Interpretation of 2 Corinthians

Contents

Reading pages: 0–2.14 · 3.1–5.17 · 6.1–9.5 · 10.5–11.31 · 12.1–13.12

1. 0Theodoret's introduction sets 2 Corinthians against the Jewish-Christian opponents who called Paul an apostate, outlines the letter, and explains why Titus is not named in the greeting.
2. 1.3Theodoret punctuates 2 Cor 1:3 so that God is called “our God” but “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” as Christ himself distinguished.
3. 1.4Theodoret notes that Paul names God's comfort before recounting his trials, since God measures consolation to suffering.
4. 1.5Theodoret explains that Paul suffers and is comforted for the Corinthians' sake, and that the danger in Asia was so great that he despaired of life.
5. 1.9Theodoret explains that God let Paul's danger go no further than the expectation of death, defends Paul's sincerity, and shows that his travel plans did not contradict his earlier promise.
6. 1.17Theodoret explains that Paul denies both fickleness and acting from fleshly desire, and that a self-controlled person drops even a good plan that will not profit others.
7. 1.18Theodoret explains that Paul's preaching of Christ never wavered, that the Amen joins the people to the priest's thanksgiving, and that Paul delayed his visit to spare the Corinthians, not to lord it over them.
8. 2.3Theodoret explains that Paul wrote before coming so that the correction would be made and his visit could be a joy.
9. 2.4Theodoret explains that Paul wrote severely out of love, and now asks that the punished offender be forgiven lest he despair and fall away.
10. 2.8Theodoret explains that Paul, having learned of the Corinthians' obedience, joins them in forgiving the offender lest Satan use despair, and that Paul's distress at Troas shows Titus's worth.
11. 2.14Theodoret explains the “fragrance” of 2 Cor 2:14–17 as present knowledge, a foretaste of perfect knowledge, which saves believers and ruins unbelievers, and contrasts Paul with those who adulterate the word.
12. 3.1Theodoret reads 2 Cor 3:1 as a jab at the deceivers, who relied on letters of commendation.
13. 3.2Theodoret explains that the Corinthians' own faith is Paul's living letter of commendation.
14. 3.3Theodoret contrasts the two covenants: the law written on stone, which punished, and the grace of the Spirit, which gives life, justifies through faith in baptism, and brings a greater and lasting glory.
15. 3.8Theodoret explains that the glory of Moses fades beside the surpassing and lasting glory of grace, as a lamp vanishes at midday.
16. 3.13Theodoret reads Moses' veil as the Jews' unbelief, which keeps them from seeing Christ, the end of the law, and stresses that their hardening was their own choice.
17. 3.15Theodoret explains that “Moses” means the law and the veil means unbelief.
18. 3.16Theodoret argues from “the Lord is the Spirit” that the Holy Spirit is Lord, equal in honor and power with God, against the Arians and Eunomians who called the Spirit a creature.
19. 3.18Theodoret explains that all believers, not Moses alone, see the Lord's glory with unveiled face, and that a pure heart mirrors the glory received from the Spirit, whom Paul calls Lord.
20. 4.1Theodoret notes that Paul received his ministry by God's loving-kindness alone and therefore bears hardships nobly.
21. 4.2Theodoret takes “the hidden things of shame” to mean circumcision, preached by the false teachers who mixed the law into the gospel.
22. 4.3Theodoret links the veiled gospel of 2 Cor 4:3 to the fragrance of death and life in 2:16.
23. 4.4Theodoret punctuates 2 Cor 4:4 so that “God” blinds the unbelievers of this age, explains that God withholds the mysteries from those who have chosen unbelief, and calls Christ the image of God as God from God.
24. 4.5Theodoret notes that Paul calls himself the slave not only of Christ but of the believers, for Christ's sake.
25. 4.6Theodoret explains that the Creator of light now enlightens believers' hearts, and that the invisible divine nature is seen through the humanity Christ assumed.
26. 4.7Theodoret explains that the gospel treasure in fragile bodies shows God's power, since the apostles suffer much and are not destroyed.
27. 4.11Theodoret explains that the apostles gladly face death for Christ in order to share his life and the incorruption of the flesh.
28. 4.12Theodoret explains that the apostles face death so that the Corinthians may have life.
29. 4.13Theodoret begins to explain why Paul's quotation of “I believed, therefore I spoke” fits his argument about hope in the unseen.
30. 4.15Theodoret explains that the same Spirit spoke through David and through the apostles, that Christ's resurrection guarantees ours, and that God's grace calls for continual thanksgiving.
31. 4.16Theodoret explains that the outer man decays while the inner is renewed, and that brief, light affliction earns an eternal weight of glory.
32. 4.18Theodoret teaches that both the pains and the comforts of this life pass, so believers should wait for eternal goods.
33. 5.1Theodoret explains the earthly tent as present life and the body, set against the eternal heavenly house.
34. 5.2Theodoret reads the heavenly dwelling as incorruption put on over the same body, not exchanged for another.
35. 5.3Theodoret explains that all will rise incorruptible but not all will share God's glory; “naked” means stripped of glory.
36. 5.4Theodoret explains that believers long not to shed the body but to be freed from its passions and clothed with incorruption.
37. 5.5Theodoret explains that God foresaw the fall and prepared its remedy, gave the Spirit as pledge, and teaches believers to long to be with the Lord rather than fear death.
38. 5.9Theodoret teaches that faith must be joined to a life pleasing to God, since all will be laid bare before Christ's judgment seat and repaid in body and soul.
39. 5.14Theodoret explains that the fear of the Lord and the love of Christ, who died for all, drive Paul's ministry, and that since Christ's risen body is incorruptible no one is any longer known as merely mortal.
40. 5.17Theodoret explains the new creation through baptism, God's initiative in reconciling sinners through his Son, and the exchange by which the sinless Christ was “made sin” so that we might become righteousness.
41. 6.1Theodoret explains that the apostles work with their hearers so that God's grace is not made vain by a contrary life.
42. 6.2Theodoret explains Paul's catalogue of hardships and virtues, including his voluntary discipline of fasting, sleeplessness and manual labor, and how honor and dishonor alike became weapons of righteousness.
43. 6.8Theodoret explains that Paul's love has widened his heart to hold all the Corinthians.
44. 6.12Theodoret reads the call not to be “unequally yoked” as a warning against the false teachers, and explains defilement of spirit as idolatry and of flesh as lawless deeds.
45. 7.2Theodoret explains that Paul both praised and blamed the Corinthians to train them, and here defends himself against the slanders some had believed.
46. 7.3Theodoret explains that Paul does not mean to condemn the Corinthians, whom he holds in his heart in life and death.
47. 7.4Theodoret explains Paul's boldness and pride toward the Corinthians as that of a father and teacher.
48. 7.5Theodoret explains Paul's “fears within” as anxiety for weaker believers.
49. 7.6Theodoret notes that Paul praises Titus, the bearer of the letter, to win the Corinthians' love for him.
50. 7.7Theodoret explains that Paul rejoiced in the grief his letter caused because it led to repentance, and contrasts godly grief over sin with worldly grief over losses.
51. 7.11Theodoret describes the Corinthians' repentance after Paul's letter, identifies the wrongdoer as the incestuous man and the wronged as his dead father, and explains Paul's joy at Titus's report.
52. 7.15Theodoret notes Titus's affection for the obedient Corinthians and draws a lesson for teachers and hearers, ending with a doxology.
53. 8.1Theodoret introduces the collection for the saints and explains that calling the Macedonians' generosity “grace of God” does not deny their free choice.
54. 8.2Theodoret praises the Macedonians' generosity in poverty as Paul's model for the Corinthians and explains the collection as a fellowship that profits the giver.
55. 8.8Theodoret explains Paul's appeal for the collection by Christ's example and the principle of equality, and identifies the brother praised in the churches as Barnabas.
56. 8.21Theodoret comments on the brothers sent with Titus, whom some identify with Apollos, and on Paul's method of spurring the Corinthians and Macedonians to generosity by each other's example.
57. 9.5Theodoret notes that Paul calls the collection a blessing, grace and fellowship, and wants it given gladly and in the measure each chooses.
58. 10.5Theodoret comments on giving as sowing, on God as the supplier of every gift, and on the thanksgiving the collection produces, then begins Paul's defense against the opponents who accused him of walking according to the flesh.
59. 10.6Theodoret explains that Paul delays punishment in order first to win over the majority by persuasion.
60. 10.7Theodoret reads the opening of 2 Cor 10:7 as a question and notes that Paul first claims equality with his opponents in the name of Christ before comparing works.
61. 10.8Theodoret explains that Paul's authority is for building up, unlike the opponents who tear down others' work, and that his deeds match his letters.
62. 10.12Theodoret explains that Paul, without naming them, rebukes opponents who measure themselves by themselves.
63. 10.13Theodoret explains the “measure of the rule” as the grace God gives, and contrasts Paul's preaching to new hearers with the opponents who corrupt churches others have founded.
64. 11.1Theodoret explains Paul's “folly” and his jealousy as the matchmaker who betrothed the church, a virgin in the purity of its faith, to Christ.
65. 11.4Theodoret explains that Paul turns the blame onto the Corinthians, who were led astray though the opponents offered no other Jesus, Spirit or gospel.
66. 11.5Theodoret notes that Paul claims, modestly, to fall short in nothing of the great apostles.
67. 11.6Theodoret notes that Paul admits only that he is untrained in speech, not in the knowledge of God.
68. 11.7Theodoret explains that Paul preached at Corinth without pay, supported by other churches, which exposes the Corinthians' stinginess and his own generosity.
69. 11.8Theodoret explains Paul's oath that no one will take from him the boast of preaching without pay.
70. 11.11Theodoret explains that Paul refuses support to deprive the false apostles of a pretext, and that they, like Satan, disguise themselves to deceive.
71. 11.16Theodoret notes Paul's reluctance to boast of his labors and his request to be borne with as a fool.
72. 11.17Theodoret comments on Paul's “foolish” boasting, his equality with the opponents in Jewish descent, and his catalogue of sufferings for the gospel.
73. 11.31Theodoret reads “God” in 2 Cor 11:31 as God of believers and “Father” as Father of the Lord, and introduces Paul's escape from Damascus.
74. 12.1Theodoret explains why Paul tells of his vision of paradise as if of another man, and reports two views of the “third heaven” and the “inexpressible words”.
75. 12.6Theodoret explains that Paul refrains from telling everything lest anyone think more of him than befits a man, as happened at Lystra.
76. 12.7Theodoret interprets Paul's thorn in the flesh, the “angel of Satan”, as the insults and persecutions he suffered, not a bodily ailment.
77. 12.10Theodoret notes that Paul does not merely endure his sufferings but welcomes them, since apparent weakness brings true strength.
78. 12.11Theodoret notes that the Corinthians forced Paul to commend himself and that he puts endurance before miracles as the mark of an apostle.
79. 12.13Theodoret explains Paul's ironic apology for not burdening the Corinthians and his promise, as more than a natural father, to seek them and not their money.
80. 12.14Theodoret explains Paul's defense of his and Titus's integrity, his speaking “in Christ” according to Christ's laws, and his grief over those who sinned and did not repent.
81. 13.1Theodoret begins to explain Paul's use of the rule of two or three witnesses.
82. 13.2Theodoret explains Paul's threat not to spare the unrepentant by the apostles' power to punish, as in the cases of Ananias and Sapphira and of Elymas.
83. 13.3Theodoret begins to explain the Corinthians' demand for proof that Christ speaks in Paul.
84. 13.4Theodoret explains that Christ suffered in his mortal body but lives as God, and that raising the body is ascribed both to the Son and to the Father without difference.
85. 13.5Theodoret explains Paul's call to self-examination: believers should know that Christ dwells in them.
86. 13.6Theodoret notes the threat in Paul's words, softened by his affection.
87. 13.7Theodoret explains that Paul would rather the Corinthians do good than give him occasion to show his apostolic power.
88. 13.8Theodoret explains that apostolic punishment builds up the whole church, and comments on Paul's closing exhortations to joy, concord and peace.
89. 13.12Theodoret explains that the closing blessing does not divide grace, love and fellowship among the three persons, and that the order of the names implies no difference of nature, power or rank.