2Cor 11:21-33 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for 2Cor 11:21-29: 11:21b-29 Rather than boasting about his strengths and successes like the false teachers did, Paul boasts in weakness and defeat, pointing away from himself and toward God.

Summary for 2Cor 11:21-29: 11:21b-29 ^a Rather than boasting about his strengths and successes like the false teachers did, Paul boasts in weakness and defeat, pointing away from himself and toward God.
11:22 ^b Are they Hebrews? So am I: A Jewish heritage was seen by Paul’s opponents as a qualification for ministry (see Phil 3:5 ^c).

• Are they Israelites? So am I: An Israelite was a member of the covenant community by circumcision (cp. John 1:47 ^d; Rom 9:4 ^e). Paul had this badge also and was in fact a Pharisee, a most devoted follower of Torah (Acts 26:4-5 ^f; Rom 11:1 ^g; Phil 3:5-6 ^h).

• Are they descendants of Abraham? This is yet another of Paul’s opponents’ claims to God’s favor based on ethnic identity. Elsewhere, Paul clarifies who can truly be called Israelites and descendants of Abraham (see Rom 2:28-29 ⁱ; Gal 3:16 ^j, 26-29 ^k). Here, he ironically adopts the erroneous perspective of his opponents to beat them at their own game.
Summary for 2Cor 11:23-27: 11:23-27 ^l I have served him far more! Paul’s service to Christ had entailed Christlike sufferings and toils. Some of the difficulties in this litany are recorded in Acts.
Summary for 2Cor 11:23-24: 11:23-24 ^m in prison more often: E.g., see Acts 16:22-23 ⁿ. Clement of Rome says that Paul was imprisoned a total of seven times.

• thirty-nine lashes: This punishment was prescribed in Deut 25:1-3 ^o. The Jewish leaders punished Paul as a renegade Jew, and he faced death again and again.
11:25 ^p Three times I was beaten with rods: Paul suffered this Roman punishment at Philippi, though as a Roman citizen he should have been exempted (Acts 16:22-24 ^q, 37 ^r).

• Once I was stoned: At Lystra (Acts 14:19 ^s).

• Three times I was shipwrecked: These events are otherwise unknown; Paul’s shipwreck on the voyage to Rome would come later (Acts 27:1-44 ^t).
Summary for 2Cor 11:26-27: 11:26-27 ^u Paul’s many long journeys are recorded in Acts 13–28 ^v. These trips involved facing danger and enduring hardship.
11:28 ^w In addition to physical difficulties, Paul felt the burden of concern (or anxiety) for all the churches. No church gave Paul more cause for concern than Corinth.
11:30 ^x the things that show how weak I am: Paul develops this theme in 12:1-10 ^y.
Summary for 2Cor 11:32-33: 11:32-33 ^z As a final “boast” of his weakness, Paul tells the story of his escape from Damascus a few years after his conversion (see Acts 9:23-25 ^aa; Gal 1:15-18 ^ab).

• King Aretas IV of Nabataea controlled Damascus only after AD 37, following the death of the emperor Tiberius (see Josephus, Antiquities 18.5.1-3); the mention of Aretas dates Paul’s escape from Damascus between AD 37 and the end of Aretas’s reign in AD 39 or 40.