A critical and exegetical commentary on the Second epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians

Front matter

The Auternational Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and

New @estaments

UNDER THE PRESENT EDITORSHIP OF

Preface

——

SINCE the volume on the First Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians appeared, circumstances have arisen, some of which have affected the present volume, while others must affect volumes in this series which still remain unpublished.

The increase of episcopal work which had fallen to the lot of the Bishop of Exeter, and the ill-health from which he suffered for a considerable time, convinced. the present writer that, in the interests of the Diocese and of the Bishop himself, he ought to offer to free the Bishop from the promise which he had kindly given of sharing with his former colleague the work of producing the present volume. This offer the Bishop, after much consideration, reluctantly accepted, and the commentary has been written without the advantage of his co-operation. The loss is great, but it is not quite total. The writer who has been left to do the work single-handed knows the Bishop’s mind about most of the important questions which are raised by this perplexing Epistle, and moreover he has had his article on it in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (i. pp. 491-498) to aid him. Readers who miss in the present volume qualities which they valued in its predecessor may find in the above statement an explanation of the difference.

The changes of circumstances which must affect the remaining volumes of this series are more grave. The deaths of Dr. Briggs in June 1913 and of Dr. Driver in February 1914 are a loss, not only to these commentaries, but to Christendom. Wherever learning, acute criticism, vil

Vili PREFACE and sound judgment are appreciated, the loss of two such scholars within less than a year will be deeply deplored ; and it is impossible for their surviving colleague among the original editors of the International Critical Commentary adequately to express his own personal loss. Dr. Briggs and he were almost exactly the same age, and a year or two ago Dr. Briggs expressed to him a doubt whether either of them would live to see the series completed. As regards one of the two persons concerned that doubt has been shown to be only too well grounded.

The survivor must leave it to others to decide whether there is room for any such commentary as the present volume, and (if there is) whether the volume in any particulars fills it. He has no new solutions to offer for any of the numerous problems which this Epistle presents. But he has endeavoured to show that in some cases there is one solution which is so reasonable in itself, and so much more probable than any other, that students who have no time to investigate every point for themselves may be allowed, without discussion, to assume this solution as the right one. There must, however, always remain a considerable number of questions to which no certain answer can be given, because certainty requires a knowledge of details respecting the Church of Corinth which we do not possess and are not likely to acquire. It is hoped that no difficulty of importance has been passed over in silence, and that no untenable explanation of a difficulty has been adopted.

Readers will do well to study the paraphrases prefixed to the sections before consulting the notes. No translation, however accurate, can give the full meaning of any Pauline Epistle, and this is specially true of 2 Corinthians, The only adequate method is to paraphrase; and great pains have been taken in both these volumes to make the paraphrases as luminous and exact as possible.

A. PLUMMER.

BIDEFORD, HALLOW-E’EN, 1914.

Contents

—+— INTRODUCTION:

§ I. AUTHENTICITY . . . . . yi § 11. OCCASION, PROBLEMS, AND PROBABILITIES . ΧΗ § III, PLacz, DATE, AND CONTENTS . . Χὶχ § IV. INTEGRITY . . δ . . . xxii § V. THE OPPONENTS OF ST PAUL . . .« xxxvi § VI. DocTRINE . . . . . . xii § VII. Mystery RELIGIONS . . . . xiiv

§ VIII. CHARACTERISTICS, STYLE, AND LANGUAGE . xivili