2 Corinthians 11 Study Notes

11:16 The word fool is from the Greek aphronos, meaning “one who is ignorant or unlearned” (vv. 16,19; 12:6,11; Rm 2:20; 1Co 15:36; Eph 5:17). We might translate it as “ignoramus.” The other word translated “fool” is moros, meaning “one who is stupid” or “a moron” (1Co 1:25,27; 3:18; 4:10; 2Tm 2:23; Ti 3:9).

11:17 In the Gospels Jesus never spoke the way Paul was about to speak. In 1Co 7:12 Paul also spoke about something Jesus had not addressed.

11:18 The false apostles were as public (many boast) about their experiences and achievements as Paul was private.

11:19 Put up with is the same verb as that in 11:4, expressing the same sarcasm. The words so wise, phronimos in Greek, are the opposite of foolish (see note at v. 16).

11:20-21 Tactics of the false teachers included psychological and physical intimidation. Paul responded tongue-in-cheek: We have been too weak for that!

11:22 The false apostles and the true apostles were alike in their Jewish heritage. Yet the false apostles were perhaps, like the Judaizers in Galatia (Gl 5:1-6), construing salvation as being based on keeping the law or performing good works.

11:23 Paul did not concede that these false apostles were servants of Christ. He had just called them Satan’s servants (v. 15). But he granted their claim for the sake of argument. In any such comparison, Paul had suffered the most for the one they claimed to serve.

11:24-25 The five Jewish beatings (thirty-nine lashes; see note at Dt 25:1-3) and the three Roman beatings were administered during a more brutal era when adults were subjected to corporal punishment by religious or governmental authorities. Of the beatings mentioned here, only the Roman beating at Philippi is reported (Ac 16:22). The stoning occurred in Lystra (Ac 14:19). The shipwreck of Ac 27 occurred after the writing of 2 Corinthians.

11:26-27 Besides nature, robbers, and hostile Jews, Paul had to deal with false brothers, who betrayed him.

11:28 Everything Paul mentioned in vv. 23-27 was endured in the course of church planting or evangelism. After converts were made, he faced the task of cultivating these believers in their faith.

11:29 Paul identified emotionally and spiritually with the struggles of his converts.

11:30-31 Paul boasted in the grace of God that helped him in his weakness.

11:32-33 This episode, Paul’s first brush with being persecuted, is also reported in Ac 9:23-25. Luke, the Gentile author of Acts, noted that Jews of Damascus initiated the plot, while Paul the Jew remembered this as a plot of the Gentile governor of the city. There was probably a coalition of Jews and Nabateans serving under the governor.