Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 1

In most of his letters, Paul begins by referring to himself as “an apostle” (GK 693) of Christ Jesus. Although he was not one of the twelve chosen by Christ (Mark 3:14–19), he claimed equality with them (see 2 Corinthians 11:5; 12:11; Galatians 2:6) on the basis of the special revelation of Christ God gave him at the time of his conversion (1 Corinthians 9:1; Galatians 1:15–16). Like them, he had been commissioned “by the will of God” to be a “chosen instrument” of God (Acts 9 15).

Paul’s delight in speaking of a fellow Christian as “our brother” (GK 81) may be traced to Ananias’s generous and reassuring use of that term (“Brother Saul,”Acts 9:17) at a time when the believers in Damascus had every reason to regard Saul as the archenemy of the church (Acts 9:1–2, 13–14). The mention of Timothy (not Sosthenes, as in 1 Corinthians 1:1) as a cosender of the letter may be intended to reinstate this timid young man (1 Timothy 4:12; 2 Timothy 1:7; 2 Timothy 2:1) in the eyes of the Corinthians, possibly after his failure or limited success as Paul’s representative at Corinth (see 1 Corinthians 4:17; 16:10–11). Titus had replaced Timothy as Paul’s chief envoy to Corinth by the time this letter was written.

Paul refers to the principal addressees not as “the church of Corinth” but as “the church of God in Corinth”—the local representatives of God’s universal church. Linked with them are “the saints throughout Achaia,” i.e., believers in such places as Athens (cf. Acts 17:34) and Cenchrea (Romans 16:1).

This characteristically Pauline salutation combines and elevates the traditional Greek and Hebrew greetings. Chairein (the common Greek greeting) becomes charis (“grace,” i.e., God’s unsought and unmerited favor; GK 5921)—a word that occurs in every opening greeting of Paul. The word “peace” (GK 1645) reflects the Hebrew shalom (GK 8934)—the peace that comes to humanity from God (cf. Php 4:7) as a result of salvation (Romans 5:1).

The paragraph embodies the chief emphasis of chs. 1–7: “comfort in the midst of affliction.”

Paul generally follows his salutation with thanksgiving for the divine grace evident in the lives of his converts and a summary of his prayers for them. Here, however, he offers praise to God for consoling and encouraging him, while later (v.11) he solicits their prayers for himself. This atypical preoccupation with his own circumstances shows the distressing nature of the experience in Asia from which he had so recently been delivered (vv.8–10). He highlights the aspects of God’s character he had come to value in deeper measure as a result of personal need and divine response, namely, God’s limitless compassion (cf. Psalms 145:9; Micah 7:19) and never-failing comfort (cf. Isaiah 40:1; 51:3, 12; 66:13).

Paul sees his suffering not merely as personally beneficial, driving him to trust God alone (v.9; 12:7), but also as directly benefiting those he ministered to: “God... comforts [GK 4151] us... so that we can comfort....” To experience God’s help, consolation, and encouragement in the midst of all one’s affliction is to become indebted and equipped to communicate the divine comfort to others in any kind of affliction or distress.

Paul generally follows his salutation with thanksgiving for the divine grace evident in the lives of his converts and a summary of his prayers for them. Here, however, he offers praise to God for consoling and encouraging him, while later (v.11) he solicits their prayers for himself. This atypical preoccupation with his own circumstances shows the distressing nature of the experience in Asia from which he had so recently been delivered (vv.8–10). He highlights the aspects of God’s character he had come to value in deeper measure as a result of personal need and divine response, namely, God’s limitless compassion (cf. Psalms 145:9; Micah 7:19) and never-failing comfort (cf. Isaiah 40:1; 51:3, 12; 66:13).

Paul sees his suffering not merely as personally beneficial, driving him to trust God alone (v.9; 12:7), but also as directly benefiting those he ministered to: “God... comforts [GK 4151] us... so that we can comfort....” To experience God’s help, consolation, and encouragement in the midst of all one’s affliction is to become indebted and equipped to communicate the divine comfort to others in any kind of affliction or distress.

This verse supplies the reason why suffering equips Christians to mediate God’s comfort. Whenever Christ’s sufferings were multiplied in Paul’s life, God’s comfort was also multiplied through the ministry of Christ. The greater the suffering, the greater the comfort and the greater the ability to share with others the divine sympathy. “The sufferings of Christ” (cf. Galatians 6:17) cannot refer to the atoning passion of Christ that Paul regarded as a historical fact, a completed event (Romans 5:8–10; Romans 6:10). Rather, they include sufferings that befall the “man in Christ” (12:2) engaged in his service (cf. 4:11–12). They are Christ’s sufferings not simply because they are similar to his but because they contribute to the fulfillment of the suffering destined for the body of Christ (Acts 14:22; Colossians 1:24) or because Christ continues to identify himself with his afflicted church (cf. Acts 9:4–5).