Anton Halmel: 3 letters divided into 9 segments
Walter Schmitals: a collection of 9 letters
J. S. Semler: 12:14-13:13 is a later addition and ch. 9 was addressed to Achaia.
Adolf Hausrath: chapters 10-13 were written before chs. 1-9
Rudolf Bultmann: 6:14-7:1 is not by Paul at all
Ralph Martin: Letter A (now lost)
Letter B (I Corinthians)
Letter C (now lost)
Letter D (II Corinthians 1-9)
Letter E (II Corinthians 10-13)
All of these theories become unnecessary once you realize that the epistle has a very unified order to it,
arguing for a single author writing it on one occasion.
The Structure of II Corinthians
I. Introduction (1:1-7)
II. Conciliation (1:8-7:16)
III. Collection (8:1-9:15)
II'. Credentials (10:1-13:10)
I'. Conclusion (13:11-14)
And each of these five sections possesses its own internal order. For example:
Section II' (I Cor. 10:1-13:10)
The passage for today is found in Section II', which also possesses a literary symmetry:
The Structure of Section II'
A. Paul’s Coming Visit (10:1-18)
B. A Fool’s Speech (11:1-12:13)
1. Comparison with false apostles (11:1-21a)
2. Paul’s hardships (11:21b-33)
3. Paul’s vision (12:1-5a)
2'. Paul’s hardships (12:5b-10)
1'. Comparison with false apostles (12:11-13)
A'. Paul’s coming visit (12:14-13:10)
Sections A and A' deal with the non-apostolic status of the “super apostles” at Corinth, those being “approved” (10:18; 13:7), and the Corinthians’ faith (10:15; 13:5).
The title for the center section B has been adopted for obvious reasons since “fool” or “foolishness” appear eight times here. Within II'B, the opening phrases of each sub-unit form a roughly symmetrical set:
1. “Bear with me in a little foolishness”
2. “Dare to boast...I am speaking as a fool”
3. “I must boast”
2'. “If I wish to boast, I shall not be a fool”
1'. “I have been a fool”
Paul boasts of his weakness in B1 (11:30) and B1' (12:9-10). Paul stops boasting at 12:11 and starts to defend his behavior.
As an inclusio (bookend) for this entire section, 13:10 repeats the thought of 10:1-2: Paul will be bold with the Corinthians only if forced to be so. Similar contrasts between Paul’s absence and presence (found at 10:1,10; 13:2,10) also serve to mark the bounds of Section II'.
II Corinthians 12:1-2 To counter super-apostles' claims of out-of-body experiences, Paul reluctantly offers his own experiences, but prefers to boast of his tribulations.
12:2” “14 years ago” is just before the start of Paul's first missionary journey. A possible literary explanation may be found in the other references to the number “three,” which appear in the last half of Section II' (at 12:8,14; 13:1).
In II Corinthians 12:2, Paul talks about a man visiting the “third heaven.” Is Paul taking about himself here or someone he knew? We don't know. And what or where is this third heaven? There is perhaps a similarity with John in Revelation 4:1-2 and Stephen in Acts 7:55-56.
One particular explanation found on the internet for the three heavens is that the 1st heaven is earth, 2nd heaven is the atmosphere, and 3rd heaven is outer space. These sources also explain that the 2nd heaven is Satan's territory. By the way, that is probably where the custom arose of saying, “God bless you” when someone sneezes. The idea was that one's soul would temporarily leave one's body when sneezing and Satan could snatch it away if someone nearby didn't invoke God's name.
More reliable sources say that the atmosphere is the first heaven, outer space is the second heaven, and the third heaven is the spiritual realm in which God has His throne.
Just to complicate the picture further, by Christ's time, mystical Jews referred to the Seventh Heaven as the dwelling place of God with paradise as the 3rd heaven in the series (The Testament of Levi, Similitudes of Enoch, Epistle of Barnabas, etc.).
II Corinthians 12:3-8 Paradise is name of the place where the glory of Eden is regained (Luke 23:43; Revelation 2:7)
12:7: God sent Paul a thorn in the flesh via Satan. Do you perhaps have a problem with this? “Harass” is literally “punch.” Remember the example of Job. The “thorn” is most commonly interpreted as a reference to some form of serious physical infirmity that hindered his work. This is also the earliest known Christian interpretation, mentioned in the early third century in Tertullian's On Modesty, where it is understood as a reference to ear or head pain. One proposal is that Paul's ailment was a defect of sight, acute ophthalmia, possibly caused by the dazzling light at his conversion. This interpretation is partly based on Paul's reference to a weakness of the flesh in Galatians 4:13-14, for which the Galatians would have been willing to pluck out their eyes to give to him. It is also argued that this would account for Paul's large handwriting (Galatians 6:11), his failure to recognize the high priest in Acts 23:5, and his tendency to use an amanuensis (secretary). Other proposed ailments include epilepsy and malarial fever. The second of these is said to partially explain which cities Paul chose to evangelize – those at higher elevations.
Alternatively, the thorn has been seen as a physical impediment that made Paul the object of ridicule, without necessarily making him physically weak. Peter Marshall suggests a “social debilitating disease or disfigurement” that would undermine his visionary claims. Others propose a speech impediment, which might explain the Corinthian accusation that he was forceful in writing but unimpressive in person (2 Corinthians 10:9-11). Acts of Paul (second-century AD) describes him as, “A man of middling size, and his hair was scanty, and his legs were a little crooked, and his knees were far apart; he had large eyes, and his eyebrows met, and his nose was somewhat long.”
Other interpretations include:
The thorn describes the persecutions and unfortunate accidents that characterized Paul's life after his conversion to Christianity, as laid out in the preceding chapter 11 of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.
Some Roman Catholic writers think that it denotes suggestions to impiety.
The early Reformers interpreted the expression as denoting temptation to unbelief.
Another view which has been maintained is that this "thorn" consisted in an infirmity of temperament, to which he occasionally gave way, and which interfered with his success (Acts 15:39; 23:2-5). If we consider the fact, “which the experience of God's saints in all ages has conclusively established, of the difficulty of subduing an infirmity of temper, as well as the pain, remorse, and humiliation such an infirmity is wont to cause to those who groan under it, we may be inclined to believe that not the least probable hypothesis concerning the 'thorn' or 'stake' in the flesh is that the loving heart of the apostle bewailed as his sorest trial the misfortune that, by impatience in word, he had often wounded those for whom he would willingly have given his life” (Elias, Second Corinthians, Introduction).
Paul's agony over Jewish rejection of the gospel
A reference to Paul's opponents
12:8: Three times he prayed to have it removed. Recall that Jesus prayed three times to have the cup pass from him.
II Corinthians 12:9-11 boasting in weakness.
12:9: That is my own problem when anyone occasionally praises me for my teaching. It doesn't help me overcome my naturally egotistic personality. I can accept positive comments by realizing more and more that any gifts I have are from God, not due to my own ability. “Dwell in” = “may tabernacle upon me” – just as the glory of God filled the tabernacle.
12:9-11: What Paul says about himself here is echoed in what he said earlier concerning the Corinthians themselves in I Corinthians 1:26-29: “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.”
12:11: “Fool's speech” Paul is between a rock and a hard place. If he remains modest and downplays the importance of God's personal charge to him, no will listen to him. If he tries to defend himself, he will come across as boastful as his opponents at Corinth. Human nature hasn't changed over the years. A large number of people are attracted to preachers with forceful and charismatic personalities because they are so sure of themselves and so dogmatic in what they teach.
Some feel that “super-apostles” refers to the original Twelve, but much more likely it refers sarcastically to the false teachers at Corinth.
Billy Graham testimonials: many of them stress how humble he was, despite his fame and influence.
12:9-10 One of the rare quotes from Christ found outside the Gospels. The most exciting situation is
where you are in over your head and must rely on God—he takes over.
12:11 They should have been defending Paul. This is a lesson to every church. We shouldn't be bullied
by anyone or any group in the congregation into supporting actions we don't believe in.
12:12 Note how Paul says “were performed” rather than “I performed.”
12:13-17 Distinguishing marks of a true apostle: he doesn't live off of the congregation, doesn't puff
himself up, doesn't rely on unverifiable visions, and doesn't knock down true apostles.
12:16 “Crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery.” Paul was apparently accused of appropriating
funds collected for the Jerusalem church. RSV, Phillips, NEB, TEV, Living Bible, and Jerusalem Bible,
add “you say” or its equivalent to make it clear to people who do not understand sarcasm that Paul is
not confessing to a wrong. I have noted that sometimes Christians have trouble understanding sarcasm
and irony.
12:18 The “brother” was identified by early church fathers as Luke, who may or may not have been
Titus' actual brother.
12:20 Eleven sins are listed, basically the same ones that prompted the writing of I Corinthians. This
shows that they hadn't changed.
13:1 Quote from Deuteronomy 19:15. It may be referring to any charges brought against Paul. Another
likely interpretation hinges on the Damascus Document in the Dead Sea scrolls. If only one person
witnesses a transgression, but did it on three different occasions, and warned the party each time, then
the demands of the law were satisfied (Quinn, Titus, p. 251).
13:3 The Corinthians demanded proof that Paul really was who he said he was. Signs of the
“triumphant Christian life” are often mistakenly used as proof that a person is walking close to God.
Another tightrope Paul is walking – maintain humility in talking to the church but demonstrate God's
power at the same time.
13:5 This verse does not support the idea that Christians should periodically submit themselves to self-
examination to determine whether they are really saved. The purpose of the verse is to use the
undoubted salvation of the Corinthians as evidence of Paul's apostolic authority. The question in 5b is
phrased such that the expected answer is “yes.” The phrase “unless you fail the test” is meant to be
sarcastic.
Similar language is found in I Corinthians 11:28. Both refer to seeing if you are living out your faith,
not whether you are truly saved at all.
The Greek word order indicates emphasis: “Yourselves examine (i.e., not me)”
13:9 When we are weak (no need to enforce authority), you are strong (self-disciplined). This is the
only use in the NT of noun katartisin, which can be translated as restoration instead of perfection. The
corresponding verb is used in Matthew 4:21 to refer to repairing fish nets.
13:11-14 In no other letter of Paul's does he close with a reference to the full Trinity. Fellowship of the
Holy Spirit means the fellowship in the church that can only come about by the action of the Holy
Spirit. This fits v. 11 – put things in order, agree with one another, live in peace.
Conclusion: You may be curious as to whether Paul was successful on his third visit to Corinth.
Apparently so, since he wrote the Letter to the Romans from there and said, “with no further work for
me to do here, I desire, as I have for many years, to come to you when I go to Spain.” (Romans
15:23-24)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments