5. It is the most emotional, ancl therefore in some respectR-in its style, exprcsf:lions, and caUBal connections-the most difficult of St. Paul's Epistles. The labouring phraseology, the interchange of bitter irony with deep pathos, the manner in which he is haunted and possessed and mastered by word after word which seizes his imagination-now" tribulation," now" consola- tion," now "boasting," now "weakness," now "simplicity," now "mani- festation "-only serve to throw into relief the frequent bursts of rushing and impassioned eloquence. The sorrow and tenderness displayed are a measure of the insolence and wrong which called out in the concluding ohapters so stern an indignation. 6. At the end of the ninth chapter there is a sudden, startling, and com- plete break in the whole manner and tone of the Epistle. The remainder (eh. x. I-xiii. 10) seems to be written in a. mood so wholly different from that of the former, that some have even (though needlessly) supposed tha.t it really was a separate Epistle. Vehement though suppressed indignation, scathing irony, strong denunciation, commanding authority, take the place of the pathetic tenderness and effusive thankfulness which are predominant in the previous chapters. This phenomenon of e. tone suddenly changed is found in other writings both sacred and secular, and may be accounted for by circumstances under which the apostle wrote. 7. The analysis of the Epistle in minor details will be found in the notes. The main divisions are: eh. i.-vii., hortatory and personal, with an under- current of calm apology ; eh. viii., ix., directions and remarks about the collection; eh. x.-xiii., impassioned defence of hin1self and his apostolic position age.inst the calumnies of his enemies. THE SECOND EPISTLE OF
PAUL TO TlIE CORINTlfIANS.- EXPOSITION. CHAPTER I. This letter was not in any sense an en- cyclical letter; but even if it were not read Address and greeting (vers. 1, 2). in other communities, the. Corinthians Thanksgiving for the comfort sent to him would convey to them the apostle's gi-ceting. by God, wherein, as in his affliction which Ver. 2.-Grace be to you and peace. On rendered it necessary, they sympathetically this pregnant synthesis of the Greek and Hebrew greetings, see 1 Cor. L 3; Rom. i. 7. shared (vers. 3-11). He has earned a right Ver. 3.-Blessed be God (Eph. i. 3). This io their sympathy by his sincerity (vers. outburst of thanksgiving was meant to re- 12-14). His change of purpose with re- press the relief brought to the overchargecl spect to a visit to Corinth, with digression, feelings of the apostle by the arrival of on the unchangeableness of the gospel Titus, with news respecting the mixed, but on the whole good, effect produced at (vers. 15-22). Explanation of his reasons Corinth by the severe remarks of his first (ver. 22-ch. ii. 4). letter. It is characteristic of the intense Ver. 1.-By the will of God (see 1 Cor. i. and impetuous rush of emotion which we 1). In the face of Judaizing opponents, it often notice in the letters of St. Paul, that was essential that he should vindicate his he does not here state the special grounds independent apostolate (Acts xxvi. 15-18). for this impassioned thanksgiving; he only And Timothy. Timothy had been absent touches upon it for a moment in oh. ii. 13, from St. Paul when he wrote the First and does not pause to state it fully until eh. Epistle, and Sosthenes had to.ken his place, vii. 5-16. It is further remarkable that in whether es amanuensis or merely o.s a sort this Epistle almost alone he utters no thanks- of joint authenticator. Our brother; lite- giving for the moral growth and holiness of rally, the brother, as in 1 Cor. i. 1. The the Church to which be is writing. Tbis may brotherhood applies both to St. Paul and to ho due to the fact that there was still so the Corinthians; there was o. special bond much to blame; hut it more probably arose of brotherhood between o.11 members of from the tumult of feeling which tllrough- "the household of faith." The sa.ints. out this letter disturbs the regular flow of Befora the name " Christians " had como his thoughts. The ordinary " thcmks- into general use, "saints" (Acts ix. 13) o.nd giving" for his re!lders is pmctically, though " brethren" were common designations of indirectly, involved in the gmtitude which those who were" faithful in Christ Jesus u he expresses to God for the symp,\thy au<l (Eph. i. 1). In e.11 Aoh&ia. In its classical communion which exists between himself sense Acho.ia means only the northern strip and the Church of Corinth. Even the Father of the Peloponnesus; as e. Roman province of our Lord J'esus Christ. The Greek is the the name included both HellD.B o.nd the Bllme as in Eph. i. 3, where, litomlly ren- Peloponnesus. Here St. Paul probably dered, it is, " Blessed be tho God and uses it in its narrower sense. The only Father." The Sl\me phrase is found also in etrictly Aohaian Church of which we know 1 Pet. i. 3 ; Col. i. 3. The mel\ning is not, is Cenohrea, but doubtless there wore little " Blessed be the God of our Lord J csus Christian communities along the coasts of Christ, and the F11ther of our Lord Jesua the Corinthian gulf. To the Church at Christ" (a.lthou~h the expression, "the Athens St. Paul never directly alludea. God of our LorCl Jesu11 Christ," occur• it1 D, CORINTHIANS, a 2 THE SECOND EPISTLE '1'0 THE CORINTHIANS. [cu. 1. 1-24.