2 Corinthians 12:5

2Co 12:5-6. Of such a one will I, or, I might, glory — As a person highly favoured of Christ; yet of myself — Considered as in myself; I will not glory — Willingly; but in my infirmities — See on 2Co 11:30. Instead of boasting of his raptures into the third heaven and into paradise, he will boast of those very weaknesses for which his enemies ridiculed him, because, the more weak and contemptible he appeared in the eyes of the world, the more clearly was his success in preaching shown to be the effect of the divine power. For if I should desire — Θελησω, will, or, resolve; to glory — Referring to, I might glory, (2Co 12:5,) of such a glorious revelation; I should not be a fool — That is, it could not justly be accounted folly to relate the naked truth. But now I forbear — I speak sparingly of these things; lest any one should think of me — Whose presence is so mean, and whose speech is so contemptible; above that which he seeth me to be, &c. — Above what my spirit and conduct and the constant exercise of my ministry would warrant. Macknight thinks he addresses the faction here by way of irony, and that the sense is, “I might with truth boast of the visions and revelations of the Lord with which I have been honoured, but I will not, for fear any of you should think me a greater person than my mean bodily appearance which he seeth, and my contemptible speech, which he heareth, warrant him to think me.”

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

12:5-7a Paul could boast about his experience (12:2-4), but it was no source of confidence in his ministry. He never makes mystical experience a proof of his apostolic authority—his life and his message must be the proof. He instead boasts about his weaknesses (11:23-33).

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

2Co 12:5. Ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιούτον, in respect to such a one) in the Masc. The antithesis is, of myself. We ought to remove the I from important matters. This verse has two parts, the one has the reason assigned [aetiologia] in the following verse; the other is explained, 2Co 12:7-8.—καυχήσομαι, I will glory) i.e. I might glory; comp. 2Co 12:6 at the beginning.

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

2Co_12:5. On behalf of the one so constituted I will boast, but on behalf of myself, etc. Paul abides by his representation begun in 2Co_12:2, according to which he speaks of himself as of a third person. The reader understood him! to the effect, namely, that apart from that difference of persons underlying the mere representation, the essential meaning of ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιούτου καυχήσομαι was the same as if Paul had written: τὸ τοιοῦτο (or ἐν τῷ τοιούτῳ) καυχήσομαι. But this may not mislead us, with Luther, Mosheim, Zachariae, Heumann, Schulz, Rosenmüller, Rückert, to take τούτου as neuter; for in favour of the view that it is masculine (so after Chrysostom, most expositors, including Flatt, Fritzsche, Billroth, Olshausen, de Wette, Ewald, Osiander, Hofmann) we may decisively urge not merely τὸν τοιοῦτον, 2Co_12:2-3, as well as the personal contrast in ἐμαυτοῦ, and the otherwise marred symmetry of the whole mode of representation (see Fritzsche, Diss. II. 124), but also ὑπέρ, which with καυχᾶσθαι denotes the person for whose advantage (see on 2Co_5:12), not simply in regard to whom (Hofmann), the boast is made; the thing is afterwards by ἐν expressly distinguished from the person. The objection of Rückert, that Paul might not push the conception so far! is quite invalid, since, in fact, the readers, if they once knew that from 2Co_12:2 onward he meant himself, could not at all misunderstand hi.

εἰ μή is not for ἐὰν μή (Rückert), but it introduces an actually existing exception to that principle[366] ὑπὲρ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐ καυχήσομαι. It is, however, neither necessary nor justifiable to supply with ὙΠ. ἘΜ. Οὐ ΚΑΥΧ.: of the visions and revelations which I have had, so that ΕἸ ΜΉ would form an inexact contrast (de Wette), since Paul, quite in harmony with 2Co_11:30, absolutely denies that he wishes to boast on behalf of his own self otherwise than only of his weaknesses (comp. 2Co_11:30). Self-glorying otherwise is only then to take place on his part, when his own Ego (his work, toil, merit, etc.) does not come at all into consideration, but he is merely the dependent, receptive instrument of the Lord, and appears as a third person, on behalf of whom the καυχᾶσθαι takes place. The plural ἀσθεν. denotes the various situations and manifestations, in which his feebleness presents itself.

[366] Καυχήσομαι, namely, expresses a principle to be followed, not as Grotius and others would take it: Futurum pro potentiali … gaudere et exultare possem.

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 12:5 . ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιούτου κ . τ . λ .: on behalf of such an one will I glory, but on mine own behalf, i.e. , of myself in my normal state, I will not glory save in my weaknesses , as he has already done, 2Co 11:23 ff.

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

To remove all suspicion of ambition he witnesseth that he braggeth not of those things as his own, but as out of himself, and yet notwithstanding faineth nothing, lest by this occasion other men should attribute more unto him than indeed he is: and therefore he had rather glory in his miseries.

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

of myself--concerning myself. Self is put in the background, except in respect to his infirmities. His glorying in his other self, to which the revelations were vouchsafed, was not in order to give glory to his fleshly self, but to bring out in contrast the "infirmities" of the latter, that Christ might have all the glory.

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 5. Of such a one will I glory] Through modesty he does not mention himself, though the account can be understood of no other person; for, did he mean any other, the whole account would be completely irrelevant.

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

5. Of such a man It is as though he had said “I have just ground for glorying, but I do not willingly avail myself of it. For it is more in accordance with my design, to glory in my infirmities If, however, those malicious persons harass me any farther, and constrain me to boast more than I am inclined to do, they shall feel that they have to do with a man, whom God has illustriously honored, and raised up on high, with a view to his exposing their follies.

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.

(5) Of such an one will I glory.—There is, if we rightly understand it, an almost exquisite sadness in the distinction which is thus drawn by the Apostle between the old self of fourteen years ago, with this abundance of revelations, and the new self of the present, feebler and sadder than the old, worn with cares and sorrows, the daily rush of life and its ever-growing anxieties. Then he saw with open vision; now he walks by faith and not by the thing seen. He can hardly recognise his own identity, and can speak of the man who had then this capacity for the beatific vision as though he were another—almost as if he were dead and gone. The “non sum qualis eram” of decay and age presents manifold varieties of form, the soldier recalling the stir and the rush of battle, the poet finding that the vision and the “faculty divine” are no longer entrusted to his keeping, the eloquent orator who had “wielded at will a fierce democracy,” complaining of slow speech and of a stammering tongue; but this has a sadness peculiar to itself. Faith, hope, love, peace, righteousness, are still there, but there has passed away a glory from the earth, and the joy of that ecstatic rapture lies in the remote past, never to return on earth.

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

5. Of such a one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory] St Paul desires to put the fact in the background that it is of himself he is speaking (see next verse). He has been compelled by the folly and perversity of certain among the Corinthians to touch on these proofs of Divine favour, but he just glances at the topic and passes it by; nay, he even seems to make a distinction between himself as he is and the man once so highly glorified by God, and returns to a kind of boasting more in accordance with his own sense of propriety. So he expatiates on the thorn in the flesh as an instance of how human weakness does but serve to manifest the power of God.

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.

And lest I should be exalted above measure,.... Over much elated in his mind, and swelled with a vain conceit of himself:

through the abundance of the revelations; for he had not only one or two, or a few, but an abundance of them; and which, as everything does but grace, tended to lift up his mind, to stir up the pride of his heart, and to entertain too high and exalted thoughts of himself. Pride is naturally in every man's heart; converted persons are not without it; knowledge, gifts, and revelations are apt to puff up with spiritual pride, unless counterbalanced and over poised by the grace of God. This great apostle was not out of danger by them, for he was not already perfect; wherefore to prevent an excess of pride and vanity in him on account of them, he says,

there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me; many have been the thoughts and conjectures of men about what is here meant by the apostle. This ought to be allowed and taken for granted, that the thorn in the flesh, and the messenger of Satan, design one and the same thing; the former is a figurative expression, the latter a literal one, and explanative of the former. Some have thought that corporeal afflictions are here designed, which may be compared to thorns: see Hos 2:6, and which are not joyous, but grievous to the flesh, and come not by chance, but are by divine appointment, and are designed and made use of, to hide pride from men; and sometimes, by divine permission, Satan has an hand in inflicting them, as in the case of Job: whilst such a general sense is kept to, it is not to be despised, without entering into the particular bodily disorder with which the apostle was afflicted, as some do; some saying it was the choleic, others the gout, others a pain in the ear, and others the headache; which latter it is said he was much troubled with; but these are mere conjectures: others think that the corruptions of nature are intended which in regenerate persons are left, as the Canaanites were in the land, to be "thorns" in the eyes and sides of the Israelites, Jos 23:13. These, to be sure, were felt by the apostle, and were very grievous and humbling to him, and were no doubt sometimes stirred up by Satan, which made him complain bitterly, and groan earnestly; and it may be observed, to strengthen this sense, that it was usual with the Jews to call concupiscence, or the vitiosity of nature, Satan; for so they (a) often say, , "Satan, he is the evil imagination", or corruption of nature; and particularly they call the lust of uncleanness by this name; and it is said (b) of a young man of Israel, being tempted by a young woman of Midian, through the counsel of Balaam, that , "Satan burned in him", and he turned aside after her; and that the evil imagination is the old serpent; yea, they call this "the messenger of hell", a phrase very much like what is here used.

"R. Hona (c), as he was preaching to the children of men to take warning, said unto them, children, beware "of the messenger of hell"; but who is this? the evil imagination, or concupiscence, is that which is "the messenger of hell";''

and this sense is agreeable, provided the particular corruption the apostle was harassed with is not pretended to, as is by some, who pitch upon the lust of uncleanness, and spare not to mention the person by name, one Tecla, who, they say, travelled with him, and was a snare to him; but this is to do injury to the character of so holy an apostle, and to represent him as exposing himself to the false apostles, against whom he was guarding: others think that a variety of afflictions, reproaches, and persecutions, for Christ's sake and the Gospel, are here meant, which were as pricking briers and grieving thorns to him; see Eze 28:24, and which were given and ordered by divine appointment for his good; this sense, Co2 12:9, lead unto, and seem to confirm: others are of opinion that the temptations of Satan are designed, which, as they are called "fiery darts", which the archers of Satan, and his principalities and powers, shoot thick and fast at the saints, to their great annoyance; so may be here called, especially some very particular, eminent, and sore temptation, a "thorn in the flesh", very pungent, and giving a great deal of pain and uneasiness; others suppose that some particular emissary of Satan, either some one of the false apostles and teachers, who greatly opposed him, as Alexander the coppersmith, who did him much harm; or such an one as Hymenaeus or Philetus, that blasphemed and spoke evil of him; or some violent persecutor of him is intended. But, after all, I see not but that the devil himself may be meant; for, as before observed, the phrase "a thorn in the flesh" is metaphorical, and the other, a "messenger of Satan", is literal, and explains it; and the whole may be read thus, "there was given to me a thorn in the flesh", namely, "the angel Satan to buffet me"; so that Satan, who was once an angel of light, now of darkness, is the "thorn in the flesh"; and might be suffered to appear visibly to him from time to time, in a very terrible manner, and which was very grievous to be borne; he might by permission have great power over his body, as he had over Job's, to use it ill, to beat and buffet it; for this also may be taken literally: and he might likewise in other ways greatly distress him by stirring up the corruptions of his heart; by following him with his satanical injections, suggestions, and temptations; by raising violent persecutions, and instigating many of his emissaries against him; and this sense is the rather to be chosen, because it includes all others that have any show of truth. The Jews (d) sometimes make mention of the angel or messenger of Satan mocking at the righteous, and buffeting them; so God is by them said (e) to deliver Nebuchadnezzar , "to a messenger of Satan". This sore exercise befell the apostle for his good, to keep down the pride of his nature;

lest, adds he again,

I should be exalted above measure; for such ends and purposes does the Lord, in his infinite wisdom, deal with his people. The (f) Jews have a notion that this was one reason of God's tempting or trying Abraham with the sacrifice of his Son, to depress that pride that was likely to arise in him because of his greatness.

"This temptation (they say) was necessary at that time, because above, the grandeur of Abraham is declared how great it was before his enemies made peace with him; and Abimelech, king of the Philistines, and Phichol, the chief captain of his host, were obliged to enter into a covenant with him, and asked him to show favour to them, and to the land in which he sojourned; and perhaps hereby , "his heart was lifted up", in the ways of God; "and his eyes were lofty"; when he saw himself blessed with riches, and with children, and with grandeur and glory, as the glory of kings; wherefore God was "willing to try him": with a wall of iron, (this great difficulty) to see if there was any dross left in him.''

(a) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 16. 1. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 6. 2. 3. s. 3. 10. 4. 13. 3. 20. 2. 50. 3. 58. 3. 72. 4. 73. 2. 86. 1. 87. 2. 93. 1. 96. 1. 99. 4. 100. 4. 101. 42. 113. 1. & 133. 2. & 141. 3. &; 149. 2. & 152. 3. Raya Mehimna in Zohar in Lev. fol. 7. 2. (b) Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 20. fol. 229. 1. (c) Midrash Hannelam in Zohar in Gen. fol. 67. 4. (d) R. Eliezer Katon de Scientia Animae, l. 10. apud Gaffarell. Cod. Cabal. Misc. pic. Mirandal. Index p. 23. ad calcem Wolf. Heb. Bibliothec. (e) Shemot Rabba, sect. 20. fol. 105. 4. (f) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 22. 1.

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

5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

Ver. 5. Yet of myself I will not glory] Non nisi coactus, ut supra. Paul was a model of modesty, a very crucifix of mortification, as one calleth him.

But in mine infirmities] i.e. My troubles, so called, either because under them we seem infirm and contemptible; or else, for that afflictions often show our infirmities, our impatience, &c., they make us sick of the fret, &c.

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.

Of such an one will I glory - Of such a man it would be right to boast. It would be admitted that it is right to exult in such a man, and to esteem him to be uniquely favored by God. I will boast of him as having received special honor from the Lord. Bloomfield, however, supposes that the words rendered “of such an one should be translated “of such a thing,” or of such a transaction; meaning” I can indeed justly boast of my being caught up to heaven as of a thing the whole glory of which pertains to him who has thus exalted me; but of myself, or of anything in me, I will not boast.” So Rosenmuller explains it. But it seems to me that the connection requires that we should understand it of a person, and that the passage is partly ironical. Paul speaks in the third person. He chooses to keep himself directly out of view. And though he refers really to himself, yet he wound not say this directly, but says that of such a man they would admit it would be proper to boast.

Yet of myself - Directly. It is not expedient for me to boast of myself. “You would allow me to boast of such a man as I have referred to; I admit that it is not proper for me to boast directly of myself.”

But in mine infirmities - My weaknesses, trials, pains, sufferings; such as many regard as infirmities; see the note on 2Co 11:30.

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

Of such an one will I glory: the apostle, as appeareth by what followeth, speaketh of himself; but he does it in a third person. The meaning is, that that man who had been thus dignified of God, in such revelations and visions, might well glory of such a favour; but yet (saith he) of myself will I glory. But how doth the apostle say, that of himself he will not glory, if he were the person intended?

Answer. Some say, he distinguisheth concerning himself; as to his inward man, his soul, (which was rapt into the third heavens) he did glory; but as to his body, or outward man, he would not glory in any thing which he had done, but only in what he had suffered. I should rather interpret it thus: In this the Lord greatly dignified me; but here was nothing of myself; of myself therefore I will not glory in any thing, except those things which I have suffered for the name of God.

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

5. Of such a one—Of that man of fourteen years ago.

Glory—Will assert that he was in this divine way fitted for an apostleship.

Myself—My present personality.

Infirmities—In which my detractors triumph.

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

Of such a one. These are legitimate subjects of "boast," because they are heavenly privileges, not earthly grounds of superiority. Except in my infirmities. (2Co_11:30)

Glorying in weaknesses.

It is not to be wondered at that Paul boasted; the wonder is that, instead of boasting of the extraordinary visions he had experienced, the extraordinary commission he had received, the extraordinary success which had followed his labours, he boasted of what other men would have concealed or have lamented his own infirmities, disadvantages, and troubles.

I THE WEAKNESSES IN WHICH THE APOSTLE GLORIED.

1. His own bodily infirmity was especially present to his thoughts, whenusing this language. Whatever this was, whether general ill health or some special malady, as of the eyes, it was naturally distressing to himself, as it prevented him from doing his work with the ease and pleasure which he might have experienced had he possessed health and vigour of body.

2. The contempt he met with from some amongst whom he laboured was to Paul no cause of mortification, but cause of rejoicing. Let men despise him; if he was able to serve and please his Master, that was enough.

3. The hardships and privations and persecutions he endured in thefulfilment of his ministry were matter of glorying. In these he took pleasure, contrary as such a fact was to ordinary human experience.

II THE GROUND OF THE APOSTLE"S GLORYING IN HIS WEAKNESSES.

1. There can be no doubt that the deepest ground lay in Paul"s sympathywith his Divine Lord. The humiliation and obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus in order to secure man"s salvation became a new source of inspiration, in the direction both of human action and of human suffering, and Paul was crucified with Christ unto the world. He bore about with him in the body the marks of the Lord Jesus, and of this he justly boasted.

2. Personal weakness was the occasion of the reception of new andspiritual strength. For Christ made his own grace sufficient when his servant"s strength was gone. And by a sublime paradox the apostle learned that when he was weak, then was he strong. And thus the very infirmities which seemed to disqualify for service became the occasion of the communication of such spiritual power and aid as rendered the apostle more efficient and successful in the service of the Lord. T.

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

Of such an one I will - I might, glory; but I will not glory of myself - As considered in myself.

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

Here the apostle declares, that although this foretaste of the heavenly glory was worthy to be gloried in, and though he might boast of himself as thus exalted, yet he being purely passive in it, and advanced freely by God to it, he chose rather to ascribe unto God the entire glory of that, and content himself with glorying in such infirmities, and debasing sufferings, as he could strictly call his own, being undergone by him with an invincible courage and constancy of mind.

However, he assures them, that if he had a mind to glory of this rapture and revelation, he might do it without folly or vanity, it being most certainly true; but he chose rather to forbear, lest he should thereby give occasion to any to over-value him, and to think more highly of him, that his common behaviour, his ordinary words and actions gave them reason to do.

A wise and good man is not ambitious of more applause or commendation that what his personal worth or merits deservedly challenge; he desires no man to think or speak of him above that which he appeareth to be, which is always as he really is, being that in reality, which he is in appearance.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

On behalf of such a one will I glory: but on mine own behalf I will not glory, save in my weaknesses . [Here Paul speaks of an experience of his, but declines to name himself, or use the first person, lest he might be thought to be glorying in his own exaltation. He had been caught up into paradise, or the secret place of the Almighty. This he calls the third heaven, for in the Jewish estimation the air was the first heaven, the region of the sun, moon and stars was the second heaven. Somewhere beyond the stars was the abode of the Almighty. He was miraculously drawn up into heaven, but whether his whole personality went thither, or whether merely that part of him (his spiritual nature) which was suited to comprehend and enjoy heaven, he could not tell. While here he had heard words which it was not lawful for him to try to interpret by the insufficient and consequently misleading worth of earth. He tells this event, but it was an honor so much above his deserving that he avoids even such a method of telling it as might be construed to be boastful. If he gloried on his own behalf, it would still be in his weaknesses. As Paul wrote this epistle in A. D. 57, the deduction of fourteen years would bring us to A. D. 43, the season when Paul was in Antioch.]

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.

5. Of such an one will I glory. One so favored had ground for boasting, but of himself personally he will not glory, save in his infirmities. See note on 11:30. While he glories of such an one, if he glories of himself it will be in his weaknesses.

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.

5. After ταῖς ἀσθενείαις אD3FGKLMP, f g Vulg. Aeth. Goth. add μου: BD 17, 67, 109, d e Syrr. Copt. Arm. omit. Such insertions for smoothness or completeness are common; comp. 2Co 12:9-10; Eph 3:6; Eph 5:31; Php 4:23.

5. ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιούτου καυχήσομαι. Hoc de se humilitatis causa, quasi in alterius persona loquitur (Sedulius ad loc. Migne, P. L. ciii.). S. Paul speaks of himself throughout as if he were another person; not merely because this glorying about himself was distressing to him, and feelings of modesty suggested to him (as to many writers at the present day) to speak of himself in the third person; but because a person in ecstasy, to his everyday self, is another person. “He who was caught up to the third heaven and heard unspeakable words is a different Paul from him who says, Of such an one I will glory” (Origen on John, Book x. 5). “He speaks of a divided experience, of two selves, two Pauls: one Paul in the third heaven, enjoying the beatific vision: another yet on earth, struggling, tempted, tried and buffeted by Satan” (F. W. Robertson). That τοῦ τοιούτου is neuter, ‘such a matter,’ is improbable, both on account of the contrast with ἐμαυτοῦ and also of τὸν τ. ἄνθρωπον (2Co 12:3). Of ‘such a one’ he will glory, because in all this he was passive: he did nothing, and could claim no merit; it was all a ‘revelation of the Lord.’ As to his own doings, he will not glory, except in what may be called his weaknesses. He here repeats the principle laid down in 2Co 11:30.

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.

5.] Of such a man he will boast, but not (see above on ver. 1) of himself, except it be in his infirmities.

τοῦ τοιούτου must be masc. as before, not neuter, as Luth., al., take it. This is shewn by ὑπέρ, used of the person respecting whom (reff.), whereas ἐν is said of the thing on account of which, a man boasts.

He strikes here again the keynote of the whole—boasting in his infirmities. He will boast of such a person, so favoured, so exalted; but this merely by the way: it is not his subject: it was introduced, not indeed without reference to the main point, but principally to bring in the infirmity following.

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

5. ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιούτου καυχήσομαι. No doubt τοῦ τοιούτου is masc, as is shown by T.T. ἄνθρωπον (v. 3) and by the contrast with ἐμαυτοῦ. He speaks as if there were two Pauls, one about whom he could glory, and another about whom he would not do so. And in a sense there were two; for, as Origen remarks, “He who was caught up to the third heaven and heard unspeakable words is a different Paul from him who said, Of such a one I will glory.” To a person who has been in ecstasy that experience may seem to belong to a person other than his everyday self. And it is only as having been bestowed upon a person different from his ordinary self that the Apostle will glory of the unspeakable favours bestowed in these raptures. They were not to his credit; for he was entirely passive throughout; all was ‘of the Lord’ and ‘in Christ.’ As to his own conduct, he returns to what was said in 11:30, he will glory, not of the things which he has achieved, but of the things which he has suffered, the things in which he has been weak and the Lord strong. He returns to these in v. 7.

After ταῖς ἀσθενείαις א D 3 E G K L M P, f g Vulg. Aeth. Goth. add μου: B D * 17 67, d e Syrr. Copt. Arm. omit. Cf. 11:30. Such insertions for completeness are common; see vv. 9, 10; Eph 3:6, Eph 3:5:31; Php 4:23.

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