Verse 23
23. Ministers The Greek word technically for deacons, and genetically for humble servitors of any kind.
As a fool The echo from the other side is a stronger term for madness than any yet used. Are they servants of Christ? And now I am, by their outcry, a greater infatuate than ever when I boldly reply, I more. The abrupt and concise υπερ εγω , above, I is, indeed, a bold fling. It may mean, above them am I, that is, as a servant of Christ; or it may mean, above a servant of Christ am I. The import, at any rate, is, If these are, forsooth, servants of Christ, I am something above that; and the result is, If I am merely a servant of Christ, they are below that none at all. That this last inference is meant is plain from 13-15.
Labours… stripes… prisons… deaths Four generic bodily endurances. The details that follow are specialties included under the four.
The next two verses give the numerical figures of bodily sufferings so severe as to leave distinct traces on the memory of the number.
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