Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 10:2

"yea, I beseech you, that I may not when present show courage with the confidence wherewith I count to be bold against some, who count of us as if we walked according to the flesh." — 2 Corinthians 10:2 (ASV)

There is no evidence that Paul now addresses only a segment of the Corinthian church—those favorably disposed toward his adversaries from Palestine. On the contrary, throughout these next four chapters Paul regularly identifies the views of certain unnamed people (e.g., 10:7, 10–12; 11:4, 12–13, 15, 20–23; 13:2) who formed a recognizable subversive element at Corinth, thus alerting the entire church (cf. 12:19; 13:11–13) to the danger of becoming spiritually infected.

Paul had been accused of being courageous at a distance, shooting his epistolary arrows (e.g., the “severe letter”), but subservient and weak when personally present (cf. v.10; 1 Corinthians 2:3). This charge Paul ironically repeats in v.1b as a prelude to an appeal to all the Corinthians regarding a vocal minority (“some people”), who persisted in thinking that worldly standards and motives governed all his conduct and that he relied on human powers and methods in his ministry (cf. 1:17; 2:17; 3:5; 4:2; 7:2).

What Paul wished to avoid on his forthcoming visit was a display of boldness—boldness when present, not absent! Yet he is ready to exercise his apostolic authority, whatever the outcome, if the Corinthians do not repudiate his opponents and mend their ways (cf. 12:20–21; 13:11). His “meekness and gentleness” as a true servant of Christ (cf. Matthew 11:29) should not be confused with timidity (cf. 13:10; 1 Corinthians 4:21).