2 Corinthians 11:1

1 Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment.

2 Corinthians 11:1 Meaning and Commentary

2 Corinthians 11:1

Would to God you could bear with me a little
The false apostles boasted so much of their gifts, abilities, and usefulness, that the apostle found himself under a necessity of saying some things in his own defence, for the honour of God, and the good of this church; which otherwise his modesty would not have permitted him, and which he saw would be accounted and censured as folly in him by others; and therefore he entreats their patience a little while, and that they would suffer him to say a few things in vindication of his character, and not be offended; though it would be in commendation of himself, which, were he not forced to, would look vain and foolish: and therefore says,

bear with me a little in my folly,
and which he presses with importunity,

and indeed bear with me;
he insists upon it, he urges it as what he must not be denied in; for could he have avoided it, he would not have done it; but such was the case, that if he did not do it, he must greatly suffer in his character and usefulness; the members of this church would be in great danger from these false apostles, and the honour and glory of Christ lay greatly at stake; which when considered, he hoped his request would be granted: the last clause may be rendered, but also ye do bear with me; signifying that they had done so already, and continued to do so, and therefore he could not but encourage himself, that they still would bear with him a little longer, and in a few things more.

2 Corinthians 11:1 In-Context

1 Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment.

2 The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much - this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband.

3 And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ.

4 It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached - different spirit, different message - you put up with him quite nicely.

5 But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are.