Second Corinthians (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) by Thomas Stegman

Author:Thomas Stegman [Stegman, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Baker Book Group - A
Published: 2009-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

2Make room for us; we have not wronged anyone, or ruined anyone, or taken advantage of anyone. 3I do not say this in condemnation, for I have already said that you are in our hearts, that we may die together and live together. 4I have great confidence in you, I have great pride in you; I am filled with encouragement, I am overflowing with joy all the more because of all our affliction.

OT: Job 23:10-12; Ps 26

NT: Acts 20:17-38; Phil 1:3-11

Paul resumes his appeal to the Corinthians to open their hearts to him. After briefly defending his conduct among them, he again declares his love for them. He then expresses his pride in the community in anticipation of the report about his reunion with Titus (7:5-16).

Paul begins by exhorting the Corinthians to make room for him in their hearts. He thereby reiterates the request made in 6:13 that they enlarge their hearts in love and affection for him. Paul wants the community to be fully reconciled to him as their spiritual father. Hence he declares, once more, that his conduct among them has been blameless—he has not wronged anyone, or ruined anyone, or taken advantage of anyone. He is responding to lingering suspicions about him or perhaps to specific charges some have raised against him. In saying he did not “wrong” anyone, Paul insists that he has not acted unjustly (the literal sense of the verb adikeō). The verb “ruin” refers here to corrupting others through false teaching. In fact, Paul will accuse the intruding missionaries of doing this very thing (11:3). For his part, the Apostle has been consistently clear that his proclamation of the †gospel, through word and deed, openly manifests the truth (4:2). We will discover later that he has been accused of taking advantage of, or defrauding, the Corinthians in the matter of the collection (12:16-18). Paul categorically denies such behavior. In short, he makes clear that the community has no reason to distrust their founding †apostle.

Lest the Corinthians think he is putting them on the defensive, Paul quickly explains, I do not say this in condemnation. His intention in verse 2 is to promote reconciliation, not to enter into polemics. Paul goes on to restate his love for the community: you are in our hearts. This repeats what he stated in 6:11, where he described his heart as enlarged out of love for them. He makes this point even more poignant when he asserts that the Corinthians are so deeply fixed in his heart that they would die together and live together. The latter phrase was a common way of expressing deep, abiding friendship in the ancient world (see 2 Sam 15:21).158

Most commentators suggest that, by employing this expression, Paul intends to convey such a friendship with the community. I propose that he means something more. The word order—die then live—is, at first glance, peculiar. But notice how it recalls the dynamic of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Paul grounds his intimate friendship with the Corinthians in the mystery of Christ’s love and in the power of God to give life (4:6-7).

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