2 Corinthians 1
Paul's Greeting and Thanksgiving for God's Comfort
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ.
6But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.
7Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so you are also of the comfort.
8For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia: that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life.
9Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,
10who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver, on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us,
11you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift given to us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf.
Paul's Defense of His Integrity and Travel Plans
12For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
13For we write no other things to you than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end—
14as also you acknowledged us in part—that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
15In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit,
16and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and to be sent forward by you on my journey to Judea.
17When I therefore planned this, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?”
18But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.”
19For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not “Yes and no,” but in him is “Yes.”
20For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.
21Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,
22who also sealed us and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
23But I call God for a witness to my soul, that to spare you, I didn’t come to Corinth.
24We don’t control your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in faith.
Paul opens his second letter to the Corinthians by emphasizing God as the source of comfort in all afflictions, explaining how his own sufferings enable him to comfort others. He describes a severe trial in Asia that brought him near death, teaching him to rely on God rather than himself. Paul then defends his integrity regarding his changed travel plans, asserting that just as God's promises in Christ are reliable ('Yes and Amen'), so too is Paul's word to the Corinthians trustworthy.
Context
This opening chapter sets a conciliatory tone after the tensions reflected in 1 Corinthians, establishing Paul's credibility before addressing more difficult issues in subsequent chapters.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-2Apostolic GreetingPaul and Timothy greet the Corinthian church and all saints in Achaia with grace and peace.
- 3-7God the Source of ComfortPaul blesses God as the Father of mercies who comforts in affliction so believers can comfort others.
- 8-11Paul's Near-Death Experience in AsiaPaul describes a severe trial that taught him to trust in God who raises the dead rather than in himself.
- 12-14Paul's Sincere ConductPaul boasts in his conscience that he has behaved with godly sincerity, not worldly wisdom.
- 15-17Defense of Changed Travel PlansPaul explains his original intention to visit Corinth twice and defends against charges of fickleness.
- 18-22God's Faithfulness and Reliable PromisesPaul affirms that just as God's promises in Christ are 'Yes and Amen,' his own word is trustworthy.
Paul's Greeting and Thanksgiving for God's Comfort
1:1–1:11Paul opens 2 Corinthians with thanksgiving for God's comfort in affliction, explaining how suffering enables believers to comfort others. He describes his recent severe trials in Asia and God's deliverance.
person_contrast
Paul's typical epistolary themes of grace and fellowship yield to an unprecedented concentration on "comfort" (paraklesis) appearing ten times, transforming suffering into a ministry tool.
Paul's Defense of His Integrity and Travel Plans
1:12–1:24Paul defends his integrity and explains his travel plans, emphasizing God's faithfulness and that all God's promises find their 'Yes' in Christ. He assures the Corinthians of his sincere motives and God's anointing through the Spirit.
person_contrast
Paul's defense uniquely combines "grace" with "witness" and "testimony," departing from his typical pairing of grace with fellowship themes across his other letters.
2 Corinthians 1:1
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Colossians 1:1lexicalPaul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
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Philippians 1:1lexicalPaul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers an…
Ephesians 1:1lexicalPaul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ J…
2 Corinthians 1:2
Titus 1:4lexicalto Titus, my true child according to a common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Chri…
1 Thessalonians 1:1lexicalPaul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to…
1 Peter 1:2lexicalaccording to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be…
Ephesians 1:2lexicalGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:2lexicalGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:3
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2 Corinthians 1:6
Romans 12:8lexicalor he who exhorts, to his exhorting; he who gives, let him do it with generosity; he who rules, with diligence; he who s…
2 Corinthians 7:7lexicaland not by his coming only, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you while he told us of your longing,…
2 Corinthians 1:7
1 Peter 5:1lexicalTherefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also…
2 Corinthians 1:8
2 Thessalonians 1:4lexicalso that we ourselves boast about you in the assemblies of God for your perseverance and faith in all your persecutions a…
Romans 7:1lexicalOr don’t you know, brothers (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as h…
1 Corinthians 12:1lexicalNow concerning spiritual things, brothers, I don’t want you to be ignorant.
1 Corinthians 10:1lexicalNow I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
Romans 1:13lexicalNow I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (and was hindered so far), that I…
2 Corinthians 1:9
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Romans 6:9lexicalknowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him!
2 Corinthians 1:11
James 5:16lexicalConfess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous p…
2 Corinthians 1:13
1 Corinthians 14:37lexicalIf any man thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize the things which I write to you, that they are…
2 Corinthians 1:14
2 Corinthians 9:3lexicalBut I have sent the brothers so that our boasting on your behalf may not be in vain in this respect, that, just as I sai…
1 Corinthians 13:12lexicalFor now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was…
Colossians 1:6lexicalwhich has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since th…
2 Corinthians 1:16
Acts 15:3lexicalThey, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of th…
2 Corinthians 1:19
1 Thessalonians 1:1lexicalPaul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to…
2 Thessalonians 1:1lexicalPaul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
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