Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 4:10

"always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body." — 2 Corinthians 4:10 (ASV)

Verse 10 summarizes the four preceding contrasts in the paradox. In the phrase “the death [or dying; GK 3740] of Jesus,” Paul sums up his experience of being “hard pressed,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” and “struck down” during his ministry. On the other hand, the phrase “the life [GK 2437] of Jesus” expresses the Lord’s saving him from being “crushed,” “in despair,” “abandoned,” and “destroyed,” all of which prefigures the Christian’s final deliverance from mortality at the resurrection. This idea of “life in the midst of death” is, of course, closely related to the main theme of chs. 1–7—“comfort in the midst of affliction.” But the meaning of the arresting phrase “the death of Jesus” is also explained by what follows, for v.11a amplifies v.10a. What Paul carried around in his body was nothing other than his being always “given over to death [GK 2505] for Jesus’ sake.” He faced perilous hazards every hour and death every day (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:30–31). This interpretation is preferable to understanding this phrase as a reference to the Christian’s once-for-all baptismal identification with Christ in his death (Romans 6:3–5), to one’s daily mortification of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:24), or to the gradual weakening of one’s physical powers while serving Christ.

Both verses stress that the death and the life of Jesus were simultaneously evident in Paul’s experience (cf. 1:4–5). For him it was not a matter of life after death, or even of life through death, but of life in the midst of death. Paul’s repeated deliverances from death evidenced the resurrecting power of God (1:9– 10); otherwise stated, the resurrection life of Jesus was operative in his “mortal body” (cf. Php 3:10).