“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”Read the surrounding chapter
Time, place, and setting
- Time
- Mid first century AD, with a Macedonian setting reconstructed from the correspondence; the exact sequence of letters and visits is debated. 5
- Place
- Paul addresses Corinth and the saints throughout Achaia. Asia, Troas, Macedonia and Jerusalem belong to the letter’s travel and relief network. 1
- Setting
- Strained relationships, reports from Titus, the Jerusalem collection and challenges to Paul’s ministry connect comfort, reconciliation, generosity and authority. 1
2 Corinthians 1:3 to 11 and 2:5 to 11
The blessing of the God of all comfort is followed by an account of comfort passed to those in trouble. God’s comfort can reach others through people he has strengthened. 18 Paul’s affliction in Asia brings this statement into personal experience: strength failed, life seemed threatened and trust turned toward God who raises the dead. His phrase about the sentence of death need not imply a judicial verdict. 8 The verse itself does not name the crisis. The Corinthians’ prayers and the many people giving thanks then make deliverance a shared occasion of worship, rather than an isolated account of Paul’s endurance. 1
The later instruction about the offender asks the community to forgive and comfort after sufficient punishment. Discipline is directed toward restoration. 3 The individual’s identification remains disputed. 10 Paul avoids naming him and speaks instead about reaffirming love and preventing overwhelming sorrow. His own tearful concern gives correction a pastoral setting. 19 These paragraphs belong together through mercy: people who receive comfort are called to offer it, including when the congregation must address wrong. The account allows seriousness about sin and tenderness toward a person to remain present within the same relationship. 1
2 Corinthians 3:1 to 18 and 4:5 to 18
The living letter image begins with the Corinthians themselves, written upon hearts by the Spirit. New covenant ministry joins God’s sufficiency with that inward transformation. 9 Exodus 34 supplies the shining face and veil of Moses, while Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36 illuminate inwardly written law and a renewed heart. Paul develops the surpassing glory of Christ and the freedom of the Spirit, then describes transformation into the Lord’s image. The passage’s contrast concerns covenantal ministry and its effect. Scripture remains the witness through which Paul explains that contrast, preserving the biblical setting of his account. 1
Chapter 4 turns attention to the content of preaching: Jesus Christ as Lord. Genesis 1’s light language becomes an account of divine knowledge shining in hearts through Christ’s face. The earthen vessels image gives that knowledge a vulnerable bearer. The cross shapes the ministry’s manner as well as its message. 20 Paul describes pressure without final defeat, then connects the dying of Jesus with life made visible in mortal flesh. Psalm 116’s confession of faith is followed by resurrection and thanksgiving. The contrast between visible affliction and eternal glory offers a horizon for endurance, not a denial that the vessels are fragile. 1
2 Corinthians 5:1 to 21
The tent and building comparison continues the preceding discussion of outward decay and resurrection. The hope concerns renewed embodied existence. 7 Paul speaks of groaning and longing to be clothed, with mortality swallowed up by life and the Spirit given as a pledge. Faith guides the present walk while Christ’s judgment gives it seriousness. The paragraph then moves toward Christ’s love: his death and resurrection change the purpose of those who live. Their life is directed toward him. The new creation saying therefore belongs within a transformed allegiance, not merely an isolated description of personal improvement. 1
Verses 18 to 21 locate reconciliation in God’s saving action through Christ. God initiates the restoration of this broken relationship. 17 The ministry and word of reconciliation are entrusted to messengers who appeal on Christ’s behalf. The Greek noun accompanies ministry in verse 18 and word in verse 19, while the appeal follows in verse 20. Verse 21 names Christ as sinless and describes the righteousness received in him. Romans 5 joins reconciliation with Christ’s death for enemies, and Ephesians 2 connects the cross with peace and shared access by one Spirit. Grace gives both the relationship and its new direction. 1
2 Corinthians 6:1 to 10, 6:14 to 7:1 and 7:5 to 16
Isaiah 49:8 supplies the language of acceptable time and salvation in 6:2. The appeal to receive grace leads into a description of ministry through endurance, kindness, the Holy Ghost, sincere love and truthful speech. Paul’s paradoxes include being sorrowful yet rejoicing, poor yet making many rich, and possessing nothing yet possessing all things. These descriptions belong to the ministry of the gospel and the people it serves. The opened hearts appeal then places affection beside the call to holiness, keeping relational welcome and faithful conduct within the same argument. 1
The temple passage asks how God’s people can share an idolatrous allegiance and recalls divine promises of dwelling and fatherly relationship. Leviticus 26, Isaiah 52, Ezekiel 37 and Second Samuel 7 preserve important scriptural settings for that language. The resumed travel account marks an important literary transition. 6 The travel narrative resumes in chapter 7, where God comforts Paul through Titus’s arrival and truthful report. The sorrow distinction concerns the congregation’s response to his painful letter and the repentance it produced. Paul rejoices in that change rather than in their distress itself. Reading the whole paragraph prevents the well known phrase about sorrow from becoming a judgment upon every person who grieves. 1
2 Corinthians 8:1 to 24 and 9:6 to 15
The Macedonians’ generous response introduces the appeal to complete the Corinthians’ collection. Christ’s self giving grounds the call to generosity. 21 Readiness is measured according to what a person has, and Paul explicitly seeks relief without creating distress for the givers. The Exodus 16 quotation recalls manna gathered so that abundance and lack do not separate people from needed provision. Grace received can become generous service. 15 These verses connect spiritual devotion with an actual material need, while the relationship between communities gives the collection a shared horizon beyond one local congregation. 1
Trusted representatives accompany the collection, with concern for conduct honourable before God and people. Shared administration strengthens confidence in financial integrity. 14 Contemporary congregational partnerships can also address unequal resources. 16 Chapter 9 joins cheerful willingness with God’s ability to provide sufficiency for good works. The harvest language leads to fruits of righteousness, distribution to those in need and thanksgiving. Psalm 112’s giving to the poor is quoted within that movement. The recipients’ prayers and longing show the gift’s relational result. The passage’s blessings belong to this generous service, with God praised and needs actually supplied. 1
2 Corinthians 10:1 to 18 and 11:1 to 33
Paul appeals through Christ’s meekness and gentleness, then insists his authority builds up rather than destroys. Ministerial leadership reflects the Christ it represents. 11 He answers accusations about weak presence and unimpressive speech while rejecting self comparison as a secure measure of approval. His own field of ministry includes the Corinthians, and his hope looks toward further gospel work. The boasting should be in the Lord. Reading the military imagery with the stated argument preserves its concern for thoughts, obedience and the knowledge of God, rather than converting the passage into a call for physical aggression. 1
The fool’s speech in chapter 11 uses irony against a contest of superiority. The angel of light comparison contrasts appearance with reality. 12 Paul then lists labour, imprisonment, beatings, shipwreck, hunger and care for churches. Bodily weakness challenges a prestige based judgment of ministry. 13 The Damascus basket scene closes the chapter with vulnerability rather than triumphal display. Acts 9 also narrates an escape by a basket, though the accounts name different details. The reader need not invent a fully dated sequence to hear Paul’s purpose: the person who serves Christ can be exposed, endangered and dependent upon others. 1
2 Corinthians 12:1 to 13 and 13:3 to 14
Paul places extraordinary revelation beside restraint: whether the man was in or out of the body, God knows. The account does not disclose the words heard in paradise. An affliction described as a thorn then leads to repeated prayer and the answer about sufficient grace. Its exact identification remains uncertain. 4 Christ’s power is the centre of the promise, while signs, wonders and mighty deeds in 12:12 stand beside patience. The letter refuses to separate spiritual experience from the manner in which people are served, and Paul explains that he seeks them rather than their possessions. 1
Chapter 13 turns the question of Christ’s power toward the Corinthians’ own faith. Christ was crucified in weakness and lives by God’s power, and Paul’s authority is intended for their building up. The closing blessing names the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s love and the Holy Ghost’s communion. First Corinthians 12 to 14 explicitly joins healing, miracles, prophecy and tongues with love and edification, while Acts 2 connects Spirit empowerment with witness and shared care. These contexts sustain Pentecostal expectation within the letter’s own call to restored relationships, truthful ministry and peace. 1
Sources
Numbered references support the material above. Scripture quotations use the KJV.
- The Holy Bible, King James VersionKing James translators · 1611
2 Corinthians 1 to 13; Genesis 1, 3; Exodus 16, 33, 34; Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 19; 2 Samuel 7; Psalms 112, 116; Isaiah 40, 49, 52, 53, 65; Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36, 37; Matthew 26, 28; Mark 10, 14; Luke 22, 24; John 14, 15, 16, 20; Acts 2, 9, 18, 19, 20, 24; Romans 5, 6, 8, 12, 15; 1 Corinthians 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Galatians 3, 5; Ephesians 2, 4; Philippians 2, 3, 4; 1 Thessalonians 4, 5; James 2, 5; Greek 2 Corinthians 5:18 to 20
View the source - A Greek English Lexicon of the New TestamentJoseph Henry Thayer
Complete historical entry 2643, reconciliation; Greek context 2 Corinthians 5:18 to 20
View the source - The Second Epistle to the CorinthiansJohn James Lias
Complete retained commentary on 2:1 to 11, text lines 6 to 55; book title and author metadata retained separately.
View the source - Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Second CorinthiansHeinrich August Wilhelm Meyer
Complete retained commentary on 12:7 to 10, text lines 74 to 117 including the whole 12:7 apparatus and 12:8 to 9 argument.
View the source - Second CorinthiansThomas D. Stegman · 2009
Official Baker preview, PDF pages 8 to 18; printed pages 15 to 25; copyright page, PDF page 2.
View the source - 2 Corinthians a Letter about Reconciliation A Psychagogical, Epistolographical and Rhetorical AnalysisIvar Vegge · 2019
Licensed preview, PDF pages 14 to 17; printed pages 1 to 4; title and preface, pages 1 to 9.
View the source - 2 Corinthians 5:1 to 10 Watershed in Paul’s Eschatology?Murray J. Harris · 1971
Complete PDF pages 6 to 9 and 20 to 23, printed 37 to 40 and 51 to 54.
View the source - A Note on 2 Corinthians 1:9Colin J. Hemer · 1972
five page article, printed pages 103 to 107, PDF 1 to 5
View the source - Covenant The Key to Paul’s Conflict with CorinthWilliam L. Lane · 1982
Complete PDF pages 13 to 16, printed 15 to 18, covenant and ministerial argument.
View the source - Pauline Church DisciplineD. R. Hall · 1969
Complete PDF pages 12 to 15, printed 14 to 17, historical references and offender discussion.
View the source - The Social Construction of Paul’s Apostolic Leadership in CorinthJack Barentsen · 2018
Complete PDF pages 8 to 10, authority comparison and social identity synthesis.
View the source - Angels as Arguments? The Rhetorical Function of References to Angels in the Main Letters of PaulD. Francois Tolmie · 2011
Complete PDF pages 5 to 7, with Second Corinthians discussion on page 5 and concluding rhetorical synthesis on 6 to 7.
View the source - Walking the Talk Paul’s Authority in Motion in 2 Corinthians 10 to 13Stephan J. Joubert · 2015
Retained text lines 58 to 81, three sections on challenging bodily stereotypes, leadership and cross shaped speech.
View the source - The Leadership Challenges of Paul’s Collection for the Saints in Jerusalem Part I Overcoming Obstacles on the Side of the Gentile Christian DonorsChristoph W. Stenschke · 2015
Complete PDF pages 9 to 11, conclusion and leadership portrait, including financial policy and transparency.
View the source - From Timely Exegesis to Contemporary Ecclesiology Relevant Hermeneutics and Provocative Embodiment of Faith in a Corona Defined World Generosity during a PandemicScot McKnight · 2021
PDF pages 3 to 6, on the collection, terms, generosity and equality; reference metadata, page 7.
View the source - A South African Exploration of the Jerusalem Collection in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9Alef M. Meulenberg and Shaun Joynt · 2025
Complete PDF pages 3 to 5, exegesis, methodology and contextual church partnership proposals.
View the source - Reconciliation with God through the Death of Jesus ChristDavid E. Garland · 2025
Complete official publisher excerpt, retained text lines 60 to 85, including both atonement and reconciliation sections.
View the source - Commentary on Second CorinthiansPeter Balla
Complete commentary section Greeting and Prologue on God’s Comfort 1:1 to 11, retained text lines 330 to 344.
View the source - Father Imagery in 2 Corinthians 1 to 9 and Jewish Paternal TraditionAnthony A. Myrick · 1996
PDF pages 5 to 9; printed pages 167 to 171, Paul section and conclusion; opening footnote 5.
View the source - A Call to Pastoral Suffering The Need for Recovering Paul’s Model of Ministry in 2 CorinthiansScott J. Hafemann · 2000
PDF pages 1 to 4, printed 22 to 25, plus complete endnote and concluding apparatus pages 13 to 15, printed 34 to 36.
View the source - Rich Poverty 2 Corinthians 8:1 to 15 and the Social Meaning of Poverty and WealthJohn M. G. Barclay · 2023
PDF pages 10 to 13, printed 252 to 255, treatment of Christ’s generosity and the collection appeal.
View the source