2 Corinthians 4:17 - Exposition

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment; literally, for the immediate lightness of our affliction . Worketh for us. Is bringing about for us, with all the immeasurable force of a natural and progressive law. A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; literally, in excess unto excess . For the phrase, "to excess—characteristic, like other emotional expressions, of this group of Epistles—see 2 Corinthians 1:8 ; Galatians 1:13 . The word "eternal" is in antithesis to the "for a moment." The "weight" is suggested by the "lightness," and possibly also by the fact that in Hebrew the word for "glory" also means "weight." The general contrast is found also in Matthew 5:12 ; 1 Peter 5:10 ; Hebrews 12:10 ; Romans 8:18 . The frequent resemblances between this Epistle and that to the Romans are natural when we remember that they were written within a few months of each other.