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2Cor.1:1. Paul, by the will of God an Apostle of Jesus Christ, and Timothy brother, Since the apostle sent Timothy to Corinth during his first epistle and then received him again when he returned, he rightly adds his name to his name. In addition, Timothy showed the Corinthians the experience of his virtue. Thus, the apostle mentions Timothy in this letter as a person already known to the Corinthians and who corrected many things among them. Notice that he sometimes calls him a son: “like a son to a father,” says, “served me in the gospel” (Phil. 2:22), sometimes a co-worker: “for he is doing the work of the Lord, just as I do” (1 Cor. 16:10), and now a brother, presenting him in every respect worthy of respect. Church of God located in Corinth, He connects them again, saying; "churches"; for those who are divided do not constitute the church. with all the saints throughout Achaia. He mentions everyone living in Achaia, giving preference to the Corinthians, when through a letter to them he greets everyone, and at the same time calls on the entire people to agree. In addition, since they all hesitated, he offers them general medicine; does the same thing in the epistles to the Galatians and to the Hebrews. Calling them saints shows that if someone is unclean, then he is unworthy of this greeting and name. 2Cor.1:2. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And now he uses the usual greeting, as described in other places. 2Cor.1:3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, In the first message he promised to come to them, but since he did not come, he assumed that he had greatly saddened them with the thought that he preferred others to them. So, wanting to justify himself and show that he was delayed by many temptations that happened to him, he offers an excellent explanation in his defense. I thank, he says, God, who saved me from danger; through this thanksgiving he hints that there were some great obstacles that held him back, for which he thanks for liberation. Put a punctuation mark on the word “God”, then start: “and the Father of the Lord.” If you understand this together: God and Father of the Lord, then there will be nothing new, for He is one and the same Christ - God in humanity, and Father in divinity. Father of mercies and God of all comfort. That is, He showed such great generosity that He brought us out from the very gates of death and honored us with every consolation in our sorrows. It was the custom of the saints to name God by the benefits they received from Him. So, on the occasion of victory in the war, David says: “I will love You, O Lord, my strength” (Ps. 17:2), and also: “The Lord is the strength of my life” (Ps. 26:1); on the occasion of deliverance from darkness and eclipse of the mind and from sadness: “The Lord is my enlightenment” (Ps. 26:1). So now Paul calls God the Father of bounties and the God of comfort because of what happened to him. Notice his humility: having received deliverance from temptations for the gospel, he does not say that the deliverance is due to merit, but according to the bounties of God. 2Cor.1:4. Comforting us in all our sorrow, He did not say: he who never ceases to depress us, but who comforts us in times of trouble; for if He allows us to be oppressed, it is so that through patience we may gain a reward; when he sees that we are exhausted, he consoles us; and it always does. Therefore, he did not say that He once consoled, but “comforter,” that is, always; and not in this or that tribulation, but “in every kind.” so that we too can comfort those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which God comforts us. Not because, he says, God consoles us because we are worthy of consolation, but so that, in the image of the consolation experienced by me, I can comfort others who are in temptation. Therefore, you, seeing me so comforted, do not lose heart while in sorrow. Through this, it also points to the work of the apostles, to the fact that they were appointed in order to encourage and excite others, and not like false apostles who, being in bliss and sitting at home, neglect those in need of consolation and encouragement. 2Cor.1:5. For as the sufferings of Christ increase in us, our consolation also increases through Christ. Do not be discouraged, he says, no one who hears about sorrows and sufferings, for to the extent that they multiply, so do the consolations. He didn’t just say: “sufferings,” but “Christ’s,” in order to inspire the Corinthians with this. Christ's sufferings are those that we endure and through this we become fellow-partners with Him in suffering. Therefore, let the greatest consolation for you be that you endure the sorrows of Christ and not only those, but greater ones. For, he says, “the sufferings of Christ are multiplied in us”: that is, we suffer more than how much Christ endured. Feeling, however, how great he said, he softens the same, saying: “Our consolation is multiplied by Christ,” for he relates everything to Him. And he did not say that consolation is equal to sorrows, but “multiplies” - much more sorrows. 2Cor.1:6. Do we mourn, mourn for your consolation and salvation, You, he says, should not be embarrassed that I endure tribulations, because we undergo tribulations for your salvation and consolation. We could spend our lives in safety if we did not preach; but now, when we preach in order to save you and comfort your souls through preaching and the benefits that come from it, we are subjected to sorrows. So we endure tribulations for your salvation, but you should not be embarrassed. which is accomplished by enduring the same suffering that we endure. He says that this salvation is accomplished not only through our patience, but also through yours; that is, it is not I alone who brings about your salvation, but you yourself. For just as I, when I preach, endure sorrows, so you, when you receive the preaching, endure the same sufferings that I endure. He testifies to them of their great virtue by the fact that they accepted the sermon with temptations. 2Cor.1:7. And our hope for you is firm. That is, we are firmly confident in you that you will not fall away from temptation, therefore, do not be embarrassed when you see that we suffer. Are we comforted, are we comforted for your consolation and salvation. Since he said above: we endure sorrows for you, so that what was said does not seem unbearable, now he says: for you we are comforted, that is, our consolation is your consolation. For if we receive only a little inspiration, then this is enough to comfort you, because you become partakers of our joy. Knowing that you participate both in our suffering and in our consolation. Since you, he says, when we are persecuted, grieve as if you yourself were enduring it, we know that when we are comforted, you consider yourself to have received consolation. 2Cor.1:8. For we do not want to leave you, brethren, ignorant of our sorrow that happened to us in Asia, because we were burdened excessively and beyond our strength, so that we did not hope to survive. Since he mentioned grief vaguely, he now explains what kind of grief it was. Through this, love also shows to them, for it is characteristic of love to reveal to others what has happened. At the same time, he provides an explanation for his delay. In Asia, he says, tribulation happened to him, which he speaks about in the first letter: “for a great and wide door was opened for me, and there were many adversaries” (1 Cor. 16:9). It would seem that he says the same thing when he expresses himself: “excessively” and “beyond force,” but in fact they are not the same thing. He says this: the temptation was excessive, that is, great; then, since the temptation, being strong, can be courageously endured by those who are able to endure it, he says that it was not only great, but also exceeded our strength, that is, both great and unbearable, such that we even despaired of life, that is, we no longer hoped to be alive. David calls this state the chains of hell, mortal diseases, because they give birth to death, and the snare of death (Ps. 17:5-7). 2 Corinthians 1:9. But they themselves had a sentence of death, They had a determination, a sentence, an answer, which the cases gave, although they did not utter a voice, that is, before we thought, the expectation of death and the sentence that the circumstances pronounced appeared, but in fact this did not happen. in order to rely not on ourselves, but on God, What, he says, was this for? So that we learn not to rely on ourselves, but only on God. However, Paul says this not because he himself now needs this instruction (for who has believed more that one should rely only on God?), but under the guise of telling about himself he admonishes others and at the same time teaches humility. 2 Corinthians 1:10. Who delivered us from such close death, and delivers, Again he reminds them of the sermon about the resurrection, about which he spoke so much in the first letter, and which the present circumstances confirm even more; That’s why he added: “Who delivered us from such near death.” He didn’t say: from danger, but “from death.” Although the resurrection is a future and unknown matter, he shows that it happens every day. For when God delivers a person who has approached the very gates of hell, this shows nothing other than resurrection; That is why we are in the habit of talking about a similar state of man: we saw the resurrection of the dead. and in whom we hope that he will also deliver From here we learn that our life must constantly pass in struggle; for when he says “he will deliver,” he predicts a storm of many temptations. 2Cor.1:11. with the assistance of your prayer for us, Since the words “so as not to rely on ourselves” might seem to some to be a general accusation concerning them, he softens what was said and asks for their prayers as a great intercession. From here we learn humility, because Paul needed the prayers of the Corinthians, and we learn the power of prayer itself, for the prayer of the Church, performed as it should, can do a lot, so Paul also needed it. so that for what has been given to us, through the intercession of many, many may give thanks for us. God has delivered us, he says, and will deliver us through your prayers, “so that for what was given to us through the intercession of many,” that is, so that for the grace that was in me through your prayers, many people among you would give thanks. For He gave my salvation, which came through your prayers, to all of you, so that many people would thank Him for us. From here we learn not only to pray for each other, but also to thank each other. Pay attention to how at the beginning he says that he was saved by the generosity of God, and now he attributes salvation to their prayers, for we must combine our own mercies with the mercies of God. And here Paul did not attribute all of the good deeds to the Corinthians, so as not to lead them to arrogance, but he did not completely alienate them from this, so as not to make them careless. God, he says, will deliver us “with the assistance of your prayer,” that is, with your assistance. 2Cor.1:12. For this praise of ours is the testimony of our conscience, This, he says, serves as a source of consolation for us: our conscience, which testifies to us that we are persecuted and persecuted not because we were convicted of bad deeds, but for virtue and for the salvation of many. So, the first consolation came from God, and this, he says, comes from the purity of my conscience, therefore he calls it praise, thereby showing the great power of conviction that he had in a clear conscience. that we are in simplicity and godly sincerity What, he says, does our conscience testify to us? and why do we boast? We acted in “simplicity,” that is, in kindness of heart, and in “sincerity” and openness of mind, having nothing that needed to be hidden, nothing shameful: God accepts this. He said this referring to the insidious false apostles. That is, without refined words and intricately woven feelings. For such is the wisdom of the flesh that they are puffed up by it, but he rejects and despises it. but by the grace of God they lived in peace, That is, according to God-given wisdom, signs and wonders that happened by the grace of God. The greatest consolation is when someone has evidence within himself that he does everything not by human strength, but by the grace of God. And they lived like this not only in Corinth, but all over the world. How? For the apostle preached the Gospel to them not only with signs, but also without any reward on their part. Notice how he attributes his own actions to the grace of God. 2 Corinthians 1:13. And we write to you nothing other than what you read or understand, Since the apostle seemed to say a lot about himself, so that no one would say that this is self-praise, he says: we write to you what you read in this epistle and what you already know. For the knowledge you previously received about me does not contradict my messages. Some understood it this way: we write to you what you read, that is, what you remember; for reading is remembering, or the highest knowledge. And why, he says, am I saying what you remember, what you know, that it belongs to us and does not need reminding, as it is known? and that, as I hope, you will fully understand, 2Cor.1:14. since you have already partially understood. He places everything on God. I hope, he says, in God, that you know us as our messages and our past life show. “You have already understood in part,” that is, you know from experience, because we have already partially presented to you some evidence of a virtuous life. He said this out of modesty. That we will be your praise, as you will be ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. What will you find out? What is your praise, that is, that I am such that I can give you a means to boast about me, that you have such a teacher who does not teach anything human, nothing harmful, nothing insidious. Then, so that it does not seem that he is saying this about himself out of boasting, he makes the praise general and says: you too will be my praise; for I will boast that I had such disciples who did not waver, who did not succumb to the deceptions of the false apostles. When will we boast about each other? And now, but especially on that day. For even now many see the slander and reproach that we endure, and perhaps they slander us, but then when everything will be exposed, and it will be clear about me that I am not what the slander of the false apostles represents me to be, and you will also be our praise, because you did not join the deceivers. 2Cor.1:15. And in this confidence I intended to come to you earlier, What hope? The fact that I am not aware of anything bad in myself, that I am your praise, that I was converted not in carnal wisdom, but in the grace of God, and that, finally, you are witnesses of all this for me. That's why I intended to "come to you". so that you may receive grace a second time. That is, double joy: one from the first message, and the other from my presence. 2 Corinthians 1:16. And through you to go to Macedonia, In the first letter he said: “I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia” (1 Cor. 16:5), but here he says: “I intended to come to you earlier.” So what? Doesn't he contradict himself? No. For although I wrote differently, he says, I tried and wanted to come to you before I saw Macedonia. I was so far from being careless in coming to you and delaying the fulfillment of my promise that I even wanted to come earlier. from Macedonia to come to you again; and you would take me to Judea. In the first letter he said vaguely: “so that you guide me where I go” (1 Cor. 16:6), fearing that, having said that he would go to Judea, and then being forced by the Spirit to go to another place, he would not seem like a liar. Now, when he was unable to come to them, he boldly says that he wanted them to accompany him to Judea; but it pleased God that I should not come to you at all and should not be escorted by you to Judea. Listen further. 2 Corinthians 1:17. Having such an intention, did I act frivolously? Or, what I undertake, do I undertake according to the flesh, so that with me it is sometimes “yes, yes”, sometimes “no, no”? Here he justifies himself more clearly regarding the delay, saying that he wanted to come to them, but why didn’t he come? Is it because I am frivolous and fickle, reasoning this way or that way? No. Or do I desire according to the flesh, that is, humanly, and am guided by my own will, so that whatever I decide for myself, I do, whether it is yes or no? Not at all. But I am under the control of the Spirit and have no power to go where I want, but where He commands. Therefore, with me, “yes” often does not happen “yes,” for this happens to be displeasing to the Spirit, and “no” does not happen “no,” for what I deny is commanded by the Spirit. Note wisdom, as the fact that slanderers made a pretext for slander, namely, that he did not come, although he promised, turns into praise, saying that he has no power over himself, but the Spirit leads him where He pleases. So what? Did he really make a promise not with the assistance of the Spirit, but out of ignorance of the future? Out of ignorance, because I didn’t know everything. So I prayed, sometimes about what was useless, for example, about the removal of temptations (2 Cor. 12:7-9). And in Acts there is an example that this was beneficial so that people would not treat the apostles as gods, as happened with the Lycaonians (Acts 14:11). 2 Corinthians 1:18. God is faithful that our word to you was not either “yes” or “no.” Refutes the objection that arises. Someone could quite rightly say: if what you say is not firm, but you often say “yes”, but it turns out “no”, then we are afraid that your teaching is not like this, is your preaching not like this - “yes” and “no”, that is, fickle and unstable? To refute this objection, he says that the promise to come to them was his business, which is why it was not fulfilled; As for preaching, it is the work of God, and what is from God is inaccessible to lies. That is why he said: “God is faithful,” that is, true, and since He is true, His word to you, preached by us, is neither fickle nor unstable, sometimes “yes” and sometimes “no.” 2 Corinthians 1:19. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, preached among you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not “yes” and “no”; but in Him there was a yes. Finally he says which word was not “yes” and “no”. The One whom we preached to you was not “yes” and “no,” that is, it was not preached one thing now and now another, but it was “yes,” that is, it was preached firmly and without hesitation. He also lists many of those who preached, presenting their testimony as worthy of faith and at the same time teaching humility, for he presents his disciples as co-teachers. 2Cor.1:20. For all the promises of God are in Him “Yes” and in Him “Amen” - to the glory of God, through us. The sermon contains many promises: the resurrection of the dead, adoption and, in general, the hope of the future age. So, he says that not only is the sermon always exactly the same and is proclaimed with immutability, but also the promises contained in it; for they are God's. And what God promised is in Him “yes” and in Him “amen,” that is, it is immutable; for it is fulfilled not in any of the people, but in God Himself, which is why it is immutable. Moreover, they serve for His glory, and, of course, if for nothing else, then for His own glory God will fulfill His promises. How will he fulfill them? “Through us,” that is, through good deeds to us. For we who receive the promises give Him a reason to fulfill these promises. If the promises of God are true, then much more is God Himself faithful and the word about Him is sure. The words “through us” can be understood in another way, that is, to the glory of God, exalted to Him through us; for He is glorified through us. 2Cor.1:21. He who confirms you and me in Christ and anoints us is God, 2 Corinthians 1:22. who sealed us and gave the pledge of the Spirit into our hearts. Having said above that God will fulfill the promises, now confirms this. That, he says, that you and I, your teacher, stand firmly in faith in Christ, was given by God, who anointed us and sealed us, that is, made us prophets, kings and priests. For such is everyone who is baptized: he is a prophet, as one who sees what eye has not seen and ear has not heard; he is a priest, as one who must offer himself as a living, holy sacrifice, pleasing to God; he is a king, as the son of the King of God and the heir of the future Kingdom, and as now reigning over inappropriate thoughts and placed above the whole world. Just as in ancient times priests and kings were anointed with oil, so now we are anointed with the Spirit, when God gave the deposit of the Spirit into our hearts. If he gave a deposit, then, of course, he will give everything. And he calls the gifts of the Spirit now being given as a pledge; For we understand in part and prophesy in part, but we will receive what is perfect when Christ appears in His glory. So, do not think that we promise, so as not to appear as liars. For it is not we who establish you, but God both promises and confirms both me and you; for He Himself will fulfill everything. Therefore, understand that God, who does this and that, will Himself fulfill His promises. 2 Corinthians 1:23. I call God to be a witness for my soul, that, sparing you, I have not yet come to Corinth. Above he said that he did not come to them because he had no power over himself and was not allowed by the Spirit. How can he now say that he did not come to spare them? Because either this very thing happened by the will of the Spirit, that is, the Spirit inspired him with the idea not to go in order to spare them, or - at first the Spirit forbade him, and then he himself, deciding that it was better, stayed. Notice the wisdom of the apostle. While they said: you didn’t come because you seemed to hate us, then they say the opposite: I didn’t come because I spare you. He says this because there were some among them who sinned and did not repent, whom he would have punished if, when he came, he found them not corrected. So, I stayed, so that I could come back when they had corrected themselves, and not have any reason to punish me. 2Cor.1:24. Not because we take power over your faith; but we will promote your joy, Since what was said resonated with power (for the one who has the power to punish them can spare others), he softens the harshness of the speech: not, he says, I said that I am sparing you, because I would like to rule over your faith, for faith is a matter of will and no one is forced to believe against their will, but, honoring your joy with my joy, I did not come so as not to plunge you into sadness and not to be saddened myself. For I do everything for your joy, and I remain so that only by threat I can correct those who have sinned and not cause you any sorrow. He talks to them with meekness, since in the first message he had already amazed them enough. His words mean the following: as for faith, you stand in it, and I had no reason to complain about you, but in other respects you wavered, and if you had not corrected yourself and I had rebelled against you, then I would have saddened you and would have caused sadness to myself. You might be interested in: