The book of 2 Corinthians

At a glance

Chapters

13

Author

Paul

Written

Around 55 to 56 AD

Written for

The same church, after a painful falling out

Themes

weakness, comfort, ministry, generosity

What it is about

Something went badly wrong between 1 and 2 Corinthians. There was a painful visit, a severe letter that has not survived, and rival teachers who impressed the Corinthians with credentials and eloquence Paul did not have.

So he defends himself, and the way he does it is the letter's whole argument. Asked to list his qualifications, he lists beatings, shipwrecks, imprisonments, sleepless nights and an escape from a city in a basket. The credential is weakness.

That is where the thorn in the flesh passage sits — an unnamed affliction he asked three times to have removed, and the answer he received instead, which is one of the most quoted sentences in the New Testament.

Where to start

Chapter 12, for the thorn and the answer. Chapter 4 if you want the letter's argument in its most compressed form.

The chapters worth knowing

• 2 Corinthians 4 — Treasure in clay jars — the letter's argument in its most compressed form.
• 2 Corinthians 8 — The collection for Jerusalem, and the most sustained New Testament passage about money.
• 2 Corinthians 12 — The thorn in the flesh, and the answer he received after asking three times.

What people get wrong about it

That the thorn passage recommends weakness. Paul asked three times for it to be removed and did not get what he wanted; he is reporting what he was given instead, not commending the condition.

From this book

• Bible verses about strengthTen passages on strength from the World English Bible, with a note on each — including the two that describe strength arriving through weakness rather than instead of it.

Questions