Paul’s Impending Visit and a Final Warning (12:14–13:13)
In concluding his letter, Paul warns the Corinthians of his upcoming visit and exhorts them to perform a thorough spiritual inventory, lest he have to deal with them more harshly than he would like.
Now I am ready to visit you for the third time (12:14). Paul’s first visit was his founding visit (Acts 18), and his second visit was the painful visit described in 2:1–5 and 7:12.
Not your possessions, but you (12:14). In reiterating his determination to support himself, Paul again alludes to the mercenary tactics of his opponents, who proclaim the gospel with a view to monetary gain (see 2:17; 11:7–15).
Children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children (12:14). As today, Greek, Roman, and Jewish societies emphasized the parents’ responsibility in providing for their children. A variety of formal and informal laws of inheritance guarded this custom. The proverbial nature of Paul’s statement reflects the universality of the principle, which the apostle applies to himself (the parent) and the Corinthians (the children). Whereas the Corinthians would have liked to have been Paul’s patron/benefactor, providing for his needs and thus placing him under certain obligations, Paul explains their relationship with the metaphor of a family. Within this model, the emphasis lies on self-sacrifice and love, not on debits, credits, and reciprocal obligations.
Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent you? (12:17). Likely concealed beneath this rhetorical question is the suspicion on the part of some in Corinth that Paul has been siphoning funds from the collection (see “The Collection” at 8:1). While giving the appearance of financial propriety (they allege), the third parties involved are really working in concert with Paul to defraud them. Paul’s confident, even incredulous tone in 12:16–18 indicates his certainty that few in Corinth will take this charge seriously.
Quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder (12:20). Vice catalogs, like the one here, were a traditional component of first-century ethical discourse and have many parallels in the New Testament and in pagan philosophical literature.187 This should caution us against assuming that the scenario Paul is contemplating in Corinth upon his arrival is truly as bleak as it may appear from this verse. Yet there is evidence in 1 Corinthians that many of these vices were wreaking havoc in the community, and we can understand why Paul is bracing himself for the worst.
“The testimony of two or three witnesses” (13:1). Paul intends to arbitrate disputes and put to rest any allegations against him when he arrives. He invokes the juridical principle of Deuteronomy 19:5, which he also applies in relation to church discipline in 1 Timothy 5:19 (cf. Matt 18:16).
Since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me (13:3). One more time before he signs off Paul brings up the Corinthian complaint regarding his oratory and their skepticism concerning his claim to be a divine spokesman. Yet Paul’s continued insistence that Christ (2:17; 12:19; 13:3) or God (5:21) is speaking through him can only have provided his skeptics with fuel for their fire.
Sophists and professors of rhetoric regularly ascribed their eloquence to divine giftedness, portraying the orator as “a god among men.”188 In an address to the Corinthians, the Sophist Favorinus (A.D. 80–150) explains that his wisdom and eloquence are evidence that he has been “equipped by the gods for this express purpose.”189 Given the popular understanding of oratory as “a divine thing,”190 anyone claiming to be a divine spokesman would have fairly large sandals to fill. When seen in this light, the Corinthian expectation that Paul should excel in the rhetorical arts is not as eccentric as it may at first appear.
He was crucified in weakness (13:4). The Roman practice of crucifixion was a gruesome and agonizing form of capital punishment, typically reserved for slaves and noncitizens. The ordeal began with the flogging of the condemned, who was then forced to carry the cross-beam to the place of execution. The victim’s wrists would be nailed or bound with cords to the horizontal cross-beam, and the feet were similarly bound to the vertical beam.
HEELBONE OF A CRUCIFIED MAN
The iron nail that pierced the bone is still fixed in the heel. The bone was found in an ossuary in a Jerusalem tomb.
Often there was a small ledge affixed to the vertical beam to partially support the body and prolong the torture. The victim would not die from the wounds inflicted during the crucifixion, but from exhaustion or suffocation. Recent archaeological excavations near Jerusalem uncovered the tomb of a certain Jehohanan, crucified sometime between A.D. 7 and 66.191 During his crucifixion Jehohanan’s legs were shattered with a heavy object, probably to prevent him from being able to raise himself up for breath, thus hastening death. The large nail used to secure Jehohanan’s legs to the cross was still lodged in the heel bone. As a portrait of “weakness,” no more potent image could be offered than the humiliating spectacle of a victim of crucifixion.
Examine yourselves … test yourselves … do what is right (13:5–7). The exhortation to self-scrutiny was popular among Hellenistic philosophers from at least the time of Socrates, as witnessed by Epictetus (A.D. 55–135): “Socrates used to tell us not to live a life unsubjected to examination.”192 The goal of this moral introspection was knowledge of “the good” (to kalon; NIV, “what is right”), which should lead to right conduct:
For the gods did not withhold from non-Greeks the ability to know the good. It is possible, through reasoned examination, to test whether we think good thoughts, and to investigate whether our words correspond to our actions, and whether we are like those who live morally.193
Paul has phrased this bold challenge in the parlance of popular Greco-Roman philosophy in order to render his appeal all the more intelligible and convicting to his Greco-Roman audience.
Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? (13:5). While the form of Paul’s exhortation conforms to the general pattern of Hellenistic philosophers (see above), the criterion for evaluation is not inner fortitude or moral progress, but the presence of the indwelling Christ: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ” (Rom. 8:9).
This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority (13:10). It is probably right to read this verse in reference to the entire letter (see 2:3–4). Paul’s fatherly affection leads him to take every measure possible to avoid an unnecessary display of his parental authority, including penning this lengthy letter. From this verse we can conclude that 2 Corinthians has been written primarily to preempt another “painful visit” and to effect reconciliation with the minority, who have come under the influence of the intruding missionaries.
For building you up, not tearing you down (13:10). See comments on 10:8.
Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you (13:11). Using brief maxim-like exhortations, Paul summarizes his prayer for the Corinthians: maturity (“aim at perfection”), obedience (“listen to my appeal”), unity (“be of one mind”), and harmony (“live in peace”). Sadly, many of the same problems Paul addressed in 1 and 2 Corinthians were still present a generation later. According to 1 Clement, written around A.D. 95 by the leadership of the church in Rome to the congregation in Corinth, once again the Corinthian church was torn by “jealousy and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and anarchy.”194
Greet one another with a holy kiss (13:12). In Paul’s day, kisses were given to express affection (between relatives, close friends, or lovers), homage (to the emperor or a patron), congratulation (to the victor in athletic competition), and sometimes upon entrance to a guild or religious sect. There is some evidence that rural communities differed from urban populations with respect to kissing, as evidenced by the embarrassing situation recounted by Dio Chrysostom, in which a farmer greets an old acquaintance he meets in the city with a kiss, only to be laughed at by bystanders: “Then I understood that in the cities, they do not kiss.”195
Paul elsewhere recommends a kiss of greeting between believers, which later became a regular part of community worship.196 This expression of intimacy cut across social barriers and served to both promote and symbolize the genuine sense of community experienced among believers, regardless of rank or status.
All the saints send their greetings (13:13). Although the precise identity of “the saints” is uncertain, more than likely Paul refers to the Macedonian believers in his company as the letter was penned. Paul typically includes greetings from others in his farewell.197 This serves to reinforce the unity of the dispersed body of Christ, while also placing the local community in the context of something much larger, the church universal.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (13:13). This final blessing is expressed in a Trinitarian formula that suggestively unites Father, Son, and Spirit as coworkers in the process of sanctification. Such triadic expressions are not uncommon in Paul’s letters and imply a Trinitarian conception of the Godhead, at least in embryonic form.198
Annotated Bibliography
Commentaries
Barrett, C. K. A Commentary to the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. BNTC. London: Black, 1973.
A concise and circumspect exegesis of 2 Corinthians from one of the leading New Testament scholars of this century.
Furnish, Victor Paul. II Corinthians. AB 32A. New York: Doubleday, 1984.
A detailed, technical commentary rich in primary source research. Includes a fresh translation of the text.
Garland, David E. 2 Corinthians. NAC 29. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999.
A full-scale exegetical commentary mindful of the contemporary application of the text. Pastoral and theological in tone.
Witherington, Ben III. Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.
Focuses on the rhetorical dimensions of 1 and 2 Corinthians and the social context of Paul’s ministry. Contains numerous helpful excurses on important issues.
Important Studies
Hafemann, Scott J. Suffering and Ministry in the Spirit: Paul’s Defense of His Ministry in II Corinthians 2:14–3:3. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.
A detailed exegesis of 2 Corinthians 2–3 with profound insights into Paul’s perception of his apostolic ministry.
Hubbard, Moyer. New Creation. SNTSMS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
An examination of the motif of new creation in 2 Corinthians and Galatians, with special reference to the Jewish background of this theme.
Savage, Timothy B. Power Through Weakness: Paul’s Understanding of the Christian Ministry in 2 Corinthians. SNTSMS 86, 1996.
An exploration of the motif of strength in weakness in 2 Corinthians, with an illuminating depiction of Corinth and the Corinthians.
Sumney, Jerry L. Identifying Paul’s Opponents: The Question of Method in 2 Corinthians. JSNTSup 40. Sheffield: JSOT Press.
A level-headed, textually based study of one on the most difficult issues in 2 Corinthians: the identity of Paul’s opponents.
Winter, Bruce W. Paul and Philo Among the Sophists. SNTSMS 96. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
An examination of Paul and the Corinthian correspondence in light of the rise of the second Sophistic movement.
Chapter Notes
Main Text Notes
1. For example, Francis Young and David Ford, Meaning and Truth in 2 Corinthians (London: SCM, 1987); Ben Witherington, Conflict and Community in Corinth (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995); Paul Barnett, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997); Jerry McCant, 2 Corinthians (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1999); J. D. H. Amador, “Revisiting 2 Corinthians: Rhetoric and the Case for Unity,” NTS 46 (2000): 92–111.
2. On this see Amador, “Revisiting 2 Corinthians.”
4. Amador, “Revisiting 2 Corinthians,” 94.
5. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, St. Paul’s Corinth (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical), 161–69.
6. Martial, Epigrams 3.60.
7. See Dennis Pardee, “Hebrew Letters,” ABD, 4:282–85; Paul E. Dion, “Aramaic Letters” ABD, 4:285–90.
8. Isa. 63:16; cf. 64:8; Jer. 31:9; Mal. 2:10.
9. Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6; cf. Mark 14:36.
10. 1QH 17:35–36; see also Sir. 23:1; T. Job 33:3, 9; Jos. Asen. 12:7–11.
11. Tacitus, Hist. 5.3.
12. For the Christian objection, see Didache 2:2; 5:2. More forceful is the moving essay by the first-century Stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus entitled, “Should Every Child That Is Born Be Raised?”
13. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 32.10.
14. Arius Didymus, Epitome of Stoic Ethics 11m.
15. 1 Sam. 16:13; 1 Kings 19:16; Ps. 105:15; Zech. 4:14.
16. Planting 18; cf. Creation 134; Alleg. Interp. 1.133–33; Flight 11–13.
17. Cf. Rom. 1:9; Phil. 1:8. On this construction see BAGD, 288.
18. Cited in Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarborough, Readings from the First-Century World (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), 136.
19. Description of Greece 2.2.1.
20. See the account by Dio Cassius, Roman History 65.13, who notes that Musonius Rufus was exempted.
21. Lucian, Icarmenippus 29–30. See also his A Professor of Public Speaking and The Runaways.
22. See BAGD, 689, which cites 2 Cor. 9:2 and Phil. 1:14 as further instances of this usage. Note also Paul’s use of “all” as a synonym for “the many” in Rom. 5:15–21.
23. See James C. VanderKam, The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 164–65; 1QS 6:13–14.
24. Jub. 17:16; 18:12; 2 Cor. 48:1–4; cf. Ex 4.24–25; 49:2–4; 48:9.
25. Scott J. Hafemann, Suffering and Ministry in the Spirit: Paul’s Defense of his Ministry in II Corinthians 2:14–3:3 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 16–34.
26. Aemelius Paulus 32.
27. Did. 11:6.
28. Plato, Protagoras 313D.
29. The Life of Moses 2.212.
30. Oration 32.10.
31. Ibid., 32.9.
32. John Harvey Kent, Corinth, Volume 8, Part 3: The Inscriptions, 1926–1950 (Princeton: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1966).
33. Numerous examples of such letters survive. See the examples in Chan-Hie Kim, The Familiar Greek Letter of Recommendation (SBLDS 4; Missoula, Mont.: Society of Biblical Literature, 1972). For relevant New Testament references, see Acts 9:2; 15:23–29; 18:27; 22:5; Rom. 16:1–2; 1 Cor. 16:10–11; 2 Cor. 8:22–24; Col. 4:10.
34. CD 6:19; 8:21; 20:12; 1QpHab 2:3–4.
35. 1QS 8:20–22.
36. See also 2 Macc. 7:23; Wisd. Sol. 15:11; T. Abr. 18:11; Philo, Creation 32.
37. 1 En. 99:2; Let. Aris. 144–45.
38. Eighteen Benedictions; cf. Wisd. Sol. 17:11; 45:5; 4 Ezra 14:30; 2 Bar. 38:2.
39. 2 Bar. 78:16; Ps. Philo 9:8.
40. 4 Ezra 9:37.
41. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 32.11. See also Plutarch’s amusing “How to Tell a Friend from a Flatterer” and the lengthy treatise by Philodemus, On Frank Criticism.
42. Philo, Good Person 81–82.
43. Cited in Elwell and Yarbrough, Readings, 87.
44. 1 En. 90:37–39; 2 Bar. 51:1–3; 1QS 4:6–8; Wisd. Sol. 3:7; Jos Asen. 8–21; 1QH; 4Q434-37.
45. Lucian, Hermotimus 59.
46. Gal. 1:4; cf. Rom. 12:2; 1 Cor. 1:20; Eph. 1:21; also Isa. 19–20; Hos. 2:18; Amos 9:11.
47. 1 En. 16; CD 6:10–14; 4 Ezra 4:9; 2 Bar. 15:8; Jub. 1:16.
48. Jub. 12:20.
49. 1QH 4:24.
50. 11Q5 19.
51. 1QS 4:22–23; CD 3:18–20; 1QH 4:15.
52. Dio Chrysostom, Discourse 13:11.
53. Discourses 2:28.
54. Seneca, Ep. 40.4, 8, 14.
55. Cicero, Tusc. Disp. 4.14; Propertius 3.5.6; Petronius, Satyr. 50; Josephus, J.W. 5.5.3 §201; Suetonius, Aug. 70.
56. Cited in Margaret Thrall, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1994), 1:326.
57. Seneca, Epistle 24.19–20 (italics added).
58. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.
59. See Albert A. Bell Jr., A Guide to the New Testament World (Scottsdale, Pa.: Herald, 1994), 214–17.
60. Plotinus, The Animate and the Man 10.
61. From a letter dated A.D. 99. See MM, 192.
62. Oscar Broneer (ed.), Ancient Corinth: A Guide to the Excavations (Athens: Hestia, 1947), 55.
63. On the background and influence of peithō in Greek literature see R. G. A. Buxton, Persuasion in Greek Tragedy: A Study of Peitho (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1982); George Kennedy, The Art of Persuasion in Greece (London: Routledge and Keegan Paul, 1963).
64. Descriptions of Greece 2.7.7–9.
65. Cicero, Orator 97.
66. Dio Chrysostom, Discourses 33.1.
67. For an excellent discussion of this subject, see Duane Litfin’s St. Paul’s Theology of Proclamation (SNTSMS 79; Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994).
68. See the account by Philostratus, Lives of the Sophists 491.
69. Philo, Lives of the Sophists 532.
70. Ibid., 616.
71. This speech has been passed down under the name of Dio Chrysostom (see his Discourses 37.26).
72. See Moyer Hubbard, “Was Paul Out of His Mind? Re-reading 2 Cor 5:13,” JSNT 70 (1998) 39–64.
73. See Aristotle’s influential The Art of Rhetoric 1408b; 1418a.
74. Jubilees 1:15–29; cf. 1 En. 72:1.
75. Gen. Rab. 39:4.
76. Jos. Asen. 8:9.
77. See Cilliers Breytenbach, Versöhnung: Eine Studie zur paulinischen Soteriologie (WMANT 60; Neukirchener: Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1989).
78. Rom. Ant. 5.49.6.
79. Lives of the Sophists 489, 520–33.
80. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 37.7–9.
81. See Seneca’s “On Despising Death” (Epistle 24), or Musonius Rufus’s “That One Should Disdain Hardships” (Fragment 7); Dio Chrysostom, Oration 3.3.
82. Epictetus, Discourses 30.2–3.
83. Musonius Rufus, Fragment 9; Epictetus, Discourses 1.29.4.
84. Rom. 13:12; Eph. 6:10–18; 1 Thess. 5:8; 1 Tim. 3:3–4.
85. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 8:16.
86. Arius Didymus, Stoic Ethics 5a.
87. Seneca, On Firmness 6.3.
88. Epictetus, Discourses 2.19.24.
89. Seneca, On Firmness 6.5–6.
90. See New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, ed. Richard Horsley (New Ryde: Macquarie University), 1.5.
91. For details and primary sources see Ramsay MacMullen, Paganism in the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1981), 18–48.
92. From New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, 1.5. The Thoereion was probably a banquet room connected to the temple of Isis or Serapis.
93. Tacitus, Ann. 15.44; Tertullian, Apology 35–37.
94. Epictetus, Discourses 4.1.111–12.
95. Philodemus, On Frank Criticism 15, 28.
96. Ibid., 26.
97. Plutarch, On Listening to Lectures 47A.
98. Jos. Asen. 15:7.
99. See Margaret M. Mitchell, “New Testament Envoys in the Context of Greco-Roman Diplomatic and Epistolary Conventions: The Example of Timothy and Titus,” JBL 111 (1992): 641–62.
100. Philo, Embassy 369.
101. 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14; 3:2–4; 2 Thess. 1:4–10; cf. Phil. 1:29–30.
102. Oration 7.82.
103. Rom. 12:15; 1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:18.
104. Ex. 19:6; Lev. 21:7; Ex. 28:2; Lev. 16:32–33.
105. Ps. 34:9; Dan. 7:18–27; cf. Tobit 8:15.
106. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 7.93.
107. Although a fifth-century B.C. playwright, Euripides’s perennial popularity is illustrated by Dio Chrysostom (A.D. 40–120), who cites this passage from memory in Oration 17; Euripides, Phoenician Women 535.
108. Philo, Heir 162.
109. Eph. 4:28, italics added; cf. Rom. 12:13; 1 Tim. 6:18.
110. 1 Thess. 4:11–12; 2 Thess. 3:6–13; 1 Tim. 6:6–10; 2 Cor. 8:11; cf. Phil. 4:10–19.
111. On the patroness status of Phoebe, see Wayne Meeks, The First Urban Christians (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1983), 60.
112. This oration has been passed down under Dio Chrysostom’s name (see his Discourses 37.36).
113. Donald Engels, Roman Corinth: An Alternative Model for the Classical City (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1994), 101.
114. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 77.38.
115. E.g., Ps. 45:4; Isa. 40:11; 42:3; 53:7; Zech. 9:9 (cited in Matt. 21:5); Matt. 5:5; 11:29; John 1:29.
116. Rev. 5:6–13; 6:1–7; 21:9–22.
117. 1 Clem. 16:1, 7; cf. Barn. 5:2.
118. Cf. Rom. 8:4–5, 12–13; 2 Cor. 1:17; 5:16; 11:18.
119. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 77/78.40.
120. Epictetus, Discourses 4.1.86.
121. Seneca, On the Firmness of the Wise Man 6.4.
122. Philo, QG 3.27; Migration 172; Planting 159.
123. Philo, Planting 136.
124. Philo, Rewards 25; Cherubim 9.
125. Philo, Posterity 101.
126. See Litfin, Proclamation.
127. See Bruce Winter, Paul and Philo Among the Sophists (SNTSMS 96; Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997).
128. 2 Cor. 10:17; cf. Jer. 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:31.
129. An insightful treatment of this topic can be found in Calvin Roetzel, Paul: The Man and the Myth (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1999), ch. 3, “The Letter Writer.”
130. Acts 18:1–3; 1 Cor. 4:12; 9:3–18; 2 Cor. 11:7–9.
131. Cicero, Off. 150.
132. Lucian, Dream 6–13.
133. The life of the farmer was particularly admired; see Musonius Rufus, Fragment 11; Dio Chrysostom, Oration 7.103–52.
134. On the importance of beauty in Corinth see Timothy B. Savage, Power Through Weakness: Paul’s Understanding of the Christian Ministry in 2 Corinthians (SNTSMS 86; Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996), 46–47.
135. Martial, Ep. 10.65.
136. 1 Cor. 1–4; 2 Cor. 2:17; 5:11–13; 10:10; 11:6; 12:19; 13:3.
137. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 35.1.
138. Lucian, Professor of Public Speaking 16.
139. Cited in Peter Marshall, Enmity in Corinth: Social Conventions in Paul’s Relations with the Corinthians (WUNT 2.23; Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck] 1987), 54; Quintilian, Inst. Or. 2.4.21.
140. Plutarch, How to Tell a Friend from a Flatterer 71.
141. Lucian, Professor of Public Speaking 13.
142. Acts 22:21; 26:17–18; Gal. 1:16.
143. m. Yebam. 6:4.
144. m. Ketub.
145. Deut. 22:22–27; Philo, Spec. Laws 1.107; 3.72; m. Sanh. 7:9.
146. Wisd. Sol. 2:24; Apoc. Mos. 16; 1 En. 69:6, which names the angel Gader’el.
147. Isocrates, Nicoles 7; Aristides, To Plato 391.
148. Seneca, Ep. 40.6.
149. Arius Dydimus, Epitome 5b12.
150. Aristides, To Plato 392. This proverb surfaces in one form or another in Plato, Cicero, Seneca, Quintilian, and Juvenal. Seneca, in fact, devoted an entire essay to its exposition: “On Style as a Mirror of Character” (Epistle 114).
151. Cf. Acts 18:1–3; 1 Cor. 4:12; 9:3–18; 2 Cor. 12:15.
152. See, e.g., Musonius Rufus, Fragment 11, “What Means of Livelihood Is Appropriate for a Philosopher?”; Dio Chrysostom, Oration 7; Arius Didymus 11m; Diogenes Laertius 7.188.
153. For a more nuanced appraisal, see Ronald F. Hock, The Social Context of Paul’s Ministry: Tentmaking and Apostleship (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980), 50–65.
154. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 4.132; Philo, Posterity 150; Lucian, Professor of Public Speaking 6–8.
155. Philo, Worse 34.
156. See, e.g., Lucian, On Salaried Posts; Dio Chrysostom, Oration 77/78.37.
157. For the view that Paul refused support primarily to model a life of self-imposed poverty before the materialistic Corinthians, see Savage, Power Through Weakness, 80–99.
158. On Greco-Roman gift-giving conventions, see Peter Marshall’s Enmity in Corinth. My comments rely on his detailed analysis.
159. Life of Adam and Eve 9:1–5.
160. Plutarch, On Inoffensive Self-Praise 547 D; 539 E-F; 540 C.
161. Ibid., 543 F–544 C; cf. 12:9–10; 544 C; cf. 11:23–29; 542 E–543 A; cf. 11:32–33; 12:9–10.
162. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 8:9.
163. Philo, Worse 33.
164. Cited in C. Forbes, “Comparison, Self-Praise, and Irony: Paul’s Boasting and the Conventions of Hellenistic Rhetoric,” NTS 32 (1986): 7.
165. For a full discussion, see Brian Rapske’s study, The Book of Acts and Paul in Roman Custody (BAFCS 3; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 10–20.
166. Ibid., 195–225.
167. Eph. 6:20; Phil. 1:7, 13–17; Col. 4:3, 18; 2 Tim. 2:9; Philem. 10, 13.
168. Acts of Augustus 1.4.
169. m. Makkot 3:1–16; m. Šebuʿot 3:7–11.
170. m. Makkot 3:12–13.
171. See Rapske, Paul in Roman Custody, 48–56.
172. Josh. 7:25; Jub. 30:7–9; Lives of the Prophets 2:1; Philo, Flaccus 66, 174; Petronius, Satyr. 90.
173. Deut. 13:7–12; m. Sanh. 6:1–4; John 10:31–33; Acts 7:58; 14:19.
174. E.g., Dio Chrysostom, Oration 7; Petronius, Satyr. 113–16; Seneca, Ep. 53; For inscriptional evidence see Horsley, New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, 4. #26.
175. Lucillius, Greek Anthology 6.164.
176. Dionysius, Greek Anthology 6.166.
177. Cf. Seneca, On the Trials of Travel.
178. Horace, Satires 1.5.
179. Ibid.; Petronius, Satyr. 16–26.
180. Epictetus, Discourses 4.1.91.
181. Antiphilus, Greek Anthology 6.199.
182. Epictetus, Discourses 3.13.11.
183. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 8.15–16.
184. A comprehensive survey of this issue can be found in Rainer Riesner’s, Paul’s Early Period: Chronology, Mission Strategy, Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 75–89.
185. E.g., 1 En. 1–36; 2 En.; 3 Bar.; The Apocalypse of Zephaniah.
186. One heaven: 1 En.; three heavens: T. Levi 3:1; Apoc. Mos. 37; five heavens: 3 Bar. 11:1–2; seven heavens: 2 En. 20:1; Apoc. Ab. 19:5–6; Ascen. Isa. 9:6; 3 En. 17:1; 955 heavens: 3 En. 48:1.
187. E.g., Rom. 1:29–30; 1 Tim. 6:4–5; Arius Didymus, Epitome 11k; Ps.-Anacharsis, Ep. 1.
188. Cicero, De Oratore 3.53.
189. This speech is found in the orations of Dio Chrysostom, 37.27.
190. Aelius Aristides, In Defense of Oratory 113.
191. James H. Charlesworth, “Jesus and Jehohanan: An Archaeological Note on Crucifixion,” ExpTim 84/6 (February, 1973), 147–50.
192. Epictetus, Discourses 3.12.15.
193. Ps-Anacharsis, Epistle 2.
194. 1 Clem. 3:2.
195. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 7.59.
196. Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor 16:20; 1 Thess. 5:26; cf. 1 Pet. 5:14.
197. Rom. 16:21–23; 1 Cor. 16:19–20; Phil. 4:22; Philem. 23–24.
198. Rom. 15:30; 1 Cor. 12:4–6; Gal. 4:4–6.
Sidebar and Chart Notes
A-1. See the extensive treatment by Hafemann in Suffering and Ministry in the Spirit.
A-2. Josephus, J.W. 7.5.5 §132.
A-3. Acts of Augustus 1.4.
A-4. Josephus, J.W. 7.5.6 §§153–54.
A-5. See the description of Pausanius, Descriptions of Greece 2.3.1–2.
A-6. Oscar Broneer (ed.), Ancient Corinth: A Guide to the Excavations, 39–40.
A-7. Philo, Embassy 281.
A-8. See New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity, 4:213–20.
A-9. Polycarp, Martyrdom of Polycarp 8:2.
A-10. Suetonius, Dom. 13.
A-11. Paul Zanker, “The Power of Images,” in Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society, ed. Richard A. Horsley (Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity, 1997), 72–86.
A-12. Donald Engels, Roman Corinth, 101–2.
A-13. Kent, Corinth: The Inscriptions, #102.
A-14. Engels, Roman Corinth, 102.
A-15. Pliny, Letters 10.96–97.
A-16. Polycarp, Mart. Pol. 9–15.
A-17. Trimalchio, a fictitious character from Petronius’ Satyricon (71).
A-18. Philo, Creation 135; Wisd. Sol. 3; 4 Macc. 18:23.
A-20. On the Asclepion in Corinth, see Broneer, Ancient Corinth, 100–105; James Wisemann, “Corinth and Rome I: 228 BC–AD 267” in ANRW 2.7.1 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1979): 438–548.
A-21. Acts 24:17; Rom. 15:26; Gal. 2:10; 2 Cor. 8:13–15.
A-22. This data has been adapted from Ekkehard W. Stegemann and Wolfgang Stegemann, The Jesus Movement: A Social History of its First Century (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1999), 5–95. See also James S. Jeffers, The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background of the New Testament (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1999), 181–96.
A-23. Lucian, Runaways 17.
A-24. Cited in John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990), 55.
A-25. The classic treatments of Paul’s opponents in Corinth are those of C. K. Barrett (“Paul’s Opponents in II Corinthians,” NTS 17 [1971]: 233–54) and Ernst Käsemann (“Die Legitimität des Apostels: Eine Untersuchung zu II Korinther 10–13,” ZNW 41 [1942]: 33–71). My own appraisal is closest to Jerry Sumney’s in Identifying Paul’s Opponents: The Question of Method in 2 Corinthians (JSNTSup 40; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1990).
A-26. Dio Chrysostom, Oration 1.84.