Table Of ContentlHENEW
INTERNATIONAL
COMMENTARY
ONlHE
NEW
PHD JP F. HUGHES
PAUL'S SECOND EPISTLE
TO THE CORINTHIANS
THE ENGLISH TEXT WITH INTRODUCTION,
EXPOSITION AND NOTES
by
PHILIP EDGCUMBE HUGHES,
M.A., B.D., D. LITT.
Editor of The Churchman
British Editorial Associate of Christianity Today
WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING CO.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
'f
THE NEW INTERNATIONAL COMMENTARY ON
THE NEW TESTAMENT - NED B. STONEHOUSE, Editor
PAUL'S SECOND EPISTLE
TO THE CORINTHIANS
© COPYRIGHT 1962 BY PHILIP E. HUGHES
All rights reserved
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
To
MALCOLM McQUEEN
Loyal Friend
Faithful Witness
CONTENTS
EDITOR'S PREFACE • ix
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xiii
INTRODUCTION • xv
COMMENTARY
1: 1; 2 SALUTATION
1: 3-11 THANKSGIVING FOR COMFORT IN AFFLICTION 9
Paul's Affliction in Asia ....... . 16
1: 12-2:4 PAUL'S INTEGRITY OF MOTIVE AND CONDUCT. 25
Paul's Associations with Corinth .... 31
The Identity of the Epistle mentioned in2 :3f . 54
2:5-11 THE NOTORIOUS OFFENDER AT CORINTH. 59
2:12-17 WAITING FOR NEWS 73
Titus ... 76
3:1-11 AN EPISTLE OF CHRIST. 85
The New Covenant. 93
The Letter and the Spirit . 96
3: 12-4:6 WITH UNVEILED FACE. • • • 107
4:7-16a TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS 135
4: 16b-5: 10 THE PROSPECT OF DEATH AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 153
Additional note on 5: 1-10 184
5: 11-6: 10 THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION. 186
6: 11-7: 4 A SPIRITUAL FATHER'S APPEAL TO HIS CHILDREN 239
The Authenticity of the Section 6: 14-7: 1 . 241
7 : 5-16 THE MEETING WITH TITUS • • • • • • • • • 264
The Identity of the Epistle mentioned in 7:8 • .. 270
PAUL'S SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS
8: 1-9:15 THE GRACE OF CHRISTIAN GIVING • . . • • • . 283
Paul's Collection for the poor Christians at Jerusalem 283
The "Identity of "the brother" mentioned in 8: 18 312
Note on the Section 9: 1-5 321
10 : 1-13: 10 PAUL AFFIRMS HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY 34-3
The Authenticity of chapters 10 to 13 34-3
Paul's Adversaries at Corinth 356
The Mention of Aretas in 11 : 32 and Pauline Chronology 424
The Third Heaven (12:3) . 432
Paradise (12: 4) ..... 436
Paul's "thorn in the flesh" 442
Paul's third visit to Corinth 459
The Despatch of Titus to Corinth " 467
13: 11-14 CONCLUSION 486
INDEX OF PROPER NAMES • 491
INDEX OF SCRIPTURE REFERENCES • 495
EDITOR'S PREFACE
By way of preface to this substantial addition to The New
International Commentary on the .New Testament, the tenth volume to
be completed, the editor is happy to have the opportunity of
briefly introducing the author and his work and especially of
expressing his gratitude to him for his perceptive and eminently
readable contribution.
Philip Hughes is widely known in the English-speaking world
both as a churchman and as a scholar. Born in Australia and
brought up in South Africa, his labors during his mature life
have largely centered in England. He has also, however, enjoyed
many fruitful contacts with the European continent and with
America. Most recently he has been in the public eye chiefly
because of his contributions to Christianity Today and he is now
connected with the London office of this magazine as British
Editorial Associate.
Dr. Hughes is also Editor of the influential The Churchman, an
Anglican quarterly largely concerned with the life of the Church
in which he was ordained in 1941. For a number of years he
lectured on New Testament and other subjects in Tyndale Hall,
Bristol, where he served as Vice-Principal, 1950-52. At that time
he was also Theological Lecturer in the University of Bristol. His
writings include numerous articles in such journals as The Church
man, The Evangelical Quarterly, Philosophia Reformata and The
Westminster Theological Journal; contributions to Baker's Dictionary
of Theology and the Biblical Expositor; and numerous monographs.
His M.A. and D.Litt. degrees were awarded by the University
of Cape Town, where he won various honors in Classics; his B.D.
was earned at the University of London.
The author, who is a member of the Studinrum .Novi Testamenti
Societas, was given free rein to develop his exposition of II
Corinthians and the result is a commentary of considerable
length. Two factors seem to have contributed principally to this
achievement. One is the breadth of scholarship reflected in the
discussion of many exegetical points and in the wide range of
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PAUL'S SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS
literature drawn upon, including, to mention a few, the works of
Chrysostom, Hexveius, Windisch, and AUo. The other factor in
view was the author's unswerving commitment to the production
of an interesting and lucid work which, in his concern to avoid
obscure or cryptic or dull expression, caused him to make generous
use of the most significant utterances of others as well as to draw
pexvasively on his own exceptional powers of composition. While
his chief interest happily has been in exposition of the sacred text,
the questions of introduction are also evaluated in a thorough
manner. The stout defence of the integrity of the Epistle is one
of the outstanding features of the volume.
A reviewer of a recently published volume in this series appeared
to offer as his chief criticism that the author had not undertaken
a critical judgment of the teaching of Paul. The editor believes
that in the last analysis this stricture was a compliment to the
expositor, for it reflected his basic concern to let the apostle speak
forth regardless of how uncongenial his point of view might
appear to many in our modern world. Ultimately to be sure this
concern of the expositor in question was bound up with his
acceptance of the authority of the apostle. One cannot escape the
question whether one may reject the authority of Paul's message
and still allow it any decisive significance for the Church today
in view of the fact that the feature of binding authority was an
integral element of the apostolic message. At any rate, Dr. Hughes
also shares the conviction as to the authority of the apostle, an
ingredient of the Pauline message that is pexvasively and emphatic
ally present in II Corinthians.
Although the text of the American Standard Version is presented
in this volume as in the preceding ones, this should not be inter
preted as indicating a lack of concern with more recent translations
and least of all manifesting a judgment of satisfaction from
every point of view with this sixty-year-old version. Admittedly
it is not distinguished by literary beauty; it is defective also in
other respects. But it remains a highly useful translation especially
to the student of the Scriptures because of its general literalness
as c?mpared with the freer, often periphrastic, quality of other
verSIOns.
As this work goes forth the editor is hopeful that it may be used
far and wide to stimulate interest in and increase knowledge of
the Epistle itself, the life and thought of the great apostle, and
x
EDITOR'S PREFACE
indeed the Christian message as a whole. For Paul is dealing
with no extraneous or superficial issues as he speaks with the
authority of an ambassador of Jesus Christ, and so also with the
meekness and gentleness of Christ, entreating and beseeching
men to be reconciled to God who in Christ was reconciling the
world unto Himself.
NED B. STONEHOUSE
General Editor
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