Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Corinthians 11:25

"Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep;" — 2 Corinthians 11:25 (ASV)

Thrice was I beaten with rods. In the Acts of the Apostles, mention is made of his being beaten in this manner only once before the time this epistle was written. That occurred at Philippi (Acts 16:22, 23). But there is no reason to doubt that it was done more frequently. This was a common mode of punishment among ancient nations; and as Paul was often persecuted, he would naturally have been subjected to this shameful punishment.

Once was I stoned. This was the usual mode of punishment among the Jews for blasphemy. The instance referred to here occurred at Lystra (Acts 14:19). Paley (Horae Paulinae) has remarked that this, when confronted with the history, provided the nearest approach to a contradiction, without a contradiction actually being incurred, that he had ever encountered.

The history (Acts 14:19) contains only one account of his being actually stoned. But prior to this (Acts 14:5), it mentions that an assault was made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully and to stone them, but they were aware of it, and fled to Lystra and Derbe. "Now," Paley remarks, "had the assault been completed; had the history related that a stone was thrown, as it relates that preparations were made both by Jews and Gentiles to stone Paul and his companions; or even had the account of this transaction stopped without going on to inform us that Paul and his companions were aware of their danger and fled, a contradiction between the history and the epistle would have ensued. Truth is necessarily consistent; but it is scarcely possible that independent accounts, not having truth to guide them, should thus advance to the very brink of contradiction without falling into it."

Thrice I suffered shipwreck. On what occasions, or where, is now unknown, as these instances are not referred to in the Acts of the Apostles. The instance of shipwreck recorded there (Acts 27), which occurred when he was on his way to Rome, happened after this epistle was written, and should not be considered one of the instances referred to here. Paul made many voyages going from Jerusalem to Tarsus, to Antioch, to various parts of Asia Minor, and to Cyprus; and shipwrecks in those seas were by no means so unusual as to make this account improbable.

A night and a day, etc. The word used here (nucyhmeron) denotes a complete natural day, or twenty-four hours.

In the deep. We do not now certainly know to what this refers. It is probable, however, that Paul refers to some period when, having been shipwrecked, he was saved by supporting himself on a plank or fragment of the vessel until he obtained relief. Such a situation is one of great peril, and he therefore mentions it among the trials he had endured.

The supposition of some commentators, that he spent his time on some rock in the deep; or of others, that this means some deep dungeon; or of others, that he was swallowed by a whale like Jonah, shows the extent to which fancy is often indulged in interpreting the Bible.