SEV Biblia, Chapter 2:17
Porque no somos como muchos, mercaderes falsos de la palabra de Dios, sino que con sinceridad, como de Dios, delante de Dios, hablamos de Cristo.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 2:17
Verse 17. For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God] God has made US sufficient for these things by giving us his own pure doctrine, the ministry of reconciliation, which we conscientiously preserve and preach; and we act, not like many among you, who, having received that doctrine, corrupt it; mingling with it their own inventions, and explaining away its force and influence, so as to accommodate it to men of carnal minds. The word kaphleuontev, from kaphlov, a tavernkeeper, signifies acting like an unprincipled vintner; for this class of men have ever been notorious for adulterating their wines, mixing them with liquors of no worth, that thereby they might increase their quantity; and thus the mixture was sold for the same price as the pure wine. Isa. i. 22, Thy wine is mixed with water, the Septuagint thus translate: oi kaphloi sou misgousi ton oinon udati? "Thy vintners mix thy wine with water;" that is, thy false prophets and corrupt priests adulterate the word of God, and render it of none effect, by their explanations and traditions.
The word has been used, both among the Greeks and Latins, to signify a prostitution of what was right and just, for the sake of gain. So Herodian, lib. vi. cap. 11; eiphnhn crusiou kaphleuontev, "Making peace for money." So cauponari bellum is, "To make war for money." In short, the word is used to signify any artifice employed to get gain by making a thing look more or better than it is; or mingling that which is excellent with what is not so to promote the gain of the adulterater.
It is used by Aristophanes, Plut. Act. iv., scene 5, ver. 1064, to express an old woman who was patched and painted to hide her deformity.
ou dht, epei men nun kaphlikwv ecei? ei d ekpluneitai touto to fimuqion, oyei katadhla tou proswpou ge ta rakh.
Not at all; the old woman is painted: If the paint were washed off, then you Would plainly see her wrinkled face.
Where see the note of the Scholiast, who observes that the term is applied to those who deal in clothes, patching, mending, &c., as well as to those who mix bad wine with good.
kaphlikwv ecei? panourgikwv? epei oi kaphloi criein kai anapoiein ta imatia eiwqasi, kai ton oinon de nwquleuousi, summignuntev autw sapron. Vid. Kusteri Aristoph., page 45.
But as of sincerity] ex eilikrineiav. See the note on 2 Corinthians i. 12. We receive the doctrine pure from God; we keep it pure, and deliver it in its purity to mankind. For we speak in Christ-in the things of his Gospel, as being in the sight of God-our whole souls and all their motives being known to him. As the unprincipled vintner knows that he adulterates the wine, his conscience testifying this; so we know that we deliver the sincere truth of God, our conscience witnessing that we deliver it to you, as we receive it, by the inspiration of the Spirit of truth.
1. THAT St. Paul was a man of a very tender and loving spirit is evident from all his epistles; but especially from this, and particularly from the chapter before us. It was not an easy thing with him to give a reproof; and nothing but a sense of his duty to God and his Church could have led him to use his apostolical power, to inflict spiritual punishment on transgressors. He felt like a loving and tender father, who, being obliged to correct his froward and disobedient child, feels in his own heart the pain of a hundred blows for that occasioned by one laid on the body of his son.
There are some ministers who think nothing of cutting off members from the Church of Christ; they seem to do it, if not cheerfully, yet with indifference and unconcern! How can this be? Nothing but absolute duty to God should induce any man to separate any person from the visible Church; and then it must be on the conviction that the case is totally hopeless. And who, even in those circumstances, that knows the worth of a soul, can do it without torture of heart? 2. We must not only love the doctrines, but also the morality of the Gospel. He who loves this will not corrupt it; but, as Quesnel says truly, in order to love the truth a man must practice it; as in order to practice it he must love it. That a minister, says he, may preach the word of God in such a manner as is worthy of him, he must, with St. Paul, be always mindful of these three things: 1. That he be sent by God, and that he speak directly from him, and as his ambassador. 2. That he speak as in his presence, and under his immediate inspection. 3. That he consider himself as being in the place of Christ, and endeavour to minister to the souls of men, as he has reason to believe Christ would do, were he in the place; and as he knows Christ did, when he sojourned among men. The minister of the Gospel is Christ's ambassador; and he prays men in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God. See chap. v. 20. The people should consider the nature of this embassage, and receive it as coming immediately from God, that it may accomplish the end for which he has sent it.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 17. For we are not as many , etc..] The apostle here removes from himself, and other ministers of the Gospel, a character which belonged not to them, but to the false apostles; who are described by their number many; there were great swarms of false teachers in the early times of Christianity; (see 1 John 2:18 4:1); some copies read, as the rest: and so the Syriac and Arabic versions; and also by their quality, which corrupt the word of God ; by the word of God, may be meant the Scriptures in general, which are from God, contain his will, and which he uses for the good of men, and his own glory, and may be corrupted by false glosses, and human mixtures, and by adding to them, or taking from them; or the Gospel in particular, which is the word of truth, of faith, righteousness, reconciliation, and salvation, and which was corrupted by these false teachers, by making merchandise of it; they huckstered the word of God, made gain of it, sought merely their own worldly interest and advantage in it, and so mixed it with their own vain philosophy, to please the carnal ears and hearts of men; they blended law and Gospel, grace and works, in the business of salvation; they did, as peddling merchants do, mix good and bad commodities together, and then vend them for sound ware; or as vintners, who mix their wine with water, and sell it for neat wine. The Septuagint interpreters on ( Isaiah 1:22), translate the last clause of that verse thus, oi kaphloi sou misgousi ton oinon udati , thy vintners mix wine with water; which may be understood in a moral or spiritual sense; so did these men mix, and hereby corrupt the Gospel, the word of God; and so the Syriac version reads the words ygzmmd , who mix the word of God: now the apostle says, they did not do so; they delivered out the word pure and unmixed, without any corruption or adulteration: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God , says he, speak we in Christ ; they spoke in Christ, in the name of Christ, of or concerning him, and him only, and freely, fully, and plainly, as God's free gift, and the only way of salvation without the works of men: and they spoke, as of sincerity; what they delivered was the sincere milk of the word; the manner in which they did it was sincere, with all integrity and faithfulness; and so were their views, which were not their own profit and applause, but the glory of God and the good of souls; they spoke in Christ, and with all sincerity, as of God; by whom they were called and sent forth to speak in his name, and from whom they received the Gospel, and gifts, and abilities to preach it; and all this they did, in the sight of God, as the searcher of hearts, and to whom they knew they must give an account of their ministry another day.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 12-17 - A believer's triumphs are all in Christ. To him be the praise and glor of all, while the success of the gospel is a good reason for Christian's joy and rejoicing. In ancient triumphs, abundance of perfumes and sweet odours were used; so the name and salvation of Jesus, as ointment poured out, was a sweet savour diffused in ever place. Unto some, the gospel is a savour of death unto death. The reject it to their ruin. Unto others, the gospel is a savour of lif unto life: as it quickened them at first when they were dead in trespasses and sins, so it makes them more lively, and will end in eternal life. Observe the awful impressions this matter made upon the apostle, and should also make upon us. The work is great, and of ourselves we have no strength at all; all our sufficiency is of God But what we do in religion, unless it is done in sincerity, as in the sight of God, is not of God, does not come from him, and will not reac to him. May we carefully watch ourselves in this matter; and seek the testimony of our consciences, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit that as of sincerity, so speak we in Christ and of Christ __________________________________________________________________
Greek Textus Receptus
ου 3756 PRT-N γαρ 1063 CONJ εσμεν 2070 5748 V-PXI-1P ως 5613 ADV οι 3588 T-NPM πολλοι 4183 A-NPM καπηλευοντες 2585 5723 V-PAP-NPM τον 3588 T-ASM λογον 3056 N-ASM του 3588 T-GSM θεου 2316 N-GSM αλλ 235 CONJ ως 5613 ADV εξ 1537 PREP ειλικρινειας 1505 N-GSF αλλ 235 CONJ ως 5613 ADV εκ 1537 PREP θεου 2316 N-GSM κατενωπιον 2714 PREP του 3588 T-GSM θεου 2316 N-GSM εν 1722 PREP χριστω 5547 N-DSM λαλουμεν 2980 5719 V-PAI-1P
Vincent's NT Word Studies
17. Which corrupt (kaphleuontev). Only here in the New Testament.From kaphlov a huckster or pedler; also a tavernkeeper. The kaphloi formed a distinct class among the Greek dealers, distinguished from the ejuporoi merchants or wholesale dealers. So Plato: "Is not retailer (kaphlouv) the term which is applied to those who sit in the market-place buying and selling, while those who wander from one city to another are called merchants?" ("Republic," 371; compare "Statesman," 260) The term included dealers in victuals and all sorts of wares, but was especially applied to retailers of wine, with whom adulteration and short measure were matters of course. Galen speaks of wine-dealers kaphleuontev touv oinouv playing tricks with their wines; mixing the new, harsh wines, so as to make them pass for old. These not only sold their wares in the market, but had kaphleia wine-shops all over the town, where it was not thought respectable to take refreshments. The whole trade was greatly despised. In Thebes no one who had sold in the market within the last ten years was allowed to take part in the government. So Plato, speaking of the evils of luxury and poverty: "What remedy can a city of sense find against this disease? In the first place, they must have as few retail traders as possible" ("Laws," 919. The whole passage is well worth reading). The moral application of the term was familiar in classical Greek. Lucian says: "The philosophers deal out their instructions like hucksters." Plato: "Those who carry about the wares of knowledge, and make the round of the cities, and sell or retail them to any customer who is in want of them, praise them all alike; though I should not wonder if many of them were really ignorant of their effect upon the soul; and their customers equally ignorant, unless he who buys of them happens to be a physician of the soul" ("Protagoras," 313). Paul here uses the term of those who trade in the word of God, adulterating it for the purpose of gain or popularity. Compare 1 Tim. vi. 5, Rev. In the "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" occurs the word cristemporov a Christ-monger (ch. xii. 5).
Robertson's NT Word Studies
2:17 {Corrupting} (kapeleuontes). Old word from kapelos, a huckster or peddlar, common in all stages of Greek for huckstering or trading. It is curious how hucksters were suspected of corrupting by putting the best fruit on top of the basket. Note Paul's solemn view of his relation to God as a preacher ({from God} ek qeou, {in the sight of God} katenanti qeou, {in Christ} en Christ"i).
