unto = to. grace. App-184 . My. The texts omit. strength . Greek dunamis. App-172 . is made perfect . Greek. teleioo. App-125 . Most gladly . Greek. hedista . Neut. Plural Superlative of hedus; used adverbially. power . Greek. dunamis , as above. rest , i.e. as a tent is spread over one. Greek. episkenoo. Only here. John uses skenoo in 2 Corinthians 1:14 . See note there. upon. Greek. epi. App-104 . read more
2 Corinthians 12:9. My strength is made perfect in weakness.— "Is illustrated in proportion to the weakness of the instrument I make use of." The word 'Επισκηνωση, which we render, may rest upon, is emphatical, and signifies literally, may pitch its tent upon. See John 1:14. read more
9. said—literally, "He hath said," implying that His answer is enough [ALFORD]. is sufficient—The trial must endure, but the grace shall also endure and never fail thee [ALFORD], ( :-). The Lord puts the words into Paul's mouth, that following them up he might say, "O Lord, Thy grace is sufficient for me" [BENGEL]. my strength—Greek, "power." is made perfect—has its most perfect manifestation. in weakness—Do not ask for sensible strength, FOR My power is perfected in man's "strengthlessness"... read more
4. Special revelations Paul received 12:1-10Paul had cited his freedom to minister without the Corinthians’ financial support and his sufferings in ministry as grounds for boasting. He next mentioned the special visions and revelations that God had granted him. He referred to these here to bolster his readers’ confidence in his apostolic calling and authority further. read more
B. Claims made by Paul 11:1-12:18In this section Paul gave further evidence that he possessed apostolic authority to encourage the whole Corinthian church to continue to respond positively to his ministry. Some writers refer to 2 Corinthians 11:1 to 2 Corinthians 12:13 as Paul’s "Fool’s Speech" because of the recurring "foolishness" terminology in this passage (aphrosyne, aphron, paraphron; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:1; 2 Corinthians 11:16 [twice], 17, 19, 23; 2 Corinthians 12:11; 2 Corinthians... read more
Here is an example of God denying a prayer request because He wanted to give something better (though not more comfortable). What we must learn from what Paul told us about this messenger of Satan is that God used it to teach the apostle dependence on Himself and the sufficiency of His grace."What is grace? It is God’s provision for our every need when we need it." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:675.] So thoroughly had Paul learned this lesson that he even boasted about his afflictions. He realized that... read more
12:9 dwell (g-34) Or 'power of Christ may tabernacle -- have its dwelling-place -- on me.' read more
His Privileges and TrialsThe Apostle unwillingly resumes his boasting and tells of a revelation he received from God; but returns again to dwell on his weaknesses, and especially on his bodily infirmity, through which Christ’s grace was manifested.Paraphrase. ’(1) It is not expedient for me to boast again: I have really been compelled to do it. I will now mention my experiences of divine visions and revelations, (2) Fourteen years ago I experienced such a divine ecstasy that I knew not whether... read more
(9) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee.—The words fit in, more or less, with each of the two views that have been discussed above. From one point of view, however, it seems infinitely more in harmony with our thoughts of God, that the prayer to be relieved from pain should be refused, because it was working out a higher perfection than was attainable without it, than that a deaf ear should have been turned to a prayer to be relieved from the temptation to impurity. Such a... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
A genuine case for boasting (12:1-10)Before leaving the subject of boasting, Paul wants to give one more example (12:1). Fourteen years previously he had seen a vision, but because he does not want to exalt himself, he speaks about his experience in the third person, referring to himself simply as ‘a man’. By some unknown means he was taken up into Paradise, where he heard and saw things that God does not normally allow people to know (2-4). He is not telling this story so that the Corinthians... read more