2 Corinthians 11

Discerning False Teachers

This chapter seems to expand upon Jesus’ teaching in Mathew 7:15-18. Jesus says that there will be false prophets (“false apostles,” 2 Cor. 11:13) who are wolves in sheep’s clothing (“disguise themselves as servants of righteousness” 2 Cor. 11:15). Jesus explains that the way to discern false prophets is by (1) their words and (2) their works.

Paul appeals to the same argument. In this chapter, Paul essentially says, “Look at their lives and how they steal your money… Then, look at my life and how much I suffer for your sake and for the sake of the gospel… And I do all of this free of charge!” Paul is arguing, “They have bad fruit, because they are bad trees. I have good fruit, because I am a good tree.” Furthermore, Paul knows his opponents’ message brings death, but his gospel brings life.

Paul’s thesis: “I deeply care for your spiritual health”

(11:1) “I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me.”

Is Paul going to boast about his credentials after all? Yes and no. Paul already stated that self-praise was worthless (2 Cor. 3:1, 5:12, 10:12, 18). Yet, he realizes the present situation demands that he defend himself if their faith and the gospel message was going to be protected. If Paul went down, then in many people’s minds, his message would go down with him. Of course, Paul’s opponents promoted self-praise (2 Cor. 5:12, 10:7, 12-13), and so did the Corinthians. Paul cannot help but call this “foolishness,” but he needs to engage in defending himself and his credentials nonetheless. One key difference with Paul is that he was doing this for the sake of others—not for the sake of inflating his own ego. Kruse writes, “Paul is forced to set forth his credentials, and that, not as he would have chosen, but in accordance with the criteria favoured by his opponents and apparently now accepted by his converts.”[] To repeat, unlike the “false apostles,” Paul’s motive was not personal gain but the Corinthians’ welfare (v.2). He is boasting “in the Lord” (2 Cor. 10:17). Paul ironically requests that the Corinthians would allow this, knowing they had already been humoring a little of his “foolishness” (6:3-10, 10:13-17). Consequently, this chapter drips with sarcasm and irony.

“Foolishness.” Paul uses variations of this term throughout this section (2 Cor. 11:1, 16, 17, 19, 21; 12:6, 11). Paul would never call this practice “foolishness,” which is something the false teachers would never say about boasting.

(11:2) “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.”

“For I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.” Paul appeals to the metaphor of the bride (the Church) and the groom (Christ). In the metaphor, Paul sees himself as “the father of the bride.” Picture a father who is seeing his daughter getting engaged to the head of a drug cartel. He would feel compelled to speak up about this for the sake of his little girl. He would try to talk her out of making such a bad decision and even call off the wedding if it came to that. Likewise, Paul is seeing these false teachers trying to lead these believers astray, and he therefore can’t help from speaking out against this “marriage.”

Betrothal was the worst of both worlds: the couple didn’t have sex, but they were also entirely committed! (Incidentally, this is the opposite of cohabitation relationships today.) Betrothal could only be ended by a writ of divorce (t. Ketubot 8:1.), and if a woman cheated on her husband, this was tantamount to “adultery” (m. Sota 3:3;). The young woman, consequently, would live with her father, leading up to the marriage (Deut. 22:13-21). The father would watch over the daughter to make sure that she was faithful to her husband before the wedding.[] Similarly, Paul is casting himself in this role in this metaphor, watching over the church until he can hand her over to Christ.

“For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy.” There is such a thing as a “godly jealousy.” Following the metaphor, this is similar to seeing your child being lured away by a man with candy at the park. In such a situation, you are “jealous” for the sake of the child—not for your own sake. Godly jealousy has to be for the sake of the other person—not for the sake of self. In this metaphor, Paul was the father watching over his daughter during the betrothal period. He wasn’t trying to get anything from the daughter, but to give something to her in a happy and successful marriage. Hence, “godly jealously” isn’t for the purpose of taking, but giving.

This passage also ascribes deity to Jesus. In the OT, Yahweh is the “husband” of his people (Isa. 54:5-6; 62:5; Jer. 3:1; Ezek. 16:23-33; Hos. 2:19-20); here, Jesus is the “husband” of the Church.

(11:3) “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

“As the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness.” Paul states that Satan’s methods haven’t really changed since the dawn of human history. Satan attacked Eve’s mind in the Garden, influencing her to turn from God. Eve lost the battle of belief, and so she lost the battle with the fruit. Similarly, the battle is won or lost in our minds.

Paul is citing this passage assertorically (i.e. asserting that Satan historically deceived Eve in the Garden). Garland writes, “Satan is mentioned here and also in 11:14 and 12:7. He is identified as the god of this age in 4:4, Beliar in 6:15, and the serpent in 11:3.”[] Barnett writes, “There is a connection between ‘Satan fashioning himself into an angel12 of light’ and ‘Eve… deceived by the serpent’s cunning’ earlier in the chapter (v. 3). Common to both references is (1) the activity of deception, and (2) the object of deception, the church. Verses 3 and 14 are to be read together. The serpent’s (Satan’s) deception of Eve (the church [of Corinth]) is achieved by these men who ‘preach another Jesus’ (‘fashioning themselves’ into something they are not, namely, ‘apostles of Christ’), so as to lead the people astray from their loyalty to Christ (v. 4).”[]

“Your minds will be led astray.” Paul was concerned that this church would be intellectually deceived by these false teachers (“your minds may… be led astray”). Earlier, Paul wrote that Satan himself wants to target the “minds” (noēmata) of people (2 Cor. 2:11; 4:4), and this is why we need to “take every thought [noēmata] captive” (2 Cor. 10:5). Thus, Kruse writes, “It is important to stress that Christians’ minds are prime targets for the assaults of the serpent.”[]

Satan deceives people through false teachers—specifically through the means preaching and teaching (cf. Rom. 16:18-20). Barnett writes, “How was that ‘cunning’ brought to bear on Eve? It was by his words that the serpent deceived her in the Genesis account, a point Paul probably implies in that it is by what the interlopers preach that the Corinthians are led astray (v. 4).”[] This might be why Paul didn’t mind being “unskilled” as a speaker (v.6). His content was more important than his charisma.

If Satanic sophists are truly prowling around Corinth, how do we identify them? Paul is calling the false teachers liars, but they are calling him a liar as well. How can we discern the difference between a false teacher and a follower of Christ? Paul gives three essential criteria:

#1. Listen to their WORDS

The world of spirituality is similar to advertisements on the Internet. If a friend assumed that every advertisement was good, you’d call them a fool! Such are outright scams, while others are trying to sell something that’s useless or overpriced. In the same way, just because someone is “advertising” a certain form of spirituality, this doesn’t make it real, nor does it make it good. One of Satan’s favorite ploys is to “flood the market,” so to speak, with spiritual counterfeits (Mt. 24:4-5, 24-25). After seeing one counterfeit after another, we become cynical when we are confronted with the real thing.

(11:4) “For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”

The propositional content of our spirituality is important. False teachers may use Jesus’ name (and quite often they do!), they are talking about a different Jesus (“another Jesus”). The same is true with the gospel message: Just because someone uses the word “gospel,” this doesn’t mean anything. It could be “another gospel” than the biblical gospel.

Paul emphasizes the what (the true Jesus, the true Spirit, and the true gospel), rather than the how (the eloquence of speech and delivery). Paul’s focus here is on the content—not the charisma—of the message.

“You bear this beautifully.” This is the same language as verse 1 (“you are bearing with me”). In a clever turn of phrase, Paul asked them to “bear” with him, because he knows that they are already “bearing” with false teaching. Throughout this chapter, Paul is speaking “foolishly” (v.1). That is, he is engaging in heavy irony. Here he is saying that the Corinthians were really good… at accepting false gospels and accepting false teaching! Later Paul notes that this message comes from false teachers (vv.13-15).

(11:5) “For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles.”

Paul had the right hand of fellowship with the true apostles (Gal. 2:9), and he considered his role as equal alongside theirs (1 Cor. 9:1; 15:5-10). But the “super-apostles” (NIV, NET, NLT) or “eminent apostles” (NASB) are not to be identified with the Twelve (cf. 2 Cor. 12:11). They are later called “false apostles” (pseudapostolos, v.13). It is to these false teachers that Paul says he is not at all inferior. The term “eminent” or “super” (hyperlian) is a compound word which means “over and beyond” (huper) and “exceedingly and extremely” (lian). It can be rendered as “exceedingly beyond measure” (BDAG). We wonder if these false teachers called themselves “super apostles.” Garland writes, “These rivals show themselves to be false apostles when they seek to glorify themselves instead of Christ.”[]

(11:6a) “But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge.”

Was Paul a poor speaker? In short, no. Paul grew up in Tarsus, and he would’ve been well-trained in Greek. Strabo wrote, “The people of Tarsus have devoted themselves so eagerly, not only to philosophy, but also to the whole round of education in general, that they have surpassed Athens, Alexandria or any other place that can be named where there have been schools and lectures of philosophers” (Geography 14.5.12-13).[] So, Paul was no slouch when it came to Greek. However, he would’ve been inferior with regard to the sophistry of these false teachers (cf. 2 Cor. 10:10). Barnett writes, “It does not necessarily follow that Paul was an ill-equipped or ineffective preacher. Few places he visited did not appear to lack a messianic assembly as a result of his ministry. His verbal skills must have been, at the very least, adequate, and, quite possibly, considerable, even though he lacked the high professionalism of the trained rhetorician.”[]

The term “unskilled” (idiōtēs) means “a person who is relatively unskilled or inexperienced in some activity or field of knowledge, layperson, amateur” (BDAG). Paul is saying that he lacked the “the polish of a skilled rhetorician.”[] The rhetorical flourishes of the false teachers “robs the cross of its power by making their brilliant eloquence the center of attention rather than what God has done in Christ.”[]

Yet, Paul refuses to deny that he lacks substance and truth (“knowledge”). He’s implicitly asking, “Would you rather have a good speaker who teaches error, or a mediocre speaker who teaches the truth?” In the Greco-Roman world, travelling sophists would impress people with their oratory skill. They had mastered the skills of rhetoric and public speaking. People would travel and pay to come listen to them. While the sophists provided good entertainment, they were starving for true content. They focused on the medium, rather than the message. The biblical view is the opposite: Focus on the content of messengers and their message, and compare it with what has already been revealed in the Scripture (1 Jn. 4:1-3; Deut. 13:1-3; Gal. 1:8; Rev. 2:2).

(11:6b) “In fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.”

Paul had spent 18 months in Corinth (Acts 18:11), and this was ample time for the Corinthians to see his integrity. Later Paul writes that the false teachers’ “end will be according to their deeds” (v.15ff).

#2. Look at their WALLETS

(11:7) “Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?”

“Did I commit a sin in humbling myself…?” Paul “apologizes” for not charging them for his teaching. Of course, this statement is dripping with sarcasm (cf. 2 Cor. 12:13). The ancient sophists would charge exorbitant prices for their teaching.[] The higher the charge, the better the speaker. Kruse writes, “The Corinthians probably felt affronted because Paul refused to accept assistance from them, especially when by so doing he was forced to undertake menial work to support himself, work which they regarded as degrading for an apostle.”[]

Moreover, tradesmen (like tentmakers) were viewed as low-class. The Corinthians must’ve felt embarrassed that their prized speaker and leader was a working-class man. Cicero (1^st c. BC) wrote, “Also vulgar and unsuitable for gentlemen are the occupations of all hired workmen whom we pay for their labor… All craftsmen, too are engaged in vulgar occupations” (Cicero, An Essay about Duties 1.42; 2.225). Likewise, Lucian (2^nd c. AD) writes that a laborer received “meagre and illiberal returns, humble-witted, an insignificant figure in public, neither sought by your friends nor feared by your enemies nor envied by your fellow citizens—nothing but just a labourer, one of the swarming rabble, ever cringing to the man above… a man who has naught but his hands, a man who lives by his hands” (Lucian, The Dream 9.). Given this cultural classism, just imagine how embarrassed the Corinthians would’ve felt with this social stigma when they introduced Paul: “Here is our esteemed apostle… He’s a… tentmaker.” Consequently, it would look like Paul wasn’t a very good speaker; otherwise, he wouldn’t need a day job. Moreover, this would’ve reflected poorly on the Corinthians if they were willing to follow such a man.

Today, universities and businesses follow the same principles. They pay big bucks for people of importance in their estimation. Paul, however, worked with his hands as a tent-maker in order to teach them (Acts 18:3). He worked double duty (tent making during the day and teaching after work) in order to serve them. This is the “humbling” he is no doubt referring to.

(11:8) “I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you.”

It is a biblical imperative to support full-time vocational leaders and teachers who serve us in the local church (Gal. 6:6; 1 Tim. 5:17). Paul wasn’t against this. But he refused this right in Corinth (1 Cor. 9:4-18), because they had been taught that they should pay exorbitant prices to hear erudite speakers. Paul didn’t want to be confused with this crowd and lose credibility. Therefore, he allowed other churches to support him, rather than taking money from the Corinthians (“I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you”).

(11:9) “And when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.”

Paul mentions this financial support in Philippians 4:15 and 1 Thessalonians 3:6. The Macedonians were poor (2 Cor. 8:2, 5), yet they were powerful givers. Paul already mentioned that the Macedonians had given a large sum of money to the church in Jerusalem despite their poverty (2 Cor. 8-9). Now, he mentions that the Macedonians were the ones paying Paul’s salary while he was in Corinth. To paraphrase, Paul is saying, “You Corinthians are wealthy, but I didn’t take your money. Instead, the working-class and poor Christians in Macedonia paid my salary.” This would’ve landed hard on pride of the Corinthians.

(11:10-11) “As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. ¹¹ Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!”

The boasting mentioned here refers to the refusal to take money from the Corinthians. Corinth was “the major city and administrative centre” of Achaia.[] In this culture, if you received money from someone, you owed them gifts, praise, and gratitude (Seneca, On Benefits 3.5.2). In other words, gifts were given with strings attached. Paul didn’t want to be trapped by this social convention, and he preferred to be poor but free to teach and lead how he wanted.

Refusing money could have the effect of appearing prideful on his behalf. But Paul absolutely denies this.

(11:12) “But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.”

Paul refused the money to keep his character free from accusation. The false teachers didn’t just take money, but they “took advantage” of the Corinthians (v.20), presumably by picking their pockets.

(11:13) “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.”

Paul already mentioned being aware of “Satan’s schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11). Here he expounds on these principles. He comes right out and says that these men are “false apostles.” Remember, they preach “another Jesus,” “another spirit,” and “another gospel” (v.4).

(11:14) “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

Just as we learn in Galatians, we shouldn’t trust a message—even if an angel was the messenger (Gal. 1:8). This is because evil spirits can manifest as coming from God. Similarly, Paul argues, Satan himself can masquerade as a beautiful angel. Extra-biblical, pseudepigraphical Jewish literature stated that Satan appeared to Eve as an angel of light: “Satan appeared in the form of an angel and sang hymns like the angels. And I bent over the wall and saw him, like an angel” (Apocalypse of Moses 17:1-2; Life of Adam and Eve 9:1-11:3). Paul isn’t citing this literature. Rather, this concept of Satan was affirmed broadly in Jewish thinking.

We might think that it’s odd for Satan to appear as a beautiful angel. But why? This fits with his narcissism and desire to be worshipped. It would be truly surprising if Satan took the form of a sacrificial servant, giving his life for others.

(11:15) “Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”

Paul is imploring the Corinthians to listen closely to their teaching. While they look and sound righteous, the content of their teaching is false. Paul begins to shift in this verse to looking at their “deeds.” That is, we can discern false teachers through their words (vv.1-15), as well as their works (vv.16ff).

#3. Look at their WORKS

(11:16) “Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little.”

You can hear Paul’s resistance to engage in boasting. But he feels that he must in order to take down these false teachers (see comments on verse 1 above). This is a repetition in what he said in verse 1 (“bear with me in a little foolishness”). Throughout this section, Paul keeps repeating how “foolish” or “insane” it is to boast like this (2 Cor. 11:21, 23, 30; 12:1, 11). He is adopting “his rivals’ ways to show how ultimately foolish they are.”[] He is also adopting the views of the Corinthians themselves (1 Cor. 4:10).

(11:17-18) “What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. ¹⁸ Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also.”

The RSV makes these verses a parenthesis. Paul realizes that this entire enterprise is foolish and un-Christian. But he engages in it to beat the critics at their own game (“since many boast…”). This is not compromising Paul’s convictions, however, because his boasting is “in the Lord” (2 Cor. 10:17) and in his “weaknesses” (2 Cor. 11:30).

(11:19) “For you, being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly.”

Paul is reticent to boast, but he points out that the Corinthians allowed these boasters. Therefore, they should allow his boasting. His statement drips with sarcasm, because the Corinthians viewed themselves as “wise” (1 Cor. 3:18-20; 4:10; 6:5; 8:1-7; 13:2).

(11:20) “For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face.”

This is a real indictment on the Corinthians. Many of them were suspicious of Paul, but they were allowing carnal, non-Christian leaders to push their agenda in the church. The Corinthians were “tolerant” of being spiritually abused by these false teachers, but they were intolerant of the true spirituality that Paul taught.

Paul’s credentials

(11:21) “To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison. But in whatever respect anyone else is bold—I speak in foolishness—I am just as bold myself.”

Paul calls himself “too weak” to be a carnal, unrighteous leader. Again, this is real sarcasm and irony.[] Yet he argues that if he were to boast, then he would still have these guys beat. Up until this point, Paul argued that he wasn’t “inferior” to these false teachers (2 Cor. 11:5; 12:11). Here he argues that his heritage, pedigree, hard work, and spiritual experiences far outclass these men.

(11:22) “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.”

These false teachers were clearly ethnically Jewish. Paul has them beat on this: He was thoroughly Jewish in his ancestry and heritage.

(11:23) “Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.”

“Are they servants of Christ?” This passage can be harmonized with 11:13 by pointing out that verse 13 is Paul’s estimation of them, while verse 23 is their estimate of themselves. This could be understood as, “Do they claim to be servants of Christ?”

“I speak as if insane” (paraphronōn) literally means to be “beside oneself” or to be “irrational” (BDAG, 772). Again, you can tell that Paul really feels uncomfortable boasting like this, but he feels he needs to in order to battle these false teachers.

“Far more imprisonments.” While only one imprisonment is mentioned before this time in the book of Acts (Acts 16:19-40), this implies that Acts is silent on many of Paul’s endeavors—only giving the highlights.

(11:24) “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.”

The OT law kept corporal punishment to 40 lashes (Deut. 25:1-3). The Jews only used 39 lashes in case they accidentally miscounted.[] Josephus referred to this as an especially “ignominious” punishment for a free man (Josephus, Antiquities 4.8.21 §238). Paul’s whippings are not recorded in Acts. However, Paul used to torture Christians in this way (Acts 22:20; 26:11), so it seems plausible that he would receive a similar punishment. This implicitly shows that Paul didn’t remove himself from the Jewish people; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been caught and (falsely) prosecuted by them.[] It’s no wonder that Paul could write to the Galatians, “I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17). His body must’ve been mangled.

(11:25) “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.”

“Three times I was beaten with rods.” Acts only mentions one beating with rods (Acts 16:22-23).

“Once I was stoned.” Acts records Paul being stoned at Lystra (Acts 14:19).

“Three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.” Acts records one devastating shipwreck (Acts 27:13-44), but this was after 2 Corinthians was written. So, Acts leaves out three previous shipwrecks of Paul. However, Acts does record nine sea voyages prior to the writing of 2 Corinthians, so this is certainly plausible.[] Moreover, Paul surely didn’t sail “first-class on the queens of the Roman merchant marine and may have taken more than one journey on a coastal tub that was less than seaworthy.”[] Regarding these additional shipwrecks, Harris writes, “Paul’s life was even more colorful than Acts would lead the reader to believe!”[]

(11:26) “I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren.”

“Frequent journeys.” Paul was constantly moving. We might overlook this as a form of suffering, but constant travel and moving would’ve been stressful. This is especially true in a day before paved highways, police, and GPS (or even quality maps!).

“In dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers.” Harris writes, “[Paul] would be thinking especially of crossing the Taurus range between Perga in Pamphylia and Antioch in Phrygia near Pisidia (Acts 13:14; 14:24), a journey made hazardous by the mountain torrents and the predatory Pisidian highlanders.”[]

“Dangers from my countrymen.” Some Jewish religious leaders plotted against Paul numerous times in Acts (Acts 9:23, 29; 14:19; 18:12).

“Dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city.” Acts records two explicit cases of danger from Gentiles (Acts 16:16-40; 19:23-41).

(11:27) “I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

“Many sleepless nights.” Regarding Paul going without sleep, Harris writes that this “could refer to insomnia because of physical discomfort or illness, but more probably the phrase alludes to voluntary sleeplessness from pressure of work.”[] It could have been related to preaching all night long (Acts 20:7-12, 31), or it could refer to working “day and night” at his trade (1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8).

(11:28) “Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”

The word “pressure” (merimna) is the same term translated as “anxiety.” Paul includes this at the end of his list of physical torture, which shows that Paul not only struggled with bouts of depression (2 Cor. 7:6) but also anxiety. Of course, this was an anxiety for the sake of others—not for himself (cf. Lk. 13:34). Paul experienced anxiety related to his ministry on various occasions: He worried for Titus (2 Cor. 2:12-13), the Corinthians (2 Cor. 12:20-21), the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 3:1, 5, 8), and the Galatians (Gal. 4:19-20). Barnett comments, “The location of this verse at the end of the list of privations suggests that his concern for the churches was the source of his deepest suffering. The questions of the next verse, ‘Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I do not burn?’ clinch the point… The churches of God were and remain a source of joy, but also of anxiety, to those who are their pastors.”[]

(11:29) “Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?”

The “weak” could refer to the theologically weak (1 Cor. 8-10). On the other hand, in the immediate context, Paul is comparing “weakness” with “strength.” Paul uses the word (skandalizō) to describe being “led into sin” or “stumbled” (1 Cor. 1:23; Rom. 16:17). We agree with Barnett[] that Paul is referring to believers who are being taken advantage of—not the theologically weak believers of 1 Corinthians 8 or Romans 14.

Paul “inwardly burned” (NIV, pyroō) when he saw people fall into sin. This probably refers to the pain of caring. When we see people lose their faith, this hurts deeply. It’s no wonder he used the word “anxiety” (merimna) in verse 28.

(11:30) “If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.”

Paul really didn’t like boasting about his strengths. He preferred to boast about his weaknesses, because this makes God look even better. Paul took the standards of the Corinthians and false apostles and flipped them on their head. He boasts not in his power, but in his weaknesses and sufferings. This could hardly have been what they expected.

(11:31) “The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.”

Paul brings God into the proverbial courtroom to testify to the truthfulness of this incredible list of “weaknesses” and suffering.

(11:32-33) “In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, ³³ and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands.”

This event is recorded in Acts 9:25. Kruse writes, “King Aretas IV (9 BC-AD 39) was ruler of the Nabataeans, an Arabian nation whose kingdom had once included the city of Damascus.”[]

Why does Paul specifically reference this event of being persecuted at Damascus? Harris speculates, “Perhaps Paul mentions the episode because it had shattered the residual pride of Saul the Pharisee (cf. Acts 9:1, 2) and had become the supreme example of the humiliation and weakness he was boasting about (v. 30). Or he may be referring to it because his detractors had used it to ridicule him and prove his cowardice (cf. 10:1, 10). Or again, he may be speaking of it because it was probably the first attempt on his life and such a significant reversal of roles (Acts 9:1, 2!) that it had been indelibly impressed on his memory.”[]

On the other hand, Paul could be citing this as an archetype of what his future ministry would look like. Garland writes, “Hiding in a basket is not something that someone with power would do, and the incident occurs at the very beginning of his ministry. It serves as a paradigm, as it were, for what was to come.”[] Indeed, he speculates, “One might wonder if Paul did not intend to evoke laughter at this picture.”[]

Questions for Reflection

Paul was under attack from the false teachers. By reading this chapter, what sorts of accusations do you think Paul was receiving?

What approach does Paul take to refute their accusations?

What are good ways to discern if a person is a good Christian leader? What are some misleading ways that could confuse our discernment?

As you read this chapter, what are some of the key differences between Paul’s boasting and regular boasting?