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The final settlement of the Apostle with his opponents. Introduction and main idea of ​​the next section (1–7). Paul's letters and personal discourse (8–11). The self-praise of the Apostle and the groundlessness of the self-praise of his opponents (12-18). 2 Corinthians 10:1–7. From chapters X to XIII, the Apostle defends his apostolic dignity before the Corinthians and exhorts them to correct their lives. In the introduction, the Apostle refutes what was said in Corinth and that Paul was bold in absentia, and upon his arrival in Corinth he behaved very modestly. No, he has enough energy to punish any disobedience, and it is only out of pity that he does not apply his apostolic authority to the matter. An Apostle is as close to Christ as those who call themselves Christ's, and therefore has all the power and strength of a true Apostle of Christ. 2Cor.10:1. But I, Paul, who is modest among you personally, but courageous against you in absentia, convince you with the meekness and condescension of Christ. “I, Paul,... convince you,” that is, I personally convince you. It may very well be that by this the Apostle wanted to say that further he would no longer speak on behalf of all his colleagues (cf. 2 Cor. 1:1), but only on his own behalf. - “I’m modest between you.” Paul was prompted to this by the pity that he could not help but feel when sinners stood before him face to face. Behind his back, he hurled thunders of his just anger against them, and when dealing with them personally, he could not help but discover compassion for them, which his opponents interpreted as a weakness of his character, as an awareness of his lower position in the ranks of the Apostles. 2Cor.10:2. I ask that when I come, I will not resort to that strong boldness that I think I will use against some who think about us that we walk according to the flesh. The Apostle reflects this reproach with an ironic warning: let him not be forced to show his courage - it will be bad for them... At the same time, Ap. indicates the motive that guided those who condemned his behavior in relation to the Corinthians. It was the Apostle’s opponents who looked at him as acting “according to the flesh,” that is, as a simple man acting according to his own personal understanding, not enlightened by the Spirit of God. 2 Corinthians 10:3. For we, although we walk in the flesh, do not fight according to the flesh. Of course, the Apostle, like every person, lives in conditions of carnal existence. Even in relation to external advantages, he is lower than others, as, for example, it must be said about his body, which often refused to serve him. But still, his opponents must be convinced that extraordinary strength of spirit dwells in him - be convinced by watching how he fights forces hostile to God. 2 Corinthians 10:4. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but powerful in God for the destruction of strongholds: with them we overthrow plans The “weapons” with which the Apostle fights are “not carnal,” that is, not weak (everything carnal is weak, weak, cf. Isaiah 40:6), but “strong” (the Apostle does not add: spiritual, because this is already clear). God Himself gave strength to Paul’s weapons so that he could destroy all sorts of enemy strongholds, that is, “the pride of the Greeks and the power of their sophisms and syllogisms” (Zlat.). 2 Corinthians 10:5. and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and we take into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, The opponents of the Apostle Paul, the Judaizers, also rebelled “against the knowledge of God,” that is, they prevented the Apostle from spreading the true knowledge of God as the One who loved the whole world and who calls the pagans to salvation, without obliging them to observe the Law of Moses. The apostle refutes the Jewish self-exaltation, which forced the Judaizers to insist that no one can be saved without fulfilling the law of Moses. The Apostle brings “every thought,” that is, every thinking person, as a captive, but as a voluntary captive, to Christ, or in other words, to faith in Christ (Rom. 1:5, 15:18). 2 Corinthians 10:6. and are ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. If Paul forces the whole world to obey, then on the other hand he is ready to punish for disobedience. Of course, the Apostle here has in mind the Corinthian church. But this will happen when almost all the Corinthians demonstrate obedience to the Apostle and single out those who are stubbornly disobedient from among them. It is only such people that the Apostle wants to punish. 2 Corinthians 10:7. Are you looking at personality? Whoever is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, judge for himself that just as he is Christ’s, so we are Christ’s. Paul here directly rebels against the claim of the Judaizers to place themselves in a special, exclusive relationship with Christ. These “Christians” were not at all those Corinthians who put the party of Christ in opposition to the parties of Peter, Paul and Apollos (1 Cor 1:12). The Apostle speaks of these new “Christians” not as a party opposed to other parties, but only as personal opponents of him, Paul, to whom they denied the closeness to Christ that they ascribed only to themselves. Obviously, these were Judaizing preachers who came to Corinth from Jerusalem in order to interfere with the success of the preaching of the Apostle Paul in Corinth. They boasted that they were sent from the “mother of churches” - from the Church of Jerusalem, and were familiar with the closest disciples of Christ. - “Are you looking at personality?” The interrogative form of expression in the present place does not give a definite and clear thought that could be put in close connection with the following admonition. Therefore, the newest interpreters prefer to take this phrase as an expression of command and translate it as follows: “pay attention, however, to what lies before your eyes”! The apostle will further, from verse 8, speak in detail about what exactly the Corinthians need to pay their attention to. 2 Corinthians 10:8–11. Someone said about the Apostle Paul in Corinth that he was strict and strong only in his epistles, but when he had to speak personally before Christians, he was timid and lost in speech. The apostle says that such a rumor about him is completely unfounded. 2 Corinthians 10:8. For if I had begun to boast more about our power, which the Lord has given us for our creation, and not for your destruction, I would not have remained in shame. Someone might find the praise that Ap expressed about himself unpleasant. in verse 7. But the Apostle, strictly speaking, still said little about himself: if he had said more about himself, then God would not have disgraced his praise and would have confirmed - obviously with miraculous signs (for example, similar to Acts 5:9-10) - the authority of the Apostle. His authority is Ap. does not use it to destroy the Church, for which, apparently, someone reproached him, but to build it up. Wed. 2 Corinthians 13:10. 2 Corinthians 10:9. However, let it not seem that I am intimidating you only with messages. In Corinth, a rumor was spread that the Apostle would never carry out the threats that he expressed in his epistles (of course, obviously, the first and present, second epistle to the Corinthians). 2 Corinthians 10:10. Since someone says: in messages he is strict and strong, but in personal presence he is weak, and his speech is insignificant, - Ap. Here Paul is portrayed to us not only as an unrepresentable person in appearance (this is also evidenced by the tradition preserved by the 14th century writer Nicephorus Callistus and the apocryphal “Acts of Paul and Thekla”), but even as a little energetic figure and a poor speaker, which for the Greek population of Corinth seemed a very big drawback. 2 Corinthians 10:11. Let such a one know that, as we are in words in letters in absentia, we are in reality in person. The apostle dismisses the reproach simply, without citing any historical evidence. Obviously, he hopes to give evidence of his energy upon his arrival in Corinth. If the Apostle boasts, then his praise is based on facts: he really did a lot to spread the Gospel of Christ and will do even more. Moreover, he realizes that the Lord Himself gives him His approval for his tireless activity. 2 Corinthians 10:12. For we do not dare compare or compare ourselves with those who expose themselves: they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves unreasonably. The first half of the verse is clear. The apostle says that he will not dare (there is obviously irony here) to compare his exploits with the exploits of others who like to talk too much about themselves. “Where are we going?” - the Apostle seems to be saying. But the second half of the verse is incomprehensible, and in order to give it an understandable form, some publications (including our Greek text) attributed the words of the second half of the verse to the opponents of the Apostle Paul, whom the Apostle allegedly condemns as acting unreasonably. Meanwhile, without adding a new subject (“they”) and predicate (“unreasonably” - o ύ συνιοΰσιν), this half of the verse can be easily explained if we consider it a continuation of the Apostle’s speech about himself. In this case, the entire verse can be translated as follows: “we hardly dare to compare ourselves or compare ourselves with those who praise themselves. Rather, we measure ourselves by ourselves and compare ourselves with ourselves.” The Apostle says that he can compare his actual Self only with what he should be according to Divine destiny. 2 Corinthians 10:13. And we will not boast without measure, but according to the measure of the inheritance that God has assigned to us in such a measure as to reach you. The Apostle here warns against the objection that he, comparing himself with himself, can go very far beyond the bounds of plausibility. No, he knows how to maintain moderation in self-praise. At least, the Corinthians in no case have any reason to suspect him of exaggerating his merits and considering him a stranger to their church: the Lord brought him to Corinth, and he really did a lot here - he has something to boast about here. 2 Corinthians 10:14. For we do not strain ourselves as if we had not reached you, because we have also reached you through the gospel of Christ. "We don't strain ourselves." Obviously, Paul’s opponents told the Corinthians about him that he “appropriates too much to himself” (tenses), that it was not he who “reached” Corinth, that is, the Corinthians did not owe their Christian enlightenment to him. In fact, it might have seemed to some Corinthians that perhaps Apollos or someone else besides Paul had more importance for them in the matter of proclaiming the gospel teaching (cf. 1 Cor 1:12). 2 Corinthians 10:15. We do not boast without measure, not in the labors of others, but we hope, with the growth of your faith, to abundantly increase our inheritance in you, 2 Corinthians 10:16. so that you can continue to preach the Gospel, and not boast about being ready in someone else’s inheritance. The apostle looks at Corinth precisely as his own destiny, assigned to it by God. He spread the Gospel here, he will also confirm the Corinthians in the faith, and then he will extend his activity further - not to Rome, of course, where the Church was already founded by others, but to Spain (cf. Rom 15:24). 2 Corinthians 10:17. Let him who boasts boast in the Lord 11. 2 Corinthians 10:18. For he is not worthy who praises himself, but whom the Lord praises. In conclusion, the Apostle indicates the correct scale for all human praise: one must attribute everything not to oneself, but to the help of the Lord (cf. Jer. 9:24). And is it possible to achieve anything by boasting? No, we must wait for the Lord to praise him, for the Lord to declare a well-known figure to be His faithful servant (cf. Matthew 25:21). You might be interested in: