The Jewish Annotated New Testament (92 page)

¹⁵
Now, brothers and sisters,
^*
you know that members of the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints;
¹⁶
I urge you to put yourselves at the service of such people, and of everyone who works and toils with them.
¹⁷
I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence;
¹⁸
for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So give recognition to such persons.

¹⁹
The churches of Asia send greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, greet you warmly in the Lord.
²⁰
All the brothers and sisters
^*
send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²¹
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.
²²
Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. Our Lord, come!
^*
23
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
²⁴
My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.
^*

THE SECOND LETTER OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS

NAME, AUTHORSHIP

Paul writes to persuade the Corinthian church, which he had founded, to maintain its exclusive relationship with him as an apostle and with the gospel of Jesus he proclaimed. After an earlier dispute with the Corinthians about Paul’s fund-raising for the Jerusalem church, a new group of missionaries—apparently distinguished by exceptional rhetorical and spiritual gifts—has led church members to reject Paul’s leadership and message. Paul reacts by restating his historical relationship to the Corinthian church, explaining the travels that have taken him away from them, and, most importantly, rearticulating the style of leadership and the singular message that characterize his gospel and that distinguish him as a true apostle of Jesus Christ.

LITERARY HISTORY AND INTERPRETATION

Paul’s argument is twofold. First, he challenges his opponents’ desire that the Corinthians observe those elements of Jewish law (
halakhah
) that distinguish Jews from Gentiles (e.g., dietary regulations, male circumcision). Paul characterizes the law as an aspect only of the “old” and deficient covenant that God made with the Jews, a covenant entirely superseded by the “new” covenant God has made available to those who believe in Jesus. Second, Paul strives to buttress his apostolic status. In contrast to the newcomers, whom he derisively calls “super-apostles” (11.5; 12.11), Paul portrays himself as humble and lacking in oratorical skill. In a recurrent theme, he argues that his weaknesses are signs of his strength and of his gospel. Paul thus contrasts himself with the “super-apostles” who express power through shows of mystical abilities. Even as he announces that he has similar skills, Paul depicts his opponents’ actions as
self
-promotion rather than promotion of the gospel. Paul’s ironic message is that, in Christ, weakness is power.

Perhaps because of the distinct tasks Paul sets for himself, or perhaps because 2 Corinthians combines several originally separate Pauline writings, the letter rapidly switches topics and tone. If there are independent sources, their precise extent and relative chronology are uncertain (see notes on 2.13; 6.14–7.1; 8.1–9.15; 10.1–18). A conciliatory passage and introduction to Paul’s travels (2.5–13) are interrupted by an initial self-defense (2.14–5.21). In the manner of a midrashic exegesis, Paul interprets Moses’ veil in Ex 34 (3.1–18) as showing that the law is obsolete and not a path to true knowledge of God. This discussion ends with an anxious appeal for reconciliation (6.1–13; 7.2–4 [6.14–7.1 appears parenthetical]), followed by the resumption of the travelogue, which picks up where Paul left off at 2.13.

Chapters 8 and 9, on the collection for the poor of Jerusalem, may be separate solicitation letters, and these are followed by a highly charged polemical conclusion (10.1–13.10), which returns to Paul’s main focus: Paul has the same powers as the “super-apostles,” but he knows that to boast of such things is to be a fool. To regain the Corinthians’ support, Paul brags of his own strengths even as he ironically rejects the value of that bragging. Weakness, not extravagant power, Paul says, authenticates true ministry, and for this reason he allowed himself to boast only of his afflictions.

READING GUIDE

Despite these varying topics and shifting rhetorical styles, the letter presents certain recurring motifs. The relationship between affliction and consolation, raised in 1.3–11, is the backbone of the arguments in 4.7–10; 4.16–5.10; and 12.7–10. The twin themes of boasting and confidence intimated in 1.12–14 feature prominently in 3.4–18; 8.1–7,24; 9.1–5; and all of 10–13. The paradox of power in weakness informs the whole letter. Even if 2 Corinthians is a composite, the different letters were composed within a brief period to address specific controversial issues.

The second letter to the Corinthians offers no extended reflection on any specific idea taken from Judaism, and in it Paul evidences no distinctive knowledge of Jewish thought or practice. Nevertheless, alongside his dependence on the Septuagint, which he constantly quotes and interprets, Paul reflects his Jewish intellectual and religious milieu. His exegetical technique resembles the style of rabbinic midrash that begins to emerge shortly after his day. His declarations regarding the nature of God reflect common Jewish liturgical themes, and his depiction of his personal heavenly journey (12.2–11) evidences a type of heavenly ascent familiar from Jewish writings of this same period. Even the places in which Paul differs from Jewish thinking—his negative attitude toward the law; his distinctive use of the concept of Satan (11.14)—suggest that he consistently thinks within a Jewish framework. It is one more irony of this letter that in order to deny the validity of the “old” covenant of the flesh that God made with the Jews, Paul depends for proof on those biblical writings that embody that covenant, through which he loudly and proudly proclaims his own Jewish heritage.

Alan J. Avery-Peck

1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints throughout Achaia:

²
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation,
⁴
who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.
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For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.
⁶
If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering.
⁷
Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.

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We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,
^*
of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself.
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Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
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He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again,
¹¹
as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our
^*
behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

¹²
Indeed, this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience: we have behaved in the world with frankness
^*
and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God—and all the more toward you.
¹³
For we write you nothing other than what you can read and also understand; I hope you will understand until the end—
¹⁴
as you have already understood us in part—that on the day of the Lord Jesus we are your boast even as you are our boast.

¹⁵
Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favor;
^*
16
I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea.
¹⁷
Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards,
^*
ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?
¹⁸
As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been “Yes and No.”
¹⁹
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not “Yes and No”; but in him it is always “Yes.”
²⁰
For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God.
²¹
But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us,
²²
by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.

²³
But I call on God as witness against me: it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth.
²⁴
I do not mean to imply that we lord it over your faith; rather, we are workers with you for your joy, because you stand firm in the faith.

2
¹
So I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit.
²
For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained?
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And I wrote as I did, so that when I came, I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice; for I am confident about all of you, that my joy would be the joy of all of you.
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For I wrote you out of much distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

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But if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but to some extent—not to exaggerate it—to all of you.
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This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person;
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so now instead you should forgive and console him, so that he may not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
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So I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
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I wrote for this reason: to test you and to know whether you are obedient in everything.
¹⁰
Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ.
¹¹
And we do this so that we may not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.