2Cor 4:8-11 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 8. We are troubled . We the apostles. Paul here refers to some of the trials to which he and his fellow-labourers were subjected in making known the gospel. The design for which he does it seems to be, to show them (1.) what they endured in preaching the truth; (2.) to show the sustaining power of that gospel in the midst of afflictions; and (3.) to conciliate their favour, or to remind them that they had endured these things on their account, . Perhaps one leading design was to recover the affections of those of the Corinthians whose hearts had been alienated from him, by showing them how much he had endured on their account. For this purpose he freely opens his heart to them, and tenderly represents the many and grievous pressures and hardships to which love to souls, and theirs among the rest, had exposed him.-- Doddridge . The whole passage is one of the most pathetic and beautiful to be found in the New Testament. The word rendered troubled (θλιβομενοι, from θλιβω) may have reference to wrestling, or to the contests in the Grecian games. It properly means, to press, to press together; then to press as in a crowd where there is a throng, ( ;) then to compress together, ( ;) and then to oppress, or compress with evils, to distress, to afflict, . Here it may mean, that he was encompassed with trials, or placed in the midst of them, so that they pressed upon him as persons do in a crowd, or, possibly, as a man was close pressed by an adversary in the games. He refers to the fact that he was called to endure a great number of trials and afflictions. Some of those trials he refers to in : "When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears." On every side . In every respect. In every way. We are subjected to all kinds of trial and affliction. Yet not distressed . This by no means expresses the force of the original; nor is it possible perhaps to express it in a translation. Tindal renders it, "yet we are not without our shift." The Greek word here used (στενοχωρουμενοι) as a relation to the word which is rendered "troubled." It properly means, to crowd into a narrow place; to straiten as to room; to be so straitened as not to be able to turn one's self. And the idea is, that though he was close pressed by persecutions and trials, yet he was not so hemmed in that he had no way to turn himself; his -trials did not wholly prevent motion and action, he was not so closely pressed as a man would be who was so straitened that he could not move his body, or stir hand or foot. He had still resources; he was permitted to move; the energy of his piety, and the rigour of his soul, could not be entirely cramped and impeded by the trials which encompassed him. The Syriac renders it, "In all things we are pressed, but are not suffocated." The idea is, he was not wholly discouraged, and disheartened, and overcome. He had resources in his piety which enabled him to bear up under these trials, and still to engage in the work of preaching the gospel. We are perplexed , απορουμενοι. This word (from απορος, without resource, which is derived from α, priv., and πορος, way, or exit) means, to be without resource; to know not what to do; to hesitate; to be in doubt and anxiety, as a traveller is, who is ignorant of the way, or who has not the means of prosecuting his journey. It means here, that they were often brought into circumstances of great embarrassment, where they hardly knew what to do, or what course to take. They were surrounded by foes; they were in want; they were in circumstances which they had not anticipated, and which greatly perplexed them. But not in despair . In the margin, "not altogether without help or means." Tindal renders this, "We are in poverty, but not utterly without somewhat." In the word here used, (εξαπορουμενοι,) the preposition is intensive or emphatic, and means utterly, quite . The word means, to be utterly without resource; to despair altogether; and the idea of Paul here is, that they were not left entirely without resource. Their wants were provided for; their embarrassments were removed; their grounds of perplexity were taken away; and unexpected strength and resources were imparted to them. When they did not know what to do, when all resources seemed to fail them, in some unexpected manner they would be relieved and saved from absolute despair. How often does this occur in the lives of all Christians! And how certain is it, that in all such cases God will interpose by his grace and aid his people, and save them from absolute despair. (a) "troubled on every side" (1) "not in despair" "not altogether without help or means"

2 Corinthians 4:8-11

Verse 8. We are troubled. We the apostles. Paul here refers to some of the trials to which he and his fellow-labourers were subjected in making known the gospel. The design for which he does it seems to be, to show them

(1.) what they endured in preaching the truth;

(2.) to show the sustaining power of that gospel in the midst of afflictions; and

(3.) to conciliate their favour, or to remind them that they had endured these things on their account, 2Cor 4:12-15. Perhaps one leading design was to recover the affections of those of the Corinthians whose hearts had been alienated from him, by showing them how much he had endured on their account. For this purpose he freely opens his heart to them, and tenderly represents the many and grievous pressures and hardships to which love to souls, and theirs among the rest, had exposed him.--Doddridge. The whole passage is one of the most pathetic and beautiful to be found in the New Testament. The word rendered troubled (θλιβομενοι, from θλιβω) may have reference to wrestling, or to the contests in the Grecian games. It properly means, to press, to press together; then to press as in a crowd where there is a throng, (Mk 3:9;) then to compress together, (Mt 7:14;) and then to oppress, or compress with evils, to distress, to afflict, 2Thes 1:6, 2Cor 1:6. Here it may mean, that he was encompassed with trials, or placed in the midst of them, so that they pressed upon him as persons do in a crowd, or, possibly, as a man was close pressed by an adversary in the games. He refers to the fact that he was called to endure a great number of trials and afflictions. Some of those trials he refers to in 2Cor 7:5: "When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears."

On every side. In every respect. In every way. We are subjected to all kinds of trial and affliction.

Yet not distressed. This by no means expresses the force of the original; nor is it possible perhaps to express it in a translation. Tindal renders it, "yet we are not without our shift." The Greek word here used (στενοχωρουμενοι) as a relation to the word which is rendered "troubled." It properly means, to crowd into a narrow place; to straiten as to room; to be so straitened as not to be able to turn one's self. And the idea is, that though he was close pressed by persecutions and trials, yet he was not so hemmed in that he had no way to turn himself; his -trials did not wholly prevent motion and action, he was not so closely pressed as a man would be who was so straitened that he could not move his body, or stir hand or foot. He had still resources; he was permitted to move; the energy of his piety, and the rigour of his soul, could not be entirely cramped and impeded by the trials which encompassed him. The Syriac renders it, "In all things we are pressed, but are not suffocated." The idea is, he was not wholly discouraged, and disheartened, and overcome. He had resources in his piety which enabled him to bear up under these trials, and still to engage in the work of preaching the gospel.

We are perplexed, απορουμενοι. This word (from απορος, without resource, which is derived from α, priv., and πορος, way, or exit) means, to be without resource; to know not what to do; to hesitate; to be in doubt and anxiety, as a traveller is, who is ignorant of the way, or who has not the means of prosecuting his journey. It means here, that they were often brought into circumstances of great embarrassment, where they hardly knew what to do, or what course to take. They were surrounded by foes; they were in want; they were in circumstances which they had not anticipated, and which greatly perplexed them.

But not in despair. In the margin, "not altogether without help or means." Tindal renders this, "We are in poverty, but not utterly without somewhat." In the word here used, (εξαπορουμενοι,) the preposition is intensive or emphatic, and means utterly, quite. The word means, to be utterly without resource; to despair altogether; and the idea of Paul here is, that they were not left entirely without resource. Their wants were provided for; their embarrassments were removed; their grounds of perplexity were taken away; and unexpected strength and resources were imparted to them. When they did not know what to do, when all resources seemed to fail them, in some unexpected manner they would be relieved and saved from absolute despair. How often does this occur in the lives of all Christians! And how certain is it, that in all such cases God will interpose by his grace and aid his people, and save them from absolute despair.

(a) "troubled on every side" 2Cor 7:5 (1) "not in despair" "not altogether without help or means" Verse 9. Persecuted.Often persecuted; persecuted in all places. The "Acts of the Apostles" show how true this was.

But not forsaken. Not deserted; not left by God. Though persecuted by men, yet they experienced the fulfillment of the Divine promise that he would never leave or forsake them. God always interposed to aid them; always saved them from the power of their enemies; always sustained them in the time of persecution. It is still true. people have been often persecuted. Yet God has often interposed to save them from the hands of their enemies; and where he has not saved them from their hands, and preserved their lives, yet he has never left them, but has sustained, upheld, and comforted them even in the dreadful agonies of death.

Cast down. Thrown down by our enemies, perhaps in allusion to the contests of wrestlers, or of gladiators.

But not destroyed. Not killed. They rose again; they recovered their strength; they were prepared for new conflicts. They surmounted every difficulty, and were ready to engage in new strifes, and to meet new trials and persecutions. Verse 10. Always bearing about in the body. The expression here used is designed to show the great perils to which Paul was exposed. And the idea is, that he had on his body the marks, the stripes and marks of punishment and persecution, which showed that he was exposed to the same violent death which the Lord Jesus himself endured. Comp. Gal 6:17: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." It is a strong energetic mode of expression, to denote the severity of the trials to which he was exposed; and the meaning is, that his body bore the marks of his being exposed to the same treatment as the Lord Jesus was; and evidence that he was probably yet to die in a similar manner under the hands of persecutors. Comp. Col 1:24.

The dying of the Lord Jesus. The death; the violent death. A death similar to that of the Lord Jesus. The idea is, that he was always exposed to death, and always suffering, in a manner that was equivalent to dying. The expression is parallel to what he says in 1Cor 15:31, "I die daily;" and in 2Cor 11:23, where he says, "in deaths oft." It does not mean that he bore about literally the dying of the Lord Jesus, but that he was exposed to a similar death, and had marks on his person which showed that he was always exposed to the same violent death. This did not occur once only, or at distant intervals, but it occurred constantly; and wherever he was, it was still true that he was exposed to violence, and liable to suffer in the same manner that the Lord Jesus did.

That the life also of Jesus, etc. This passage has received, a considerable variety of interpretation. Grotius renders it, "Such a life as was that of Christ, immortal, blessed, heavenly." Locke, "That also the life of Jesus, risen from the dead, may be made manifest by the energy that accompanies my preaching in this frail body." Clarke supposes that it means, that he might be able in this manner to show that Christ was risen from the dead. But perhaps Paul does not refer to one single thing in the life of the Lord Jesus, but means that he did this in order that in all things the same life, the same kind of living which characterized the Lord Jesus, might be manifested in him or that he resembled him in his sufferings and trials, in order that in all things he might have the same life in his body. Perhaps, therefore, it may include the following things as objects at which the apostle aimed:

(1.) A desire that his life might resemble that of the Lord Jesus. That there might be the same self-denial; the same readiness to suffer; the same patience in trials; the same meekness, gentleness, zeal, ardour, love to God, and love to men evinced in his body, which was in that of the Lord Jesus. Thus understood, it means that he placed the Lord Jesus before him as the model of his life; and deemed it an object to be attained, even by great self-denial and sufferings, to be conformed to him.

(2.) A desire to attain to the same life in the resurrection which the Lord Jesus had attained to. A desire to be made like him; and that in his body, which bore about the dying of the Lord Jesus, he might again live after death as the Lord Jesus did. Thus understood, it implies an earnest wish to attain to the resurrection of the dead, and accords with what he says in Php 3:8-11, which may perhaps be considered as Paul's own commentary on this passage, which has been so variously and so little understood by expositors: "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Comp. Col 1:24. It intimates Paul's earnest desire and longing to be made like Christ in the resurrection, (comp. Php 3:21;) his longing to rise again in the last day, (comp. Acts 26:7;) his sense of the importance of the doctrine of the resurrection, and his readiness to suffer anything if he might at last attain to the resurrection of the just, and be ready to enter with the Redeemer into a world of glory. The attainment of this is the high object before the Christian, and to be made like the Redeemer in heaven, to have a body like his, is the grand purpose for which they should live; and sustained by this hope they should be willing to endure any trials, and meet any sufferings, if they may come to that same "life" and blessedness above.

(b) "about in the body" Gal 6:17 (c) "that the life" 2Ti 2:11,12 Verse 11. For we which live. Those of us, the apostles and ministers of the Redeemer, who still survive. James the brother of John had been put to death, (Acts 12:2;) and it is probable also that some other of the apostles had been also. This verse is merely explanatory of the previous verse.

Are alway delivered unto death. Exposed constantly to death. This shows what is meant, in 2Cor 4:10, by bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. 1Cor 15:31.

In our mortal flesh. In our body. In our life on earth; and in our glorified body in heaven. 2Cor 4:10.

(*) "live" "are alive" (a) "alway delivered" 1Cor 15:31,49