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WHAT CAREFULNESS.

[II. COR.

11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge!

content, moroseness, and despair, and drives men from God rather than attracts them to Him.

11. "For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, yea, what revenge!" &c. This verse is generally understood as referring to the conduct of the Corinthian Church in the matter of their treatment of the incestuous offender. This godly sorrow, this grief with a view to God, what carefulness it wrought in you, i.e., earnestness; ye were at first indifferent about the evil of complicity with such sin, now ye have become thoroughly alive to the danger of such allowance of wickedness, and have exhibited this "in humble deprecation," (aroλoyía); ye were puffed up (I. Cor. v. 2), now ye confess, and make excuse, and urge something in extenuation, as that ye were not aware of the extent of the evil, or did not realize it, and so forth.

"Yea, what indignation." Not merely against the sinner, but against yourselves for having tolerated it for a moment.

"Yea, what fear." Fear lest God should visit it on the Church, or fear perhaps of the Apostle's coming, and his further indignant reproofs.

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'Yea, what vehement desire." Perhaps rather longing, i.e., that he should come again, and find them what he would have them to be.

"Yea, what zeal." For the glory of God-for the souls of the sinners among them-for their perfect cleansing from all filthiness of flesh and spirit.

"Yea, what revenge! This is generally taken to denote the exercise of corrective discipline against the incestuous person, but ought it not rather to be understood in the sense of revenge on themselves, for having connived at the evil-so that they should punish themselves by humiliation and confession, perhaps by fasting and self-denial? 1

1

1 Thus Cornelius à Lapide :-"Vindictam, ut desidiam et peccata vestra vindicaretis, tum dolore et lacrymis vos affligendo, tum aliis modis corpora animasque vestras macerando et puniendo." And he quotes a passage from Calvin. "Postremo est vindicta:

CHAP. VII.]

CLEAR IN THIS MATTER.

379

In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this

matter.

12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the p ch. ii. 4. sight of God might appear unto you.

12. "Our care for you." So a few Cursives, Vulg., Goth. ; "your care for yourselves," , D.; "Your care for us," B., C., E., K., L., P., seventy Cursives, Syriac, Copt.

"In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter." Clear, that is, in respect of present complicity with the offending person in his sin, though at the first they were culpably lax in taking due notice of it.

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12. "Wherefore, though I wrote unto you," &c. The wrong which the incestuous person did, and the wrong which his father received, was not in the eyes of the Apostle so grave a matter as the complicity of the Church in the wickedness. This was by far the greatest cause of anxiety to the Apostle, and so he puts it forth here as the one cause of his writing, only he somewhat veils his meaning; instead of saying, "I wrote to warn you against a moment's toleration of so hideous a sin," he says, I wrote that our care for you in the sight of God might appear." He felt that it was no small thing to recover the confidence and love of his converts. Unless he had this he felt that they were not right. He was God's ambassador and representative. He was their spiritual father in Christ. The power of God, and of Christ, had been manifested in him towards them; so that there was the greatest fear that their hearts were not right with God and Christ unless they were right with him. There is substantially the same meaning if we read "your care for us: " because in that case it would be the "fruit of our care for you." Both imply restored confidence.

13. "Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more," &c. Another punctuation and division of

quo enim severiores in nos sumus, et acriore censurâ quæstionem habemus de peccatis nostris, eo sperare debemus magis propitium et misericordem Dominum. Et certe fieri non potest, quin anima Divini judicii honore perculsa, partes ultionis in exigendâ de se pæna occupet."

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THE OBEDIENCE OF YOU ALL.

[II. COR. 13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, Rom. xv. 32. because his spirit was refreshed by you all.

14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.

t Gr. bowels. ch, vi. 12.

r ch. ii. 9.

Phil. ii. 12.

you,

r

15 And his † inward affection is more abundant toward whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.

13. "Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more," &c. After "in" insert dɛ, with N, B., C., D., E., F., G., K., L., P., a few Cursives, Ital., Vulg., Goth., Syriac, and place a stop after "comforted." So Revisers read, "Therefore we have been comforted; and in our comfort we joyed the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus," &c. Most Cursives, but no Uncials, read as in Rec. Text. 14. "Our boasting." B. and F. (Greek) read, "your."

"There

the sentences yields a better, and no doubt the true sense. fore we have been comforted, i.e., with the effects which we heard had been produced on you by my Epistle, such as I have mentioned in verse 11; and over and above this our comfort we rejoiced more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. The joy with which your conduct had inspired him communicated itself to us, and was a fresh source of joy."

14. "For if I have boasted anything to him of you, I am not ashamed." St. Paul before sending Titus, spoke much in praise of the members of the Corinthian Church. At one time, perhaps, his heart misgave him, fearing that he had spoken too well, but now he is rejoiced to find that he has not. "As we spake all things, though they were severe reproofs to you, in truth, so now our boasting to Titus of your grace and good qualities turns out to be the word of truth."

15. "And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst," &c. His memory dwells on your obedience, which all seemed to share, and withal how you received him, not in a spirit of self-will and anger at being reproved, but recognizing in him, as my messenger, the messenger of God; so that you received him with reverence and awe.

CHAP. VIII.]

CONFIDENCE IN ALL THINGS.

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16 I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.

s 2 Thess, iii. 4. Philem. viii. 21.

16. "I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things." Confidence seems too strong a word. The Revisers render it, "I am of good courage concerning you."

M

CHAP. VIII.

OREOVER, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;

2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded

a

unto the riches of their || liberality.

a Mark xii, 44. † Gr. simplicity, ch. ix.

11.

1. "Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God," &c. There is now, we are thankful to say, a change of subject. "We do you to wit of." An archaic expression for “ we make known to you "the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia-Philippi, Thessalonica, Beræa, &c.

Notice how the Apostle calls Christian goodwill and liberality a grace of God.

2. "How that in a great trial of affliction," &c. No doubt from the persecution of the heathen, or from the violence of their own unbelieving countrymen. (1 Thess. ii. 14).

"The abundance of their joy and of their deep poverty abounded," &c. What a remarkable conjunction. Their joy in God and in Christ made their open-heartedness to abound to all who belonged to God and Christ, and this was enhanced by their deep poverty.. Their poverty prevented them from giving as much as they desired, but it made what they did give far more in the sight of God than the gifts of those who had given much more: just as the Lord says respecting the widow, "Verily, I say unto you, this widow hath cast in more than they all." The deeper their poverty the more rich their liberality.

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WILLING OF THEMSELVES.

[II. COR.

3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;

4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

b Acts xi. 29. & xxiv. 17. Rom. xv. 25, 26. 1 Cor.

xvi. 1, 3, 4. ch, ix. 1.

5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

4. That we would receive." Omitted by &, B., C., D., E., F., G., K., L., P., most Cursives, Ital., Vulg., Syriae, Copt., Æth.; retained by many Cursives. Translate with Revisers, "beseeching us with much intreaty in regard of the grace and the fellowship in the ministering to the saints."

This poverty, in all probability, was not confined to the Christians of Macedonia, but affected the whole district. We are told that it never recovered the effects of three desolating wars, the first between Cæsar and Pompey, the second between the Triumvirs and Brutus and Cassius, the third between Augustus and Antonius. "Under Tiberius they petitioned for a diminution of their burdens, and were accordingly for a time transferred from the jurisdiction of the Senate to that of the Emperor as involving a less heavy taxation" (Plumptre).

3, 4. "For to their power I bear record . . . fellowship of the ministering to the saints." They were willing of themselves, they did not wait to be asked to give, but, on the other hand, prayed the Apostles with much entreaty to receive what they had contributed apparently of their own accord and unprompted. The words of the original are stronger: "Praying us with much entreaty for the grace and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 'They implored us (as Wordsworth paraphrazes it) to allow them to be associated with us in the privilege of giving alms to their poorer brethren at Jerusalem."

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5. "And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves," &c. "Not as we hoped " means "beyond our hopes." They did more than he expected; they not only gave liberally of their substance, but they gave themselves. It is a question as to what this means. Did it mean the ordinary dedication which every Christian performs, first at his Baptism and then all through his life? It could not mean this, for the Apostle evidently alludes