2 Corinthians 10

10. letters--implying that there had been already more letters of Paul received by the Corinthians than the one we have, namely, First Corinthians; and that they contained strong reproofs.
say they--Greek, "says one," "such a one" ( 2 Corinthians 10:11 ) seems to point to some definite individual. Compare Galatians 5:10 ; a similar slanderer was in the Galatian Church.
weak--( 2 Corinthians 12:7 , 1 Corinthians 2:3 ). There was nothing of majesty or authority in his manner; he bore himself tremblingly among them, whereas the false teachers spoke with authoritative bearing and language.

11. think this--"consider this."
such will we be--or "are," in general, not merely shall we be at our next visit.

12. "We do not presume (irony) to judge ourselves among, or in comparison with, some of them that commend themselves." The charge falsely brought against him of commending himself ( 2 Corinthians 3:1 , 5:12 ), really holds good of the false teachers. The phrase, "judge ourselves of the number," is drawn from the testing of athletes and senators, the "approved" being set down on the roll [WAHL].
measuring themselves by themselves--"among themselves": to correspond to the previous verb, "judge ourselves among them." Instead of measuring themselves by the public standard, they measure themselves by one made by themselves: they do not compare themselves with others who excel them, but with those like themselves: hence their high self-esteem. The one-eyed is easily king among the blind.
are not wise--with all their boasted "wisdom" ( 1 Corinthians 1:19-26 ), they are anything but "wise."

13. not boast . . . without . . . measure--Greek, "to unmeasured bounds." There is no limit to a man's high opinion of himself, so long as he measures himself by himself ( 2 Corinthians 10:13 ) and his fellows, and does not compare himself with his superiors. It marks the personal character of this Epistle that the word "boast" occurs twenty-nine times in it, and only twenty-six times in all the other Epistles put together. Undeterred by the charge of vanity, he felt he must vindicate his apostolic authority by facts [CONYBEARE and HOWSON]. It would be to "boast of things without our measure," were we to boast of conversions made by "other men's labors" ( 2 Corinthians 10:15 ).
distributed--apportioned [ALFORD].
a measure--as a measure [ALFORD].
to reach--"that we should reach as far as even to you": not that he meant to go no further ( 2 Corinthians 10:16 , Romans 15:20-24 ). Paul's "measure" is the apportionment of his sphere of Gospel labors ruled for him by God. A "rule" among the so-called "apostolic canons" subsequently was, that no bishop should appoint ministers beyond his own limits. At Corinth no minister ought to have been received without Paul's sanction, as Corinth was apportioned to him by God as his apostolic sphere. The Epistle here incidentally, and therefore undesignedly, confirms the independent history, the Acts, which represents Corinth as the extreme limit as yet of his preaching, at which he had stopped, after he had from Philippi passed southward successively through Amphipolis, Apollonia, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens [PALEY, Horæ Paulinæ].

14. "We are not stretching ourselves beyond our measure, as (we should be) if we did not reach unto you: (but we do), for as far as even to you have we come in preaching the Gospel."

15. "Not boasting to unmeasured bounds (that is, not exceeding our own bounds by boasting) of (literally, 'in') other men's labors."
when--"As your faith goes on increasing." The cause of his not yet reaching with the Gospel the regions beyond Corinth, was the weakness as yet of their faith. He desired not to leave the Corinthians before the proper time, and yet not to put off preaching to others too long.
enlarged by you--Greek, "in your case." Our success in your case will give us an important step towards further progress beyond you ( 2 Corinthians 10:16 ).
according to our rule--according to our divinely assigned apportionment of the area or sphere of our work; for "we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure" ( 2 Corinthians 10:14 ).
abundantly--Greek, "unto exceeding abundance": so as to exceed the limits we have yet reached ( 2 Corinthians 10:16 ).

16. To--that is, so as to preach . . . beyond you (and) not to boast, &c.
in another man's line of things made ready to our hand--Do not connect "line of things," &c.; but "boast of things," &c. To make this clearer, arrange the words thus, "Not to boast as to things (already made by the preaching of others) ready to our hand in another man's line (that is, within the line, or sphere of labor, apportioned by God to another)."

17. glorieth--Translate, to accord with 2 Corinthians 10:16 , "boasteth." In contrast to his opponents' practice of boasting in another's line or sphere, Paul declares the only true boasting is in the Lord ( 1 Corinthians 1:31 , 15:10 ).

18. ( Proverbs 27:2 ).
whom the Lord commendeth--to whom the Lord has given as His "Epistle of commendation," the believers whom he has been the instrument of converting: as was Paul's case ( 2 Corinthians 3:1-3 ).
is approved--can stand the test of the final trial. A metaphor from testing metals ( Romans 16:10 , 1 Corinthians 11:19 ). So on the other hand those finally rejected by the Lord are termed "reprobate silver" ( Jeremiah 6:30 ).