Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Corinthians 4

Therefore, since we have this ministry.—The ministry referred to is that about which such great things have just been said: the ministry of the new covenant, of the Spirit, of righteousness, of glory (2 Corinthians 3:6; 2 Corinthians 3:8–9). Two thoughts rise up in the Apostle’s mind in immediate association with this:

1. His own utter unworthiness of it, which finds expression in as we have received mercy (Compare to 1 Timothy 1:12);
2. the manifold trials and difficulties amid which it had to be accomplished.

The very fact that he has been called to such a work is, however, a source of strength. He cannot lose heart or show cowardice in discharging it.

But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty.—Better, the hidden things of shame. We fail at first to see the connection of the self-vindication which follows with what has gone before, and have once more to go below the surface. He has defended himself against the charge of “fickleness” (2 Corinthians 1:17), but another charge, more disturbing still, had also been brought against him.

Men had talked, so he had been told, of his “craftiness” (compare 2 Corinthians 12:16), and to that accusation, perhaps also to another covered by the same general term (see Ephesians 5:12, and Notes on 2 Corinthians 7:1–2), he now addresses himself.

The English word “dishonesty” is used in its older and wider sense. So in Wycliffe, we have “honest” members of the body in 1 Corinthians 12:23, and in Shakespeare and old English writers generally, and in popular usage even now, “honesty” in a woman is equivalent to chastity.

The context shows, however, that St. Paul speaks chiefly not of sensual vices, nor of dishonesty in the modern sense of the word, but of subtlety, underhand practices, and the like. Men seem to have tried to fasten his reputation on the two horns of a dilemma: either his change of plan indicated a discreditable fickleness, or if not that, something more discreditable still.

Nor handling the word of God deceitfully.—The word is nearly equivalent to the “corrupting” or “adulterating” of 2 Corinthians 2:17. In “commending ourselves” we trace a return to the topic of 2 Corinthians 3:1. Yes, he acknowledged that he did “commend himself,” but it was by the manifestation of truth as the only means he adopted. He appealed not to men’s tastes, prejudices, or inclinations, but to that in them which was highest—their conscience, their sense of right and wrong; and in doing this, he felt that he was speaking and acting in the presence of the great Judge, who is also the searcher of hearts.

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.—Better, in both cases, as keeping the sequence of thought, has been veiled, instead of “is hid,” and among those who are perishing. (See Note on 2 Corinthians 2:15.)

He cannot close his eyes to the fact that the glorious words of 2 Corinthians 3:18 are only partially realized. There are some to whom even the gospel of Christ appears as shrouded by a veil.

And these are not, as some have thought, Judaizing teachers only or chiefly, but the whole class of those who are at present on the way to perish, not knowing God, counting themselves unworthy of eternal life. The force of the present participle, as not excluding the thought of future change, is again to be carefully noted.

In whom the god of this world . . .—The word sounds somewhat startling as a description of the devil, but it has parallels in the prince of this world (John 14:30) and the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). The world which lieth in wickedness—perhaps in the evil one (1 John 5:19)—worships the spirit of hate, falsehood, and selfishness, and in so doing, it practically deifies the devil.

And the work of that god of this world is directly in antagonism to that of God. He seeks to lead men back from light to darkness. He blinded (the Greek tense indicates an act in past time without necessarily including the idea of its continuance in the present) the minds of the unbelievers. The noun is probably used, as in 1 Corinthians 6:6, 1 Corinthians 7:12–15, 1 Corinthians 10:27, and 1 Corinthians 14:22–24, with a special reference to the outside heathen world. Their spiritual state was, St. Paul seems to say, lower than that of Israel. The veil was over the heart of the one; the very organs of spiritual perception were blinded in the other.

Lest the light of the glorious gospel . . .—Better, to the end that the radiance (or, light-giving power) of the gospel of the glory of God . . . The words describe not merely a purpose, but a result. The word for “light” here, and in 2 Corinthians 4:6, is not the simple noun commonly used, but a secondary form, derived from the verb “to give light” or “illumine.” The English version “glorious,” though a partial equivalent for the Greek idiom of the genitive of a characteristic attribute, lacks the vigour and emphasis of the original, which expresses the thought that the gospel is not only glorious itself, but shares in the glory of Christ, and has that for its theme and object.

But even that gospel may fail of its purpose. The blind cannot see even the brightness of the noonday sun. The eye of the soul has to receive sight first. So, in the mission to the Gentiles given to the Apostle on his conversion, his first work was to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light (Acts 26:18).

Christ, who is the image of God.—The Greek word is used in the Septuagint (LXX) of Genesis 1:26 for the image of God, after which man was created. So in 1 Corinthians 11:7, man is spoken of as the image and glory of God. (Compare Colossians 1:15 and Colossians 3:10.) In Hebrews 10:1, it stands as intermediate between the object and the shadow, far plainer than the latter, yet not identical with the former, however adequately representing it.

Should shine to them.—Literally, should irradiate, or, cast its beams upon them.

For we preach not ourselves.—The words, like those about “commending ourselves,” imply a reference to something that had been said. He was charged with being egotistic in his preaching, perhaps with special reference to passages like 1 Corinthians 2:1–4; 1 Corinthians 3:1–10; 1 Corinthians 4:11–13. He indignantly repudiates that charge. Christ Jesus had been all along the subject of his preaching. (Compare to 1 Corinthians 2:2.) So far as he had spoken of himself at all, it had been as a minister and servant for their sake (1 Corinthians 3:22–23; 1 Corinthians 9:19).