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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. Having finished his speech about alms, he now begins to speak sternly against the false apostles and those who condemned him as poor in mind and recklessly boastful, and intends to defend himself, having been forced to do so, so that the sermon does not lose respect. Points both to his deeds and to the grace given by God. Therefore, he who calls this epistle a word of praise to Paul will not sin. The initial words, directed against those who called him powerless and self-praising, seem to contain the following meaning: I myself, Paul, the teacher of the universe, ask you (for the words: “I, Paul,” mean dignity and express the following: behold, I myself, Paul, am speaking to you and asking you, so that my critics do not force me to use my power against them). It also means a lot that the apostle asks, and he also introduces the meekness of Christ into the medium, saying as it were: be ashamed of the meekness of Christ, with which I implore you. At the same time, he shows why he spares them, precisely by imitating the condescension of the Savior Christ, and not because he has no power. So, do not force me to retreat from meekness, which I love so much that I present it to you as a mediator. “Who is modest among you personally, but courageous against you in absentia.” Or he speaks ironically, using the words of those who reproached him: for they said that when he personally visits them, he is not worthy of any respect, on the contrary, he is insignificant, worthy of contempt, and when he is absent from them, he becomes arrogant, behaves majestically and threatens. Or he truly said about himself that when he is with them, he is humble and meek, and if he now speaks with importance, he does so not out of arrogance, but out of hope for them. 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. I ask, he says, do not force me to use my strength (for the word “courage” refers to my strength), “which I think to use,” that is, which I assume, think or intend, since I am forced to use it against those who slander that we are hypocrites and boasters; for this is what the words mean: “that we walk according to the flesh.” Note that he calls courage the intention to answer some, although he intends to do this not for himself, but for the sermon. But it is more natural for a teacher to be slow in punishing than to immediately resort to them. 2 Corinthians 10:3. For although we walk in the flesh, we do not fight according to the flesh, That is, although we are covered with flesh, we do not use fleshly weapons. He talks about preaching, showing that it is not a human matter and has no need for earthly help. When he says “we are at war,” he inspires the following thought: we are waging war and have entered into battle. 2 Corinthians 10:4. the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, That is, not wealth, nor glory, nor sweet speech, nor flattery, nor hypocrisy, for such are the weapons of the flesh. but mighty in God to pull down strongholds, He did not say: but spiritual (this, of course, should be said in contrast to the word “carnal”), but “strong,” hinting that carnal weapons are weak and powerless. Look how devoid of pride he is. He did not say: we are strong, but: “weapons strong by God,” that is, God made them strong. Since they were persecuted and tormented, which, it would seem, is characteristic of weakness, he says: “strong in God,” for through this the power of God is especially revealed, and He is the one who acts and fights, although we carry weapons. What are the “strong” ones? In the “destruction of strongholds”, and which strongholds, this is discussed below. with them we overthrow plans With these weapons, he says, we overthrow the wisdom of the Hellenes and their pride, or: we extract their minds and souls from the error with which they are infected, and we subjugate them to the truth. Thus the mind and arrogance of the Areopagite were distracted from wickedness and subdued to piety. Notice that he didn’t say: we use battering guns, but simply: we destroy; this shows the ease of victory and the strength of weapons. 2 Corinthians 10:5. and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, He continues the allegory to clarify what he wants. At least, he says, “exaltation”, that is, a tower or fortress, opposed the mind of God, that is, the Gospel, and we destroy it. and we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, The word “captivity” has a double meaning: it means both the loss of freedom and complete captivity, after which one can no longer resist. Paul now used the word “captivity” in the second sense. Not only, he says, we overcome and conquer every human mentality, but we also take captive, which means the most complete victory. Further, since the word “captivity” is difficult, he says: “in obedience to Christ.” That is, we bring into slavery to Christ, which is dearer than any freedom - we submit to Christ, from destruction to salvation, from death to life. Remember those who burned their magic books in Ephesus, and you will understand how Paul was captivated. 2 Corinthians 10:6. and are ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Here the Corinthians are also frightened. We, he says, are waiting for you, so that when, according to our instructions, you correct yourself and stop communicating with slanderers, we will punish only those who suffer without healing. We have the punishment ready, but since you have communication with them, we do not use it for now, so that the blow does not touch you. The words “when your obedience is completed” hints that although they are now obedient, they are not completely obedient. At the same time, he threateningly demands that both men correct themselves and that no one be punished. Thoughts are first formed in us through the struggle of the worst with the best, and then exaltations appear in honor of those who have won, rebelling against the knowledge of God, so that they come into a state called excitement, frenzy. For thinking is a simple and immediate action of the mind, more representing the things themselves than proof. And in those deceived by demons there seem to be such thoughts that Paul, and everyone led by his spirit, captivates into obedience to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:7. Are you looking at personality? He not only frightens the seducers, but also reproaches those who are being deceived, therefore he says: find out by your deeds who is arrogant, who is rich, who is hiding behind the guise of virtue. 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. The false apostles boasted that they were Christ’s and supposedly witnesses of the Word. “On his own” he said instead: let him not expect our reproof against him, but he himself reflects that precisely because he is Christ’s, he has no advantage over us. For I, too, cannot be an apostle of anyone else, even if he were Christ’s. But here he expressed a concession, since he had already shown how much superior he was. 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. He did not say: I have the power to punish and kill, but they do not, but humbly: “if only more.” And he did not say: if I boast, but: “if I began to boast,” that is, if I want, he says, to boast about the power “which the Lord has given us,” again attributing all this to the Lord. And I received it from God in order to confirm in faith, doing good, and not punishing. So, why did you say: “we overthrow the plans”? Because this is what creation consists of: destroying everything rotten and destroying obstacles. So, how do you threaten ruin when you have not received the power to do so? Mostly I received in creation; but if someone turns out to be incurable, then we will also use the power to destroy. So, if I want, he says, to boast that God has given me more, so that I have the power first of all to do good, and in case of opposition, to punish, I will not remain in shame, that is, I will not appear to be a liar or proud. 2 Corinthians 10:9. However, let it not seem that I am intimidating you only with messages. 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, 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. As in words, so in deeds: I could boast, but do not think that I am intimidating you with messages, as my slanderers say: “he boasts in his messages and sends menacing letters, but in his personal presence he is insignificant and is not what he is in his messages.” But anyone who says this should know that we not only threaten in messages, but in our personal presence we can carry out our threats. 2 Corinthians 10:12. For we dare not compare or compare ourselves with those who put themselves forward, Here he shows that they are braggarts and boast too much about themselves. So, he says that “we do not dare to compare,” that is, to rank, “or compare,” that is, to contrast ourselves with those of them who extol themselves with praise. they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves unreasonably. They, he says, do not deign to equate themselves with any of the other people, but measure themselves by themselves, compete with each other and do not feel how ridiculous they are as a result of this. For each, considering himself better than others, humiliates the other; So, everyone is glorious before each other; They don’t understand themselves how funny it is. 2 Corinthians 10:13. And we will not boast without measure, For, boasting, they perhaps said: “We have reached the ends of the earth and converted the world.” But we, he says, are not like that. but according to the portion that God has assigned to us in such a measure as to reach you. Just as God divided the vineyards among farmers, so he divided the universe between us, the apostles. So, let us boast according to the portion that God has assigned to us. What kind of measure is this? One to reach you too. So, since this is our measure, we boast even to you. 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, Probably, false apostles and those who went somewhere without any preaching boast of one simple coming and attribute everything to themselves. So, the apostle says: we do not strain ourselves as if we had not reached you, for we have reached not simply, but by the gospel of Christ, that is, we not only came like those, but also with the preaching of the Gospel. 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. Shows that they boast about the labors of the apostles and boast without measure, that is, excessively and in the labors of others. We are not like that, but having reached you, we boldly say that we have reached you. At the same time, we hope, without a doubt, in God (for Paul did not think of showing off himself) - that, having sufficiently taught and increased your faith, we will be magnified in you. For the teacher is exalted when he multiplies the deeds of his students and abundantly increases his lot, that is, expands the measure of the lot that he received. So what are we hoping for? That we will continue to preach the Gospel to you and, perhaps, we will boast even more if we bring them benefit. As the steward of the universe and architect, he everywhere names the portion and the measure, and to show that all this belongs to God, who determines this portion and this measure, he also cites the following passage. 2 Corinthians 10:17. You who boast, boast in the Lord, For when we do such things, we do not boast or attribute anything to ourselves in them, but we attribute all this and the very measure to which we have reached to God. This is what they should boast about. 2 Corinthians 10:18. For he is not worthy who praises himself, but whom the Lord praises. He did not say: we are skillful, but: “whom the Lord praises,” that is, the one whom the reality of labor and achievement by the grace of God has shown to be worthy. You might be interested in: