King James Version
2 Corinthians 2
17 verses with commentary
Forgive the Sinner
But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness</strong>—Paul uses <em>krinō</em> (κρίνω, "to judge, decide") to describe his deliberate choice to postpone his visit. The phrase <em>en lupē</em> (ἐν λύπῃ, "in grief/sorrow") refers to the "painful visit" mentioned in 2 Corinthians 2:1. This was likely a visit between 1 and 2 Corinthians where Paul confronted s...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
II.
(1) **But I determined this with myself.**—Better, *I determined for myself.* The chapter division is here obviously wrong, and interrupts the sequence of thought. St. Paul continues his explanation. He did not wish to come again, *i.e.,* to make his second visit to Corinth, in grief, and if he had carried out his first plan that would have been the almost inevitable result. He consulted his o...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. not ... unseemly--**is not uncourteous, or inattentive to civility and propriety.
**thinketh no evil--**imputeth not evil [Alford]; literally, "the evil" which actually is there (Pr 10:12; 1Pe 4:8). Love makes allowances for the falls of others, and is ready to put on them a charitable construction. Love, so far from devising evil against another, excuses "the evil" which another inflicts o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline
Reasons for the apostle not coming to Corinth.(1-4)
Directions about restoring the repentant offender.(5-11)
An account of his labours and success in spreading the gospel of Christ.(12-17)
**Verses 1-4**
The apostle desired to have a cheerful meeting with them; and he had written in confidence of their doing what was to their benefit and his comfort;...
Read full commentary →For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad?</strong>—Paul employs rhetorical logic to explain his pastoral strategy. The verb <em>lupeō</em> (λυπέω, "to grieve, cause sorrow") appears throughout this passage. Paul's joy (<em>euphrainō</em>, εὐφραίνω, "to gladden") is inseparably linked to the Corinthians' spiritual health.<br><br>This verse reveals the emotional reciprocit...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Who is he then that maketh me glad?**—The force of the “for,” with which the verse opens, lies below the surface. He had wished to avoid a visit that would cause sorrow to himself and others, and events had shown that he was right. But it might be said, perhaps had been said, that he didn’t seem to care about giving pain when he wrote, as, *e.g.,* in 1Corinthians 4:18; 1Corinthians 5:2-7; 1C...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. rejoiceth in the truth--**rather, "rejoiceth with the truth." Exults not at the perpetration of iniquity (unrighteousness) by others (compare Ge 9:22, 23), but rejoices when the truth rejoices; sympathizes with it in its triumphs (2Jo 4). See the opposite (2Ti 3:8), "Resist the truth." So "the truth" and "unrighteousness" are contrasted (Ro 2:8). "The truth" is the Gospel truth, the inseparab...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline
Reasons for the apostle not coming to Corinth.(1-4)
Directions about restoring the repentant offender.(5-11)
An account of his labours and success in spreading the gospel of Christ.(12-17)
**Verses 1-4**
The apostle desired to have a cheerful meeting with them; and he had written in confidence of their doing what was to their benefit and his comfort;...
Read full commentary →And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow</strong>—The phrase <em>touto auto</em> (τοῦτο αὐτὸ, "this very thing") likely refers to the "severe letter" mentioned in 2 Corinthians 7:8, now lost. Paul's purpose was preventative: writing allowed the Corinthians to address issues before his arrival, sparing both parties another painful confrontation.<br><br><strong>Hav...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **And I wrote this same unto you.**—Here, again, we have to read between the lines. The pronoun, which does not refer to anything that has been actually said, shows with what definiteness certain passages in his first letter were stamped upon his memory. The question might be asked, “Why had he written so sharply?” And he makes answer to himself that the result had been what he had intended: t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. Beareth all things--**without speaking of what it has to bear. The same Greek verb as in 1Co 9:12. It endures without divulging to the world personal distress. Literally said of holding fast like a watertight vessel; so the charitable man contains himself in silence from giving vent to what selfishness would prompt under personal hardship.
**believeth all things--**unsuspiciously believes a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline
Reasons for the apostle not coming to Corinth.(1-4)
Directions about restoring the repentant offender.(5-11)
An account of his labours and success in spreading the gospel of Christ.(12-17)
**Verses 1-4**
The apostle desired to have a cheerful meeting with them; and he had written in confidence of their doing what was to their benefit and his comfort;...
Read full commentary →For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears</strong>—Paul uses three intensifying terms: <em>thlipsis</em> (θλῖψις, "affliction, pressure"), <em>synochē</em> (συνοχῆς, "anguish, distress"), and <em>dakruōn</em> (δακρύων, "tears"). This was no casual rebuke but a letter birthed through emotional agony. Paul's tears authenticate his love—he wounded them not a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Out of much affliction and anguish.**—Men might think that it had cost him little to write sharp words like those which he has in his mind. He remembers well what he felt as he dictated them—the intensity of his feelings, pain that such words should be needed, anxiety as to their issue, the very tears which then, as at other times (Acts 20:19; Acts 20:31; 2Timothy 1:4), were the outflow of s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. never faileth--**never is to be out of use; it always holds its place.
**shall fail ... vanish away--**The same Greek verb is used for both; and that different from the Greek verb for "faileth." Translate, "Shall be done away with," that is, shall be dispensed with at the Lord's coming, being superseded by their more perfect heavenly analogues; for instance, knowledge by intuition. Of "tong...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline
Reasons for the apostle not coming to Corinth.(1-4)
Directions about restoring the repentant offender.(5-11)
An account of his labours and success in spreading the gospel of Christ.(12-17)
**Verses 1-4**
The apostle desired to have a cheerful meeting with them; and he had written in confidence of their doing what was to their benefit and his comfort;...
Read full commentary →But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part</strong>—Paul diplomatically refers to an unnamed offender, likely the same person discussed in verses 6-8. The phrase <em>apo merous</em> (ἀπὸ μέρους, "in part") suggests the offense affected the whole church, not just Paul personally. By minimizing his personal grievance, Paul redirects attention to the corporate injury—this p...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **But if any have caused grief.**—The man who had been the chief cause of his sorrow is now prominent in his thoughts. He will not name him. He is, as in 1Corinthians 5:1-5, and here in 2Corinthians 2:7, “a man,” “such a one.” The abrupt introduction of the qualifying clause, “but in part,” and the absence of any authoritative punctuation, makes the construction ambiguous. It admits of three p...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-10. in part--**partially and imperfectly. Compare a similar contrast to the "perfect man," "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ep 4:11-13).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The apostle desires them to receive the person who had done wrong, again into their communion; for he was aware of his fault, and much afflicted under his punishment. Even sorrow for sin should not unfit for other duties, and drive to despair. Not only was there danger last Satan should get advantage, by tempting the penitent to hard thoughts of God and religion, and so drive h...
Read full commentary →Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. punishment: or, censure
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many</strong>—The term <em>epitimia</em> (ἐπιτιμία, "punishment, censure") refers to formal church discipline, and <em>pleionōn</em> (πλειόνων, "of the many") indicates congregational involvement, likely meaning the majority enacted the discipline Paul had demanded. The word <em>hikanon</em> (ἱκανὸν, "sufficient") is cruci...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Sufficient to such a man is this punishment.**—Better, perhaps, *this censure,* or *rebuke:* the Greek word *epitimia* being different from those in Matthew 25:46, and in Hebrews 10:29. It is natural to infer that this was somewhat after the pattern of the course marked out in 1Corinthians 5:3-5. A meeting of the Church had been held, and the man delivered to Satan. Possibly this was followe...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-10. in part--**partially and imperfectly. Compare a similar contrast to the "perfect man," "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ep 4:11-13).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The apostle desires them to receive the person who had done wrong, again into their communion; for he was aware of his fault, and much afflicted under his punishment. Even sorrow for sin should not unfit for other duties, and drive to despair. Not only was there danger last Satan should get advantage, by tempting the penitent to hard thoughts of God and religion, and so drive h...
Read full commentary →So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him</strong>—Paul employs two imperatives: <em>charisasthai</em> (χαρίσασθαι, "to forgive, show grace") and <em>parakalesai</em> (παρακαλέσαι, "to comfort, encourage"). The verb <em>charizomai</em> shares its root with <em>charis</em> (grace), indicating forgiveness is a gracious gift, not earned merit. Having disciplined, the church must now act...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Ye ought rather to forgive.**—The indignation which St. Paul had felt has passed, on his hearing of the offender’s state, into pity and anxiety. The time had come for words of pardon and comfort and counsel. What if he should be “swallowed up,” and sink as in the great deep of sorrow? Suicide, madness, apostasy, seem to float before his mind as but too possible results.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. When ... a child--**(1Co 3:1; 14:20).
**I spake--**alluding to "tongues."
**understood--**or, "had the sentiments of." Alluding to "prophecy."
**I thought--**Greek "reasoned" or "judged"; alluding to "knowledge."
**when I became ... I put away--**rather, "now that I am become a man, I have done away with the things of the child."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The apostle desires them to receive the person who had done wrong, again into their communion; for he was aware of his fault, and much afflicted under his punishment. Even sorrow for sin should not unfit for other duties, and drive to despair. Not only was there danger last Satan should get advantage, by tempting the penitent to hard thoughts of God and religion, and so drive h...
Read full commentary →Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him</strong>—The verb <em>parakalo</em> (παρακαλῶ, "I beseech, urge") is Paul's appeal, and <em>kyrosai</em> (κυρῶσαι, "to confirm, ratify, establish") is a legal term suggesting formal validation. Paul calls for an official congregational act—not private individuals quietly accepting the penitent, but the church corporately an...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **That ye would confirm your love.**—The word for “confirm” (better, perhaps, *ratify*—comp. Galatians 3:15) suggests the thought of an act as formal and public as the rebuke had been. The excommunicated man was to be re-admitted to fellowship by a collective act of the Church.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. now--**in our present state.
**see--**an appropriate expression, in connection with the "prophets" of seers (1Sa 9:9).
**through a glass--**that is, in a mirror; the reflection seeming to the eye to be behind the mirror, so that we see it through the mirror. Ancient mirrors were made of polished brass or other metals. The contrast is between the inadequate knowledge of an object gained b...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The apostle desires them to receive the person who had done wrong, again into their communion; for he was aware of his fault, and much afflicted under his punishment. Even sorrow for sin should not unfit for other duties, and drive to despair. Not only was there danger last Satan should get advantage, by tempting the penitent to hard thoughts of God and religion, and so drive h...
Read full commentary →For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you</strong>—The term <em>dokimēn</em> (δοκιμήν, "proof, testing, character") suggests tested authenticity, like metal refined by fire. Paul's severe letter had a secondary purpose beyond addressing specific sin: testing whether the Corinthians would obey apostolic authority. Church discipline reveals congregational character...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **For to this end also did** **I write . . .**—The tense of the Greek verb, which may be what is known as the Epistolary aorist, used by the writer of the time at which he writes, would not be decisive as to what is referred to, and the words may mean: “I write to you thus to see whether you are as obedient now as you were before—in one line of action as in the other.” If he refers to the Firs...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. And now--**Translate, "But now." "In this present state" [Henderson]. Or, "now" does not express time, but opposition, as in 1Co 5:11, "the case being so" [Grotius]; whereas it is the case that the three gifts, "prophecy," "tongues," and "knowledge" (cited as specimens of the whole class of gifts) "fail" (1Co 13:8), there abide permanently only these three--faith, hope, charity. In one sense...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The apostle desires them to receive the person who had done wrong, again into their communion; for he was aware of his fault, and much afflicted under his punishment. Even sorrow for sin should not unfit for other duties, and drive to despair. Not only was there danger last Satan should get advantage, by tempting the penitent to hard thoughts of God and religion, and so drive h...
Read full commentary →To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; person: or, sight in the person: or, in the sight
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also</strong>—Paul establishes apostolic alignment with congregational forgiveness. The pronoun <em>hymeis</em> (ὑμεῖς, "you") is emphatic—your forgiveness determines mine. This demonstrates Paul's trust in the congregation's spiritual discernment and his refusal to undermine their corporate decision. Though he initially demanded discipline, he now d...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also.**—The procedure of 1Corinthians 5:3-7 is again, obviously, in his mind. Though absent in body, he had made himself a sharer spiritually in that censure. He now, anticipating their compliance with his request, makes himself a sharer in the sentence of absolution.
**For if I forgave any thing.**—Better, *if I have forgiven;* and so in the followin...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The apostle desires them to receive the person who had done wrong, again into their communion; for he was aware of his fault, and much afflicted under his punishment. Even sorrow for sin should not unfit for other duties, and drive to despair. Not only was there danger last Satan should get advantage, by tempting the penitent to hard thoughts of God and religion, and so drive h...
Read full commentary →Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Lest Satan should get an advantage of us</strong>—The verb <em>pleonekteō</em> (πλεονεκτέω, "to take advantage, outwit, defraud") suggests calculated exploitation. The name <em>Satanas</em> (Σατανᾶς) means "adversary" or "accuser." Paul reveals that both unrepentant sin and unrelenting discipline serve Satan's purposes—the former through moral compromise, the latter through crushing despai...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Lest Satan should get an advantage of us.**—Literally, *lest we should be cheated* (or *out-maneuvered*) *by Satan.* The phraseology is that of one who is, as it were, playing a game against the Tempter, in which the souls of men are at once the counters and the stake. The Apostle’s last move in that game had been to “give the sinner over to Satan” with a view to his ultimate deliverance. B...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 14
1Co 14:1-25. Superiority of Prophecy over Tongues.
**1. Follow after charity--**as your first and chief aim, seeing that it is "the greatest" (1Co 13:13).
**and desire--**Translate, "Yet (as a secondary aim) desire zealously (see on 1Co 12:31) spiritual gifts."
**but rather--**"but chiefly that ye may prophesy" (speak and exhort under inspiration) (Pr 29:18; Ac 13:1; 1Th 5:20), ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-11**
The apostle desires them to receive the person who had done wrong, again into their communion; for he was aware of his fault, and much afflicted under his punishment. Even sorrow for sin should not unfit for other duties, and drive to despair. Not only was there danger last Satan should get advantage, by tempting the penitent to hard thoughts of God and religion, and so drive h...
Read full commentary →Triumph in Christ
Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord</strong>—Paul abruptly shifts from discussing the disciplined offender to his travel narrative. The phrase <em>thura moi aneōgmenē</em> (θύρα μοι ἀνεῳγμένη, "a door opened to me") is Paul's idiom for evangelistic opportunity (1 Cor 16:9, Col 4:3). Troas was a strategic port city connectin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Furthermore, when I came to Troas.**—The article, perhaps, indicates the Troad as a district, rather than the city, just as it does in the case of Saron. (See Note on Acts 9:35.) The case of the offender had come in as a parenthesis in 2Corinthians 2:5-8. He returns to the train of thought which it had interrupted, and continues his narrative of what had passed after he had written the Firs...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. speaketh ... unto God--**who alone understands all languages.
**no man understandeth--**generally speaking; the few who have the gift of interpreting tongues are the exception.
**in the spirit--**as opposed to "the understanding" (1Co 14:14).
**mysteries--**unintelligible to the hearers, exciting their wonder, rather than instructing them. Corinth, being a mart resorted to by merchants ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
A believer's triumphs are all in Christ. To him be the praise and glory of all, while the success of the gospel is a good reason for a Christian's joy and rejoicing. In ancient triumphs, abundance of perfumes and sweet odours were used; so the name and salvation of Jesus, as ointment poured out, was a sweet savour diffused in every place. Unto some, the gospel is a savour of d...
Read full commentary →I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother</strong>—The phrase <em>eschēka anesin tō pneumati mou</em> (ἔσχηκα ἄνεσιν τῷ πνεύματί μου, "I had no rest in my spirit") reveals Paul's inner turmoil. The term <em>anesis</em> (ἄνεσις, "rest, relief, relaxation") suggests Paul was emotionally unable to capitalize on Troas's opportunities. His reference to <em>Titon ton adelp...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **I had no rest in my spirit.**—Instead of coming himself straight from Ephesus, as he had at first intended, and had intimated probably in the lost letter of 1Corinthians 5:9, or by Timotheus (1Corinthians 4:17), or pressing on through Macedonia, as he purposed when he wrote the First Epistle (1Corinthians 16:5), he had sent on Titus (himself possibly connected with Corinth: see Note on Acts...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. But--**on the other hand.
**edification--**of which the two principal species given are "exhortation" to remove sluggishness, "comfort" or consolation to remove sadness [Bengel]. Omit "to."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
A believer's triumphs are all in Christ. To him be the praise and glory of all, while the success of the gospel is a good reason for a Christian's joy and rejoicing. In ancient triumphs, abundance of perfumes and sweet odours were used; so the name and salvation of Jesus, as ointment poured out, was a sweet savour diffused in every place. Unto some, the gospel is a savour of d...
Read full commentary →Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ</strong>—The verb <em>thriambeuonti</em> (θριαμβεύοντι, "to lead in triumphal procession") evokes Roman military triumph ceremonies where generals paraded captives through Rome's streets. Paul daringly applies this image to apostolic ministry—but with a twist: apostles are not the triumphant generals but the captive slave...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Now thanks be unto** **God.**—The apparent abruptness of this burst of thanksgiving is at first somewhat startling. We have to find its source, not in what the Apostle had written or spoken, but in what was passing through his memory. He had met Titus, and that disciple had been as a courier bringing tidings of a victory. The love of God had won another triumph.
**Causeth us to** **triumph....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. edifieth himself--**as he understands the meaning of what the particular "tongue" expresses; but "the church," that is, the congregation, does not.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
A believer's triumphs are all in Christ. To him be the praise and glory of all, while the success of the gospel is a good reason for a Christian's joy and rejoicing. In ancient triumphs, abundance of perfumes and sweet odours were used; so the name and salvation of Jesus, as ointment poured out, was a sweet savour diffused in every place. Unto some, the gospel is a savour of d...
Read full commentary →For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ</strong>—The phrase <em>Christou euōdia</em> (Χριστοῦ εὐωδία, "the fragrance of Christ") continues the triumphal procession metaphor. Apostles themselves become the incense—their lives and message exude Christ's aroma. The dative <em>tō theō</em> (τῷ θεῷ, "to God") indicates this fragrance primarily pleases God, regardless of human response. Min...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ.**—If we believe this Epistle to have been written from Philippi, it is interesting to note the recurrence of the same imagery of a “sweet savour” in the Epistle to that Church (Philippians 4:18). Here the mind of the writer turns to the sterner, sadder side of the Roman triumph. Some who appeared in that triumph were *on their way to deliverance,* s...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5. Translate, "Now I wish you all to speak with tongues (so far am I from thus speaking through having any objection to tongues), but rather IN ORDER THAT (as my ulterior and higher wish for you) ye should prophesy." Tongues must therefore mean languages, not ecstatic, unintelligible rhapsodie (as Neander fancied): for Paul could never "wish" for the latter in their behalf.
**greater--**because ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
A believer's triumphs are all in Christ. To him be the praise and glory of all, while the success of the gospel is a good reason for a Christian's joy and rejoicing. In ancient triumphs, abundance of perfumes and sweet odours were used; so the name and salvation of Jesus, as ointment poured out, was a sweet savour diffused in every place. Unto some, the gospel is a savour of d...
Read full commentary →To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life</strong>—The doubled phrases <em>ek thanatou eis thanaton</em> (ἐκ θανάτου εἰς θάνατον, "from death unto death") and <em>ek zōēs eis zōēn</em> (ἐκ ζωῆς εἰς ζωήν, "from life unto life") suggest movement and intensification. For those rejecting the Gospel, spiritual death deepens into eternal deat...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **To the one we are the savour of death unto death.**—As with other instances of St. Paul’s figurative language, we note the workings of a deeply, though unconsciously, poetic imagination. Keeping the image of the triumph in his mind, he thinks of the widely different impression and effect which the odour of the incense would work in the two classes of the prisoners. To some it would seem to ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6. Translate, "But now"; seeing there is no edification without interpretation.
**revelation ... prophesying--**corresponding one to the other; "revelation" being the supernatural unveiling of divine truths to man, "prophesying" the enunciation to men of such revelations. So "knowledge" corresponds to "doctrine," which is the gift of teaching to others our knowledge. As the former pair refers to...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
A believer's triumphs are all in Christ. To him be the praise and glory of all, while the success of the gospel is a good reason for a Christian's joy and rejoicing. In ancient triumphs, abundance of perfumes and sweet odours were used; so the name and salvation of Jesus, as ointment poured out, was a sweet savour diffused in every place. Unto some, the gospel is a savour of d...
Read full commentary →For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. corrupt: or, deal deceitfully with in Christ: or, of Christ
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God</strong>—The verb <em>kapēleuontes</em> (καπηλεύοντες, "to peddle, retail, adulterate") literally means to dilute wine for profit or hawk goods in the marketplace. Paul accuses false teachers of treating God's word as merchandise to be marketed, diluted for popular consumption, or manipulated for personal gain. The phrase <em>hoi polloi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God.**—More accurately, *We are not as most, as the greater number.* There is a ring of sadness in the words. Even then the ways of error were manifold, and the way of truth was one. Among Judaisers, and the seekers after Greek wisdom, asserters of license for liberty, questioners of the resurrection: how few were those who preached the true...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7. Translate, "And things without life-giving sound, whether pipe or harp, YET (notwithstanding their giving sound) if they give not a distinction in the tones (that is, notes) how?" &c.
**what is piped or harped--**that is, what tune is played on the pipe or harp.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 12-17**
A believer's triumphs are all in Christ. To him be the praise and glory of all, while the success of the gospel is a good reason for a Christian's joy and rejoicing. In ancient triumphs, abundance of perfumes and sweet odours were used; so the name and salvation of Jesus, as ointment poured out, was a sweet savour diffused in every place. Unto some, the gospel is a savour of d...
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