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.

Passagens-chave

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.

Perguntas para este capítulo

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.

Adicionar às notas

1 Καυχᾶσθαι δὴ οὐ συμφέρει μοι· ἐλεύσομαι γὰρ εἰς ὀπτασίας καὶ ἀποκαλύψεις Κυρίου. 2 Οἶδα ἄνθρωπον ἐν Χριστῷ πρὸ ἐτῶν δεκατεσσάρων — εἴτε ἐν σώματι οὐκ οἶδα· εἴτε ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος οὐκ οἶδα· ὁ Θεὸς οἶδεν — ἁρπαγέντα τὸν τοιοῦτον ἕως τρίτου οὐρανοῦ. 3 Καὶ οἶδα τὸν τοιοῦτον ἄνθρωπον — εἴτε ἐν σώματι, εἴτε ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος, οὐκ οἶδα· ὁ Θεὸς οἶδεν — 4 ὅτι ἡρπάγη εἰς τὸν παράδεισον, καὶ ἤκουσεν ἄρρητα ῥήματα, ἃ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπῳ λαλῆσαι. 5 Ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοιούτου καυχήσομαι· ὑπὲρ δὲ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐ καυχήσομαι, εἰ μὴ ἐν ταῖς ἀσθενείαις μου· 6 ἐὰν γὰρ θελήσω καυχήσασθαι, οὐκ ἔσομαι ἄφρων· ἀλήθειαν γὰρ ἐρῶ· φείδομαι δέ, μή τις εἰς ἐμὲ λογίσηται ὑπὲρ ὃ βλέπει με, ἢ ἀκούει τι ἐξ ἐμοῦ. 7 Καὶ τῇ ὑπερβολῇ τῶν ἀποκαλύψεων ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι, ἐδόθη μοι σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί, ἄγγελος Σατᾶν, ἵνα με κολαφίζῃ, ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι. 8 Ὑπὲρ τούτου τρὶς τὸν Κύριον παρεκάλεσα ἵνα ἀποστῇ ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ. 9 Καὶ εἴρηκέ μοι, Ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ χάρις μου· ἡ γὰρ δύναμίς μου ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελειοῦται. Ἥδιστα οὖν μᾶλλον καυχήσομαι ἐν ταῖς ἀσθενείαις μου, ἵνα ἐπισκηνώσῃ ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Χριστοῦ. 10 Διὸ εὐδοκῶ ἐν ἀσθενείαις, ἐν ὕβρεσιν, ἐν ἀνάγκαις, ἐν διωγμοῖς, ἐν στενοχωρίαις, ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ· ὅταν γὰρ ἀσθενῶ, τότε δυνατός εἰμι. 11 Γέγονα ἄφρων καυχώμενος· ὑμεῖς με ἠναγκάσατε· ἐγὼ γὰρ ὤφειλον ὑφ᾿ ὑμῶν συνίστασθαι· οὐδὲν γὰρ ὑστέρησα τῶν ὑπὲρ λίαν ἀποστόλων, εἰ καὶ οὐδέν εἰμι. 12 Τὰ μὲν σημεῖα τοῦ ἀποστόλου κατειργάσθη ἐν ὑμῖν ἐν πάσῃ ὑπομονῇ, ἐν σημείοις καὶ τέρασι καὶ δυνάμεσι. 13 Τί γάρ ἐστιν ὃ ἡττήθητε ὑπὲρ τὰς λοιπὰς ἐκκλησίας, εἰ μὴ ὅτι αὐτὸς ἐγὼ οὐ κατενάρκησα ὑμῶν; Χαρίσασθέ μοι τὴν ἀδικίαν ταύτην. 14 Ἰδού, τρίτον ἑτοίμως ἔχω ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ οὐ καταναρκήσω ὑμῶν· οὐ γὰρ ζητῶ τὰ ὑμῶν, ἀλλ᾿ ὑμᾶς· οὐ γὰρ ὀφείλει τὰ τέκνα τοῖς γονεῦσι θησαυρίζειν, ἀλλ᾿ οἱ γονεῖς τοῖς τέκνοις. 15 Ἐγὼ δὲ ἥδιστα δαπανήσω καὶ ἐκδαπανηθήσομαι ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν, εἰ καὶ περισσοτέρως ὑμᾶς ἀγαπῶν, ἧττον ἀγαπῶμαι. 16 Ἔστω δέ, ἐγὼ οὐ κατεβάρησα ὑμᾶς· ἀλλ᾿ ὑπάρχων πανοῦργος, δόλῳ ὑμᾶς ἔλαβον. 17 Μή τινα ὧν ἀπέσταλκα πρὸς ὑμᾶς, δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐπλεονέκτησα ὑμᾶς; 18 Παρεκάλεσα Τίτον, καὶ συναπέστειλα τὸν ἀδελφόν· μήτι ἐπλεονέκτησεν ὑμᾶς Τίτος; Οὐ τῷ αὐτῷ πνεύματι περιεπατήσαμεν; Οὐ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἴχνεσι; 19 Πάλιν δοκεῖτε ὅτι ὑμῖν ἀπολογούμεθα; Κατενώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ λαλοῦμεν· τὰ δὲ πάντα, ἀγαπητοί, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμῶν οἰκοδομῆς. 20 Φοβοῦμαι γάρ, μήπως ἐλθὼν οὐχ οἵους θέλω εὕρω ὑμᾶς, κἀγὼ εὑρεθῶ ὑμῖν οἷον οὐ θέλετε· μήπως ἔρεις, ζῆλοι, θυμοί, ἐριθεῖαι, καταλαλιαί, ψιθυρισμοί, φυσιώσεις, ἀκαταστασίαι· 21 μὴ πάλιν ἐλθόντα με ταπεινώσῃ ὁ Θεός μου πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ πενθήσω πολλοὺς τῶν προημαρτηκότων, καὶ μὴ μετανοησάντων ἐπὶ τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ καὶ πορνείᾳ καὶ ἀσελγείᾳ ᾗ ἔπραξαν.

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