In vs. 1-6 the apostle resumes the theme of 3, 12, viz. the open and faithful manner in which he preached the gospel. In vs. 7-15 he shows that his own personal insufficiency and suffering served to manifest more clearly the power of God, who rendered such a feeble instrument the means of producing so great effects. Therefore, vs. 16-18, he was not discouraged or faint-hearted, but exultingly looked above the things seen to those unseen.

As Paul had been made a minister of the new covenant, intrusted with the ministration of righteousness and life, he acted as became his high commission. He was neither timid nor deceitful. He doubted not the truth, the power, or the success of the gospel which he preached; nor did he in any way corrupt or conceal the truth, but by its open proclamation commended himself to every man’s conscience, vs. 1, 2. If, notwithstanding this clear exhibition of the truth, the gospel still remained hid, that could only be accounted for by the God of this world blinding the eyes of men. Nothing short of this can account for the fact; for, says the apostle, we preach Christ and not ourselves, and Christ is the image of God. In him there is a revelation of the glory of God to which there is nothing analogous but the original creation of light out of darkness, vs. 3-6.

This treasure, however, is in earthen vessels. The gospel is the revelation of God. It is to do for the world what the creation of light did for the chaotic earth. But we ministers are to have none of the glory of the work.

We are nothing. The whole power is of God; who so orders events as to make his power apparent. I am so perplexed, persecuted, down-trodden and exposed to death, as to render it evident that a divine power is exercised in my preservation and continued efficiency. My continuing to live and labor with success is a proof that Jesus lives. This he tells the Corinthians is for their benefit. vs. 7-12. Having the same faith that David had, he spoke with equal confidence, assured that God, who raised up Christ, would not only preserve him while in this world, but also raise him hereafter from the dead. As all Paul endured and did was for the benefit of the Church, thanks would be rendered by the people of God for his preservation and success, vs. 13-15. Therefore, adds this great apostle, I do not faint; although my outward man perishes, my inward man is renewed day by day; for I know that my present afflictions are not only temporary, but that they are to be succeeded by an eternal weight of glory, vs. 16-18. 1. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not . Therefore , i.e. on this account. This is explained by what follows; seeing we have this ministry , that is, because we have it. In the former chapter he had proclaimed himself a minister of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit, 3:6; a ministry far more glorious than that of the law, inasmuch as the law could only condemn, whereas the gospel conveys righteousness and life. The possession of such an office he assigns as the reason why he does not faint ; ou>k ejgkakou~men , we do not turn out bad , or prove recreant. That is, we do not fail in the discharge of duty, either through weariness or cowardice. As we have received mercy . The position of these words in the text admits of their being connected either with what precedes or with what follows. In the former case, the sense is, having through the mercy of God obtained this ministry; in the latter, the meaning would be, as we have obtained mercy we faint not. The former is almost universally preferred, both because his not fainting is referred to his having so glorious an office, and because he so often refers to his call to the apostleship as a signal manifestation of the mercy and grace of God. Romans 15:15,16; 1 Corinthians 15:9,10; Ephesians 3:8. ‘Having through the mercy of God obtained such a ministry, we faint not.’ 2. But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

But, ajlla> , on the contrary , i.e. so far from proving recreant to his duty as a minister of the new covenant he acted in the manner set forth in this verse. The apostle in the description which he here gives of his official conduct, evidently intends to describe the false teachers in Corinth. What he denies of himself he impliedly affirms of them. First, Paul says, we have renounced , declared off from, the hidden things of dishonesty , ta< krupta< th~v aijscu>nhv . The word aijscu>nh , (from aijscro>v , ugly ), means either shame as a feeling, or the cause of shame, any thing disgraceful or scandalous. The above phrase therefore may mean either those things which men conceal, or do in secret, because they are ashamed of them, or, secret scandals or crimes. It may be taken in a general sense, as including any course of conduct which men conceal from fear of being disgraced; or in a specific sense for secret immoralities, or for secret machinations and maneuvers. The last is probably the true view, because the emphasis is rather on secret than shame . It was secrecy or concealment, the opposite of openness and honest frankness, that the apostle charges on his opponents. In the preceding context he had spoken of his openness of speech and conduct, and in the latter part of this verse he speaks of the manifestation of the truth, i.e. of its open proclamation. What therefore he says he renounced, that which he represents as characteristic of false teachers, is the want of openness, adopting secret methods of accomplishing their ends, which they would be ashamed to avow openly; pudendas latebras , as Beza says, minime convenientes iis, qui tantoe dignitatis ministerium tractant . Not walking in craftiness , this is an amplification of what precedes. A panou~rgov is a man who can do every thing, and is willing to do any thing to accomplish his ends; and hence panourgi>a includes the ideas of shrewdness or acuteness in seeing how things can be done, and unscrupulousness as to the character of the means to be employed. It is the quality manifested by Satan when he beguiled Eve, 2 Corinthians 11:3; which the Jews exhibited when they endeavored to entrap our Lord, Luke 20:23; and which false teachers are wont to exercise when they would seduce the unwary into heresy. Ephesians 4:14. All such cunning, all such sly and secret ways of accomplishing his purposes Paul renounced. Nor handling the word of God deceitfully . The word dolo>w means not only to deceive , but also to falsify . The latter is its meaning here. Not falsifying or corrupting the word of God, i.e. not adulterating it with the doctrines or traditions of men.

Comp. 2:17. The gospel which Paul preached was the word of God; something divinely revealed, having therefore a divine, and not merely human authority. The apostles always thus speak with the consciousness of being the mouth of God or organs of the Spirit, so that we cannot deny their inspiration without denying not only their authority but their integrity. But by the manifestation of the truth . This stands opposed to the preceding clauses. Instead of availing ourselves of secret and cunning arts, and corrupting the word of God, we declared it openly and purely. The truth , therefore, here is not moral truth or integrity, nor truth in general, but revealed truth, i.e. the word of God. Commending ourselves to every man’s conscience . Paul’s opponents endeavored to recommend themselves and to secure the confidence of others by cunning, and by corrupting the gospel; but he relied simply on the manifestation of the truth. He knew that the truth had such a self-evidencing power that even where it was rejected and hated it commended itself to the conscience as true. And those ministers who are humble and sincere, who are not wise in their own conceit, but simply declare the truth as God has revealed it, commend themselves to the consciences of men. That is, they secure the testimony of the conscience even of wicked men in their favor. In the sight of God , that is, he acted thus in the sight of God. This is an assertion of the purity of the motives which governed his official conduct. He acted as in the sight of that God before whose eye nothing unholy or selfish could stand. The assertion of conscious integrity is not self-praise. 3. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost .

Although the gospel is thus glorious in itself, and although it was clearly set forth, yet to some it remained hid. That is, its true character and excellence as a revelation from God and of God was not apprehended or recognized. The reason or cause of this fact was not to be sought either in the nature of the gospel, or in the mode of its exhibition, but in the state and character of those who rejected it. The sun does not cease to be the sun although the blind do not see it. And if any man cannot see the sun on a clear day at noon, he must be blind. So Paul does not hesitate to say that if any man does not receive the gospel when clearly presented, he is lost.

If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, ejn toi~v ajpollume>noiv , among , or before them who are lost. See 1 Corinthians 1:18, where it is said that the gospel is foolishness to them that perish. The lost are those who are in a state of perdition and who are certain (if they continue to reject the gospel) to perish forever. Nothing can be plainer than the doctrine of this passage. A man’s faith is not a matter of indifference. He cannot be an atheist and yet be saved. He cannot reject the gospel and yet go to heaven when he dies. This is not an arbitrary decision. There is and must be an adequate ground for it. Atheism implies spiritual death, the absence of all that constitutes the true life of the soul, of all its highest and best aspirations, instincts and feelings. The rejection of the gospel is as clear a proof of moral depravity, as inability to see the light of the sun at noon is a proof of blindness. Such is the teaching of the Bible, and such has ever been the faith of the church. Men of the world cry out against this doctrine. They insist that a man is not accountable for his opinions. He is, however, accountable for the character by which those opinions are determined. If he has such a character, such an inward moral state, as permits and decides him to believe that there is no God, that murder, adultery, theft and violence are right and good, then that inward state which constitutes his character, and for which he is responsible, (according to the intuitive perception and universal judgment of men,) is reprobate. A good infidel is, according to the Bible, as much a contradiction as good wickedness or sweet bitterness. It is not for nothing that infinite truth and love, in the person of our Lord, said, “He that believeth not shall be damned.” 4. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

In this verse the apostle assigns the reason why those who are lost do not see the truth and excellence of the gospel. It is that the God of this world hath blinded their minds. In whom (ejn oi=v ). The relative is used here as implying a cause or reason. ‘Our gospel is hid to them who are lost, because in them,’ etc. See 3:6. The God of this world , i.e. Satan, who is called the God of this world because of the power which he exercises over the men of the world, and because of the servile obedience which they render to him. They are taken captive by him at his will. 2 Timothy 2:26. It is not necessary in order that men should serve Satan, and even worship him, that they should intend to do so, or even that they should know that such a being exists. 1 Corinthians 10:20. It is enough that he actually controls them, and that they fulfill his purposes as implicitly as the good fulfill the will of God. Not to serve God, is to serve Satan. There is no help for it. If Jehovah be not our God, Satan is. He is therefore called the prince of this world. John 12:31; 14:30; Comp. Matthew 4:8,9; Ephesians 2:2; 6:12. This was one of the designations which the Rabbins applied to Satan. The true God, they said, is Deus primus, Satan, Deus secundus. Or as old Calovius said, Diabolus est simia Dei. As the Arians argued from the fact that Satan is called God of this world, that Christ’s being called God is no proof of his true divinity; and as the Manicheans quoted the passage in favor of their doctrine of two eternal principles, the one good and the other evil, many of the fathers, including even Chrysostom and Augustine, in violation of its obvious construction, make it to mean, “God hath blinded the minds of this world, i.e. of unbelievers.” On which Calvin remarks, we see how far the spirit of controversy can lead men in perverting Scripture. The word God may be used figuratively as well as literally. That we say mammon is the God of the world, or that Paul said of certain men, “their belly is their God,” does not prove that calling Jehovah God is no assertion of his divinity. And as to the Manichean argument, unless it can be shown that when Baal is called God of the Syrians, eternity and self-existence are ascribed to him, it cannot be inferred that these attributes belong to Satan because he is called the God of this world. Satan is said to blind the minds of those that believe not ; that is, he exerts such an influence over them as prevents their apprehending the glory of the gospel. This control of Satan over the human mind, although so effectual, is analogous to the influence of one created intellect over another in other cases, and therefore is perfectly consistent with free agency and responsibility. It should, however, make us feel our danger and need of divine assistance, seeing that we have to contend not only against the influence of evil men, but against the far more powerful influence of the rulers of darkness; the pantocrators of this world. Ephesians 6:12. The grammatical construction of this clause is somewhat doubtful. The words are ejn oi=v ejtu>flwse ta< noh>mata tw~n ajpi>stwn . The common explanation makes the genitive tw~n ajpi>stwn , virtually in apposition with ejn oi=v . ‘In whom, i.e. in unbelievers, he had blinded the minds.’ The simple meaning then is ‘The gospel is hid to them who are lost, because Satan hath blinded their eyes.’ The lost and the unbelieving are identical. According to this view unbelief is the effect of the blinding. The same idea is expressed if, according to Fritzsche and Billroth, twn ajpi>stwn be taken proleptically. ‘Whose minds Satan hath blinded so that they believe not.’ Comp. 1 Thessalonians 3:13, “To establish your hearts unblamable,” i.e. so that they may be unblamable; and Philippians 3:21, (according to the corrected text,) “changed like,” i.e. changed so as to be like. According to Meyer this would require the accusative, ta< noh>mata a]pista , as the genitive of adjectives taken substantively is never thus proleptically used. His explanation is, ‘Blinding the eyes of unbelievers is the business of Satan, and this he has done in them who are lost.’ According to this view, blindness does not precede, but follows unbelief. Those who will not believe, Satan blinds so that they cannot see. Comp. Romans 1:21, “Their foolish heart was darkened.” Their inexcusable folly was the ground of their judicial blindness. The doctrine thus taught is one clearly recognized in Scripture.

Those who resist the truth, God gives up to a reprobate mind. Romans 1:24,28. The logical connection, however, is here opposed to this interpretation. Paul had said that the gospel was hid to the lost. This he accounts for by saying that Satan had blinded their minds. The blindness therefore precedes the unbelief and is the cause of it. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them . This is both the design and effect of the blindness spoken of. Satan intends by the darkness which he spreads over the minds of men, to prevent their seeing the glory of Christ. Lest the light , fwtismo>v , a word which does not occur in common Greek, but is used in the Septuagint, Psalm 44:3, in the phrase rendered, “in the light of thy countenance,” and Psalm 78:14, “He led them all night with a light of fire.” The word therefore signifies the brightness emitted by a radiant body. Of the glorious gospel of Christ , literally, the gospel of the glory of Christ , i.e. that gospel which reveals the glory of Christ. The word do>xhv , glory , is not to be taken as a merely qualifying genitive of eujaggeli>on , gospel . It is the genitive of the object. The glory of Christ is the sum of all the divine and human excellence which is centred in his person, and makes him the radiant point in the universe, the clearest manifestation of God to his creatures, the object of supreme admiration, adoration and love, to all intelligent beings, and especially to his saints. To see this glory is to be saved; for we are thereby transformed into his likeness from glory to glory, 3:18. Therefore it is that Satan, the great adversary, directs all his energy to prevent men becoming the subjects of that illumination of which the gospel, as the revelation of the glory of Christ, is the source. Who is the image of God , i.e. who being God represents God, so that he who hath seen the Son hath seen the Father also. John 14:9; 12:4, 5. Christ, as to his divine nature, or as the Logos, is declared to be the brightness of the Father’s glory, Hebrews 1:3, to be in the form of God and equal with God, Philippians 2:6, and perhaps also Colossians 1:15; but here it is the incarnate Logos, the exalted Son of God clothed in our nature, who is declared to be the image of God, because in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Colossians 2:9. 5. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake .

The connection indicated by the particle for is with the main idea of the preceding verse. ‘Our gospel,’ says Paul, ‘is the gospel of the glory of Christ, for we do not preach ourselves, but him.’ To preach one’s self is to make self the end of preaching; that is, preaching with the design to attract to ourselves the admiration, the confidence or homage of men. This Paul declares he did not do, but he preached Christ Jesus the Lord . His object in preaching was to bring men to recognize Jesus the son of Mary as Christ, i.e. as him whom Moses and the prophets designated as the Messiah, and consequently that this Jesus was, had done, is doing, and would hereafter do, all that had been asserted or predicted of the Messiah, and further that he is Lord in that sense in which every tongue in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth shall confess that he is Lord. The great end of Paul’s preaching, therefore, was to bring men to receive and acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and as the supreme Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. This is the only proper end of preaching. It is the only way by which men can be made either virtuous or religious. It is the only way in which either the true interests of society or the salvation of souls can be secured. To make the end of preaching the inculcation of virtue, to render men honest, sober, benevolent and faithful, is part and parcel of that wisdom of the world that is foolishness with God. It is attempting to raise fruit without trees. When a man is brought to recognize Jesus Christ as Lord, and to love and worship him as such, then he becomes like Christ.

What more can the moralist want? Paul cared little for the clamor of the Greeks that he should preach wisdom and virtue. He knew that by preaching Christ he was adopting the only means by which men can be made wise and virtuous here and blessed hereafter. And ourselves your servants (slaves) for Jesus’ sake . Paul presented Christ as Lord; himself as a servant. A servant is one who labors, not for himself, but for another. Paul did not labor for himself, but for the Corinthians. For Jesus’ sake . The motive which influenced him to devote himself to the service of the Corinthians was the love of Christ. Here again the wisdom of the world would say the proper motive would be a desire for their good. Paul always puts God before man. A regard for the glory of Christ is a far higher motive than regard for the good of men; and the former is the only true source of the latter. The ideal of a Christian minister, as presented in this pregnant passage, is, that he is a preacher of Christ, and a servant of the church, governed and animated by the love of Jesus. 6. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to (give) the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ .

There are two different views taken of the meaning of this verse. First, it may be understood to assign the reason why Paul was the servant of the Corinthians. He devoted himself to their service, because God had revealed to him the knowledge of Christ, in order that he might communicate that knowledge to others. According to this view the connection is with the last clause of v. 5. “I am your servant, o[ti , because ,” etc.; “in our hearts,” means in Paul’s heart; and prolight) is equivalent to prozein , to diffuse the light . Second, it may be understood to state the reason why Paul preached Christ. ‘We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, o[ti , because in him is revealed the glory of God.’ In this case the connection is with the first clause of v. 5, and not with the last; “in our hearts” means in the hearts of believers; and pron (for light) means, as our version expresses it, to give us the light . The end or design of God’s shining into our hearts is that we should apprehend the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The latter of these interpretations is adopted by Calvin, the former by Luther and by almost all the modern commentators. With regard to the former it must be admitted that the sense is, good and consistent with the meaning of the words. It accords also with Galatians 1:16, where the apostle says that God had revealed his Son in him that he might preach him among the Gentiles. The following considerations, however, are in favor of the other view of the passage. 1. The connection is better. The main idea of the context is that Paul preached Christ, and therefore it is more natural to understand him to give the reason for so doing, than why he served the Corinthians, which is a subordinate matter. 2. The phrase “in our hearts ” is much more naturally understood to mean “in the hearts of believers” than in Paul’s own heart. It is indeed possible that here, as in 3:2, the plural (hearts) may be used in reference to the apostle himself. Still this is admissible only when the context requires it. Had Paul meant himself he would probably have said “in our heart,” as in the parallel passage in Galatians 1:16 he says, ejn ejmoi> , in me . To explain the plural form here by assuming that Paul means himself and Timothy is contrary to his uniform habit of speaking for himself. His epistles are his and not Timothy’s. 3. The former interpretation supposes fwtismo>v to have a different meaning here from what it has in v. 4. There it means light , here it is made to mean the act of communicating light . But if fwtismoou means the light which flows from the gospel (or the gospel itself as luminous), then fwtismo>v th~v gnw>sewv means the light of which the knowledge of Christ is the source, (or that knowledge as light). In v. 4, it is said that Satan hath blinded the eyes of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Here it is said that God has enlightened us so that we do see it. In Test. XII. Patr. p. 578, it is said, to< fw~v tou~ ko>smou , to< doqentov ajnqrw>pou , the light of the world deposited in you, for the (subjective) illumination of every man . 4. It is an additional reason in favor of this interpretation that it suits the antithesis between vs. 4 and 6. The gospel is hid to one class of men, but God has opened the eyes of another class to see its glory.

Here, as elsewhere, particularly in 1 Corinthians 2:14, the apostle recognizes a twofold illumination, the one external by the word, to which Satan renders unbelievers blind; and the other internal by the Spirit, whereby we are enabled to see the glory which is objectively revealed.

The literal translation of this passage is, ‘God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, who shined into our hearts.’ Something must be supplied to complete the sense. We may read either ‘It is God who commanded, etc., who shined into our hearts;’ or, ‘God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, is he who shined,’ etc. There is an obvious reference to the work of creation as recorded in Genesis. Darkness originally brooded over chaos, until God said, Let there be light. So spiritual darkness broods over the minds of men, until God shines into their hearts. Shined into our hearts . The word la>mpw , means either, to be luminous ; or as here, to illuminate , or cause light , as the analogy with the physical creation, just referred to, requires. The idea is not that God becomes luminous in us, but that he produces light in our hearts. The design of this inward illumination is expressed by the words prosewv , which, according to the former of the two interpretations mentioned above, means, to the shining abroad of the knowledge , etc. He illuminates us that we may diffuse light, and thus illuminate others. According to the second interpretation, the meaning is, to give us the light of the knowledge . God illuminates our minds so that we apprehend that light which flows from the knowledge of the glory of God , or which consists in that knowledge. By the glory of God is of course meant the divine majesty or excellence, which is the proper object of admiration and adoration. In the face of Jesus Christ ; the position of these words and the sense require that they should be connected with the word glory , notwithstanding the omission in the Greek of the connecting article (th~v ). It is the glory of God as revealed in Christ that men are by the illumination of the Holy Ghost enabled to see. There are two important truths involved in this statement. First, that God becomes in Christ the object of knowledge. The clearest revelation of the fact that God is, and what he is, is made in the person of Christ, so that those who refuse to see God in Christ lose all true knowledge of him. “No man hath seen God any time; the only begotten Son., who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him,” John 1:18. “Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, who is in the bosom of the will reveal him,” Matthew 11:27. “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father,” 1 John 2:23; 2 John 9; John 15:23. Insignis locus, says Calvin, unde discimus Deum in sua altitudine non esse investigandum (habitat enim lucem inaccessibilem), sed cognoscendum quatenus se in Christo patefacit.

Proinde quicquid extra Christum de Deo cognoscere appetunt homines, evanidum est, vagantur enim extra viam.... Nobis utilius est Deum conspicere, qualis apparet in Filio unigenito, quam arcanam ejus essentiam investigare. The other truth here taught is, that this knowledge of God in Christ is not a mere matter of intellectual apprehension, which one man may communicate to another. It is a spiritual discernment, to be derived only from the Spirit of God. God must shine into our hearts to give us this knowledge. Matthew 16:17; Galatians 1:16; 1 Corinthians 2:10,14. As the glory of God is spiritual, it must be spiritually discerned. It is therefore easy to see why the Scriptures make true religion to consist in the knowledge of Christ, and why they make the denial of Christ, or want of faith in him as God manifest in the flesh, a soul-destroying sin. If Christ is God, to know him, is to know God; and to deny him, is to deny God. 7. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us . This treasure is not the light or inward illumination spoken of in v. 6, but the ministry of the gospel which Paul had received, and of which he had spoken in such exalted terms. It was a ministration of life, of power, and of glory. It revealed the grandest truths. It produced the most astonishing effects. It freed men from the condemnation and power of sin; it transformed them into the image of Christ; it delivered them from the power of the God of this world, and made them partakers of eternal life.

These are effects which infinitely transcend all human power; and to render this fact conspicuous God had committed this treasure to earthen vessels . By earthen vessels is not meant frail bodies, but weak, suffering, perishing men, because it is not on account of the frailty of the body merely that ministers are so incompetent to produce the effects which flow from their ministrations. The apostle means to present the utter disproportion between the visible means and the effects produced, as proof that the real efficiency is not in man, but in God. The excellency of the power , i.e. the exceedingly great power, the wonderful efficiency of the gospel. May be , i.e. may be known and acknowledged to be, of God , i.e. to flow from him as its source, and not from us. Although what the apostle here says is true of all ministers, yet he had, no doubt, special reference to himself and to his own peculiar circumstances. He had magnified in the highest degree his office, but he himself was a poor, weak, persecuted, down-trodden man. This, he says, only renders the power of God the more conspicuous, not only in the success of my ministry, but in my preservation in the midst of dangers and sufferings which it seems impossible any man could either escape or bear. It is to show, on the one hand, how weak he is, how truly a mere earthen vessel, and, on the other, how great and manifest God’s power is, that in the following verses he contrasts his trials and his deliverances. 8, 9. (We are) troubled on every side, yet not distressed; (we are) perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed .

Our version supplies the words we are, turning the participles into verbs, which in the Greek, are all connected with the verb e]comen (we have ) in the preceding verse. ‘We, troubled, perplexed, persecuted and cast down, have, etc.’ On every side , ejn panti> in every way and on every occasion.

These words belong to all the clauses, and not merely to the first. He was not only troubled, but perplexed and persecuted, ejn panti> , in every way.

Troubled, but not distressed , qlibo>menoi ajllÆ ouj stenocwrou>menoi , “pressed for room, but still having room.” The figure is that of a combatant sore pressed by his antagonist, but still finding room to turn himself. Perplexed, but not in despair , constantly doubtful what way to take, and yet always finding some way open. The word ajpo re>w (a]poro>v eijmi ) means to be at a loss what to say or do; ejxa pore>w is intensive, to be absolutely shut up so as to have no way or means available. Persecuted, but not forsaken ; that is, although God allowed men to persecute him, and seek to destroy his life and usefulness, yet he never deserted him or gave him up to the power of those who thus followed him. Cast down, but not destroyed . The allusion is still to a combat. Paul was not only persecuted or pursued by his enemies, but actually overtaken by them and cast to the ground, but not killed. When they seemed to have him in their power, God delivered him. This occurred so often, and in cases so extreme, as to make it manifest that the power of God was exerted on his behalf. No man from his own resources could have endured or escaped so much. There is in these verses an evident climax, which reaches its culmination in the next succeeding sentence. He compares himself to a combatant, first hardly pressed, then hemmed in, then pursued, then actually cast down. This was not an occasional experience, but his life was like that of Christ, an uninterrupted succession of indignities and suffering. 10. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might he made manifest in our body.

We constantly illustrate in our person the sufferings of Christ. We are treated as he was treated; neglected, defamed, despised, maltreated; oppressed with hunger and thirst, and constantly exposed to death. Always bearing about . Wherever he went, among Jews or Gentiles, in Jerusalem and Ephesus; in all his journeyings, he met everywhere, from all classes of persons, the same kind of treatment which Christ himself had received. In his body . This is said because the reference is to his external trials and sufferings, and not to his internal anxieties and sorrows. The dying of [the Lord] Jesus. The word kuri>ou , of the Lord , is not found in the majority of the ancient manuscripts, and is therefore omitted in the later editions of the Greek Testament. If this word be left out, the two clauses more nearly correspond. The dying of Jesus then answers to the life of Jesus in the following clause. The word ne>krwsiv is used figuratively in Romans 4:19, “the deadness of Sarah’s womb.” Here it is to be taken literally. It means properly a slaying or putting to death , and then violent death, or simply death. The death of Jesus does not mean death on his account; but such death as he suffered. Comp. 1:5. Though the reference is principally to the dying of Christ, and the climax begun in the preceding verse is here reached, yet his other sufferings are not to be excluded. “The mortification of Jesus,” says Calvin, “includes every thing which rendered him (i.e. Paul) despicable before men.” Paul elsewhere refers to his constant exposure to death in terms as strong as those which he here uses.

In Romans 8:36 he says, “We are killed all the day long,” and Corinthians 15:31, “I die daily.” Compare also 1 Corinthians 4:9; Corinthians 11:23. The death or sufferings of Christ were constantly, as it were, reproduced in the experience of the apostle. In the use of another figure he expresses the same idea in Galatians 6:17. “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” The scars which I bear in my body mark me as the soldier of Christ, and as belonging to him as my divine Master, and as suffering in his cause. That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body . This expresses the design of God in allowing Paul to be thus persecuted and involved in the constant danger of death. The treasure of the gospel was committed not to an angel, but to Paul, an earthen vessel, and he was pressed, persecuted, cast down, and beset with deadly perils, in order that his preservation, his wonderful efficiency and astonishing success, should be a constant proof that Jesus lives, and not only exercises a providential care over his servants, delivering them out of all their perils, but also attends their labors with his own divine efficiency. Paul’s deliverances, and the effects of his preaching, made it manifest that Jesus lives. In Romans 15:18 the apostle says, “I will not dare to speak of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed;” and in Galatians 2:8, “He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me towards the Gentiles.” As the life of every believer is a manifestation of the life of Christ, (for it is not we that live, but Christ liveth in us, Galatians 2:20,) so also was the apostolic life of Paul. As the life of Christ, however, is not only manifested in the spiritual life of his followers, and in the deliverance and success of his ministers, as it is not only made known in rescuing them from deadly perils, but is hereafter to be more conspicuously revealed in delivering them from death itself, it seems from v. 14 that Paul includes the resurrection in the manifestation of the life of Jesus of which he here speaks. We die (daily, and at last, literally) in order that the life of Christ may be revealed. This passage is thus brought into unison with Romans 8:17, “If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together;” and with 2 Timothy 2:11, “If we be dead with him, we shall live with him.” See 1 Peter 4:13,14; Romans 6:8,9; John 14:19, “Because I live, ye shall live also.”

The association is natural between deliverance from the danger of death, and the ultimate deliverance from death itself. The following verses show that this association actually existed in the apostle’s mind, and that both were regarded as manifestations of the life of Christ, and therefore proofs that he still lives. In our body , this does not mean simply in me . A special reference is made to the body, because Paul was speaking of bodily sufferings and death. 11. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh .

This is a confirmation and explanation of what precedes. Paul constantly bore about the dying of Jesus, for he was always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake. He was, as he says 1 Corinthians 4:9, wJv ejpiqana>tiov , as one condemned, and constantly expecting death. We which are alive ; hJmei~v oiJ zw~ntev , we the living , i.e. although living, and therefore, it might seem, not the subjects of death. Death and life are opposed to each other, and yet in our case they are united. Though living we die daily. The words in this connection do not mean ‘as long as we live,’ or, ‘we who are alive,’ as in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, where they designate the living as a class distinguished from the dead. They mark the peculiarity of Paul’s condition as living although constantly delivered to death. That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh . The only variation between this and the corresponding clause of the preceding verse is, that here the phrase in our mortal flesh is substituted for in our body . The word body does not of itself involve the idea of weakness and mortality, but the word flesh does. Hereafter we are to be clothed with bodies, but not with flesh and blood. The contrast, therefore, between the power of the life of Christ, and the feebleness of the instrument or organ through which that life is revealed, is enhanced by saying it was manifested in our mortal flesh. In himself Paul was utter weakness; in Christ he could do and suffer all things. 12. So then death worketh in us, but life in you .

This verse expresses the conclusion or the result of the preceding exhibitions. So then I have the suffering and you the benefit. I am constantly dying, but the life of Jesus manifested in me is operative for your good. The death and life here spoken of must be the same as in vs. 10:11. The death is Paul’s sufferings and dying; the life is not his physical life and activity by which the life of Christ is represented, but the divine life and efficiency of Jesus. Death and life are personified. The one is represented as operative in Paul; the other in the Corinthians. The divine power manifested in the support of the apostle, and in rendering his labors so successful, was not primarily and principally for his benefit, but for the benefit of those to whom he preached. It was, however, to him and to them a consolation that his labors were not in vain. There is no analogy between this passage and 1 Corinthians 4:8-10, where the apostle in a tone of irony contrasts his own condition with that of the Corinthians, “Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us,” etc., and therefore there is no propriety in understanding the apostle here to represent the Corinthians as living at their ease while he was persecuted and afflicted. According to this view, life here signifies a state of enjoyment and prosperity, and death the opposite. But it is plain from the connection that the life spoken of is “the life of Jesus” which was manifested in the apostle, the fruits of which the Corinthians enjoyed. 13. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak .

The afflictions and dangers to which the apostle was exposed, were adapted to discourage and even to drive him to despair. He, however, was not discouraged; but having the same faith which of old animated the Psalmist, he also, as David did, proclaimed his confidence in God. Our version omits the connecting particle, de> , which expresses the contrast between what follows and what precedes. ‘We are delivered unto death, but having,’ etc. The same spirit of faith . “The spirit of faith” may be a periphrase for faith itself; or the word spirit may refer to the human spirit, and the whole mean ‘having the same believing spirit.’ It is more in accordance with scriptural usage, and especially with Paul’s manner, to make spirit refer to the Holy Spirit, who is so often designated from the effects which he produces. He is called the Spirit of adoption, Romans 8:15; the Spirit of wisdom, Ephesians 1:17; Spirit of grace, Hebrews 10:29; Spirit of glory, 1 Peter 4:14. The apostle means to say that the same blessed Spirit which was the author of faith in David he also possessed. According as it is written , i.e. the same faith that is expressed in the passage where it is written, ‘I believed, therefore have I spoken.’ This is the language of David in <19B610> Psalm 116:10. The Psalmist was greatly afflicted; the sorrows of death compassed him, the pains of hell gat hold of him, but he did not despair. He called on the Lord, and he helped him, He delivered his soul from death, his eyes from tears, and his feet from falling.

David’s faith did not fail. He believed, and therefore, in the midst of his afflictions, he proclaimed his confidence and recounted the goodness of the Lord. Paul’s experience was the same. He also was sorely tried. He also retained his confidence, and continued to rely on the promises of God. The apostle follows the Septuagint in the passage quoted. The Hebrew expresses the same idea in a rather different form. “I believed for I speak.”

In either way, speaking is represented as the effect and proof of faith. See\parALEXANDER on the Psalms. We also believe, therefore we also speak . As Paul’s faith was the same, its effect was the same. The faith of David made him proclaim the fidelity and goodness of God. The faith of Paul made him, despite all the suffering it brought upon him, proclaim the gospel with full assurance of its truth and of his own participation of its benefits. This clause, “we also believe,” depends on the participle at the beginning of the verse. ‘Having the Holy Spirit, the author of faith, we speak.’ The interpretation here given of this passage is the common one. Calvin and many other commentators take a very different view. They say that by the same faith is to be understood, not the same the Psalmist had, but the same that the Corinthians had. Paul, says Calvin, is to be understood as saying, ‘Although there is a great difference between my circumstances and yours; although God deals gently with you and severely with me, yet, notwithstanding this difference, we have the same faith; and where the faith is the same, the inheritance is the same.’ But this supposes that the design of the preceding part of the chapter is to contrast the external condition of Paul with that of the Corinthians; and it supposes that by we is meant we Christians, whereas the apostle evidently means himself. ‘We are persecuted, cast down, and delivered to death, but we, having the same faith with David, do as he did. We retain our confidence and continue to confess and to proclaim the gospel.’ It is his own experience and conduct, and not those of the Corinthians, that Paul is exhibiting. 14. Knowing, that he which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present (us) with you .

That this is to be understood of the literal resurrection, and not of a mere deliverance from dangers is evident, 1. Because wherever a figurative sense is preferred to the literal meaning of a word or proposition, the context or nature of this passage must justify or demand it. Such is not the case here. There is nothing to forbid but everything to favor the literal interpretation. 2. Because the figurative interpretation cannot be carried through without doing violence to the passage and to the analogy of Scripture. “To present us with you” cannot be made to mean, ‘to exhibit us with you as rescued from danger.’ 3. The figurative interpretation rests on false assumptions. It assumes that Paul confidently expected to survive the second coming of Christ, and therefore could not say he expected to be raised from the dead. In this very connection, however, he says he longs to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord, as he said to the Philippians, at a later period of his career, that he had a desire to depart and to be with Christ.

Again, it is said that according to the true reading of the passage, Paul says he knows we shall be raised up with (not by ) Christ, and therefore he cannot refer to the literal resurrection. But admitting the reading to be as assumed, to be raised up with Christ does not mean to be raised contemporaneously with him, but in fellowship with him, and in virtue of union with him. This figurative interpretation, therefore, although at first adopted by Beza and advocated by many of the most distinguished modern commentators, is generally and properly rejected.

The apostle here indicates the ground of the confidence expressed in the preceding verse. He continued to speak, i.e. to preach the gospel, notwithstanding his persecutions, knowing , i.e. because he was sure that he and his fellow-believers should share in its glorious consummation. The word to know is often used in the sense of being convinced or sure of. Romans 5:3; 1 Corinthians 15:58. It is assumed as a fact which no Christian did or could doubt, that God had raised up Jesus from the dead.

What Paul was fully persuaded of is, that God would raise us (i.e. him, for he is speaking of himself) with or by Jesus . The majority of the ancient manuscripts and versions here read su>n , with , instead of dia> , by , and that reading is, adopted in most critical editions. Both forms of representation occur in Scripture. Believers are said to be raised up by Christ and with Christ. Our Lord often says, “I will raise him up at the last day;” and in 1 Corinthians 15:21, the resurrection is said to be (dia> ) by man, i.e. by Christ. On the other hand, believers are said to be raised up with or in him. 1 Corinthians 15:22; Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:3,4; Thessalonians 5:10. The two modes of statement are nearly coincident in meaning. The believer is united to Christ, as a member of his body, and therefore a partaker of his life. It is in virtue of this union, or of this participation of life, which, the apostle expressly teaches, extends to the body as well as to the soul, Romans 8:8-11; 1 Corinthians 6:13-20; 15:21, 22, that our bodies are raised from the dead. It is therefore immaterial whether we say we are raised by him, i.e. by the power of his life, or, we are raised with, i.e. in union with him, and in virtue of that union. As our resurrection is due to this community of life, our bodies shall be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:21. And this congeniality and conformity are included in the idea which is expressed by saying, we shall be raised up with him, i.e. in his fellowship and likeness. The resurrection, therefore, was the one great, all-absorbing object of anticipation and desire to the early Christians, and should be to us. It is then that we shall be introduced into the glorious liberty of the sons of God; it is then that the work of redemption shall be consummated, and Christ be admired in his saints. And present us together with you . To present, pari>sthmi , is to cause to stand near or by, to offer to. We are required to present our members ( Romans 6:13), or our bodies ( Romans 12:1), unto God; Paul says he desired to present the Corinthians as a chaste virgin unto Christ, 11:2; God is said to have reconciled us to present us holy in his sight, Colossians 1:22; and Jude (v. 24) gives thanks to him who is able to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. This is the idea here. It is true that in the following chapter it is said that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, whence many suppose that the apostle means here that having been raised from the dead, believers shall be presented before the tribunal of the final judge. But the idea of judgment is foreign from the connection. It is a fearful thing to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, even with the certainty of acquittal. The apostle is here exulting in the assurance that, however persecuted and down-trodden here, God, who had raised up Jesus, would raise him up and present him with all other believers before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. This it was that sustained him, and has sustained so many others of the afflicted of God’s people, and given them a peace which passes all understanding.

The resurrection of Christ here, as in other passages, is represented as the pledge of the resurrection of his people. “He that raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies,” Romans 8:11. “God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his own power,” Corinthians 6:14. “Christ is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept; for... in Christ shall all be made alive,” 15:19-22. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him,” 1 Thessalonians 4:14. See also John 11:25; Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 2:12. In the view of the sacred writers, therefore, the glorious resurrection of believers is as certain as the resurrection of Christ, and that not simply because God who has raised up Jesus has promised to raise his followers, but because of the union between him and them. They are in him in such a sense as to be partakers of his life, so that his life of necessity secures theirs. If he lives, they shall live also. Now as the fact of Christ’s resurrection was no more doubted by the apostles, who had seen and heard and even handled him after he rose from the dead, than their own existence, we may see how assured was their confidence of their own resurrection to eternal life. And as to us no event in the history of the world is better authenticated than the fact that Christ rose from the dead, we too have the same ground of assurance of the resurrection of those who are Christ’s at his coming. Had we only the faith of the apostle, we should have his constancy and his joy even in the midst of the greatest afflictions. 15. For all things (are) for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

In the preceding verse Paul had expressed his confident hope of being delivered even from the grave and presented before God in glory with his Corinthian brethren, for all things are for your sakes. They were to be partakers of the salvation which he proclaimed and for which he suffered.

All he did and all he suffered was for them. According to this interpretation the all things are limited to all things of which he had been speaking, viz. his sufferings, his constancy, and his deliverance. In Corinthians 3:21, however, he says in a much more comprehensive sense, ‘All things are yours, whether things present or things to come.’ Hence some understand the expression with the same latitude in this passage: ‘I expect to be presented with you , for all things are for your sakes.’ But this does not agree with the latter part of the verse. He evidently means all that he did, and suffered, and experienced. ‘They are for your sake, that (i>na , in order that) the abundant grace or favor manifested to me, might, through the thanksgiving of many, i.e. through your gratitude, called forth by your experience of the blessings flowing from my labor and sufferings, as well as from my deliverance, redound to the glory of God.’ This is the sense of the passage, according to the construction of the original, adopted by our translators. Paul says that the favor shown him redounds the more to the glory of God, because others besides himself are led to give thanks for it.

This supposes that in the Greek, dia> tw~n pleio>nwn , k . t . l . are to be connected with perisseu>sh| , might abound through . Those words, however, may be connected with pleona>sasa , the grace rendered abundant by many . This may mean either that the favor shown the apostle was the more abundant because so many interceded in his behalf. Comp. 1:11, and Philippians 1:19. “I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer.” Or the meaning may be, ‘The favor shown me, rendered abundant, or greatly multiplied, through the participation of many.’ In the one case, Paul says the grace was the greater because so many prayed for him; in the other, it was the greater because so many enjoyed the fruits of it. The passage admits of either of these constructions and explanations; and whichever is preferred the general idea is the same. The church is one. If one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. If Paul was redeemed from his enemies, all the church gave thanks to God. A favor shown to him was a favor shown to all, and was thereby multiplied a thousand-fold and rendered a thousand-fold more prolific of thanksgiving unto God. Whichever construction be adopted, perisseu>sh| is to be taken transitively, as in Ephesians 1:8; Thessalonians 3:12. ‘Grace causes thanksgiving to abound.’ 16. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward (man) is renewed day by day.

For which cause , that is, because we are sure of a glorious resurrection, and are satisfied that our present sufferings and labors will advance the glory of God. We faint not , we do not become discouraged and give up the conflict. On the contrary, though his outward man, his whole physical constitution, perish , diafqei>retai , be utterly worn out and wasted away by constant suffering and labor, yet the inward man , the spiritual nature, is renewed, i.e. receives new life and vigor, day by day. By ‘inward man’ is not meant simply the soul as distinguished from the body, but his higher nature — his soul as the subject of the divine life. Romans 7:22; Ephesians 3:16. Of no unholy man could it be said in the sense of the apostle that his inward man was daily renewed. It is not of renewed supplies of animal spirits or of intellectual vigor that the apostle speaks, but of the renewal of spiritual strength to do and suffer. This constant renewal of strength is opposed to fainting. ‘We faint not, but are renewed day by day ,’ hJme>ra| kai< hJme>ra| . This is a Hebraism, Genesis 39:10; Psalm 68:19, familiar to our ears but foreign to Greek usage. The supplies of strength came without fail and as they were needed. 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding (and) eternal weight of glory .

This is the reason why we faint not. Our afflictions are light, they are momentary, and they secure eternal glory. Every thing depends upon the standard of judgment. Viewed absolutely, or in comparison with the sufferings of other men, Paul’s afflictions were exceedingly great. He was poor, often without food or clothing; his body was weak and sickly; he was homeless; he was beset by cruel enemies; he was repeatedly scourged, he was stoned, he was imprisoned, he was shipwrecked, robbed, and counted as the off-scouring of the earth; he was beyond measure harassed by anxieties and cares, and by the opposition of false teachers, and the corruption of the churches which he had planted at such expense of time and labor. See 1 Corinthians 4:9-13, and 2 Corinthians 11:23-29.

These afflictions in themselves, and as they affected Paul’s consciousness, were exceedingly great; for he says himself he was pressed out of measure, above strength, so that he despaired even of life; 1:8. He did not regard these afflictions as trifles, nor did he bear them with stoical indifference.

He felt their full force and pressure. When five times scourged by the Jews and thrice beaten with rods, his physical torture was as keen as that which any other man would have suffered under similar inflictions. He was not insensible to hunger, and thirst, and cold, and contempt, and ingratitude.

His afflictions were not light in the sense of giving little pain. The Bible does not teach, either by precept or example, that Christians; are to bear pain as though it were not pain, or bereavements as though they caused no sorrow. Unless afflictions prove real sorrows, they will not produce the fruits of sorrow. It was only by bringing these sufferings into comparison with eternal glory that they dwindled into insignificance. So also when the apostle says that his afflictions were for a moment, it is only when compared with eternity. They were not momentary so far as the present life was concerned. They lasted from his conversion to his martyrdom. His Christian life was a protracted dying. But what is the longest life to everlasting ages? Less than a single second to threescore years. The third source of consolation to the apostle was that his afflictions would secure for him eternal glory, i.e. the eternal and inconceivable excellence and blessedness of heaven. This is all the words kater ga>zetai hJmi~n express.

Afflictions are the cause of eternal glory. Not the meritorious cause, but still the procuring cause. God has seen fit to reveal his purpose not only to reward with exceeding joy the afflictions of his people, but to make those afflictions the means of working out that joy. This doctrine is taught in many passages of Scripture. Matthew 19:29; Romans 8:17; Timothy 2:12, 13; 1 Peter 1:6; 4:13; Revelation 7:14. It is not however, suffering in itself considered which has this effect; and therefore not all suffering; not self-inflicted suffering, not punishment, but only such sufferings which are either endured for Christ’s sake, or which when imposed for the trial of our faith are sustained with a Christian spirit. We are, therefore, not to seek afflictions, but when God sends them we should rejoice in them as the divinely appointed means of securing for us an eternal weight of glory. Our Lord calls on those who were persecuted to rejoice and be exceeding glad, Matthew 5:12; so does the apostle Peter, 4:13; and Paul often asserts that he gloried or rejoiced in his afflictions. Philippians 2:17; Colossians 1:24.

The expression to< parauti>ka ejlafroyewv , the momentary lightness of affliction , exhibits the adverb (parauti>ka ) used as an adjective, and the adjective (ejlafro>n ) used as a substantive. Comp. 8:8; 1 Corinthians 1:25. Wetstein and other collectors furnish abundant illustrations of this usage from the Greek writers. In this carefully balanced sentence, ejlafro>n , light , stands opposed to ba>rov , weight , and parauti>ka , momentary , to aijw>nion , eternal . In Hebrew the same word signifies to be heavy , and to be glorious , and the literal meaning of the Hebrew word for glory is weight , which may have suggested the peculiar expression “weight of glory.” The words kaqÆ uJperbolhn , according to excess unto excess , in the sense of exceeding exceedingly , (one of Paul’s struggles with the impotency of language to express his conceptions,) may be taken as an adjective qualification of ba>rov do>xhv , weight of glory . This is the explanation adopted by our translators, who render the phrase, “far more exceeding, and eternal weight of glory.” There is, however, no kai> (and ) in the text. If this view be adopted, it would be better therefore to take “eternal weight of glory” as one idea. The eternal glory exceeds all limits. The words in question, however, may be connected adverbially with katerga>zetai , as proposed by Meyer and De Wette. ‘Our light afflictions work exceedingly, i.e. are beyond measure efficacious in securing or producing an eternal weight of glory.’ 18. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen (are) temporal; but the things which are not seen (are) eternal .

The participial clause with which this verse begins (mh< skopou>ntwn hJmw~n ) may have a causal force. ‘Our light afflictions are thus efficacious because we look not at the things which are temporal.’ This, however, is hardly true. The afflictions of Christians do not work out for them eternal glory, because their hearts are turned heavenward. It is therefore better to understand the apostle as simply expressing the condition under which the effect spoken of in v. 17 is produced. This is the idea expressed in our version by the word while . Afflictions have this salutary operation while (i.e. provided that) we look at the things which are eternal. This clause thus serves to designate the class of persons to whom even the severest afflictions are light, and for whom they secure eternal glory. It is not for the worldly, but for those whose hearts are set on things above. The word translated look , skope>w , is derived from skopo>v (scopus , scope ), meaning the mark or goal on which the eye is fixed, as in Philippians 3:14, kata< skopokw , I press toward the mark . Therefore looking here means making things unseen the goal on which our eyes are fixed, the end toward which the attention, desires and efforts are directed. As is usual with the apostle, he states both what is not, and what is, the absorbing object of the believer’s attention. Not the visible , but the invisible ; i.e. not the world and the things of the world, but the things which pertain to that state which is to us now invisible. The reason why the latter, and not the former class of objects do thus engross the believer, is that the things seen are temporal , or rather, temporary , lasting only for a time; whereas the things unseen are eternal. Few passages in Paul’s writings exhibit so clearly his inward exercises in the midst of sufferings and under the near prospect of death.

He was, when he wrote what is here written, in great affliction. He felt that his life was in constant and imminent danger, and that even if delivered from the violence of his enemies, his strength was gradually wearing away under the uninterrupted trials to which he was subjected.

Under these circumstances we see him exhibiting great sensibility to suffering and sorrow; a keen susceptibility in reference to the conduct and feelings of others towards him; a just appreciation of his danger, and yet unshaken confidence in his ultimate triumph; a firm determination not to yield either to opposition or to suffering, but to persevere in the faithful and energetic discharge of the duty which had brought on him all his trials, and a heroic exultation in those very afflictions by which he was so sorely tried. He was sustained by the assurance that the life of Christ secured his life; that if Jesus rose, he should rise also; and by the firm conviction that the more he suffered for the sake of Christ, or in such a way as to honor his divine master, the more glorious he would be through all eternity.