CORINTHIANS
613
CORINTHIANS
ion Titas had been sent by Paxil to Corinth, parUy to collect money in aid of the distressed Christians in Palestine, partly to observe the effect of the apostle's first epistle on the Corintliians. In this expectation ' of meeting Tittis at Troas Paul was disappointed. He ; acoordin^y proceeded into Macedonia, vhere at length | lus desire was gratified, and the wished-for information | obtained (2 Cor. ii, 18 ; vii, 16 sq.)" (Kitto). ]
*'The epistle was occasioned by the information which the apostle had received also, as it woold cer- takly seem probable, from 7Vmo%, of the reception of the first epbtle. It has indeed recently been doubted by Neander, De Wette, and others, whether Timothy, I who had been definitely sent to Corinth (1 Cor. iv, 17) | by way of Macedonia (Acts xix, 22), really reached his destination (comp. 1 Cor. zvi, 10) ; and it has been urged that the mission of Timothy would hardly have been left unnoticed in 2 Cor. xii, 17, 18 (see RQckert, Comm, p. 409). To tltis, however, it has been replied, apparently convinchigly, that as Timothy is an asso- ciate in writing the epistle, any notice of his own mis- sion in the third person would have seemed inappro- priate. His visit was assumed as a iaut^ and as one that naturally made him an associate with the apostle in writing to the church he had so lately visited.
" It is more diflScult to assign the precise reason for the mission of Titus. Tliat he brought back tidings of the reception which Paul's first epistle had met with seems perfectly clear (chap, vii, 6 sq.), but whether he was specially sent to ascertain this, or whether to con- vey fresh directions, cannot be ascertained. There is a show of plausibility in the supposition of Bleek (Stud, u. Krit, 1830, p. 625), followed more recently by Nean- der {Pjkmz. tt. LeU, p. 487), that the apostle had made Titos the bearer of a letter couched in terms of decided severity, now lost, to which he is to be supposed to re- fer in chap, ii, 8 (compared with ver. 4, 9) ; vii, 8, 11 sq. ; but, as has been justly urged (see Meyer, Ekdeit, p. 3), there is quite enough of severity in the first epis- tle (consider chap, iv, 18-21 ; v, 2 sq. ; vi, 5-« ; xi, 17) to odl forth the apostle's afftsctionate anxiety. More- over, the supposition of a lost letter is in itsdf improb- able. If it be desirable to hazard a conjecture on this mission of Titus, it would seem most natural to sup- pose that the return of Timothy and the intelligence he conveyed might have been such as to make the apostle feel the necessity of at once dispatching to the contentious church one of his immediate followers, with instructions to support and strengthen the efi^t of the epistle, and to bring back the most recent ti- dings of the sphrit that was prevaiUng at Corinth'* (Smith).
** The intelligence brought by Titus concerning the charch at Corinth was on the whole fiivorable. The censures of the former epistle had produced in their minds a godly sorrow, had awakened in them a regard to the proper discipline of the church, and had led to the exclusion from their fellowship of the incestuous person. This had so wrought on the mind of the lat- ter that he had repented of his evil courses, and show- ed such contrition that the apostle now pities him, and exhorts the church to restore him to their conmiunion (2 Cor. ii, 6-11 ; vii, 8 sq.). A cordial response had also been given to the appeal that had been made on behalf of the saints fai Palestine (ix, 2). But with all these pleasing symptoms there were some of a painful hind. The anti-Pauline influence in the church had increased, or at least had become more active ; and those who were actuated by it had been seeking by all means to overturn the authority of the apostle, and discredit his claims as an ambassador of Christ.
4. " This intelligence led the apostle to compose his •econd epistle, in which the language of commenda- tion and love is mingled with that of censure, and even of threatening. This epistle may be divided into three Kctions. In the first ^iii) the apostle chiefly dwells on the eflSBCts produced by his first epistle and the mat- II.-K K
ters therewith connected. In the second (iv-ix) he discourses on the substance and effects of the religion which he proclaimed, and turns from this to an appeal on behalf of the claims of the poor saints on their lib- erality. And m the third (x-xiii) he vindicates his own dignity and authority as an apostle against the parties by whom these were opposed. The divided state of feeling in the apostle's mind will account suf- ficiently for the diflbrence of tone perceptible between the earlier and later parts of this epistle, without our having recourse to the arbitrary and capricious hy- pothec of Semler (Di§9ert. de dt^iee appendice Ep. ad Rom. Hal. 1767) and Weber {Prog, de mmero epp. ad Cor. recUut comttitu/endo^'Viteinb. 1798), whom Paulus follows, that this epbtle has been extensively interpo- lated" (Kitto).
**A close analysis is scarcely practicable, as in no one of the apostle's epistles are the changes more rapid and f^quent. Now he thanks God for their general state (chap, i, 8 sq.) ; now he glances at his purposed visit (chap, i, 15 sq.) ; now he alludes to the special directions in the first letter (chap, ii, 8 sq.) ; again he returns to his own plans (chap, ii, 12 sq.), pleads his own apostolic dignity (chap, iii, 1 sq.), dwells long upon the spirit and nature of his own labors (chap, iv, 1 sq.), his own hopes (chap, v, 1 sq.), and his own suf- ferings (chap, vi, 1 sq.), returning again to more spe- cific declarations of his love towards his children in the faith (chap, vi, 11 sq.), and a yet fruther declara- tion of his views and feelings with regard to them (chap. vii). Then again, in the matter of the alms, he stirs up their liberality by alluding to the conduct of the churches of Macedonia (chap, viii, 1 sq.), their sphitual progress (ver. 7), the example of Christ (ver. 9), and passes on to speak more fully of the present mission of Titus and his associates (ver. 18, sq.), and to reiterate his exhortations to liberality (chap, ix, 1 sq.). In the third portion he passes into languiage of severity and reproof: he gravely warns those who pre- sume to hold lightly his apostolical authority (chap, x, 1 sq.) ; he puts strongly forward his apostolical dig- nity (chap, xi, 5 sq.) ; he illustrates his forbearance (ver. 8 sq.) ; he makes honest boast of his labors (ver. 28 sq.) ; he declares the revelations yoachsafed to him (chap, xii, 1 sq.) ; he again returns to the nature of hb dealings with his converts (ver. 12 sq.), and concludes with grave and reiterated warning (chap, xiii, 1 sq.), brief greetings, and a doxology (ver. 11-14).