he did not, like the false teacher, mix falsehoods with the gospel, for the purpose of pleasing the vitiated taste of his hearers; but he preached it sincerely, in the presence of God, who had sent him to preach it, and whose THE CHAPTER III. View and Illustration of the Reasoning in this Chapter. HE things mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, shew that the false teacher had established himself at Corinth, neither by working miracles, nor by communicating to the Corinthians spiritual gifts, but by producing letters of recommendation from some brethren in Judea, and by talking in a vaunting manner of his own talents. For in allusion to these things, the apostle asked the Corinthians ironically, whether in order to obtain credit with them as an apostle, it was necessary that he should a second time prove his apostleship? or, if he needed as some (the false teacher) letters of recommendation, either to them, or from them? ver. 1.—And to heighten the irony, he told them, that they themselves were a copy of the letter of recommendation which he carried about with him, not from the brethren of any church, but from Christ himself: which original letter was written on his own heart, and was known and read of all his converts, ver. 2.—A copy of this letter the apostle told the Corinthians he had ministred or furnished to them, written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone, but on the fleshly tables of their own heart, ver. 3.—A recommendation of this sort he told them was a just matter of boasting, and was afforded to him by Christ in the presence of God, ver. 4.-Consequently, it was afforded to him by God's authority. It seems the false teacher extolled the law of Moses above the gospel of Christ, and assumed to himself great authority on account of his knowledge of that law. Wherefore, in the remaining part of this chapter, the apostle by the strongest arguments demonstrated to the Corinthians, that the law of Moses was much inferior to the gospel of Christ. The law was a dispensation of the letter: But the gospel was a dispensation of the spirit: The law killed every sinner, whether he was penitent or not, by its dreadful curse: But the gospel gives life to all penitent believers without exception, by its gracious promises, ver. 5, 6. The gospel therefore is a covenant of life, but the law a covenant of death.-Farther, he observed, that if eye was always on him.-In what manner the false teacher at Corinth corrupted the word of God, to render it agreeable to the learned Greeks, see Pref. to 1 Cor. sect. 4. the ministration of the covenant of death engraven on stones, covered the face of Moses its minister, with such an outward glory, that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly on him, after he came down from the mount, the ministration of the covenant of the spirit which giveth life, occasioned a much greater glory to them who were employed in ministring it. For the gifts of the Spirit wherewith the apostles, the ministers of the covenant of the Spirit, were honoured, were a much greater glory, than the external splendour which covered Moses' face, when he appeared with the tables of the law in his hand, ver. 7.-11.-The reason is, the ministers of the Spirit had the glory of inspiration abiding with them always, so that they could use much greater clearness of speech in explaining the covenant of the gospel, than Moses was able to do in explaining the covenant of the law; as was emblematically represented, by Moses putting a veil upon his face, while he spake to the Israelites. For he delivered to them nothing but the obscure figurative institutions of the law, together with such words as God had spoken to him, but added nothing, from himself, for explaining the meaning of these institutions. Hence, the generality of the Israelites have remained ignorant of the true nature and end of the law, till this day, ver. 12.-15.—But when the whole nation shall turn to the Lord, the darkness of the law shall be done away, ver. 16. The expressions in this part of the chapter being obscure, the apostle told the Corinthians, that the Lord, by which he meant the gospel, of which the Lord Christ is the author, is the dispensation of the Spirit, of which he spake; and that in delivering the gospel, there was great liberty of speech granted to its ministers, especially to the apostles, who by beholding the glory of the Lord Jesus while he abode on earth, and by the repeated revelations which they received from him since his ascension, were changed into the very same image, by successions of glory, that is, of illumination, coming from the Lord of the Spirit. So that in respect of the light of the gospel which they diffused through the world, they were become the images of Christ, ver. 17, 18. GREEK TEXT. OLD TRANSLATION. CHAP. III. 1 Do we be 1 Αρχόμεθα παλιν ἑαυ gin again to commendour- τους συνιςανειν ; ει μη χρηζο selves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commen dation to you, or letters of commendation from you? 2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men. 3 Forasmuch as ye are μεν, ὡς τινες, συςατικών επι 50λων προς ὑμας, η εξ ύμων συςατικών ; 2 Ἡ επιςολη ἡμων ύμεις εςε, εγγεγραμμένη εν ταις καρ διαις ἡμων, γινωσκομένη και αναγινωσκομενη ὑπὸ παντων ανθρωπων 5 Φανερούμενοι, ότι εςε επι manifestly declared to be ςολη Χριςου διακονηθεισα ὑφ' Ver. 1.-1. Must we begin again to recommend ourselves? By recommending himself, the apostle certainly did not mean his praising himself: for in that way he could not possibly prove himself to be an apostle. But he meant, his proposing to the Corinthians the proofs of his apostleship. This he had done in his former letter, chap. ix. Perhaps the clause, Αρχομεθα παλιν ἑαυτες συνισάνειν ; might be better translated, Must we begin again to estab lish ourselves ? namely, as an apostle. For this sense συνιςημι (which is a word of the same derivation with συνιςαγω,) hath, Rom. iii. 5, 2 Cor. vi. 4. Gal. ii. 18.—From the apostle's asking the Corinthians, whether it was ne cessary for him to prove his apostleship to them a second time, it would seem that the faction pretended he had not proved himself an apostle by the things written in his former letter. 2. Or need we as some, letters of recommendation to you? This is an high irony, both of the faction and of the false teacher. It is the same as if he had said, Since the things I advanced in my former letter, are not thought by you sufficient to prove my apostleship, must I for that purpose bring you letters, recommending me as an apostle, from the brethren in Judea, as some have done? This it seems was the method the false teacher had taken to establish himself at Corinth. He had brought letters of recommendation from some of the brethren in Judea: and the Corinthians had been so silly, as on the credit of these letters, to receive him as a greater teacher than the apostle himself.—Of this kind of recommendatory letters, we have an example, Acts xviii. 27. where it is said, that when Apollos was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren of Ephesus wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him. By asking the Corinthians in irony, whether he needed to be introduced to them as an apostle, by letters of recommendation from some other church: and whether to his being received by other churches as an NEW TRANSLATION. CHAP. III. 1 (ApxoneJa, 9.) Must we begin again (ovvisaven) to recommend ourselves?1 (E.) Or need we, as some, letters of recommendation to you, or LETTERS of recommendation from you? 2 2 Ye are our letter written () on our hearts,1 known and read of all men.2 3 For ye are plainly declared Christ's letter mini COMMENTARY. CHAP. III. 1 Must I, who have already proved myself to you to be an apostle, begin a second time to recommend myself to you? Or need I, for that purpose, as some, (the false teacher) letters of recommendation to you, or letters of recommendation from you to others? 2 I need no letter of that sort: Ye are a copy of our letter of recommendation from Christ, which is written on our hearts, known and read of all men. 3 For by your conversion, and by your spiritual gifts, Ye are plainly apostle, it would be necessary for him to carry letters of recommendation from them, Paul not only ridiculed the faction and the false teacher, but insinuated that his apostleship did not depend on the testimony of men; and that his fame was so great, that he could go to no church where he was not known to be an apostle of Christ. Ver. 2.-1. Ye are our letter written on our hearts. By supposing, as in the commentary, that in this passage the apostle calls the Corinthians, not Christ's letter of recommendation in favour of him, but a copy of that letter; and that the letter itself was written on the apostle's heart, but the copy of it on the hearts of the Corinthians, all the jarring of metaphors, in this highly figurative passage, will be removed. Christ's letter of recommendation in favour of the apostle, which was written on his heart, and which was known and read of all men, was his miraculous conversion, together with the spiritual gifts which were bestowed on him after his conversion, but especially the power of conferring spiritual gifts on others. One MS. mentioned by Mill, hath here, your hearts; which is the reading likewise of the Ethiopic version. But the common reading, which is supported by all the ancient MSS. ought not to be altered on so slight an authority: especially as it gives a very good sense to the passage, and agrees well with the context. 2. Known and read of all men. If the letter of recommendation of which the apostle speaks, was his own miraculous conversion, and the power of conferring spiritual gifts with which he was endowed, he might with much more propriety say, that that letter was known and read of all men, than if he had called the conversion of the Corinthians his letter of recommendation. For the miraculous powers by which he was shewn to be an apostle, were manifest to all men wherever he went; whereas the conversion and spiritual gifts of the Corinthian church, were known, comparatively speaking, only to a few. the epistle of Christ, ministred by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God ; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. 4 And such trust have we through Christ to Godward : 5 Not that we are suf ήμων, εγγεγραμμένη ου μελα νι, αλλα πνευματι Θεου ζωντος, ουκ εν πλαξι λιπίναις, αλλα εν πλαξι καρδιας σαρ κιναις. 4 Πεποιθησιν δε τοιαυτην εχομεν δια του Χριςον προς τον Θεον 5 Ουχ ότι ἱκανοι εσμεν αφ' fcient of ourselves to think ἑαυτων λογισασθαι τι, ὡς εξ any thing as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God. 6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. ἑαυτων, αλλ' ἡ ἱκανοτης ἡμων εκ του Θεου 6 Ος και ἱκανωσεν ἡμας διακόνους καινης διαθηκης, ου γραμματος, αλλα πνευμα τος το γαρ γραμμα αποκτο δε πνευμα ζωο τείνει, ποιει. Ver. 3.-1. Ye are plainly declared Christ's letter ministred by us, &c. The Corinthians, whom Paul had converted by the miracles which he wrought among them, and who had experienced a great change in their own temper, through the influence of the doctrines of the gospel which he had put into their hearts, (Jerem. xxxi. 33.) might with the greatest propriety be said to have been plainly declared to be a copy of Christ's letter, recommending him as his apostle and Paul, who had imparted to them the spiritual gifts, might be said to have ministred, or written this copy of Christ's recommendatory letter, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone, but on the fleshly tables of the heart of the Corinthians. Ver. 4.1. Now a boasting of this kind. Theophylact observes, that the word πεποίθησις, which properly signifies confidence, is sometimes put for boasting, which is the effect of confidence. Thus Rom. ii. 19. Πεποίθης, Thor boastest that thou thyself art a guide of the blind. Ver. 5.1. Of ourselves to reason any thing as from ourselves. Λογισάσθαι here, signifies to find out by reasoning. To tell the Corinthians that they were written upon their hearts, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, by the hand of Paul, were high expressions, which he feared the faction would misrepresent, He therefore assured them, that he spake these things, not because he thought himself able to find out by reasoning, any thing effectual for converting unbelievers, as from himself. It was an object |