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2 Corinthians 11

1 - I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you do bear with me.
2 - For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I married you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
3 - But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 - For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if you receive a different spirit, which you did not receive, or a different "good news", which you did not accept, you put up with that well enough.
5 - For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles.
6 - But though I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not unskilled in knowledge. No, in every way we have been revealed to you in all things.
7 - Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God's Good News free of charge?
8 - I robbed other assemblies, taking wages from them that I might serve you.
9 - When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn't a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so.
10 - As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
11 - Why? Because I don't love you? God knows.
12 - But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them that desire an occasion, that in which they boast, they may be found even as we.
13 - For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ's apostles.
14 - And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
15 - It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
16 - I say again, let no one think me foolish. But if so, yet receive me as foolish, that I also may boast a little.
17 - That which I speak, I don't speak according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.
18 - Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will also boast.
19 - For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise.
20 - For you bear with a man, if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, if he strikes you on the face.
21 - I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet in whatever way anyone is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.
22 - Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the offspring of Abraham? So am I.
23 - Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I am more so; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often.
24 - Five times from the Jews I received forty stripes minus one.
25 - Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep.
26 - I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers;
27 - in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.
28 - Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily, anxiety for all the assemblies.
29 - Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I don't burn with indignation?
30 - If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness.
31 - The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forever more, knows that I don't lie.
32 - In Damascus the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes desiring to arrest me.
33 - Through a window I was let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands.
2 Corinthians Images and Notes

The Book of 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 3:18 - But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 - For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

The New Testament - A Brief Overview

Painting of the Apostle Paul by Rembrandt - 1657
Painting of Paul the Apostle by Rembrandt - 1657

Introduction to The Book of 2 Corinthians

Brief Summary. Titus brought such good news to Paul that he was moved to express to the Corinthians his joy when he heard of their change of heart. Paul also defends his apostleship in this letter, as well as his conduct among the Corinthians, which were both under strong criticism.

Summary of The Book of 2 Corinthians

Background. Around the year 52 AD the apostle Paul was reaching the end of his second missionary journey, and he had just spent about a year and a half in Corinth where he made many disciples (Acts 18:10, 11). Later on his third missionary journey he spent about three years in Ephesus, from about 54 to 57 AD. During this time Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians from the city of Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:8). It was around this time that Paul almost lost his life during a great riot (Acts 19). He left Ephesus and came to Macedonia and he was meeting with many churches, and he was anxiously waiting to hear from Corinth, and finally Titus arrived having just returned from Corinth and gave Paul the good news that his letter was received with joy (II Corinthians 7:6) yet there were some leaders in the Corinthian church who were questioning Paul's apostolic authority. It was at this time that Paul wrote his second letter to the Corinthian church. He gave it to Titus to hand-deliver (2 Corinthians 8:6, 17), and he would follow soon after.

Purpose. The message of Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians was to defend his authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and to remind them that it was he that founded the church in Corinth, and he had every right to instruct them in the ways of the Lord concerning conduct and gathering together as a church of Jesus Christ. When Paul finally arrived in Corinth he spent all winter there (Acts 20:2, 3). While he was in Corinth he wrote his epistle to the church in Rome.

Authorship. Paul the Apostle as in 1 Corinthians.

Date. 2 Corinthians was written soon after 1 Corinthians, possibly even a few months.

Place of Writing. 2 Corinthians was written from some city in Macedonia where Paul had gone to receive Titus' report concerning the "severe letter" that was written by him.

Outline of the Book of 2 Corinthians

Paul's Testimony - Chapters 1:1-2:13
Glory of Christian Ministry -  Chapters 2:4-7:16
Glory of Giving - Chapters 8:1-9:15
Defense of the Christian Ministry 10:1-13:14

Jesus written in Hebrew
The Name Jesus In Ancient Hebrew Text
"Yeshua" in First Century Hebrew Text. This is how the name "Jesus" would have been written in ancient Hebrew documents. The four letters or consonants from right to left are Yod, Shin, Vav, Ayin (Y, SH, OO, A). Jesus is the Greek name for the Hebrew name Joshua or Y'shua which means "The LORD or Yahweh is Salvation".

2 Corinthians Maps and Resources

Map of the Roman Empire (14 A.D.) - This map reveals the Roman Empire during the time shortly after the birth of Jesus, in 14 AD at the time of the death of Augustus. The order which prevailed in this extensive empire, the good military roads, and the use of Koine Greek as the general language of culture throughout the area were among the factors which multiplied the rapid spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Color Map)

Map of Paul's First Missionary Journey (48 A.D.) - This map reveals the areas in Asia Minor where Paul visited in his first missionary journey. Around 48 AD, in the springtime, Paul and his companions Barnabas and Mark were sent on a mission from the church in Antioch. This would be the first of Paul's Missionary Journey's. (Color Map)

Map of Paul's Second Missionary Journey (51 A.D.) - This map reveals the areas in Asia and Greece where Paul visited in his second missionary journey. Paul re-visits a couple cities in Asia, one of which was Lystra where he was stoned and left for dead a few years earlier. He later has a vision that leads him over to Greece and Paul and his companions travel and minister in various cities in Greece (Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens and Corinth. Later Paul returns to Ephesus and finally to Caesarea and Antioch. (Color Map)

Map of Paul's Third Missionary Journey (54 A.D.) - This map reveals the areas in Asia and Greece where Paul visited in his third missionary journey. On Paul's third missionary journey he returned to the cities he had first visited on his first missionary journey. During this time he decided to remain in Ephesus for about 3 years, and this city was the main focus of his activities and an important Christian community (Acts 19). (Color Map)

Map of the New Testament World - This map reveals the "Nations" within the ancient world during the first century A.D., the time of the New Testament. The map includes the areas of Israel, Asia, Greece, and Italy. (Color Map)

Map of New Testament Greece This map reveals the cities within Greece in the ancient world during the first century A.D.,The map includes the principal cities of Greece like: Athens, Corinth, and Thessalonica, and provinces like Macedonia and Achaia. (Color Map)