Vy. 3,4. καὶ οἶδα τὸν τοιοῦτον κ.τ.λ.: and I know such a man (he speaks with such caution and reticence of this
ied aioe οὐκ ἐξὸν, ἀνθράπῳ λαλῆσαν,
5. ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιούτου καυχήσομαι "
| Reff.i. 55. ὑπὲρ] δὲ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐ καυχήσομαι, εἰ μὴ ἐν ταῖς ' ἀσθενείαις μου."
πι Reff. i. 8. n 2 Thess. ii. 4 only.
6. ἐὰν γὰρ θελήσω καυχήσασθαι, οὐκ ἔσομαι " ἄφρων - ἀλήθειαν γὰρ
oHere only. ἐρῶ - | φείδομαι δὲ, μή τις εἰς ἐμὲ λογίσηται ὑπὲρ ὃ βλέπει με, ἢ
p Reff. ii. 11.
q Mark iv. 65; 1 Cor. iv. 11.
ἀκούει τι ὃ ἐξ ἐμοῦ.
7. Καὶ τῇ " ὑπερβολῇ τῶν ἀποκαλύψεων ἵνα ὁ μὴ " ὑπεραίρωμαι,"
ἐδόθη μοι “σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκὶ, ἄγγελος "Σατᾶνδ ἵνα µε “ κολαφίζῃ,
1 D* has περι δε for νπερ δε.
2 BD* 17, 673”, d, e, the Syriac and Bohairic vss, om. pov; ins. $DcCEGKLMP,
f, g, vg. (cf. ver. 9).
> SycD*E*KLP, d, e, fand the Harclean support ακονει τι; better om. τι with Ny" BDcE**G 17, 37, g, the Peshitto and Bohairic vss.
4 The best authorities ΑΒΕ 17 read &o before wa; it is omitted by DEKLP, the Latin and Syriac vss., “ἃ characteristic Western attempt to deal with a difficulty
by excision ’’ (Hort). ° DELP give νπεραιρομαι.
6 wycA**DbcEKLP and the Harclean margin support Σαταν; better Σατανα with N*A*BD*G 17*, 67**, the Bohairic and Latin vss. (Σαταν is indecl. in 1 Kings xi. 14, but the form in N.T, is always the declinable Σατανας).
momentous event in his spiritual life that he will not even describe it in the first person) ... how that he was caught up into Paradise (see previous note), and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter; such words are reserved for the Divine voice which speaks to man, although this restriction does not apply to all Divine words.
Ver. 5. ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιούτον κ.τ.λ.: On behalf of such an one will I glory, but on mine own behalf, i.e., of myself in my normal state, J will not glory save in my weaknesses, as he has already done, xi. 23 fff.
Wee, 6. ἐὰν γὰρ θελήσω κανχ. κ.τ.λ.: we must supply a suppressed clause: “ And yet, as you see, if I did choose to boast, I should keep within the truth” is the sense. For if I should desire to glory, I shall not be foolish (cf. xi. 1 and ver. 11), for I shall speak the truth (xi. 31); but I forbear, lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth me to be or heareth from me. He is anxious that he should be judged, not by his report of his own spiritual experiences, but by his laborious and painful life in the service of the Gospel. It is instructive to notice that he does not bring forward this vision as evidence of the truth of doctrine; he only mentions it incidentally and with reserve as a Divine manifestation of which he might legitimately boast, if he chose. On the other hand, he appeals to the fact that he had seen the Risen Christ
(1 Cor, ix. 1, xv. 8) as of great evidential importance, which indicates that he be- lieved that vision to be “ objective” ina sense in which the visions of an ecstatic trance are not.
Vv. 7-10. His “THORN IN THE PLESH ’.—Ver. 7. καὶ τῇ ὑπερβ. τῶν ἀποκ. If we read διό, these words ought either to be taken with the concludin words of ver. 6 (as by W.H.), or—regard- ing ver. 6 asa parenthesis—with ver. 5 as by Lachmann). Neither gives a satis-
ctory sense, and we therefore follow the R.V. in regarding the construction as broken. He says and by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations— and then suddenly changes the form of the sentence.—&6 ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρ. κ.τ.λ.; wherefore, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me, 56.» God (as at 1 Cor, xi. 15, xii. 7, Gal. iii. 21), α thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan (who is regarded as having power over the σάρξ, Luke xiii. 16, 1 Cor. v. 5, Job ii. 5), that he might buffet me (see reff.), the pres. tense indicating that this “buffeting’’ was not a single isolated trial but continual, that I should not be exalted overmuch. In classical Greek σκόλοψ means a “stake,” and this is given as an alternative a in the R.V. margin. Thus the Apostle’s trial would be likened to a continual “‘ impale- ment”. Stanley, who adopts this render- ing, compares Gal. ii. 20 “ I am crucified with Christ”. But in the Greek of the