2 Corinthians 11:23

2Co 11:23-25. Are they ministers of Christ? — “St. Paul does not compare himself with the false teachers as an apostle, but as a minister of Christ simply. And to show how much he exceeded them in that inferior character, he mentions his labours in the ministry, and his sufferings undergone in his many journeys and voyages, for the sake of spreading the gospel. And from his account it appears, that none of the heroes of antiquity, however vehemently actuated by the love of fame, or of military glory or power, either did or suffered as much in the pursuit of their objects, as the Apostle Paul did and suffered for Christ and his gospel.” I am more so than they; in labours more abundant — Sustained for a long series of years; in stripes above measure — All endured for Christ and his cause. In prisons more frequent — In the narrative of Paul’s travels and sufferings, contained in the Acts, we only read of his being imprisoned once, before this epistle was written, namely, at Philippi. But doubtless many particulars of his life, besides the imprisonments here referred to, were omitted in that history, for the sake of brevity. In deaths oft — Surrounding me in the most dreadful forms. Of the Jews five times received I — In their synagogues, and before their courts of judgment; forty stripes, save one — According to the law, punishment by stripes was restricted to forty, at one beating, Deu 25:3; but the whip with which these stripes were given, consisting of three separate cords, and each stroke being counted as three stripes, thirteen strokes made thirty-nine stripes, beyond which they never went. See Whitby. As the apostle, before his conversion, had been very active in inflicting this punishment on the disciples of Christ, he could not complain when he himself was treated in the same manner by the zealots for the law. Thrice was I beaten with rods — By the Roman lictors or beadles, at the command of their superior magistrates. In his history, contained in the Acts, we find no mention made of his being punished with stripes, and only one instance occurs there of his being beaten with rods. See the margin. Once was I stoned — Namely, at Lystra, at which time he was left for dead. Thrice I suffered shipwreck — Before his voyage to Rome, in which he was shipwrecked at Malta; of these we have no account in the Acts. A night and a day I have been in the deep — Probably floating on some part of a shipwrecked vessel, by which, possibly, he escaped to shore. This, it is likely, happened in one of the three shipwrecks mentioned in the preceding clause.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. By incomparably greater sufferings, 2Co_11:23-33.

With consummate skill St. Paul, (in whose ears are echoing the retorts of his foes, “What a boaster!”) shows off here, not his victories and conquests, not the oratory he had displayed, the converts he had gained, the Churches he had founded; but the unparalleled sufferings and disgraces he had undergone. He enumerates them almost statistically, classifying their sorts, and giving their figures. But, all the while, the more profoundly he thus humbles himself, the more transcendent is his superiority over his easy-living adversaries.

Of a large number of the sufferings here undergone, Luke’s brief sketch in the Acts gives no account. This confirms Paley’s argument for the truth of Christianity, drawn from the sufferings of the early Christian preachers. It shows, too, that in accounting for the writing of some of the epistles we may easily suppose voyages and journeys unmentioned by Luke. When, for instance, Luke informs us (Act_20:31) that Paul spent three continuous years at Ephesus, it is as when we say that a young man spends four years at college; that is, without counting three months each year of vacation.

As both a catalogue and a picture the present section is strikingly parallel to 2Co_4:8-12; 2Co_6:5-10.

The endurances enumerated are, 2Co_11:23-27, bodily; 2Co_11:28-29, mental; 2Co_11:32-33, a single notable event.

2Co_11:23 gives four general bodily endurances, of which all that follow are specials.

23. Ministers—The Greek word technically for deacons, and genetically for humble servitors of any kind.

As a fool—The echo from the other side is a stronger term for madness than any yet used. Are they servants of Christ? And now I am, by their outcry, a greater infatuate than ever when I boldly reply, I more. The abrupt and concise υπερ εγω, above, I is, indeed, a bold fling. It may mean, above them am I, that is, as a servant of Christ; or it may mean, above a servant of Christ am I. The import, at any rate, is, If these are, forsooth, servants of Christ, I am something above that; and the result is, If I am merely a servant of Christ, they are below that—none at all. That this last inference is meant is plain from 13-15.

Labours… stripes… prisons… deaths—Four generic bodily endurances. The details that follow are specialties included under the four.

The next two verses give the numerical figures of bodily sufferings so severe as to leave distinct traces on the memory of the number.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:23-27 I have served him far more! Paul’s service to Christ had entailed Christlike sufferings and toils. Some of the difficulties in this litany are recorded in Acts.

11:23-24 in prison more often: E.g., see Acts 16:22-23. Clement of Rome says that Paul was imprisoned a total of seven times. • thirty-nine lashes: This punishment was prescribed in Deut 25:1-3. The Jewish leaders punished Paul as a renegade Jew, and he faced death again and again.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2Co 11:23. Διάκονοι, ministers) outwardly.[80]—παραφρονῶν λαλῶ, I speak as a fool) Paul wrote these things, while he constantly laboured to deny himself.—ὑπὲρ) above, [I am] more than they. The more a man suffers, the more he ministers.—περισσοτέρως, more abundantly) The false apostles had also experienced labours and imprisonments, but in a less degree, the other hardships were peculiar to Paul.

[80] And yet there was no need of this distinction, if the Critical Note on this passage be compared: “It is a question; for he affirms, that they were not the ministers of Christ,” 2Co 11:15. The Germ. Ver. agrees with this.—E. B.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Co_11:23. In the case of those three Jewish predicates the aim was reached and the emotion appeased by the brief and pointed κἀγώ. Now, however, he comes to the main point, to the relation towards Christ; here κἀγώ cannot again suffice, but a ὑπὲρ ἐγώ must come in (comp. Theodoret), and the holy self-confidence of this ὑπὲρ ἐγώ gushes forth like a stream (comp. 2Co_6:4 ff.) over his opponents, to tear down their fancies of apostolic dignit.

παραφρονῶν λαλῶ] also ironical, but stronger than ἐν ἀφροσ. λέγω: in madness (Herod. iii. 24; Dem. 1183. 1; Soph. Phil. 804) I speak! For Paul, in the consciousness of his own humility as of the hateful arrogance of his foes, conceives to himself a: παραφρονεῖ! as the judgment which will be pronounced by the opponents upon his ὑπὲρ ἐγώ; they will call it a παράφρον ἔπος (Eur. Hipp. 232)!

ὑπὲρ ἐγώ] He thus concedes to his opponents the predicate διάκονοι Χριστοῦ only apparently (as he in fact could not really do so according to 2Co_11:13-15); for in ὑπὲρ ἐγώ there lies the cancelling of the apparent concession, because, if he had granted them to be actually Christs servants, it would have been absurd to say: I am more! Such, however, is the thought: servants of Christ are they? Well, if they are such, still more am I! The meaning of ὑπὲρ ἐγώ is not, as most (even Osiander and Hofmann) assume: I am a servant of Christ in a higher degree than they (1Co_15:10), but: I am more than servant of Christ; for, as in κἀγώ there lay the meaning: I am the same (not in reference to the degree, but to the fact), so must there be in ὑπὲρ ἐγώ the meaning: I am something more. Thus, too, the meaning, in accordance with the strong παραφρονῶν λαλῶ, appears far more forcible and more telling against the opponents.[335] ὑπέρ is used adverbially (Winer, p. 394 [E. T. 526]); but other undoubted Greek examples of this use of ὑπέρ are not found, as that in Soph. Ant. 514 (ὁ δʼ ἀντιστὰς ὑπέρ) is of doubtful explanatio.

ἐν κόποις περισσοτέρως κ.τ.λ.] Paul now exchanging sarcasm for deep earnest, under the impulse of a noble μεγαληγορία (Xen. Apol. i. 2) and argumentis quae vere testentur pectus apostolicum (Erasmus), begins his justification of the ὑπὲρ ἐγώ, so that ἐν is to be taken instrumentally: through more exertions, etc. The comparative is to be explained from the comparison with the κόποι of the opponents. The adverb, however, as often also in classic writers, is attached adjectivally (sc. οὖσι) to the substantive. So also de Wette.[336] Comp. Luk_24:1; 1Co_12:31; Php_1:26; Gal_1:13; see Ast, ad Plat. Polit. p. 371 f.; Bernhardy, p. 338. Billroth, Osiander, Hofmann, and the older commentators incorrectly hold that εἰμί is to be supplied: I am so in a yet much more extraordinary way in labours. Apart from the erroneous explanation of ὑπὲρ ἐγώ, which is herein assumed, the subsequent πολλάκις is against it, for this with εἰμί supplied would be absurd. Hofmann would make a new series begin with ἐν θανάτ. πολλάκις; but this is just a mere makeshift, which is at variance with the symmetrical onward flow of the passage with ἐν. Beza, Flatt, and many others supply ἦν or γέγονα; but this is forbidden by 2Co_11:26, where (after the parenthesis of 2Co_11:24-25) the passage is continued without ἐν, so that it would be impossible to supply ἦν or γέγονα furthe.

ἐν πληγ. ὑπερβαλλ.] by strokes endured beyond measure.

ἐν φυλακ. περισσοτ.] by more imprisonments. Clement, ad Cor. i. 5 : ὁ Παῦλος ὑπομονῆς βραβεῖον ἀπέσχεν ἑπτάκις δεσμὰ φορέσας, in which reckoning, however, the later imprisonments (in Jerusalem, Caesarea, Rome) are include.

ἐν θανάτοις πολλάκις] πολλάκις γὰρ εἰς κινδύνους παρεδόθην θάνατον ἔχοντας, Chrysostom. Comp. 1Co_15:31; 2Co_4:11; Rom_8:36; and Philo, Flacc. p. 990 A: προαποθνήσκω πολλοὺς θανάτους ὑπομένων ἀνθʼ ἑνὸς τοῦ τελευταίου, Lucian, Tyr. 22; Asin. 23. See on this use of θάνατος in the plural, Stallbaum, ad Plat. Crit. p. 46 C; Seidler, ad Eur. El. 479.

[335] So that the absolute ὑπέρ is not to be explained ὑπὲρ αὑτούς, but ὑπὲρ διακόνους Χ. Our view is already implied in the plus (not magis) ego of the Vulgate. Luther also has it, recently Ewald; and Lachm. writes ὑπερεγώ as one word. Comp. also Klöpper, p. 97.

[336] In the Vulgate this view has found distinct expression at least in the first clause; in laboribus plurimis.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Co 11:23 . διάκονοι Χρ . κ . τ . λ .: are they Christ’s ministers? (as they specially claimed to be; cf. 2Co 10:7 ) I speak as one beside himself ( sc. , as if he would say “this is mad boasting indeed; for what office can be higher than this?”); I am more, i.e. , I am that in a higher degree than they ( ὑπέρ being used adverbially), as is proved by my trials in the service of the Gospel. The summary which follows is of deep interest for the student of St. Paul’s life; he goes into more definite detail than elsewhere ( cf. 1Co 4:11-13 , chap. 2Co 4:7-10 , 2Co 6:4-10 ), and gives us a more vivid picture of his extraordinary labours than would be possible to form from the narrative in the Acts alone. It will be remembered that his missionary career lasted for ten or eleven years after this Epistle was written, and that therefore we cannot regard these verses as giving us a complete list of his trials. ἐν κόποις κ . τ . λ .: in labours more abundantly, sc. , than they ( cf. 1Co 15:10 ), in prisons more abundantly (up to this point in his life we only know of one imprisonment, viz. , at Philippi, Act 16:23 , but there must have been others; cf. Rom 16:7 , where he speaks of Andronicus and Junias as having been his “fellow-prisoners” on some occasion to which no other allusion had been preserved. Afterwards we read of his being imprisoned at Jerusalem (Act 21:33 ), at Cæsarea (Act 23:35 ) and at Rome (Act 28:30 ), besides which the evidence of the Pastoral Epistles gives another Roman imprisonment. Clement of Rome (§ 5) speaks of St. Paul as seven times in bonds; cf. 2Co 6:5 above), in stripes above measure , details of which are given in the following verses ( cf. Act 21:32 ), in deaths oft, i.e. , in frequent perils of death ( cf. Act 9:23 ; Act 14:19 , etc., and chaps. 2Co 1:10 , 2Co 6:9 ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In danger of present death.

Paul being honorable indeed, defendeth his ministry openly, not for his own sake, but because he saw his doctrine come into hazard.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

I speak as a fool--rather, as Greek, "I speak as if beside myself"; stronger than "as a fool."

I am more--namely, in respect to the credentials and manifestations of my ministry, more faithful and self-denying; and richer in tokens of God's recognition of my ministry. Old authorities read the order thus, "In prisons above measures, in stripes more abundantly" (English Version, less accurately, "more frequent"). Acts 16:23-40 records one case of his imprisonment with stripes. CLEMENT OF ROME [First Epistle to the Corinthians] describes him as having suffered bonds seven times.

in death oft-- (Co2 4:10; Act 9:23; Act 13:50; Act 14:5-6, Act 14:19; Act 17:5, Act 17:13).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 23. Are they ministers of Christ] So we find that these were professors of Christianity; and that they were genuine Jews, and such as endeavoured to incorporate both systems, and, no doubt, to oblige those who had believed to be circumcised; and this appears to have been the bondage into which they had brought many of the believing Corinthians.

I am more] More of a minister of Christ than they are, and have given fuller proofs of it. I have suffered persecution for the cross of Christ, and of the Jews too; and had I preached up the necessity of circumcision, I should have been as free from opposition as these are.

In labours more abundant] Far from sitting down to take my ease in a Church already gathered into Christ; I travel incessantly, preach every where, and at all risks, in order to get the heathen brought from the empire of darkness into the kingdom of God's beloved Son.

In stripes above measure] Being beaten by the heathen, who had no particular rule according to which they scourged criminals; and we find, from Ac 16:22; Ac 16:23, that they beat Paul unmercifully with many stripes. See the note on the above passage.

In prisons more frequent] See Ac 21:11, and the whole of the apostle's history; and his long imprisonment of at least two years at Rome, Ac 28:16; Ac 28:30. It does not appear that there is any one instance of a false apostle having been imprisoned for the testimony of Christ; this was a badge of the true apostles.

In deaths oft.] That is, in the most imminent dangers. See 1Co 15:31; 2Co 4:11. And see the apostle's history in the Acts.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

23. Are they ministers of Christ? Now when he is treating of matters truly praiseworthy, he is no longer satisfied with being on an equality with them, but exalts himself above them. For their carnal glories he has previously been scattering like smoke by a breath of wind, by placing in opposition to them those which he had of a similar kind; but as they had nothing of solid worth, he on good grounds separates himself from their society, when he has occasion to glory in good earnest. For to be a servant of Christ is a thing that is much more honorable and illustrious, than to be the first-born among all the first-born of Abraham’s posterity. Again, however, with the view of providing against calumnies, he premises that he speaks as a fool “Imagine this,” says he, “to be foolish boasting: it is, nevertheless, true.”

In labors. By these things he proves that he is a more eminent servant of Christ, and then truly we have a proof that may be relied upon, when deeds instead of words are brought forward. He uses the term labors here in the plural number, and afterwards labor What difference there is between the former and the latter I do not see, unless perhaps it be, that he speaks here in a more general way, including those things that he afterwards enumerates in detail. In the same way we may also understand the term deaths to mean any kind of perils that in a manner threatened present death, instances of which he afterwards specifies. “I have given proof of myself in deaths often, in labors oftener still.” He had made use of the term deaths in the same sense in the first chapter. (2 Corinthians 1:10.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(23) Are they ministers of Christ?—It is obvious that this title was claimed by the rival teachers in some special sense. They were “ministers of Christ” in a nearer and a higher sense than others. This again falls in with all that has been said as to the nature and pretensions of those who said, “I am of Christ.” (See Notes on 2Co_10:7; 1Co_1:12.)

I speak as a fool.—The form of the Greek verb is slightly varied, and means, more emphatically than before, I speak as one who is insane; I speak deliriously. In this instance, as before, we must believe that the Apostle is using, in a tone of indignant irony, the very words of insult which had been recklessly flung at him.

In labours . . .—All that follows up to 2Co_11:28, inclusive, is a proof of his claim to call himself a minister of Christ. The word “labours” is, of course, too vague to admit of more than a general comparison with the picture of his life presented in the Acts of the Apostles. The more specific statements show us that the writer of that book tends to understate rather than exaggerate the labours and sufferings of the Apostle. It tells us, up to this time, only of one imprisonment, at Philippi (Act_16:23), and leaves us to conjecture where and under what circumstances we are to look for the others. In the “deaths oft,” we trace an echo of the “sentence of death,” the “dying daily” (see Notes on 2Co_1:9; 2Co_4:10); but the words probably include dangers to life of other kinds as well as those arising from bodily disease.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. Are they ministers of Christ?] St Paul here cannot be content with the simple ‘so am I.’ These men (see ch. 2Co_10:7; 1Co_1:10) claimed to be in some special sense Christ’s ministers. But when the Apostle thinks of the singleness of his devotion to Christ’s cause, of which he had so frequently boasted (ch. 2Co_2:17, 2Co_4:5, 2Co_6:4-10, 2Co_7:2, &c.), and of the nature of his services as compared with theirs, his spirit rises within him. ‘I may speak like a madman,’ he cries (see next note), ‘but I cannot contain myself at such a charge. What have they done for the cause of Him whose name they falsely arrogate to themselves, compared to the services I have rendered? I use no mere words of vaunting, but appeal to the devotion of a life to His Gospel.’

I speak as a fool] Rather as a madman (scarse wise, Rhemish. Our translation is Tyndale’s). The word in the original is stronger than that in 2Co_11:16; 2Co_11:19. St Paul is not thinking here so much of the impression his words may produce on the Corinthians, as of the fact that all ‘boasting’ in God’s sight is ‘excluded’ by the ‘law of faith’ (Rom_3:27; cf. Luk_17:10). Mad indeed is it to boast of anything as constituting a claim on God for reward. But facts are facts, and they may be appealed to, not for self-glorification, but (ch. 2Co_12:11) to confute pretensions which ought never to have been advanced.

in labours more abundant] Cf. 1Co_15:10. He now commences the proof of this assertion, and it consists not in words but in deeds. He appeals to “a life hitherto without precedent in the history of the world. Self-devotion at particular moments, or for some special national cause, had been often seen before; but a self-devotion involving sacrifices like those here described, extending through a period of at least fourteen years, and in behalf of no local or family interest, but for the interest of mankind at large, was up to this time a thing unknown.” Stanley. De Wette would translate more abundantly (the word is an adverb in the original) and connect it with what has gone before, ‘in labours I am more abundantly a minister of Christ than they.’

in prisons more frequent] “What is left out is more than is enumerated.” Chrysostom. There is but one imprisonment mentioned up to this time in the Acts (ch. Act_16:23). So there is but one beating with rods (see below). The Acts of the Apostles, being written with a special purpose (see note on ch. 2Co_1:8, 2Co_6:5), does not attempt to give a full account of St Paul’s labours and sufferings. See Stanley’s note on 2Co_11:21 and Paley, Horae Paulinae, Ep. to Corinth. 9. Estius accounts it a proof of St Paul’s modesty that he had never mentioned these things even to a friend so intimace as St Luke.

in deaths oft] Cf. ch. 2Co_1:9-10, 2Co_4:11; 1Co_15:31. “Perils containing death,” i.e. as a possible event. Chrysostom.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. We have no account in the Acts of the Apostles, or elsewhere, of any one of these five scourgings, which the apostle underwent from the Jews; but there is no doubt to be made of them. The number of stripes he received at each time agrees with the traditions and customs of the Jews. The original law for scourging a delinquent is in Deu 25:2 where it is said, "forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed"; according to the nature of the case, forty stripes and no more might be inflicted, but fewer might suffice in some cases; the apostle's having but thirty nine at a time was not because the Jews thought his crime did not require full forty; or that they out of tenderness and compassion to him abated him one; but they proceeded with him to the utmost rigour of this law, according to their interpretation of it; for so runs their tradition (i),

"with how many stripes do they beat him? (a criminal,) it is answered, , "with forty save one"; as it is said, "with the number forty"; that is, which is next to forty; R. Judah says, with full forty is he to be beaten;''

but the decision is not according to R. Judah, as the commentators say (k); and this is the general sense of their (l) interpreters of that law, and what they take to be the genuine meaning of it; so that the apostle was punished according to the extremity of it, in their account. This is a settled rule and point with them, (m), "that scourging according to the law is with forty stripes save one"; Maimonides (n) observes, that

"they did not add to forty, if a man was as strong and robust as Samson, but they lessen the number to a man that is weak; for if a weak man should be beaten with many stripes, he may die; wherefore the wise men say, that if he be never so robust, they scourge him but with "thirty nine";''

so that no mercy shown to Paul, or any regard had to his weak constitution, for it was the utmost they ever inflicted; besides, according to their manner of scourging; see Gill on Mat 10:17, they could not have given him another stroke, without giving him three stripes more, which would have made it forty two, and so have exceeded, which the law forbids; for they whipped with a scourge of three cords, and every stroke went for three; so that by thirteen strokes, thirty nine stripes were given, and if a fourteenth had been added, there would have been forty two stripes; agreeably to which they say (o),

"when they condemn a delinquent to how many stripes he is able to receive, they do not count but by stripes that are fit to be trebled; if they reckon he is able to bear twenty, they do not say he is to be beaten with twenty one, so that they may be able to treble, but he is to be beaten with eighteen; they condemn to receive forty, and after he begins to be beaten, they see he is weak, and they say he cannot receive more than these nine or "twelve" with which he is beaten, lo, this is free; they condemn him to receive twelve, and after he is scourged they see he is strong and able to receive more, lo, he is free, and is not to be beaten any more upon the estimation:''

so that you see that, according to their own canons, they could if they would have mitigated this punishment of the apostle's; but such was their cruelty and malice, that they carried it to the utmost height they could.

(i) Misn. Maccot. c. 3. sect. 10. (k) Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. (l) Targum Jon. & Jarchi in Deut. xxv. 3. Zohar in Deut. fol. 119. 3. Joseph Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 23. Moses Kotsensis Mitzvot Tora, pr. Affirm. 105. (m) T. Hieros. Nazir, fol. 53. 1. (n) Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 17. 1. (o) Ib. sect. 2. Misn. Maccot, c. 3. sect. 11.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

Ver. 23. In labours more abundant] Chrysostom calleth Paul, Insatiabilem Dei cultorem, an unweariable servant of God.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Are they ministers of Christ? - Though Jews by birth yet they claimed to be the ministers of the Messiah.

I speak as a fool - As if he had said, “Bear in mind, in what I am now about to say, that he who speaks is accused of being a fool in boasting. Let it not be deemed improper that I should act in this character, and since you regard me as such, let me speak like a fool.” His frequent reminding them of this charge was eminently suited to humble them that they had ever made it, especially when they were reminded by an enumeration of his trials, of the character of the man against whom the charge was brought.

I am more - Paul was not disposed to deny that they were true ministers of Christ. But he had higher claims to the office than they had. He had been called to it in a more remarkable manner, and he had shown by his labors and trials that he had more of the true spirit of a minister of the Lord Jesus than they had. He therefore goes into detail to show what he had endured in endeavoring to diffuse the knowledge of the Saviour; trials which the had borne probably while they had been dwelling in comparative ease, and in a comfortable manner, free from suffering and persecution.

In labors more abundant - In the kind of labor necessary in propagating the gospel. Probably he had now been engaged in the work a much longer time than they had, and had been far more indefatigable in it.

In stripes - In receiving stripes; that is, I have been more frequently scourged; 2Co 11:24. This was a proof of his being a minister of Christ, because eminent devotedness to him at that time, of necessity subjected a man to frequent scourging. The ministry is one of the very few places, perhaps it stands alone in this, where it is proof of special qualification for office that a man has been treated with all manner of contumely, and has even been often publicly whipped. What other office admits such a qualification as this?

Above measure - Exceedingly; far exceeding them. He had received far more than they had, and he judged, therefore, that this was one evidence that he had been called to the ministry.

In prisons more frequent - In the Book of Acts , Luke mentions only one imprisonment of Paul before the time when this Epistle was written. That was at Philippi with Silas, Act 16:23 ff. But we are to remember that many things were omitted by Luke. He does not profess to give an account of all that happened to Paul; and an omission is not a contradiction. For anything that Luke says, Paul may have been imprisoned often. He mentions his having been in prison once; he does not deny that he had been in prison many times besides; see on Act 16:24.

In deaths oft - This is, exposed to death; or suffering pain equal to death; see on 2Co 1:9. No one familiar with the history of Paul can doubt that he was often in danger of death.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They are ministers of Christ: I am more. To wit, an apostle chosen and sent by Jesus Christ, appointed in a special manner to be the apostle of the Gentiles, your apostle. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Will they glory in this, that they are ministers of Christ, employed as the servants of Christ in preaching the gospel? I should not boast about this, (in that I may seem to speak as a fool), but I am much more a minister than they, both with respect to my call to the work, and also my performing of it. I had a more immediate call and mission to the work than what they can boast of, and I have done more in that work than any of them have done.

In labours more abundant; I have travelled more to preach it, I have laboured more in the propagation of it.

In stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent; I have suffered more for the preaching of it, I have been oftener whipped, oftener imprisoned, than any of them ever were: see 2Co 6:4,5.

In deaths oft; I have been oftener in hazard of my life: he calls dangers threatening death, deaths, as 2Co 1:10.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I speak as a fool. Not merely as before aphron, but paraphronon," I speak as a madman." It is downright insanity on my part to enter into this contest of rival egotism. The verb does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament; the substantive is used of "downright infatuation" in 2Pe_2:16. I am more. I may claim to be something beyond an ordinary servant of Christ. (comp. 2Co_11:5) This is the "frantic" boast which he proceeds to justify in a fragment of biography which must ever be accounted as the most remarkable and unique in the world"s history. And when St. Paul lived the life was, as Dean Stanley says, "hitherto without precedent in the history of the world." No subsequent life of saint or martyr has ever surpassed St. Paul"s, as here sketched, in self-devotion; and no previous life even remotely resembled it. The figure of the Christian missionary was, until then, unknown. In labours more abundant; literally, more abundantly. The best comment is 1Co_15:10. In stripes above measure. The expression is partly explained in the next verse. In prisons. St. Clement of Rome says that St. Paul was imprisoned seven times. The only imprisonment up to this date recorded in the Acts is that at Philippi. (Act_16:23) The imprisonments in Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Rome all took place later. He says later," The Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city that bonds and imprisonment await me". (Act_20:23) In deaths oft. He alludes to the incessant opposition, peril, and anguish which make him say in 1Co_15:31, "I die daily". (comp. 2Co_4:11; Rom_8:36) With the whole passage we may compare 2Co_6:4, 2Co_6:5.

Ministers of Christ.

It was not congenial to St. Paul"s nature to beast. He would have preferred to keep himself in the background, that his Lord might be prominent and might attract the attention and the admiration of all men. But his apostolic authority and consequently the value of his life work, the credibility of his doctrines, the soundness of the Churches he had founded, were all at stake. As to his national position, that was comparatively immaterial. But the great question was this Was he, or was he not, a true minister of Christ? His adversaries made great pretensions; he had no choice but to overwhelm them with his own unrivalled credentials: "Are they ministers of Christ? I more!

I TRUE MINISTERS ARE APPOINTED BY CHRIST. Whatever be the human, the ecclesiastical agency by which men are summoned to, prepared for, employed in, the ministry of the gospel, all true Christians are agreed that the real appointment is by the Divine Head of the Church. It is he who, from the throne of his glory, places one minister in this position, and another in that, holding the stars in his right hand.

II TRUE MINISTERS ARE WITNESSES TO CHRIST. It was Paul"s justifiable boast "We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord." His ministry had for its one great theme the character, the life, the sacrifice, the redemption of the Divine Saviour. A ministry which, professing to be Christian, is concerned with anything rather than with Christ, discredits and condemns itself. Inadequate as is all human witness to our Lord, it is required to be sincere and outspoken.

III TRUE MINISTERS ARE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST. Upon this the apostle lays great stress. His own ministry was, in many of its circumstances, a copy of his Lord"s. His labours, privations, and sufferings were all akin to those of the Lord whose spirit he shared, and in whose steps he trod. The outward circumstances of the ministerial life may vary, but the temper, and aim must ever be those of the Divine Master.

IV TRUE MINISTERS LOOK FOR THEIR REWARD TO CHRIST. Had the apostle expected an earthly recompense for all he undertook and underwent, bitter indeed would have been his disappointment. But he and every faithful minister must have one supreme desire and aim to receive the approval and the acceptance of the Divine Lord himself. T.

Labours and prisons.

This is one of those passages which enable us to institute a comparison between the Book of the Acts and the apostolic Epistles. It is true that some of the circumstances alluded to in the context have nothing corresponding with them in St. Luke"s narrative. But this exception proves the independence of the documents, whilst the coincidences, which are numerous and striking, confirm our faith in the authority and validity of both.

I THE VARIOUS ENDURANCES INVOLVED IN THE APOSTOLIC LIFE.

1. Labours abounded, both of body and of mind; almost incessant toil was continued throughout long years. Journeyings, preaching, writing, were a constant strain upon his whole nature.

2. Hardships, sufferings, perils, and persecutions were even more painful to endure. There are many, especially in the prime of life, to whom toil and effort are congenial; but none can do other than shrink from pains and imprisonments. Paul"s enumeration of his privations and afflictions shows how deep an impression they had made upon his nature.

II THE AIM OF THE APOSTOLIC LIFE IN VIEW OF WHICH THESE EXPERIENCES WERE CHEERFULLY ACCEPTED. His purpose was, not his own exaltation, but the spread of the gospel and the salvation of his fellow men. His benevolent heart found in the extension of that kingdom, which is "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," an object worthy of all his devotion and all his endurance.

III THE MOTIVE OF THE APOSTOLIC LIFE. If it be asked How came St. Paul to voluntarily engage in a service which involved experiences so bitter? there is but one solution of the problem, but that is a sufficient and satisfactory one: "The love of Christ constrained" him. No inferior motive can be relied upon for the production of such results.

IV THE PRACTICAL ADVANTAGES ACCRUING TO MANKIND FROM THIS APOSTOLIC LIFE.

1. It has an evidential value. Why should such a man as Saul of Tarsus have lived a life of obloquy, poverty, and suffering? Is any other explanation credible than this that he knew and felt that he was witnessing to the truth?

2. It has a moral value, both in the beneficent results of the ministry and in the illustration afforded of the power of the gospel and of the Spirit of Christ to raise a true Christian above the control of influences and interests merely earthly and human. T.

Vers. 23-33.

Apostolic experiences on earth.

I THESE EXPERIENCES, AS NARRATED HERE, ASSUME A GLOOMY CHARACTER.

1. Painful.

(1) Bodily suffering. Excessive toil, prison privations, scourgings, stoning, shipwrecks, a night and day in the deep, sleeplessness, coldness, foodlessness, nakedness.

(2) Mental suffering.

(a) Persecution from Jews as well as Gentiles. His "own countrymen" hated him more fiercely than any.

(b) Hostility of false brethren. Peculiarly painful to such a noble nature as Paul"s.

(c) Anxieties respecting the numerous Churches.

(d) Acute sympathy with the weak and hindered ones (ver. 29).

2. Perilous. What a catalogue of perils in ver. 26. how extreme the one instanced in vers. 32, 33! how pathetic and suggestive the expression, "in deaths oft" (ver. 23)! Paul lived on the margin of the next world. Of him was it peculiarly true that he knew not what a day would bring forth.

II MUCH OF THE PAINFUL AND PERILOUS EXPERIENCE OF THE APOSTLE AROSE FROM HIS MARVELLOUS ZEAL AND ENTERPRISE. He might bare avoided not a little by:

1. Being only moderately active. That delightful "mean" coveted by so many it was too mean for Paul!

2. Being more compliant. If he bad been a man of expediency, and not, as he was, a man of principle. If he had bent to the storm; but he intended that the storm should bend to him, or rather to those God-truths which he proclaimed.

3. Placing Gods honour in the second place. The servant was persecuted so vindictively because he would talk so much of his Master. It was not Paul that Jew and Gentile hated so much, but Christ; but where Paul was there men could hear of nothing but the contemned Nazarene;

4. Loving himself more than a perishing world. It was a question which should suffer, Paul or the world; Paul said, "I will." In his sphere he thus imitated his Lord, who, though he was rich, for our sakes became poor.

III NO SUFFERING OR PERIL SUCCEEDED IN DAMPING THE APOSTOLIC ARDOUR. How keen must have been his love for Christ and for his fellow men! Ever before him he had the future exaltation of Christ and the "saving some." We haste here a marvellous triumph of mind over matter, and a still more marvellous one of spirituality over carnality. The life of the apostle was so vigorous that he could bear to die daily. What little aches and pains stop us! An avalanche of grief and trial failed to arrest Paul!

IV IT WAS ONLY WHEN SUBJECTED TO GREAT PRESSURE, AND THEN ONLY UNDER PROTEST, THAT THE APOSTLE ALLOWED HIMSELF TO DWELL UPON THIS PERPETUAL MARTYRDOM. He rejoiced in it; yet he did not like to speak about it. He almost calls himself a fool for doing so. The martyr has sometimes sullied his crown by pride; but the apostolic affliction seemed strangely sanctified to him. Some are not great enough to suffer much for Christ. God does not allow it. It would make them so intolerable that prayer would ascend on all hands for their transference to a world where they would have a humble opinion of themselves. Paul went through all the privation, anguish, peril, catalogued here, and came out from it with the spirit of a little child. H.

Vers. 23-30.

The evidential value of sufferings borne for Christ"s sake.

Recall Paley"s use of the labours and sufferings of the early Christians as an argument for the truth of Christianity. Carefully observe under what limitations such an argument must be set. There have been martyrs of all sorts of opinions. Men intense on any subject are usually willing to bear much for its sake; and the enthusiast or fanatic does not shrink from giving his life for his faith, though his faith may be unreasonable or absurd. We can only go so far as to say that willingness to bear suffering proves

I PERSONAL SINCERITY. Men"s hearts must be in that which they will maintain at cost of toil, sorrow, disability, and pain. Christianity must be true to the man who can die for it; but it is not therefore proved to be absolutely true.

II A DIVINE CALL OR COMMISSION. It is one of the indications of such a call. Not sufficient if it stands alone, but very helpful as a buttress to other arguments and considerations.

III THAT THERE IS A FINE MORAL STRENGTH CULTURED BY CHRISTIANITY. This, perhaps, is its chief value. The noble endurance illustrates Christianity, and shows what the almighty grace in it can do.

That must be worthy, and it may be Divine, which nerves men to such heroic labour, such patient submission, and such triumphs over ills and death. So, when kept within due limits and carefully combined with other considerations, the sufferings and martyrdoms of the Christian saints become an evidence of the Divine origin of Christianity. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am more so than they. In deaths often - Surrounding me in the most dreadful forms.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly [ 1Co_15:10 ], in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft . [ 1Co_15:31 . On Jewish grounds Paul claimed equality, but as a minister of Christ, superiority. Knowing that his enemies would say that it accorded with his general insanity to thus assert his superiority, he ironically admits his madness in thus asserting that his ministerial labors exceeded those of his easy-living adversaries--theirs being in fact no labor at all, but rather an effort to steal the credit of his labors. This verse gives the general bodily distresses endured, while the next three tell of special cases. According to Acts, Paul had, up to this date, been imprisoned but once, and was afterwards imprisoned thrice. Clement of Rome, who wrote toward the close of the first century, says that Paul was imprisoned seven times. Paul's life for long periods was hourly exposed to death ( Act_9:23 ; Act_13:50 ; Act_14:5-6 ; Act_14:19 ; Act_17:5 ; Act_17:13 ); but the best comment on this expression is the catalogue of sufferings which follow.]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

23. Are they ministers of Christ? Speaking foolishly, that is, commending himself (see verse 1), he is more; not only a minister, but a pre-eminent sufferer for Christ. To show how much he exceeded them, he gives some account of his sufferings. In labors more abundant. The record of Acts shows how his labors abounded. In stripes above measure. See verse 24, 25. In prisons more frequent. Clement, who wrote about the close of the first century, says in his Epistle to the Corinthians that Paul was imprisoned seven times. In Acts only one occurrence is named before the date of this letter, that at Philippi. It is evident from this enumeration that Acts is only a part of the history of his labors. In deaths oft. Often in peril of death.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

23. λαλῶ (אBKLMP) rather than λέγω (DFG, Latt. dico, as in 2Co 11:16; 2Co 11:21, not loquor, as in 2Co 11:17); and ἐν φυλακαῖς περισσοτέρως, ἐν πληγαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως (BD, d f Vulg. Aeth. Goth.) rather than ἐν πλ. περισς., ἐν φυλ. ὑπερβ. (אFG, g), or ἐν πληγ. ὑπερβ., ἐν φυλ. περισς. (א3D2KLM, Syrr. Copt. Arm.). Tertullian (Scorp. 13) has in laboribus abundantius, in carceribus plurimum, in mortibus saepius.

23. διάκονοι Χριστοῦ εἰσίν; The Judaizers had claimed to be in a special sense Χριστοῦ (2Co 10:7, 2Co 11:13; comp. 1Co 1:12). In replying to their claim to be διάκονοι Χριστοῦ (comp. δ. τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Col 1:7), the Apostle feels that a repetition of κἀγώ would be inadequate: he can say a great deal more than that.

παραφρονῶν λαλῶ. I am talking like a madman; stronger than ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ λέγω (2Co 11:21). Comp. τὴν προφήτου παραφρονίαν (2Pe 2:16) and ἔδωκαν νῶτον παραφρονοῦντα (Zec 7:11): also πατάξω πάντα ἴππον ἐν ἐκστάσει καὶ τὸν ἀναβάτην αὐτοῦ ἐν παραφρονήσει (Zec 12:4). This group of words is rare in Biblical Greek. The strong expression anticipates ὕπερ ἐγώ. If it was folly to say τολμῶ κἀγώ, it was madness to say ὕπερ ἐγώ of being a minister of Christ. He probably means that he really is talking like a fool in the one case and like a madman in the other; not that the Corinthians will think him foolish and frantic. All glorying is foolish; and this talking of ὕπερ as a minister of Christ is worse than foolish. What was not true of his words to Festus (Act 26:25) is true of such language as he is provoked into using here. In doing one’s duty ποῦ ἡ καύχησις; ἐξεκλείσθη; (Rom 3:27).

ὕπερ ἐγώ. This adverbial use of ἱπέρ stands alone in the N.T.; for it is very improbable that it should be so taken in Eph 3:20. Comp. ὁ δʼ ἀντιστὰς ὕπερ (Soph. Ant. 518), and the use of μετὰ δέ for ἔπειτα δέ (Hdt. I. xix. 3). The difference between ‘I am more’ (A.V.), where ‘am’ should be in italics, and ‘I more’ (R.V.), is the difference between ‘I am more than a minister of Christ’ and ‘I am more a minister of Christ than they are.’ The latter admits that in some sense his opponents are ministers of Christ; and this is probably the meaning. What dignity more than that of a minister of Christ could he claim which they did not claim? They claimed to be apostles (2Co 11:13). There is nothing improbable in his admitting for the sake of argument that they are διάκονοι Χριστοῦ. ‘Let us assume that we are all of us ministers of Christ, as we are all of us Hebrews and Israelites. Which of us can show an abundant share in τὰ παθήματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ (2Co 1:5)? Which is rich in that divine token of faithful service (Mat 5:11-12; Joh 15:20),—the enduring of persecution? Nevertheless, the A.V. rendering, ‘I am more,’ makes παραφρονῶν λαλῶ more pointed: for a man to say that he is more than a minister of Christ seems like raving.

ἐν κόποις περισσοτέρως. It is improbable that this means, ‘in labours I am more abundantly a minister of Christ than they are.’ All that need be understood is the ‘I am’ or ‘I have been’ implied by the adverb. It is not certain that περισσοτέρως, which is frequent in this letter (2Co 1:12, 2Co 2:4, 2Co 7:13; 2Co 7:15, 2Co 12:15), implies any comparison with his opponents, for there is no comparison in ὑπερβαλλόντως or πολλάκις. Stanley perhaps goes too far in saying that it is merely a stronger form of περισσῶς: but it need mean no more than ‘more abundantly than is common.’ “The adverb expresses so to speak an absolute excess and not simply a relative excess” (Westcott on Heb 2:1). S. Paul can hardly mean that by their abundant κόποι the false teachers had to some extent a claim to be called διάκονοι Χριστοῦ, but that his κόποι were more abundant than theirs, and therefore his claim still stronger. On the contrary, he complains that they gloried in what was really his work and was accomplished before they came; καυχώμενοι ἐν ἀλλοτρίοις κόποις,—ἐν ἀλλοτριῳ κανόνι εἰς τὰ ἔτοιμα καυχήσασθαι (2Co 10:15-16). Still less can he mean that they had often been put in prison during their service, but that he had been imprisoned still more often than they had. Their preaching was for gain; καπηλεύοντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ (2Co 2:17), or τοῦ ἀποσπᾷν τοὺς μαθητὰς ὀπίσω ἑαυτῶν (Act 20:30). For κόποι comp. 2Co 6:5, 2Co 10:15; Gal 6:17. His opponents are now left out of sight, and do not appear again till 2Co 12:11.

ἐν φυλακαῖς περισσοτέρως. See critical note. Beyond question περισσοτέρως is used twice: but the Vulgate, followed by the A.V., implies four different words; in laboribus plurimis, in carceribus abundantius, in plagis supra modum, in mortibus frequenter. Clement of Rome (Cor. v.) says Παῦλος ὑπομονῆς βραβεῖον (1Co 9:24; Php 3:14) ὑπέδειξεν, ἑπτάκις δεσμὰ φορέσας. Of these seven imprisonments the one at Philippi is the only one known to us previous to 2 Corinthians. At a later date there were the imprisonments at Jerusalem and Caesarea and the two at Rome. Clement would hardly have been so definite without knowledge.

ἐν πληγαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως. In stripes (2Co 6:5) very exceedingly. S. Paul varies the adverbs to avoid monotony, as he varies the verbs in 1Co 8:8. Comp. μεγάλως ὑπερβαλλόντως λελάληκας (Job 15:11). The adverb is not rare in late Greek.

ἐν θᾳνάτοις πολλάκις. It is clear from this that a verb to carry the adverb is to be understood in each case. The adverb is not virtually an adjective agreeing with the substantive. The plural may refer either to the different occasions on which he was nearly killed, or to the different kinds of death to which he was exposed. The latter seems to be the meaning; for he at once goes on to mention a variety of things which might have been fatal: comp. 2Co 1:9-10, 2Co 4:11; Rom 8:36; and καθʼ ἡμέραν ἀποθνήσκω (1Co 15:13), i.e. διηνεκῶς ἐμαυτὸν εἰς προύπτους θανάτους ἐκδίδωμι (Theodoret): also προαποθνήσκω πολλοὺς θανάτους ὑπομένων (Philo, in Flaccum 990 A).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23.] Meyer remarks, that all three points of Judaistic comparison, of so little real consequence in the matter, were dismissed with the short and contemptuous κἀγώ,—‘that am I too.’ But that is not enough, now that we are come to the great point ot comparison; the consciousness of his real standing, and their nullity as ministers of Christ requires the ὑπὲρ ἐγώ, and the holy earnestness of this consciousness pours itself forth as a stream over the adversaries, so as to overwhelm their conceited aspirations to apostolic dignity.

παραφρ. λ.] stronger than ἐν ἀφρος. λέγω:—I say it as a madman. Hardly, as Meyer, spoken from a consciousness of the verdict παραφρονεῖ which the opponents would pronounce on this ὑπὲρ ἐγώ,—but rather, as De W., from a deep sense of his own unworthiness, and conscious how utterly untrue was ὑπὲρ ἐγώ, in any boasting sense. He therefore repudiates it even more strongly than the τολμῶ κἀγώ.

ὑπὲρ ἐγώ must not be misunderstood. He concedes to them their being διάκ. χρ., and assumes (παραφρονῶν) for himself, something more, if more abundant labours and sufferings are to be any criterion of the matter. That this is the sense is obvious from the comparison being in the amount of labours and sufferings,—and not (as Meyer), that he denies to them the διάκ. χρ. and merely puts it hypothetically. ‘Well, then, if they are to be considered διάκ. χρ., I must be something more.’ If so, the comparison would be not in the degree of ministerial self-sacrifice, but in the credentials of the ministry itself. Both are now assumed to be ministers: but if so, Paul is a minister in a much higher degree, more faithful, more self-denying, richer in gifts and divine tokens, than they. The preposition is used adverbially, see reff.

ἐν κόποις περισ.] By (the ἐν is instrumental [in (the matter of) or, by (virtue of)]:—the direct dative is adopted ver. 26:—these facts are proofs of the ὑπὲρ ἐγώ,—not as Estius, al., parallel with it, which would only apply to the comparatives and not to ἐν θανάτοις πολλάκις) labours (occurring) more abundantly (the adverbs belong to the substantives in each case and are used adjectively; so τὴν ἐμὴν ἀναστροφήν ποτε, Gal 1:13: τῆς ἐμῆς παρουσίας πάλιν, Php 1:26),—by prisons (imprisonments) more abundantly (but one such is mentioned in the Acts (16:23 ff.) previous to the writing of this Epistle.

Clement, in the celebrated passage of his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians (c. v. p. 220) on the labours of Paul, describes him as ἑπτάκις δεσμὰ φορέσας. This whole catalogue should shew the chronologists of the Apostle’s life and epistles how exceedingly unsafe it is to build only on the history in the Acts for a complete account of his journeys and voyages), by stripes more exceedingly (particularized below), by deaths often (see reff. and ch. 4:10. Such was the danger escaped at Damascus, Act 9:23, at Antioch in Pisidia, 13:50, at Iconium, 14:5, 6, at Lystra, ib. 19, at Philippi, 16, at Thessalonica, 17:5 f., at Berœa, ib. 13, and doubtless many others of which we know nothing. See below).

24,

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. διάκονοι Χριστοῦ εἰσίν; This is a much more serious question than the first three, and as such comes last. The false teachers had claimed to be Christ’s men (10:7) and ‘Apostles of Christ’ (11:13), and διάκονος is used here as equivalent to ‘Apostle’: it does not of course mean that they had ministered to Jesus or had been His disciples. Nor is it likely that St Paul is now speaking, not of his opponents at Corinth, but of those whom they claimed as their supporters in Jerusalem. He still has the Judaizing teachers in view. He has just called them ‘sham apostles’ and ‘ministers of Satan’ (vv. 13, 15); but for the sake of argument he is willing to assume that in some sense they are what they claim to be.*

παραφρονῶν λαλῶ. ‘I am talking like a madman,’ a stronger expression than ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ λέγω (v. 21).† It may be understood in more ways than one. The simplest is to suppose that he means that all glorying, whether about ‘knowledge’ (v. 6) or about ‘courage’ (v. 21) is folly, but that to glory about so sacred a matter as the service of Christ is downright madness. Or he may mean that to allow that these ‘ministers of Satan’ may be called ‘ministers of Christ,’ while his own right to that honourable title is questioned, is utter madness. He ought never to consent to be put in comparison with them. Or again, that to suppose that there is anything higher than being a minister of Christ, is madness. This last assumes that ὑπὲρ ἐγώ is to be rendered as in AV, ‘I am more.’ Παραφρονέω occurs here only in N.T., and παραφρονία only 2Pe 2:16, παράφρων nowhere. In LXX παραφρονέω (Zec 7:11), παραφρόνησις (Zec 12:4), and παράφρων (Wisd. 5:20) are found once each, παραφρονία nowhere.

ὕπερ ἐγώ. ‘I more’ (RV) is more probably right, than ‘I am more’ (AV), where ‘am’ ought to be in italics. It is less improbable that St Paul should allow for the sake of argument that the ‘superextra apostles’ may be called ‘ministers of Christ,’ than that he himself should claim to be ‘more than a minister of Christ.’ What could that mean? But if that rendering be adopted, then παραφρονῶν refers to it. A man must be mad to make such a claim. ‘I have a better claim to be called a διάκονος Χρ. than they have’ is more probably right, although the plus (not magis)ego of the Vulg. points the other way, and Luther certainly agrees with AV, ich bin wohl mehr. Augustine has super ego. This adverbial use of ὑπέρ can be matched in class. Grk. (Soph. Ant. 518; cf. Hdt. 1. xix. 3, where we have μετὰ δέ for ἔπειτα δέ), but it is unique in N.T. Winer, p. 526; Blass, § 42. 5.

ἐν κόποις περισσοτέρως.Here he begins the evidence that his claim to be a minister of Christ is well founded; he has had a large share in the sufferings of Christ (1:5). But we must not assume that the comparative adverb necessarily implies comparison with his opponents; it may mean ‘more abundantly than most men’ or ‘than you would believe’; cf. 1:12, 2:4, 7:13, 15, 12:15. The comparative form is dropped after the repeated περισσοτέρως, and therefore only in these first two clauses is there even in form any possibility of comparison with the Judaizers. It is possible that after ὑπέρ ἐλώ they are altogether banished from consideration, and that περισσοτέρως means ‘very abundantly.’* It is not likely that he meant that he had been put in prison more often than his opponents; they may have worked hard, but it is not likely that any of them had been imprisoned.

Just as the four questions seem to form a climax, the fourth being far more serious than the other three, so also these four clauses beginning with ἐν. Whether or no ἐν πληλαῖς is to be regarded as worse than ἐν κόποις and ἐν φυλακαῖς, ἐν θανάτοις is much worse than the other three. Then, just as the reply to the fourth question is developed in the clauses which follow, so the fourth clause here is explained and expanded in the sentences which follow. The rhythm and balance of clauses continues until the exceedingly matter-of-fact statement in vv. 32, 33 is reached, and it is impossible to discern how much of it is premeditated and how much due to the emotion of the moment. The substance of this vigorous assertion of his claim to be a minister of Christ must have been thought over beforehand, and perhaps the Apostle, knowing how important it was that this appeal should be successful, had also considered the form in which it should be presented. With regard to the substance it is remarkable that he does not, as elsewhere, base his claim on his relation to the Risen Lord, or on the success with which God has crowned his work, but on his sufferings and sacrifices. What he has endured is the seal of his Apostleship.

There is no need to discuss in each case what verb is to be supplied, whether ἐγενόμην, γέγονα, εἰμί, or ἦν. The verbless clauses are thoroughly intelligible both in Greek and in English.

ἐν φυλακαῖς περισσοτέρως. The text is somewhat confused and uncertain, but περισσοτέρως is used twice, and therefore we have three different adverbs, not four, as Vulg. and AV would lead us to suppose; in laboribus plurimis, in carceribus abundantius, in plagis supra modum, in mortibus frequenter. Clement of Rome (Cor. 5) says that St Paul was imprisoned seven times, ἑπράκις δεσμὰ φορέσας. We know of only five; at Philippi before 2 Corinthians; Jerusalem, Caesarea, and twice at Rome after 2 Corinthians. But there may easily have been two others. See below, on v. 24.

ἐν πληγαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως. ‘In stripes (6:5) very exceedingly.’ The adv. is fairly common in later Greek; μεγάλως ὑπερβαλλάντως λελάληκας (Job 15:11); but in N.T. it is a ἅπξ λεγόμενον. For St Paul’s fondness for compounds with ὑπέρ see on v. 5 and 12:7.

ἐν θανάτοις πολλάκις. On a number of occasions, and in a variety of ways, through violence, illness, and accidents, he had nearly lost his life. Cf. 1:9, 10, 4:11; 1Co 15:32; Rom 8:36. A few of those are forthwith specified (vv. 24, 25); πολλάκις γάρ εἰς κινδύνους παρεδόθην θάνατον ἕχοντας (Chrys.). Cf. καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, μᾶλλον δὲ ὥραν, προαποθνήσκω, πολλοὺς θανάτους ὑπομένων, ἀνθʼ ἑνός τοῦ τελευταίου (Philo, In Flaccum, § 20, 990 A, 542 Mang.). “Man feels a thousand deaths in fearing one” (Young, Night Thoughts, iv. 17).

λαλως א B K L M P) rather than λέγω (D E G Latt. dico, as in v v. 16, 16, not loquor, as in v. 17). ἐν φυλακαῖς περισσοτέρως, ἐν πληγαίς ὑπερβαλλόντως B D * E 17, d e g Vulg. Goth. Aeth.) rather than ἐν φυλ. ὑπερβαλλόντως ἐν πληγ. περισσοτέρως (P), or ἐν πληγ. περισσοτέρως, ἐν φυλ. ὑπερβαλλόντως א F G, g), though this is followed by Tisch. with his prefernce for a, or ἐν πληγ. ὑπερβλλόντως, ἐν φυλ. περισσοτέρως א3 D2 K L M, Syrr. Copt. Arm.) followed in T.R. Tertullian (Scrop. 13) has in laboribus abundantius, in carceribus piurimum, in mortitus saepius. Augustine has in laboribus plurimum.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ministers of Christ Referring to his opponents' claim to have a closer connection with Christ than he had. See the note on 1Co 1:12.

As a fool [παραφρονων] . Only here in the New Testament. See the kindred parafronia madness, 2Pe 2:16. Lit., being beside myself Rev., as one beside myself. This expression is stronger than that in ver. 21, because the statement which it characterizes is stronger. Up to this point Paul has been asserting equality with the other teachers. Now he asserts superiority "I more;" and ironically characterizes this statement from their stand - point as madness.

More abundant [περισσοτερως] . Lit., more abundantly, as Rev.

Stripes above measure [υπερβαλλοντως] . This peculiar form of suffering is emphasized by details. He specifies three Roman scourgings, and five at the hands of the Jews. Of the former, only one is recorded, that at Philippi (Act 16:22, 23. See on Act 22:25), and none of the latter. The Jewish scourge consisted of two thongs made of calf 's or ass's skin, passing through a hole in a handle. Thirteen blows were inflicted on the breast, thirteen on the right, and thirteen on the left shoulder. The law in Deu 25:3 permitted forty blows, but only thirty - nine were given, in order to avoid a possible miscount. During the punishment the chief judge read aloud Deu 28:58, 59; Deu 29:9; Psa 68:38, 39. The possibility of death under the infliction was contemplated in the provision which exonerated the executioner unless he should exceed the legal number of blows. Paul escaped Roman scourging at Jerusalem on the ground of his Roman citizenship. It is not related that he and Silas urged this privilege at Philippi until after the scourging. It is evident from the narrative that they were not allowed a formal hearing before the magistrates; and, if they asserted their citizenship, it may have been that their voices were drowned by the mob. That this plea did not always avail appears from the case cited by Cicero against Verres, that he scourged a Roman citizen in spite of his continued protest under the scourge, "I am a Roman citizen" (see on Act 16:37), and from well - known instances of the scourging of even senators under the Empire.

Prisons. At Philippi, and other places not recorded.

Deaths. Perils of death, as at Damascus, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Thessalonica, Beroea.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.