and an unnamed brother (see note in loc.) were entrusted with it, This is confirmed by 2 Cor. ii. 13, vii. 6, passages which explain how St. Paul’s grave anxiety as to the reception which the Corin- thians would give to his letter of warning and rebuke was allayed by the news which Titus brought him about it (see notes in loc.).1
9. I have already remarked that the directions about the collec- tion to be made at Corinth (1 Cor. xvi. 1) were given in answer to enquiries on the subject sent by the Corinthian Christians, and presuppose that his correspondents were already sensible of the obligation which rested upon them of helping the poor brethren of _dudzea. It is only the manner in which the collection is to be made that is now prescribed for the first time (Easter, 55). And we have also seen (8 δ) that the information as to St. Paul’s plans of travel given in 1 Cor. xvi. 5 was such as to cause the Corin- thians keen disappointment.2 He then announces that he will come vid Macedonia, and that he may possibly winter at Corinth (1 Cor. xvi. 6). This plan was carried into effect. He left Ephesus about April, 55, shortly after the riot which was stirred up by Demetrius, and proceeded to Macedonia (Acts xx. 1) υἱᾶ Troas (2 Cor. ii. 12). Here he had arranged to meet Titus on the return of the latter from his mission to Corinth; but he was disappointed. We do not know how long he waited for Titus; but after an interval during which “a door was opened unto him” (2 Cor. ii. 12) he crossed over to Macedonia in much anxiety of spirit. At last they met at some undefined point in St. Paul’s Macedonian tour of in- spection (Acts xx. 2), not improbably at Philippi, as Neapolis the port of Philippi was the natural place of embarkation for Troas. Thus St. Paul would be likely to meet Titus at Philippi on his way to their rendezvous. Further, Philippi was a place where St. Paul
1See, on this question, Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, p.280f. Titus is mentioned nine times.in 2 Corinthians, and evidently had a special interest in and connexion with Corinth. That his name does not appear in 1 Corinthians is no more sur- prising than that it does not appear in Acts. It is likely that it was the ability with which he conducted himself as the bearer of 1 Corinthians, and as St. Paul’s representative at that critical moment at Corinth, that first marked him out as fit to be a leader in the Church.
? Dr. Robertson says (Hastings’ Bible Dictionary, νο]. i., p. 493) that 1 Cor. xvi. 5, 6 is “ἃ passage totally out of correspondence with the situation presupposed in 2 Cor. i. 23. Moreover, in defending his change of plan (2 Cor. i. 15-23) St. Paul would not have failed to appeal to the clear statement of his intentions in 1 Cor. xvi. 5.᾽ I cannot understand where the difficulty comes in. The Corin- thians took umbrage at the message of 1 Cor. xvi. 5; appealing to it would have had no point. St. Paul’s line of defence is quite sound (see § 12 below).