfillment of his prayer for his glory, whereas the devil was granted his for the devil’s pain. Thus it is often an advantage not to be heard even though postponement of our desires depresses us.
Explanation of the Psalms 21.3
By the angel of Satan and the thorn (σκόλοψ – stake, arrow), some understand a headache caused by the devil. But this is incorrect, for Paul's body was not delivered to the devil; on the contrary, Paul himself rather commanded the devil and set boundaries for him, when he delivered the fornicator to him "for the destruction of the flesh" (1 Cor. 5:5), and he did not transgress the boundaries set for him. What does "Satan" mean? Adversary, according to the meaning of the Hebrew word. Thus, the angels of Satan are all adversaries — Alexander the coppersmith, Hymenaeus, Philetus, and all who oppressed Paul and caused him harm, as those doing the work of Satan. Therefore the meaning of his words is this: God did not allow my preaching to succeed without dangers and labors, so that I would not become proud of having been deemed worthy of many revelations. Why then does he say that an angel of Satan was given to him, and not angels? Probably because in every place there was one who opposed and stirred up the people, while the rest followed him as their leader. Or, what is even more likely, he called the very thing itself — the opposition to his preaching and the bearing of dangers — the angel of Satan. By whom was it given? God permitted it, he says, for that is the meaning of the word "given" — not so that he would cause me trouble once, but would do so constantly. As for the words "lest I be exalted," some understand them as: lest people glorify me. But although Paul did say something similar in another place, here he means something else, namely: lest I become proud; for he too was a man.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Here he speaks of the remedy against pride. In regard to this he does three things. First, he mentions the remedy applied; secondly, he discloses his prayer to have the remedy removed (v. 8); thirdly, he tells the Lord's answer giving the reason for the remedy applied (v. 9).
In regard to the first it should be noted that very often a wise physician procures and permits a lesser disease to come over a person in order to cure or avoid a greater one. Thus, to cure a spasm he procures a fever. This the Apostle shows was done to him by the physician of souls, our Lord Jesus Christ. For Christ, as the supreme physician of souls, in order to cure greater sins, permits them to fall into lesser, and even mortal sins. But among all the sins the gravest is pride, for just as charity is the root and beginning of the virtues, so pride is the root and beginning of all vices: "Pride is the beginning of all sin" (Sir. 10:15, Vulgate). This is made clear in the following way. Charity is called the root of all the virtues, because it unites one to God, who is the ultimate end. Hence, just as the end is the beginning of all actions to be performed, so charity is the beginning of all the virtues. But pride turns away from God, for pride is an inordinate desire for one's own excellence. For if a person seeks some excellence under God, if he seeks it moderately and for a good end, it can be endured. But if it is not done with due order, he can even fall into other vices, such as ambition, avarice, vainglory and the like. Yet it is not, properly speaking, pride, unless a person seeks excellence without ordaining it to God. Therefore pride, properly called, separates from God and is the root of all vices and the worst of them. This is why God resists the proud, as it says in Jas. (4:6). Therefore, because the matter of this vice, that is, pride, is mainly found in things that are good, because its matter is something good, God sometimes permits his elect to be prevented by something on their part, e.g. infirmity or some other defect, and sometimes even mortal sin, from obtaining such a good, in order that they be so humbled on this account that they will not take pride in it, and that being thus humiliated, they may recognize that they cannot stand by their own powers. Hence it says in Rom. (8:28): "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him," not by reason of their sin, but by God's providence.
Therefore, because the Apostle had good reason for glorying in the spiritual choice by which he was chosen by God: "He is a chosen instrument of mine" (Ac. 9:15), and in his knowledge of God's secrets, because he says that he was caught up into the third heaven where he heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter, and in enduring evils because he had "far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death" (2 Cor. 11:23), and in his virginal integrity, because "I wish that all were as I myself am" (1 Cor. 7:7), and especially in the outstanding knowledge with which he shone and which especially puffs one up: for these reasons the Lord applied a remedy, lest he be lifted up with pride. And this is what he says: to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations: "Do not exalt yourself through your soul's counsel, lest your soul be torn in pieces like a bull" (Sir. 6:2); "Being exalted I have been humbled and troubled" (Ps. 88:15, Vulgate). Furthermore, to show that these revelations were made to him, he says: a thorn was given me, i.e., for my benefit and my humiliation: "You have lifted me up and set me as it were upon the wind" (Job 31:22); there was given, I say, to me a thorn tormenting my body with bodily weakness, that the soul might be healed. For it is said that he literally suffered a great deal from pain in the ileum [pelvis]. Or a thorn in the flesh, i.e., of concupiscence arising from my flesh, because he was troubled a great deal: "For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do... So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand... So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin" (Rom. 7:19, 21, 25). Hence, Augustine says that there existed in him movements of concupiscence which God's grace, nevertheless, restrained.
That thorn, I say, is a messenger of Satan, i.e., a wicked angel, for it was an angel sent by God or permitted, but it was Satan's because Satan's intention is to subvert, but God's is to humble and to render approved. Let the sinner beware, if the Apostle and vessel of election was not secure.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
ὑπὲρ τούτου τρὶς τὸν Κύριον παρεκάλεσα ἵνα ἀποστῇ ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ·
Ѡ҆ се́мъ трикра́ты гдⷭ҇а моли́хъ, да ѿстꙋ́питъ ѿ менє̀,
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
Accordingly, whether we have our requests granted or not, let us persist in asking and render thanks not only when we gain what we ask but also when we fail to. Failure to gain, you see, when that is what God wants, is not worse than succeeding; we do not know what is to our advantage in this regard in the way he does understand. The result is, then, that succeeding or failing we ought to give thanks. Why are you surprised that we don’t know what is to our advantage? Paul, a man of such quality and stature, judged worthy of ineffable blessings, did not know what was advantageous in his requests: when he saw himself beset with trouble and diverse tribulations, he prayed to be rid of them, not once or twice but many times. “Three times I asked the Lord,” he says.… “Three” means he asked frequently without success. So let us see how he was affected by it: surely he didn’t take it badly? He didn’t turn fainthearted, did he? He didn’t become dispirited, did he? Not at all. On the contrary, what? God said, “My grace is sufficient for you; my power has its full effect in weakness.” Not only did he not free him of the troubles afflicting him, but he even allowed him to persevere in them. True enough; but how does it emerge that he did not take it badly? Listen to Paul’s own words when he learned what the Lord had decided: “I will gladly boast of my weaknesses.” Not only, he says, do I no longer seek to be rid of them, but I even boast of them with greater satisfaction. Do you see his grateful spirit? Do you see his love for God?… So we ought to yield to the Creator of our nature, and with joy and great relish accept those things that he has decided on and have an eye not to the appearance of events but to the decisions of the Lord. After all, he who knows better than we what is for our benefit also knows what steps must be taken for our salvation.
Homilies on Genesis 30.16
"Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice."
That is, oftentimes. This also is a mark of great lowliness of mind, his not concealing that he could not bear those insidious plottings, that he fainted under them and was reduced to pray for deliverance.
Homily 26 on 2 Corinthians
If the Father gives us everything we ask in the name of the Son, what then does it mean that Paul asked the Lord three times and did not deserve to be heard, but it was said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness"? Did not that most excellent preacher ask in the name of the Son? Why then did he not receive what he asked? How then is it true that whatever we ask the Father in the name of the Son, the Father gives us, if the Apostle asked in the name of the Son that the angel of Satan be removed from him, and yet did not receive what he asked? But since the name of the Son is Jesus, and Jesus means savior, or is also called salvation, therefore he asks in the name of the Savior who asks for that which pertains to true salvation. For if something that is not expedient is asked for, the Father is not being asked in the name of Jesus. Hence it is that Paul also is not heard, because if he were freed from the temptation, it would not profit him unto salvation.
Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 27
"Thrice I besought" — that is, "many times I besought." It also serves as a sign of his humility that he confessed he could not endure the snares of the devil and the sufferings, and asked for help.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Now the Apostle was anxious to have this thorn removed and prayed that it might; hence he says: Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me. Here it should be noted a sick person, ignorant of the reason why a physician supplies a stinging plaster, asks him to remove it. But the physician, knowing its purpose, that is, for health, does not oblige him, caring more for his improvement. Similarly the Apostle, feeling that the sting was painful to him, sought the help of the unique physician to remove it. For he expressly and devoutly asked God three times to remove it, the thorn, from him: "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you" (2 Chr. 20:12). Perhaps he asked this many times, but he asked him expressly and earnestly three times, or three times, namely, many times. For three is a perfect number. And of course it was right to ask, because "For he wounds, but he binds up" (Job 5:18); "Pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Lk. 22:46).
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
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.
καὶ εἴρηκέ μοι· ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ χάρις μου· ἡ γὰρ δύναμίς μου ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελειοῦται. ἥδιστα οὖν μᾶλλον καυχήσομαι ἐν ταῖς ἀσθενείαις μου, ἵνα ἐπισκηνώσῃ ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Χριστοῦ.
и҆ рече́ ми: довлѣ́етъ тѝ блгⷣть моѧ̀: си́ла бо моѧ̀ въ не́мощи соверша́етсѧ. Сла́дцѣ ᲂу҆̀бо похвалю́сѧ па́че въ не́мощехъ мои́хъ, да всели́тсѧ въ мѧ̀ си́ла хрⷭ҇то́ва.
Long-suffering therefore was God, when man became a defaulter, as foreseeing that victory which should be granted to him through the Word. For, when strength was made perfect in weakness, it showed the kindness and transcendent power of God. For as He patiently suffered Jonah to be swallowed by the whale, not that he should be swallowed up and perish altogether, but that, having been cast out again, he might be the more subject to God, and might glorify Him the more who had conferred upon him such an unhoped-for deliverance... so also, from the beginning, did God permit man to be swallowed up by the great whale, who was the author of transgression, not that he should perish altogether when so engulphed; but, arranging and preparing the plan of salvation, which was accomplished by the Word... [This was done] that man, receiving an unhoped-for salvation from God, might rise from the dead, and glorify God...
Against Heresies Book 3
Still, we must realize that as you cannot have a persecution without evil on the part of the devil or a trial of faith without a persecution, the evil that seems required for the trial of faith is not the cause of persecution but only its instrument. The real cause of the persecution is the act of God’s will, choosing that there be a trial of faith; then there follows evil on the part of the devil as the chosen instrument of persecution which is the proximate cause of the trial of faith. For in other respects too, insofar as evil is the rival of justice, to that extent it provides material to give testimony of that of which it is a rival, and so justice may be said to be perfected in injustice, as strength is perfected in weakness. For the weak things of the world are chosen by God that the strong may be put to shame, and the foolish things of this world to put to shame its wisdom. Thus even evil may be used that justice may be glorified when evil is put to shame.
Flight in Time of Persecution 2.1
All proof of abstinence is lost when excess is impossible; for sundry things have thus their evidence in their contraries. Just as "strength is made perfect in weakness," so likewise is continence made manifest by the permission to marry.
Against Marcion Book 1
Is he then the same God as He who gave Satan power over the person of Job that his "strength might be made perfect in weakness? " How is it that the censurer of the Galatians still retains the very formula of the law: "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established? " How again is it that he threatens sinners "that he will not spare" them -he, the preacher of a most gentle god? Yea, he even declares that "the Lord hath given to him the power of using sharpness in their presence!" Deny now, O heretic, (at your cost, ) that your god is an object to be feared, when his apostle was for making himself so formidable!
Against Marcion Book 5
He will love the flesh which is, so very closely and in so many ways, His neighbour-(He will love it), although infirm, since His strength is made perfect in weakness; although disordered, since "they that are whole need not the physician, but they that are sick; " although not honourable, since "we bestow more abundant honour upon the less honourable members; " although ruined, since He says, "I am come to save that which was lost; " although sinful, since He says, "I desire rather the salvation of the sinner than his death; " although condemned, for says He, "I shall wound, and also heal.
On the Resurrection of the Flesh
In this way also "shall strength be made perfect in weakness," -saving what is lost, reviving what is dead, healing what is stricken, curing what is faint, redeeming what is lost, freeing what is enslaved, recalling what has strayed, raising what is fallen; and this from earth to heaven, where, as the apostle teaches the Philippians, "we have our citizenship, from whence also we look for our Saviour Jesus Christ, who shall change our body of humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body" -of course after the resurrection, because Christ Himself was not glorified before He suffered.
On the Resurrection of the Flesh
Lastly, when Paul is praying the Lord for its removal, what does he hear? "Hold my grace sufficient; for virtue is perfected in infirmity." This they who are surrendered to Satan cannot hear.
On Modesty
For in other respects, too, injustice in proportion to the enmity it displays against righteousness affords occasion for attestations of that to which it is opposed as an enemy, that so righteousness may be perfected in injustice, as strength is perfected in weakness. For the weak things of the world have been chosen by God to confound the strong, and the foolish things of the world to confound its wisdom.
On Flight in Persecution
When some infirmity and weakness and desolation attacks us, then our power is made perfect, and our faith is crowned if it has stood firm through temptation.
Treatise VII. On the Mortality 12
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
"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for my power is made perfect in weakness."
That is to say, 'It is sufficient for thee that thou raisest the dead, that thou curest the blind, that thou cleansest lepers, that thou workest those other miracles; seek not also exemption from danger and fear and to preach without annoyances. But art thou pained and dejected lest it should seem to be owing to My weakness, that there are many who plot against and beat thee and harass and scourge thee? Why this very thing doth show My power. "For My power," He saith, "is made perfect in weakness," when being persecuted ye overcome your persecutors; when being harassed ye get the better of them that harass you; when being put in bonds ye convert them that put you in bonds. Seek not then more than is needed.' Seest thou how he himself assigns one reason, and God another? For he himself says, "Lest I should be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn;" but he says that God said He permitted it in order to show His power. 'Thou seekest therefore a thing which is not only not needed, but which also obscureth the glory of My power.' For by the words, "is sufficient for thee," He would signify this, that nothing else need be added, but the whole was complete. So that from this also it is plain that he does not intend pains in the head; for in truth they did not preach when they were sick, for they could not preach when ill; but that harassed and persecuted, they overcame all. 'After having heard this then,' he says,
"Most gladly therefore will I glory in my weaknesses." For that they may not sink down, when those false Apostles are glorying over their contrary lot and these are suffering persecution, he shows that he shineth all the brighter for this, and that thus the power of God shines forth the rather, and what happens is just matter for glorying. Wherefore he says, "Most gladly therefore will I glory." 'Not as therefore sorrowing did I speak of the things which I enumerated, or of that which I have just now said, "there was given to me a thorn;" but as priding myself upon them and drawing to myself greater power.' Wherefore also he adds,
"That the strength of Christ may rest upon me." Here he hints at another thing also, namely, that in proportion as the trials waxed in intensity, in the same proportion the grace was increased and continued.
Homily 26 on 2 Corinthians
We learn from this that even a wrong prayer will receive an answer, even if it does not get what it wants.
Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 12
God’s power is made perfect in persecutions and sufferings.
Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church
The more one easily conquers, the less one needs combat. But who would fight within himself if there were no opposition from self? And why is there opposition from self if nothing remains in us to be healed and cured? Therefore, the sole cause of our fighting is weakness in ourselves. Again, weakness cautions against pride. Truly, that strength and virtue by which one is not proud in this life where he could be proud is made perfect in weakness.
Against Julian 4.2.11
Paul wanted to make it clear that his affliction was not a natural property of the body but something which was intended by God for a higher purpose.
Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 350
It follows: "That whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, he may give it you." Behold, here he says: "Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." Again, elsewhere through the same Evangelist he says: "If you shall ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto you have not asked anything in my name." If the Father gives us everything we ask in the name of the Son, what then does it mean that Paul asked the Lord three times and did not deserve to be heard, but it was said to him: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness"? Did not that most excellent preacher ask in the name of the Son? Why then did he not receive what he asked? How then is it true that whatever we ask the Father in the name of the Son, the Father gives us, if the Apostle asked in the name of the Son that the angel of Satan be removed from him, and yet did not receive what he asked? But since the name of the Son is Jesus, and Jesus means savior, or is also called salvation, therefore he asks in the name of the Savior who asks for that which pertains to true salvation. For if something that is not expedient is asked for, the Father is not being asked in the name of Jesus. Hence the Lord says to those same apostles while they were still weak: "Hitherto you have not asked anything in my name." As if it were openly said: You have not asked in the name of the Savior because you do not know how to seek eternal salvation. Hence it is that Paul also is not heard, because if he were freed from the temptation, it would not profit him unto salvation.
Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 27
And He said to me, he says, My grace is sufficient for you — that is, it is enough for you that I have given you the grace to raise the dead and perform all miracles. Do not ask, then, that your preaching advance without dangers, for that is excessive; but what is sufficient for you, you have received.
That is, you suffer, Paul, so that it would not seem that many are placing obstacles to the preaching due to My weakness; take courage, for My power is revealed more fully when you, the persecuted, overcome the persecutors. Note, he himself said that he was given over to temptations so that he would not be exalted; but God indicates another reason for this, namely that His power will only be fully revealed when the apostles are in weakness, that is, amid persecutions and dangers.
Since, he says, I have heard that the power of God is made perfect in weakness, I will henceforth boast in my weaknesses, for the more numerous they are, the more abundant power of God they will bring down upon me. Therefore, do not think that I speak of the thorn with sorrow, but rather I rejoice and boast, since through the multiplication of afflictions I draw upon myself the greater power of God.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Then he states the Lord's answer: but he, i.e., the Lord, said to me: My grace is sufficient for you. Here he does two things. First, he states the Lord's answer; secondly, the reason for the answer (v. 9b).
He says therefore, I asked, but the Lord said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. As if to say: it is not necessary that this bodily weakness leave you, because it is not dangerous, for you will not be led into impatience, since my grace strengthens you; or that this weakness of concupiscence depart, because it will not lead you to sin, for my grace will protect you: "Justified by his grace as a gift" (Rom. 3:24). And of course, God's grace is sufficient for avoiding evil, doing good, and attaining to eternal life: "By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10); "But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:25).
But on the other hand it says in Jn. (15:16): "Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you." Therefore, Paul either asked discreetly and deserved to be heard, or indiscreetly and hence sinned. I answer that a man can speak of one and the same thing in two ways: in one way according to itself and the nature of things; in another way according to its relation to something else. Hence, it happens that something evil according to itself and to be avoided is in relation to something else able to be sought. Thus, a medicine, inasmuch as it is bitter should be avoided, yet, when it is considered in relation to health, a person seeks it. Therefore a thorn in the flesh according to itself is to be avoided as troublesome, but inasmuch as it is a means to virtue and an exercise of virtue, it should be desired. But because that secret of divine providence, namely, that it would turn out to his advantage, had not been revealed to him yet, the Apostle considered that in itself it was bad for him. But God who had ordained this to the good of his humility did not oblige him, as far as his wish was concerned; indeed, once he understood its purpose, the Apostle gloried in it, saying, I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon [dwell in] me. And although he did not oblige him as to his wish, yet he heard him and does hear his saints to their advantage. Hence, Jerome says in the Letter to Paulinus: "The good Lord frequently does not grant what we wish, in order to bestow what we should prefer."
Then he gives the reason for the Lord's response when he says, for my power is made perfect in weakness [infirmity]. This is a remarkable expression: virtue is made perfect in infirmity; fire grows in water. But this can be understood in two ways, namely, materially and by way of occasion. If it is taken materially, the sense is this: infirmity is the material on which to exercise virtue; first, humility, as stated above; secondly, patience: "The testing of your faith produces steadfastness" (Jas. 1:3); thirdly, temperance, because hunger is weakened by infirmity and a person is made temperate. But if it is taken as an occasion, infirmity is the occasion for arriving at perfect virtue, because a man who knows that he is weak is more careful when resisting, and as a result of fighting and resisting more he is better exercised and, therefore, stronger. Hence it says in Jdg. (3:1) that the Lord was not willing to destroy all the inhabitants of the land, but preserved some in order that the children of Israel might be exercised by fighting against them. In the same way, Scipio also did not wish to destroy the city of Carthage, in order that the Romans, having external enemies, would not have internal enemies, against whom it is more painful to wage war than against outsiders, as he said.
Then the Apostle mentions the effect of this answer from the Lord, saying: I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. He mentions two effects. One is glorying; hence he says: because my virtue is made perfect in infirmity, I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, i.e., given to me for my profit; and this because it joins me closer to Christ: "But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14); "But he that is glorified in poverty, how much more in wealth?" (Sir. 10:34. Vulgate). The reason I will glory gladly is that the power of Christ may rest upon me [dwell in me], i.e., that through infirmity the grace of Christ may dwell and be made perfect in me: "He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength" (Is. 40:29).
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
9–10The modern world, when it praises its little Caesars, talks of being strong and brave: but it does not seem to see the eternal paradox involved in the conjunction of these ideas. The strong cannot be brave. Only the weak can be brave; and yet again, in practice, only those who can be brave can be trusted, in time of doubt, to be strong. The only way in which a giant could really keep himself in training against the inevitable Jack would be by continually fighting other giants ten times as big as himself. That is by ceasing to be a giant and becoming a Jack. Thus that sympathy with the small or the defeated as such, with which we Liberals and Nationalists have been often reproached, is not a useless sentimentalism at all, as Mr. Wells and his friends fancy. It is the first law of practical courage. To be in the weakest camp is to be in the strongest school.
Heretics, Ch. 5: Mr. H. G. Wells and the Giants (1905)
9–10The truth is that the tradition of Christianity (which is still the only coherent ethic of Europe) rests on two or three paradoxes or mysteries which can easily be impugned in argument and as easily justified in life. One of them, for instance, is the paradox of hope or faith—that the more hopeless is the situation the more hopeful must be the man. Stevenson understood this, and consequently Mr. Moore cannot understand Stevenson. Another is the paradox of charity or chivalry that the weaker a thing is the more it should be respected, that the more indefensible a thing is the more it should appeal to us for a certain kind of defence. Thackeray understood this, and therefore Mr. Moore does not understand Thackeray.
Heretics, Ch. 9: The Moods of Mr. George Moore (1905)
9–10Energetic people use energy as a means, but only very tired people ever use energy as a reason. Athletes go in for games, because athletes desire glory. Invalids go in for calisthenics; for invalids (alone of all human beings) desire strength. So long as the German Army points to its heraldic eagle and says, "I come in the name of this fierce but fabulous animal," the German Army will be all right. If ever it says, "I come in the name of bayonets," the bayonets will break like glass, for only the weak exhibit strength without an aim.
All Things Considered, Thoughts Around Koepenick (1908)
9–10It is a good sign in a nation when such things are done badly. It shows that all the people are doing them. And it is a bad sign in a nation when such things are done very well, for it shows that only a few experts and eccentrics are doing them, and that the nation is merely looking on. Suppose that whenever we heard of walking in England it always meant walking forty-five miles a day without fatigue. We should be perfectly certain that only a few men were walking at all, and that all the other British subjects were being wheeled about in Bath-chairs. But if when we hear of walking it means slow walking, painful walking, and frequent fatigue, then we know that the mass of the nation still is walking. We know that England is still literally on its feet.
All Things Considered, Patriotism and Sport (1908)
9–10It is only we who play badly who love the Game itself. You love glory; you love applause; you love the earthquake voice of victory; you do not love croquet. You do not love croquet until you love being beaten at croquet. It is we the bunglers who adore the occupation in the abstract. It is we to whom it is art for art's sake. ... Our play is called amateurish; and we wear proudly the name of amateur, for amateurs is but the French for Lovers. We accept all adventures from our Lady, the most disastrous or the most dreary. ... The good painter has skill. It is the bad painter who loves his art. The good musician loves being a musician, the bad musician loves music.
Tremendous Trifles, The Perfect Game (1909)
9–10All pessimism has a secret optimism for its object. All surrender of life, all denial of pleasure, all darkness, all austerity, all desolation has for its real aim this separation of something so that it may be poignantly and perfectly enjoyed. I feel grateful for the slight sprain which has introduced this mysterious and fascinating division between one of my feet and the other. The way to love anything is to realise that it might be lost. In one of my feet I can feel how strong and splendid a foot is; in the other I can realise how very much otherwise it might have been. The moral of the thing is wholly exhilarating. This world and all our powers in it are far more awful and beautiful than even we know until some accident reminds us. If you wish to perceive that limitless felicity, limit yourself if only for a moment.
Tremendous Trifles, The Advantages of Having One Leg (1909)
9–10And this is really all that we can do when we fight something really stronger than ourselves; we can deal it its death-wound one moment; it deals us death in the end. It is something if we can shock and jar the unthinking impetus and enormous innocence of evil; just as a pebble on a railway can stagger the Scotch express.
Tremendous Trifles, XX. The Giant (1909)
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
διὸ εὐδοκῶ ἐν ἀσθενείαις, ἐν ὕβρεσιν, ἐν ἀνάγκαις, ἐν διωγμοῖς, ἐν στενοχωρίαις, ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ· ὅταν γὰρ ἀσθενῶ, τότε δυνατός εἰμι.
[Заⷱ҇ 195] Тѣ́мже благоволю̀ въ не́мощехъ, въ досажде́нїихъ, въ бѣда́хъ, во и҆згна́нїихъ, въ тѣснота́хъ по хрⷭ҇тѣ̀: є҆гда́ бо немощствꙋ́ю, тогда̀ си́ленъ є҆́смь.
And if these severities will seem to be more grievous than martyrdoms, yet once more he says: "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake." He also says, in verses occurring in a previous part of the epistle: "Our condition is such, that we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; and are in need, but not in utter want; since we are harassed by persecutions, but not forsaken; it is such that we are east down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in our body the dying of Christ.
Scorpiace
Plainly, a Christian will "glory" even in the flesh; but (it will be) when it has endured laceration for Christ's sake, in order that the spirit may be crowned in it, not in order that it may draw the eyes and sighs of youths after it.
On the Apparel of Women Book 2
Not in the amount of money, not in the pride of power, not in the height of glory is victory gained, but the Lord freely gives his help to those who seek him through excessive affliction. Such was Paul, who made his afflictions his boast. Therefore he was able to say, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” … Do you see where affliction leads you? To hope that does not disappoint..
Homily 20 on Psalm 59
This weakness is mighty in Christ, as the Apostle has said, When I am weak, then I am strong. This humility excludes frailty.
Letter 1.6
"Wherefore I take pleasure in many weaknesses." Of what sort? tell me. "In injuries, in persecutions, in necessities, in distresses."
Seest thou how he has now revealed it in the clearest manner? For in mentioning the species of the infirmity he spake not of fevers, nor any return of that sort, nor any other bodily ailment, but of "injuries, persecutions, distresses." Seest thou a single-minded soul? He longs to be delivered from those dangers; but when he heard God's answer that this befitteth not, he was not only not sorry that he was disappointed of his prayer, but was even glad. Wherefore he said, "I take pleasure," 'I rejoice, I long, to be injured, persecuted, distressed for Christ's sake.' And he said these things both to check those, and to raise the spirits of these that they might not be ashamed at Paul's sufferings. For that ground was enough to make them shine brighter than all men. Then he mentions another reason also.
"For when I am weak, then am I strong." 'Why marvellest thou that the power of God is then conspicuous? I too am strong "then;"' for then most of all did grace come upon him. "For as His sufferings abound, so doth our consolation abound also."
Homily 26 on 2 Corinthians
Where affliction is, there is also consolation; where consolation, there is grace also. For instance when he was thrown into the prison, then it was he wrought those marvellous things; when he was shipwrecked and cast away upon that barbarous country, then more than ever was he glorified. When he went bound into the judgment-hall, then he overcame even the judge. And so it was too in the Old Testament; by their trials the righteous flourished. So it was with the three children, so with Daniel, with Moses, and Joseph; thence did they all shine and were counted worthy of great crowns. For then the soul also is purified, when it is afflicted for God's sake: it then enjoys greater assistance as needing more help and worthy of more grace. And truly, before the reward which is proposed to it by God, it reaps a rich harvest of good things by becoming philosophic. For affliction rends pride away and prunes out all listlessness and exerciseth unto patience: it revealeth the meanness of human things and leads unto much philosophy. For all the passions give way before it, envy, emulation, lust, rule desire of riches, of beauty, boastfulness, pride, anger; and the whole remaining swarm of these distempers. And if thou desirest to see this in actual working, I shall be able to show thee both a single individual and a whole people, as well under affliction as at ease; and so to teach thee how great advantage cometh of the one, and how great listlessness from the other.
Homily 26 on 2 Corinthians
Paul does not say that he enjoyed these things but that he had learned to cope with them.
Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 350
I desired, he says, as a human being, to be delivered from afflictions, but after I heard what I heard, I boast and am of good cheer, that is, I rejoice, I find pleasure in weaknesses. Then, lest you think that he means fever and other illnesses, he explains these weaknesses to you, saying that they consist "in reproaches" and so on. This, on the one hand, puts to shame the false apostles who boast in afflictions, as opponents of God, and on the other hand, persuades the disciples not to be ashamed of their teacher, but rather to take pride in him, since the dangers exist by the will of God and for the glory of Christ.
What do you marvel that the power of God is revealed in weaknesses? For I too become stronger amidst them, having in myself the most abundant grace, as, for example, in those cases when, being in prison, I converted the jailer (Acts 16:31), when, having suffered shipwreck, I brought fear upon the barbarian islanders (Acts 28:4–6), when, standing before the judge in chains, I overcame both him and my accusers (Acts 26:31). Thus, he appeared strong, courageous, and glorious when he was weak, that is, when he was in danger.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
The other effect is joy. Hence he says: For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses. In regard to this he does two things. First, he mentions the effect of joy; secondly, he assigns the reason for it (v. 10b).
He mentions the effect of joy and the matter of joy. He says therefore: because the power of Christ dwells in me in all tribulations, I am content, i.e., I am greatly pleased and take joy in the infirmities I mentioned: "Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials" (Jas. 1:2). The weaknesses in which he rejoices abundantly on account of Christ's grace are then listed. First, those which come from an internal cause, namely, his infirmities; hence he says, in my weaknesses: "Their infirmities were multiplied: afterwards they made haste" (Ps. 16:5, Vulgate), namely, toward grace. Secondly, those that come from an external cause: first, as to the word, when he says, in insults: "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name" (Ac. 15:4); then as to deed, and this either as to a lack of good things, when he says, in hardships, i.e., in the lack of things necessary and in the poverty by which he was pressed: "Contribute to the needs of the saints" (Rom. 12:13). Or as to experiencing evils inflicted, and this as to external things: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake" (Matt. 5:10), when he says, in bodily persecutions, which we experience from place to place and everywhere, as well as to internal things, saying, in calamities, i.e., in anxieties of soul: "I am straitened on every side" (Dan. 13:22, Vulgate). But in all these things the material which makes for joy is that they are for Christ. As if to say: I am pleased because I suffer for Christ: "But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief" (1 Pet. 4:15).
He assigns the reason for this joy, when he says, for when I am weak, then I am strong, i.e., when as a result of what is in me or as a result of persecutions, I fall into any of the aforesaid, God's help is applied to me to strengthen me: "Your consolations cheer my soul" (Ps. 94:19); "Let the weak say, I am strong" (Jl. 3:10, Vulgate); "Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day" (2 Cor. 4:16). And in Ex. (1:12) it says that the more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they multiplied.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
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.
Γέγονα ἄφρων καυχώμενος· ὑμεῖς με ἠναγκάσατε. ἐγὼ γὰρ ὤφειλον ὑφ᾿ ὑμῶν συνίστασθαι· οὐδὲν γὰρ ὑστέρησα τῶν ὑπερλίαν ἀποστόλων, εἰ καὶ οὐδέν εἰμι.
Бы́хъ несмы́сленъ хвалѧ́сѧ: вы̀ мѧ̀ понꙋ́дисте. А҆́зъ бо до́лженъ бѣ́хъ ѿ ва́съ хвали́мь быва́ти: ничи́мже бо лиши́хсѧ пе́рвѣйшихъ а҆пⷭ҇лъ, а҆́ще и҆ ничто́же є҆́смь:
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
Having fully completed what he had to say about his own praises, he did not stay at this; but again excuses himself and asks pardon for what he said, declaring that his doing so was of necessity and not of choice. Still nevertheless, although there was necessity, he calls himself "a fool." And when he began indeed, he said, "As foolish receive me," and "as in foolishness;" but now, leaving out the 'as,' he calls himself "foolish." For after he had established the point he wished by saying what he did, he afterwards boldly and unsparingly grapples with all failing of the sort, teaching all persons that none should ever praise himself where there is no necessity, seeing that even where a reason for it existed, Paul termed himself a fool for so doing. Then he turns the blame also of his so speaking not upon the false Apostles, but wholly upon the disciples. For "ye," he saith, "compelled me." 'For if they gloried, but were not by doing so leading you astray nor causing your destruction, I should not have been thus led on to descend unto this discussion: but because they were corrupting the whole Church, with a view to your advantage I was compelled to become foolish.'
Homily 27 on 2 Corinthians
"For in nothing was I behind the chiefest Apostles." See how he here too again speaks out with greater authoritativeness. For, before indeed he said, "I reckon I am not a whit behind," but here, after those proofs, he now boldly speaks out asserting the fact, as I said, thus absolutely. Not that even thus he departs from the mean, nor from his proper character. For as though he had uttered something great and exceeding his deserts, in that he numbered himself with the Apostles, he thus again speaks modestly, and adds, "Although I be nothing."
Homily 27 on 2 Corinthians
Again he justifies himself for boasting. Earlier he said, "receive me, even as foolish" and "as if in foolishness," but now he calls himself foolish already without the particle "as"; for having done what he desired, he boldly subjects himself to such abasement, sufficiently teaching us not to boast without necessity, since Paul even when such necessity existed calls himself foolish. "You compelled me," that is, I said this being impelled by concern for your salvation, seeing that the false apostles whom you obey are corrupting you by their boasting. Therefore I resolved for your sake to tell you something about myself.
You should have been, he says, the ones recounting my labors and glorifying them; but since you did not do this, and listened to the false apostles, and were corrupted, I have said this for your salvation.
Above he said hesitantly: "I think that I am not in the least inferior to the most eminent Apostles" (11:5), but now he speaks with greater force: "I am not in the least inferior," that is, he should not be considered lower than the apostles — Peter and the others. But here again he did not depart from his custom and added: "though I am nothing." Note his prudence. He does not compare himself with the false apostles, nor does he even deign to mention them, as one incomparably higher than they, but affirms that he is equal to the apostles. At the same time, he hints that the Corinthians insult the apostles when they place one equal to them below the false apostles.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Having commended himself, the Apostle now asks pardon for what he has said, showing that he was compelled to say these things which pertain to his glory. First, he lays the blame for his glorying on the Corinthians; secondly, he explains and clarifies this (v. 11b).
First, therefore, he says: I confess that in all these commendations I have been a fool, i.e., it seems to you that I have performed the work of a fool. But this was not done of myself or willingly; rather, I was compelled, and it was your fault, because you forced me to it, i.e., gave me the occasion. For subjects frequently compel their prelates to do things which seem unwise to do, although considering the time and place, they were done wisely.
Then he explains what he had said in a general way, namely, that they were the cause of his commending himself, when he says: for I ought to have been commended by you. Here he says that they were the cause of his commending himself: first, by neglecting the good they should have done, in which he enlarges upon their ingratitude; secondly, by committing evil, in which he execrates their malice (v. 20). In regard to the first he does two things. First, he reminds them what they ought to have done by showing the cause (v. 11c); secondly, he rejects their excuse (v. 13).
He says therefore: yes, you compelled me, because you should have done what I have done; hence he says: for I ought to have been commended by you, which you have not done when in was necessary, that is, when the false apostles by belittling me and preferring themselves rendered vile the doctrine and gospel of Christ delivered by me. Hence, because you did not commend me, then in order that the faith of Christ not die among you, I undertook to commend myself. But this is in conflict with his earlier statement (3:1): "Do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you?" So why would he wish to be commended by them? I answer that the Apostle did not need commendations for himself, but for others, namely, that in commending himself his doctrine would be held in greater authority and the false apostles refuted.
But because they could say: "we did not commend you, because there is nothing commendable about you," the Apostle proves to them that they had good cause to commend him, when he says: For I am not at all inferior to these superlative apostles, thus showing that there was much in him commendable. First, as to the past good things he did; secondly, as to the good things he intends to do (v. 14). First, in general as to all the churches; secondly, in particular as to what he did among them (v. 11d); thirdly he excludes an objection (v. 13).
He says therefore: I deserved to be commended by you, because there are many things in me worthy of commendation, for I am not at all inferior, namely, Peter and James and John, who are superlative apostles, i.e., who seem to some to be worthier apostles than I. For the false apostles said that they had been taught by Peter and John, who had been taught by Christ, and that Peter and John observed the ceremonies of the Law; hence, that they too should observe them. But because I have done nothing else among you, either as to preaching or to converting believers or performing miracles and undertaking labours, but rather have done more, because "I worked harder than any of them" (1 Cor. 15:10), for that reason I am more to be commended. Or they were called superlative apostles, that is, Peter, James and John, because they were the first ones converted to Christ: "Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me" (1 Cor. 15:8). If it is taken in this sense, even then I have done nothing less than they, because in the short time after I was converted, I labored more.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.
τὰ μὲν σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου κατειργάσθη ἐν ὑμῖν ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομονῇ, ἐν σημείοις καὶ τέρασι καὶ δυνάμεσι.
зна́мєнїѧ бо а҆пⷭ҇лѡва содѣ́ѧшасѧ въ ва́съ во всѧ́цѣмъ терпѣ́нїи, въ зна́менїихъ и҆ чꙋдесѣ́хъ и҆ си́лахъ.
"If, then, a marriage of this kind (contracted before conversion) stands ratified before God, why should not (one contracted after conversion) too go prosperously forward, so as not to be thus harassed by pressures, and straits, and hindrances, and defilements, having already (as it has) the partial sanction of divine grace? "Because, on the one hand, the wife in the former case, called from among the Gentiles to the exercise of some eminent heavenly virtue, is, by the visible proofs of some marked (divine) regard, a terror to her Gentile husband, so as to make him less ready to annoy her, less active in laying snares for her, less diligent in playing the spy over her. He has felt "mighty works; he has seen experimental evidences; he knows her changed for the better: thus even he himself is, by his fear, a candidate for God.
To His Wife Book 2
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
"Although I be nothing, the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you."
'Look not thou at this,' he says, 'whether I be mean and little, but whether thou hast not enjoyed those things which from an Apostle it was meet thou shouldest enjoy.' Yet he did not say 'mean,' but what was lower, "nothing." For where is the good of being great, and of use to nobody? even as there is no advantage in a skilful physician if he heals none of those that be sick. 'Do not then,' he says, 'scrutinize this that I am nothing, but consider that, that wherein ye ought to have been benefitted, I have failed in nothing, but have given proof of mine Apostleship. There ought then to have been no need for me to say aught.'
Homily 27 on 2 Corinthians
"The signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in all patience, and by signs and wonders." Amazing! what a sea of good works hath he traversed in a few words! And observe what it is he puts first, "patience." For this is the note of an Apostle, bearing all things nobly. This then he expressed shortly by a single word; but upon the miracles, which were not of his own achieving, he employs more. For consider how many prisons, how many stripes, how many dangers, how many conspiracies, how many sleet-showers of temptations, how many civil, how many foreign wars, how many pains, how many attacks he has implied here in that word, "patience!" And by "signs" again, how many dead raised, how many blind healed, how many lepers cleansed, how many devils cast out! Hearing these things, let us learn if we happen upon a necessity for such recitals to cut our good deeds short, as he too did.
Homily 27 on 2 Corinthians
Paul rightly puts patience before signs and wonders, because attitudes matter more than abilities.
Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 350
Though "I am nothing," he says, but do not pay attention to that; rather, notice that I omitted nothing of what is proper to the apostles, for you yourselves are witnesses that I fulfilled everything.
The first quality of an apostle is patience and the courageous endurance of all things. But notice his humility. How many dangers, how many outward and inward struggles he summed up in a single word — patience. For that which was his own doing, that is, patience, he expressed in one word; but as for the signs, which belonged not to him but to the grace of God — in many words. Listen.
What the difference is between a sign and a wonder has been said in another place. But lest anyone think that this was said only about beneficial acts, he adds: "and powers." For "power" clearly points to something punitive as well. Notice here too how many dead, lepers, blind, demoniacs — all who received his benefactions, as well as those punished by him, such as Elymas — he encompasses so briefly.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
But granting that I did nothing in regard to the other churches for which I might be commended, nevertheless I have done many special things among you, and for these you could have commended me; hence he says, even though I am nothing, i.e., granting that I did nothing in comparison to them, nevertheless, the effect of my power is present among you. First, as to our preaching, by which you were converted to the faith, and I am your apostle. Yet the signs of a true apostle, i.e., of my preaching, were performed among you by God, inasmuch as believing, you were converted: "You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord" (1 Cor. 9:2); "For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (1 Cor. 4:15). Secondly, by the manner of life through which faith is strengthened, because when one's life agrees with his doctrine, the doctrine has greater authority, and the virtue of the preacher is more apparent through patience: "The learning of a man is known by patience" (Prov. 19:11, Vulgate); therefore he says, in all patience. Thirdly, as to working miracles; hence he says, with signs and wonders and mighty works: "And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it" (Mk. 16:20).
These three things are distinct, because "might" [virtus] is common to all miracles, for might is the full extent of a power. Therefore, something is called mighty [virtuosum] because it proceeds from great power [virtute]. Therefore, because miracles come from great power, namely the divine, they are therefore called "powers" [virtutes]. But "sign" refers to a lesser miracle, and "wonder" to a greater one. Or he says "signs" as to miracles performed in regard to the present and "wonders" in regard to miracles concerning the future. Or signs and wonders refer to miracles done contrary to nature; for example, giving sight to the blind, raising from the dead, and so on. But mighty deeds are things according to nature, not performed in the way nature does, as for a sick man to be healed immediately, when one's hands are placed on him; for nature produces the same effect step by step. Or mighty deeds mean the virtues of the mind, such as chastity and so on.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? forgive me this wrong.
τί γάρ ἐστιν ὃ ἡττήθητε ὑπὲρ τὰς λοιπὰς ἐκκλησίας, εἰ μὴ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἐγὼ οὐ κατενάρκησα ὑμῶν; χαρίσασθέ μοι τὴν ἀδικίαν ταύτην.
Что́ бо є҆́сть, є҆гѡ́же лиши́стесѧ па́че про́чихъ цр҃кве́й, ра́звѣ то́чїю ꙗ҆́кѡ а҆́зъ са́мъ не стꙋжи́хъ ва́мъ; Дади́те мѝ непра́вдꙋ сїю̀.
Paul is telling the Corinthians that they were better off than other churches. Corinth was the only place where he preached the gospel without being paid for it.
Commentary on Paul’s Epistles
"For what is there wherein ye were made inferior to the rest of the Churches?"
'Ye were partakers,' he says, 'of no less grace than the others.' But perhaps some one will say, 'What can be the reason that he turns the discourse upon the Apostles, abandoning the contest against the false Apostles?' Because he is desirous to erect their spirits yet further, and to show that he is not only superior to them, but not even inferior to the great Apostles. Therefore, surely, when he is speaking of those he says, "I am more;" but when he compares himself with the Apostles, he considers it a great thing not to be "behind," although he labored more than they. And thence he shows that they insult the Apostles, in holding him who is their equal second to these men.
"Except it be that I myself was not a burden to you?" Again he has pronounced their rebuke with great severity. And what follows is of yet more odious import.
"Forgive me this wrong." Still, nevertheless, this severity contains both words of love and a commendation of themselves; if, that is, they consider it a wrong done to them, that the Apostle did not consent to receive aught from them, nor relied on them enough to be supported by them. 'If,' says he, 'ye blame me for this:' he did not say, 'Ye blame me wrongly,' but with great sweetness, 'I ask your pardon, forgive me this fault.'
Homily 27 on 2 Corinthians
And observe his prudence. For because the mooring this continually tended to bring disgrace upon them, he continually softens it down; saying above, for instance, "As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting shall not be stopped in me;" then again, "Because I love you not? God knoweth....But that I may cut off occasion from them that desire occasion, and that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we." And in the former Epistle "What is my reward then?" Verily, "that when I preach the Gospel, I may make the Gospel without charge." And here "Forgive me this wrong." For every where he avoids showing that it is on account of their weakness he taketh not from them; and here not to wound them. And therefore here he thus expresses himself; 'If ye think this to be an offense, I ask forgiveness.' Now he spoke thus, at once to wound and to heal. For do not say this, I pray thee; 'If thou meanest to wound, why excuse it? but if thou excusest it, why wound?' For this is wisdom's part, at once to lance, and to bind up the sore.
Homily 27 on 2 Corinthians
Lest anyone should say: true, you are great, but still you have not done what the apostles did in other churches, therefore he says: what do you lack? Did you receive a lesser gift compared to the other churches?
He rebukes them with great severity, saying: if you hold it against me that I did not burden you, but preached the Gospel to you without putting you to any expense, then I ask for indulgence; forgive me this fault. At the same time, these words also contain praise for them, since they considered it an offense that he did not deign to take anything from them.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Then he excludes an objection, when he says, For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches? For the Corinthians could answer and say: it is true that you have done many good and great things, but others have done more and greater things than you. Therefore, we are not willing to commend you to them or in comparison with them. But he excludes this, saying: For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches? i.e., than the other churches of Christ have obtained through him in spiritual matters. As if to say: nothing, because they preached the faith and the Apostle preached the faith; they showed signs and wonders, and so did the Apostle. In fact not only do you not have less, but even more, because the other apostles live on the revenues of those to whom they preached, but not the Apostle. For he took nothing from the Corinthians; hence he says: except that I myself did not burden you by taking what was yours. As if to say: you received nothing less, unless perhaps you count it as less that I have not taken anything from you, which however is more: "You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me" (Ac. 20:34); "With toil and labor we worked night and day" (2 Th. 3:8); "Who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe" (Is. 33:15). But if you count this an injury, namely, that I refused to take anything from you (as I did not), because I did not love you, and it seems to you that I have done wrong, spare me. Hence he says in irony, forgive, that is, spare me this wrong! In this manner it says in Eph. (4:32): "Forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
Ἰδοὺ τρίτον ἑτοίμως ἔχω ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ οὐ καταναρκήσω ὑμῶν· οὐ γὰρ ζητῶ τὰ ὑμῶν, ἀλλὰ ὑμᾶς. οὐ γὰρ ὀφείλει τὰ τέκνα τοῖς γονεῦσι θησαυρίζειν, ἀλλ᾿ οἱ γονεῖς τοῖς τέκνοις.
Сѐ тре́тїе гото́въ є҆́смь прїитѝ къ ва́мъ, и҆ не стꙋжꙋ̀ ва́мъ: не и҆щꙋ́ бо ва́шихъ, но ва́съ. Не дѡ́лжна бо сꙋ́ть ча̑да роди́телємъ сниска́ти и҆мѣ́нїѧ, но роди́телє ча́дѡмъ.
Paul’s desire was to gain the Corinthians themselves and not their money. Once they understood that, they would have more affection for him.
Commentary on Paul’s Epistles
"Behold this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children."
What he says is this; 'It is not because I do not receive of you that I do not come to you; nay, I have already come twice; and I am prepared to come this third time, "and I will not be a burden to you."' And the reason is a noble one. For he did not say, 'because ye are mean,' 'because ye are hurt at it,' 'because ye are weak:' but what? "For I seek not yours, but you." 'I seek greater things; souls instead of goods; instead of gold, salvation.' Then because there still hung about the matter some suspicion, as if he were displeased at them; he therefore even states an argument. For since it was likely they would say, 'Can you not have both us and ours?' he adds with much grace this excuse for them, saying, "For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children;" instead of teachers and disciples, employing the term parents and children, and showing that he does as a matter of duty what was not of duty. For Christ did not so command, but he says this to spare them; and therefore he adds also something further. For he did not only say that "the children ought not to lay up," but also that the parents ought to. Therefore since it is meet to give,
Homily 27 on 2 Corinthians
Paul is telling the Corinthians that if he had more to give them, he would be bound to do so, as a loving parent.
Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 12
Lest it seem that he constantly displays his disinterestedness as though intending to accept something later, he therefore says: it is not because I take nothing that I do not come to you; I have already been to you a second time, I am already preparing to set out a third time, and I will not burden you. Why? Not because you are afraid, and not because you are weak, but because "I seek not yours, but you," that is, your salvation and your souls, not your possessions.
Since they would probably have said: you cannot have both us and our possessions, and that is why you are not disposed toward us, he provides the reasoning that parents ought to give to children, using the words "parents" and "children" in place of "teachers" and "disciples," and showing in this way that he strictly fulfills his duty and his role.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Here he shows that he is worthy of commendation in regard to good things he intends to do. He does three things. First, he states his resolution concerning the future good he intends to do; secondly, he assigns the reason for this resolution (v. 14c); thirdly, he applies a likeness to his reason (v. 14d).
It should be noted in regard to the first that sometimes it happens that the reason why some do not receive at one time is that they might be keeping themselves in reserve for another time, in which they can receive both more and more boldly. Therefore, lest they suppose something like this of the Apostle, namely, that he refused to take anything from them the first time, in order that he might receive more the second time, he says that he not only did this in the past, but is prepared to do the same in the future; hence he says, Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden. As if to say: not even then will I burden you by taking what is yours: "So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way" (2 Cor. 11:9); "I hold fast my righteousness, and will not let it go" (Job. 27:6). He says, here for the third time I am ready to come, and not "this third time I am coming," because he certainly was prepared to go to them a third time, yet he went only twice. For he was prepared to go the first time; he went and they were converted. He was ready a second time, but he was prevented on account of their sin. It was for this that he apologized in the beginning of this letter. Now he was ready to go a third time, and he went. Hence he went twice, but he was ready to go three times.
Then he gives the reason for this good resolution, when he says: for I seek not what is yours but you. The reasoning is this: it is clear that an artisan arranges his work according to the end he has in view, but when preachers preach, some intend revenue and temporal goods; consequently they arrange and direct all their preaching to this. Others intend the salvation of souls; consequently, they arrange their preaching according as they deem it expedient for the salvation of souls. Therefore, because the Apostle in his preaching aimed at the salvation of the Corinthians and he saw that it was expedient to take no revenue from them, both in order to shame the false apostles and also because they were covetous, he refused to take any revenue. Hence he assigns this reason: I will not burden you by taking anything, because I seek not what is yours by my preaching, but you and your salvation are what I aim to procure: "Not that I seek the gift; but I seek the fruit" (Phil. 4:17). Therefore the Lord said to the apostles: "I will make you fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19), not of money. This is also prefigured in Gen. (chap. 47), where we read that Joseph brought some Egyptians for the service of the king, because the good preacher should be intent upon converting believers to the service of Christ.
He adapts a simile to this reasoning, when he says: for children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children. First, he presents the simile; secondly, he adapts it (v. 15); thirdly, he criticizes their ingratitude (v. 15b).
He says therefore: I do not seek what is yours. This is clear from a simile. For we observe that parents according to the flesh should lay up for their children, because children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children. Therefore, since I am your spiritual father and you are my children, I do not want you to lay up for me, but I for you.
But there is a question here about parents according to the flesh, for it says in Ex. (20:12): "Honor your father and your mother," which includes that we must minister to their needs. Therefore the children are bound to lay up for their parents. I answer that this precept binds children to minister to and help their parents in necessity, but not to gather and lay up for them. For laying up and gathering have an eye on the future. But in nature the children succeed the parents and not vice versa, except in some sad cases. Therefore the love of parents naturally induces them to lay up for the children. It is in this way that the Apostle speaks; but in Ex. (chap. 20) the Lord is speaking about helping them in case of necessity.
Another question that arises concerns the statement that the children should not lay up for their parents, but the parents for the children. Therefore, since prelates are our spiritual parents, it seems that princes and others do wrong when they give their riches to prelates. I answer that they gave them to prelates not for themselves, but for the poor, and this is what the Lord teaches: "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matt. 6:20). Hence they are given to prelates as dispensers to the poor.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
ἐγὼ δὲ ἥδιστα δαπανήσω καὶ ἐκδαπανηθήσομαι ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν, εἰ καὶ περισσοτέρως ὑμᾶς ἀγαπῶν ἧττον ἀγαπῶμαι.
А҆́зъ же въ сла́дость и҆ждивꙋ̀ и҆ и҆ждиве́нъ бꙋ́дꙋ по дꙋша́хъ ва́шихъ, а҆́ще и҆ и҆зли́шше ва́съ любѧ̀, ме́ньше люби́мь є҆́смь.
Now Paul is openly expressing the love and affection which he had for them, since he is prepared not only to spend lavishly on their behalf but even to die for the salvation of their souls.
Commentary on Paul’s Epistles
"I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls."
'For the law of nature indeed has commanded the parents to lay up for the children; but I do not do this only, but I give myself also besides.' And this lavishness of his, the not only not receiving, but giving also besides, is not in common sort but accompanied with great liberality, and out of his own want; for the words, "I will be spent," are of one who would imply this. 'For should it be necessary to spend my very flesh, I will not spare it for your salvation.' And that which follows contains at once accusation and love, "though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." 'And I do this,' he says, 'for the sake of those who are beloved by me, yet love me not equally.' Observe then, now, how many steps there are in this matter. He had a right to receive, but he did not receive; here is good work the first: and this, though in want; the second; and though preaching to them, the third; he gives besides, the fourth; and not merely gives, but lavishly too, the fifth; not money only, but himself, the sixth; for those who loved him not greatly, the seventh; and for those whom he greatly loved, the eighth.
Homily 27 on 2 Corinthians
Let us then also emulate this man! For it is a serious charge, the not loving even; but becomes more serious, when although one is loved he loveth not. For if he that loveth one that loveth him be no better than the publicans; he that doth not so much as this ranks with the beasts; yea rather, is even below them. What sayest thou, O man? Lovest thou not him that loveth thee? What then dost thou live for? Wherein wilt thou be of use hereafter? in what sort of matters? in public? in private? By no means; for nothing is more useless than a man that knows not to love.
Homily 27 on 2 Corinthians
I, he says, not only will take nothing from you, but rather will give to you, for such is the meaning of the word "spend." And why do I say "spend" money? I myself "will be spent," that is, if for the salvation of your souls I need to lose my body, I will not spare it.
In these words is expressed both condemnation and love. I do this, he says, for the sake of those loved by me, but who do not love me in return. See how many degrees this self-denial has: he did not take what was owed to him; the second — while being in need; the third — while preaching to them; the fourth — he gives; the fifth — not simply, but generously, for out of lack; the sixth — his very self; the seventh — for those who love but little; the eighth — for those who are greatly loved.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Then he applies the simile, in which he proposed two things: one is that the children should not lay up for the parents, and this is now clear. The other is that parents should lay up for and give to the children; in regard to this he says: therefore, because I am your father, I am ready to give to you, and this is what he says: I will most gladly spend good things on you, not only spiritual goods by preaching and giving examples, but even temporal goods, which he did, inasmuch as he preached to them and served them with the revenues of other churches. Every prelate should minister these three things to his subjects; hence the Lord said to Peter three times: "Feed my sheep" (Jn. 21:17), i.e., food them by word, feed them by example, feed them by temporal subsidies. Not only will I give those things to you, but I am ready to die for your salvation; hence he says, and be spent for your souls: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13); "He laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 Jn. 3:16); "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn. 10:11).
Then he criticizes their ingratitude when he says, If I love you the more, am I to be loved the less? As if to say: gladly will I be spent for you, although you are ungrateful, because although I love you the more, I am loved the less. This comparison can be explained in two ways. First, in this way: although I love you the more than the other apostles, yet I am loved the less, namely, by you, than the false apostles are loved, whom you love more than me. Thus it is evident that I love you more than they, because I seek only your salvation, but they seek only your goods. In another way thus: although I love you the more than the other churches, nevertheless I am loved less by you than by the other churches: "For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:8). That he loved the Corinthians more than he loved the other churches is clear from the fact that he labored more for them. But that for which we labor more, we love more.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
ἔστω δέ, ἐγὼ οὐ κατεβάρησα ὑμᾶς, ἀλλ᾿ ὑπάρχων πανοῦργος δόλῳ ὑμᾶς ἔλαβον.
Бꙋ́ди же, а҆́зъ не ѡ҆тѧгчи́хъ ва́съ, но кова́ренъ сы́й, ле́стїю ва́съ прїѧ́хъ.
Paul makes explicit all the charges which an opponent might make against him in order to clear himself on all counts. For he did not deal deviously with the Corinthians but straightforwardly. On the one hand he wanted to make provision for them in the sight of God and on the other he did not want their wealth in this life. He might have been suspected of despising them because the sums which they offered him were too small, but this was not the case.
Commentary on Paul’s Epistles
Paul has spoken these words very obscurely, but not without a meaning or purpose. For seeing he was speaking about money, and his defence on that score, it is reasonable that what he says must be wrapt in obscureness. What then is the meaning of what he says? He had said, 'I received not, nay I am ready even to give besides, and to spend;' and much discourse is made on this subject both in the former Epistle and in this. Now he says something else, introducing the subject in the form of an objection and meeting it by anticipation. What he says is something like this; 'I indeed have not made a gain of you: but perhaps some one has it to say that I did not receive [of you] indeed myself, but, being crafty, I procured those who were sent by me to ask for something of you as for themselves, and through them I myself received, yet keeping myself clear of seeming to receive, by receiving through others. But none can have this to say either; and you are witnesses.'
Homily 28 on 2 Corinthians
16–17The meaning of these words is as follows: he himself did not "burden you," but someone might suspect that I, while accepting nothing myself, being a crafty man, instructed those sent by me so that they would ask you for something on their own behalf, in order that through this cunning, while exacting, I might appear not to exact. Whether this is fair—look and judge for yourselves. He calls this matter "craftiness" in order to reproach and shame them, and to show that they could have been giving against their will and as if as a result of deception—for craftiness consists precisely in taking from someone against their will. It is the greatest disgrace for them if they consider themselves victims of craftiness because they support their teacher.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Then when he says, But granting that I myself did not burden you, he removes a suspicion. First, he mentions the suspicion; secondly, he excludes it (v. 17); thirdly, he assigns the reason for the exclusion (v. 19).
Their suspicion might be that the reason he did not take anything for himself was that others might take more from them. Therefore, he says: But granting, that is, granting that I myself, in my person and in those who are with me, did not burden you by taking anything, but as you believed, I was crafty and got the better of you by guile, i.e., I took many more of your goods through other persons. But this is false, because I have done nothing by guile: "For our appeal does not spring from error or uncleanness, nor is it made with guile" (1 Th. 2:3). For he was an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile (Jn. 1:47).
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you?
μή τινα ὧν ἀπέσταλκα πρὸς ὑμᾶς, δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐπλεονέκτησα ὑμᾶς;
Є҆да̀ ко́имъ ѿ по́сланныхъ къ ва́мъ лихои́мствовахъ ва́съ;
Paul is saying that the people whom he sent to them did not suggest that if they wanted the apostle to be welldisposed toward them they should offer him more money. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
17–18Wherefore also he proceeds by question, saying, "I exhorted Titus, and with him I sent the brother. Did Titus make a gain of you?" 'walked he not just as I walked.' That is to say, neither did he receive. Seest thou how intense a strictness [is here], in that he not only keeps himself clear of that receiving, but so modulates those also who are sent by him that he may not give so much as a slight pretence to those who were desirous of attacking him. For this is far greater than that which the Patriarch did. For he indeed, when he had returned from his victory, and the king would have given him the spoil, refused to accept aught save what the men had eaten; but this man neither himself enjoyed [from them] his necessary food, nor allowed his partners to partake of such: thus abundantly stopping the mouths of the shameless. Wherefore he makes no assertion, nor does he say that they did not receive either; but what was far more than this, he cites the Corinthians themselves as witnesses that they had received nothing, that he may not seem to be witnessing in his own person, but by their verdict; which course we are accustomed to take in matters fully admitted and about which we are confident. 'For tell me,' he says, 'Did any one of those who were sent by us make unfair gain of you?' He did not say, 'Did any one receive aught from you?' but he calls the things 'unfair gain;' attacking them and shaming them exceedingly, and showing that to receive of an unwilling [giver] is 'unfair gain.' And he said not 'did Titus?' but, "did any?" 'For ye cannot say this either,' he says, 'that such an one certainly did not receive, but another did. No single one of those who came did so.' "I exhorted Titus." This too is severely said. For he did not say, 'I sent Titus,' but, 'I exhorted' him; showing that if he had received even, he would have done so justly; but, nevertheless, even so he remained pure. Wherefore he asks them again, saying, "Did Titus take any advantage of you? Walked we not by the same spirit?" What means, "by the same spirit?" He ascribes the whole to grace and shows that the whole of this praise is the good result not of our labors, but of the gift of the Spirit and of Grace. For it was a very great instance of grace that although both in want and hunger they would receive nothing for the edification of the disciples. "Walked we not in the same steps?" That is to say, they did not depart the least from this strictness, but preserved the same rule entire.
Homily 28 on 2 Corinthians
Then he excludes this suspicion when he says, Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? First, in general; secondly, in particular. In general in the following way: if I had wanted to snatch anything from you by others, I would have sent those who might obtain these things. But did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you, by using them to extort your goods? As if to say: No: "We have taken advantage of no one" (2 Cor. 7:2); "That no man transgress, and wrong his brother in this matter" (1 Th. 4:16).
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?
παρεκάλεσα Τίτον καὶ συναπέστειλα τὸν ἀδελφόν· μήτι ἐπλεονέκτησεν ὑμᾶς Τίτος; οὐ τῷ αὐτῷ πνεύματι περιεπατήσαμεν; οὐ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἴχνεσι;
Оу҆моли́хъ ті́та, и҆ съ ни́мъ посла́хъ бра́та: є҆да̀ лихои́мствова чи́мъ ва́съ ті́тъ; не тѣ́мже ли дꙋ́хомъ ходи́хома; не тѣ́миже ли стопа́ми;
It is obvious that since nothing like this was done by any of Paul’s colleagues, the unanimous verdict on him was that he was of good character, with no trace of avarice in him.
Commentary on Paul’s Epistles
A rebuke is contained in these words as well. He does not say: I sent, but: I urged, showing that even if Titus took anything, he took it by right, because he came at the request; but he nevertheless remained blameless. Together with him he also sent a certain other brother.
That is, was it not by the same spiritual gift? He calls the disinterestedness amid straitened circumstances a gift, and though it was his own doing, he ascribes it to God.
And they (those sent by me) did not deviate from my path in anything, but showed the same strictness toward themselves. Notice how Paul not only established himself in this strictness, but also his co-workers, having taught them not to stain themselves even with rightful collection.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
He excludes their suspicion in particular when he says: I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. As if to say: none of those whom I sent to you overreached you. For I sent Titus to you with entreaties. And this is what he says: I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him, namely, Barnabas or Luke: "With him," namely Titus, "we are sending the brother," namely one of those mentioned, "who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel" (2 Cor. 8:18). But did Titus take advantage of you? As if to say: No: "But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus" (2 Cor. 8:16). That Titus did not overreach them he proves by showing that Titus was of the same mind as the Apostle, and he mentions two points of similarity: first, in the heart; hence he says: Did we not act in the same spirit?, i.e., have the same will; or we were inspired by the same spirit to act well and correctly: "Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, 'I believed, and so I spoke,' we too believe, and so we speak" (2 Cor. 4:13). Secondly, in work; hence he says: Did we not take the same steps, i.e., intent on the same works? That is to say, in the steps of Christ, for I walk in the steps of Christ: "I have kept his way," namely, Christ's, "and have not turned aside" (Job 23:11); "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps" (1 Pet. 2:21). And Titus follows my steps: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1). Therefore, if he agrees with me in will and in work, and I have not overreached you and do not intend to overreach you, the conclusion is evident. That he did not overreach them is clear from Matt. (7:16): "By their fruits you shall know them."
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.
Πάλιν δοκεῖτε ὅτι ὑμῖν ἀπολογούμεθα; κατενώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ λαλοῦμεν· τὰ δὲ πάντα, ἀγαπητοί, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν οἰκοδομῆς.
Па́ки ли мнитѐ, ꙗ҆́кѡ ѿвѣ́тъ ва́мъ твори́мъ; Пред̾ бг҃омъ, ѡ҆ хрⷭ҇тѣ̀ глаго́лемъ: всѧ̑ же, возлю́бленнїи, ѡ҆ ва́шемъ созида́нїи и҆ ᲂу҆твержде́нїи.
Paul wants the Corinthians to love and respect him, without becoming a burden on their finances.
Commentary on Paul’s Epistles
"Again, think ye that we are excusing ourselves unto you?"
Seest thou how he is continually in fear, lest he should incur the suspicion of flattery? Seest thou an Apostle's prudence, how constantly he mentions this? For he said before, "We commend not ourselves again, but give you occasion to glory;" and in the commencement of the Epistle, "Do we need letters of commendation?"
"But all things are for your edifying." Again he is soothing them. And he does not here either say clearly, 'on this account we receive not, because of your weakness;' but, 'in order that we may edify you;' speaking out indeed more clearly than he did before, and revealing that wherewith he travailed; but yet without severity. For he did not say, 'because of your weakness;' but, 'that ye may be edified.'
Homily 28 on 2 Corinthians
He was afraid of bringing upon himself the reproach of flattery, and therefore says: we say this not in order to win your favor, nor in order to justify ourselves, but before the face of God, "in Christ," that is, for the sake of Christ. So then, we say what actually was the case, and what is known to God, and not in order to win your favor. He said the same thing at the very beginning as well.
He did not say: I did all this and did not accept from you because you are weak (for that would be too harsh), but "for your edification" — so that you, he says, would not be scandalized concerning me — for this reason I did not accept, for your own benefit.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Then he adds the reason, which excludes their opinion. First, he states their opinion; secondly, he excludes it (v. 19). Their opinion was that the Apostle, as one guilty and culpable, was writing all the words of this epistle to justify himself, and that they were not true, but merely invented to justify himself. Therefore, he sets down their opinion, saying: Have you been thinking all along, i.e., from the beginning of this epistle, that we have been defending ourselves before you, i.e., that the words of this epistle are not true, but are fabricated as an excuse?
But he excludes this: for a person who excuses himself in that way has two things: one is that he does not use true words, but fabrications; the other is that he was not wont to suffer the loss of reputation and glory. Hence, it is especially because of the loss of reputation that they make excuses. But neither of these is verified in us. Therefore, your opinion is not true. That neither of these is verified in us is clear, because we do not employ false words. This he proves first by God's testimony, because it is in the sight of God that we are speaking. As if to say: God is my witness, that I speak the truth: "Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven" (Job 16:19). Secondly, by the testimony of Christ, because we have been speaking in Christ, i.e., by Christ in whom there is not falsity: "But as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ" (2 Cor. 2:17). Furthermore, we do not seek our own glory or fear loss of reputation, because all things which I have said about my revelations and tribulations, I do or say for your upbuilding, namely, that you continue in virtue and expel the false apostles: "Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding." (Rom. 14:19); "Let all things be done for edification." (1 Cor. 14:26); "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine" (Jn. 12:30).
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:
φοβοῦμαι γὰρ μήπως ἐλθὼν οὐχ οἵους θέλω εὕρω ὑμᾶς, κἀγὼ εὑρεθῶ ὑμῖν οἷον οὐ θέλετε, μήπως ἔρεις, ζῆλοι, θυμοί, ἐριθεῖαι, καταλαλιαί, ψιθυρισμοί, φυσιώσεις, ἀκαταστασίαι,
[Заⷱ҇ 196] Бою́сѧ же, є҆да̀ ка́кѡ прише́дъ, не ꙗ҆́цѣхъ же хощꙋ̀, ѡ҆брѧ́щꙋ ва́съ, и҆ а҆́зъ ѡ҆брѧ́щꙋсѧ ва́мъ, ꙗ҆кова́ же не хо́щете: да не ка́кѡ (бꙋ́дꙋтъ) рвє́нїѧ, за̑висти, ꙗ҆́рѡсти, рє́ти, клеветы̑, шепта́нїѧ, кичє́нїѧ, нестроє́нїѧ:
"For I fear, lest by any means when I come, I should not find you such as I would, and should myself be found of you such as ye would not."
He is going to say something great and offensive. And therefore he also inserts this excuse [for it], both by saying, "All things are for your edifying," and by adding, "I fear," softening the harshness of what was presently going to be said. For it was not here out of arrogance nor the authority of a teacher, but out of a father's tender concern, when he is more fearful and trembling than the sinners themselves at that which is likely to reform them. And not even so does he run them down or make an absolute assertion; but says doubtingly, "lest by any means when I come, I should not find you such as I would." He did not say, 'not virtuous,' but "not such as I would," everywhere employing the terms of affection. And the words, "I should find," are of one who would express what is out of natural expectation, as are also those, "I shall be found by you." For the thing is not of deliberate choice, but of a necessity originating with you. Wherefore he says, "I should be found such as ye would not." He said not here, "such as I would not," but, with more severity, "such as ye wish not." For it would in that case become his own will, not indeed what he would first have willed, but his will nevertheless. For he might indeed have said again, 'such as I would not,' and so have showed his love: but he wishes not to relax his hearer. Yea rather, his words would in that case have been even harsher; but now he has at once dealt them a smarter blow and showed himself more gentle. For this is the characteristic of his wisdom; cutting more deeply, to strike more gently. Then, because he had spoken obscurely, he unveils his meaning, saying,
"Lest there be strife, jealousy, wraths, backbitings, whisperings, swellings."
And what he might well put first, that he puts last: for they were very proud against him. Therefore, that he may not seem principally to be seeking his own, he first mentions what was common. For all these things were gendered of envy, their slanderings, accusations, dissensions. For just like some evil root, envy produced wrath, accusation, pride, and all these other evils, and by them was increased further.
Homily 28 on 2 Corinthians
Do you see what fatherly care? Others sinned, yet Paul is alarmed, and does not state his thought directly, but with uncertainty. "Lest, when I come," he says, "I shall find you not such as I wish," that is, corrupted; and by necessity — "and that I shall be found by you not such as you wish," that is, an avenger and punisher.
He ought to have put "pride" in first place, because they were puffed up against him, but so as not to appear to be seeking his own interests, he first speaks of what is of common concern; for from envy and slander everything else proceeds, and in turn all the rest kindles envy. "Gossip" is when someone brings a dispute against another over something; by "pride" he means haughty and arrogant ways, or when conceit becomes, as it were, someone's nature, for being puffed up against him, they esteemed the false apostles.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Having cited as one of the causes for commending the failure of the Corinthians to do the good things they should have done and for which he rebuked their ingratitude, he now states the other cause which arose from what they did in regard to the evils they should have avoided. In regard to this he amplifies their wickedness and does two things. First, he mentions their fault in general; secondly, he explains it in detail (v. 20b).
He says therefore: I have praised myself not only because you have failed to praise me, but also because of your danger, which consists in clinging to the false apostles, because by fostering sin among you they were exposing you to great danger. Therefore he says, I fear that perhaps I may come and find you not what I wish, namely, just, but sinners and uncorrected, and that you will be displeasing to me and I to you, because sinners as sinners are not pleasing to a just man; and that you may find me, i.e., sad and meting out punishment, not what you wish to have me. For evil persons hate correction and the truth: "Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (Gal. 4:16). Thus their evil is clear in general, namely, that he feared lest they were not yet fully repentant.
Then he manifests their sinfulness in particular, when he says, that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. In regard to this he does two things. First, he enumerates their present evils; secondly, he reminds them of past evils of which they have not yet repented.
In regard to the first it should be noted that after their conversion the Corinthians fell into sins of the flesh, as is evident from the one who had his father's wife; and for this they were corrected by the first epistle, although not completely, because something still remained among them. In addition to this there remained among them many spiritual sins which are directly opposed to charity. Now charity does two things: first, it makes men's hearts consent to one another; secondly, it induces men to mutual progress. Spiritual sins, on the other hand, set men disagreeing and make them offend one another. First, therefore, he lists the spiritual sins which pertain to dissention; secondly, those which make for offense (v. 20c). In regard to dissensions he proceeds in reverse order. For according to the right order, men first disagree, inasmuch as one wants one thing and another the contrary; secondly, they pass from this to inflicting injury, inasmuch as each one wants to obtain his desire; thirdly, when he cannot obtain his desire but fails, he burns with the zeal of jealousy [envy]; fourthly, the result of this is verbal argument.
It is from the last of these that the Apostle begins, saying, that perhaps there may be quarreling [contentions]. As if to say: not only do I fear your evils in general, but also in particular, lest perhaps there be among you contentions over the merits of prelates and baptizers: "It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife" (Prov. 20:3). "Contention is an attack on the truth, accompanied by the confidence of shouting" (Ambrose). This contention springs from jealousy; hence he says, and jealousy by those who are inferior and have less: "For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice" (Jas. 3:16); "Jealousy slays the simple" (Job 5:2); "But through the devil's envy death entered the world" (Wis. 2:24). Envy comes from animosity; hence he says, anger, in revenge and inflicting injury: "Go not on the way with a bold man, lest he burden you with his evils" (Sir. 8:18, Vulgate). Animosity comes from dissensions; hence he says, selfishness, i.e., hatreds and conflicts of spirits: "Take note of those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught" (Rom. 15:17); "All of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you" (1 Cor. 1:10).
Then he lists their present evils in regard to offending. But because such evils consist mainly in injuries from words and not from deeds, he passes over injuries from deeds and lists those from words. Here too he proceeds in reverse order, beginning from the last; and this is when a person explicitly says something evil of another. If this is in public, he is a detractor; hence he says, slander [detraction]: "Slanderers, haters of God" (Rom. 1:30). If it is in secret, he is a whisperer; hence he says, gossip [whisperings]. For whisperers are persons who discreetly sow discord: "The whisperer and the double tongue is accursed" (Sir. 28:5, Vulgate). These two proceed from evil words against others; therefore he says, conceit [swelling]. These swellings arise from seditions, which are the preparations made by the parties to a fight, because they are always quarrels among the proud; hence he says, disorder, i.e., uproars for fights: "An evil man always seek quarrels" (Prov. 17:11, Vulgate). Thus their wickedness is made clear in regard to present evils, which are many both in dissensions and in injuries.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
μὴ πάλιν ἐλθόντα με ταπεινώσῃ ὁ Θεός μου πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ πενθήσω πολλοὺς τῶν προημαρτηκότων καὶ μὴ μετανοησάντων ἐπὶ τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ καὶ πορνείᾳ καὶ ἀσελγείᾳ ᾗ ἔπραξαν.
да не па́ки прише́дша мѧ̀ смири́тъ бг҃ъ мо́й ᲂу҆ ва́съ, и҆ воспла́чꙋсѧ мно́гихъ пре́жде согрѣ́шшихъ и҆ не пока́ѧвшихсѧ ѡ҆ нечистотѣ̀ и҆ блꙋже́нїи и҆ стꙋдоло́жствїи, ꙗ҆̀же содѣ́ѧша.
For in saying, toward the end of the Epistle, "Lest, when I shall have come, God humble me, and I bewail many of those who have formerly sinned, and have not repented of the impurity which they have committed, the fornication, and the vileness," he did not, of course, determine that they were to be received hack (by him into the Church) if they should have entered (the path of) repentance, whom he was to find in the Church, but that they were to be bewailed, and indubitably ejected, that they might lose (the benefit of) repentance.
On Modesty
And yet to these persons themselves repentance is granted, and the hope of lamenting and atoning is left, according to the saying of the same apostle: "I fear lest, when I come to you, I shall bewail many of those who have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness, and fornication, and lasciviousness which they have committed.". Also in the same: "But I fear lest perchance, when I come to you, God may again humble me among you, and I shall bewail many of those who have sinned before, and have not repented, for that they have committed fornication and lasciviousness."
Epistle LI
Paul is saying that some have repented but others have not. This contradicts Novatian, who claims that fornicators cannot repent or be received back into communion. Paul is affirming that they have indeed repented, and because of this they have been received back into the peace of the church.
Commentary on Paul’s Epistles
"And lest when I come again, my God should humble me among you."
And the word "again," too, is as smiting them. For he means, 'What happened before is enough;' as he said also in the beginning [of the Epistle], "to spare you, I came not as yet to Corinth." Seest thou how he shows both indignation and tender affection? But what means, "will humble me?" And yet this is glorious rather, to accuse, to take vengeance, to call to account, to be seated in the place of judge; howbeit he calls it a humbling. So far was he from being ashamed of that [cause of] humbling, because, "his bodily presence was weak, and his speech of no account," that he wished to be even for ever in that case, and deprecated the contrary. And he says this more clearly as he proceeds; and he counts this to be especially humbling, to be involved in such a necessity as the present, of punishing and taking vengeance. And wherefore did he not say, 'lest when I come I shall be humbled,' but, "lest when I come my God will humble me." 'Because had it not been for His sake, I should have paid no attention nor been anxious. For it is not as possessing authority and for my own pleasure, that I demand satisfaction, but because of His commandment.' Now above, indeed, he expressed himself thus, "I shall be found;" here, however, he relaxes and adopts milder and gentler language, saying,
"I shall mourn for many of them who have sinned." Not simply, "who have sinned," but,
"Who have not repented." And he said not, 'all,' but "many;" nor made it clear who these were either, thereby making the return unto repentance easy to them; and to make it plain that a repentance is able to right transgressions, he bewails those that repent not, those who are incurably diseased, those who continue in their wounds. Observe then Apostolic virtue, in that, conscious of no evil in himself, he laments over the evils of others and is humbled for other men's transgressions. For this is the especial mark of a teacher, so to sympathize with the calamities of his disciples, and to mourn over the wounds of those who are under him. Then he mentions also the specific sin.
"Of the lasciviousness and uncleanness which they committed." Now in these words he alludes indeed to fornication; but if one carefully examine the subject, every kind of sin can be called by this name. For although the fornicator and adulterer is preeminently styled unclean, yet still the other sins also produce uncleanness in the soul. And therefore it is that Christ also calls the Jews unclean, not charging them with fornication only, but with wickedness of other kinds as well. Wherefore also He says that they made the outside clean, and that "not the things which enter in defile the man, but those which come out from him;" and it is said in another place, "Every one that is proud in heart is unclean before the Lord."
Homily 28 on 2 Corinthians
Concerning those who though within the church persisted in their evil deeds, he spoke thus to the Corinthians with these words of comfort: “I fear that when I come again, my God may humiliate me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, immorality and licentiousness they practiced.” The apostle would not be saddened or humiliated in mourning over them if he believed that the forgiveness of sins would be granted to sinners and the wicked who continue to exasperate the divine justice without conversion of heart. The forgiveness of sins has no effect except in the conversion of the heart. We refer to those who have been converted by divine aid through the exercise of their own freedom of choice and whose lives are genuinely changed for the better. These converts will still occasionally sin, either through ignorance or through the stubbornness of a will that is knowingly lured by evil. They do not, however, stop asking for the forgiveness of their sins.
On the Forgiveness of Sins 1.13.2
That is, the above said is sufficient, and I am afraid that, having come to you, I will be compelled to deal with you severely. By humiliation, then, he means the necessity of strongly punishing someone, although many consider this an honor for themselves. And he did not say "lest I be humiliated," but "lest my God humiliate me," showing that he would do this for the sake of God. And if the matter did not concern God and His commandments, he himself would not have appeared so severe. By the words "my God" he shows his fervent love for God.
Notice the tenderness of the apostle: he bewails the transgressions of others. He did not say "all," but "many," and not simply "who have sinned," but also "have not repented," because those who persist in their wound are worthy of compassion. He also does not expose them, giving them a convenient path to repentance; for he mentioned repentance so that they might turn to it, and so that when he comes, he would not have to punish them and therefore be humbled, that is, grieve exceedingly. Notice also that he mentioned repentance on account of the Novatians. By sin, understand every kind of uncleanness, because every sin defiles. Or in particular, the abominations of carnal intercourse, for in Corinth there was not just one adulterer, but many, and moreover in many forms of licentiousness.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
Then he manifests their wickedness in regard to past evils for which they have not repented, when he says: I fear that when I come again my God may humble me, i.e., afflict me, before you and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned before, i.e., before the first epistle. And rightly do I mourn, because just as the glory of the father is in the glory of his children, so the father's shame is the shame of the children. Thus did Samuel mourn over Saul: "How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel?" (1 Sam. 16:1). And this because they have not repented or done penance for their past carnal sins, some of which are contrary to nature; hence he says, and have not repented of the impurity, i.e., lust contrary to nature. Some are committed with women no longer virgins, namely, widows or married women; hence he says, immorality [fornication]; others are committed by deflowering virgins; hence he says, and licentiousness which they have practiced continually: "Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness" (Gal. 5:19).
Commentary on 2 Corinthians
WELL, It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
Καυχᾶσθαι δὴ οὐ συμφέρει μοι· ἐλεύσομαι γὰρ εἰς ὀπτασίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεις Κυρίου.
Похвали́тисѧ же не по́льзꙋетъ мѝ: прїидꙋ́ бо въ видѣ̑нїѧ и҆ ѿкровє́нїѧ гдⷭ҇нѧ.