II CORINTHIANS 1:3-2:17

One way of diagramming this large opening unit is pictured below:

    A. Praise to God (1:3-7)

        B. Past Events (1:8-11)

            C. Paul's Earlier Letter (1:12-14)

                D. Paul's Plan to Visit (1:15-20a)

    A'. Praise to God (1:20b-22)

                D'. Paul's Plan to Visit (1:23-2:1)

            C'. Paul's Earlier Letter (2:2-11)

        B'. Past Events (2:12-13)

    A''. Praise to God (2:14-17)

The flow of the section is punctuated three times with Paul's praises to God. Hillyer agrees that B' resumes the thought of B. Language common to C and C' includes “write/wrote” and “know/not know.” In D and D', Paul explains that he was not being arbitrary when he decided not to visit Corinth again. These “were all the actions of one who is 'sealed by the Spirit' [1:22] and [he] is therefore acting in a Christ-like manner.” (Hafemann)

Section A: II Corinthians 1:3-7

This unit is characterized by the presence of the key words “affliction” in 1:4 (2x) and 1:6 and “console / consolation” in 1:3, 4 (4x), 5, 6 (2x) and 7.

1:3 “This blessing takes the form of the synagogue prayer.” (Boring)

1:6 Lea and Griffin: “The more Paul took upon himself, the less his Christian friends would have to bear themselves.”

Section B: II Corinthians 1:8-11

“It is almost certainly this experience brought home to him the likelihood that he would not survive to witness the Lord's Parousia.” (Bruce)

1:8 Orr and Walther: “No more detail is given about this affliction...we may assume that he was talking about riots or attacks of the populace against him.”

Section C: II Corinthians 1:12-14

The word “confidence” acts as an inclusio (i.e., brackets) for this unit, which Ralph Martin treats as a “transition to the letter's first theme.” He adds that “Paul is clearly on the defensive and needs to state unambiguously that his motives in past dealings with the Corinthians have always been well-intentioned and sincere, i.e., without duplicity.”

Section D: II Corinthians 1:15-20a

1:17 France believes that the repetition of yes and no “probably indicates emphasis intended to gain credence.” See Matthew 5:37 and James 5:12 for similar teachings.

1:20a Dale Davis puts it this way: “His promises are not stamped with an expiration date in fine print.”

Section A': II Corinthians 1:20b-22

1:21 Witherington points out the wordplay here: “God establishes us in Christ (eis Christon) and has anointed us (chrisas).”

1:21-22 “God, Paul avers, has put both apostles and people into a relationship with himself by the actions which the three divine persons are involved.” (Martin)

“Those exegetes are probably right who regard the three verbs (establish, anoint, seal) as three different aspects of what happens in baptism.” (Muller) Kasemann agrees when he says that “the possibility has to be seriously considered that 'to seal' in 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:123, 4:30 belongs to the fixed vocabulary of baptism.”

1:22 Regarding the earnest or down payment, the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery says, “We do not know for a certainty to which [legal system] Paul refers...Jewish, Greek and Roman law contain variants of the notion, ranging from the evidencing of a transaction to the guarantee of the future performance of an obligation...to part payment of a price.” Wakely adds that “the contract for services is more likely to have been the source of the metaphor than contracts of sale.” Thus, he prefers the translation of “a first installment.”

Section D': II Corinthians 1:23-2:1

“The Corinthian Christians had their direct relationship to God by faith and Paul had no authority to interpose himself.” (Morris)

Section C': II Corinthians 2:2-11)

Key words in this unit include “write” (2:4,9); “love” (2:4,8); and “know” (2:4,9). Hafemann says that “just as Paul's actions toward the Corinthians demonstrate his genuine apostolic standing, their willingness to extend mercy to this person takes on the character of a test of their faith.” Blomberg notes that “if 2 Cor 2:5-11 forms the sequel to 1 Cor 5:1-5, then we may have at least one specific illustration within Scripture itself of how excommunication led to repentance and restoration.”

Section B': II Corinthians 2:12-13

Bultmann suggests that these verses are still part of Paul's “apologetic writing, though cast in narrative style.”

See Chapter 7 for the continuation of this story.

The trip mentioned in v. 13, according to Martin, “is usually identified with the one in Acts 20:1 and may be dated near the end of A.D. 55.”

The trip mentioned in v. 13, according to Martin, “is usually identified with the one in Acts 20:1 and may be dated near the end of A.D. 55.”

Section A'': II Corinthians 2:14-17

Flinder says that “this fragrance spread abroad through his preaching has a twofold effect: to those who obey the gospel it brings divine life, while to those who refuse the message it brings eternal death.”

2:14 “Christ's own triumphal procession led to his atoning death in Jerusalem, and because followers of Christ share in his death...they are perhaps led to the cross themselves as Christ was, on the understanding that this death is actually a triumph.” (DBI) “Paul, now a 'slave of Christ'...was always being led by God to a triumphal procession 'to death' (i.e., into situations of weakness and suffering).”

Towner notes that the phrase “in every place” appears also in I Colossians 1:2; I Thessalonians 1:8; and I Timothy 2:8. “Notably, in each of these instances either Paul's prayer or his preaching mission is in view. Both of these features and the sense of universality suggest that the phrase originated in and consciously echoes Mal 1:1.”