2 Corinthians 12:1

2 COR. 12

Subjects treated by Paul in this chapter are: the revelations he received from the Lord (2 Corinthians 12:1-6), the counteracting thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), another regret at the necessity of glorying (2 Corinthians 12:11-12), his independence (2 Corinthians 12:13-15), a reply to false charges (2 Corinthians 12:16-18), and certain cautions and warnings (2 Corinthians 12:19-21).

I must needs glory, though it is not expedient, but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 12:1)

Though it is not expedient ... is rendered, "there is nothing to be gained by it"; but, as Filson said:

Paul does not mean literally that there is nothing to be gained by it, for he hopes by the boasting, forced upon him, to make the Corinthians see that they have been wronging him and following the false leaders at Corinth ... he feels driven by a necessity which he cannot evade.[1]

Kelcy has a similar view, "The boasting is not expedient as far as making a real contribution to the spiritual state of the Corinthians is concerned."[2]

Visions and revelations ... As John Wesley put it, "Visions are seen; revelations are heard."[3] The plural here, as regards both visions and revelations, supports the possibility that the "third heaven" and "Paradise" could have been the subjects of different visions.

Of the Lord ... identifies the Lord as the source of the visions and revelations, not as the object of them. "The genitive of the Lord is subjective, not objective."[4]

[1] Floyd V. Filson, The Interpreter's Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1953), Vol. X, p. 405

[2] Raymond C. Kelcy, Second Corinthians (Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet Company, 1967), p. 70.

[3] John Wesley, One Volume New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1972), in loco.

[4] R. V. G. Tasker, The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1958), p. 169.