John Calvin Commentary 2 Corinthians 11

Would that you would bear with me. As he saw that the ears of the Corinthians were still partly pre-engaged, he resorts to another device, for he turns to express a wish, as people do when they do not venture openly to entreat. Immediately afterwards, however, as if gathering confidence, he nevertheless entreats the Corinthians to bear with his folly.

He gives the name of folly to that splendid proclamation of his praises, which follows. This is not as if he were a fool in glorying; for he was constrained to it by necessity, and besides, he restrained himself in such a way that no one could justly regard him as going beyond bounds. But because it is an unseemly thing to herald one’s own praises, and a thing that is foreign to the inclinations of a modest man, he speaks by way of concession.

What I have rendered in the imperative—bear with me,—Chrysostom interprets as an affirmation, and certainly the Greek word is ambiguous, and either sense is quite suitable. However, since the reasons that the Apostle adds are designed to induce the Corinthians to bear with him, and since we will find him afterwards expostulating with them again on the basis of their not conceding anything to him, I have followed the Old Interpreter. By saying, Would that, etc., he had seemed to be distrustful; now, as if correcting that hesitation, he openly and freely commands.

For I am jealous. Note why it is that he acts the fool, for jealousy hurries a man headlong, as it were. “Do not demand that I should show the calm disposition of a man who is at ease and not excited by any emotion, for that utmost vehemence of jealousy, with which I am inflamed for you, does not allow me to be at ease.”

However, as there are two kinds of jealousy—one springs from self-love and is of a wicked and perverse nature, while the other is cherished by us on God’s behalf—he indicates the nature of his zeal. For many are zealous for themselves, not for God. That, on the other hand, is the only pious and right zeal that looks to God, so that He may not be defrauded of the honors that rightly belong to Him.

For I have united you to one man. He proves that his zeal was of this nature from the purpose of his preaching, for its aim was to join them to Christ in marriage and keep them in connection with Him. Here, however, he gives us through his own example a vivid picture of a good minister, for One alone is the Bridegroom of the Church—the Son of God.

All ministers are the friends of the Bridegroom, as the Baptist declares concerning himself (John 3:29). Therefore, all ought to be concerned that the fidelity of this sacred marriage remain unimpaired and inviolable. This they cannot do unless they are motivated by the dispositions of the Bridegroom, so that each of them may be as concerned for the purity of the Church as a husband is for the chastity of his wife.

Away then with coldness and indolence in this matter, for one who is cold will never be qualified for this office. Let them, however, meanwhile, take care not to pursue their own interest rather than that of Christ, so that they do not intrude into His place, lest while they present themselves as His attendants, they actually turn out to be adulterers by alluring the bride to love themselves.

To present you as a chaste virgin. We are married to Christ on the sole condition that we bring virginity as our dowry and preserve it entire, so that we are free from all corruption. Therefore, it is the duty of ministers of the gospel to purify our souls, that they may be chaste virgins to Christ; otherwise, they accomplish nothing. Now, this can be understood to mean that individuals present themselves as chaste virgins to Christ, or that the minister presents all the people and brings them into Christ’s presence. I prefer the second interpretation. Therefore, I have provided a different rendering from Erasmus.

But I fear. He begins to explain the nature of that virginity he has mentioned: our clinging to Christ alone, sincerely, with our whole heart.

God, indeed, everywhere requires from us that we be joined with Him in body and in spirit. He warns us that He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5), ready to avenge with the utmost severity the wrong done to Him if anyone draws back from Him. This connection, however, is accomplished in Christ, as Paul teaches in Ephesians (Ephesians 5:25, 27).

He now points out its means: this happens when we remain in the pure simplicity of the gospel. For just as in human marriages, written contracts are drawn up, so the spiritual connection between us and the Son of God is confirmed by the gospel, like a written contract. Let us maintain the fidelity, love, and obedience that we have promised there; He, on His part, will be faithful to us.

Now Paul says he is concerned that the minds of the Corinthians may not be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Paul, it is true, says in Greek εἰς Χριστόν, which Erasmus renders as towards Christ.

However, the Old Interpreter, in my opinion, has come closer to Paul’s intention. For by the simplicity that is in Christ is meant that which keeps us in the unadulterated and pure doctrine of the gospel and admits no foreign elements. By this, Paul implies that people’s minds are adulterated whenever they turn aside, even in the slightest, to one side or the other, from the pure doctrine of Christ.

And this is not without good reason. For who would not condemn a married woman as guilty of unchastity as soon as she lends an ear to a seducer? So, in the same way, when we accept wicked and false teachers, who are Satan’s vile agents, we show all too clearly that we are not maintaining conjugal fidelity towards Christ.

We must also take note of the term simplicity. For Paul’s fear was not that the Corinthians would suddenly and openly withdraw completely from Christ. Rather, his fear was that by turning aside, little by little, from the simplicity they had learned, to pursue profane and foreign schemes, they would eventually become adulterated.

He brings forward a comparison: as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty. For if false teachers display an appearance of wisdom, if they have eloquence to persuade, if they plausibly work their way into the minds of their hearers and instill their poison by flattering deceptions, it was in a similar way that Satan also beguiled Eve. He did not openly declare himself an enemy, but crept in secretly under a plausible but false pretext.

For if he that cometh. He now reproves the Corinthians for the excessive readiness they showed to receive the false apostles. For while they were excessively morose and irritable towards Paul himself, so that on any, even the least occasion, they were offended if he gave them even the slightest reproof, on the other hand, there was nothing they did not tolerate from the false apostles.

They willingly endured their pride, haughtiness, and unreasonableness. He condemns such absurd reverence because, meanwhile, they showed no discrimination or judgment.

“How is it that they take so much liberty with you, and you submit patiently to their control? If they had brought you another Christ, or another gospel, or another Spirit, different from what you received through my hands, I would certainly approve of your regard for them, for they would deserve such honor. But since they have conferred nothing on you that I had not given you previously, what sort of gratitude do you show in almost adoring those to whom you are indebted for nothing, while you despise me, through whom God has bestowed so many distinguished benefits on you?”

Such is the reverence that is shown even today by Papists towards their pretended Bishops. For while they are oppressed by their excessively harsh tyranny, they submit to it without difficulty; but, at the same time, they do not hesitate to treat Christ himself with contempt.

The expressions — another Christ, and another gospel, are used here in a different sense from the sense they have in Galatians 1:8. For another is used there in opposition to what is true and genuine, and therefore it means false and counterfeit. Here, on the other hand, he means to say — “If the gospel had come to you through their ministry, and not through mine.”

For I reckon that I am. He now convicts them of ingratitude by removing the only thing that could serve as an excuse for them, for he shows that he is on a level, even with the chief of the Apostles. The Corinthians, therefore, were ungrateful in not esteeming him more highly, after having found him, by experience, to be such; while, on the other hand, the authority that was justly due to him, they transferred to persons of no value.

For the sake of modesty, however, he says that he reckons so, while the thing was known and manifest to all. His meaning, however, is that God had honored his Apostleship with no less distinguished marks of favor than that of John or Peter.

Now the man that despises the gifts of God, which he himself recognizes, cannot clear himself from the charge of being spiteful and ungrateful. Hence, wherever you see the gifts of God, you must there reverence God himself: I mean, that every one is worthy of honor, insofar as he is distinguished by graces received from God, and especially if any advantage has redounded to you from them.