Bible Commentaries
2 Corinthians 10

Verse 1

2Co 10:1. Up to the present passage Paul has used the pronoun of the first person in both the plural and singular forms. That was because most of his statements could apply to himself and the brethren associated with him, even though some of them may have applied to him in a special sense. (See the comments at chapter 6:11.) But the words I Paul in this verse show he is speaking about himself only, and will be through the rest of the book. That is because certain Judaizing persons in the Corinthian church were opposing the apostle, making various accusations and complaints against him. He meets those charges in some very strong language. Paul refers to the meekness of Christ, and desires to be influenced by it in his approach to the brethren. Presence am meek . . . absent am bold; this was one of the complaints.

Verse 2

2Co 10:2. Paul admits that he is base or mild in presence or "outward appearance," in his attitude toward most of the brethren. However, he expects to be more bold or severe in his dealing with the Judaizing critics. But he beseeches (you is not in the original) or desires to avoid showing such an attitude toward the other members of the congregation. One of the accusations the critics were making was that Paul's conduct and teaching were prompted by his fleshly interests.

Verse 3

2Co 10:3. Paul will show that he is bound to walk in the flesh in that he is living in the fleshly body while on the earth, but that his activities are not after or according to the flesh.

Verse 4

2Co 10:4. Weapons . . . not carnal. This statement has been perverted to mean that Christians should not engage in warfare in defence of their country. It has nothing to do with that subject, but means that carnal or temporal weapons are not to be used in support of the Gospel. However, the apostle uses some of the terms of such warfare to illustrate that of the spiritual conflict against the enemy of righteousness. In carnal warfare it is necessary to pull down strongholds or barricades of the foe, and it means that Christians must attack sin in its strongest forms.

Verse 5

2Co 10:5. Imaginations is defined by Thayer, "a reasoning," and he explains it to mean, "such as is hostile to the Christian faith." There is no element that can do more injury to the cause of Christ than the false reasoning of the self-wise teacher. Bringing into captivity is a phrase based on carnal warfare. One objective of a military leader is to capture the soldiers in the opposite army. In some instances such captives have been made to do service for their captors, in which cases it would be better to capture them alive than to slay them in battle. Likewise in spiritual warfare, it is well to subdue the false reasoning of men, and if possible to turn their mental activities into service for Christ.

Verse 6

2Co 10:6. This revenge is the same as that in chapter 7:11, being the Lord's way of taking vengeance on the workers of unrighteousness. However, it cannot be accomplished without the cooperation of the Christian soldiers in the spiritual warfare. That is why Paul states the condition; when your obedience is fulfilled.

Verse 7

2Co 10:7. Paul is still considering his critics who were boasting of their own importance, which had only some outward appearance for their support. But even if such an evidence were to be relied on for the claim of being a servant of the Lord, Paul could lay as much claim to it as his critics.

Verse 8

2Co 10:8. Paul could actually boast of his authority as an apostle, and he was not ashamed of such qualification were he called upon to resort to it in severe terms. Yet he would prefer to use it for their edification (upbuilding) rather than for their destruction or severe chastisement.

Verse 9

2Co 10:9. Regardless of what unpleasant effect the critic might pretend to receive from the letters of Paul, his motive in writing them was not merely to terrify them.

Verse 10

2Co 10:10. The gist of this verse is an attempt of the critic to belittle the work of Paul, by slighting remarks about his personal appearance and his manner of speech. This objector did not like the bold language in the first epistle because it sharply rebuked those at fault. Still feeling the sting of that letter, he pretends to have no fear of the personal appearance of the apostle, since a man so insignificant and contemptible (as he thought) as the apostle Paul, could not say or do anything that would humiliate him.

Verse 11

2Co 10:11. Paul assures this man that whether present or absent, his teaching against error would be the same, regardless of any supposed physical defects. This would be true because the apostle always wrote and spoke as the Holy Spirit guided him, so that his work was not originated with himself.

Verse 12

2Co 10:12. Paul's critics were inclined to praise themselves, and he was determined not to be like them. The rest of this verse means that the self-appointed judges of Paul formed their own standard of conduct among themselves. Measuring themselves by themselves. Each man was satisfied with his own standing if he was as good as his fellows to whom he compared himself.

Verse 13

2Co 10:13. The reader is again instructed not to be confused by the plural form of the pronoun. The definite phrase "I, Paul" in verse 1, and the subject matter of the closing verses of the chapter, make it certain the apostle is writing about himself only. Webster says the following of the word in question: "We is used for the singular I. . . by editors and other writers to keep an impersonal character or to avoid the egotistical sound of a repeated I. Without our measure. Paul had been accused of overstepping his bounds when he came to Corinth. He asserts that the rule or commission given to him included that city; that it reached even unto you. That was true, for Paul had been especially appointed to preach to the Gentiles.

Verse 14

2Co 10:14. As though we reached not. Had the commission given to Paul not included the city of Corinth, his going that far would have made him chargeable with stretching himself beyond his proper measure. We are come is equivalent to saying that his "assigned territory" reached as far as Corinth.

Verse 15

2Co 10:15. Paul believed in the phrase "honor to whom honor is due," and hence would not boast or take credit for work that was accomplished by another. But Corinth was within his allotted territory, therefore his hope was based on developments there. He believed that if the Corinthians made the proper showing of their professed faith, it would enlarge his "field of labor" so that he could do some mere work beyond that locality around the city of Corinth.

Verse 16

2Co 10:16. Line is used in the sense of rule and measure in the previous verses. Paul would not go into another man's field of labor where the foundation work had been done already, then take advantage of it to have something for which to take credit.

Verse 17

2Co 10:17. To glory in the Lord would mean to give Him credit for all good work that might be accomplished. But even such apparently humble glorying would not be justified unless the work had been done in harmony with the Lord's will.

Verse 18

2Co 10:18. This verse explains why the preceding one is so worded. Self-approval will not count for anything in the great work professed to be done for Christ. (See verse 12.) The Lord will not commend any man on the basis of his comparison with some other man, but only on whether the work is in harmony with His will.