2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Benediction Period

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³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father and God of all comfort. ⁴He comforts us in all our troubles, so that we might be able to comfort those in any and every kind of trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also through Christ our comfort is abundant. ⁶ If we are afflicted, it is for the sake of your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is at work in your endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm since we know that, just as you share in the sufferings, so also [you share] in the comfort.

Paul usually opens his letters with a thanksgiving period, in which he gives thanks for the work of God in the lives of his addressees, ^[1] following the common epistolary convention of a report of a prayer and, often, a remembrance motif. [2] In 2 Corinthians, however, he uses a blessing formula, εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεός, praising God for blessings in which he himself participates. [3] The focus is not on what God is doing in the life of the church, but on what God is doing in Paul’s own life and ministry. Like the Pauline thanksgiving periods, the benediction period reflects the concerns that have led to the composition of the letter, and introduces some of the key themes. Paul praises God for what is being achieved through his pastoral relationship with the Corinthians. His reference to ‘all our troubles’ (1:4) evokes the Letter of Tears, in which he reaffirmed his spiritual solidarity with the church despite their disobedience and the danger of divine judgment. Though he faced mortal danger, God delivered him, and in all his troubles God continues to comfort him. Like the thanksgiving periods, the benediction period functions rhetorically as a captatio benevolentiae, seeking to gain the interest and goodwill of the audience by establishing a basis of commonality. [4] The Benediction Period introduces the theological core of the whole letter: the salvific role and purpose of personal suffering, mortal danger and divine deliverance in Paul’s apostolic ministry.

1:3-4

Εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ πατὴρ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν καὶ θεὸς πάσης παρακλήσεως, 4ὅ παρακαλῶν ἡμᾶς ἑπὶ πάσῃ τῇ θλίψει ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι ἡμᾶς παρακαλεῖν τοῦς ἐν πάσῃ θλίψει διὰ τῆς παρακλήσεως ἧς παρακαλούμεθα ^a αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ.

^a D* F G lat add καί.

‘Praise be to the God [5] and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies [6] and God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles, [7] so that [8] we might be able to comfort those in any and every kind of trouble [9] with [10] the comfort with which [11] we are comforted by God.’

The two clauses of 1:3, though neither is without parallel,[12] together suggest that Paul’s thought is essentially Christological. In the construction ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ‘the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’, the genitive phrase 'of our Lord Jesus Christ' modifies both substantives, though Paul does not accent the conceptual distinction: 'the Father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah is also the God of our Lord Jesus the Messiah'; cf. Psa 89:20-26, 'I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him ... He will call out to me, "You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior".' (NIV). [13] The verse is chiastic:

Εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς

καὶ θεὸς πάσης παρακλήσεως

The structure invites the inference that God, the compassionate Father, comforts his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, fully and completely. [14] Since ‘the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’ is also ‘God our Father’ (1:2), it is also implied, of course, that both Paul and his addressees, who are 'in Christ', may expect to share in this comfort. [15]

Barnett argues that the benediction of 1:3-4 is ‘Paul’s Christianised adaptation of the first of the Nineteen Benedictions’: [16] 'Blessed art thou O Lord our God and God of our fathers ... who bestowest abundant grace and createst all things and rememberest the promises of grace to the fathers and bringest a Redeemer …' [17] He finds the following points of contact: 'In the hands of the now converted Paul, “the God of our fathers” is identified as “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The “promises to the fathers” have been kept (1:20), and the hoped-for “redeemer” has been proclaimed in Corinth (1:19).' [18] The expression ‘merciful Father’ is also found in synagogue prayers that may also be contemporary with Paul, [19] as well as in the Qumran scrolls, [20] and the expression, ‘the God of all comfort’ is paralleled in synagogue prayers that may date back to Paul’s time. [21] Furthermore, the motif of ‘[the God] who raises the dead’ (cf. v. 9) is found in the second of the Nineteen Benedictions: [22] 'Thou art mighty, strong, that livest forever, that raisest the dead, that sustainest the living, that quickenest the dead. Blessed art thou, O Lord, that quickenest the dead.' [23]

The form of Paul’s benediction, therefore, probably has been influenced by the synagogue prayers which were so much a part of his life and worship. Nevertheless, he seems to have chosen a praise formula, rather than a thanksgiving, because his thought here derives from the Hebrew Old Testament, and in particular from the Psalms. [24] In the translation Greek of the LXX εὐλογητός, when followed by a divine name, usually ὁ θεὸς or κύριος, frequently renders the Qal passive participle ברוך, ‘praised’, ‘adored’.[25] These formulae, when used in the context of praise, are uttered in response to some concrete expression of God’s mercy or faithfulness. [26] Paul’s use of the language of divine comfort points to the direct influence of the LXX. In vv. 3-7 the key terms παρακαλέω / παράκλησις occur no fewer than ten times with the sense ‘comfort' / 'console’; this sense is common in the translation-Greek of the LXX but rare in secular Greek, and then usually confined to the exhortation or encouragement of those who are grieving. [27] The same is true of the word group παρακαλέω / παράκλησις in the LXX when there is no Hebrew original, and in the Hellenistic Jewish sources the word group is never used of divine comfort. [28] On the other hand, the use of παρακαλέω in the sense, ‘exhort’ is common in secular Hellenistic Greek, but relatively rare in the translation Greek of the LXX. [29] O’Brien rightly deduces that Paul's language of divine comfort has its origin in the LXX versions of the Psalter and of Second Isaiah:

In Isaiah the ‘comfort’ promised by Yahweh to the exiled people of Israel [31] is a second Exodus, the deliverance of the covenant people from oppression and death in exile, and the restoration of Jerusalem. [32] In the Psalms, on the other hand, individuals give thanks for divine comfort in the form of ‘help’ and ‘rescue’ from affliction and death. [33] Hofius argues persuasively, from LXX usage, that in 2 Cor 1:3-7 παρακαλέω / παράκλησις refers to divine intervention to bring about, not merely inward psychological comfort, but change in the external situation of the one comforted. Moreover, the Benediction echoes ‘a constitutive element of the ancient Israelite Toda ’: [34] the individual whom Yahweh has rescued from death testifies in the congregation, loudly praising Yahweh as his deliverer (Pss 9:14f [English versions vv. 13-14]; 22:23[22], 26[25]; 35:18; 40:10f[9f]; 109:30 are cited). The speaker does this so that ‘many’ might ‘see’ Yahweh’s rescuing grace, and ‘put their trust in him’ (Ps 40:4[3]) – so that all Israel should 'honour' and ' praise' him as the gracious living God (Ps 22:24[23], 27[26]). Through his testimony of God's gracious deliverance from death, the whole community gains the certainty of that salvific presence which is Israel’s God and deliverer; [35] so the whole community shares in his comfort (cf. Ps 31:21-25[20-24]. [36] Paul's gospel concerns the suffering and divine comfort of an individual, the Messiah, in which (as members of Christ the Messiah, the true Israel) all believers participate (Rom 8:17).

The terms θλῖψις / θλίβω are common in the LXX, and can express a wide range of afflictions, from the purely psychological troubles of anxiety and sorrow (e.g. Gen 42:21) to the distress of wandering in the desert (Ps 106[107]:6), sickness (Ps 106[107]:19), imprisonment (Ps 106[107]:13), shipwreck (Ps 106[107]:28), to personal injury caused by an enemy (Ps 53[54]:9[7]). However, in the LXX the term θλῖψις ‘predominantly represents the oppression and affliction of the people of Israel or of the righteous who represent Israel.' [37]

In these verses Paul's addressees could quite reasonably have inferred that he meant to include them within the scope of his first person plurals: that he was enunciating a principle applicable equally to themselves: the one whom God comforts in all their troubles is thereby empowered to comfort others in any kind of trouble with the comfort that they themselves have received from God. Nevertheless, the letter is written against the backdrop of Paul’s intense sufferings on behalf of the church in Corinth, and of the church's anguished repentance following the Letter of Tears (2:3-4; 7:7-12), and it should be inferred that Paul is indicating his intention to comfort the Corinthians with the comfort that he himself has received from God. [38] As often in 2 Cor 1-7, his first person plurals, though they may not exclude his addressees, refer primarily to himself. ‘In all our troubles’ (ἑπὶ πάσῃ τῇ θλίψει ἡμῶν) is clearly intended to evoke his recent and ongoing sufferings, of which the church has some knowledge through Titus and the Letter of Tears. Though he will certainly have in mind also the suffering Macedonians (8:1-2), ‘those in any kind of trouble’ (τοῦς ἐν πάσῃ θλίψει) will bring into focus the various factions of the Corinthian church, together with the offender and his family (cf. 6b-7; 2:4-5; 7:7-10). Having been divinely delivered from mortal danger (1:8-10a), at the very beginning of his letter Paul indicates his intention to share with his readers his experience in order that they may 'see' God's salvation and, once again, put their trust in him.

1:5

ὅτι καθὼς περισσεύει τὰ παθήματα τοῦ χριστοῦ εἰς ἡμᾶς, οὕτως διὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ περισσεύει καὶ ἡ παράκλησις ἡμῶν.

‘For, [39] just as [40] the sufferings of Christ [41] are abundant for us, [42] so also through Christ our comfort is abundant.’

Schmitz points out that in OT tradition, ‘God’s comfort does not come directly. It reaches man through many mediators and channels’. 'The most important human mediators of divine comfort are the prophets. To give comfort is their finest calling … The greatest comforter on God’s behalf is His Servant, one of whose main tasks is to bring the good news to the poor and therewith παρακαλέσαι πάντας τοὺς πενθοῦντας [‘to comfort all who mourn’], Is. 61.2'. [43] Paul's comfort (ἡ παράκλησις ἡμῶν), though he is comforted by God (ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, v. 4), is mediated to him διὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ, by Christ, the Servant of Yahweh, and is therefore a participation in the Servant's comfort. From the parallel structure of v. 5 (καθὼς ... οὕτως), it must then follow that Paul's sufferings are also a participation in the sufferings of the Servant (cf. [τὴν] κοινωνίαν [τῶν] παθημάτων αὐτοῦ. Cf. also Phil 3:10; Acts 9:4-5; Col 1:24).

Though all believers, as members of Christ, must participate in Christ's sufferings (Rom 8:17), as Christ's envoy Paul is called to participate in Christ's sufferings to an extraordinary degree. But since God comforts his Son fully and completely (v. 3), Paul also participates to an extraordinary degree in Christ's comfort. It is for this reason that he is able to comfort those in any kind of trouble with the comfort that he himself has receives from God. Though he makes the point in terms of his apostolic ministry in general, it is clear that his focus is the physical and mental/spiritual sufferings of the recent crisis (1:8-9; 2:4, 12-13; 4:8-9; 7:5).

1:6-7

εἴτε δὲ θλιβόμεθα, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν παρακλήσεως ^a καὶ σωτηρίας· εἴτε παρακαλοῦμεθα, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν παρακλήσεως ^b τῆς ἐνεργουμένης ἐν ὑπομονῇ τῶν αὐτῶν παθημάτων ὧν καὶ ἡμεῖς πάσχομεν. 7 καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς ἡμῶν βεβαία ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ^c εἰδότες ὅτι ὡς κοινωνοί ἐστε τῶν παθημάτων οὕτως καὶ τῆς παρακλήσεως.

^{a, b} It seems that a scribe accidentally omitted the words καὶ σωτηρίας· εἴτε παρακαλοῦμεθα, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν παρακλήσεως by homoioteleuton (his eye passed from παρακλήσεως to παρακλήσεως), which were later written in the margin. Subsequently, copyists incorporated the omitted words back into the text after βεβαία ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν (^c). [44] This then gave rise to the following variants after εἴτε δὲ θλιβόμεθα, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν παρακλήσεως:

The text accepted here (and by NA²⁸) is attested by א A C P Ψ 0121 0243 104 365 1739 18812464 (p⁴⁶) r vg (sy^p) co Ambrosiaster; 629, 1175 read ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν.

‘If we are afflicted, it is [45] for the sake of [46] your comfort and salvation; [47] if [48] we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is at work [49] in [your] endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, since we know that just as you share in the sufferings, so also [you share] in the comfort.’

The particle δέ marks a new development in the argument, the addition of a new but closely related thought. [50] In the first of two parallel statements, Paul says that if he is afflicted, then it is for the sake of the Corinthians' 'comfort and salvation'. The phrase τῆς ὑμῶν παρακλήσεως καὶ σωτηρίας is a hendiadys. The two terms παράκλησις and σωτηρία, which are governed by a single definite article, clarify and reinforce one another, expressing a single concept: comfort in the sense of salvation. In almost every instance Paul uses the terms σωτηρία / σῴζω with reference to eternal salvation. [51] Here there is an unmistakable allusion to the Jewish Righteous Sufferer tradition, and the language of comfort and salvation brings to mind particularly the LXX of Second Isaiah, where the restoration of the exiled remnant of Israel is described both as God's comfort (παρακαλέω) [52] and as his salvation (σωτηρία / σῴζω). [53] In 2:14-7:4, where Paul clearly associates his own ministry with that of the Servant, the process of the Corinthians’ 'comfort and salvation' is explained in terms of the manifestation, in the person of the suffering apostle, of the divine glory, the visible presence and saving power of the crucified and risen Christ. Its recent outworking in the life of the community is described plainly in 7:7-11. The church had rebelled against God and left the path of salvation; in effect, they had returned into exile in the realm of Satan (cf. 6:17). God's concern in bringing upon Paul his recent sufferings was for the Corinthians' eternal salvation, and through the apostle's sufferings the church was brought to repentance. Furnish comments, ‘What the Corinthians see in the apostles no less than what they hear from them becomes a proclamation of the power and love of God’. [54]

If he is comforted (εἴτε παρακαλοῦμεθα), Paul says, it is for the sake of his addressees’ comfort (ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν παρακλήσεως). Here the term παρακλήσεως is no longer qualified by καὶ σωτηρίας, and although God's ultimate concern is still for the Corinthians' salvation, the more common nuances of 'lifting another's spirits' (consolation) and ''[act of] emboldening another in belief or course of action' (encouragement) [55] seem to be in view. Here Paul takes up v. 3-5: through Christ, God has given him abundant comfort, in order that he might console and encourage the Corinthians with the comfort (in the form of deliverance from mortal danger) that he himself has received from God. Paul qualifies the clause with the participial construction τῆς ἐνεργουμένης ἐν ὑπομονῇ τῶν αὐτῶν παθημάτων ὧν καὶ ἡμεῖς πάσχομεν. Though to a lesser degree, the Corinthians are suffering the same sufferings that Paul also suffers (cf. v. 7): they are participating with him in the fellowship of Christ's sufferings. The encouragement that they will receive from Paul, through his account (in what he is about to write, vv. 8-11) of the comfort that he himself has received from God, will take effect as they endure and patiently work through the outrage, humiliation, sorrow and repentance that, through Paul's sufferings, God has produced in them. Since their repentance, if it is complete, must include withdrawal from meals in the idol temples (1 Cor 10:1-22), Paul is likely anticipating also the inevitably negative social, economic and political consequences of such abstention, which could even lead to persecution.

V. 7 The Corinthians have not only suffered, but have also experienced repentance (7:10). Their decision to expel the incestuous offender from their community (2:6; 7:11), in response to the Letter of Tears, has evidently convinced Paul that their repentance is genuine. Since their repentance is leading towards salvation (μετάνοιαν εἰς σωτηρίαν, 7:10), he is confident that they are being saved. Like the apostle himself, they share not only in Christ's sufferings but also in his comfort; Paul's hope for them is therefore firm. God's gracious action of comforting them through the suffering apostle imposes upon them an obligation of obedience: ''Basic to [Paul's] line of argument in vv. 3-7 is awareness of his auditors' involvement in various forms of reciprocity, a fundamental ingredient of all human interaction' [56]

[1] Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4; Phil 1:3; 1 Thess 1:2; cf. Col 1:3; Eph. 1:16; 2 Thess 1:3; 2 Tim 1:3. Galatians has neither a thanksgiving nor a benediction.

[3] Dean, Saint Paul and Corinth 44; cf. Eph 1:3ff.

[4] Heinrici, Der Erste Brief an die Korinther 44, Aune, The New Testament in its Literary Environment 186, ‘The thanksgiving period is not just ornamental. It often praises the recipients, functioning as an exordium aimed at securing their goodwill. As such it is a functional equivalent to introductory sections of official letters that praise the recipients. Pauline thanksgivings usually encapsulate the main themes of letters, like the thanksgiving periods in papyrus letters and introductions of speeches’(both quoted by Mitchell, Paul and the Rhetoric of Reconciliation 194 n 46); Berger, K., 1974, Apostelbrief und apostolische Rede / Zum Formular frühchristliche Briefe, ZNW 65:190-231221-223.

[5] In the LXX the expression εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς renders ברוך יהוה, 'Praise be to Yahweh' (3 Kgdms 5:21); ברוך אלהים, ‘Praise be to God’ (Psa 65[66]:20; 67[68]:36; Dan. Th. 3:95[28]), and ברוך צורand (freely) 'Praise to my Rock!' (Psa 17[18]:47).

[7] In the expression επὶ πάσῃ τῇ θλίψει ἡμῶν, πᾶς marks ‘the highest degree of something’: ‘in all our trouble’. BDAG s.v. πᾶς 3b; MHT 200.

[8] εἰς τό + infinitive can encode either purpose or result, but when (as here) God is the subject, a clear distinction is, in my view, untenable.

[9] In the expression τοῦς ἐν πάσῃ θλίψει, πᾶς has the sense ‘any’; hence, ‘those in any and every kind of trouble’. BDAG s.v. πᾶς 2a; MHT 200.

[10] NJB takes δία to be causal (BDAG s.v. δία A5), ‘because of the encouragement that we ourselves receive from God.’ However, the apostle’s self-understanding as the Corinthians’ representative who has suffered for their sake (cf. 1:6a), and the backdrop of Psalm 69, call for an instrumental nuance.

[11] ἧς – ᾗ has been attracted to the preceding genitive; BDF 194(2).

[12] The first clause is also found in identical form in 1 Pet 1:3.

[14] Cf. Proudfoot, C. M., Imitation or Realistic Participation? A Study of Paul’s Concept of Suffering with Christ. Int 17 (1963) 140-60 143.

[15] The fatherhood of God is emphasized by repetition. As Paul is about to discuss covenantal discipline, it is important that his addressees keep God’s fatherly love clearly in mind.

[20] Cf. 1QH XVIII, 14 (formerly X, 14), ‘You are blessed, O merciful Lord' (ברוך אתה אדוני אל הרחמים), and 1QH XIX, 29 (formerly XI, 29), ‘You are blessed, O merciful and compassionate Lord’ (ברוך אתה אל הרחמים והחנינה).

[21]

Barnett cites P. Ketubot 8b, 27 (Strack-Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Alten Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch 3:494). and the expression ‘compassionate Father’ may well have been used in synagogue prayers.

[22] Barnett, Second Epistle to the Corinthians 82. The description “God who raises the dead” is also traced to the Second Benediction by Windisch, Der zweite Korintherbrief 47 and others.

[24] The verb εὐχαριστέω never occurs in the translation Greek of the LXX. The verb ידה (hiphil and hithpael, ‘to praise’, but also ‘to confess’), which developed into ‘to give thanks’, and which occurs about 64 times in the Psalms, is usually translated by ἐξομολογέω. On the other hand, the root ברך occurs more than sixty times in the Psalms in the context of praise, and is usually translated by εὐλογέω or a cognate. The verb ברך is never used of praise to God in Isaiah.

[26] In the translation Greek of the LXX, εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς renders the following expressions of praise to God: ברוך אל (Gen 14:20), ברוך אלהים (Pss 65(66):20; 67:36(66:35)), ברוך יהוה (3 Kgds 5:21 [English 5:7]). εὐλογητὸς κύριος, with one exception, renders the praise formula ברוך יהוה (Gen 24:27; Exod 18:10; Ruth 4:14; 1Kgd 25:32, 39; 2 Kgd 18:28; 3 Kgd 1:48; 8:15, 56; 2 Chr 2:11; 6:4; Ezra 7:27; Pss 27(28):6; 30:22(31:21); 40:14(41:13); 71(72):18; 88(89):53; 105(106):48; 123(124):6; 134(135):21); Zec 11:5; Dan 3:95(28). The single exception is Ps 67:20(68:19), for ברוך אדני. In Zec 11:5, the praise formula εὐλογητὸς κύριος / ברוך יהוה is blasphemously appropriated in false or mock praise.

[28] Schmitz, TDNT 5:778-9. Schmitz notes the use of παρακαλέω of Jacob's comfort of and intercession for Reuben in TReub 4:4 (cf. TJos 17:4), and of the divine comfort of Joseph in TJos 1:6; 2:6 (cf. TAsh 6:6); the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs appear to have been composed in the second century, and were influenced by Paul's Corinthian correspondence.

[31] παρακαλέω translates Piel / Pual of נחם (‘comfort’) in Isa 40:1(´2); 49:13; 51:3, 12, 19; (52:9); 54:11; 61:2; 66:13(´2); the verb is used of other divine actions of comfort and deliverance in Is. 49:10 (Qal of נהג, for Yahweh “driving” his people in the Second Exodus, like a flock of sheep); 57:18 (Hiphil of נחה, for Yahweh 'guiding' his people; 66:12 (Pulpal of (שׁעע , for Jerusalem 'dandling' the people of Yahweh on her knee). LXX Isa 41:27 reads, 'I will comfort Jerusalem by the way' (Ιερουσαλημ παρακαλέσω εἰς ὁδόν); the MT has 'I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good tidings'.

[32] Hofius, O., "Der Gott allen Trostes", paraklesis and parakalein in 2 Kor 1,3-7, Theologische Beiträge 14 (1983) 217-227, 220-22; cf. Isa 40:1, 2, 11; 41:27; 49:10, 13; 51:3, 12; 54:11; Bar 4:21-30.

[33] Hofius, "Der Gott allen Trostes" 224, with reference to the ‘entscheidenden Texte’ (‘crucial texts’), Pss. 71(70):20-24; 86(85):1f, 7, 12-17; 94(93):16-22; together with 23(22):4-6.

[34] Hofius, Der Gott allen Trostes 227.

[35] Hofius, Der Gott allen Trostes 227.

[36] Hofius, Der Gott allen Trostes 227.

[37] Schlier, TDNT 3:140-142; the quote is from page 142, emphasis mine.

[38] ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ is emphatic, since Paul could have written, ὑπ' αὐτοῦ (Harris, The second epistle to the Corinthians 145 n 35).

[39] That the divine purpose of ‘our’ sufferings is that ‘we’ might be empowered to mediate comfort to others, may be inferred from the fact that (ὅτι …); BDAG s.v. ὅτι 4b.

[40] BDAG s.v. καθὼς 1, ‘of comparison, just as, w. οὕτως foll. (just) as … so'.

[41] πάθημα here denotes ‘that which is suffered or endured’, BDAG s.v. 1 (cf. Thrall, Second Epistle to the Corinthians I 107 n 193).

[42] BDAG s.v. περισσεύω 1aβ, ‘be present in abundance’.

[43] Schmitz TDNT 5.790; my translation of the Greek.

[48] εἴτε … εἴτε – ‘if … or if’; BDAG s.v. εἰ 6oα.

[49] BDAG s.v. ἐνεργέω 1b, understanding the participle ἐνεργουμένης as a middle voice. Since God could well be understood as the implied agent, it could be passive (‘which is made effective’).

[51] An exception is σωτηρία in Phil 1:19.

[53] The noun σωτηρία and its cognate verb σῴζω are common in the LXX Psalms, rendering forms of the root ישע and expressing God’s deliverance; Foerster, TDNT 7:976. However, in combination with the language of comfort, and with reference to the community rather than to the individual, the terms are more characteristic of Second Isaiah.

[54] Furnish, II Corinthians 121, emphasis his.

[55] BDAG s.v. παράκλησις 3, 1 respectively.