158 II. CORINTHIANS 6, 4. 5.

As to the first, the terms used are often interchanged and often combined. ©Ati/^ct?, j^^'esstcres, from without or from within ; including every thing which presses on the heart or tries the power of endurance or resistance ; avayKat, necessities, when a man is taxed to the utmost to knoAv what to do or how to bear; crT^vo^oiptaL, straits, when one has no room to stand or turn, and therefore escape seems hopeless. It is op- posed to largeness of place. "He brought my feet into a large place," as the Psalmist says. The preposition eV is to be rendered hy before vtto/xoi/t}, and ^V^ before all the other novms in these two verses. He commended himself hy patience, in afflictions, in necessities, &c., <fec. In stripes. Paul, as we learn from 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 imprisomnents. 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 Philipj^i, at Jerusalem, at Cesarea, and at Rome ; and when a prisoner his 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 dKarao-raortttt, 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 1 Cor. 4, 11. The word, however, in the New Testament always elsewhere means either disorder or tumultuous outbreaks. Luke 21,9. To these violent bursts of popular feeling the apostle was frequently exposed, as at Antioch in Pisidia, Acts 13, 50 ; at Lystra, 14, 19 ; at Philippi, 16, 19 ; at Ephesus, Acts 19, 29 ; at Jerusalem, 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 infuri- ated 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 deiiect 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 Uthours, icatchings, and fastinys. By labours arc to be uu-