2 Corinthians 4:12-15

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 4:12

Verse 12 12.Hence death indeed. This is said ironically, because it was unseemly that the Corinthians should live happily, and in accordance with their desire, and that they should, free from anxiety, take their ease, while in the mean time Paul was struggling with incessant hardships. (477) Such an allotment would certainly have been exceedingly unreasonable. It was also necessary that the folly of the Corinthians should be reproved, inasmuch as they contrived to themselves a Christianity... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 4:13

Verse 13 13.Having the same spirit. This is a correction of the foregoing irony. He had represented the condition of the Corinthians as widely different from his own, (not according to his own judgment, but according to their erroneous view,) inasmuch as they were desirous of a gospel that was pleasant and free from all molestation of the cross, and entertained less honorable views of him, because his condition was less renowned. Now, however, he associates himself with them in the hope of the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 4:15

Verse 15 15.For all things are for your sakes He now associates himself with the Corinthians, not merely in the hope of future blessedness, but also in these very afflictions, in which they might seem to differ from him most widely, for he lets them know, that, if he is afflicted, it is for their benefit. Hence it follows, that there was good reason why they should transfer part of them to themselves. What Paul states, depends first of all on that secret fellowship, which the members of Christ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:7-15

Glory of the ministry in the midst of its weakness and suffering. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:12

So then. In accordance with what he has just said. Death worketh in us, but life in you. The life of us apostles is a constant death ( Romans 8:36 ); but of this daily dying you reap the benefits; our dying is your living; our afflictions become to you a source of consolation and joy ( 2 Corinthians 1:6 ; Philippians 2:17 ). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:13

We ; rather, But we . The same spirit of faith. The spirit manifested by the psalmist in the quotation which follows. It is from Psalms 116:10 , a psalm which corresponded with St. Paul's mood because it was written in trouble sustained by faith. And this faith inspires him with the conviction that, after "the body of this death," and after this death in life, there should begin for him also the life in death. St. Paul says nothing as to the authorship of the psalm, which probably... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:14

Which raised up the Lord Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 6:14 ). Shall raise up us also. The thought is again expressed in Romans 8:11 . As he is here alluding mainly to the resurrection from the dead, it is clear that he contemplated the possibility of dying before Christ's second coming. By Jesus. The reading supported by nearly all the best manuscripts is "with Jesus" ( א , B, C, D, E, F, G), which perhaps appeared unsuitable to the copyists. But Christians are "risen with Christ" here... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:15

All things are for your sakes . St. Paul has already implied that his life is not his own, and he recurs to the same thought in Colossians 1:24 , and repeats once again towards the close of his life: "I endure all things for the elect's sakes" ( 2 Timothy 2:10 ). Might .. redound. The verb perisseuo may mean either "I abound" or "I make to abound" as in 2 Corinthians 9:8 and Ephesians 1:8 . Here there is a similar thought to that expressed in 2 Corinthians 1:11 , and the best... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Corinthians 4:12

So then death worketh in us - We are exposed to death. The preaching of the gospel exposes us to trials which may be regarded as death working in us. Death has an energy over us (ἐνεργεῖται energeitai, is at work, is active, or operates); it is constantly employed in inflicting pains on us, and subjecting us to privation and trials. This is a strong and emphatic mode of saying that they were always exposed to death. We are called to serve and glorify the Redeemer, as it were, by repeated... read more

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