II Corinthians

A Commentary

Frank J. Matera

• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9780664239008
• eBook ISBN: 9781611644975
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

This commentary on II Corinthians in the New Testament Library continues the exemplary quality of the series. Frank Matera provides a commentary that is a close study of the backgrounds and language of the text while also providing important theological insights into the message of Paul for his time and for the contemporary church.

The New Testament Library offers authoritative commentary on every book and major aspect of the New Testament, as well as classic volumes of scholarship. The commentaries in this series provide fresh translations based on the best available ancient manuscripts, offer critical portrayals of the historical world in which the books were created, pay careful attention to their literary design, and present a theologically perceptive exposition of the text.

COMMENTARY

The Salutation and Benediction
2 Corinthians 1:1–11

Second Corinthians consists of three parts: an opening salutation and benediction (1:1–11), the main body of the letter (1:12–13:10), and the letter’s conclusion (13:11–13). The second part, as one would expect, is the longest and most detailed portion of the letter, for it is here that Paul explains and defends the substance and style of his apostolic ministry to the Corinthians.

The letter opening, however, is not insignificant; for, as he often does in his correspondence, Paul employs these introductory verses to signal important themes that he will develop in the body of the letter. For example, in the letter salutation he immediately identifies himself as “an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God” (v. 1), thereby foreshadowing a major theological theme of this letter: the nature of his apostolic ministry. In the opening benediction, he introduces other themes to which he will repeatedly return in order to explain and defend the nature of this apostolic ministry. Among these are the consolation that “the God who raises the dead” (v. 9) brings to the afflicted, Paul’s participation in the sufferings of Christ (v. 5), and the significance of his own sufferings and afflictions for the Corinthian community (v. 6). These initial verses then play an important role, inasmuch as they foreshadow themes that Paul will develop as he explains and defends the style and nature of his ministry. Authentic apostolic ministry, he will argue, involves participation in the sufferings of Christ, which are the afflictions that necessarily accompany apostolic service. Authentic apostolic ministers, however, are not discouraged by these afflictions, because they know that “the God who raises the dead” (v. 9) comforts and consoles them.

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and brother Timothy,^a to the church of God in Corinth, with all the sanctified throughout Achaia. 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,^b the Father of mercies and God of all consolation, 4 who consoles us in our every affliction so that we can console those in every affliction through the consolation by which we ourselves are consoled by God. 5 Because as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so, through Christ, even our consolation abounds. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your consolation, and salvation. If we are consoled, it is for your consolation, which becomes effective^c by endurance of the same sufferings that even we suffer. 7 Our hope on your behalf is firmly established, since we know that just as you share^d in the sufferings, so you will share^e in the consolation.

8 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,^f about our affliction that occurred in Asia; because we were burdened far beyond our strength so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, we bore within ourselves the sentence of death in order that we would not rely on ourselves but on the God who raises the dead. 10 He rescued us from such great dangers^g and will rescue us. In him, we have hoped.^h And he will rescue us yet again 11 as you assist by your prayer on our behalf so that thanks may be given by many persons for the favor bestowed upon us through the help of many persons.

a. The Greek employs a definite article, ho adelphos (“the brother”), highlighting Timothy’s place within the Christian community, which is a new family of brothers and sisters in Christ. It may also point to Timothy’s status as Paul’s missionary colleague (Thrall, 1: 82).

b. The Greek could be construed as an indicative statement, “Blessed is God …,” but the liturgical nature of the benediction suggests that the phrase is an exclamatory prayer.

c. The participle energoumenēs, which could be construed as a passive, is here translated as a middle voice.

d. The noun koinōnoi (“participants”) is rendered as a verb.

e. A verb must be supplied at this point.

f. Adelphoi (“brothers”) has all the members of the community in view, women as well as men.

g. Several witnesses (א, A, B, C, D^gr, G^gr) read the singular, tēlikoutou thanatou (“so great a death.”), but P⁴⁶, a very significant manuscript, reads the plural tēlikoutōn thanatōn (“such great deaths”). The more difficult reading of P⁴⁶ is adopted here, although it is not to be taken literally, as the translation indicates.

h. Some manuscripts (א, A, C, D²) read hoti at this point, providing a reason for Paul’s hope: “because he will rescue us again.” This translation follows P⁴⁶, which does not contain hoti. As a result, a period is placed after “we have hoped,” and a new sentence begins with “And he will rescue us yet again,” concluding with v. 11.

These opening verses consist of two sections: a salutation (vv. 1–2) and a benediction (vv. 3–11). Like other Pauline greetings, this one identifies the writer and the recipients of the letter, to whom Paul wishes grace and peace. Readers of the Greek text will note how “Christ Jesus … Jesus Christ” (Christou Iēsou … Iēsou Christou) enclose the greeting.

The opening exclamatory statement (“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” v. 3) of the benediction echoes the final words of the greeting (“from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” v. 2), thereby relating the two sections of the letter opening to each other. This benediction consists of two units. In the first (vv. 3–7), Paul praises the God who consoles the afflicted, explaining how his apostolic sufferings and afflictions benefit the Corinthians, whom he associates with himself as participants in Christ’s sufferings and therefore as beneficiaries of God’s consolation. Paul begins the second unit (vv. 8–11) with a disclosure formula (“We do not want you to be unaware …”) and mentions a particular affliction he endured in Asia that led him to trust in “the God who raises the dead” (v. 9) rather than in himself. Thus, though some commentators would identify verses 8–11 as the beginning of the letter body because of the disclosure formula in verse 8, these verses belong to the benediction, providing a particular example of how God rescued Paul from affliction.

Throughout this unit Paul employs the first person plural (“we”), as he does throughout much of this letter. Although the plural could refer to Paul and Timothy, the letter’s cosenders, the use of “we” in v. 8, which clearly has Paul’s affliction in Asia in view, strongly suggests that the use of “we” in this unit is a literary plural that refers to Paul.

[1:1–2] Paul begins with a greeting in which the senders (Paul and Timothy) identify themselves to the recipients (the Corinthians and other believers in the province of Achaia), to whom they wish grace and peace. Although the basic form of the greeting (sender to receiver, grace and peace) remains essentially the same in all of the Pauline letters, there are slight variations from letter to letter. For example, though Paul calls himself as an apostle in some letters, he identifies himself as a “slave” (doulos) or “prisoner” (desmios) of Jesus Christ in others. Moreover, although he names Timothy as a cosender of this letter (which does not necessarily imply coauthorship), he mentions Sosthenes and Silvanus as cosenders in other letters. There are, however, no cosenders named in Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and the Pastorals. Most importantly, Paul varies the way in which he identifies himself in his letters, either in light of his circumstances or of his purpose for writing. In Philemon, for example, he identifies himself as a prisoner for Christ Jesus, since he writes from prison. In Philippians he presents himself a “servant” or “slave” of Christ Jesus because he calls the community to a life of unity based on the example of Christ’s self-emptying servant love. Here and in Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians (as well as Ephesians, Colossians, and the Pastorals), he identifies himself as an apostle because his apostleship has been called into question.¹

The letter’s opening, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God,” anticipates Paul’s theme, the nature of his apostolic ministry. Before embarking upon his theme, Paul asserts, as he does in other letters, that his apostleship is grounded in the will of God (thelēmatos theou), an expression that occurs frequently in his letters, as well as in the deuteropaulines (see Rom 1:10; 12:2; 1 Cor 1:1; 2 Cor 8:5; Gal 1:4; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; 4:12; 1 Thess 4:3; 5:18; 2 Tim 1:1). Since the will of God is what God intends to bring about, it also discloses God’s plan, and it is not surprising that Ephesians speaks of the mystery or secret purpose of God’s will (Eph 1:9). By identifying the origin of his apostleship with the will of God, Paul secures the high ground from which he will defend himself against those who call into question the nature and manner of his apostleship.

Although Paul was firmly convinced of his apostolic call, he found it necessary to defend his status as an apostle (see 1 Cor 9:1–2), as well as the divine origin of his call (see Gal 1:1). It is not surprising, then, that in the greetings of Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians he identifies himself as an apostle who has been called and set apart for the gospel. In doing so, he reminds his converts of his call and conversion when God revealed his Son to him and called him to be an apostle to the Gentiles (see Gal 1:15–17).

Although the concept of “apostle” is related to the Jewish notion of the saliah who acted as the representative of the one who sent him,² it has clearly taken on a fuller meaning in early Christianity, especially in Paul’s letters, where it refers to one who has seen and been commissioned by the risen Lord. For a complete understanding of what Paul means by apostleship, however, it is necessary to read what he claims for his apostleship, especially in Galatians and 2 Corinthians.

Paul identifies Timothy as a cosender of this letter, just as he identified Sosthenes as the cosender of 1 Corinthians (1 Cor 1:1). Timothy is also identified as a cosender of Philippians and Colossians, as well as 1 and 2 Thessalonians, which name Silvanus as a cosender as well. In listing Timothy as a cosender, Paul does not necessarily mean that Timothy was the letter’s coauthor, despite the numerous occasions that Paul makes use of the first person plural in this letter. Rather, Paul probably mentions Timothy because he had sent him to Corinth about the time that he was writing 1 Corinthians (1 Cor 4:17; 16:10), leading Chrysostom (Homily 1:2) to note that Paul associates Timothy with the writing of this letter because he had recently been restored to him. If Timothy had already returned, it would have been appropriate to name him as the cosender of this letter, which deals with issues with which he would have been familiar.

The Acts of the Apostles describes Timothy as a disciple, the son of a Jewish mother and a Greek father, whom Paul circumcised (16:1–3). According to Acts, he accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey. He and Silas (probably to be identified with Silvanus) remained in Beroea when Paul was no longer welcome there and so went on to Athens (17:14). While in Athens, Paul summoned Timothy and Silas (17:15), and they eventually joined him at Corinth, where he was already preaching (18:5). Thus, as Paul notes in 2 Cor 1:19, Timothy and Silvanus (whom Acts calls Silas) were present at Corinth during Paul’s first visit, when he established the church there. Acts also notes that Paul sent Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia, while he remained in the province of Asia (19:22).

Paul describes Timothy as his coworker (Rom 16:21), his beloved child who is faithful in the Lord (1 Cor 4:17), and in Phil 1:1 he associates Timothy with himself as a slave of Christ Jesus. In 1 Thess 3:2, he calls him “our brother and co-worker for God in proclaiming the gospel of Christ.” Paul, or someone writing in his name, also addressed two letters to Timothy, who had assumed a leadership role in the church at Ephesus (1 Tim 1:2), and he exhorts him, “Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 2:3), because the time of his (Paul’s) death is at hand (2 Tim 4:6). Despite the high regard in which Paul holds Timothy, he never identifies him as an apostle. Timothy belongs to the community of believers and holds a special position as one of Paul’s coworkers, but he is not an apostle, presumably because he has not seen the Lord and been commissioned by him as was Paul.

In sending this letter “to the church of God in Corinth, with all the sanctified throughout Achaia,” Paul acknowledges the special dignity of the Corinthian congregation, even though the Corinthians are still at odds with him over some points. Although Paul usually has the local congregation in mind when he refers to the “church” (ekklēsia), in this instance he employs an expression that probably originally referred to the earliest Jerusalem congregation, “the church of God” (hē ekklēsia tou theou) that Paul persecuted (1 Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13). By identifying the Corinthian congregation as “the church of God,” Paul now gives the Corinthians the same title of honor he gives the church of Jerusalem. Second Corinthians does not develop the concept of the church as universal or co...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Bibliography
• Introduction
• Commentary
• Index of Ancient Sources
• Index of Authors
• Index of Subjects