Paul’s Vision and His Thorn
12 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul’s Concern for the Corinthians
11 I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” [Or the most eminent apostles ] even though I am nothing. 12 I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles. 13 How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
14 Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less? 16 Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! 17 Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus to go to you and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not walk in the same footsteps by the same Spirit?
19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening. 20 For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin, and debauchery in which they have indulged.
NOTES:
12:1–4 In the body or out of the body: he seemed no longer
confined to bodily conditions, but he does not claim to understand the
mechanics of the experience. Caught up: i.e., in ecstasy. The third
heaven…Paradise: ancient cosmologies depicted a multitiered universe. Jewish
intertestamental literature contains much speculation about the number of
heavens. Seven is the number usually mentioned, but the Testament of Levi
(2:7–10; 3:1–4) speaks of three; God himself dwelt in the third of these.
Without giving us any clear picture of the cosmos, Paul indicates a mental
journey to a nonearthly space, set apart by God, in which secrets were revealed
to him. Ineffable things: i.e., privileged knowledge, which it was not possible
or permitted to divulge.
12:5–7 This person: the indirect way of referring to himself
has the effect of emphasizing the distance between that experience and his
everyday life, just as the indirect someone in Christ (2 Cor 12:2) and all the
passive verbs emphasize his passivity and receptivity in the experience. The
revelations were not a personal achievement, nor were they meant to draw
attention to any quality of his own.
12:7 That I might not become too elated: God assures that
there is a negative component to his experience so that he cannot lose proper
perspective; cf. 2 Cor 1:9; 4:7–11. A thorn in the flesh: variously interpreted
as a sickness or physical disability, a temptation, or a handicap connected
with his apostolic activity. But since Hebrew “thorn in the flesh,” like
English “thorn in my side,” refers to persons (cf. Nm 33:55; Ez 28:24), Paul
may be referring to some especially persistent and obnoxious opponent. The
language of 2 Cor 12:7–8 permits this interpretation. If this is correct, the
frequent appearance of singular pronouns in depicting the opposition may not be
merely a stylistic variation; the singular may be provoked and accompanied by
the image of one individual in whom criticism of Paul’s preaching, way of life,
and apostolic consciousness are concentrated, and who embodies all the qualities
Paul attributes to the group. An angel of Satan: a personal messenger from
Satan; cf. the satanic language already applied to the opponents in 2 Cor 11:3,
13–15, 20.
12:8 Three times: his prayer was insistent, like that of
Jesus in Gethsemane, a sign of how intolerable he felt the thorn to be.
12:9 But he said to me: Paul’s petition is denied; release
and healing are withheld for a higher purpose. The Greek perfect tense
indicates that Jesus’ earlier response still holds at the time of writing. My
grace is sufficient for you: this is not a statement about the sufficiency of
grace in general. Jesus speaks directly to Paul’s situation. Is made perfect:
i.e., is given most fully and manifests itself fully.
12:9b–10a Paul draws the conclusion from the
autobiographical anecdote and integrates it into the subject of this part of
the boast. Weaknesses: the apostolic hardships he must endure, including active
personal hostility, as specified in a final catalog (2 Cor 12:10a). That the
power of Christ may dwell with me: Paul pinpoints the ground for the
paradoxical strategy he has adopted in his self-defense.
12:10 When I am weak, then I am strong: Paul recognizes a
twofold pattern in the resolution of the weakness-power (and death-life)
dialectic, each of which looks to Jesus as the model and is experienced in him.
The first is personal, involving a reversal in oneself (Jesus, 2 Cor 13:4a;
Paul, 2 Cor 1:9–10; 4:10–11; 6:9). The second is apostolic, involving an effect
on others (Jesus, 2 Cor 5:14–15; Paul, 2 Cor 1:6; 4:12; 13:9). The specific
kind of “effectiveness in ministry” that Paul promises to demonstrate on his
arrival (2 Cor 13:4b; cf. 2 Cor 10:1–11) involves elements of both; this, too,
will be modeled on Jesus’ experience and participation in that experience (2
Cor 9; 13:3b).
12:11–18 This brief section forms an epilogue or concluding
observation to Paul’s boast, corresponding to the prologue in 2 Cor 11:1–15. A
four-step sequence of ideas is common to these two sections: Paul qualifies his
boast as folly (2 Cor 11:1; 12:11a), asserts his noninferiority to the “super-apostles”
(2 Cor 11:5; 12:11b), exemplifies this by allusion to charismatic endowments (2
Cor 11:6; 12:12), and finally denies that he has been a financial burden to the
community (2 Cor 11:7–12; 12:13–18).
12:12 Despite weakness and affliction (suggested by the
mention of endurance), his ministry has been accompanied by demonstrations of
power (cf. 1 Cor 2:3–4). Signs of an apostle: visible proof of belonging to
Christ and of mediating Christ’s power, which the opponents require as
touchstones of apostleship (2 Cor 12:11; cf. 2 Cor 13:3).
12:13–18 Paul insists on his intention to continue refusing
support from the community (cf. 2 Cor 11:8–12). In defending his practice and
his motivation, he once more protests his love (cf. 2 Cor 11:11) and rejects
the suggestion of secret self-enrichment. He has recourse here again to
language applied to his opponents earlier: “cunning” (2 Cor 11:3), “deceit” (2
Cor 11:13), “got the better of you” (see note on 2 Cor 11:20), “take advantage”
(2 Cor 2:11).
12:19–13:10 This concludes the development begun in 2 Cor
10. In the chiastic arrangement of the material (see note on 2 Cor 10:1–13:10),
this final part corresponds to the opening; there are important similarities of
content between the two sections as well.
12:19 This verse looks back at the previous chapters and
calls them by their proper name, a defense, an apologia (cf. 1 Cor 9:3). Yet
Paul insists on an important distinction: he has indeed been speaking for their
benefit, but the ultimate judgment to which he submits is God’s (cf. 1 Cor
4:3–5). This verse also leads into the final section, announcing two of its
themes: judgment and building up.
12:20 I fear that…: earlier Paul expressed fear that the
Corinthians were being victimized, exploited, seduced from right thinking by
his opponents (2 Cor 11:3–4, 19–21). Here he alludes unexpectedly to moral
disorders among the Corinthians themselves. The catalog suggests the effects
of factions that have grown up around rival apostles.
12:21 Again: one can also translate, “I fear that when I
come my God may again humiliate me.” Paul’s allusion to the humiliation and
mourning that may await him recall the mood he described in 2 Cor 2:1–4, but
there is no reference here to any individual such as there is in 2 Cor 2:5–11.
The crisis of 2 Cor 2 has happily been resolved by the integration of the offender
and repentance (2 Cor 7:4–16), whereas 2 Cor 12:21 is preoccupied with still
unrepentant sinners. The sexual sins recall 1 Cor 5–7.
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