AUTHOR

Second Corinthians is one part of a chain of correspondence dealing with events surrounding the Christian community at the Greek city of Corinth. It is best understood within this historical context.

Between AD 49 and AD 51, the apostle Paul was in Corinth establishing the church there, assisted for a time by Silvanus and Timothy (2Co 1:19). Then, from AD 52 until AD 55, Paul was in Ephesus, about a three days’ journey by sea from Corinth. Soon after Paul left Corinth, a number of visitors came to the city: Apollos, Cephas (Peter), the Lord’s brothers, and possibly Barnabas. During this period, Paul wrote a now-lost letter (1Co 5:9).

Sometime around AD 54, a Corinthian delegation arrived in Ephesus reporting major problems in the church. During this time, a letter was brought from some Corinthian members raising a number of questions. First Corinthians is Paul’s initial response to these reports and questions.

Soon afterward Paul dispatched Timothy to bring back news about the letter’s reception. Timothy’s report was negative—so alarming, in fact, that Paul made an unscheduled journey to Corinth. Paul found the church in disarray, with many members openly rebellious against him. Paul said this second visit to Corinth was a “painful visit” (2:1; see 12:21–13:2). Upon returning to Ephesus, Paul wrote a letter (delivered by Titus), sometimes termed “the severe letter” (referred to in 2:3-4; 7:8-12), calling upon the Corinthians to recognize Paul’s apostolic authority.

Sometime afterward (ca AD 55), Paul left Ephesus, traveling north to Troas (a port city). There he had arranged to meet Titus and hear how the Corinthians had responded to the severe letter (2:12). Not finding Titus there, Paul crossed over to Macedonia to await him in that location. Eventually Titus arrived, reporting the Corinthians’ response to the recent letter and bringing news of other developments in Corinth (7:5-7). The book of 2 Corinthians (actually his fourth letter to that church) was Paul’s response to the news brought by Titus.

UNITY

While 1 and 2 Corinthians are confidently attributed to Paul, and while 1 Corinthians is widely recognized as a unified whole, many scholars claim 2 Corinthians is an amalgam of fragments. Chapters 10–13 were supposedly written separately and later than chapters 1–9. Chapters 2:14–7:4 may not have originally been part of chapters 1–9. Many believe 6:14–7:1 is a non-Pauline fragment inserted into the text. Some have identified 6:14–7:4 as the now-lost previous letter (1Co 5:9) and either 6:14–7:1 or chapters 10–13 as the lost “severe letter” (2:3-4; 7:8-12).

In response, we can put matters into perspective by looking at the history of Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians and important literary considerations within 2 Corinthians.

We are now in a position to decide the issue of the “previous letter” and the “severe letter.” Clearly the “previous letter” predated 1 Corinthians; it has no connection with 2 Corinthians. But what of the “severe letter,” which some identify with a fragment within 2 Corinthians (6:14–7:1 or 10–13)?

Neither passage qualifies as the “severe letter.” For one thing, 6:14–7:1 is too brief and lacking too many marks of a letter to be considered a letter. For another, the “severe letter” is referred to retrospectively within chapters 10–13, namely at 10:10.

Some suggest chapters 10–13 was a separate letter, written not long after the dispatch of chapters 1–9. By this explanation, chapters 10–13 were editorially attached to the earlier letter as a kind of appendix at some later time.

This is questionable, as early Christians copying his manuscripts would not have felt at liberty to discard the concluding sentences of one and the opening sentence of another of Paul’s letters. The second-century manuscript evidence supports their unity.

Those seeing chapters 10–13 as fundamentally different from chapters 1–9, but whose approach is generally conservative, tend to resolve the problem by supposing Paul received news of a deteriorating situation in Corinth during the writing of the letter, which dramatically affected the character of chapters 10–13. But would Paul have sent a letter, the first part of which would now be redundant?

Moreover, the letter presents a natural progression. In chapters 1–2 Paul updated the Corinthians with his past movements after leaving them and explained why he did not directly return. Chapters 6–9 challenge them about current issues, particularly their continuing participation at pagan temples and their failure to complete the collection for Judean believers. In chapters 10–13 he anticipated his future (and final) visit to Corinth and exhorted his readers to set their house in order before he came. Thus 2 Corinthians presents a chronological logic, moving from past to present to future.