2 Corinthians 12

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Second Corinthians 12 is where Paul, forced by rivals into boasting, tells of being caught up to the third heaven and then of the thorn in his flesh that kept him from pride. Three times he asked for it to be removed; the answer was "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness." From that answer comes the line that defines his ministry: "when I am weak, then I am strong." The chapter closes with Paul defending his refusal to take the Corinthians' money and voicing his fear of what he will find when he visits a third time.

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Second Corinthians 12 contains the strangest boast in the Bible. Paul has been pushed by rivals into listing credentials, and he does it in a way that undoes the whole exercise. He knows a man, he says, who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven and heard things that cannot be told. He will not say it was himself, though it was, and he will not boast of it. He will boast instead of the thing that came with it: a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, given to keep him from conceit. He asked three times for it to go. The answer he received is one of the most quoted sentences in Scripture, and it is a refusal. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness. Paul's response is not resignation but delight: when I am weak, then I am strong. The rest of the chapter is less famous and just as revealing. Paul defends the fact that he never took the Corinthians' money, insists that he wants them and not their possessions, and admits that he is afraid of what he will find when he comes: quarreling, arrogance, disorder, and sin no one has repented of. The apostle who saw Paradise is also the pastor who lies awake over a difficult church. The chapter holds both, and it is the thorn, not the vision, that he wants remembered.

Passages clés

2 Corinthians 12:1-6 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 2 Corinthians 12:14-15 2 Corinthians 12:20-21 2 Corinthians 4:7

Historical and literary context

The Corinthian church had been impressed by "super-apostles" who boasted of visions, eloquence, and credentials and who took payment for their teaching. Paul's refusal of support and his unimpressive presence counted against him. Chapters 10 to 13 are his reluctant answer, which he calls foolishness. The vision he describes, dated fourteen years earlier, is told in the third person to avoid making it a credential. The thorn is never identified; readers have proposed illness, an eye condition, persecution, or an opponent, and the silence seems deliberate.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 6 recount the vision of the third heaven and Paradise, held at arm's length: "I know a man in Christ." Verses 7 to 10 tell of the thorn, the threefold prayer, the Lord's answer, and Paul's conclusion to boast in weakness. Verses 11 to 13 return to the super-apostles and the true marks of an apostle. Verses 14 to 18 defend his financial independence and the integrity of Titus. Verses 19 to 21 explain that all of this is to build the Corinthians up, and confess his fear of finding quarreling, disorder, and unrepented sin when he arrives.

Why this chapter matters

The thorn passage is one of the most consoling in the New Testament for anyone with a prayer God has answered with no. It establishes that a mature apostle received a refusal, that the refusal came with grace rather than explanation, and that weakness is not an obstacle to God's power but the place it rests. "My grace is sufficient for you" has been carried into hospital rooms and prisons ever since. The chapter also gives a rare glimpse of Paul's pastoral heart: he spends money and himself for the Corinthians, wants them rather than their possessions, and dreads the possibility of being humbled by their sin.

Interpretive tension to watch

Paul says he will boast only of weaknesses, yet he has just described a vision no rival could match. Is the vision a boast after all, or is the third-person telling and the immediate turn to the thorn his way of disarming it? Reading the vision and the thorn as one unit, glory immediately checked by weakness, is the key to the whole chapter.

Questions pour ce chapitre

Paul prayed three times and received an answer other than the one he asked for. What prayer of yours has been answered with grace instead of removal?
Why might God's power be "perfected in weakness" rather than displayed through strength?
Paul says he wants the Corinthians, not their possessions. How does that sentence test the motives of anyone who leads?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

Ajouter aux notes

1 我自夸固然无益，但我是不得已的。如今我要说到主的显现和启示。 2 我认得一个在基督里的人，他前十四年被提到第三层天上去；（或在身内，我不知道；或在身外，我也不知道；只有　神知道。） 3 我认得这人；（或在身内，或在身外，我都不知道，只有　神知道。） 4 他被提到乐园里，听见隐秘的言语，是人不可说的。 5 为这人，我要夸口；但是为我自己，除了[我的]软弱以外，我并不夸口。 6 我就是愿意夸口也不算狂，因为我必说实话；只是我禁止不说，恐怕有人把我看高了，过于他在我身上所看见所听见的。 7 又恐怕我因所得的启示甚大，就过于自高，所以有一根刺加在我肉体上，就是撒但的差役要攻击我，免得我过于自高。 8 为这事，我三次求过主，叫这刺离开我。 9 他对我说：「我的恩典够你用的，因为我的能力是在人的软弱上显得完全。」所以，我更喜欢夸自己的软弱，好叫基督的能力覆庇我。 10 我为基督的缘故，就以软弱、凌辱、急难、逼迫、困苦为可喜乐的；因我什么时候软弱，什么时候就刚强了。 11 我成了愚妄人，是被你们强逼的。我本该被你们称许才是。我虽算不了什么，却没有一件事在那些最大的使徒以下。 12 我在你们中间，用百般的忍耐，借着神迹、奇事、异能显出使徒的凭据来。 13 除了我不累着你们这一件事，你们还有什么事不及别的教会呢？这不公之处，求你们饶恕我吧。 14 如今，我打算第三次到你们那里去，也必不累着你们；因我所求的是你们，不是你们的[财物]。儿女不该为父母积财，父母该为儿女积财。 15 我也甘心乐意为你们的灵魂费财费力。难道我越发爱你们，就越发少得你们的爱吗？ 16 罢了，我自己并没有累着你们，[你们却有人说]，我是诡诈，用心计牢笼你们。 17 我所差到你们那里去的人，我借着他们一个人占过你们的便宜吗？ 18 我劝了提多[到你们那里去]，又差那位兄弟与他同去。提多占过你们的便宜吗？我们行事，不同是一个心灵吗？不同是一个脚踪吗？ 19 你们到如今，还想我们是向你们分诉；我们本是在基督里当　神面前说话。亲爱的[弟兄]啊，一切的事都是为造就你们。 20 我怕我再来的时候，见你们不合我所想望的，你们见我也不合你们所想望的；又怕有纷争、嫉妒、恼怒、结党、毁谤、谗言、狂傲、混乱的事。 21 且怕我来的时候，我的　神叫我在你们面前惭愧，又因许多人从前犯罪，行污秽、奸淫、邪荡的事不肯悔改，我就忧愁。

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