introduction to 2 corinthians

corinth, the city :

history :

[show]

roman culture :

[show]

population :

[show]

economy :

[show]

character :

[show]

corinth, the church :

history :

[show]

[hide]
founded by paul on his second missionary journey; see acts 18. notable in this time is christ's encouragement to paul that christ had "many people in this city" (Acts 18:10).
paul lived/worked with aquilla and priscilla (originally from rome; they're back in rome by romans 16 as paul sends greetings to them). paul originally preached in the synagogue, but then began directing his ministry to the gentiles (acts 18:6). prominent jewish converts included titius justus and crispus, the leader of the synagogue (and many others, see acts 18:7-11).
during this time, the jews arose against him (see acts 18:5-7 as background, then read acts 18:12-17) and brought him before gallio the procounsel. the jews accused paul of persuading "men to worship god contrary to the law". bruce winter (quoted in anthony thisleton's commentary "the first epistle to the corinthians", p.30) argues that they were attempting to have christianity declared seperate from judiasm, and thus not protected by the special status enjoyed by jews (judiasm enjoyed special status under the romans, and jews were exempted from the requirements to worship the emperor etc). fortunately for the christians, gallio treated the dispute as an internal jewish argument, thereby extending the protections afforded the jews to the new christians. gallio's decision may be most correctly viewed as a desire to avoid action as much as anything however, as after his decision they (the jews? the romans?) took sosthenes (most likely the same as mentioned in 1 cor. 1:1), " and began beating him in front of the judgement seat, and gallio was not concerned about any of these things".
paul left corinth after spending a year and a half there; his second missionary journey ended soon after as he traveled back to antioch. after his leaving, apollos (having had the gospel explained more accurately to him by aquila/priscilla), visited corinth and "helped greatly those who had believed through grace" (acts 18:24-19:1).

note: historical (and other) information taken from anthony thiselton's amazing "the first epistle to the corinthians" (part of "the new international greek testmament commentary").

[show]

[hide]
1. Paul First Visits Corinth - Acts 18

Paul spends a year and a half founding the church of Corinth on his second missionary journey (Corinth concludes the journey).
Date : 51/52 AD

2. Paul Leaves Corinth - Acts 19:10

Paul leaves Corinth for Ephesus; he then journies back to Ceasarea and Antioch. His then begins his third missionary journey and comes back to Ephesus, spending at least two years there (Acts 19:10).
Most people assign the writing of 1 Corinthians as well as any additional Corinthian letters written before 2 Corinthians to this period, as well as any intermediate visits to Corinth.

3. Paul Writes First Letter To Corinth - Referenced in 1 Cor 5:9

Usually assumed to be written during Paul's stay in Ephesus (Acts 19), as Paul received both letters from the Corinthians as well as news of their doings from Chloe's people (1 Cor 1:11). This indicates a relatively static location, most likely Ephesus.

4. Paul Writes Second Letter To Corinth - 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians reveals that the Corinthians had received Paul's first letter and had misinterpreted part of it (1 Cor 5:9). 1 Corinthians also answers questions raised by the Corinthians (1 Cor 7:1) and addresses issues revealed by "Chloe's people" (1:11).
Paul also states that 1 Corinthians was written from Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8). A visit to Corinth by Timothy most likely followed this letter as mentioned in 1 Cor 1:4:17
Date : 55 AD?

5. Paul Visits Corinth (Probable)

(This visit is inferred and its details are guesswork).
Paul seems to have visited Corinth between 1 and 2 Corinthians. 1 Cor speaks of his intention to visit them to pick up their collection from Jerusalem, 2 Cor seems to indicate that he had communicated to them that he had intended to visit them twice but changed his mind after a painful visit.

1 Cor 16:5 "But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia"

2 Cor 1:15,16 "In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might twice receive a blessing; that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea."
2 Cor 1:23 "But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth."

While on this visit, Paul seems to have sustained some insult (2 Cor 1:15-23, 2:5-11, 7:12). (Note : It is also possible that these passages refer to the 'immoral brother' and are unrelated to the 'sorrow' (2 cor 2:1-4) that caused Paul to abandon his second visit.)
Further Details :

As mentioned, Paul says in 2 Cor 1 that he had intended to visit Corinth -> Macedonia -> Corinth, but after his painful visit, he did not return to Corinth. This change in travel plans has posed something of a problem for some of the Corinthians, forcing Paul to defend his change of plans as not indicating a vacillating purpose.
Some argue that the travel plan outlined in 1 Cor (Ephesus -> Macedonia -> Corinth) was the revealing of the change in travel plans, but there is evidence that Paul informed the Corinthians of his desire to see them before and after Macedonia after 1 Corinthians (in the probably second visit), changing his plan to only visit Corinth once to avoid a second painful visit as described in 2 Cor 1. That seems to answer the charges addressed in 2 Cor 1 more effectively (in my opinion), assuming that the 'severe letter' spoken of in 2 Corinthians was not in fact 1 Corinthians.

6. Paul Writes Third Letter To Corinth (The Severe Letter) - Referenced in 2 Cor 2:5-11

Paul writes a 'severe letter' to the Corinthians urging them to deal with the one who had caused Paul some personal offense (2 Cor 2:5-11, 7:5-13). Some argue that 1 Cor is this letter, but I don't believe that there is much support for this as 1 Cor carries no identification of Titus (who carried this letter), nor does the letter seem to match the content of 1 Cor. The rebuke of 1 Cor 5 is a possible tie, but there is little reason for Paul to personally forgive the offense in 1 Cor 5 (Paul also mentions their 'zeal for him' as a comfort in the context of their receiving his rebuke).

7. Titus Visits Corinth (Carrying Paul's 'Severe Letter'?) (referenced in 2 Cor 2:12, 7:5-7)

Titus visits Corinth with a message from Paul which caused them sorrow; the Corinthians had responded favorably to Titus however and had repented (2 Cor 7:9). Titus may have also brought news of two new issues :

- the slowing or ceasation in the collection for the Jerusalem Church
- the

This news from Titus forms the basis for the writing of 2 Corinthians.

8. Paul Leaves Ephesus For Macedonia (To Find Titus And To Collect The Money Raised For Jerusalem) - Acts 20:1-3

Paul leaves Ephesus in turmoil about the Corinthians, finding 'no rest in Troas' (2 Cor 2:12) and moving on to Macedonia where Titus meets him (2 Cor 7:5 and 8:1 indicate that Paul has at least made it to Macedonia).

9. Paul Writes Fourth Letter To Corinth - 2 Corinthians

Titus finds Paul in Macedonia and brings him news of Corinth. Paul writes 2 Corinthians in response to the news brought by Titus. This means that 2 Corinthians is written (at least in part) from Macedonia (2 Cor 2:13).
Date : 56 AD?

10. Paul Visits Corinth Again, Then Takes Collection To Jerusalem

After visiting Corinth for 3 months (Acts 20:3), Paul ends up travelling back through Macedonia rather than sailing from Corinth due to a plot from the Jews (Acts 20:3).

authorship

[show]

unity

[show]

# of Letters

[show]

[hide]
both corinthian epistles make mention of external correspondance. 1 cor references another letter in 5:9, 2 cor in 2:3,4,9 and 7:8,12. most conclude that the letter referred to in 1 cor 5:9 is no longer extant, but the info mentioned in 2 corinthians are debated. this letter is referred to as the 'letter of tears' (tranenbrief auf deutsch) or the 'severe letter' (harris, 3). options for the identity of this letter include :

1. a letter prior to the lost pre-1cor letter

no evidence, and unlikely based on content of 1 cor and severity of letter

2. the pre-1cor letter

paul's casual reference of the letter in 1 cor doesn't match weight (tears) of the letter (2 cor 2:3,4).

3. 1cor itself

possible, but the gravity accompanying the letters composition (2 cor 2:3,4) doesn't seem to match 1 cor, nor does the breadth of 1 cor match seem likely paired to such a weighty letter. paul's deep emotional ties to the issue as revealed in 2 cor seem to require a focused and poignant letter.
further, if 1cor is the letter, than the issue requiring forgiveness which occassioned the letter would be the man who had his father's wife (1 cor 5:1-8). but 2 cor may indicate that the person offended paul specifically (chap 2 esp; perhaps a person challenging paul's authority directly?). this is uncertain however.

4. a letter between 1cor and 2cor

my favorite option. that would mean that a special letter was written to address a particular offense (perhaps against paul's authority, which would match patterns in 1 cor that come to the fore in 2 cor 10-13).

5. all or part of 2 cor

doesn't work for me, but some assert that 2 cor 10-13 was the 'letter of sorrows'. that does keep the idea of the authority conflict (if 2 cor 2 is to be understood as indicating an offense against paul directly), as well as making the letter extant.
this view requires that 10-13 be understood as being written out of time/place however; to me, no compelling reason exists for the idea anyway.

"grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (v2)

[show]

references :

harris, murray - "the second epistle to the corinthians (the new international greek testament commentary)", 2005
thiselton, anthony - "the first epistle to the corinthians (the new international greek testament commentary)", 2000
barnett, paul - "the second epistle to the corinthians (new international commentary on the new testament), 1997