Введение

Let us remember that Saint Paul, having received news from Chloe’s household about some troubles in the Church of Corinth, sent Saint Timothy there to make sure what was the matter, and to partially correct what could be done. But following the departure of Saint Timothy from Ephesus, ambassadors from the Corinthian Church arrived there with a message from the Corinthians. To this epistle and regarding everything that was happening in Corinth, Saint Paul wrote his first epistle, sending it with the same ambassadors to the Corinthian Church. In it he wrote, among other things, that he sent Timothy to them, ordering them to receive him and put him to rest, promising to be with them himself as soon as he arranged everything in Ephesus, where he intended to stay until Pentecost. Thus, from the first letter we see that the main mediating person between the Corinthians and St. Paul, on behalf of St. Paul, was St. Timothy. From the second letter we see that such a person is already Saint Titus. Saint Paul in Troas is anxiously waiting for him from Corinth, he is delighted with his arrival in Macedonia, he thanks the Corinthians for his good reception and sends a second letter with him; Saint Timothy stands together with Saint Paul in the inscription of the epistle, as an accomplice in it, but in the epistle itself he is no longer mentioned. What a change?! In the introduction to the first message, a hypothesis has already been made to explain this. Let's repeat it. The affairs of the holy Apostle in Ephesus did not go as he expected. The indignation against him by Demetrius the silversmith forced him to leave Ephesus much earlier than as he wrote to Corinth; and this changed all his plans. Saint Timothy could not reach Corinth before Paul himself; alms could not be collected as he wished; his unexpected appearance in Corinth could have an adverse effect on the quick-witted learning of the Corinthians; Moreover, to appear there without knowing how the first epistle was received would not be in accordance with the rule of discretion of St. Paul. For all these reasons, Saint Paul, leaving Ephesus, sent Saint Titus to Corinth with the news of the change in his plan and of his arrival to them much earlier than he thought, instructing him in the meantime to take up the organization of the alms meeting and especially to delve into in more detail how it was accepted and what effect the first letter had. The latter, one might say, was the main point, which was covered up by orders on alms collection. Having collected correct information about the consequences of the first letter, Saint Titus had to hasten to meet Saint Paul, who intended to wait for him in Troas. Having ordered this, Saint Paul directed his path to Troas. Troas is almost as far away from Ephesus by sea as Corinth. But if Saint Paul decided to visit some on the path of the Church, then, having arrived in Troas, he could in all likelihood hope, if not to find Saint Titus already there, then to wait for him soon. He had every intention of doing evangelism in Troas (2 Cor. 2:12). Upon his arrival there, he began to do this; and the door to him was opened to him in the Lord; but as Titus was still away, due to strong anxiety, he could not continue the work of evangelism; why, having said goodbye to those there, he hurried to Macedonia, probably to Philippi (2 Cor. 2:13). Here Saint Paul either already found or soon waited for Titus with comforting news from Corinth; why, having spoken about his transition to Macedonia, he cries out: “Thanks be to God... who always makes us victorious!” (2 Cor. 2:14). In Macedonia, Saint Paul caught up with Saint Timothy, who, either due to business, or illness, or for some other reason, slowed down there, if assumptions are needed on this subject. That is why in the second epistle Saint Titus is only spoken of as a character on the part of Saint Paul, and Saint Timothy appears only in the inscription. The 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians was written after the arrival of Titus, as is self-evident from what St. Paul writes in this epistle about the reception given to him in Corinth (2 Cor. 7:11-16); therefore, it is written on the basis of the news that Saint Titus brought, and in accordance with them. From here, the content of the message makes it possible to draw guidance about what Saint Titus brought from Corinth; and this guidance, if planned, will make it possible to more clearly imagine the content of the message and understand why it is the way it is and not another. This is what interpreters do: this is what we need to do too. What did Saint Titus bring? “He brought evidence that the message had the same effect on Corinthian society as a strong wind has on evil vapors collected somewhere.” The society perked up and became very jealous with zeal to immediately correct all the indicated faults (2 Cor. 7:11), and expressed complete readiness to do everything possible to collect alms. Although the message mentions the correction of only one matter, namely the excommunication of an incestuous man (2 Cor. 2:5–8), and only indirectly hints at the rejection of everything pagan (2 Cor. 6:14–17); but there is no doubt that they were supposed to correct everything according to the instructions of St. Paul with complete accuracy. This should be confirmed by the fact that Saint Paul does not remember anything else, considering it unnecessary and bothersome. Having received such news, Saint Paul was extremely comforted and overjoyed (2 Cor. 7:6, 7). But something was brought by Saint Titus that, although it did not disturb the apostolic spirit that was calm about the entire body of the Corinthian Church, nevertheless, nevertheless, demanded his attention and care. The body of the Church presented itself in everything as pure (2 Cor. 7:11) and full of the true Christian spirit; but on its outskirts there were some rumors about the person of St. Paul and about his deeds that were not entirely good; There were, it seems, also such persons who, not quite willingly and quickly, abandoned disapproving habitual affairs (2 Cor. 12:20, 21). – The latter is a matter of weakness; and the former seem to have a hostile disposition towards Saint Paul. These condemned, for example, in St. Paul that he first wanted to come directly to them, from them to go to the Macedonians, and from them back to them, in order to go from them to Judea (2 Cor. 1:16), and then changed his plan and goes to them through Macedonia. This, they said, he does “lightly” or “consults” something “according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 1:17). When Saint Paul made such a promise is not clear from either the Acts or the first letter. He probably conveyed this to them before the first message and before the news from Chloe’s household with any of the faithful persons. Information received after that about the state of the Corinthian Church forced him to change this intention. But those, not knowing this, condemned him and were even ready to cast a certain shadow of instability both on the very preaching of the Gospel and on the economy of salvation in the Lord (2 Cor. 1:17-22). But the evil speeches were not limited to this alone. They also said: how strict is he in his message?! And when you were here, how did you behave humbly and quietly? And that's not all; I also heard: is he a real Apostle? – Such and similar speeches circulated in Christian society. There is no need to find out from whom they came, whether from erring believers or from unbelievers who were malicious to St. Paul. It is enough to know that they were heard among Christians in order to see in this an incentive for St. Paul not to leave them unattended and to hasten to the believers with explanations of the matter that could prevent them from being mistaken about him. These and other messages prompted St. Paul to write a new letter to the Corinthians. It was necessary to assure them, before his arrival there, that he had completely calmed down on their account and had made peace with them in spirit, for the sake of the zeal for the correction of everything that they showed as a result of his message. It was necessary to give the faithful sufficient explanations, with the help of which they themselves could reflect their empty speeches about St. Paul launched into the environment; for if left thus, they might fill the minds of Christians with prejudices dangerous to the cause of the Gospel regarding its person and manner of action. It was also necessary to induce to correction those who were still slow to correct, so that, having come to them, there would be no need to act according to all the severity of the Apostolic authority, as he himself says: “Let me not come mercilessly do according to the authority that the Lord has given me to eat” (2 Cor. 13:10). And about almsgiving, too, it was necessary to say a word or two in order to surround this holy matter with holy motives and deeds, to indicate the limits of what is due and voluntary, and partly to support jealousy about it: “Let it not be,” he says, “if the Macedonians come with me... we will be ashamed... in this part” (2 Cor. 9:4). All this constitutes the content of the message. There is one more subject in it that seems to be independent of any circumstances, namely: it talks about the high dignity of Christian revelation despite the outward lack of display of its preachers and about how it is accomplished in action and reaches the ears of those who want to listen to it. In view of this, Saint Paul was delighted with the news of the victorious effect of his written word to the Corinthians. For he speaks about this following how, after listening to Saint Titus, he cried out: “Thanks be to God always, who makes us conquerors... and we show the stench of His mind in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14). Saint Paul sets out these subjects in his epistle in this order. In the middle there is a talk about alms and occupies two chapters - the 8th and 9th. At the end, a stern word is placed to dispel evil speeches about St. Paul and to encourage those who have not yet corrected themselves to correct themselves. They said about him that he was strict in writing, but when he was there, he was quiet and meek; and others added to this: is he still a real Apostle? “Perhaps such speeches were the reason that some people’s moral energy weakened, and they lazily corrected themselves. Why does the Apostle, especially intending to sober up the latter, write that he is as strict face to face as in writing, when need demands it (chapter 10); and then, having proven that he is a real Apostle, no less than others, and, therefore, invested with full apostolic authority (chap. 11-12), he concludes: correct yourself in advance, I will come and not show mercy (2 Cor. 12:20, ch. 13). This is covered in chapters 10–13. At the beginning, Saint Paul, after thanking God for the consolation brought to him by deliverance from many troubles (2 Cor. 1:1-11), says for what reason he changed the plan of his journey (2 Cor. 1:12–24, 2:1–11); then, enraptured by the contemplation of the heights of Christian revelation and economy, in an inspired speech he sets out the entire course of this matter (2 Cor. 2:12–7:1) and concludes with an expression of the joy and consolation that was brought to him by the reception of Titus in Corinth and by everything that he saw there and what he conveyed to the Apostle (2 Cor. 7:2–16). This takes up the first seven chapters. So, the epistle is divided into three parts: The first contains an expression of thanksgiving to God, joy and consolation, which the good success of his epistle brought to St. Paul, with an account of this high dignity of Christian revelation and economy and its entire course (chap. 1-7). The second contains instructions on almsgiving with some instructions regarding it (chapters 8 and 9). The third contains the necessary explanations to reflect the evil speeches being spread about the holy Apostle and to encourage those who have not yet reformed to correct themselves (chap. 10-13). In short, they can be designated as follows: the first is theoretical, the second is practical, the third is defensive. If we distinguish them by tone, then while the first is warm-hearted, the latter is strictly sobering, breathing the inexorability of power. This was required by the fatherly concern of St. Paul for the correction of those who were faulty. 4. Time and place of writing As things progress, it is clear that this epistle was written in the same year as the first, that is, the 58th or 59th. Written, most likely, in Philippi and sent with Titus, accompanied by two more brothers (2 Cor. 8:16-24). You might be interested in: