2 Cor 1:8-11

Translation

⁸ For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning the affliction that came upon us in the Province of Asia. We were oppressed so far beyond endurance that we despaired  even of surviving. ⁹ Indeed, we have within ourselves a sentence of death, so that we might depend, not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He  delivered us from so great a danger of death, and he will deliver us. In him we have set our hope; and he will again deliver us, ¹¹ as you join in helping us by prayer, so that by many persons thanks may be given on our behalf  for the gracious favour [bestowed on us] through [the prayers of] many'.

1:8

Οὐ γὰρ θέλομεν ^a ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, ὑπὲρ ^b τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν τῆς γενομένης ^c ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ, ὅτι καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὴν ὑπὲρ δύναμιν ἐβαρήθημεν ὥστε ἐξαπορηθῆναι ἡμᾶς καὶ τοῦ ζῆν·

^a K bo read θέλω.

^b א A C D F G P 0209 33 81 104 365 1175 1505 read περί, no doubt a scribal alteration, since ὑπέρ in this sense is less usual; [1] ὑπέρ is attested by p^46vid B K L Ψ 0121 0243 630 1241 1739 1881 2464 Majority Text.

^c א² D¹ K L 0209 104 1241 1505 Majority Text sy co add ἡμῖν.

‘For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning [2] the affliction [3] that came upon us [4] in [the Province of] Asia. [5] We were oppressed [6] so far beyond endurance [7] that we even despaired [8] of  life [9].’

The distinctive language of divine consolation, the language of LXX Second Isaiah and the Lament Psalms, suggests a situation in which the divine consolation granted to Paul, to which he referred in v. 6, took the form of deliverance from mortal danger (vv. 3-7). Following the Toda tradition, he now gives the expected testimony of divine deliverance; he explains (γάρ) [10] his assertion that the Corinthians are his partners in his participation not only in the sufferings of Christ, but also in his consolation (v. 7). He now discloses new information calculated to reinforce his auditors' shame and humiliation. The church already knew through the Letter of Tears that he was in danger: that their support for the incestuous man was a provocation to divine judgment, that the apostle was greatly distressed, and that despite their disobedience he was ready to suffer, even to die with them (7:3). But they had not yet learned just how desperate his situation had become. The ὅτι clause, the complement of ἀγνοεῖν, provides the new information: [11] ‘we were oppressed so far beyond endurance that we even despaired of life.’ The double negative οὐ … ἀγνοεῖν (the rhetorical figure of litotes) emphasizes the importance of this information. In the Province of Asia, sometime after Titus’ departure for Corinth with the Letter of Tears, the affliction Paul refers to in 2:4 came to a head, and he faced seemingly certain death. The experience of mortal danger was not so uncommon in the life of the apostle (6:4-5, 9b; 11:23-26); what distinguished this particular experience  was that he believed the affliction to be a divine judgment upon him, as the church's representative, for serious, stubbornly unrepented sin, and on this occasion he lost all hope of survival. In light of 4:8-9, it seems very likely that the affliction took the form of a persecution.

1:9

ἀλλὰ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸ ἀπόκριμα τοῦ θανάτου ἐσχήκαμεν, ἵνα μὴ πεποιθότες ὦμεν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῖς ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ τῷ ἐγείροντι ^a τοὺς νεκρούς·

^a p⁴⁶ 326 365 614 1881 vg^ms bo^ms read ἐγείραντι, probably a scribal error, since the aorist would reference the raising of Jesus, but τοὺς νεκρούς is plural. [12]

‘Indeed, [13] we have within [14] ourselves [15] a death sentence [16]. But this happened so that we would depend, not on ourselves, [17] but on God who raises the dead.’ [18]

By Paul's day the word ἀπόκριμα had become ‘a technical term for an official decision in answer to the petition of an envoy’. [19] According to our reconstruction, Paul's Letter of Tears made statements to the following effect:

Now following his decision, in view of his role as Christ's envoy, to share in the fate of the unrepentant Corinthians, he stood before God as their envoy to hear their fate, and his own. The verdict was given: 'Death!' He will reveal later that God prevailed upon him to accept this fate (5:5). The Corinthians subsequently repented of their solidarity with the incestuous offender, and both they and the apostle were delivered from that mortal danger. Nevertheless, though on this occasion he escaped execution, as the perfect tense of the verb ἐσχήκαμεν indicates, Paul's death sentence has not yet been lifted. This happened, he says paradoxically, so that, like the One he represents, he would rely not on himself but on ‘God who raises the dead’. With these words he signposts a major theme of the letter (cf. 2:14-16b; 4:7-12).

1:10-11

ὃς ἐκ τηλικούτου θανάτου ^a ἐρρύσατο ἡμᾶς καὶ ῥύσεται ^b, εἰς ὃν ἠλπίκαμεν [ὅτι] καὶ ἔτι ^c ῥύσεται, ¹¹  συνυπουργούντων καὶ ὑμῶν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῇ δεήσει, ἵνα ἐκ πολλῶν προσώπων τὸ εἰς ἡμᾶς χάρισμα διὰ πολλῶν εὐχαριστηθῇ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν.

^a τηλικούτων θανάτων is read by p⁴⁶ 630 d (lat) sy Origen^1739mg Ambrosiaster. The plural form 'may have originated from a desire to heighten the intensity of the account, particularly since Paul himself refers to more than one deliverance (“has delivered…and will deliver”)' [20]

^b D² F G K L 0121 0243 104 630 1241 1505 1739 1881 2464 Majority Text vg^cl Origen Didymus the Blind read καὶ ῥύεται, probably a scribal alteration motivated by a wish to the produce the temporal sequence ἐρρύσατο ... ; ῥύεται ... ῥύσεται.  A D* Ψ ar b sy^p Anbrosiaster omit both words, probably because, in view of the following ῥύσεται, they seemed redundant. [21] καὶ ῥύσεται is attested by p⁴⁶ א B C P 0209 33 81 365 1175 t vg^st co.

^c p⁴⁶ B D^* 0121 0243 1739 1881 Didymus the Blind omit ὅτι; D¹ 104 630 1505 ar b sy^h Origen Ambrosiaster omit ἔτι; both variants are probably scribal alterations, made for stylistic reasons. [22] F G read καὶ ὅτι. The reading ὅτι καὶ ἔτι is attested by א A C D² K L P Ψ 33 81 365 1175 1241 2464 Majority Text f t vg (sy^p), and is probably original. It is difficult to see why ὅτι would have been added to the text. [23]

‘who has delivered [24] us from so great a danger of death, [25] and he will deliver [us]; in him we have set our hope, [26] that he will again [27] deliver us, [28] ¹¹ as you also join in helping [29] us by prayer, so that by many persons [30] thanks may be given [31] on our behalf  for the gracious favour [bestowed on us] [32] through [the prayers of] many'. [33]

Paul’s trust was not misplaced: ‘God who raises the dead’ (the antecedent of ὃς) did indeed deliver him; but he adds, ‘and he will deliver us; in him we have set our hope, that he will yet deliver us’: the death sentence remains in force, and he anticipates another cycle of extreme suffering, seemingly certain death, and divine deliverance. Despite the Letter of Tears, the Affliction in Asia, and the disciplining of the incestuous man, the false apostles still hold sway in the church, Paul's authority is still being challenged, and many are still involved in sexual immorality. Though, like Moses at Sinai, he intends when he comes to discipline unrepentant offenders (13:2-4), he fears that God may again humiliate him (12:20). He therefore (by implication) requests that his auditors pray for him (1:11). He has set his hope in God, he says, that he will yet be delivered, as they help him by prayer. [34]

As a result of his anticipated deliverance (ἵνα), many προσώποι (participants in the divine drama?) will give thanks to God for the gracious gift (χάρισμα), bestowed on him in response to the prayers of many. His choice of the expression ἐκ πολλῶν προσώπων, as opposed to simply ἐκ πολλῶν ('by many'), seems to draw attention to the social role of those who give thanks by locating it within the Hellenic reciprocity system. Many will have petitioned their divine Benefactor on behalf of the apostle, and a gracious gift will have been granted to him. Then, joined perhaps by others, they will respond with thanksgiving, giving their Benefactor honour and glory. However, Paul's auditors will be well aware that the anticipated deliverance may well entail the disciplining of high-status church members. As John Nolland has insightfully remarked, 'one senses that Paul is treading on eggshells'. [35]