2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Paul’s experiences as an apostle (11:16-33)

All boasting is foolish, but since the Corinthians have heard much boasting from others, Paul decides they shall hear some from him (16). This is not the way Christ spoke, but Paul hopes it may do something to bring them to their senses. After all, he says cuttingly, they tolerate other fools, why not tolerate him (17-19)? The false apostles had enslaved the Corinthians and then cruelly taken their money. In comparison with such slave-masters, Paul is weak indeed (20-21)!The false apostles claimed to be learned Jews, pure Hebrews. So is Paul (22). Concerning the more important matter of service, however, Paul is far superior. He has worked harder and suffered more in the spread of the gospel, even to the point of death time and again. He quotes specific examples of his experiences, most of which are either not recorded or not detailed in Acts (23-27). More than all these trials was the inner trial of the constant anxiety from which he was never free, his concern for the churches. Paul felt every weakness and every problem among his converts as if it were his own (28-29).

Remarkably, Paul’s boasting is almost entirely concerned with things that the normally boastful person is ashamed to speak about, namely, personal humiliations. Yet God knows that in recounting these experiences Paul has not been exaggerating or twisting the truth (30-31). One final story comes to mind. It concerns the time he escaped from Damascus, when Jewish opponents had persuaded the governor to send soldiers to arrest him (32-33; see Acts 9:23-25).