2 Corinthians 4:7-11

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:1-7

The apostle had, in the foregoing chapter, been magnifying his office, upon the consideration of the excellency or glory of that gospel about which he did officiate; and now in this chapter his design is to vindicate their ministry from the accusation of false teachers, who charged them as deceitful workers, or endeavoured to prejudice the minds of the people against them on account of their sufferings. He tells them, therefore, how they believed, and how they showed their value for their... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:8-18

In these verses the apostle gives an account of their courage and patience under all their sufferings, where observe, I. How their sufferings, and patience under them, are declared, 2 Cor. 4:8-12. The apostles were great sufferers; therein they followed their Master: Christ had told them that in the world they should have tribulation, and so they had; yet they met with wonderful support, great relief, and many allays of their sorrows. ?We are,? says the apostle, ?troubled on every side,... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Corinthians 4:7-15

4:7-15 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the power which surpasses all things may be seen to be of God and not of us. We are sore pressed at every point, but not hemmed in. We are at our wit's end, but never at our hope's end. We are persecuted by men, but never abandoned by God. We are knocked down, but not knocked out. In our bodies we have to run the same risk of death as Jesus Christ did, so that in our body the same life as Jesus lived may be clear for all to see. For... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have, this treasure in earthen vessels ,.... This is a further commendation of the Gospel; and by which the apostle removes an objection against it, taken from the cross and persecutions that attend it, and the outward meanness of the ministers of it. The Gospel is called a "treasure", for not grace, nor Christ, but the Gospel is here meant; which is so styled, because it contains rich truths, and an abundance of them; comparable to gold, silver, and precious stones, for the price of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:8

We are troubled on every side ,.... Or afflicted; εν παντι , either "in every place", wherever we are, into whatsoever country, city, or town we enter, we are sure to meet with trouble, of one sort or another; for wherever we be, we are in the world, in which we must expect tribulation: or "always", every day and hour we live, as in 2 Corinthians 4:10 we are never free from one trial or another: or "by everyone"; by all sorts of persons, good and bad, professors and profane, open... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:9

Persecuted, but not forsaken ,.... Pursued from place to place, and followed with menaces, curses, and reproaches; laid hold on, proscribed, imprisoned, and threatened with the severest tortures, and death itself; but our God never leaves us nor forsakes us; though we are followed close by evil men, and left by our friends, we are not forsaken of God: cast down we sometimes are, as an earthen vessel; 2 Corinthians 4:7 , which may be cast out of a man's hands, in order to be dashed to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:10-11

Always bearing about in the body ,.... The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, read, "in our body"; and the Syriac version, in this and the next clause, reads, "in our bodies", and some copies in this read, "bodies"; continually carrying about with us, in these mortal bodies of ours, wherever we go, the dying of the Lord Jesus ; by which is meant, not the doctrine of the sufferings and death of Christ, and of salvation by a crucified Saviour, which they bore and carried about... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels - The original, οστρακινοις σκευεσιν , signifies, more literally, vessels made of shells, which are very brittle; and as the shell is the outward part of a fish, it is very fit, as Dr. Hammond observes, to resemble our bodies in which our souls dwell. The Platonists make two bodies of a man: the one they call οξημα ψυχης , the chariot of the soul; the other, that which we see and touch; and this they call οστρακινον which is the same to us... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 4:8

We are troubled on every side - We have already seen, in the notes on the ninth chapter of the preceding epistle, that St. Paul has made several allusions to those public games which were celebrated every fifth year at the Isthmus of Corinth; and those games have been in that place particularly described. In this and the three following verses the apostle makes allusion to the contests at those games; and the terms which he employs in these verses cannot be understood but in reference to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 4:9

Persecuted, but not forsaken - Διωκομενοι, αλλ ' ουκ εγκαταλειπομενοι . The διωκομενοι , pursued, is peculiar to the δρομος , or race, when one being foremost others pursue, and get up close after him, endeavoring to outstrip him, but cannot succeed: this is the meaning of ουκ εγκαταλειπομενοι , not outstripped, or outgone, as the word implies. So in Plutarch: τους απολειφθεντας ου στεφανουσι , they do not crown them that are distanced or left behind. So says the apostle, 1... read more

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