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Necessary explanations to repel the evil speeches being spread about the holy Apostle and to encourage those who have not yet corrected themselves to correct themselves (chapters 10–13) Saint Paul's ill-wishers spread false rumors and opinions about him in Corinth. When such cases did not harm the cause of the gospel and firmness in the faith of those who believed, Saint Paul did not pay attention to it; but when harm came out of this, he considered it his duty to cleanse himself and his affairs from all criticism. What exactly they said unfavorably about him in Corinth can be judged by his own defensive words. Titus heard this either himself, or from the sincere Apostle, and conveyed it to him. There were few such detractors; the whole Church reverently honored Saint Paul and was ready to obediently listen to all his instructions and carry out all orders. Until now, he addressed his speech to these readers of his - faithful Christians, and this speech is quiet, warm, and supportive. From now on he begins to speak against the critics, and it is strict and bears the stamp of apostolic authority. Saint Paul was not shown in body and his health was weak. His speech during personal evangelism was distinguished by quietness and meek persuasiveness. He begged to believe in the Crucified One, and did not present a decree from heaven so that those who heard would believe. And in the letter, when he wrote to the believers, his word was strict and authoritative. His opponents took this difference as the starting point for censure. They said: “in his face he is humble”, but behind his eyes “he is bold... the messages are heavy and strong, but the coming of the body is weak and the word is despised” (2 Cor. 10:1, 10). This would not have been so confusing, but something was inserted into the explanation of such a difference, why others could consider St. Paul “walking according to the flesh.” Therefore, such a speech could not be left without reservations. Saint Paul deals with it with all his attention. His answer to this is this: I am the same in person as in the letter - strict when need demands; The title of Apostle, entrusted to me from above, authorizes me to do this. Therefore, I pray to you in advance: do not force me to use this severity, correct yourself; for if, when I come, I find you faulty, I will not spare you. All this apostolic self-defense occupies four chapters: 10–13. It contains three points: I am as stern in person as in writing; The apostolic title authorizes me to do this; I will come and have no mercy. But these points do not occupy the same space: 1) the first - actually 11 verses of the 10th chapter; 3) “third” – the last three verses of the 12th chapter and 10 verses of the 13th chapter; 2) the middle, two and even three times larger space, is occupied by the defense of apostolic dignity. It is true that extreme need insisted on this, although it is not possible to clearly indicate it. We cannot help but notice that, according to this structure, the last part of the message is similar to the first. Just as there a lengthy word about Christian revelation, or the dispensation of grace, is inserted into another, short speech, which embraces him with its beginning and end, so here a lengthy word about the apostolic dignity of St. Paul and his apostolic activity is inserted into another short speech, which also embraces him with its beginning and end. Meanwhile, one and the other subject, involuntarily as if intruding into the epistle, or torn out from the soul of Saint Paul, constitute the most important sections of this epistle. 1. I am strict in person, as well as in writing (2 Cor. 10:1-11) a) Having given these speeches about himself, that in person he is humble, but in absence he is bold, verse 1, and hinting that those who say this would not have to experience the opposite of this, verse 2, b) The Apostle explains that it is impossible to judge him by appearance, for his power is not external, but spiritual, strong by God, verses 3-6; c) armed with this power, I can, he says, appear among you as strict as I am in the letter, verses 7-11. 2Cor.10:1. But I Paul himself pray to you through the meekness and quietness of Christ, who in his countenance is humble in you, but not like you I am bold in you. “I am Paul himself.” By this he connects his speech with the previous one. He says, as it were: as for my ambassadors, I told you everything; As for me, I have to tell you this. This expression “I am Paul himself” is full of importance. Saint Chrysostom says: “Do you notice how much weight there is? How much dignity? There is a lot of power and weight in these words. He uses similar expressions in other places, for example: “Behold, I say to you Paul” (Gal. 5:2). And again: “He is an old man like Paul” (“I pray”) (Phil. 1:9, 10). So it is here: “I am Paul himself” (“as it were: I am an Apostle, a teacher of the universe” Ecumenius). "I pray you." “What is important is what he himself asks, but what is added is much more important: “by the meekness and quietness of Christ.” For, wanting to shame them more, he mentions meekness and condescension, and thereby gives even greater force to his petition. He says something like this: be ashamed of the meekness of Christ, by which I beg you. He said this in order to show that although they force him a thousand times to be strict, he himself is more inclined to meekness and does not punish them, not because he lacks strength, but because he is meek, and because Christ did so. - “He who is humble in his face is not the same who I dare in you.” What does he want to tell the Sim? - Or he speaks ironically in their own words, for they spoke about St. Paul, that when he is with them in person, he does not put on airs, but in their absence he is proud, behaves majestically, attacks them and threatens them. The Apostle further hints at this, saying: “For the epistles of speech are heavy and strong, but the coming of the body is weak, and the word is despised” (2 Cor. 10:10). So, or he says ironically, expressing great grief: I am a humble person and mean nothing when meeting in person, as they say, but when I’m away, I’m tall; or, although he speaks about himself with importance (“I am Paul”!), it is not out of arrogance, but out of hope for them.” - “Or is this true about myself, that when I personally visit you, I am humble and meek with you, but now, although I say something great about myself, I do it not out of arrogance, but out of my boldness towards you” (Theophylact); “Relying on your love, I dare to write like this” (Ecumenius). 2 Cor. 10:2. I pray that the hope that is not inherent in me is daring, because I am thinking of sweeping away something that does not eat us, as if we are walking in the flesh. The structure of speech is as follows: “sweep away” - depends on “I dare”; “with the hope that I think,” τι πεποιθησει η λογιζομαι, according to self-confidence (in power), which (confidence) is attributed to me (absent, or when I am absent); λογιζομαι in the passive voice; η λογιζομαι, according to which I am considered active in absence. “I ask you,” he says, “don’t put me in a position of necessity, and while I am with you personally, to act out of self-confidence in power, which is attributed to me when I am absent, to act in relation to those who think that we walk in the flesh, that is, against the very ones who speak like that about me.” Saint Chrysostom says: “He wants to say the following: I ask you, do not force and do not allow me to use my power against those who humiliate us and think that we live according to the flesh. This is expressed here more strongly than what was said as a threat to the Corinthians in his first letter: “What do you want? Will I come to you with a club, or with love and a spirit of meekness? For when I was not coming to you, I was proud: but I will come... and I do not mean the word of those who were proud, but power” (1 Cor. 4:18-21). And here he expresses his power, wisdom, and patience, when with such care he asks not to bring him to the point of having to come and show his formidable power over them, that is, to defeat them, torture them and subject them to extreme punishment. He makes it clear with the words: “let me not exceedingly dare... against a certain person.” Do you notice how great indignation is expressed in these words and what a clear denunciation? I ask you, he says, don’t force me to prove that I, even being with you personally, am strong and have power. Since some of you said that, not being with you, I express myself in their own words, I am daring and majestic, then I ask you not to force me to use my strength. For this is what the words mean: “I dare in hope.” So, do me a favor, he says, don’t force me to show you that even during a personal meeting I can act boldly with anyone, that is, I can subject them to torture and punishment. Do you see how he was not ambitious, did not do anything out of vanity, when even out of necessity to act strictly, he calls his severity courage? The main duty of a teacher is not to punish immediately, but to correct, wait and be slow in punishing. Who are these people whom he threatens? - Those, he says, who think that we “walk in the flesh.” For they slandered Paul, saying that he was hypocritical, deceitful and proud.” Below, St. Chrysostom expresses the following thought about this walk in the flesh: they think that our preaching is a human work, and our means are also human means; in general, they do not see anything special in us compared to ordinary human figures. Hence it came to them that since Saint Paul conducts his affairs like all people, then, being meek in person and strict in writing, he uses ordinary human cunning: he flatters in person, curries favor, and then, as if he has acquired power through this, he acts more boldly in letters. This is precisely what St. Paul denies in himself in the next verse. 2 Cor. 10:3. For we walk in the flesh, but do not fight according to the flesh. It’s like this: “look at us, we are the same as all people, but in reality we are not at all the same. “We walk in the flesh,” in human form and body, with human speech and powers; but what we do, what we strive for, and by what means we achieve it, is not all human. It is true that we are covered with flesh, he says, I do not deny this; but we do not live according to the flesh. We talk about preaching, showing that it is not a human matter and has no need for earthly help. Therefore he did not say: we do not live according to the flesh, but says: “we do not fight according to the flesh,” that is, we wage war and entered into battle; We even fight with non-carnal weapons and without any human assistance” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 10:4. The weapon of our army is not carnal, but is powerful in God to destroy the firmament: it destroys thoughts. “What kind of carnal weapons? - Wealth, fame, power, sweet speech, arrogance, intrigues, flattery, hypocrisy and other similar things. But our weapons are not like that. What are they? - “Strong in God.” He did not say: we are not carnal - but “our weapons”; because, as I noticed, he is still talking about preaching, ascribing all its power to God; and does not say: our weapons are spiritual, even though it should be said so in contrast to the word: “carnal”; but “strong” (“by God”), thereby making it clear that they are spiritual, and at the same time showing that carnal weapons are weak and powerless. Look how alien to pride he is! He did not say: we are strong, but “our weapons are strong in God.” It was not we who made them this way, but God Himself. since they were tormented, driven out, endured countless and most severe disasters, and all this revealed their weakness; then, wanting to show the power of God, he says: “but strong in God.” For his strength is especially revealed in what he conquers with them. Although we carry these weapons, God Himself fights and acts with them. After this, the Apostle expands in praise of weapons, saying: “We set ourselves for destruction.” And so that anyone, hearing about strongholds, does not imagine anything sensual, he adds: “the thought is deprecating.” By allegory he gave power to speech, and by his explanation he shows that their warfare is spiritual. For these strongholds strike souls, not bodies. And since it is much stronger than material strongholds, therefore better weapons are required. “Fortresses” he calls the pride of the Hellenes, and the strength of their sophisms and syllogisms, and together with all the weapons used against them (the Apostles)” (St. Chrysostom). The weapons of apostolic warfare are all that the holy Apostles were armed with to overcome error, wickedness, and sin. All of them were combined by the abundant outpouring of the grace of the Most Holy Spirit on them, who, filling them, taught and strengthened them how to act in what cases, when in one word, when, in addition, by the manifestation of extraordinary powers. Theodoret writes: “Our weapon, says the Apostle, is spiritual gifts, with the help of which we become victorious and subdue those who resist the Lord.” But in this action of the apostolic weapons, with all their extremeness and their Divine power, there is nothing mechanical. It is true that they destroy, but through the self-creation of our spirit, and they captivate, but through free submission to the truth of God. The Apostle expressed this mode of action “to destroy the firmament: the thought is desolate.” “Just as the apostle called the saints churches of God, so he calls those enslaved by wickedness strongholds of the devil” (Theodoret). Both unbelief with wickedness, and sin with selfishness and passions build a fortress around themselves, made up of thoughts with which they think to justify both their way of thinking and their way of life. Enveloped in such thoughts, they are confident that they are secure and safe not only from ruin, but also from attacks. But then the Apostle comes with a word of grace and begins a conversation. The ear receives the sounds of words; the thought expressed in words is accepted by the mind; and the grace that comes in the word flows into a spirit that has been lulled to sleep or overwhelmed by a heap of thoughts. The awakened spirit perceives the fear of God and with this fear awakens conscience. And both of them together, strengthened by the grace of God, scatter the stronghold that oppressed them and rested on them, so that not a single thought of those that previously seemed so firm and firmly standing stands: everything is ruined. Unbelief and wickedness flee in the face of the fear of God, sin with selfishness and passions - in the face of conscience. Left alone in power, these powers of the spirit are then mysteriously clothed in Christ. And behold a Christian! This is what always comes out of the destruction of spiritual strongholds through the overthrow of thoughts blessed by the spirit. 2 Cor. 10:5. And every heap is levied on the mind of God, and takes every mind captive into the obedience of Christ. “And every tribute levied on the mind of God” is also degrading. “Continues the allegory to give greater power to speech. And strongholds, and towers, and anything else, he says, are all inferior to our weapons” (St. Chrysostom). In destroying the stronghold of unbelief and sin, the overthrow of thoughts is one half of the matter, the other is the overthrow of every heap imposed on the mind of God. The first means the overthrow of everything on which unbelief and sin think to be based, and the second means the overthrow of everything with which unbelief and sin dare to rise up against the mind of God. The Mind of God is the truth of God, preached by the Apostles, about salvation in the Lord Jesus by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Against this, from the very beginning, the enemy of truth placed many objections in the minds of unbelievers and in the hearts of sin lovers, which for others seemed insoluble. These were and are the essence of the ascension to the mind of God. We overthrow them, says the Apostle, with the weapons given to us. How? – Through the confirmation of the word by subsequent signs (Mark 16:20). The gracious effect of the Gospel is sufficient for those who have not completely suppressed the elements of spiritual natural life. But even they could be led astray by unbelievers, led only by low-moving rational guidance. To help the former and to defeat the latter, the Lord was pleased to introduce signs into the work of preaching. Before them, all objections fell by themselves. Those who believed were finally confirmed in their faith, those who did not believe were defeated, and some of them also believed, while others, who remained in stubborn unbelief, fell silent. This is how every exaltation on the mind of God was brought down and is still being brought down. “And bringing every mind captive into the obedience of Christ.” The stronghold of unbelief and wickedness, sin and passions is destroyed through the casting down of thoughts and every exaltation on the mind of God. What's next? – The spirit that was there in captivity, revived by the grace of God, rises up and, like a new hidden person of the heart, comes to freedom, comes out, but not otherwise than through self-willing and joyful surrender of oneself into captivity of the obedience of Christ. Consciousness and freedom bind themselves to the commands of Christ the Savior and give themselves to Him as slaves with the readiness to sacrifice everything for Him, even life itself. This is the captivity of the mind into the obedience of Christ. Reason, νοημα, amateur consciousness. It gives itself to obedience to Christ in the confidence that through this alone both life and true freedom are preserved. This is how destruction occurs within, but for creation; captivity, but for freedom. This captivity is a transition “from slavery to freedom, from death to life, from destruction to salvation. For we, he says, came not only to overthrow our opponents, but to lead them to the truth” (St. Chrysostom). “Looking at them like some captives from the battlefield, we present them to the King of all, and bring them to the point that they willingly follow His laws” (Theodoret). 2 Cor. 10:6. And in the readiness of those who have property to take revenge on all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. This word is already addressed to those who, having believed, enter the flock of Christ. First he brought his speech to the point of obedience to Christ the Lord. What next? - Life is in this obedience. This obedience embraces the entire moral and religious structure of the Church of Christ, and obedience to this is accepted into the conscience and sealed with a vow. Anyone who acts against anything is a criminal heedless, attracting righteous vengeance upon himself. The guardians of the God-established orders of the Church and the avengers of their unauthorized violation were the same persons who were entrusted from above to establish them, that is, the holy Apostles. This is what they always did. Those who violated the order, in any respect, were convinced to improve, and those who were in violation were excommunicated. This is how their successors acted after the Apostles, and this is how it continues to this day. This is exactly what the Apostle now says, that we always have the power and strength ready to take revenge on all disobedience, but he speaks about this in relation to the circumstances of the Church of Corinth. He has already pointed out to them the faults that have crept in and is waiting for correction. Titus assured him that there was a willingness to set things right, but that some were reluctant to take on this. Perhaps these were the same ones who said: the Apostle is weak when he personally acts. Saint Paul now reminds us that the power to act on the disobedient, entrusted to me from above, as one of the weapons powerful of God for the organization of the Church, is always in my hands, and I am always ready to use it as soon as the need arises; I will use it with you as soon as the obedience of the obedient is completed among you and the disobedient ones stand out on their own. “The apostle depicted the reason for his long-suffering. We expect, he says, to convince the majority by word and exhortation, and then punish those who intend to resist longer” (Theodoret). Saint Chrysostom says: “Here the Apostle frightens not only those who slandered him, but also all the Corinthians, for he says to them: we are waiting for you, so that when, according to our instructions and threats, you correct yourself, cleanse yourself and stop communicating with the slanderers, then, separating them alone, punish only those who suffer incurably, as soon as we completely learn that you have fallen behind them, for although even now you obey, but not completely. First I want to correct you and then begin to punish those. What can be imagined more condescending than this mercy? because he sees that those close to him have entered into communication with the enemy, he wants to strike; but he spares, withholds his anger, until they separate from their opponents, so that he can only punish them, or better yet, not punish them, for for this he threatens his loved ones, for this he says that he wants to return some of them to himself, so that those, corrected by fear, will change and, thus, his anger will not be poured out on anyone. In everything he acted like a skilled doctor, like everyone’s common father and protector: how much he cared for everyone! He removed obstacles everywhere, pacified evil people, went everywhere himself, and did not achieve his goal by fighting, but, as if heading for an easy and ready victory, he erected victory monuments, overthrew, destroyed, scattered the strongholds of the devil and the machinations of demons, and transferred all captives to the army of Christ. Even for a short time he did not give himself rest, quickly moved from them to others, and from these again to others and, like an experienced leader, daily, or better yet, hourly, erected victorious monuments. Having entered the military ranks wearing only a tunic, he took cities and inhabitants. Bow, spear, arrows and everything was Paul’s tongue, for he only spoke, and his words struck his opponents more powerful than any fire; he drove out demons, and brought people possessed by them to himself. When he expelled the evil spirit (in Ephesus), many people gathered who were engaged in secret knowledge; They burned magic books worth fifty thousand drachmas and turned to the truth. And just as in a battle, as soon as the walls of a fortress fall or an oppressor is overthrown, everyone with him throws down their weapons and goes over to the leader of the opposing side, so it was then. For as soon as the evil spirit was driven out, all those held by him under siege, throwing away their books, or better to say, destroying them, ran to Pavlov’s feet. And he, fighting with the whole universe, as if with one army, did not stop anywhere, but, as if carried on wings, did everything: he healed the lame, then raised the dead, then punished him with blindness - I mean the sorcerer (Acts 13); even when he was imprisoned, he did not remain inactive, but even there he attracted the prison guard to himself, continuing to delight people in his good captivity.” 2 Cor. 10:7. “Is it before your face, see? If anyone hopes for himself to be Christ, let him think for himself that as he is Christ’s, so too are we Christ’s.” Do you only judge by appearances? “They saw that I was unostentatious, in poor health, and spoke quietly—and they believed those slanderers that I meant nothing and due to the blessed order of affairs. Yes, if you looked at me only as a Christian, then you should neither talk about me nor believe their words. Everyone know that just as he is Christ’s, so am I; and just as he, being Christ’s, tries to act according to the Christian conscience, as a servant of Christ, so let him judge me by himself, that I also care in everything to be faithful to Christ, to fulfill His will, to act for His glory in everything. Take this into account, everyone, and you will not misunderstand me and my deeds. I say this without yet pointing out my special appointment, which I personally received from Christ the Lord Himself and which my critics cannot boast of. But more on that in the next verse. Saint Chrysostom enters deeper into the intentions of Saint Paul and says: “With everything else, what is worthy of special surprise in Paul is that, being placed in a great need to praise himself, he achieves a double goal: that is, he praises himself, and at the same time, with such praise of himself, he does not become burdensome for others. It is difficult and requires great prudence - both to maintain modesty and to say something great about yourself. And look with what greatness he does this here: “Is this what you see,” he says, “before your face?” - Having exposed those who deceived the Corinthians, he does not stop his words on them, but passes from them to those who were deceived. This is what he always does - he denounces not only the perpetrators of error, but also those who are led into error. For if I had not held these also accountable, they would not have been so easily corrected by what was said to others; even they would have become proud, as if they had not been exposed to reproof. Therefore he exposes them too. And not only is this worthy of surprise in Paul, but especially that he uses reproofs that are appropriate for both. “Listen to what he says to those who have fallen into deception: “Is it before you that you see?” Not a small, but very important revelation! Why? – Because the human race very easily falls into deception. The meaning of his words is this: do you really judge by appearance? By carnal, by bodily relationships? – What does it mean: by appearance? - If someone is rich, if someone is proud, if someone is surrounded by many caresses, if someone praises himself, seeks empty glory, if someone hypocritically pretends to be virtuous without having any virtue in himself (he is both great and worthy of attention among you); for this is what the words mean: “Is it before the face that you see? “If anyone hopes for himself to be Christ, let him think for himself that he is Christ’s, so also we are Christ’s.” The apostle does not want to suddenly show himself to be strict, but little by little he elevates and strengthens his speech. And see how what he says on his own becomes especially sensitive and significant. For - “from himself” means, let him not expect to learn from us, that is, from our reprimand to him, but let him judge on his own, that as he is Christ’s, so are we. He did not say: there are as many Christs as he, but just as he is Christ’s, so I am Christ’s. In this we are the same. For it cannot be said that he belongs to Christ, and I belong to someone else. But, having shown this equality, he shows off the advantage, saying: 2 Cor. 10:8. Even if I boast too much about our power, which the Lord has given us to build, and not to destroy, I will not be ashamed. So, he says, if you just look at me as a Christian, then my critics and you who believed them are wrong. But I am more than any Christian. The power has been given to me by the Lord to establish His Church, and to give laws for it, and to exact punishment from violators of these laws. Such is my power! You can verify this for yourself. Try it and you will see. I'm not afraid of being ashamed as if I told a lie. Or “I will not be ashamed,” which means I will show this power in deed, I will not put to shame the apostolic power inherent in me with false condescension. Together it makes it clear that although such power is always inherent in him, just as it is entrusted to him, so he uses it not for destruction, but for creation. This is the reason why I do not always manifest it, and if I do, it is with caution that I have tried all corrective measures. “The Apostle said that he accepted the power to create, and not to destroy, showing that his opponents act contrary to this, and do not want to create, but are trying to destroy other people’s works” (Theodoret). Such thoughts are contained in the word of the Apostle, but they are expressed somewhat secretly, so as not to seem too harshly exposing himself. Saint Chrysostom says: “Look how he softens his speech, having proposed to say something great about himself. For nothing is more offensive to many of the listeners than self-praise, therefore, eliminating what is offensive, he says: “If I may boast in excess.” He did not say: if anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, let him judge that he is still far from us. For I have received from the Lord such great power that I can punish and put to death whomever I want. What did he say? - “More and more.” Although it is impossible to express how great power he had, he does not show this in his words. He also did not say: I boast, but “if I boast”, if I want to boast. And in this way he maintains modesty and shows his advantage. Therefore he says: “If I boast about our power, the Lord has given it to us.” Again he attributes everything to God and makes the gift common. “For creation, not for destruction.” Do you see how he again calms the envy that he could have aroused by praising himself, and attracts the listener to himself, pointing out the benefit for which he received power? But what did he say above: “destructive thoughts”? “This is the primary way of creation—to destroy obstacles, expose what is rotten, and use the only truth for creation.” So, although we received power for this purpose, to create, however, if anyone persists, resists and does not show any hope for correction, then we will use another force, we will depose and overthrow him. Therefore, he adds “I will not be ashamed,” that is, I will not turn out to be either a liar or vain.” 2 Cor. 10:9. [But] let me not appear as a messenger to scare you. “I could, he says, boast of my power, but I won’t do this, so that it doesn’t seem like I’m frightening you only with messages. The implication is: better, when the need arises, I will manifest this power by deed. The Apostle uses this turn of phrase, in which, as if without speaking, or without wanting to speak, he says everything that is necessary. “The meaning of these words is this: I could boast, but so that they don’t start saying again that I’m grandiloquent in my messages, but mean nothing when I meet in person, I won’t say anything great about myself. Although he later spoke, it was not about the power by which he was terrible, but about revelations, and even more about temptations” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 10:10. For the messages of speech are heavy and strong, but the coming of the body is weak, and the word is despised. This is what they said about St. Paul. What he says: “speech” does not point to one person, but combines all his opponents in one. Or maybe he means the one who first invented this phrase. “The messages are heavy,” they pronounce strict judgment, they impose a heavy yoke, “and strong,” with strength, authoritative, powerful. “But the coming of the body is weak,” that is, when he himself is on our face, then neither power nor strength is visible in him, does not burden anyone with anything, and “his word is humiliated,” humbly, belittling, and not commanding. That's what they said about him. So as not to confirm them even more in such thoughts, I will not now talk about my power, although I have already said what should be said about it. Therefore, although he writes: I will not say, but by this he clearly reminds that he does not want to talk about it in word, in order to show it in action, when they have it, if there is a need. Why does he add: 2 Cor. 10:11. Let such a one think about this, as these are the words of the messages, and in reality, such and such are the essence of deeds. I won't expand on this. Let him know, probably the same one who invented such speeches, and in his person all those who adhere to him - let him know that I personally am as strict in deed as I seem in the message - in word. “We are able to reveal the greatness of the apostolic dignity and show that the works are in accordance with the scriptures” (Theodoret). “Let those who say this know that we, whether present or absent, are always the same. As they are absent in word and messages, so are they present in deed. That is, we not only threaten when we are absent, but we are strong, and when we are present, we bring into action what we threaten” (Ecumenius). A powerful and sobering word! 2. My apostolic title authorizes me in severity (2 Cor. 10:12–12:18) In this large office, Saint Paul defends his apostolic dignity and purifies his apostolic activity. He speaks here a) about measuring out his preaching lot (2 Cor. 10:12–18); b) about his preaching of tuna (2 Cor. 11:1–21); c) about the sorrows, hardships and suffering that accompany his preaching (2 Cor. 11:22–32); d) about the rapture to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:1–10); and e) about the signs of the apostleship in Corinth, again with a reminder of acting without coldness (2 Cor. 12:11–18). The proof of his apostleship from all that has been said is this: this is how I act and this is what happens to me! Is this how everything should be for someone who is a true Apostle? - If so, then make sure that I am a real Apostle, armed with full apostolic authority, with which I can therefore act wherever and however necessary. – Throughout the entire department, the Apostle talks about himself and seems to be praising himself. As this might not seem entirely pleasant, he constantly makes a reservation. “Be patient with my foolishness” (2 Cor. 11:1), “I say foolishly” (2 Cor. 11:21), “I am foolish in boasting: you have forced me” (2 Cor. 12:11). It is true that circumstances required such a way of presenting the work of his apostleship. For he mentions not only what is glorious, but also what pertains to his humility. a) On the assignment of preaching to the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 10:12–18) In this section, the Apostle says that God set aside a measure for him - an inheritance, that as a result he reached Corinth, and after their approval he will go further, not having the custom of being squeezed into someone else's region. In all this, he says, there will be nothing immeasurable for us to boast about. This is the same thing that God praises, by whose order all this is done. – Why does the Apostle say this? It’s true that his opponents, having come to Corinth and managed to attract the attention of several people, began to think and say that they were the main figures here, and Saint Paul was nothing. Against this he says: I am in my lot, and they have squeezed into my area. But he expresses this thought in a special way. His opponents are struck with irony from the first word. Taking into account their self-praising speeches, which are derogatory for themselves, he says, as it were: where can we follow them?! 2 Cor. 10:12. We do not dare to judge, or to apply to ourselves others who praise themselves; but when we measure in ourselves, and when we apply to ourselves, we do not understand. This place is rather dark, as Blessed Theodoret also notes, saying: “The Apostle wrote this place very vaguely, not wanting to clearly expose the guilty. It means the following: they, looking at themselves, assumed about themselves that they alone are greater than everyone else, and as for us, let us not begin to evaluate ourselves like them.” Saint Chrysostom says: “Here the Apostle shows that they are both vain and grandiose, reproaches them for praising themselves. But we, he says, don’t act like that. But if we do something great, we attribute everything to God. – He says: we do not dare compare ourselves with those who bicker with each other, are vain and yet do not understand what they are doing; that is, they don’t see how ridiculous they are when they are so vain and exalted in front of each other.” The apostle says that he does not dare to compare himself with these who praise themselves, and then he praises himself. But when he speaks praiseworthy things about himself, he shows the deeds that God gave him to do. This is the same as God praising him, and he praising God, attributing everything to Him. His opponents only praised themselves in words, without doing anything. How was such self-praise built?! “They measured themselves and applied themselves to themselves, and seemed worthy of praise. It is not surprising that they possessed any perfections, could do commendable deeds and had desires and plans to do such deeds; but they hadn’t done anything yet, and it was all just in their heads. Here they are, measuring themselves within themselves by their own illusory standard and without leaving the dreamy circle built by their imagination, and see themselves as great, and magnify themselves, and boast. It's obvious that when they do this, they don't know what they're doing. This is the assessment of all vain people. Vain self-praisers are not without perfection; They just don’t want to work, and they make only plans. The plans are bright. Considering them already fulfilled, self-praise is magnified; he puts off getting down to business day after day, and often doesn’t even start at all. That is why it almost always turns out that he is only trumpeting to himself, but in reality he has nothing to do with it. Such were the opponents of St. Paul. The Corinthian Church was built through the labors of St. Paul. And they came, talked with one and the other, perhaps they made some impression, and well, trumpet: our region, we did it; Meanwhile, they did nothing, even though they could, perhaps, do it, and wanted to, and had plans. But to go to a fresh place and work hard was not enough diligence. That is why they limited themselves to “boasting in someone else’s rule, while ready” (2 Cor. 10:16). Contrasting himself to them, Saint Paul says: 2 Cor. 10:13. We will not boast immeasurably, but according to the measure of the rule, the measure God has divided for us, to reach even you. And this place is not entirely certain. Saint Paul, it seems, has in his mind his election from above to be the Apostle of the Gentiles, but he does not boast about this, but only about what he has managed to do so far. The whole universe is my portion, but I do not boast about such immensity, but only about the measure that God gave me and allowed me to achieve. Until now, God has measured this out for me. This is what I can boast about. His opponents, probably, in their dreamy plans believed to flow around the entire universe and, as if they had preached everywhere, boasted; while they haven’t done anything yet, but only entered into someone else’s work. This incongruity is exposed by the Apostle. He was appointed from above for all languages, and boasts only of what he has done so far; those, dreaming of spontaneously flowing around the entire universe, boast as if they had flown around it without having done anything yet. Saint Chrysostom says: “It is likely that they said in praise of themselves: we will convert the entire universe, we will reach the ends of the earth, and they divulged a lot of similar things about themselves. But we, says the Apostle, do not do this, but “according to the measure of the rule, the measure God has divided for us, even to reach you.” And thus, on both sides, his humility is revealed, for he does not talk about himself more than how much he has done, and what he has done, he attributes to God. "God divided the measure". Just as a farmer and a householder divides his vineyards, so God has assigned each of us his own destiny. And therefore we do not boast about anything more, but about what has been given to us to achieve.” 2 Cor. 10:14. It’s not as if it doesn’t reach you, but rather we extend it to ourselves, even because we have reached you with the gospel of Christ. “We extend to ourselves,” we expand within ourselves in dreamy self-praise, we expand in praise of ourselves. Judging by this, the idea of ​​the text will be this: “No one can say that we, having not reached you, are expanding, saying that we have reached you, trumpeting to ourselves in empty grandeur. For we have actually reached you, and reached you with the gospel of Christ, that is, we have not just reached you, but have proclaimed the Gospel to you” (Ecumenius). “We not only visited you, but we preached the gospel, preached, convinced, and corrected. For it is likely that those who reproached Paul came only to the apostolic disciples, and as a result of their coming they attributed all the success of the matter to themselves. But we, says the Apostle, did not act like that: no one can tell us that we could not come to you and that only in words we spread our praise to you, for we preached the word (of faith) to you too” (St. Chrysostom). But the words: “more than we extend to ourselves,” υπερεκτεινομεν εαυτους, perhaps it is better to translate: we extend further and further, more and more, meaning the expansion of the circle of apostolic activity. The apostle wants to say: we are moving gradually, stretching from place to place. Now we have only reached you so far, and we will not extend further. You must first be properly established in the faith; when you are established, let us go further, as the next verse says. Without reaching you, it would be an uncommendable task to extend further. Who will praise the farmer who leaves uncultivated strips behind him? We don't do that; but we go step by step. We reached you with the gospel - and glory to God! It's made by us; That's what we're saying for now. 2 Cor. 10:15, 16. Do not boast immeasurably in the labors of others, but have confidence in your growing faith, in you to be magnified in abundance according to our rule, in the hedgehog and in those who gave you [the countries] to preach the gospel, not in those who are ready to boast in someone else’s rule. Not like those false apostles, he says, who delved into other people’s works and boasted without measure, we boast about our own, and to the extent that it is given to us to do the work. “In these words, the Apostle shows the importance of their guilt, that they boasted without measure, and boasted about others, and when all the work belonged to the Apostles, they attributed their labors to themselves. But we, he says, say what the deeds themselves testify to, what they have proven by deeds. And what am I saying: “I have reached you”? I have hope that “to your growing faith,” I do not directly state, but, following my custom, say: I hope that when you grow in faith, our destiny will continue to spread, and we will preach the Gospel to those far off. For let us continue, he says, to preach and work, and not to be vain about what others have worked on. He appropriately called his work a rule (destiny) and a measure, as if he had come into possession of the universe and received a wonderful inheritance, thereby showing that all this is the work of God. So, having such deeds and hoping for even greater ones, we do not become vain, like those who have nothing, and do not attribute anything to ourselves, but attribute everything to God” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 10:17. Boast, then, let him boast in the Lord. When, he says, faith grows and is established among you, then we will rightly be exalted through you. And we hope that it will be so. And we not only hope for this, but also that we will go further from you and there we will establish faith, not by entering into the work of others, but by replanting faith, not by coming to what is ready, but by preparing souls ourselves to accept the new planting of the Gospel. However, despite the fact that I say this, do not think that I attribute anything to myself. I remember the prophetic commandment: “Let him boast in the Lord” (Jer. 9:24). I don’t praise myself, but I glorify God’s power and God’s gift. For it is God’s decree that I should go preaching among the pagans, and that I should reach you is the fruit of His all-active power, and that if I go further than you, it will be from Him. “And that which we can boast about, he says, is given to us from God” (St. Chrysostom). “We do not magnify ourselves, but we boast in Divine gifts” (Theodoret). 2 Cor. 10:18. Do not praise yourself for this skillful man, but God praises him. Only such praise is real praise, lasting, unfading. For who is it that boasts in the Lord? – The one who says and feels: The Lord is everything to me, I don’t rely on anyone, I don’t rely on anything. He alone is my hope and my affirmation. Because whatever I do, whether great or small, I believe that the Lord does it through me: His wisdom is here, His strength. As I believe, so I confess and proclaim it before everyone. If, regarding something I have done, a shadow of praise falls on me, it is the Lord’s pleasure, and this is His business. By giving me things to do and helping me to do them, He exposes me to others, and since through this he moves them to praise me, this is the same as if He Himself praised me. God praises by giving praiseworthy deeds to be done. This is eternal, unfading praise. Only the one who lives and acts in this order is a skillful doer, and not the one who praises himself, whether about what he has done or about what was only intended. Saint Chrysostom says at this: “Do you see with what humility he speaks? And if, as the speech continues, he begins to speak somewhat highly of himself, do not be surprised. For in this too one can see Paul’s prudence. If he had always spoken about himself with humility, he would not have frightened them (the false apostles) and would not have freed his disciples from error. For whoever is modest at the wrong time causes harm; and on the contrary, whoever says something amazing about himself at the right time brings benefit. This is what Paul did; for there was no small danger if the disciples believed any bad rumor about Paul. Not because Paul sought human glory, for if he had sought this, he would not have remained silent for such a long time about the great and wondrous events that happened to him over the course of fourteen years; if, even in extreme need, he hesitates and is reluctant to speak about this, then it is obvious that he would never have said this if he had not been forced.” b) About preaching the Gospel to Tuna (2 Cor. 11:1–20) Rome 11:1. Oh, may they have little patience for my madness! But bear with me. “The Holy Apostle Paul, intending to speak in praise of himself, uses many reservations. And he misspoke more than once or twice, although he was sufficiently justified by both the very necessity of the matter and what he had said many times before. For from the fact that he remembered his sins, which God did not remember, and that for these he called himself unworthy of the title of apostle, it is clearly clear to the most insensitive that he will not say what he now intends to say for his own glorification. For, although it is strange to say, speaking about himself would most harm his glory; Moreover, this is offensive to many. However, he did not look at all this, but had only one thing in mind - the salvation of the listeners. So, so that, while praising himself, he would not tempt the unreasonable, he often used many of these reservations - and here he says: “May you not have much patience with my madness, but also be patient with me.” Do you see his prudence? For to express a desire - “oh yes, quickly” - means to leave the matter to their will; and to say affirmatively (“be patient”) is characteristic of someone who firmly hopes for their love, and already shows that he loves them and is mutually loved by them. And not just any ordinary love, but the most ardent and uncontrollable love; says that they must endure even his madness” (St. Chrysostom). “Be patient with me” ανεχεσθε μου – others translate it like this: but you also bear with me. The Slavic translation is more consistent with the following words: “I am jealous of you.” For the sake of my concern for you, you must bear with me. And be patient in the confidence that this is being done for no other reason than my zeal for your salvation. He obliges them, saying, as it were: whether you like it or not, endure it; this is necessary for you. Theodoret writes: “I know, says the Apostle, that those who are distinguished by high intelligence should not expand on their own praises, but I am forced to do this. Therefore, have little patience with this madness of mine.” 2 Cor. 11:2. I am jealous for you with God’s jealousy: for I have betrothed you to one husband to present a pure virgin to Christ. Just as a lover is jealous of his beloved, so that she does not belong to anyone else, or so that no one else tries to attract her to himself, so I am jealous, he says, for you, and I cannot allow the thought that you belong to someone else. It is not, however, that I am jealous, so that, not belonging to anyone else, you belong to me; no, not to me, but to God, so that they belong: “I am jealous of you with God’s zeal,” the way in which God is jealous of you, not wanting you to be carried away by any superstition, but to follow the one truth, proclaimed by Him everywhere through us. – Saint Chrysostom says: “He did not say: for I love you, but he used a much stronger expression. For jealous souls are intensely passionate about those they love. And jealousy comes from nothing else but strong friendship. Moreover, so that they would not think that he was seeking their friendship for power, or honor, or money, or anything like that, he added: “through God’s zeal.” For jealousy is ascribed to God, not so that you imagine some kind of passion in God (for God is impassive), but in order to inspire everyone that God does everything not for any other purpose, but for those very ones for whom he is jealous; - not in order to make any profit himself, but to save them. This is not human jealousy: it has the goal of its own peace - not so that the loved ones are not insulted, but so that those who love do not suffer anything and lose respect, or do not humiliate themselves in the eyes of their loved ones. But here it’s different. The Apostle says: I am not concerned about this, lest I should be humbled in your opinion, but lest I should see you corrupted (by false teachers). Such is the zeal of God, such is my zeal - it is strong and at the same time pure. Then follows the necessary reason for this.” “For I have betrothed you to one husband to present a pure virgin to Christ.” Betrothal occurs when the bride says to the groom: from now on I will belong to you alone; and the groom, who had previously loved her, accepts her and appropriates it for himself. Christ the Savior redeemed all souls, having loved them first, and prepared everything for them. Then he sent the Apostles to call souls to a marriage union with Himself. The apostles walked around the world and preached this joy to everyone. Those whose souls believed and, leaving everything, surrendered to the Lord, were betrothed by the Apostles to Him through holy baptism and the laying on of hands (confirmation). Every such bride received from the Lord, by virtue of betrothal, remission of sins, renewal of life and the grace of the Holy Spirit, as a guarantee of future eternal bliss with Christ the Lord, if she remained faithful to the end. The Apostle did all this for the Corinthians and now says: this is the relationship I have placed you in with Christ the Lord, and I am jealous that you will forever retain this position, without deviating from the union that you entered into with the Lord Jesus Christ. “I was the promoter and mediator of your marriage; through me you received gifts from the Bridegroom; That’s why I work with you with jealousy, fearing and trembling, lest wickedness prevail over your simplicity. The Apostle called the entire Church “virgin,” so calling the purity of faith, for not all believers take a vow of virginity; but everyone should be adorned with the sincerity of faith” (Theodoret). Saint Chrysostom says: “What news! In the world, virgins usually exist only before marriage, and after marriage they are no longer virgins. But that's not the case here. Even though they were not virgins before marriage, they become virgins after marriage. Thus, the whole Church is a virgin. For the Apostle says this to everyone, to men and women who have entered into married life.” 2 Cor. 11:3. I am afraid that, just as the serpent deceived Eve with his wickedness, your minds will be corrupted from the simplicity of Christ. Having betrothed you to Christ, I became a guarantee for you that you will remain faithful to Him. Meanwhile, there is a circle of temptations: your thoughts may be damaged, and the purity of your Christian character may be spoiled. I'm afraid that you may deviate from the right path. The enemy who deceived Eve does not sleep: then he used the serpent as a weapon, now he acts through false teachers, through the charms of the world and lustful powers. How long will it take you to get carried away?! “He seduced Eve with a false promise of excessive greatness and glory, and he seduces with the same things now, promising similar excesses - excessive knowledge, excessive pleasures, excessive happiness - and he presents all this in such an attractive form, so easy to achieve, that it seems to give into the hands. Meanwhile, all this is a ghost and a deception. Eve did not understand this illusory quality and got carried away. You may not understand it either, and like her, you may get carried away. So I am afraid - “I am afraid that your minds will not decay” - so that you do not become damaged in your sanity and spoil both the correct view of the matter of salvation and the understanding of the true way of following its path. “From simplicity,” or because of the simplicity that the soul acquires in Christ Jesus. For, seeing everything in Christ as true, she forgets about deception and seduction, and, being filled with kindness in Him, forgets about guile and cunning, and through this she partakes in some way of that ignorance of evil, which was characteristic in an innocent state. The enemy, he says, can take advantage of this mood of yours and entice you through his weapons. - Or - “from simplicity, which is about Christ Jesus,” this is how you need to understand: let your minds not decay, deviating from simplicity, that is, the simple and pure faith with which you should abide in Christ the Lord (Ecumenius). “Look, what prudence,” says Saint Chrysostom. “They were already damaged, but he said: I’m afraid you won’t get hurt.” Why is this so? - So as not to plunge them into bitterness. He speaks in such a way that he neither condemns nor is silent. For to speak openly (about such a great misfortune) and to completely hide it is equally not safe. Therefore, he observes the middle, saying: “no matter what.” For this is usually said by someone who neither condemns too much nor trusts too much, but keeps the middle between the two. So he calmed them down, and with a reminder of Eve brought them into unspeakable fear, and took away from them any reason to apologize. For although the serpent was evil (πανουργος), and Eve was simple, however, this did not save her from accusation. So, take care, says the Apostle, that you do not suffer the same thing; then nothing will protect you.” 2 Cor. 11:4. If the coming one preaches another Jesus, whom you did not preach, or if you receive another Spirit, which you did not accept, or another gospel, which you did not accept, you will sooner tolerate it. This place is difficult both to translate and to understand. After the previous one: I am afraid that your minds may not be corrupted by simplicity, such speech can be expected: for whoever comes to you, you are immediately ready to receive him kindly, even if he, having come, preached a different Jesus, promised a different Spirit, offered a different gospel. And the translation can be adjusted so that it expresses exactly this idea. But it cannot be assumed that the Apostle, who throughout the epistle so tenderly treats the feelings of the Corinthians, made such a harsh presentation to them. Therefore, we must assume a different turn of thought here. The Apostle said: I am afraid that your minds will be damaged; but how can they be damaged unless someone comes and confuses them? Therefore, in the same word of the Apostle there is hidden both his desire and admonition: do not accept anyone, no matter what teaching someone comes to you with. And the present text contains the reason why they should not accept and tolerate any other teacher and preacher - precisely this: there is no reason for you to accept, you already have everything and have it completely, the only true Jesus is preached to you - God the Son, who became incarnate for the sake of salvation; The true grace of the Spirit has been given to you, and you feel its power in yourself and tangibly see it in each other; The full gospel has been proclaimed to you with the offer to you of remission of sins, renewal, adoption and inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. What more could you want?! If someone had come and offered you something that we had not communicated or given to you, and yet it was both true and essential for salvation, then, of course, you would not have done anything bad by accepting such a teacher: “you would have tolerated him better.” That is, if someone, having come, told you more fully and definitely about Jesus, which we did not say, so that Jesus would be contemplated by you more clearly and would seem to you as if new, as if different in comparison with what we preached - and offered you the Spirit with other manifestations of His actions, which you did not experience, having received grace from us - and proclaimed the gospel to you with more generous promises, which we did not reveal to you; then there would be nothing to say against the reception of such a person - “they would have tolerated him more quickly.” But I assure you that such a circumstance cannot exist; no one can announce or give you more and more completely than what was announced and given to you by us. You have everything, and you have it completely; There is no reason for you to accept anyone else as a teacher and preacher. Let us remember again that the Apostle gives such a turn of phrase that he seems to warn them about the future; Meanwhile, it is known that they have already received someone and because of this they allowed quarrels among themselves, although all in vain. Therefore, the Apostle’s thought here is this: you did it in vain, you should not have accepted them and listened to them. “The Apostle now addressed the accusation to those who had indulged in deception and clearly showed the absurdity of the deception. For he says: what and how did you get carried away? Did they preach another Jesus to you? Have you taught other gifts of the Spirit? have they offered a different Gospel?” (Theodorite). Saint Chrysostom says: “From this it is clear that those who corrupted the Corinthians were not from among the Corinthians, but that outsiders deceived them. Of course, they boasted that the Apostles did not teach perfectly, but that they, on the contrary, brought something more. For, probably, they, talking idle about many things, introduced stupid trifles into the dogmas of faith. So, since they, using external wisdom, probably spoke a lot of empty things, the Apostle says: if they had told you unnecessary things and preached another Christ (more fully), and we had remained silent, “we would have suffered better.” For with this intention he added: “not by preaching.” And if they have the same grounds of faith, what is the advantage? No matter how much they talk, they will not say more than what we have already said. If they spoke about something that should not have been said, which is why we did not speak about it, then why do you listen to them? But you say: if they say the same thing, why do you forbid them to speak? – Because, hiding behind hypocrisy, they introduce another teaching (between idle talk and superfluous speech, a lie will slip unnoticed). But Paul does not say this yet, but adds it later, when he says that they will be transformed into Apostles of Christ (2 Cor. 11:13). Meanwhile, he uses the easiest methods to weaken his students’ respect for them; - and he does this not out of envy towards them, but for the safety of the disciples. Otherwise, why does he not forbid Apollos, an eloquent man and knowledgeable in the Scriptures, on the contrary, he himself asks and promises to send him? - Of course, because the Apostle, while learning, preserved the Orthodoxy of dogmas, and the Corinthian teachers were the opposite. That is why the Apostle takes up arms against them and blames the disciples for listening to them, saying: if we omitted something that should have been said, and they added it, then we do not prevent you from listening to them. If everything has been done by us and nothing has been left out, what attracts you to them?” 2 Cor. 11:5. I can’t bear to be deprived of anything before the Apostle. If we continue the Apostle’s speech in the previous tone and spirit, we get: if you want to learn something more fully or receive something more abundantly, you should want not just any teachers to come to you, but the supreme ones; but such a desire is unnecessary, because they would not teach you anything that was not taught by me, for I am no less than them. And I won’t compare myself with these aliens, and you shouldn’t either. So, what are they for? “Comparing himself not with the Corinthian teachers, but with Peter and the other Apostles, Saint Paul says, as it were: if they know more than me, then they know more than the highest Apostles; and who dares to think this? Look at the modesty here! He does not say: The apostles said no more than I; but how? “Nept”, that is, I think so, that I am in no way behind the highest Apostles. since, most likely, it was a humiliation for Paul that the Apostles who preceded him in time had a louder name and greater glory before him; and the Corinthian false teachers decided to compare themselves with them, then Saint Paul compares himself with the Apostles in a manner befitting him; therefore, he speaks of them with praise, not just calling them Apostles, but “foremost,” meaning Peter, James and John” (St. Chrysostom). The words: “the first Apostles”, - των υπερλιαν αποστολων, - extraordinary, supreme, very first Apostles, - others refer not to the first Apostles, but to these Corinthian strangers, and translate των υπερλιαν - ironically: these too much apostles. But the Apostle had nothing to compare himself with them, and the Corinthians’ fascination with them was completely accidental and passing, so it was enough to point to them to dispel their influence. This is what the first message did. Now the Apostle is only finishing the correction he has begun and pays little attention to false teachers, but is more concerned with the Corinthians themselves. For them, it was important to know and it was comforting to hear that their enlightener was on a par with the Supreme Apostles. 2 Cor. 11:6. Even if you are ignorant in word, but not in understanding: but appearing everywhere about everything in you. It’s true that the false apostles humiliated St. Paul and said that he didn’t even know how to talk. Or some Corinthians, carried away by the eloquence of these strangers, said: so teachers, but what kind of language does he have?! - Saint Paul says to them: “Although my tongue is not learned, my mind is nevertheless adorned with the knowledge of God” (Theodoret). I do not deny that I am not skilled in words; but this does not in the least detract from the significance of the apostleship, for the matter is not in the word, but in the understanding of the truth. God gave us understanding from above, but left us his own, natural word. As anyone knows how, so he speaks, but he always speaks the truth, and the Divine truth, without the admixture of his own wisdom, purely as it is inspired, and without shrouding it in cunning, which obscures more than it clarifies. The fact that we are not skilled in words is not a humiliation of the apostleship, but a superiority. This means that the truth comes from our lips in its natural simplicity, as inspired by the Spirit. Saint Chrysostom says: “Since the corrupters of the Corinthians were proud before the Apostle that he was an unlearned man, the Apostle also mentions this, showing that he is not only not ashamed of his ignorance, but also boasts of it. However, he did not say: if I am ignorant in words, then so are the other Apostles. For this would be slander against the Apostles and praise to false teachers. On the contrary, he degrades the very advantage, that is, external wisdom. Therefore, in the first letter he strongly attacks her, saying that she not only does not contribute to the preaching of the Gospel, but also darkens the glory of the Cross (of the Lord). For he says: “I did not come because of excellent speech or wisdom, lest the Cross of Christ be effaced,” and many other similar things (1 Cor. 1:1-31, 2:1-16). This shows that the false teachers were ignorant of knowledge, and this is the extreme degree of ignorance.” “But appearing everywhere in all things to you” - truly: “but appearing in all things to you in all things.” But, he says, there is no need for me to talk at length about what is in me and what is not. You yourself know all that. I acted among you openly, without hiding in any way. He did not cover up ignorance with cunning words, as eloquent speakers do, nor did he hide unkind feelings and dispositions with outward good behavior. As I am, that is how I showed myself in everything, always acting openly. You know this - and you know all of me. Saint Chrysostom says: “And here again he denounces the false apostles that they act deceitfully. But he also said about himself before that he was no hypocrite, he preached the word of God without deception and disinterestedly. The false apostles are different in reality, and showed themselves to be different, but he is not like that. Therefore he boasts everywhere that he does nothing for human glory and does not hide his deeds. So here he says: we do everything openly before you. But only a man who has no fear of the Corinthians and who observes the truth in all his words speaks so much. That’s why he refers to them as witnesses - both now, when he says: “We have been revealed to you in all things,” and before, when he said: “We write to you not otherwise, but those who honor and understand” (2 Cor. 1:13).” 2 Cor. 11:7. Or have I committed sin by humbling myself, so that you may be exalted, as God brought the good news to you? Everything that has been said so far was only a preface. Now the Apostle has already touched on the main subject of this separation, in which, by exposing the seemingly disinterested preaching of the Gospel and strongly hinting at the opposite methods of his opponents, he aims to impress on the minds which side is the truth. Before this, Saint Paul said: we are known to you from all sides, meaning by this that in his way of acting he sees nothing for which the Corinthians could prefer anyone else to him. But at the same time, as if remembering in what humble form he appeared among them and remained throughout the planting of the holy faith, due to material shortcomings in content, for the elimination of which he did not want to take anything from the Corinthians, remembering this, he says: is this perhaps what you will blame me for? - That is, “that I behaved very modestly among you and, while preaching the Gospel to you, did not receive the necessary food from you?” (Theodorite). But I did this for your benefit; I humbled myself so that you would exalt; I humbled myself in the material so that you would exalt in the spiritual. This cannot serve to diminish my apostolic ministry, but to enhance it. Saint Chrysostom puts the following speech into the mouth of the Apostle: “I lived with you in extreme poverty: for this is the meaning of the words, “humble myself.” So, are you blaming me for this? Do you exalt yourself before me (exalt others before me) because I humbled myself among you, begged for alms, endured poverty and hunger, in order to exalt you? - How did they rise when Paul was in extremity? - So that they received more edification, and not a reason for temptation. He said before that he was reproached, as if when meeting in person he was humiliated, but in his absence he was bold. Now, defending himself, he again strikes them, saying: “I did this too for you.” 2 Cor. 11:8. From other churches we have received a rent for your service: and having come to you, and being in poverty, not a single one was cold. Saint Paul considered such a course of action so necessary that nothing could force him to deviate from it. He said he burdened other churches (εσυλησα - as if he robbed them), he himself was burdened with poverty, but still did not allow himself to bother any of you. Nothing makes the face of preachers brighter than when they are completely detached from everything earthly. For this directly says that they themselves did not set out on their work according to their earthly rank. Therefore, Saint Paul valued the manifestation of this property, especially in Corinth, making sure by the inspiration of the Spirit that this was essential for their conversion. Saint Chrysostom says: “Above his other merits, firstly, he boasts of his contempt for earthly goods. For this is what worldly people most demand (from preachers of truth) (thus they are most inclined to faith). Therefore, Saint Paul begins his word not with dangers, not with miracles, but with contempt for earthly goods. It is worthy of surprise that the Apostle, although he could say that he earned his food with his own hands, did not say this, but says something that especially shamed the Corinthians and did not even serve to praise the Apostle, namely, what he received from others. And he did not say: I received, but: “uyah,” that is, he took the last and brought them to poverty. And, more importantly, he took not for excess, but to satisfy necessary needs. For by the word “rent” (οψωνιον, soldier’s ration) we mean what is necessary for food. And what is more important than this, the Apostle says: “for your service”; that is, we preached to you, and when I should have received food from you, I received it from others. Two or even three blames on them, when he, being with them, serving them, having a need for the necessary maintenance, received it from others, who therefore had a great advantage over the Corinthians. For the Corinthians remained carefree, and they cared about the Apostle; some sent it to him from afar, while others could not saturate it when he was with them. But, feeling the severity of such a reproach, the Apostle again inconspicuously softens it and says: “not a single one has a cold.” He didn’t say: you didn’t give it to me, but I didn’t take it. For he still spared them. But again, even when he softens his speech, he inconspicuously strikes them. For the words: “I came and found myself in poverty” are very expressive. So that they don’t say: what should we have done when you had us? he added: “I was in poverty, but you were not cold.” 2 Cor. 11:9. For the brethren who came from Macedonia fulfilled my poverty; The Macedonians probably came to Corinth to the Apostle more than once, and each time with offerings. Such is the nature of the Macedonians (Slavs)! They loved the holy faith and its evangelist and were ready to sacrifice everything for him, forgetting themselves. Although they themselves were not rich, knowing that the Apostle had nothing, they could not endure not to share with him what they could, and even more than they could, and not only with him, but with all the needy believers. This is simplicity that does not reason and does not think about itself! “And in all things I have kept you safe.” - “In everything,” - in food, and in clothing, and in the room: he did not burden anyone with anything; I didn’t allow any of you to sacrifice anything or do anything for me. The Apostle kept himself in such detachment from everyone! And this was not only at the time when he instilled faith among them, but he decided to keep himself among them forever. “I have kept it,” he says, “and I will keep it” for myself, without hurting you. “He added this so that they would not think that he was telling them about the previous lack of cold with the intention of getting something from them now” (Theodorit). How many-sidedly Saint Chrysostom examines this circumstance! “Look what a sensitive blow he deals to them by presenting those who served him. First, having aroused in the Corinthians a desire to find out who they were, saying: “from other churches, uyah,” - then he names them. He wrote about this to the Macedonians themselves, saying: “For I have received one and two for [my] demand,” and moreover, at the beginning of the gospel (Phil. 4:15, 16). This served them as the greatest praise, because at the very beginning they distinguished themselves so much. But notice that the Apostle everywhere exposes his need and nowhere speaks of abundance. With the words: “I came to you and was in poverty,” he showed that he should have received food from the Corinthians, and with the words: “I fulfilled my poverty,” he shows that he did not demand this, saying at the same time the reason for this, although not the real one. Which one? - The one that I received from others. “My poverty,” he says, “was fulfilled by those who came from Macedonia.” That’s why I didn’t bother you, and not because I didn’t rely on you. But in fact he acted for the latter reason (that is, that he did not hope that they would not be tempted if he received from them), which he shows further, although he speaks about this not directly, but covertly, leaving this to be understood by the conscience of the listeners and imperceptibly pointing out this with the following words: “and in all things I have observed and will observe you without any embarrassment.” Do not think that I said this with the intention of getting anything from you. The word “I will keep” is said, showing even more strongly that he not only now does not expect anything from them, but even forever refused to take anything from them. And it also shows that they considered it burdensome for themselves to help him, which is why he said: “I have observed and will observe without hesitation.” He says the same thing in the first epistle: “This is not written... let it be so concerning me: for it would be better for me to die than for anyone to destroy my praise” (1 Cor. 9:15). And here again: “I have kept it for myself without hurting you and I will keep it.” 2 Cor. 11:10. There is the truth of Christ in me, for this praise will not be suppressed about me in the countries of Achaia. Saint Paul lived only for the Gospel and the Holy Church and never agreed to deviate from that, and directly confessed that it was better for him to die than to change this order. And here he says the same thing, or even stronger, for the words: “there is the truth of Christ in me” represent an oath. This is how he certified the Romans, saying: “I speak the truth about Christ, I do not lie” (Rom. 9:1). Just as the truth of Christ is not false, by which I live alone, so my word is not false. This is the same as: as Christ is true, so truly I speak, or by Christ I assure. How important the Apostle considered this, that he places it alongside the truth of Christ! And this is only in relation to Achaia, and not to everyone. One cannot help but see the finger of God in this. This also explains the disposition with which the Apostle endured this. To work, and yet endure poverty in everything, this could not help but respond to sorrow in the heart. But the Apostle not only does not grieve, not only is he content, but he also boasts about it. This is my praise, he says. “He calls his action praise, so that no one would think that he is sad about it or speaks in anger, at the same time, so as not to shame them too much with his words, as if they did not provide him with food, although he asked. Against this, he says, as it were: you would be ready to give, but I don’t take. This is my praise. The word: “will not be blocked” is used in a figurative meaning: it is taken from a blocked river and means that the glory of him, that he does not take, flows everywhere like a river. You will not block my praise with your alms; however, he did not say: you will not block, which would be hard for them, but - “this praise about me will not be blocked in the countries of Achaia” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 11:11. What? Don't I still love you? God knows. And I create, and I will create. The previous words: “praise will not be blocked in the countries of Achaia,” “could have struck the Corinthians. This was quite enough to make them despondent and offended by the fact that he alone rejected them. For if he boasts of this, then he should act like this everywhere, and if they have only one, then this clearly exposes their weakness. So, so that they do not fall into despondency from such a thought, notice how this corrects. “What? - he says, - don’t I love you? God knows." He gave a quick and easy solution” (Saint Chrysostom). God is the witness, he says that I love you, as he confirmed above: “It is in our hearts to die and live with you” (2 Cor. 7:3). “From his great love for them, it happened that he did not take anything from them” (Chrysostom). Don’t conclude, he says, that I don’t love you from the fact that I act differently in relation to you than in relation to others. It is love that forces me to act this way, for otherwise the Gospel of salvation could not have been so successful among you. This is the condition for his prosperity for you, this is how I act – for others it is different, and I act differently for them. “So out of the same love he did opposite things, that is, he accepted out of love, and did not accept out of love; and this opposition depended on the different disposition of the givers” (St. Chrysostom). I love you, he says; God knows I love you. With all that “I create, and I will create.” And my love for you is unchanged, and the way I act in relation to you is unchanged. These two immutabilities live together for me, and one does not interfere with the other. Do not interpret my behavior to the detriment of my love for you. 2 Cor. 11:12. May I cut off the guilt of those who want guilt, so that those who boast about it will find themselves like us. The apostle acted this way because he could not go against the promptings of the Spirit. Why did the Holy Spirit so please? If it was not clearly revealed, the Apostle himself had to guess, just as the prophets wondered when the Spirit revealed to them in images the events of the coming of the Son of God to earth. He guesses, pointing out the reason for this in the connections of the gospel. “Let me cut off the guilt of those who want guilt.” He could have said that otherwise you would have been tempted and reluctant to listen to my word, and this would have put an obstacle to the success of the Gospel. But he said this before: “let us not create anything in this region... lest any cause come to an end from the gospel of Christ” (1 Cor. 9:12). Now he deduces the need for this from the precautions that must be taken in view of the false apostles. This is what he means by those who want guilt. “Guilt” here αφορμη is a reason, an occasion, a pretext. The false apostles took every opportunity to present both Saint Paul himself and his preaching in an unfavorable light, and thereby put obstacles in the way of the successes of the Gospel. Then, he says, I do this so that my opponents, if I took advantage of anything from you, would not turn this into a reason to harm the Gospel of Christ. “I do this for many opponents, preventing them from having any reason to slander us” (Theodoret). “Since the false apostles only cared about finding some excuse, it was necessary to take that away too” (St. Chrysostom). But how the opponents of St. Paul could have turned it into a weapon to counteract him, if he had used something from the Corinthians, St. Paul does not speak about this definitely, but only hints in the words: “Let them boast about him, and they will be found as we are.” The idea is given that the false apostles are already boasting of their selflessness. The Apostle says: Foreseeing this, I took nothing from you and thereby prevented them from boasting. Now I can’t boast about them, because they have nothing special in front of me. And if he did, they could boldly say: we don’t take anything, but he takes; listen to us, not him; he acts for selfish reasons. But it is difficult to imagine that the false apostles could act selflessly. Therefore, the word “boast” does not mean that they are unselfish, but that they only take on the appearance of being unselfish, without being so in reality. The apostle says, as it were: I was afraid, lest, taking on the guise of disinterested people, they would seduce you; Now let them hide behind a mask as they wish; with all their cleverness, they will only get as far as I am. The implication is that in other respects they are much inferior to me. Therefore, I can think that by this way of acting I prevented them from any success among you. Blessed Theodoret does not only assume, but directly states that they only wore the guise of being disinterested. The apostle showed that they boast in words, but secretly collect money. For this says soon after this: “You will accept it if anyone enslaves you, if anyone devours you, if anyone tramples you [not blindly]” (2 Cor 11:20). To this we must add that, since the Apostle began to act so disinterestedly, not yet knowing how the enemies of the truth would oppose him, the words: “let them boast about him” can be taken in this sense: so that in case they began to boast about their selflessness, or began to act selflessly, they would not show any advantage over me, but would only turn out to be the same as me. It is not superfluous to remember that there were also philosophical sects in Corinth. Many philosophers took on the guise of being detached from visible goods and thereby influenced their followers. Is it not this circumstance that disposed the Apostle to reveal in himself a person truly detached from everything, teaching heavenly philosophy, for the sole purpose of following it and thereby acquiring for themselves a significant benefit, not temporary, but eternal. 2 Cor. 11:13. Such are the deceitful apostles, the workers of deceit, transforming themselves into Apostles of Christ. Do not be surprised, the Apostle seems to be saying, that I decided to act in this way without yet seeing how the enemies of the truth would act. I knew in advance that they were ready to take on any guise: such is the nature of lies. Such are these lying apostles. Like flattering workers who do not take the truth, but the ghost of the truth, they transform themselves into Apostles of Christ and deceive the simple. “They do everything hypocritically, to deceive. since they know that otherwise they would not have found access for themselves, then, having assumed the guise of truth, they hide under it the deception of seduction. And money, says the Apostle, is not taken in order to get more - to destroy the soul. But even that was more of a deception. They took money, but secretly. He accuses them of this, saying: “transforming”; For them, sheepskin serves only as a mask” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 11:14, 15 . “And it is not surprising: for Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of light: it is not great, even if his servant is transformed as a servant of righteousness: their death will be according to their work.” “It is the devil’s custom to imitate the Divine, just as he brings out hordes of false prophets against the prophets, so to imitate Angels in appearance and deceive people. Therefore, it is not surprising that they (his servants, the instruments of his intrigues, recruited from among the people) arrogate to themselves the identity of those called Apostles and use deception, which helps to deceive people” (Theodoret). “So, if one should be surprised, then Satan should be surprised, and not his servants. For when their teacher dares them to do anything, it is not surprising that the students will follow him in this. Whom does the Apostle call the “Angel of Light”? – An angel who has the boldness to talk with God and stands before God. But there are also angels of darkness, servants of the devil, dark and fierce. And the devil deceived many in this way, that is, by transforming himself into an Angel of light, and not becoming an Angel of light. Likewise, these too wear the guise of Apostles, but do not have apostolic power; because they can’t do anything (in reality, they only pretend to be). And this is the most diabolical thing - to do everything just for show. Who are the “servants of truth”? “We,” says the Apostle, preach to you the Gospel, which contains the whole truth. Either he means this, or the fact that the false apostles appropriate to themselves the glory of righteous people (in general, not just the Apostles). How can we recognize them? “From their works, as Christ the Lord said (Matthew 7:20)” (St. Chrysostom). But they can’t hide behind themselves like this forever. The time will come, their deeds will be exposed, “and they will reap the fruits of their undertakings” (Theodoret). “They can deceive you, but they will not deceive the ever-watchful eye of Christ” (Photius in Ecumenium). “And they will not run away from their fate, for according to their deeds will be their end, that is, evil. The end always corresponds to deeds” (Theodoret). And for everyone there is a moment when all the illusory things that captivate him fly away. They are carried away by the phantoms of truth, which resourceful superstition constructs for lies; are carried away by the ghosts of good, which inventive worldly wisdom puts in place of real good; They are carried away to madness by the ghosts of happiness, which the evil world presents in such diversity. All this is evil and leads to destruction; but none of the ghosts intertwined in this cycle thinks that they are going to destruction. This is how the enemy knows how to disguise his deception. But at the hour of death, everyone’s eyes open and the ghostliness with which they were shrouded disappears. The memory of the hour of death can have the same effect, if you take it to your heart and hold it longer so that it produces its full effect. 2 Cor. 11:16. Again I say: yes, no one thinks I’m crazy: no matter what, accept me because I’m crazy, and I won’t boast of much. Saint Paul spoke about his unselfishness and again makes a reservation so that they do not think badly about this action of his. In these words, verses 16–20, he presents the conclusion of the previous one, pointing among other things to the selfishness of his opponents, verse 20, and makes the transition to the next one, indicating the truth of his apostleship from what he has endured hitherto. “I say again.” The whole speech shows how St. Paul is forced to speak praiseworthy things about himself. Apparently, how disgusting this is to his character and heart, but need forces him to act contrary to himself. He began to “mutually compare his own merits and the bad deeds of his opponents, so that through such comparison illegal teachers would be revealed” (St. Chrysostom). This was extremely necessary for the Corinthians, for nothing better could have done to turn them away from false teachers. I already said something like this. “Now, still intending to praise himself, he again first denounces the false apostles, so that they can see for what reason he concerns this subject, and so that no one can reproach him for why he speaks about himself. And before he had already made many reservations, but, not content with what was said before, I repeat again: “Yes, no one thinks I’m crazy.” (Don't think I'm doing this without reason). For this is what the false apostles did—they boasted without any reason. It is foolish, he says, to boast, but I do this not out of recklessness, but out of necessity. Therefore, even if you did not believe it, and seeing the need, you would begin to condemn me, I will not renounce my cause. Do you see how he showed that there was a great need to speak? For, if he was not afraid of this suspicion, then consider with what violence he intended to speak to himself, how he suffered and forced himself when he spoke” (St. Chrysostom). “It happens that someone speaks a word of foolishness, without being unreasonable and without thereby committing an unreasonable deed. An unreasonable person who talks about himself in vain and vainly boasts of himself, such a person, being unreasonable, not only utters words of unreasonableness, but also commits the deed of an unreasonable person. But whoever speaks about himself, although great, but true and for the sake of spiritual benefit, seems to be speaking foolish words due to the similarity of the pronunciation of the sayings, but he is not unreasonable, but on the contrary, he is very reasonable and does the work characteristic of the most intelligent person, when for the sake of the benefit and salvation of others he does not look at the blasphemy for being foolish. So, he says, “nobody thinks I’m crazy.” Not for myself, but for you, I say what I say, forced in order to turn you away from the false apostles” (Someone in the Ecumenium; maybe Photius). “Or else” - if you cannot look at my deeds and words like that, and despite my assurance, you still consider my word of praise for yourself to be unreasonable, “accept me as if I am crazy.” The turn of phrase is subtle, accusatory, and convincing! The false apostles came to the Corinthians and told them about themselves who knows what. And they were accepted and respected, and their word was not despised or rejected. The Apostle, placing himself among them as a fool, denounces their foolishness, and reproaches those who accepted them for their foolishness, and paves the way for both of them with his word, so that they would not think that he is acting out of foolishness. That he is precisely transferring the reproach of unreasonable self-praise from himself to the false teachers is clear from the following words: “for even I have little to boast about.” - “As if yes”: they boast, and you listen; So let me boast too. - “Little”: those boast a lot, without measure; let me boast at least a little. - “I will boast”: they boasted a lot, and in vain, and in trifles; what Saint Paul said about himself was true, valuable, and spiritually beneficial. All this was known to the Corinthians; They also knew that the self-praise of the false teachers did not correspond to reality. Having taken this into account, what a strong denunciation of these latter they saw, what an impressionable admonition to themselves and what a bright and comforting justification of St. Paul in pointing out his praiseworthy deeds?! “If you do not believe it and, despite the need to tell me this way, you still consider me not free from foolishness, then accept me as foolishly saying what I say, so that I too may boast, as the false apostles boast. For it is they who force me to speak such words, by boasting to your detriment” (the same in Ekumenia). 2 Cor. 11:17. And when I say, I do not speak according to the Lord, but as if in madness in this part of praise. “And I say this,” that is, I say praiseworthy things about myself; I don’t say “according to the Lord.” “There is a Sovereign law that teaches: “When you have done all that is commanded, say, as we are unworthy servants; That is why the God-wise Paul said: “Whatever I say, I do not speak according to the Lord,” that is, I say this not according to His law” (Theodoret). It seems that the intention of the holy Apostle in these words is to discourage others from imitating themselves in this regard, out of fear that self-praise may turn into a rule, under the pretext of the truth of what they boast about, and the benefit of it to others. He says, as it were: but despite all the fact that need forces me, and it is useful for you, and I see what a good effect my turn of speech will have on you, with all this I will say that this matter is not according to the Lord: do not think of anyone imitating me in this. I recognize praising myself as both an unreasonable thing and displeasing to the Lord, and, being forced to such an action, I reprimand one thing, so that if you begin to consider me unreasonable, limit my unreasonableness to this part of the praise, and not extend it to all my deeds and words, or my entire teaching, and all my orders and institutions. “So that no one would think that he calls his entire teaching madness, of necessity he added: “in this part of praise,” that is, in these words I call myself insane” (Theodoret). “I added this so that you would not think that he is doing everything “as if in madness”” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 11:18. For many have boasted according to the flesh, and I will boast. He explains in what part of the praise, precisely in the part that I will, he says, boast in the flesh. Here he means not what he already said, that is, that he did not bother anyone, but what he has to say below, in verse 22, that is, that he is a Jew, an Israelite, and the seed of Abraham, that he himself has these external advantages due to his carnal origin. It’s true, the false apostles pompously put it out there. The Apostle says: they boast of this, and I will boast, even though it is foolish and not according to the Lord. “Praise in the Lord is meekness, self-control, holiness, but to be a Jew and an Israeli is no longer according to the Lord. For listen to what the Apostle says in another place: “There is neither Jew nor Greek... in Christ Jesus you are all one” (Gal. 3:28)” (Ecumenius). Saint Chrysostom says: “What does it mean: “according to the flesh”? - External advantages: nobility, wealth, wisdom, the fact that they have circumcision and the ancestors of the Jews - they enjoy glory. And notice Paul’s prudence! He pointed out advantages that, according to him, were nothing, and then he called his praise madness. And indeed, if it is insane to boast about significant benefits, then it is even more insane to boast about meaningless ones. And this is what he calls “not according to the Lord.” For being a Jew and the like is of no benefit. So, don’t think, he says, that I should consider this a virtue. But since they boast, I am forced to compare myself with them in this regard. He does this in another place: “If anyone thinks that he has hope in the flesh, let him do it better” (Phil. 3:4). If someone, being of a famous family, but who had chosen for himself a wise life (monastic, in poverty, deprivation, obscurity), saw that others were proud of their nobility, and wanted to disgrace their arrogance, then he would be forced to talk about his celebrity, not to his own praise, but to their humiliation. That’s what Paul does.” 2 Cor. 11:19. Kindly accept the mad, be wise. This should have been said directly after the words: “Accept me because I am crazy.” But it was necessary to insert some explanatory concepts, which, having done so, returns to that word. By this he placed himself among the false apostles who boasted madly. This insane boasting is boasting not according to the Lord, but only for carnal advantages. The false apostles boasted so much - you received them kindly. The fact that you kindly accept the insane in this way gives me the courage to stand in their ranks and hope that you will accept me too. How much reproach and reproof there is here, both for the false apostles and for the Corinthians! It would be good if they accepted the madmen as madmen out of compassion, otherwise they accepted them as the first wise men, better even than St. Paul. He says, as it were: you didn’t understand this either, but the sages! The word: “be wise” is reproachful. If you were unwise, it would be excusable; but since you are wise, there is no excuse for your action. We cannot push away the false apostles any more. The Corinthians would no longer be willing to accept them. This is how the wise teacher, not defending, but as if praising, imposes a ban on accepting such people and turns his very heart away from them! Saint Chrysostom says: “It would be necessary to prohibit and say: do not accept insane people; he does this, but with great skill. Having said so directly, he would have conveyed the idea that he was forbidding them, as if he did not have the same advantages. And now, having shown that in these advantages he is not inferior to them, and yet considers this to be nothing, he corrects them all the more” (Corinthians). 2 Cor. 11:20. You accept it if someone enslaves you, if someone devours you, if someone tramples you [not blindly], if someone slaps you in the face, if someone boasts himself. “If anyone”: although it does not specifically point to anyone, it is obvious that the Apostle means false apostles, and depicts how they behaved in relation to the Corinthians - so that it can be more clearly seen that they are not real teachers: for real teachers cannot act like that. Ahead the Apostle said: accept me, even as a madman, because you kindly accept madmen. And after this he says: you accept such and such, meaning false teachers, - therefore, he obviously condemns them; he expresses pity for the Corinthians, although in words he “reproaches them for their extreme servility to the false apostles and for submitting to them to such an extent” (St. Chrysostom). “You accept it even if someone enslaves you.” “Look at what servility he reproaches the Corinthians and how they submitted beyond measure to the false apostles!” (Theophylact, Ekumenii). Καταδουλοι, turns you into slaves, binds you in everything, does not give you freedom in anything. “You,” he says, “gave them your property, your flesh, and your freedom. To become masters not only of your estates, but also of yourself, means much more than taking. He spoke about this before: “If they partake of your power, don’t we even more?” (1 Cor. 9:12)" (St. Chrysostom). “Whoever devours, whoever tramples [not blindly].” “Consumes”, κατεσθιει in the sense of consuming. - “Protorit”, λαμβανει, takes. – “Not blindly” is not in the original. “You see, now it shows that the false apostles take, and not only take, but to the point of excess, for that is what the word means: “devour”” (St. Chrysostom). Consequently, “they in vain boast of contempt for money” (Theodoret). “And what the Apostle said above: “Let them boast about him” (2 Cor. 11:12), he said about their boasting. They only boasted, but did not have the truth, they were only hypocrites, as if they did not take it” (Theophylact). “Whoever magnifies himself,” επαιρεται, stands tall, proudly raises his head, looks down on you, putting you in nothing. This latter is more strongly expressed metaphorically: “if someone hits you in the face.” “The Apostle said this not because the false apostles actually hit them in the face, but because they despised and dishonored them. Your slavery, he says, is not easy; Your rulers are not gentle, but heavy and intolerable. You suffer no less than those who are hit in the face. Do you see the extreme degree of tyranny! (Saint Chrysostom). With this the Apostle concludes his speech on the gospel of tuna. The last verses, 16-20, lead to one thing in various turns, in order to imagine in what contrast the false apostles stand to St. Paul. We, he says, are both selfless and quiet, while those are also selfish, majestic, and power-hungry. Judge now, on whose side should the truth be? The next 21st verse in one part fits with the previous one, and in another with the subsequent indication of the Apostle of his truly apostolic dignity in what he has endured until now. c) What did the Apostle endure in evangelizing? (2 Cor. 11:21–32) 2 Cor. 11:21. Out of annoyance I say, because we are exhausted. About him, if anyone dares, I say meaninglessly, I dare. “What the Apostle said is not clear” (St. Chrysostom). To clarify this, let's return to the previous one. The Apostle imagined how slavishly the false apostles were received by the Corinthians. Let's ask ourselves, how was this possible? And we will not find any other answer except that, it is true, they declared some perfections, ostentatious, which made a strong impression on the Corinthians and disposed them to submit to them. Saint Paul pointed out these advantages in the words: “many boast according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 11:18). He indicates this “according to the flesh” in the following verse 22, that is, that they are Jews, that they are Israelites, that they are the seed of Abraham. Somehow they managed to present these titles as very valuable in the eyes of the Corinthians: the Corinthians treated them so subserviently. Bringing this to the mind of the Corinthians, the Apostle says: yes, but what about us? We have become nothing among you, “exhausted”, we seem to you weak, without any dignity, insignificant?! - No, it's unfair. For if anyone dares to display any carnal advantage, I dare no less than he. And then he lists what advantages the false apostles presented, adding together that he has all of them. There is only one thing they lack - suffering for Christ the Lord. They boast about these little things, and for this they are ready to be held in high esteem and devour the property of others; and if they have to suffer, they run away; they don’t have the courage to do that. With this consideration, the Apostle’s speech is brought into order and receives appropriate clarity. “Out of annoyance I say,” κατα ατιμιαν, out of dishonor. Whose dishonor, of course? One can also understand the dishonor of the Apostles and the Corinthians. Apostolically, I say this out of a feeling of dishonor that your attitude towards the false apostles inflicts on me. As if I don’t have anything like what they boast about and why you have enslaved them so much! - The Corinthians say this: I say this to your shame. How can you not see that I also have everything that they boast about, and yet they demanded excessive sacrifices from you, while I did not demand anything from you, but only begged: be reconciled with God, be saved. “What could be worse and what kind of domination is more unbearable than that when those who took away your property, freedom, and honor, even after this do not become meek and do not treat you at least as slaves, but act more contemptuously than the last slave? Therefore, you do not deserve any apology when you despise those who humble themselves for you in order to exalt you, and marvel at those who rise above you in order to humiliate you” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 11:22. Are they Jews? and az. Are you Israelis? and az. Is this the seed of Abraham? and az. Jews from Eber; the Israelites from Jacob, who was called Israel after an all-night struggle with an unearthly person; Abraham's seed are the heirs of the great promises given to Abraham. This is what the false apostles boasted about! This is how the Corinthians were especially influenced! But I have all this, he says. Although the Corinthian Church predominantly consisted of pagans, having become Christians, they entered into a spiritual relationship with everything that was in the Old Testament; therefore they could appreciate this, not in itself, but in the relation in which it all stood to Christianity. “The apostle brought this up because the false teachers spoke so about themselves, and in this he showed his equality with them, and in arbitrary successes he shows an advantage” (Theodoret). These are all distinctions that were given for free, according to the order of natural birth. But let's see what they are like where it is necessary to show patience and firmness of faith? 2 Cor. 11:23. Are they servants of Christ? I speak not in wisdom, but rather. In labors you are multiplied, in wounds you are sore, in prisons you are overflowing, in deaths you are many. “Servants of Christ” does not give the idea that these were real Apostles, and in general means persons serving the cause of Christ, the gospel of the Gospel, in the form of saving people. True Apostles are chosen from above for this purpose and are armed with extraordinary powers of grace. Their assistants, chosen by themselves and acting on their instructions and guidance, come close to them. But there were also those who took upon themselves the work of evangelism, as the example of Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos and others shows. Of these, some walked the straight road, wanting only to serve the cause of Christ, with humility and selflessness; others were distorting, mixing their own views and their own wisdom into the work of God. These are the real false apostles; and the Apostle is talking about them. He puts their service to Christ the Lord in question; therefore, he does not claim that they really serve Christ, but says something like this: if they say that they are servants of Christ, then I am more like them. The thought will be that, although they say this about themselves, they are not like that, I am a real servant of Christ. Saint Chrysostom says: “If they are false apostles, then he should not have compared his advantage with them, but refuted the fact that they were servants (of Christ). He has already refuted this, saying: “deceitful apostles, workers of deceit, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ” (2 Cor. 11:13). And here he does the same thing, only differently. He presents in advance the opinions of his opponents (how they think about themselves), saying: “Is this the ministry of Christ?” And then he says: “more than I,” showing that he alone preserves the true character of the apostleship.” “I speak not in wisdom,” παραφρονων, being mad; and in the previous text he said: “I speak senselessly,” εν αφροσυνη, in senselessness. “This previous apology was not enough for him, but here he apologizes again. And although he had clear proof of his superiority, he still calls it madness to talk about it. He calls it impudence and madness to say anything great and important about oneself, even when the need is urgent, and thereby teaches us to run away from it with all our might. For if, having created everything, we must call ourselves indecent (Luke 17:10), then without any motive, can one who exalts himself and boasts be worthy of any apology? For this, the Pharisee was condemned, and in the pier itself he was shipwrecked, falling on the rock of self-praise. For this reason, Saint Paul, seeing thousands of needs to talk about himself, makes an excuse and incessantly repeats that this is an insane matter, and does not dare before presenting an extreme necessity in his defense” (Saint Chrysostom). Having said that he alone preserves the true character of the apostleship, the Apostle “proves this by his very deeds and, keeping silent about miracles, begins with temptations” (St. Chrysostom); “It shows not miracles, not the dead raised, not the lame walking, not the flight of demons, not the salvation of the universe, but his suffering for the Gospel” (Theodoret). Why is this so? - For the sake of the fact that it would be in some way insulting to the very extraordinary gifts by the absence of them among the false apostles to prove their false apostleship and their real apostleship. For this, it was enough to show that they only look out for themselves and try to extract their own benefits from everything, wearing the guise of servants of Christ; to suffer for Christ, which is essential for true servants of Christ, they have never suffered and do not know how to step on this road. “In labor you are multiplied, in wounds you are sore, in prisons you are abundant, in death you are abundant.” "In labor". “Very big,” he says, “I do a lot of work, moving from place to place, teaching day and night and doing with my own hands. But, what’s even more, I also endure “wounds”” (Theophylact). “For I endure beatings and scourgings above the first, that is, raising labors” (St. Chrysostom). “It’s not enough: with wounds and “in prison” how many times have we been imprisoned!” (Theophylact). Clement of Rome (Epistle to the Corinthians, 15) says that Saint Paul was imprisoned seven times. - “There are many in deaths.” ““All the days,” he said, “I am dying” (1 Cor. 15:31); but here he means death in reality. For his life was often exposed to dangers” (St. Chrysostom). “He did not die only by choice, but by the act of running into deadly dangers” (Theophylact). “Multiply, more abundantly, abundantly, abundantly”, “not in comparison with the false apostles it is said,” believes Ekumeny. And Theophylact says: “Compared with the false apostles, it seems to be said, but presumably, something like this: let them work, but I work more and more. Others believe that this is not said by comparison, but simply to signify the multiplicity and degrees of suffering.” The latter is closer to the point. 2 Cor. 11:24. From Judea five times fourty or one received. Explains how he received the wounds. Five times, he says, I was given thirty-nine blows. The law only said that no more than forty stripes should be given to those found guilty (Deut. 25:3). One blow was canceled after the elders, so that somehow, having miscalculated, they would not give more than forty and not turn out to be violators of the law (Theophylact). When Saint Paul suffered these blows. Actions are not indicated. And Philippah beat him, not by the Jews, but by the pagan civil authorities. This means that the book of Acts does not depict all of the works of St. Paul (Theophylact). “Why “is it unified”? An ancient law among the Jews was that anyone who received more than forty stripes should be considered dishonorable (Deut. 25:3). Why, so that the one who beats in the heat and heat does not give an extra number of blows and thereby dishonor the person being punished, they decided to give forty blows without one, so that the one who beats does not exceed forty, even if he strikes one more time; but, always remaining within the legal number, he could not bring dishonor to the punished” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 11:25. I was beaten with clubs, I was lashed with stones, the ship was broken with me three times: I created night and day in the depths. “Trishchi with clubs”, that is, he was beaten with sticks, ερραβδισθην. One such incident is mentioned in Acts, namely in Philippi (Acts 16:22). As it was from the pagan authorities, then, probably, all three cases of beating were from the pagans. To mean this, they are specially marked from those five times; and together with the fact that the beatings from the Jews were probably not clubs. “I was marked with a single stone.” This was at Lystra (Acts 14:19). Ελιθασθην means: not stoned, but stoned; as in Acts it is written: “he stoned Paul,” λιθασαντες, “he took him out of the city, and thought he died” (Acts 14:19). “The ship has contradicted me three times.” “How does this relate to the Gospel? “So that he undertook distant journeys, and, moreover, across the seas” (St. Chrysostom). Where are such cases possible? You can travel from Antioch to Jerusalem and back by sea, and here the Apostle has already moved more than once. Then between Antioch and Cyprus there is a sea; between Cyprus and Pamphylia there is a sea; from Troas to Philippi the sea; from Beria to Athens by sea; from Corinth to Ephesus by sea; and now from Troas to Macedonia the sea. “I created night and day in the depths.” “The ship was rejected by me,” εναυαγησα, that is, it was shipwrecked three times. Twice I easily got rid of trouble, and once I was carried around the sea for a whole day, probably grabbing hold of some ship fragment. Saint Chrysostom says: “Some explain this by saying that he spent a whole day in the middle of the sea, and others that (after the ship was broken) he swam for a day in the depths of the sea; the latter is more consistent with the truth, but the former does not deserve surprise, and the Apostle would not put this above shipwreck.” Theodoret means it exactly like this: “When the boat was broken, I then spent the whole night and the whole day tossing back and forth in waves.” 2 Cor. 11:26. In the traveling processions there are many: troubles in the rivers, troubles from robbers, troubles from relatives, troubles from the tongue, troubles in cities, troubles in the desert, troubles in the sea, troubles in false brethren. “During the journeys in multitude,” he suffered and endured need, “because for the sake of preaching he undertook the labors of traveling” (Theodoret). Often sending his co-workers by sea, he himself moved from place to place on foot, hoping to find a field favorable for sowing the gospel (Acts 20:13). "Trouble in the Rivers". "Troubles", κινδυνοις; - it is implied that I was - in troubles: “on the rivers”, “for I was forced to swim across the rivers” (St. Chrysostom). There are still almost no bridges anywhere there, and the rivers are small. They are forded. Dangers come from the rapidity of the current, and during the rains from high water. “Trouble from a robber”: I was in trouble from robbers who attacked along the way. Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece - all these countries crossed by St. Paul are mountainous. Gorges are a convenient hangout for unkind people. This is how it has been until now. “Troubles from relatives”, εκ γενους, from the family, that is, I was in troubles from the Jews, “related to me, and, moreover, more than from others; they were irritated against me to the point of brutality due to their unreasonable zeal for faith and envy of the successes of the Gospel” (Theophylact). “Trouble from the tongue”, εξ εθνων, was in trouble from the pagans; The Jews themselves did not rebel against Saint Paul everywhere; they often incited the pagans against him. These themselves could be dissatisfied with him, either because of the desolation of the temples, or because of the diminishing work of the craftsmen who prepared objects of pagan religious honor, as was the case in Ephesus. “Perhaps he has never been safe in cities? “Not at all” (Theophylact). He was in troubles and “in the city”, εν πολει, in the city. “This signified the indignation that was against him” (Theodoret). “Wasn’t he safer in the desert? “Not even in it” (Theophylact). “Troubles in the desert,” and in the desert he was in troubles, “for he was often forced to pass through deserted places” (Theodoret). This is not from robbers, but from animals, snakes, sand storms and the like. "Trouble at Sea". “And when he left the land, troubles befell him at sea” (Theophylact). Of course, troubles do not come from the sea itself, for I have already said this, but from the shipmen and from those who sailed with him. “For he had to often go into navigation, trying to fill the islands and land with piety” (Theodoret). Troubles are everywhere, “everywhere deeds were laid before me, in various places, in villages, in cities and in deserts” (St. Chrysostom). “The devil raised insults against me everywhere. There was no safe place for me: neither the city nor the desert sheltered me from troubles” (Ecumenius). "Trouble from false brethren". “Here is a new kind of warfare! Not only enemies, but also those who had the guise of brotherhood fought with the Apostle; and in this case, a lot of generosity was required, a lot of prudence” (St. Chrysostom). Of course, those who believed among the Jews, who, however, did not want to part with the law, they everywhere caused a lot of trouble to Saint Paul, ruining what he had created. At their instigation, a little later there was an uprising against St. Paul in Jerusalem, which almost cost him his life. “This kind of temptation is the most sensitive and bitter. And David complains with deep sorrow: “If the enemy had reviled me, I would have suffered the slaughter... But you, an indifferent man” (Ps. 54:13, 14). And again: “man of my peace... magnify my stumbling” (Ps. 40:10)” (Theophylact). 2 Cor. 11:27. In labor and struggle, in vigils in abundance, in hunger and thirst, in fasting in abundance, in winter and nakedness. “In labor and struggle”, εν κοπω και μοχθω. - Μοχθος is also work, but intensified, work to the point of fatigue. “In the work of learning and in the feat of handicraft” (Theodoret). Thus, for the Apostle, “after his labors, troubles, after troubles, his labors alternately and constantly followed and did not give him the slightest peace” (St. Chrysostom). - “In vigils in great numbers”: “for even in refuges I did not indulge in sleep, as what happened in Philippi testifies to this” (Theodoret). Here he spent the night in prayer, and then in Troas in conversation with believers. These are examples of how the Apostle acted everywhere and always. “It was not enough for him to be oppressed from the outside, but he also overworked himself with labor and sweat and night vigils” (Theophylact). “In hunger and thirst”: “this is one of the involuntary labors” (Theodoret). For arbitrary deprivations of this kind are contained in the following word. He could endure this both when he was on the road and when he was imprisoned. “There are many in fasting”: “this is one of the arbitrary feats” (Theodorit). Fasting is an accomplice to prayer, the best preparation for preaching with the power of words. Saint Paul was in almost constant need of such an assistant. "In Winter and Nakedness". That is, he endured the cold due to thin clothes that did not warm him well. “This was a consequence of poverty and extreme poverty” (Theodoret). “With all the sufferings mentioned, he still did not have the necessary food, and the teacher of the universe did not have what to wear, but he labored in nakedness and fought, starving” (Theophylact). 2 Cor. 11:28. In addition to the external ones, the hedgehog attacks all the days, [and] the care of all churches. “Except external”, χωρις των παρεκτος, among other things: I leave the rest. “Out of many things,” he says, “I am forced to retell a few things” (Theodoret). He wants to say: “More has been omitted than what has been stated. Even the above cannot be described in detail. For the Apostle did not designate each temptation separately, but remembered only those whose number was not large and could be retained in memory, saying: five times, three times, one; He didn’t even say this about other temptations, because he endured them many times” (St. Chrysostom). “Attack every day.” “Riots, riots, oppression from the people and the aspiration of entire cities. For in this way the Jews most revealed their enmity towards him, because they were most disgraced by the Apostle, and the greatest revelation of their madness was his sudden conversion to Christ. A great war was raised against him from his own, from strangers, from hypocrites. Everywhere for him there were waves and rapids, in inhabited and uninhabited places, on land and sea, outside and inside” (St. Chrysostom). "The Care of All Churches". “This is the top of everything: at the same time, his soul was tormented and his heart was torn. If there were no external sorrows, then the internal struggle, the waves of worries, one another driving each other, the clouds of worries, the struggle of thoughts, would have cost a lot. For if someone who cares about one house, although he has servants, bailiffs and housekeepers, often does not know peace from worries when no one bothers him, then imagine what Paul had to endure, who had care not about one house, but about cities, about peoples, tribes, about the whole universe, and in so many important matters, with so many enemies who tried to harm him everywhere and in everything, he worked alone and was so sensitive, so about everyone cared as a father does not care about his children” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 11:29. Who faints, and I do not faint? Who is tempted, and I am not relieved? “Lest you say: although Paul cared, yet he cared lightly, he showed how great his care was, saying: “Who faints, and does not faint?” He did not say: I take part in the grief, but he said: I am so worried and grieved, as if I myself were in the same illness, suffering from the same disease. “Whoever is tempted, I am not liquefied” (I burn as if on fire, jealous of salvation). Look again how great is his sorrow, as shown by the word: “kindling.” I ignite, I burn, he says; and this sorrow is truly greater than all others. Other sorrows, although they were severe, soon passed and brought unfading pleasure, but this sorrow - to endure so much suffering for every weak person, no matter who he was, oppressed, oppressed, and wounded his heart. For he did not only care about the higher ones, but left the lower ones in negligence, on the contrary, and counted the obscene among the necessary. Therefore, he said: “whoever faints” (“whoever is tempted”), showing that he understands everyone, no matter who he is. As if enclosing the entire universal Church in himself alone, Paul was pained about each member of it” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 11:30. Even though it is fitting for me to boast, I will boast about my weakness. This is the conclusion of everything previous. He says, as it were: so, if it is necessary for me to boast, as you force me, then I will boast in my weaknesses, meaning everything that I said before about myself, that is, hardships, sorrows, persecutions. “For all this exposes the weakness of human nature. He does not remember miracles, because they are the gift of God, and all this, with God’s beck and protection, also shows his patience” (Theophylact). “The apostle made it clear that he could have pointed out what he had accomplished by grace, but he considered it more appropriate to point out the feats of patience” (Theodoret). Why did he judge like that? – Because “such is the distinctive character of the apostle; This confirms the gospel” (St. Chrysostom). And he was supposed to indicate to the Corinthians more clearly that he was a real Apostle. Having listed everything he has endured, he seems to say to them: Do you not recognize in me one of those whom the Lord sent like sheep into the midst of wolves? This was imprinted by itself and, therefore, proved what Saint Paul intended to prove: the goal was achieved. 2 Cor. 11:31. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ says, He is blessed forever, for I lie not. Why such confirmation of the truth of words? I testify to God, I say before God that I am not lying. What confirms: the truth of what has already been said or what still has to be said? But from what was said, the Corinthians personally knew and saw with their own eyes, and judging by this, they had no reason to doubt what they did not see. Therefore, this must be referred to as the following. Why? - Not to what happened in Damascus, for this circumstance is not so important and incredible that in order to verify the truth of the event it was necessary to testify to God. Rather, this should be attributed to the legend of the rapture to the third heaven, as a phenomenon that goes beyond the ordinary. Isn’t the story about the persecution of St. Paul in Damascus inserted here because this event was in some connection with the ascension to heaven of St. Paul - and therefore stands here as an introduction? "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". And God and the Father of the Lord. But the Lord is also a Divine name, therefore it says the same thing: Father of God; and therefore the Lord Jesus Christ is God from God. - “He is blessed forever.” A heart that loves and reverently reveres God, and always contemplates Him as a caring Father, cannot resist expressing such dispositions in some reverent and loving word in its offerings to God. This is what St. Paul does here and in many other places. - “The news is that I’m not lying.” He walked before God and conducted all his thoughts, feelings, dispositions, and deeds as if before the face of God. Consciousness did not indicate to him any crookedness in himself before God, in any respect. He boldly bears witness to God, both in the fact that what he says is true, and in the fact that it was approved, arranged, and helped by God Himself. 2 Cor. 11:32. In Damascus, the pagan prince Arefa of the king guarded the city of Damascus, although he killed me: and with the window in the chest he hung on the wall, and escaped from his hand. The Apostle Paul, upon returning from Arabia to Damascus, preached the Gospel here with such zeal that he irritated both Jews and pagans. Both of them combined to incite the pagan prince (εθναρχης, leader, or mayor, or perhaps regional ruler) against him; and he gave orders to guard all the entrances and exits of Damascus in order to catch Saint Paul. The city was surrounded by a wall, but the city houses, as before, were built close to this wall and adjacent to it, sometimes rising above the wall. With this arrangement, a window looking out over the city is possible. Saint Paul was hung into it in a basket, and escaped from the hands of the ruler and his enemies. After this, he went to Jerusalem to spy for Peter (Acts 9:23–26; Gal. 1:17, 18). Saint Chrysostom says: “Look what a battle is, if the prince guarded the city for his sake. When I talk about warfare, I mean Pavlov’s jealousy. If Paul had not breathed such a fire of jealousy, he would not have ignited such fury in the regional ruler. Such is the property of the apostolic soul that it endures so much and never hesitates, but endures everything that comes along with courage; however, do not rush recklessly into danger and do not run towards them. Look at what means he agreed to in order to avoid a siege. “There was a bull hanging from the window in the pot.” Although he wanted to move from this life, he also sought human salvation. Therefore, he repeatedly invented similar means in order to save himself for preaching. And he did not refuse to use human measures when circumstances required it. So he was careful and vigilant. Where evil was inevitable, he resorted to grace alone; and where the temptation did not exceed human strength, there he invented a lot of his own. But here again he attributes everything to God. And like a spark of unquenchable fire that falls into the sea, although it is absorbed by many waves, but then again comes to the surface just as bright: so blessed Paul either plunged into an abyss, overwhelmed by disasters, then freed himself and appeared most brilliant, remaining victorious in his misfortunes. Here is a glorious victory, here are the victorious signs of the Church! The devil brought many misfortunes upon Saint Paul, but he remained victorious in everything. Like a warrior who alone fights against the whole universe, is surrounded by the ranks of the enemy and does not tolerate any evil, and Paul, alone appearing among the Greeks, among the barbarians, everywhere - on land and at sea, remained invincible. And just as a spark falling into straw or hay transforms everything that burns into one nature with itself, so he, whoever he came to, led everyone to the truth, and passed everywhere like a stream destroying barriers. Like some wrestler who alone fights, and pursues, and strikes; or like a warrior who besieges walls and fights on sea and on land, so Paul entered into every kind of battle, breathed fire, was unapproachable to everyone, embraced the whole universe with one body, scattered everyone with one tongue. Constantly appearing everywhere, he came to some, hurried to others, appeared with those, was transported to these, flew faster than the wind. And, ruling the universe, like one house or one ship, he either rescued those who were drowning, or strengthened those who were exhausted; sometimes he gave orders to the shipmen, sometimes he sat at the stern; he inspected the rudder, pulled the ropes, controlled the oar, took off the sails, looked at the sky: one was everything - the shipmaster and the helmsman, the sail and the ship, he endured everything just to free others from evil. And mind you, he suffered a shipwreck to stop the shipwreck of the universe; spent a night and a day in the depths of the sea in order to extract people from the depths of seduction; was in labor to calm the working people, endured ulcers in order to heal those ulcerated by the devil; sat in prisons, so that those sitting in chains and darkness might be brought to light; He was close to death many times in order to save others from a cruel (sinful) death. Five times he received forty blows minus one, in order to deliver those who scourged him from the scourges of the devil; he was beaten with sticks in order to bring others under the rod and club of Christ; was stoned to free him from petrified insensibility; was in the desert to rescue him from the devastation of sin; was on travels to stop the lost and open the path leading to heaven; exposed to dangers in cities to indicate the city on high; endured hunger and thirst in order to relieve the most severe spiritual hunger; He was naked, that he might clothe the shameless in the robe of Christ; endured attacks from the people in order to ward off demonic attacks; ignited to extinguish the fiery arrows of the evil one; was lowered in a basket through the window along the wall in order to raise the prostrate to the ground. Shall we still talk when we don’t know everything that Paul endured?!” d) About the rapture of the Apostle to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:1–10) There are two subjects here: aa) the very rapture into heaven (2 Cor. 12:1-6), and bb) the dirty trick of the flesh given to the Apostle, to cover up his great spiritual perfections, let him not be exalted, having constantly such a reminder of the weakness of our nature (2 Cor. 12:7-10). 2 Cor. 12:1. It does me no good to boast: for I will come in visions and revelations of the Lord. First he said: If I must boast, I will boast in my weaknesses. Now he says: boasting about something brilliant, which naturally catches the eye, is not useful for me (Photius in Ecumenius), or is not fitting for me. For although there have been great revelations of God, there is always a dirty trickster with me, doing dirty tricks on me, who humbles me more than elevates me. To endure everything that Saint Paul said is truly a glorious thing. This surrounds his face with the glory of sublime, not earthly heroism. But not everyone will immediately understand this glory; he needs to interpret it and present it more clearly, as Saint Chrysostom did at the end of the previous chapter. The glory of patience covered itself with a humble appearance, or appearance. But something shiny naturally catches the eye and trumpets its own glory. Why does Saint Paul, having the need to speak about the revelations that happened to him, precede his word with a reservation: this is not useful to me, or it is not appropriate for me. And then, having said this, he concludes: “Let me not be arrogant, for here I am a dirty tricker” (2 Cor. 12:7). It’s like this: from what has been said, don’t draw unnecessary conclusions about me and don’t think more about me than I am. “It doesn’t do us any good to boast: I will come to visions.” “I’ll come soon,” shows the reason, but for what? - To a silent thought: I say this because I am moving on to the story of the revelations that happened to me. “Talking about this is not useful to me, but it is useful to you. Why, thinking about your benefit, I am forced to say something that I do not consider useful for myself” (Theodorit). Saint Chrysostom says: “What does this mean? Having said so much, he says: “It doesn’t do me any good to boast.” Do you mean that you haven't said anything yet? - No. But since he intends to move on to another kind of praise, which, although it does not lead to the same reward as the previous one, apparently glorifies him more in the eyes of many who do not know how to fully understand the matter, he says: “It does not benefit me to boast.” For the above pretexts for praise, that is, temptations, are also great. But he intends to present a different kind of pretexts, revelations and unspoken mysteries; why does he say that? Why does he say: “he doesn’t use me”? “So,” he answers, “so that I don’t fall into arrogance.” What are you saying? Don’t you know about this, even if you haven’t said it? But our exaltation is not the same when we ourselves only know the reason for it and when we communicate it to others. For what usually puffs us up is not our merits in themselves, but the fact that many testify and know about them. That is why the Apostle says: “he does not take advantage of me,” and, moreover, does not want to force his listeners to think of him higher than what is proper. The false apostles told about themselves things that did not happen, but Paul hid what did happen, even when the very need demanded not to hide. “He doesn’t take advantage of me,” he says, teaching everyone to avoid self-praise in every possible way. For it does not bring benefit, but harm, if it does not compel praise by some necessary and useful reason.” “Visions and revelations” here by the Apostle contain one thought: revelation through vision. Revelation embraces everything that God wants to reveal to us. It happens to be smart when knowledge is put into the mind; it happens externally when God or an Angel appears and says what is needed; but it also happens through visions. A vision or in images represents the spiritual, such as, for example, the visions of Ezekiel, the Apocalypse, and requires a new revelation in the mind in order to understand it; or it is a vision of the spiritual world in its essentiality, when the spirit of a person is lifted up in an extraordinary way and introduced into contemplation of it, not in images, but as it is. Saint Paul now talks about such a vision. 2 Cor. 12:2. Before the age of fourteen, a person knew about Christ: if in the body, we do not know, if apart from the body, we do not know, God knows: he was caught up to the third heaven. "Knowing a Man About Christ". It’s as if he’s talking about someone else, although obviously he’s talking about himself - this is because at the same time he was not acting, but being acted. He was definitely aware of himself and saw clearly everything that was happening to him; but since he did not act himself, but was acted by a higher power, he places himself only in the ranks of the observer, and considers what happened in him and with him to be an object or person observed, as if different from himself. The Word of God distinguishes in a person a special kind of person, internal, or hidden in the heart. This man was introduced into the vision, but an ordinary person only remembers that. With all this, nothing would prevent one from saying: I was delighted, instead of, as he said: “with everything a person ... admired.” If he said so, he must have had reasonable reasons. We can only guess that the course of speech disposed him this way, for in this entire section the Apostle is forced to say something unusual about himself, and wants to cover himself up. It’s the same here, he speaks and doesn’t seem to speak. Saint Chrysostom says: “Someone will say: if Paul wanted to hide, then he should not have made a hint at all, or said anything like that. And if I wanted to say something, I had to speak clearly. So, why didn’t he say it clearly and keep silent? “In order to show how reluctantly he gets down to business.” The words: “about Christ” can be combined in different ways: “a person about Christ”, and – “we know about Christ”, and – “admired about Christ”. A person in Christ is a believer in Christ, clothed in Christ, and made one with Christ. If this one who was caught up had not been like that, he would not have been caught up. - “We know about Christ,” for if the Apostle speaks about himself, then “the knowledge of a person” will be the same as: I experienced this; He experienced it not by his own strength or by any mental twists, but by Christ. But it is obvious that in this case, “I know about Christ” will merge with: “I am delighted about Christ.” It will be: as having been united with Christ and having become one with Him, I was caught up in His power, according to His good pleasure, for His glory, for the haste of His work. Ecumenius and Theophylact write: “I added “about Christ” so that the false apostles, from whose insolence everything can be expected, would not say that he was taken by demons, like Simon the Magus.” "Before fourteen years". If the epistle was written in the 58th year, then the vision falls on the 44th year of the famine, when Saint Paul and Barnabas carried alms to Jerusalem, and upon returning from there they were separated by the Spirit of God to preach. So, this vision took place either in Jerusalem, while Saint Paul was giving alms, or in Antioch, before leaving for the first time to preach to the tongues. That admiration that St. Paul speaks of in his speech to the people, when they seized him in Jerusalem and wanted to kill him (Acts 22:17), is not similar in content to this and happened two or three years earlier, precisely upon St. Paul’s return from Damascus to Jerusalem. – Why did the Apostle, Saint Chrysostom and all our people mention the time as follows: “He also determined the time - for fourteen years, for it was not without reason that he mentioned this, but wanting to show that, having been silent for so long, he would not have said it now if there had not been a great need. On the contrary, he would have kept silent if he had not seen his brothers dying. “And if Paul was such that at the very beginning, when he did not yet have such merits, he was awarded a great revelation, then think what he became fourteen years later?” – It was this kind of guidance that the Apostle wanted to restore in the minds of the Corinthians, as Ecumenius guesses: “Since the false apostles seemed like something great and thereby attracted everyone to themselves, the Apostle was forced to show that he was much greater than them, in order to convince not them, but his words, to heed. That’s why he inspires: before fourteen years ago, he was worthy of such revelations as he is now, after so many labors undertaken for Christ’s sake?” “If in the body, we do not know; if apart from the body, we do not know, God knows.” “I can’t say,” he says, “whether the soul alone was taken to heaven, and the body remained on earth, or whether the body was taken there too.” That's not what the attention was focused on; it was all absorbed in what it saw and did not turn to itself. After the vision, the question could and probably was; but fourteen years passed and it remained unresolved. If this remains unresolved for Saint Paul himself, then it is true that this is the kind of matter that cannot be solved, or should not be solved. Saint Chrysostom says: “Look, how he is modest in everyone: he speaks about one thing, but admits that he does not know about another. Said he was delighted; but in the body or outside the body, he says, I don’t know. It would be enough to talk about admiration, keeping silent about the rest, but out of modesty he adds even that. So what? Was it only the mind and soul that were raptured while the body remained dead? Or was the body also raptured? - This cannot be determined. For if Paul himself, who was raptured and rewarded with so many and so ineffable revelations, does not know, then much less can we know. He knows that he was in heaven; that he was in the third heaven is not unknown to him, but how he was caught up, he does not clearly know.” “He who was such was caught up into the third heaven.” To say this, it was necessary to see separately how the heavens pass - one after the other - the second after the first and the third after the second. Just as all vision was a vision of what the bodily eye does not see, then this heaven cannot be determined by its correspondence to something visible to the bodily eye, whether simple or armed. These heavens are hidden, although for those who are able to see they are different from each other, they contain different objects and have different meanings. Inside, or in the depths of, the world we see, another world is hidden, just as real as this one - spiritual, or subtly material, God knows; but it is certain that Angels and saints hover in it. According to the degree of these latter and the degree of heaven. Just as there are many of these degrees, there are probably many heavens. The apostle was caught up to the third heaven; but does not say that it is the last. Moreover, the meaning of his words is such that he passed two heavens and stopped at the third; but it is possible to pass not only two, but skip dozens and stop at the twentieth. 2 Cor. 12:3. And this is what man is like: whether in the body or apart from the body, we do not know: God knows. He confirms that he was truly delighted, and was clearly aware of it, and knows that this was reality, and not some illusory dream. He cannot only say whether he was caught up in the body or apart from the body. This, he says, only God knows. Apparently, we don’t need this knowledge; True, it does not relate to the essence of the matter. There is no need to torture. He says, as it were: this vision is amazing not only in its subject matter, but also in the very way of vision. “He proclaims a marvelous and supernatural deed, and insistently confirms that he does not know how it happened” (Ecumenius). 2 Cor. 12:4. As if he were caught up into heaven, and hearing unspeakable verbs, which a man should not speak. This paradise is the third heaven, or was it first caught up to the third heaven, and from the third heaven to paradise? If we accept the latter, then the heavens passed through will not be the heavenly abodes of saints and angels, but some kind of heavenly, but not heavenly, dispensations. Theodoret writes: ““Until the third heaven,” as some claimed, the Apostle said about the third part of the distance between heaven and earth, to which he was caught up and heard ineffable verbs.” According to Theodoret, it turns out that the third heaven is paradise. Ecumenius and Theophylact distinguish heaven from the third heaven. Theophylact finds something corresponding to the three heavens in the visible world. He says: “The “third heaven” is how you understand it! Scripture also calls the air heaven, when it says birds of the air, dew of heaven: here is one sky! And it means the firmament by the name of the sky: “They say,” he says, “God is the firmament of the sky” (Gen. 1:8): this is the second heaven. It also knows heaven, which was created in the beginning together with the earth (Gen. 1:1): this is the third heaven. From this third heaven, that man, he says, was instantly caught up into paradise.” So does Ecumenius: “He was caught up to the third heaven, and again from there to paradise.” Ecumenium explains the double repetition of the words: “whether in the body, or else apart from the body, we do not know” by this same double act of admiration. And I was caught up to the third heaven, I don’t know, in the body or without the body, and from there I was caught up to heaven, I also don’t know, in the body or without the body. “Do not think that the Apostle repeated these words unnecessarily twice; but the first time he spoke about the rapture to heaven, and the second time about the rapture from there to heaven.” However, great definiteness in these details is not required, and one cannot expect anyone to say anything decisively true about this when St. Paul himself is silent. It is not superfluous, however, to cite here the following thoughts of Blessed Theophylact: “According to the letter, it turns out that another place is the third heaven and another paradise; but by analogy (in the spiritual sense, in application to the phenomena of moral and religious life) it turns out that they are one and the same, then that they are not the same. Analogously, a lot can be said about this, but let’s say a little - which is more understandable. The first heaven is the moral region, when someone improves his character. The second heaven is the realm of knowledge of creatures, when someone acquires knowledge of every created nature, as much as it is available to us. The third heaven is the area of ​​theological knowledge, when someone, to the extent possible for him, achieves knowledge of Divine things and transcending reason through contemplation. So, Saint Paul was of course caught up to places, so to speak, near or near the Holy Trinity, that is, having passed and become above all created things, not knowing whether he was in the body or outside the body. It was impossible for him to feel and recognize this, because here self-action and self-determination cease. When a person is introduced into the realm of Divine things, his self-activity and understanding of the way of accomplishing what he sees ceases. God delights and lifts up man, He is carried and influenced by Him. since these areas also have their own degrees and ascents to them, it happens that someone is suddenly transported to heaven, that is, introduced into the contemplation of the innermost mysteries of the Divine, which, as if unthinkable and ineffable, no one can comprehend unless they first come out of human corruption.” “And hearing unspeakable verbs, which a man cannot speak.” Whose verbs? - The Lord Savior or the invisible God, or the Angels, or the saints brought into paradise by the Lord?! And the vision of all this is indescribable, and even more so, the speech there, no matter whose it may be, is incomprehensible to the earthly ear. The saints glorify God, the angels sing songs to Him, the Savior gives commands to those who carry out His favors. Everything there is in blissful movement, but everything is in order and heavenly harmony, to describe which there are no words in our language. Do you regret not saying what you heard? since the Apostles were sent to tell people the whole will of God, everything that was necessary for their salvation, but these verbs could not be said; then we must assume that they do not belong to the objects necessary for salvation. If so, then there is nothing to regret that they could not have been reported to us. They probably concerned the Apostle Paul himself personally and were needed only for him, whether he understood them completely or not. For visions are needed not for the enrichment of knowledge, but for the plucking of the spirit from the coherence of the flesh and material. Saint Paul needed this most of all when entering into the podvig of preaching the Gospel. This is what was given to him to experience and taste. Blessed Theodoret writes about these verbs: “The Apostle heard ineffable verbs, such as “a man shall not eat.” He did not say: hear, but “verb.” For if it were not possible for a person to hear, how would he hear? But the Apostle heard, but did not dare to retell them. And others say that verbs are the things themselves; because the Apostle saw the beauty of paradise, the faces of the saints in it and the comprehensive voice of hymns. He who saw it knows all this exactly.” 2 Cor. 12:5. I will boast about such things: but I will not boast about myself, only about my weaknesses. Saint Chrysostom says: “It is not that he expresses that someone else is delighted, but he gives such a turn of speech in order to say what is decent and what is possible, and at the same time avoid the need to speak openly about oneself. Otherwise, what consistency would there be in introducing another person when reasoning about oneself? - Why did you put it that way? For the fact that it does not mean the same thing to say: I was raptured, and: I know a man who was raptured; or: I will boast about myself, and: I will boast about him. And if someone says, how is it possible to be raptured without a body? then I ask: how is it possible for me to be caught up with the body? For the latter is more difficult than the former, if you reason according to reason, and not submit to faith. Why was Paul raptured? - In order, I think, so that he would not be considered less than the other Apostles. They were with Christ, but he was not; Therefore, the Lord, as a demonstration of his glory, took him into paradise. For the word: paradise is significant and known to everyone. Thus, it is clear that the words: “I will boast about this,” the Apostle said about himself. And if he added: “I won’t boast about myself,” then this only means either that he would not have said anything like that unnecessarily, in vain and frivolously, or that he wanted, as much as possible, to cover up what was said.” Our other interpreters say the same thing. So Ekumeny writes: “Look, how unpretentious! It’s as if he’s talking about someone else. “I will boast about this,” he says. He does this, wanting to leave himself in the shadows. “I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses,” that is, about sorrows, hardships and persecutions.” Maybe that’s why he said so, so that he could attribute everything in this vision to God. To God be the glory! I was not active here. Everything that God has done is perfect. Glory to him! It touches me only because it happened in me; but without my knowledge and without exerting my strength, I speak about this as if it were something not my own. I boast about being glorious, without appropriating anything to myself. Mine are only weaknesses, humiliations, insults, contempt, beatings. And God helps me endure all this, but there is a part that is mine; in the same vision there is nothing of mine. Everything is God's. 2 Cor. 12:6. If I wish to boast, I will not be mad, but I will speak the truth: I will spare you, lest anyone care for me more than he who sees me or hears anything from me. “If I want to boast,” that is, what was said as if to apply to myself about someone else, “I will not be mad,” that is, I will not do something crazy, I will not tell a lie, I will not deceive; “I tell the truth,” for it truly was so. And he finally speaks directly, but still covers himself and tries to keep himself in the shadows. He really didn’t want to surround his head with such an aura of glory! Previously he said that praise is madness, but now he says that boasting will not be madness. “This must be understood not in relation to praise, but in relation to the justice of what one boasts about. In this last respect he says: “I will not be mad.” Why does he add: “the truth is true” (St. Chrysostom). And in that respect I will not be mad that I do this contrary to my disposition, forced by the benefit that flows from here for you. “For he is not mad who, for the sake of the salvation and creation of souls, forced by necessity, proclaims the grace sent down to him from God. On the contrary, it is common for a prudent and philanthropic person to neglect even the suspicion of self-aggrandizement in order to save others” (Ecumenius). “I will spare you.” However, although there is a need and there is benefit, I am still stingy with praise for myself, I am afraid to present myself so brightly. “Let no one grieve more for me.” “He did not say: let no one say more, but: “let him not grieve,” let him not even think of me more than I am worthy of. This is the real reason why he keeps silent about himself and hides his own; and even when need forces him to say what, he speaks secretly, putting himself in the shadows! He is afraid that they will think more about him than what he is. For it had already happened once that, for the sake of signs, they considered him and Barnabas to be gods and were going to slaughter oxen in their honor. What wouldn’t they come up with if he announced all his revelations and exposed everything glorious?” (Ecumenius). “Moreover, the hedgehog sees me, or hears something from me.” Start telling everything, the imagination will be irritated and begin to imagine more than what the words say; and due to the heating of the imagination, the eyes will see in me more than what is. “Therefore, I’m afraid to say everything, lest someone form more of an opinion about me than about a person” (Theodoret). Saint Chrysostom says: “Just as God created the elements of the world both weak and brilliant, so that through one they would preach His power, and through the other they would keep people from going astray; so the Apostles were both wonderful and weak, so that by their very deeds they could teach the unbelievers. For if they, always remaining wonderful and not showing examples of weakness, began to convince people with one word not to think more about them than they should, then not only would they not succeed in this, but they would also do the opposite. For mere verbal excuses would be more likely to be attributed to humility and would make them wonder even more. That is why weakness was often really revealed in their very deeds. Anyone can see examples of this in the Old Testament holy men. Elijah was a wonderful man, but he once exposed himself as timid (1 Kings 19). Moses was also great, but due to the same weakness he once gave himself up to flight (Ex. 2). And they were subjected to this when God retreated from them and allowed the weakness of human nature to be exposed in them. When Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt, they said, “Where is Moses?” What would they not have said when he led them into the promised land? For the same reason, Paul also says: “I will spare you, lest anyone grieve for me more.” 2 Cor. 12:7. And for the many revelations, let me not be arrogant, let me not be arrogant, let me be a dirty tricker of the flesh, the angel Satan, and do dirty tricks on me. “And for the abundance of revelations”, τη υπερβολη των αποκαλυψεων, - with an abundance of revelations “let me not be proud, for here I am the foul of the flesh”, σκολοψ τη σαρκι, a riot in the flesh, or for the flesh, striking and goring the flesh, - “let me play dirty tricks” ινα με κολαφιζη, so that he would hit me on the cheeks, slap me in the face, humiliating and shaming me. It was usually thought that the dirty trick of the flesh, the angel of Satan, was something that confused and disturbed Saint Paul from the side of the flesh and was located in the flesh itself. New commentators have recognized that St. Paul is speaking here about the movements of carnal lust. But what is carnal lust? Everyone experiences it, and not only those who are celibate, but also those who are married. And Saint Paul, by the way he expresses himself, gives the idea that he has been given something special, which is not common to everyone. Moreover, the dirty trick given to him, κολαφιζει, hits him on the cheeks, acts mercilessly, cruelly, and carnal lust is the most flattering and insinuating enemy. Therefore, this idea cannot be accepted. Our interpreters believe that St. Paul speaks here, as before, about external disasters and about hostility on the part of the enemies of the Gospel, who are the tools of Satan. So Saint Chrysostom says: “What these words of the Apostle mean will be determined by itself when we discover who is the dirty tricker and who is the satanic angel. Some said that this meant some kind of headache caused by the devil. But this is impossible. For Paul's body could not be given into the hands of the devil, because the devil himself yielded to Paul, according to his one command. Paul assigned him laws and limits when, for example, he handed over a fornicator to him for the destruction of the flesh, and the devil did not dare to transgress them. So, what does this mean? Satan in Hebrew means adversary. And the Holy Scripture in the third book of Kings (1 Kings 5:4) calls opponents by this name. Talking about Solomon, he says: there was no Satan in his days, that is, a rival who would fight with him or bother him. Therefore, the words of the Apostle have the following meaning: God did not deign that our preaching should spread unhindered, wanting to humble our high opinion of ourselves, but allowed our opponents to attack us. For this was enough to bring down proud thoughts, but a headache could not do this. Thus, by the angel of Satan he means Alexander the forger, the accomplices of Hymenaeus and Philetus, and all the opponents of the word who entered into competition with him and opposed him, threw him into prison, beat him and dragged him. For they did the works of Satan. So the Holy Scripture calls the Jews sons of the devil, because they were jealous of his deeds, and so it calls every rival an angel of Satan. Therefore, the words: “here comes the evildoer of the flesh, let him do dirty tricks on me” do not mean that God Himself armed the opponents, or punished and bridled the Apostle through them - let it not be so! - but only that he allowed and allowed them to do so for a while.” Theophylact also solves the question: why is it said: the angel of Satan, when there were many rebels? - “Why didn’t the Apostle say: the angels of Satan, but an angel? - Because in each place, usually one adversary rebelled against Paul and raised the people against him, and at his start, others also rebelled. Or, what is much better, the Apostle called this very thing, that is, resistance to preaching and causing harm to preachers, an angel of Satan. (“He called insults, insults, and popular uprisings the angel of Satan.” Theodoret). And some understood the words: “Let me not be arrogant” in the sense: Let me not be glorified by people. But this is not what Paul says here, although he said so above, but precisely this, let me not become vain, he says, for he too was a man.” So is Theodoret, Ecumenius, Saint Damascus and Ambrosiastes, so is Photius in Ecumenius. 2 Cor. 12:8. For this I prayed to the Lord three times, that he would depart from me. “Let him retreat”, that is, the dirty trick of the flesh, the angel of Satan. According to the meaning given by the holy fathers to these words, the Apostle says: may the path of preaching be smoothed, may attacks be reduced, may I not encounter resistance in such strength and continuity. - “The Apostle showed in these words the weakness of nature, for he says: I asked for deliverance from temptations” (Theodoret). ““Three times”: repeatedly. And this shows the great humility of the Apostle when he does not hide the fact that he did not endure the enemy’s slander, but was exhausted and prayed for liberation from them” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 12:9. And I said: My grace is sufficient for you; for My power is made perfect in weakness. Sweetly, I will boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. “My grace is sufficient for you”; “That is, it is enough for you that you raise the dead, heal the blind, cleanse lepers and perform other miracles. Do not strive to live in safety, without fear, and to preach without difficulty. But are you grieving and sad? Do not attribute to My weakness that many deceive you, torment you, persecute you and beat you with whips. This very thing shows My strength. “For My power is made perfect in weakness,” that is, when you, the persecuted, prevail over your persecutors, when you, the persecuted, defeat your pursuers, when you, the bound, put those who bind to flight. So, don't desire too much. Note that the Apostle represents one reason, and God another. He says: “Let me not be arrogant, for here I am a foul of the flesh”; and God said that He allows this to happen for the manifestation of His power. Therefore, you ask not only what is unnecessary, but even what darkens the glory of My power. For the words: “it is sufficient for you” show that there is no need to add anything, but that everything has been done” (St. Chrysostom). “Out of your weakness My power appears in all its fullness and in all its perfection. If some wise men and royal persons were used for preaching, then the subjugation of everyone to the Gospel could be attributed to the power of those who served the sermon. Now the weakness of those who minister the gospel throughout the whole world shows the power of God; she alone is active here, and everything that happens must be attributed to her alone” (Ecumenius). “Hearing such an answer, Paul says: “Sweetly I will rather boast in my weaknesses.” So that the Corinthians would not fall in spirit, seeing that the Apostles are in persecution, Paul shows that through persecution he becomes more glorious, that in this the power of God is especially revealed, and that what happens to him is worthy of boasting. That’s why he says: “I will boast about how sweet it is.” It was not out of sorrow in my heart that I said what I counted above, or what I hope now, that is, that “a dirty trick has been given to me”; on the contrary, I am decorated with this and attract even greater power from God. That’s why he adds: “may the power of Christ dwell in me.” These words also make it possible to understand something else, namely: to the extent that temptations intensified, to that extent grace multiplied and abided in him” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 12:10 . In the same way, I find grace in weaknesses, in annoyances, in troubles, in exile, in tribulations according to Christ: for when I am weak, then I am strong. “I am also pleased.” He did not say: I endure, but “I am pleased,” that is, I rejoice, am glad, graciously accept what I encounter, because imaginary weakness gives me true strength” (Theodoret). “I take pleasure in weaknesses”: what kind of weaknesses are these? – Annoyances, troubles, exiles, hardships for the sake of Christ. By this, the Apostle himself determines who exactly is the dirty trick of the flesh and the angel of Satan. He prayed that this dirty tricker would leave him. The Lord said to him: “My grace is sufficient for you: for My power is made perfect in weakness,” that is, it appears to be active in you with this dirty trick and the angel of Satan, exposing your powerlessness and your weakness. The Apostle agrees to this order, saying: “Sweetly, I will boast all the more in my infirmities,” that is, I no longer want to free myself from the dirty trickster and the angel of Satan, I stay with him willingly and, to my own praise, I impute that he torments me, otherwise, by being burdened with infirmities. Having now explained what infirmities are, namely, that they are the essence of annoyance, misfortune, exile, oppression according to Christ, he showed that they are the essence of the dirty trick of the flesh and the angel of Satan. All our interpreters do this kind of guidance with these words. Saint Chrysostom says: “Do you see how clearly everything has now been revealed? For, speaking about the type of infirmities, he did not name fever or periodic illness, or other bodily infirmities, but insults, persecutions and oppressions. Do you see what a humble soul? The apostle would like to get rid of disasters; but when I heard from the Lord that this should not happen, not only did he not lose heart, not having received what he asked, but he also rejoiced at it. Therefore, I said: “I am pleased,” I rejoice, I wish to endure insults, persecution and oppression for Christ’s sake. He said this, wanting to humble the false apostles and encourage the Corinthians, so that they would not be ashamed of Paul’s suffering. For such endurance of sorrows can make us stronger than everyone else. Then he puts forward another reason: “When I am weak, then I am strong.” What is there to marvel at (what is weakness) if the power of God is revealed in our weaknesses and then I am strong? For then the grace of God works most powerfully. “For even as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation abounds in Christ” (2 Cor. 1:5). Where there is sorrow, there is grace; and where there is grace, there is consolation and strength to lift sorrow. When he was thrown into prison, he performed miracles. When he was shipwrecked and brought into a barbarian country, he became especially famous. When the bound man entered the judgment seat, he defeated the judge himself. This was the case in the Old Testament. The righteous flourished amid temptations. So the three youths, so Daniel, Moses and Joseph - all through temptations became glorious and were awarded great crowns. For then the soul is purified when it endures sorrows for the sake of God. Then she receives greater help, because she needs more assistance from God and is worthy of greater grace; and by becoming wise, she treasures great blessings for herself, not to mention the rewards that God has set aside for her. For sorrow eradicates arrogance, cuts off all negligence, prepares for patience, reveals the insignificance of human affairs and introduces much wisdom into life. All passions give way to her: envy, jealousy, lust, addiction to wealth, carnal love, pride, arrogance, anger and the whole swarm of mental illnesses. If anyone considers our real deeds, he will see what benefit sorrow brings. Now enjoying the world, we have become weak, lazy and filled the Church with thousands of evils. When they endured persecution, then they were more chaste, more well-behaved, more zealous and more diligent both in these meetings (to the Church) and in listening (to teachings). What fire is to gold, so is sorrow to the soul: it erases filth from it, makes it pure, bright and clear. Sorrow leads into the kingdom, and comforted life into Gehenna; Therefore, the path to the kingdom is narrow, but the path to Gehenna is long. Therefore, Christ, as if offering us some great good, said: “You will be in a world of sorrow” (John 16:33).” e) About the signs of Paul’s apostleship in Corinth with a reminder and also about their free preaching (2 Cor. 12:11–18) 2 Cor. 12:11 . It makes no sense to boast: you are forcing me. Because I must be praised by you: the Apostle has become nothing more than the Apostle, even though I am nothing. The apostle says, as it were: but why do I boast?! After all, I was with you and acted; and among you I showed the signs of my apostleship no less than in other Churches, no less than the first Apostles show. You know all this. You yourself should have defended my dignity when false teachers began to cast a shadow on it, but you did not. If you did this, there would be no need for me to talk about myself with praise. It's your own fault that I do this. When you didn’t protect me, there was nothing to do, I had to take it upon myself to protect myself. And even though I see that it makes no sense, I do it because it is necessary for you. Saint Chrysostom says: “Having finished his speech about praising himself, the Apostle does not stop there, but again defends himself and asks for an apology for what was said, because it was said out of necessity, and not of his own will. However, despite the necessity, he calls himself senseless. For, having achieved what he wanted with his speech, he boldly and mercilessly attacks this deficiency, teaching everyone not to boast unnecessarily, when Paul, having boasted out of need, called himself foolish for that. Then he places all the blame for what was said not on the false apostles, but on the disciples: “You,” he says, “coerce me.” If the false apostles had boasted, but had not led you into error and destruction, then I would not have come to the point of allowing myself such words. But since they corrupted the entire Church, then, caring for your benefit, I was forced to become senseless.” “No one has lost his first Apostles.” I am not deprived of anything like that, he says that the first Apostles have it. Everything is in me that they have; or in general, what every Apostle should have as an Apostle, I have everything. But the Apostle’s thought is not to show that he exists in himself, but to remind them how he appeared among them. The reason is why they themselves should have defended him before others and before themselves. You should have done this, he says, because I appeared among you as one of the first Apostles could have appeared. But, having said this, the Apostle again thought that they would not consider him greater than how much he is, and therefore hastened to add: “even if I am nothing.” “Yet he does not deviate from moderation and from his custom; but, as if he had said something extraordinary and higher than his dignity by numbering himself among the first Apostles, he again used this modest expression about himself” (St. Chrysostom). He wants them to recognize the extraordinary things that were revealed in him, but at the same time he teaches them to understand them in such a way that they do not focus on him himself, but from him ascend to the source of such manifestations and from this draw conclusions not to praise him, but to give due faith and honor to the cause he serves. I am, he says, no less than others, but all this is not mine. I'm nothing here. I serve the cause of God and I have the power to do this - the power of God. 2 Cor. 12:12 . For the signs of the apostles were wrought in you in all patience, in signs and wonders and powers. And this is proof that he is no less than the first Apostles. Everything that an Apostle should be distinguished by has happened through me in you, among you, before your eyes. Do you want patience? How many was there? Will you seek signs of power over nature? There were them too. Do you wish for miraculous healings? There was no shortage of them either. Do you demand power over demons? This power has also appeared among you. Everything, everything that you can only expect from the Apostle, as the messenger of God, and what he should be when the work of the gospel requires it, you saw in me yourself; and I have nothing to say to you about my apostleship. Although I am nothing, I am an Apostle, and, like an Apostle, I am armed with great powers. Saint Chrysostom speaks to this place: “Look,” he says, “not at the fact that I am insignificant and small, but at whether you received from me what you should have received from the Apostle. And he didn’t say: insignificant, but, what’s even lower, “insignificant.” For what is the use of being great and not benefiting anyone? There is no use for a skilled doctor who has not cured a single patient. Therefore, he says, do not argue that I mean nothing, but look at the fact that in everything that served for your good, I did not lag behind others, but, on the contrary, showed the experience of my apostleship. Therefore, I don’t need to talk about myself. He said this not to really seek praise, but because he wanted the salvation of his disciples. - “The Signs of the Apostles”. Oh, what an abyss of merit he expressed in a few words! And look what comes first! - Patience. For the sign of an Apostle is to endure everything generously. And he expressed himself briefly about patience, in one word; on the contrary, he used more than one word about signs, because they were not produced by his power. But imagine how many bonds, how many blows, how many dangers, how many slander, what a multitude of temptations he meant here; how many battles, internal and external, how many sorrows, how many attacks expressed in one word: “patience”! And in the word: “signs,” didn’t he again depict how many dead he raised, how many blind people were healed, how many lepers were cleansed, how many demons were cast out? Hearing this, we too will learn, even if we are forced to talk about our merits, not to talk about them, imitating St. Paul.” 2 Cor. 12:13 . What is there that you have lost more than other churches, unless I myself am not cold for you? Give me this lie. One might think: we do not deny that all this is revealed among us; but in other Churches, where other Apostles were active, this was revealed in greater numbers and to a greater extent. The Apostle says: look around all the churches, and in not one will you find anything that you are deprived of. What others have, you also have. It’s as if the Apostle hears the complaint: you came to us, forestalling others, we received you with faith, but you did not give us what others give; It would be better for us to wait for them. The Apostle says: do not worry, go around all the Churches, and you will see that you are not humbled before any. - “So that no one would say: although you are great and have done a lot, yet not as much as the Apostles in other Churches, Paul added: “What is it that you have lost more than other churches?..” That is, you, in comparison with other Churches, are involved in no less grace” (St. Chrysostom). There is one thing you are deprived of, that “I myself am not cold for you”, did not bother you with content. All other Churches, founded by me and by other Apostles, are not free from this. In relation to you alone, I act this way. But if you consider this an injustice on my part in relation to you, “give me this untruth,” χαρισασθε, give, show me mercy and condescension in this, or, do mercy, forgive. “If,” he says, you accuse me of this, then I apologize, forgive me this guilt. Notice what prudence! since a reminder of this could seem like a reproach and seemed to cause dishonor, then every time he repeats it, he softens it with explanatory words. So above this he said: “The truth of Christ is in me, for this praise will not be suppressed about me in the churches of Achai” (2 Cor. 11:10). And he immediately added: “Don’t I love you? God knows... but let me cut off the guilt of those who want guilt” (2 Cor. 11:11, 12). And in the first message he says: “What kind of reward is this for me? Let me preach the gospel of Christ without compensation” (1 Cor. 9:18). And here again he says: “Give me this untruth.” For everywhere he tries not to show that he does not take because of their weakness. Therefore, here he says: if you blame me for this, then I ask for forgiveness” (St. Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 12:14 . Behold, I am ready to come to you, and I do not bother you: I do not seek yours, but you. The child should not be the parent of the acquisition of property, but the parents are the child. “So that they do not think that the Apostle often turns to the same person with the intention of getting something from them, he rejects this suspicion, saying in his first letter: “I did not write, so that it would be like this about me: for it would be better for me to die than for anyone to take away my praise” (1 Cor. 9:15); but here it is expressed more pleasantly and favorably. How exactly? “Behold, the third,” he says, “is ready to come to you.” I came another time, and I’m ready to go a third time, and again I won’t be a burden to you. And the reason for this is good. For he did not say: I do not want to be a burden to you, because you are stingy, because you are burdened with this, because you are weak. But what does he say? - “I’m not looking for yours, but for you.” I am not looking for your property, but for you. I am looking for more: instead of money - souls, instead of gold - salvation. Then, since there was still room for suspicion that he was upset by them, he introduced his reasoning. For they could say: Is it not possible to look for both us and ours? Therefore, he justifies them with great favor as follows: “For the child should not be the parent of the acquisition of property, but the parents are the child.” Instead of the names: teachers and students, he uses the words: parents and children, and shows that he turns into an obligation for himself something to which he was not obliged, for Christ did not command this; but the Apostle says this out of condescension towards the Corinthians. Therefore, he added something even greater. For he said not only that children should not earn property for their parents, but also that parents are obliged to do this for their children” (St. Chrysostom). The duties of parents towards children, in material terms, do not apply to the Apostles in their relation to those who believed. But spiritually they are more than applicable. The apostle wants to impress upon the Corinthians that he is doing this out of parental love for them, meaning concern for their salvation. But just as the first time he began talking about this, he said: “Let the gospel of Christ never cease” (1 Cor. 9:12), so he always gives this same reason to be understood as the main one, although at the same time he also cites something else as the basis for such a way of acting. Why exactly in Corinth the success of the gospel required this is now not so clear to us. The apostle saw this and submitted to necessity. I could not say it directly in the message, because through this I would destroy the saving effect that came from it. 2 Cor. 12:15 pm I will be dependent on your sweetness and will be dependent on your souls; Even though we love you too much, we love you less. That's why he acted like that! He did not spare their property, but their souls - he waited for his own, not because he pitied them more, but because the salvation of their souls required it. In other places, the acceptance of such services from converts and converts did not interfere with their salvation, but in Corinth it did. The Apostle saw this, guided by the Spirit of God, therefore he never agreed to take anything from the Corinthians, he waited for his own; and while dependent on it, not only was it not burdensome, but he also found sweetness in it. This sweetness was produced in him by the vision of the good for those being saved from such a course of action. The Apostle expresses this thought with the words: “I will depend on your sweetness and will depend on your souls.” He is not talking about the past - he only confirms it - but about the future, that he has decided to act this way, forever, as he mentioned more than once before. Moreover, it strengthens the matter: for, while “a dependent” can be limited to one kosht, and “I will be dependent” conveys the idea that the dependence does not concern one kosht, but also the very person of the Apostle: he expresses his readiness to sacrifice himself for their good, to depend on himself, “to give himself for them” (Theodoret). “Parents were commanded by natural law to collect property for their children; and I, he says, not only do this, but even give myself. The height of generosity is not only not to take anything, but to give what is yours and give not simply, but with great zeal, even in the face of a shortage, for this is shown by the words: “I will be dependent.” Even if it were necessary to exhaust the flesh itself, I will not spare it for your salvation” (St. Chrysostom). The other half of the text: “even though we love you too much, we love you less,” “expresses both love and reproach. I do this, says the Apostle, for those whom I love and who do not love me to the same extent” (St. Chrysostom). “This is how he saddened them, accusing them of poverty of love, and made them happy, showing his strongest love for them” (Theodoret). The Apostle hints at what happened before the first epistle, when some began to deviate from him in disposition and prefer others to him. The first letter again turned the hearts of everyone to him, as Saint Paul himself testified, saying with what ardor they hastened to begin correcting everything he had indicated. Why does he say this now? - Then, in order to further irritate their self-love and in advance prevent similar deviations on their part. For nothing irritates love more than to say to your beloved: I love you dearly, but you love me less; and nothing inspires more to avoid any cases of detection of derogation of love than such a reminder. He knew that this reproach would not respond as a sting, but would be like a wind fanning the flame, so he said so. Saint Chrysostom concludes the words of Saint Paul about self-dependence with the following guidance: “Finally, consider how many degrees there are: he should have taken it, but he didn’t take it, this is the first merit; I didn’t take it while I was in poverty, this is the second; did not take it when they preached this third; he himself gives them, this is the fourth; and not only gives, but abundantly, this is the fifth; gives not only his property, but also himself, this is the sixth; gives himself for those who do not love him very much, this is the seventh; and whom he loves very much, this is the eighth. Let us also compete with him.” 2 Cor. 12:16 . Be it that I am not aggravating you, but an insidious one, accepting your flattery. The Apostle makes probable assumptions on the part of his ill-wishers. Someone will say about me that I personally really didn’t burden you with anything, but this was just one cunning trick. Under this disinterested guise, I, like a cunning man, managed the matter so cleverly that I took from you without your noticing. “I received you,” υμας ελαβον, robbed you, or took from you, or took you into his hands, that is, he took possession of your property, while you did not notice it and continued to consider me acting for free. - But when he didn’t take it personally, but took it somehow from the side, all this could not have happened somehow invisibly, but visibly. Apparently how? - No other way than through your assistants and co-workers. The Apostle then points to this. 2 Cor. 12:17 . What food did you get from those who were sent to you? If you didn’t take it yourself, but took it on the side through your messengers, then tell me, which of the messengers I robbed you of, or did I take advantage of what was yours? The Corinthians knew that this did not happen, therefore this reminder was enough, but the Apostle also describes the messages to them. 2 Cor. 12:18 . I begged Titus, and with him my brother’s envoys: Is Titus covetous food for you? Are we not walking in the same spirit? Isn't it the same feet? And how many were sent?! Besides me, you only had Titus and a certain brother from me. Did Titus gain anything from you? - No. You know that. So there is no point in accepting such thoughts or listening to such speeches. We all act in the same spirit of selflessness, we walk the same road, we tread the same path. We present the words of Saint Chrysostom on all these final texts in this section (2 Cor. 12:16–18). “These words were spoken very vaguely by Paul, but not without purpose, and not in vain. Since we are talking about money and the Apostle defends himself by saying that he does not take anything, it was proper for him to cover up his words. What does this mean? Before he said that he did not take anything, he was even ready to give and spend his own, and he talked a lot about this, both in this and in the first epistle. And now he says something else, as if he introduces words from the objection made to him, and first allows it. This is the meaning of what was said: I was not looking for profits from you, but perhaps someone else will say that although I myself did not take anything, however, as a cunning man, I set up those sent by me on my behalf to ask you for something and I received from them, and thus, receiving through others, I rejected the suspicion that I was taking it myself. But no one can say this either. You yourself are witnesses to this. And he leads the speech with questions, saying: “I begged Titus, and with him a brother’s envoy: did Titus covet you food?” Didn't he come to you in the same way as I did? That is, isn’t it also true that he didn’t take anything? You see with what care he tried not only to keep himself clean from greed, but also to keep those he sent from it, so as not to give even a small excuse to those looking for an excuse. This is much higher than what the patriarch Abraham did (Gen. 14), returning from victory. He, when the king gave him part of the spoils of war, refused to take more than what his household ate; but Paul, just as he did not use it himself, did not allow his colleagues to use even the necessary food, in order to thus completely stop the mouths of the shameless. Therefore, he does not say on his own behalf that they did not take anything, but, what is much more important, he presents the Corinthians themselves as witnesses to this, so that the testimony does not come from his own person, but is confirmed by their verdict. This is what we usually do when we are dealing with something obvious and beyond any doubt. Tell me, says the Apostle, which of those we sent took advantage of anything from you? Doesn't say: who took what from you? but he calls such a thing “extortion,” thereby reproaching them, bringing them to shame and showing that taking from someone against his will means extortion. And he did not say: Titus only, but also someone; that is, you cannot even say that although one did not take, the other did. On the contrary, none of those sent to you took it. - “I begged Titus,” “and this is not said simply, for it does not say: I sent Titus, but “I begged,” showing that even if I had taken something from them, I would have taken it by right, but for all that I remained clean. Therefore, he asks them again: “Does Titus covet you food? Are we not walking in the same spirit?” What does it mean: “with the same spirit”? – The fact that he attributes everything to grace and shows that everything worthy of praise was not produced by our labors, but is a matter of spiritual gift and grace. Truly the greatest grace was when those who lacked everything and suffered hunger took nothing for the edification of those being taught. - “Isn’t it the same feet?” “That is, they did not deviate at all from the caution I had adopted, but retained the same rule.” 3. Armed with such power, I will come and show no mercy (2 Cor. 12:19–21, 13:1–10) Here is the conclusion from everything said in this third part of the message and, as it were, its conclusion. He defended his dignity and cleared his activities of all criticism, now he asks: what? I said all this only to justify myself to you and for nothing else? - No. I mean your edification - namely, in order to restore in yourself the conviction of the apostolic power inherent in me, you hastened to correct yourself before my arrival and, thus, saved me from the need to manifest this power in you and deal strictly with you. For if, when I come, I find you faulty, I will not spare you. This suggestion alone, in different turns of speech, dominates this entire small section, the final one. 2 Cor. 12:19 . Do you still think that we are giving you an answer? Before God, about Christ we say: everything, beloved, is about your creation and confirmation. “We create an answer,” απολογουμεθα, we defend ourselves, we justify ourselves. The Apostle’s thought is that which is expressed before this: do you think that we only mean to justify ourselves before you? - No, we are writing all this for your creation. Or this: do you think that by saying this, we only purify our personality and justify the external image of our actions, but in our souls we have something completely different? - No; we speak before God, about Christ, - we speak about ourselves as we are before the all-seeing eye of God. Neither flattery nor deceit is hidden in our words. You can combine both thoughts, and one will correspond to the words: “We say before God in Christ,” and the other will correspond to the words: “all things are for your building.” Saint Chrysostom says: “Do you see how he was afraid everywhere, so as not to seem like a caresser?” “We say this without flattering you or justifying ourselves only to you, but as before the face of the all-seeing God, in Christ and through Christ. But is it possible that one who speaks before the face of God and in Christ speaks with caressingness for the sake of covering only himself?” (Ecumenius). “Everything, beloved, is about your creation.” And the “statement” is not in the original. “Creation” – οικοδομη, building, arrangement, ordering. So, he says: everything we do is aimed at bringing into good order and order what has become disordered among you and has taken the wrong direction. To which was added: “beloved,” to show that we were prompted to this by sincere fatherly love for you. Inspired by her, “whether we humiliate ourselves or speak highly of ourselves, whether we accuse you or praise you, we do everything for your benefit” (Theodoret). 2 Cor. 12:20 . I am afraid that when food comes, I will not find what I want, I will find you, and I will find it to you, but what you do not want: lest there be zeal, envy, rage, rebellion, slander, whispering, arrogance, disorder. I am writing everything so that you can get organized and so that when you get organized, I will find you correct in everything, as I would like to find you, and so that you will meet in me only affection, approval and praise of you. Fearing that the opposite might happen, I remind you of what I would not want to meet among you. “This no longer shows arrogance or teacher power, but fatherly care, when he fears more than the sinners themselves, and with trepidation begins to correct them. But even in this case, he does not attack them, and says not directly, but in the form of doubt: “When the food comes, if I don’t want it, I will find you.” He did not say: virtuous, but: “I want it,” everywhere using words expressing friendliness. And the word: “I will find” expresses something unexpected for them, as well as “I will find for you”: both, he says, depend on you yourself” (St. Chrysostom). “I’m afraid,” he says. Do you see fatherly care? Others have sinned, but Paul is afraid. “Food has arrived”: does not claim, but as if someone who knows nothing is afraid that they might encounter something faulty with them. “I do not want to find you,” that is, upset and damaged (in character and thoughts), and as a result, I myself will have to appear to you like this, “what you do not want,” that is, a strict punisher of those who turn out to be incurably sick” (Ecumenius). “He could say: I myself do not want to be found with you, and thus show my love, but he does not want the listener to weaken; Moreover, his speech in this case would have been much stricter. And now he made them feel it more strongly, and showed himself to be more meek. For prudence tends to act in such a way that the wound is deeper and the blow is lighter” (St. Chrysostom). What exactly would he not want to meet with them? - Discord and lustful deeds. He speaks of discord in this verse, and of lustful deeds in the next. “Let there be no amount of zeal,” ερεις, disputes, zeal to stand on one’s own, efforts to talk everyone over, under which there is always hidden contempt not only for the opinions of others, but also for themselves: I don’t want to know anyone; – “envy”, ζηλοι, envy, perverted competition, is the first daughter of conceit and pride, when, not having the strength to become equal or superior to others, they sit back with frustration, why they are like that and so everything is going well for them; “rage”, θυμοι, anger, outbursts of anger and irritation, in collisions with others not in one’s favor, coming and going, because the occasional flare-up of pride is overcome by the sympathetic structure of the heart; but there is a danger that frequent anger can turn into constant, which is evil hatred; - “reti”, εριθειαι, zeal, “when someone challenges another to a competition in some matter” (Theophylact), or with all his might he strains to overtake others and leave them behind himself, and, of course, no strict analysis is made of the means and little attention is paid to whether this will be of any benefit to himself or others: - “slander”, καταλαλιαι, verbs; not only condemnation, which is secretly built in the heart, but also the divulging with the tongue bad things about others, without confidence in the truth of it, but based on a guess, and often on a malicious lie; “whispers”, ψιθυρισμοι, timid slander, which, not daring to speak openly, whispers bad things about others in the ears of more influential people, who can, if they believe, do something unpleasant to the one about whom it is spoken: here it is more appropriate - false slander (Theophylact); “arrogance”, φυσιωσεις, - pouting, arrogance, arrogance, when, without discerning whether there are any merits, they tower over others and treat them with contempt, without even hiding it: this is a soap bubble; – “disorders”, ακαταστασιαι, disorder, disorder, when everything is out of place, is a direct consequence of everything previous. Saint Chrysostom produces all these evil deeds out of envy alone, saying: “All this: slander, accusations, disagreements, was generated by envy; envy, like a harmful root, grew irritation, condemnation, arrogance, and through them it itself grew.” In the first letter, beginning the reproof of the Corinthians, the Apostle says: “The essence of zeal is in you” (1 Cor. 1:11). Because of some empty considerations, they began to divide into parties, placing themselves under the banners of a few outstanding personalities among them: from here came strife, opposition and disorder (1 Cor. 1:10). Having admonished them properly in the first letter and learned from Titus that his admonition did not remain without influence, assuming, however, that perhaps there are still remnants of that disorder, he again convinces that nothing of the kind, not even traces, remains among them, threatening in advance that he will not look at it condescendingly. 2 Cor. 12:21 . May my God come and humble me before you, and may I weep for many who have sinned before and have not repented of uncleanness and fornication and the adultery that I have committed. The second subject that Saint Paul denounced in his previous letter to the Corinthians was fornication, which cannot be found among the pagans. He wrote especially about this student activity; but since he twice repeated lessons about abstinence from fornication and expounded at length the rules of life for married and celibate people, it can be assumed that among the Corinthians the Apostle knew not just one sinner guilty of this kind of sin, but many, and that, writing a strict sentence against one, he had in mind to sober up all the others. The effect of sobering began, one must assume, and was noticed by Saint Titus and announced to Saint Paul. But both in relation to divisions, so here, the Apostle, not without reason, could think that there were still those who had not corrected themselves, with whom he himself would have to tinker in order to put them in the proper order - which could not do without troubles for him and for them. Wanting to avoid this sorrowful necessity, he encourages the faulty to correct themselves before his arrival, and surrounds this suggestion with the most touching ideas, saying: “May God not humble me among you.” How? - Those, if I have the need to mourn those who have sinned through uncleanness, fornication and adultery, and those who have not repented. He says, as it were: we have sinned, so what should we do? You can't turn it back; but it is bitter if I find those who have sinned not to repent and stubbornly remain unrepentant. What to do with those? Although it is a pity, they will have to be cut off from the body of the Church: for stubborn sinners are not tolerated in the Church. So I'll cry. And I will cry, but still it will be necessary to cut them off if they do not repent. This is how God will humble me with you. I will be ashamed before myself, and before God, and before people, for boasting about you before them and within myself, and yet I will be forced to do this to you. So that I would not be in such shame and in such sorrow, I am writing everything to you, with the desire that everything will come to you in the proper order and everyone will return to their rank, and when I came to you, I would only rejoice and be glad about your good looks and prosperity. Saint Chrysostom says to this place: “Do you see how he shows both indignation and fatherly compassion? What does the word “humble” mean? To accuse, to punish, to demand an account, to represent the judge seems to be glory, but he calls this humility. Not only was he not ashamed that the coming of his body was weak and his word was despised, but he even wanted to always be like that and asked so as not to reach the opposite state. He speaks about this more clearly in the continuation of the speech. And he considers it the greatest humiliation for himself to reach the point of having to punish others. Why didn’t he say: let me not come, I will humble myself, but “let my God, who has not come, humble me”? If this were not for God, he says, I would not pay attention to it, I would not care about it. For I do not impose punishment arbitrarily or arbitrarily, but by God’s command. Above, he expressed the same thing, saying: “I will find myself, but what you do not want,” but here he weakens his speech and says with greater condescension and meekness: “and I will mourn for many who have sinned,” not just those who sinned, but “those who did not repent.” And he did not say: all, but “many”; He does not even announce the names of these many, thereby making it convenient for them to repent, letting them know that repentance can correct their crimes; he mourns only the unrepentant, incurably sick, who remain in ulcers. So, imagine what is the virtue of an Apostle? “Not knowing anything bad about himself, he cries for the sins of others and humbles himself by the crimes of others. For this is especially the duty of a teacher, to sympathize with the misfortunes of his disciples, to mourn and sob over the ulcers of the people under his command.” 2 Cor. 13:1. Behold, I come to you as a third: at the hearing of two or three witnesses, every word will become (Deut. 17:6). He calls his personal exhortations and written suggestions witnesses. What verb will become in front of these witnesses? – The word of threat is against you; it will finally, will certainly be carried out. So Saint Chrysostom and others. By three witnesses, ecumenium means three personal admonitions and three non-personal ones. It’s like this: I’ve been there twice, I’m going for the third time. These will be three witnesses. Also, I wrote in the first epistle, reminded through Titus, and now I remind again in this second epistle. These are three more witnesses. When they come together in pairs, they enhance the meaning of the evidence. - “I am coming by the third,” as in the previous chapter: “I am ready to come by the third” (2 Cor. 12:14). Our interpreters do not determine how this account will come out; they do not indicate, that is, when Saint Paul’s second visit to Corinth took place. Let us leave this to ourselves without definition, for the guess that the second time the Apostle was in Corinth directly from Ephesus, as others believe, is very inconvenient and disturbs the entire order of events. It is more convenient to assume that the Apostle was away from Corinth for a year and a half and returned to them again, which can be considered a second coming to them. It is impossible not to notice that in the present place - “the third is coming”, in the course of speech, has a big difference from - “the third is ready to come” of the previous chapter. It says that he is coming for the third time and will not give them a cold, which cannot but be attributed to his personal presence. And here it is said about a threefold testimony and then only it is mentioned: “behold, I am coming with a third.” As we speak, the subject of these cases is the same - threats for malfunctions. Therefore, this does not apply to the first visit. The threats began with the first letter, were recalled by Titus, and are now being recalled for the third time. Isn’t this what it means in this place: “I am coming a third time,” that is, for the third time a threat is coming to you. - Then he adds: “If I come again.” If after this I come and find you faulty, do not ask for mercy, “I will not spare you.” If this assumption is accepted, then is it not possible to assume that the second stay was nothing other than the first letter in which he wrote that when the verdict on the incestuous man was announced, he would be with them in spirit as truly as if he were in body (1 Cor. 5:3)? Then the calculation would be determined more simply, and there would be no need to make assumptions that have nowhere to be placed. 2 Cor. 13:2. First I said and say that I have had a second experience with you, and while I am absent now I am writing to those who have sinned before and to everyone else, that even if I come again, I will not show mercy. Saint Chrysostom says the following in response to both of these verses: “The love of the Apostle Paul and his fatherly compassion can be seen from many other things, but mainly from the fact that he is abundant and strict in threats, and quiet and slow in punishments. For he did not immediately punish those who sinned, but admonished them twice; He does not even punish those who disobeyed his admonitions, but again exhorts, saying: “Behold, I am coming to you in thirds,” and before my coming I am writing another message. And so that slowness does not produce carelessness, see how this is prevented by constantly threatening, straining the blow and saying: “If I come again, I will not show mercy.” This is what he does and says, imitating in this the Lord of all. For God, although he constantly threatens and repeatedly exhorts, does not often punish. This is what the Apostle does. “Behold, I come to you as a tertiary,” he says: “at the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word will become.” Instead of witnesses, he presents his repeated presence in Corinth and his exhortations. His words have the following meaning: I spoke to you once and again when I came to you, and now I speak in writing. And if you listen to me, then my desire will be fulfilled; If you don’t listen, then you will have to fulfill what I said and impose punishment. For if “at the hearing of two or three witnesses everything will be said,” and I have already been with you twice and told you, but now I am speaking in writing, then I will need to keep my word. Do not think that my message to you is less important than my personal presence with you. Just as I spoke when I was with you, so when I was away I write. Do you see the fatherly care of the Apostle? Do you see what his teaching is and what kind of prudence befits a teacher? He did not remain silent and did not punish; He already makes advances several times and never stops threatening, but he postpones the punishment. If even after this they do not correct themselves, then they threaten real punishment. What did you say before when you were in Corinth, and what do you write now while you are away? - “Even if I come again, I will not have mercy.” At first he said that he could not do this unless he was forced to do so, and he called the need to punish crying and humility for himself; he even made excuses to them that he had already preceded them once, twice, and three times, that he was doing everything and figuring out how to get by without punishment and correct them with verbal threats only; Finally he pronounces these menacing words and says: “Even if I come again, I will not have mercy.” He did not say: I will take revenge, I will punish, I will put them to torture, but he also expresses himself about the punishment itself in a fatherly manner, showing his love and compassion for them, for which, sparing them, he had hitherto postponed punishment. And only when he is forced, he says: “I will not spare you,” that is, I will not postpone the punishment if, God forbid, I find you uncorrected, but I will certainly punish you and fulfill what I said. He added this finally, so that now they would not think that the punishment would again be postponed and the threats were only in words." 2 Cor. 13:3. Because of temptation, seek Christ speaking in me, who does not fail in you, but is able in you. He gives a reason why he “will not spare” and shows that they themselves force him to act this way and not otherwise. He says, as it were, to them: so you yourself have posed the question that if I do not correct myself, I will inevitably not spare you, but will show to you the apostolic authority given to me and the power of Christ acting in me. They began to say about me: he is weak in body, and his word is not strong, thus leading to the very teaching that I teach, as if it was not Christ’s. So, since this is what you are saying about me, if I did not show you apostolic severity, you would actually become firmly established in such thoughts, and this would greatly harm the cause of the Gospel and your salvation. So, one of two things: either correct yourself, or I will have to show no mercy to you, only by powerfully cutting off the disobedient from the Church or striking them with direct punishment, as I struck the sorcerer Elimas with blindness in Cyprus. “And then you will see tangibly that Christ the Lord speaks and acts in me. Saint Chrysostom says in this place: “Since you want to test whether Christ dwells in me, you demand proof from me and therefore laugh at me as a low and despicable person who does not have the power of Christ in me, then you will learn that I am not deprived of it if you give me a chance, which, however, I do not want. He says this, expressing his indignation and wanting to make those who despised him feel this. I don’t want, he says, to show you such experience. If you yourself present a case and want to challenge me to do this, then you will find out for sure.” “Those who are in you do not fail, but those who are in you can.” There he said: I will have to show the power and authority of Christ over you, because you want to see experimental confirmation that He speaks and acts in me. So, you will see in me the power of Christ, - “He who is not weak in you, but is able in you,” who is not weak in you, “ουκ ασθενει,” but is powerful, — αλλα δυναται. Points to the power of Christ experienced by the Corinthians, and despite the fact that it continues to be evident among them. The purpose for which the Apostle added this, or that is, to increase their fear, as if saying: and how powerful Christ is, you know this, have experienced and are experiencing. Therefore, it is understood, beware of irritating His power to the point of punishment for yourself. Or the one to shame them, suggesting that they should not have subjected him to such an experience, because if Christ is powerful in them, then through no one other than St. Paul himself. If Christ is powerful in you, he seems to say, then are you not ashamed to tempt the Christ who speaks and acts in me, when you have come to know Christ and entered into communion with Him through me? Here are the opinions of our interpreters about this. Saint Chrysostom says: “The Apostle here transfers the speech from himself to Christ in order to make the threats more terrible. His words have the following meaning: even if I do punish those who sin, will I really punish them? - Christ, Who lives in me, will punish me. You know the power of Christ. He “failed not, but was able in you.” Why did the Apostle add “in you,” when Christ is strong everywhere? Whether He wants to punish the infidels or anyone else, He can do everything. What does this addition mean? “The Apostle either wants to shame them more with what they themselves have already experienced, or he expresses the fact that Christ is now showing power in them.” Photius in Ecumenius writes: “You want to tempt whether Christ speaks in me, looking at me as one who is from Christ, you want to tempt Christ who speaks in me, while you clearly know His power in me. This attempt itself—to tempt the power of Christ in me—is a sin. For to tempt this, especially after such (manifestations of it), is the work of the ungrateful, unfaithful and fickle. Thus, it is obvious that these words are the words of the one who threatens - threatening.” Theophylact says: “Of course, they first experienced the power of Christ. So, the Apostle tells them, from what experiences (grace-filled) you have had, you know, of course, that Christ in you is not weak, but strong.” – What other experiences, let us add to this speech, do you have of His power? 2 Cor. 13:4. For even though we were crucified through weakness, we live because of the power of God: for we also are weak in Him, but we will live with Him because of the power of God in you. Having said that Christ is powerful in the Corinthians, he reminds: but He was in weakness when He was crucified - and this circumstance is used to explain what he is talking about to them. He seems to be saying: the same thing works with us, or in us, the Apostles, as in Christ Jesus. When He suffered and was crucified, everyone considered Him to have no power; meanwhile, by death on the cross He destroyed the power of death, and when they laid Him in the tomb, He destroyed hell and brought out of it everyone who had been contained in it for centuries; then he rose again and continues to act with power in the souls of believers and in the structure of His Church on earth; and He is powerful in you. Likewise, we seem to everyone to be weak, and they persecute us, and inflict wounds on us, and reduce us to nothing; but meanwhile the power of God acts through us everywhere, it is manifested in you, and will manifest itself in the future, as you might expect. We seem to have frozen for you: we will be revived by Christ, and you will experience this living Christ’s Divine power in us. He understands when, having come to them and finding them faulty, he will be forced to act among them with apostolic authority, which is the power of Christ living in him. Saint Chrysostom says: “What does it mean: “even though he was crucified through weakness”? – That although Christ deigned to suffer, which had the appearance of weakness, this does not diminish His strength. His power remains invincible, and the appearance of weakness did not harm it in the least; but it was this that most showed His strength in the fact that He endured suffering, and His strength was not diminished through this. So, do not let the word “weakness” confuse you. For in another place the Apostle says: “Man is more wise than God, and man is more powerful than God’s weakness” (1 Cor. 1:25); although there is nothing violent, nothing weak in God, he nevertheless called the cross that way, depicting the opinion of the infidels about him. Listen to how the Apostle himself interprets his words: “The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). Look how everywhere he expounds the opinion of the infidels, who regard the cross as foolishness and weakness. So here he speaks not of real weakness, but of one imagined by unbelievers. So, the Apostle does not say that Christ was crucified through weakness; Let this not happen! For He showed in everything that He might not have been crucified; showed: now by throwing down those who came with Judas to the ground (John 18:6), now by darkening the sun, now by drying up the fig tree, now by blinding the eyes of those who wanted to take Him, and by performing other countless miracles. So, understand the expression: “out of weakness” that although Christ was crucified, having endured disaster and slander, He did not suffer any harm. And the Apostle said all this in order to apply it to himself. since the Apostles were persecuted, persecuted, despised, and God did not avenge them, and they themselves did not stand up for themselves; then, admonishing that they endure all this not out of weakness and not because they cannot avenge themselves, points to the example of the Lord. For the Lord Himself was crucified, bound, suffered countless torments, but did not avenge Himself; on the contrary, He bore everything that seemed like weakness, and in this weakness revealed His strength, because He did not suffer any harm, although He did not take revenge and did not stand up for Himself. The Cross did not stop His life, did not prevent His Resurrection; on the contrary, Christ has risen and lives. And when you hear about the cross and about life, understand this about the economy of salvation, for this is what we are talking about. Thus, when the Apostle says: “from the power of God,” he does not mean that Christ Himself could not give life to His flesh, but only shows that there is no difference whether to say: by the power of the Father or by the power of the Son. And therefore, having said: “by the power of God,” he said the same thing as by His own power. And that Christ Himself actually raised up and resurrected His flesh, listen to how He Himself says: “Destroy this church, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). If he calls what belongs to Him to belong to the Father, do not be embarrassed by this. “All things,” He says, “are possessed by the Father, they are Mine” (John 16:15). And in another place: “and all that is mine is thine, and thine is mine” (John 17:10). Therefore, says the Apostle, just as Christ, having been crucified, did not suffer any harm, so we, when we are persecuted and armed against us, do not suffer harm. That’s why he added: “For we also are weak in Him, but as we live in Him we will live by the power of God.” What does it mean: “we are weak”? – We are persecuted, oppressed and suffer extreme hardships. What does it mean: “in Him”? – What we endure for preaching and for believing in Him. If we endure everything sorrowful and painful for Him, then obviously we will also receive joyful things. Why does the Apostle say further: “but we will live in Him from the power of God.” The last words are explained more fully by Photius in Ecumenius and Theophylact. The first one says: “We will live with Him... in you.” That is, we will appear alive in you, not just, but with Christ Himself, having life from His power, by which He, having trampled death and destroyed hell, rose again and lives. This life and power is a punishment for those who do the deeds of the evil one, as a saving one for those who, due to their sins, resort to repentance. For this reason, he says, do not despise us, seeing us persecuted and suffering countless sorrows. So Christ was despised when crucified, but, having risen, he did everything he wanted. And whatever we endure, we endure for His sake. Why, even though we endure, just as He is alive and powerful, so we with Him, by His good pleasure, are alive and powerful to do in you what we want, and especially in you, because because of the disobedience shown among you, we have many righteous reasons against you.” – The second writes: “They persecute us and persecute us for Christ and the preaching of Him; but just as He suffered no harm when slandered, so we too will live with Him, that is, we will prove unconquered in you, that is, for your benefit. But perhaps he also frightens them, saying, as it were: although it seems to you that we are weak, we are alive for you, that is, to punish you if you do not improve.” 2 Cor. 13:5. Tempt yourselves, if you are in faith: tempt yourself. Or do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless you really are inexperienced. The Apostle says, as it were: but what do I prove to you, that Christ is in me? You have it too. So, instead of tempting me, tempt yourself to see if you are in the faith. If you are in faith, then Christ is in you; if He is in you, much more in me. Here is proof for you that Christ speaks and acts in me. Or do you not know that Christ is in you? - He is in you: “unless you are unskillful.” - “You are not skillful,” αδοκιμοι, you cannot stand the test. The test of Christians is faith promoted by love. Those who either lack faith in faith, or are weak and meager in life according to faith, do not pass the test. The Apostle says, as it were: if you cannot stand such a test, then, of course, Christ is not in you. Hence this guidance: look around, is it not because you are tempting the speaking Christ in me because you yourself have lost Him? If you had Him, you would not be able to doubt that He is in me, for through me you came to know Him. Thus, the words: “tempt yourselves” led both to the fact that, having found Christ in yourself, to make sure that He is also in Saint Paul, and to the fact that, having not found Him, to grieve about it and be concerned about gaining Him, which would again lead to the same thing, that is, to make sure that He exists, speaks and acts in Saint Paul. Saint Chrysostom says: “What should I say about myself, a teacher who has so many concerns, who has been entrusted with the whole universe, who has created so many miracles? And you yourself, who are among the disciples, if you want to test yourselves, see that Jesus Christ dwells in you too. If in you, then much more in the teacher. For if you have faith, then Christ is in you. It seems to me that the Apostle is speaking here about miracle-working faith, because the believers at that time worked miracles. If you have, he says, such faith, then Christ is in you, unless you are what you ought to be. Here, it seems, the Apostle points the Corinthians to life. since faith alone is not sufficient to receive spiritual power, and he said that if you remain in faith, then you have Christ in you, while many, having faith, did not have miraculous power, then, resolving the bewilderment, he says: “unless you are unskillful by nature,” that is, is your life vicious. But he does not speak so directly, so as not to offend them, but slightly hints at this; does not say in the affirmative: you are unskillful, but imagines a case that is not entirely possible for them: “unless.” Blessed Photius in Ecumenius finds other shades of thoughts in these words of the Apostle: “Are you not thereby testing your own faith? Are you forced to seek confirmation of whether you are in faith? For to seek the temptation of Christ speaking in me and not be firmly convinced that it is Christ speaking in the teacher - what else means but to tempt yourself, are you faithful, if not to doubt yourselves? This means even more - not to know at all that Christ is in you. For if there is no Christ in the teacher, much less in the disciples. But how, he says, do you not know that Christ is in you, when He has enriched you with various gifts of grace? Or, having imagined yourself to be unskillful in matters (living poorly), have you lost them too? By this he also wants to say: if you have received and have grace-filled power over unclean spirits (unless, having become obscene, you have not lost it), do not I much more have power over those who fulfill the will of unclean demons, if there are such among you? Or this: are you looking for temptation in me? – Tempt yourself, test more carefully whether you are in the faith. Surely you have not fallen away from her, for otherwise you probably would not have tempted me. Then, as if softening a strong reproach, he says: “or you do not know that Jesus Christ is in you.” It’s like this: I understand you that there is Christ in you. If you don't know this yourself, it's your fault. See if you have become something you shouldn't be? Together, he shames them: if I admit that Christ is in you, even if I am unskillful, then how are you still looking for the temptation of His presence in me? But how could they know that Christ was in them? - From the signs that they performed, if they still performed them. The words: “unless you are unskillful” hint at a bad life. If you, he says, are in faith, but do not have a life corresponding to it, then you are unskilled and Christ is not in you, and He no longer shows His presence among you through signs.” 2 Cor. 13:6. I hope that you understand that we are not skillful. The speech seems to flow like this: if you had not become unskillful, you would know that Christ is in you, and from yourself and about us you would conclude that Christ is also in us. But since, as it seems, it is impossible to judge you in this way, I have to prove in another way that Christ is in me, that I have not become unskilled like you, and have not lost the presence of the power of Christ in me. I hope that you will find out by doing this, when, that is, I come and deal punitively with those responsible. “And here again there is a great threat, great fear. since you want me to prove this to you by punishing you, then we are able to give you such proof. However, he doesn’t say that, but with greater severity and threat: “I hope, as you understand, that we are incompetent.” Even without this, he says, you should have known our strength and what Christ speaks and works in us. But since you want to experience this in reality, you will learn that “we are not skillful”” (St. Chrysostom). “We are not skillful, we have not lost the gift of signs and the power of grace, or we have not corrupted our lives so that Christ will move out of us, but He is in us, with our good life, and will punish those who do not listen to us” (Theophylact). 2 Cor. 13:7. We pray... to God, do not do you a single evil, not that we will appear skillfully, but that you will do good, but we will be unskillful. The words: “we are unskillful” are unambiguous with the words: we can demonstrate the power of Christ operating in us by punitive judgment over those who have sinned and have not repented. But, says the Apostle, in such a manifestation of power and strength, or our art, we do not find pleasure, it does not constitute the object of our desires. On the contrary, we pray to God that we will not need to inflict any punishment on you, to impose on you any punishment that is unpleasant for you; We wish better that you, having repented and corrected yourself, do good through this and thereby take away from us the opportunity to show ourselves strong by the power of Christ, or skillful. It is better that we remain unskilled than for you to suffer anything from us, even if it is just. Saint Chrysostom says: “Since he extended the threat far away, placed the punishment, so to speak, at the very door, brought the Corinthians into trembling and forced them to expect execution, then look with what sweetness his word again dissolves, how their fear is moderated, how much undemandingness, care for his disciples, wisdom, loftiness and unconceit he reveals in himself. Yet this is revealed in the following words: “We pray to God, not to do you a single evil,” and so on. Where can you find a soul like Pavlova? He was despised, humiliated, ridiculed, mocked as a low man, meaningless, boastful, who boasts only in words, but in reality cannot show his strength at all; and he not only hesitates and does not want to punish, but also prays to God not to come to such a necessity. I ask and pray to God, he says, that I will not find anyone unrepentant and unrepentant. And I pray not only for this, but also primarily, so that you do not begin to sin - “not to do you a single evil,” he says (so that you do not do any evil); and if you sin, then you should hasten to repent, precede me with correction and prevent anger. I am not concerned about appearing skillful to you, but, quite the opposite, about not having to actually show this skill. For, he says, if you remain unrepentant in your sins, then it is necessary to punish you, to torture your bodies, as was done with the sorcerer (Acts 13:11), over whom we showed the experience of our power. But we do not pray for this, but on the contrary, so that we do not show ourselves to be skillful in such a matter, that is, so as not to experience the power that is in us, punishing you and torturing those who have sinned and those who are incurably sick. But what are we praying for? - “Yes, you will do good”; We pray that you will always remain in virtue, always be in good order; “we, as if we are inexperienced,” without revealing the punitive power (of Christ) in ourselves. And he did not say: we will be unskillful, for he would not become unskillful, even if he did not punish; on the contrary, through this he would show himself to be skillful. But although some, he says, consider us despicable and unworthy of respect, because we do not show our strength, I do not care about that at all. It is better for us to incur such an opinion from them than to demonstrate the power given to us by God in punishing people who are hardened in heart.” 2 Cor. 13:8. We can do nothing with the truth, but with the truth. “For if you follow the path that you should have (the true one), then how can we show punitive power?” (Theodorite). “In order not to seem to be doing this (that is, the above prayer and concession) out of gratification, which is alien to a spirit that does not know vanity, but on the contrary, to show that he is doing what the very nature of the matter requires, the Apostle said: “We can do nothing for the truth.” If we find you well-ordered, having put aside your sins through repentance and having boldness towards God, then even if we wanted to, we will not be able to punish you; on the contrary, if we decided to do this, God would not help us. For He gave us strength for this purpose, so that we pronounce judgment correctly, righteously, and not contrary to the truth. Do you see how everywhere he softens his word and moderates the severity of the threat? (Saint Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 13:9. We rejoice because when we are weak, you become stronger: this is what we pray for, for your perfection. “We especially rejoice in this when we have no need to punish you, seeing how you please God, when we do not find that you have given us a reason to show our strength in punishing you. And although through this we would appear glorious, skillful and strong, we want the opposite, that is, that you should be skillful and blameless, and that we would not gain glory for ourselves from this. That’s why he says: “We rejoice when we are weak.” What does it mean: “we are always weak”? – When we are considered weak, not when we are weak, but when we are considered weak. And the enemies revered the Apostles as such because they did not show their punitive power. However, we rejoice, says the Apostle, when you live in such a way that you do not give us any reason to punish you. And it is pleasant for us that they consider us weak in this, so long as you are blameless. That’s why he adds: “you will be strong,” that is, skillful and firm in virtue. And we not only wish, but also pray that you will be blameless, perfect and not give us any reason (to punish you). Truly fatherly love is to prefer the salvation of students to your own personal glory!” (Saint Chrysostom). 2 Cor. 13:10. For this reason, I am not writing this to you, lest I come mercilessly and do according to the power that the Lord gave me to eat for creation, and not for destruction. This is the goal towards which everything that was said in this last section was directed (2 Cor. 12:19-21, 13:1-10). If, he said, when I come, I find the faulty ones uncorrected, “I will not have mercy.” Now he says: I’m writing about this so that I really don’t act “mercilessly” with you. I have no desire to do this to you. “I wish that my severity was only in words, and not in deeds; I wish the messages were strict; so that the threats continue, but do not come true” (St. Chrysostom). But in order for my desire to be fulfilled, it is necessary for you to improve in everything and appear perfect. For I am not telling you as an indulgence that I do not want to treat you mercilessly, but to encourage you to correct yourself willingly, and not from punitive measures. Know that “the power that the Lord has given me” is always inherent in me. It was given to me “for creation, not for destruction.” If I find you faulty, it will be necessary to correct you with authority, and through this create, for, leaving you faulty, I will make an allowance for you not for creation, but for destruction. You will become even more upset. So, one of two things: either correct yourself, or wait for merciless punishment. But still, know that I do not want this, but I will do it because the essence of the power given to me requires it. “I left everything for them to think about” (Saint Chrysostom). You might be interested in: