we may assume, in strict accordance with scriptural usage, that the apostle employs the language of the Old Testament to express his own ideas, without regard to its original application. God had in many ways, and on many occasions, promised to save sinners. To this promise the apostle appeals as a reason why men should accept the grace offered to them in Christ Jesus. He clothes this promise in scriptural language. He might have expressed it in any other equivalent form. But the language of the passage in Isaiah being brought to his mind by the principle of association, he adopts the form there given, without any intimation, expressed or implied, that the passage had not in the original a different application. Thus in
<451018>
Romans 10:18 he might have expressed the idea of the general
proclamation of the gospel in his own words, but he chose to express it in the words of the nineteenth Psalm, “Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world;” although that Psalm relates to an entirely different subject. We are accustomed, without hesitation and almost unconsciously, to make a similar use of scriptural language.
our ministry, which gives the passage a most specific reference to himself, and is well suited to the whole connection.
Although in the following verses the apostle, as is his wont, gives his discourse free scope, allowing it, as it were, to flow on in its own
impetuous and majestic course, without any attempt to reduce it to logical arrangement, yet in his mind order was so immanent that a certain method can always be detected even in his most impassioned utterances. So here, he first refers to the manifold trials, vs. 4, 5, then to the graces and gifts, vs. 6, 7, by which his sincerity had been tested and established; and then to the diverse circumstances of evil and of good report, under which he had maintained his integrity, vs. 8, 9, 10. Under these several heads there are the same number of specifications, nine in each. Under the two former, there is a ternary arrangement observable; three divisions, each with three specifications; and under the last, nine pairs of contrasts or antitheses, rising to that highest form of oratorical language, where truth is expressed in seeming contradictions. “Having nothing, yet possessing all things.”
4, 5. But in all (things) approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings.
So far from causing the ministry to be blamed, Paul in all things, (ejn panti>,) in every relation, and on every occasion, approved himself, i.e.
commended himself, not by self-laudation, but by so acting as to force the conviction of his sincerity on all men. As the ministers of God, i.e. as the ministers of God commend themselves. This interpretation is required, as Paul uses dia>konoi, not diako>nouv. It was as a minister he commended himself. In much patience, i.e. by patient endurance and constancy. Both ideas are expressed by the word uJpomonh>. Paul proved himself to be a true minister of Christ by the fortitude with which he endured sufferings, and by the constancy with which he adhered to his master under all these trials. In what follows in this and the next verse we have the trials
enumerated to which he was subjected. These are arranged, as Bengel remarks, in three classes. The first, are general, afflictions, necessities, and distresses; the second are specific, stripes, imprisonments, and tumults;
the third, voluntary, labors, watchings, and fastings. His constancy was exhibited in the cheerful endurance of all these kinds of trials. As to the
first, the terms used are often interchanged and often combined. Qli>yeiv, pressures, from without or from within; including every thing which presses on the heart or tries the power of endurance or resistance;
ana>gkai necessities, when a man is taxed to the utmost to know what to do or how to bear; stenocwri>ai, straits, when one has no room to stand or turn, and therefore escape seems hopeless. It is opposed to largeness of place. “He brought my feet into a large place,” as the Psalmist says. The preposition ejn is to be rendered by before uJpomonh>, and in before all the other nouns in these two verses. He commended himself by patience, in afflictions, in necessities, etc., etc. In stripes. Paul, as we learn from
<471124>
11:24, 25, had already, at this period of his history, been eight times subjected to the ignominy and torture of the lash, five times by the Jews and thrice by the heathen. In imprisonments. How often the apostle was in prison we know not, as the Acts contain only a small part of his history. He was a prisoner at Philippi, at Jerusalem, at Cesarea, and at Rome; and when a prisoner’s feet were in the stocks, or he was chained.
The Holy Ghost testified that in every place “bonds and afflictions”
awaited him. In tumults. The word is ajkatastasi>ai, which may mean
“tossings to and fro,” and refer to Paul’s being constantly driven from one place to another, so that he had no quiet abode. This he mentions as one of his sore trials in <460411>
1 Corinthians 4:11. The word, however, in the New Testament always elsewhere means either disorder or tumultuous outbreaks. <422109>
Luke 21:9. To these violent bursts of popular feeling the apostle was frequently exposed, as at Antioch in Pisidia, <441350>
Acts 13:50; at Lystra, <441419>
14:19; at Philippi, <441619>
16:19; at Ephesus, <441929>
Acts 19:29; at Jerusalem, <442130>
21:30. Before these manifestations of wrath and power the bravest men often quail. Such tumults can neither be resisted by force, nor be stilled by the voice. What can one man do before an infuriated mob? He could as well resist a tornado. Yet he can be calm and adhere to his
purpose. “It is often required,” says Calvin, “of ministers of the gospel, that while they strive for peace, they should pass unbroken through tumults, and never deflect from the right course though heaven and earth should be mixed.” Besides these trials which came upon the apostle against his will, or without his agency, there were painful sacrifices which he made voluntarily, and which were among the strongest proofs of his sincerity.
These were his labors, watchings, and fastings. By labors are to be understood not only his working with his own hands to support himself
while he made the gospel of no expense, but also the indefatigable exertions which he was constantly called to make, in traveling, and preaching, and in caring for the sick, the poor, and the interests of the church. Watchings, the sleepless nights which his constantly traveling, his anxieties and labors caused him to pass. Fastings; this is often understood to refer to his suffering from hunger. But the word nhstei>a is never used for involuntary abstinence from food, and as it occurs here in connection with labors and watchings, both of which were voluntary acts of
self-denial, it is probably to be taken in its ordinary sense. Perhaps, however, the reference is to those cases of abstinence which were in a measure forced upon him, or which he chose to submit to rather than to omit some duty or to fail to take advantage of some opportunity of usefulness. There is nothing in the connection to demand a reference to religious fasting, as when prayers and fasting are mentioned together. Here it is labors and fastings.
6, 7. By pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.
As the apostle commended himself in the various trials enumerated in the two preceding verses, so by the graces and gifts here specified, it was made manifest to all that he was a true apostle and faithful minister of God. By pureness, both of heart and life. This includes not merely freedom from the pollution of immoral acts, but disinterestedness and singleness of motive. By knowledge; what kind or form of knowledge is here indicated can only be gathered from the context. Some say it is the knowledge of the fitness and propriety of things, which exhibits itself as discretion. But as the apostle is speaking of those things which commended him as a minister of God and preacher of the gospel, and as several of the other
specifications in these two verses, refer to gifts as distinguished from graces, it is more probable that the reference is to evangelical knowledge;
that knowledge which he manifested in his teaching. Comp. <490304>
Ephesians 3:4, where he speaks of his knowledge of the mystery of Christ, as patent to all his readers. And in <480112>
Galatians 1:12, et seq., he appeals to his possession of this knowledge, without any human teaching, as an undeniable proof of his divine mission. By long-suffering, i.e. patiently submitting to injustice and undeserved injuries. By kindness, i.e.
crhsto>thv (from crhsto>v, useful) benevolence; a disposition to do good;
as God is said to be kind to the unthankful and the evil, <420635>
Luke 6:35. By the Holy Ghost; that is, by the manifestation of the Holy Ghost as dwelling in me. It is the doctrine of the Scriptures, and specially of Paul’s writings, that the Spirit of God dwells in all believers, and that besides those manifestations of his presence common to all, there is given to each one his special gift, whether ordinary or extraordinary; to one wisdom, to another knowledge, to another the gift of teaching, to another the working of miracles, etc. <461207>
1 Corinthians 12:7-11. In proof of his being a true minister of God, Paul appeals to the evidence of the presence of the Spirit in him, which evidence was to be found in those graces and gifts of the Holy Ghost with which he was replenished; and in the divine power which attended and rendered successful his preaching. He could appeal to his converts and say, “Ye are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord,” <460902>
1 Corinthians 9:2. By love unfeigned. As in the preceding clause he referred to kindness or benevolence, here love must be taken in the restricted sense of Christian love — not that affection which is exercised towards the just and the unjust, but that which springs from the peculiar relations of the believer to God and to his brethren. It is brotherly love, or the love of the brethren as such. By the word of truth, that is, by the preaching of the truth, or preaching the contents of which is truth. The reference is not to veracity, but to the exhibition of the truth in his preaching. In a previous chapter, <470402>
4:2, he had said, “By the manifestation of the truth I commend myself to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” By the power of God. The power of God was manifested in various ways in Paul’s ministry. “He that wrought in Peter,” he says, “to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me towards the Gentiles,”
<480208>
Galatians 2:8. By these various manifestations of divine power in his conversion, in his preparation for his work, and in the exercise of his apostleship, he was proved to be a true servant of God. By the armor of righteousness. The word “righteousness” is used in Scripture in two senses. It means either rectitude, uprightness, honesty, in the
comprehensive sense of the terms; or it means justifying righteousness, the righteousness of faith, so often called the righteousness of God. Calvin and many others take it in the former sense here, and understand by the
“armor of righteousness,” that armor which integrity affords, or those arms which are consistent with moral rectitude. Others prefer the latter
sense of the word, and understand the armor of righteousness to be that which is secured by our justification before God. This interpretation is not only more in keeping with Paul’s usage of the word, but more consistent with the context. It was not Paul’s honesty which was his armor, or by which he established his claim to be a minister of God, but the
supernatural gifts and graces of the Spirit. In <490614>
Ephesians 6:14, he compares this righteousness to a breastplate; here to the whole panoply, on the right hand and on the left, offensive and defensive, because he who is justified, or clothed with the righteousness of Christ, has every thing at command. He has the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
8-10. By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceivers, and (yet) true, as unknown, and (yet) well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and (yet) possessing all things.
These verses are intimately connected, forming a distinct division of the apostle’s discourse. In vs. 4, 5, we had the preposition ejn in its local sense. Paul commended himself by patience in afflictions, in necessities, etc. In vs. 6, 7 the same preposition is used in its instrumental sense, by pureness, by knowledge, etc. Here the preposition dia> has a local sense, through, in the midst of. He maintained his consistency and integrity under all circumstances, through honor and dishonor, through evil report and good report. He was always the same — preached the same doctrine, urged the same duties, maintained the same principles, whether his preaching was approved or disapproved, whether it secured for him admiration or brought down upon him reproach. This is the common and most natural interpretation. Many, however, prefer the instrumental sense of the preposition. ‘By means of honor which we receive from the friends of God, and by means of the dishonor heaped upon us by our enemies.’
That the good honored him, and the wicked defamed him, was proof of his integrity. This requires too much to be supplied in order to bring out the sense. The former interpretation is more simple, and gives a meaning quite as pertinent. The figure which he uses is that of a road, along which he marches to victory, through all obstacles, disregarding what is said or thought by others. The last clause serves as the transition to a new mode
of representation. He no longer speaks of what he did, but of the judgment of others concerning him. As deceivers, and yet true. These and the
following adjectives and participles, as they are in Greek, though
translated in some cases as substantives, are parallel with sunistw~ntev in v. 4. ‘We beseech you, commending ourselves, etc., and we beseech you, as deceivers, yet true, etc.’ That is, we go steadily on in the discharge of our duty whatever men may think or say. As deceivers, (pla>noi,) not merely false pretenders, but seducers, men who lead others astray, and themselves wander from the truth. <402763>
Matthew 27:63; <540401>
1 Timothy 4:1;
<630107>
2 John 7. It is here the opposite of ajlhqei~~v, in the sense of truthful, loving and speaking the truth. <402216>
Matthew 22:16; <411214>
Mark 12:14.
‘Regarded as seducers, we are the advocates of the truth.’ As unknown, yet well known, (wJv ajgnoou>menoi, kai< ejpiginwsko>menoi,) regarded with contempt as obscure and ignoble, yet recognized and famous. The
antithesis is either that expressed in our version, between being unknown and being well known, or, between being misunderstood and being duly appreciated. The latter of the two words used by the apostle may well express that sense, as ejpiginw>skw often means to recognize, or acknowledge one to be what he is, or professes to be, <470113>
1:13, 14.
<401712>
Matthew 17:12, and although the former word does not elsewhere occur precisely in the sense of being misunderstood, yet to be unknown and to be unrecognized are ideas so nearly related, that it is not unnatural to take the word in that sense here, if the antithesis and context require it. Paul was unknown to the mass of the people; he was taken to be what he was not; and yet he was duly appreciated, and recognized in his true character by others. As dying, i.e. regarded by others as certain to perish, and behold we live. This is one interpretation. It is, however, more in harmony with what follows to understand the apostle to refer to actual facts. He was, as he says, 4:11 and <461531>
1 Corinthians 15:31, constantly exposed to death. He died daily, and yet he lived. God always interposed to rescue him from destruction when it seemed inevitable, and to sustain him under calamities which to all appearance no man could bear. As chastened, but not killed. To chasten (paideu>ein) is properly to treat as a child, and as children are often made to suffer by their parents for their good, to chasten is to correct by suffering. The word, however, is often used to express simply the idea of infliction of pain without any reference to the end of the infliction. God never punishes his people. That is, their sufferings are
never designed to satisfy justice; nor are they always even chastisements in the proper sense of the word. They are not in all cases sent to correct evils, to repress pride, or to wean from the world. God often afflicts his people and his church simply to enable them the better to glorify his name. It is an unchristian disposition, therefore, which leads us always to ask, when afflictions are sent upon ourselves or others, Why is this? What have we or they done to call forth this expression of parental displeasure or solicitude? What does God mean to rebuke? It may be that our
sufferings are chastisements, that is, that they are designed to correct some evil of the heart or life, but this is not to be inferred from the simple fact that they are sufferings. The greater part of Paul’s sufferings were not chastisements. They were designed simply to show to all ages the power of the grace of God; to let men see what a man could cheerfully endure, and rejoice that he was called upon to endure, for the sake of the Lord Jesus. In this case chastened means simply afflicted. There is no reference to the design of God in sending the sufferings which the apostle was called to endure. There is another view of the meaning of this passage, which supposes the words to be uttered from the stand-point of Paul’s enemies.
“Chastised, but not killed.”’Regarded as an object of divine displeasure, as smitten of God, (which may be true,) yet I am not killed.’ It is, however, more in keeping with what follows to understand the apostle as referring to his actual experience. He was greatly afflicted, but not killed; cast down, as he says in <470409>
4:9, but not destroyed. Compare <19B818>
Psalm 118:18, “The Lord hath chastened me sore; but he hath not delivered me over unto death.” Let believers therefore regard their afflictions, when they can, not as indications of God’s disapprobation, but rejoice in them as
opportunities graciously rejoicing them to glorify his name. As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. This again may mean, ‘Looked upon as sorrowful, yet in fact always rejoicing;’ or, ‘Although overwhelmed with sorrow, yet full of joy.’ The latter interpretation is to be preferred. This is one of the paradoxes of Christian experience. The believer has more true joy in sorrow, than the world can ever afford. The sense of the love of God, assurance of his support, confidence in future blessedness, and the persuasion that his present light afflictions shall work out for him a far more exceeding and an eternal weight of glory, mingle with his sorrows, and give the suffering child of God a peace which passes all understanding.
He would not exchange his lot with that of the most prosperous of the