2 Corinthians
Home > New Testament > 2 Corinthians 2 Corinthians At a Glance Letter Genre: (5/5) ***** Reliability of Dating: (3/5) *** Length of Text: Greek Original Language: Ancient Translations: Modern Translations: English Estimated Range of Dating: 50-60 A.D. Chronological List of Early Christian Writings Discuss this text on the Early Writings forum. Text American Standard Version King James Version World English Bible Resources e-Catena: References to the New Testament in the Church Fathers Patristic References to 2nd Corinthians, Chapters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Edgar Goodspeed: The Second Letter to the Corinthians Catholic Encyclopedia: Epistles to the Corinthians Offsite Links Perseus NT (English/Greek/Latin) God Shows His Power when We Are Weak: An EasyEnglish Commentary Daniel Wallace's Introduction IVP Commentary Books Burton L.
Mack, Who Wrote the New Testament? : The Making of the Christian Myth (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 1996), pp. 125-137. Raymond Edward Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (New York: Doubleday, 1997), pp. 541-558. Udo Schnelle, translated by M. Eugene Boring, The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998), pp. 75-92. Gerald Bray, 1-2 Corinthians (Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers 2000). Recommended Books for the Study of Early Christian Writings Information on 2 Corinthians Second Corinthians is one of the four letters of Paul known as the Hauptbriefe, which are universally accepted to contain authentic Pauline correspondence. Werner Georg Kummel would like to view the letter to be a whole composed by the apostle Paul on one occasion (Introduction to the New Testament, pp.
287-293). However, there are difficulties that have suggested to several commentators that 2 Corinthians has been compiled from several pieces of correspondence. Since the "sorrowful letter" mentioned in 2:4 does not describe 1 Corinthians, we know that Paul had written at least three letters to the Corinthians. A quite reasonable suggestion is that the last four chapters contain the "sorrowful letter" that is mentioned in 2:4. Other evidence bears out this view. Edgar J. Goodspeed notes a few considerations that suggest disunity in 2 Corinthians (An Introduction to the New Testament, pp. 58-59). On the one hand, "From the beginning through chapter 9 it is pervaded by a sense of harmony, reconciliation, and comfort." On the other, "With the beginning of chapter 10 we are once more in the midst of personal misunderstanding and bitterness, and these continue to dominate the letter to the end .
. . This undeniable incongruity between the two parts of II Corinthians naturally suggests that we have in it two letters instead of one - one conciliatory and gratified, the other injured and incensed. And as the early part of II Corinthians clearly looks back upon a painful, regretted letter, the possibility suggests itself that we actually have that letter in chapters 10-13." Norman Perrin offers the following solution with five Pauline fragments and one non-Pauline interpolation (The New Testament: An Introduction, pp. 104-105). Verses 2:14-6:13 and 7:2-4 are "part of a letter that Paul wrote to defend himself and his authority against opponents who came to Corinth bearing letters of recommendation from Christian communities in which they had previously worked and who rapidly assumed positions of authority in the Corinthian community." Verses 10:1-13:14 contain the sorrowful letter.
After his first unsuccessful attempt to assert his authority with the Corinthian community failed, Paul visited the church and was humiliated in public (2:5, 7:12). After this incident, from Ephesus Paul wrote against the "superlative apostles" who appealed to visions and miracle-working as proof of their authority. Paul himself "appeals to the original effectiveness of the gospel he preached in Corinth so as not to be a burden on his converts, and to his own Jewish heritage and his sufferings as a servant of Christ" in order to win back authority in Corinth. Verses 1:1-2:13 and 7:5-16 are a "letter of reconciliation." After the success achieved through his painful letter, Paul "wrote a letter rejoicing in the resumption of good relations between him and the Corinthian Christian community." Verse 8:1-24 are "part of a letter of recommendation for Titus as organizer of the collection of saints in Jerusalem." It is impossible to know the relationship between this letter and the rest of Paul's correspondence with Corinth.