but mentions it only to inform them of its gravity, and to assure them of his trust in his ultimate deliverance. On the whole, it seems most likely that the reference is to grievous bodily sickness, which brought the Apostle down to the gates of death (see ver. 9, and cf. chap. iv. 10 and xii. ff.). Such an affliction would be truly ὑπὲρ δύναμιν; and it would be necess to contemplate its recurrence (ver. 10). St. Paul in this Epistle, with unusual frequency, uses the plural ἡμεῖς when speaking of himself; sometimes this can be explained 41 the fact that Timothy was associated with him in the writing of the letter (i. 1), but in other passages (e.g., ver. 10, ν. 13, 16, X.7, II, 15, xi. 21) such an explanation will not suit the context, which demands the individual application of the pronoun.
Ver. 9. ἀλλὰ αὐτοὶ κ.τ.λ.: nay, we ourselves had the sentence of death in our- selves; i.e., the danger was so great that the sentence of death had been already pronounced, as it were. ἀπόκριμα might mean “ answer,’’ as the Revisers trans- late it (they give sentence, with the A.V., in their margin); cf. the verb ἀποκρίνειν. But in the other places where this rare word is found (e.g., Jos., Ant., xiv. το, 6, and an inscription of 51 a.p., quoted by Deissmann, Neue Bibelstudien, p. 85) it stands for an official decision or sentence. Cf. κρίμα θανάτον, “the sen-
8—12.
ἡ ῥύσεται, 11. ” συνυπουργούντων καὶ ὑμῶν } ὑπὲρ 2 ἡμῶν ὃ τῇ δεήσει, ¥ ie
Ὁ εὐχαριστηθῇ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν.