2 Coríntios 4
Marvin Vincent · Citado em PreceptAustin
2 Coríntios 4:1-2
Vincent writes that eleeo means "to succor or to show compassion...The (root) word (eleos) emphasizes the misery with which grace deals; hence, peculiarly the sense of human wretchedness coupled with the impulse to relieve it, which issues in gracious ministry. Bengel remarks, “Grace takes away the fault, mercy the misery.” While the Dispenser of the mercy is not stated, this is certainly an allusion to the bestowal of bountiful mercy from our great "God (Who is) merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth." (Ps 86:15+) (See discussion of God's attribute of Mercy) Brian Bell - Paul reminds himself of the Mercy he’s received. “Mercy cost nothing to receive, but it cost everything to give.” (Charles Swindoll) It cost Jesus His life! Phillip Towner adds that "Mercy (is) the Foundation of God's Covenant (Ed: Including the New Covenant). Mercy and hesed (word study) [חֶסֶד , חֶסֶד], God's covenant love, are integrally related. So close is the relationship that hesed [חֶסֶד , חֶסֶד] sometimes is to be viewed in terms of mercy. In this relationship, mercy then comes to be seen as the quality in God that directs Him to forge a relationship with people who absolutely do not deserve to be in relationship with Him. Mercy is manifested in God's activity on behalf of His people to free them from slavery...The pattern of God's dealings with people in the Old Testament, at the core of which is mercy, also provides the shape for understanding his dealings in the New Testament. God desires a relationship with humankind, but must show mercy to them in order for this relationship to be built. Of course, the New Testament expounds the theme of God's mercy in the light of Christ (cp 2Co 4:6+), the supreme expression of love, mercy, and grace. (ED: And this is the "Light" that radically impacted Saul on the road to Damascus Ac 9:3-5+ the merciful Light he never grew tired of praising and proclaiming.) (Mercy - Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Recommended Reading) Spurgeon describes God's mercy as His "tender attribute (which) sweetens the grand thought of His power: the divine strength will not crush us, but will be used for our good (ED: and His glory. Amen!). (See The Attributes of God - Spurgeon) Matthew
2 Coríntios 4:3-4
Vincent says: “The aorist tense, blinded, indicates a past, definite, decisive act. When the darkness overtook, it blinded. The blindness is no new state into which he has come.” This person is, of course, an unsaved person professing Christianity. Habitually conducting (present tense = habitual conduct) one’s self in the sphere of darkness is indicative of an unsaved state (cp 1Jn 3:15). (Wuest Word Studies - Eerdman Publishing Company Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3 - used by permission) J Vernon McGee agrees: My friend, John has given here a tremendous statement: “He that hates (continually) his brother is in darkness, and walks (continually) in darkness, and knows not where he goes, because that darkness has blinded his eyes.” If you want to know for sure that you are a child of God, apply this test to your own life. If you are hating your brother, you are dwelling in (the kingdom of) darkness (cp Jn 3:18, 20, 21). If you are loving your brother, you are dwelling in (the kingdom of) light (cp the "transfer" that all believers experience when they are first born again = Acts 26:18 and 1Pe 2:9-+). It is worthy noting that the noun tuphlos/typhlos is used 15 times in John 9 (Jn 9:1, 2, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24,25, 32, 39 40 41) Mounce comments: In John 9, the literal typhlos of the man born blind is blended with the figurative typhlos of the Jews (Jn 9:40). There is further irony in the Jews being referred to as typhlos (Jn 9:39), for it was a matter of pride to them that they were the teachers and guides to the blind (Ro 2:19-+). Jesus directly confronts the Jews with their typhlos of unbelief, declaring that they are blind guides of the blind (Mt 15:14). See NIDNTT-A, 566–67. Joseph Beet commenting on 2Co 4:4 wirites that "Many of those to whom Paul preached had evidently never seen the image of Christ portrayed in the Gospel. For they were unmoved by it. To them, therefore, the Gospel was veiled. And, since the truth was set plainly before them, the hindrance to sight was not in the Word but in the hearts of those who did not believe it. By not seeing the image set before them they proved themselves incapable of seeing it. And their blindness was so unnatural that it must have been inflicted. And it could be a work only of the enemy of the race. Since the blinded ones were wholly occupied with things of the present life and were thus prevented from beholding the Gospel light, Paul says that they were blinded by the God of this age. And, since the inevitable result of their blindness was that they were unable to see the light which shines forth from Him who reveals to men the face of God, he properly speaks of this as the dire purpose of the blindness inflicted by their foe. This blindness was wrought, not only by Satan, but by God: as is taught expressly in 2Th 2:9 10 11 12; Ro 11:8; Jn 12:40. In just punishment God surrenders to the cruelty of Satan those who reject the Gospel, that He may destroy their capacity for receiving it. This dual source of spiritual insensibility is illustrated in 2Sa 24:1 and 1Chr 21:1. The blindness is also attributed to the word, and to those who preach it: Is 6:10; Mk 4:11 12. For, by God’s ordinance, the Gospel hardens those whom it fails to soften. This blindness, though terrible, is not necessarily final; any more than is the death described in Ro 7:9,10, 11 12 13. For Christ, who raises the dead, gives sight (Lk 4:18) to the blind. But the blindness and death are such as no earthly power can save from. Yet in our deepest darkness we know the direction of the light. And, as we turn towards it, the light of life by its creative power gives eyes to the blind. (2 Corinthians 4 Commentary)
2 Coríntios 4:7-9
Vincent notes that "The adjective ostrakinos occurs only here and 2Ti 2:20-+. Herodotus says of the king of Persia. The great king stores away the tribute which he receives after this fashion: he melts it down, and, while it is in a liquid state, runs it into earthen vessels, which are afterward removed, leaving the metal in a solid mass” (3:96).Stanley cites the story of a Rabbi who was taunted with his mean appearance by the emperor’s daughter, and who replied by referring to the earthen vessels in which her father kept his wines. At her request the wine was shifted to silver vessels, whereupon it turned sour. Then the Rabbi observed that the humblest vessels contained the highest wisdom. The idea of light in earthen vessels is, however, best illustrated in the story of the lamps and pitchers of Gideon, Jdg 7:16. In the very breaking of the vessel the light is revealed. (Vincent, M. R. Word studies in the New Testament 3:312) Figuratively skeuos is used of the human body as formed of clay (cp Ge 2:7 3:19) and thus is frail and feeble. Vessels (4632) (skeuos) refers to a hollow vessel or container of any material used for a specific purpose, with the meaning varying depending on the context - utensil, jar, dish, gear (e.g., "sea anchor" in Ac 27:17). Figuratively skeuos refers to human beings who exercise or carry out some function - one's own body = 1Th 4:4-+, one's wife = 1Pe 3:7-+, recipients of God's wrath = Ro 9:21, 22-+ (contrasted with Ro 9:23-+ = believers); of believers as "vessels of honor" = 2Ti 2:21-+. Luke uses skeuos to refer to Paul as vessel or instrument in Acts 9… But the Lord said to him (Ananias), "Go, for he is a chosen instrument (vessel - Ac9:15KJV) of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake." (Acts 9:15,16) Comment: Here skeuos describes Paul as like a vessel who chosen for specific divine service, one of unimpressive stature, chosen to carry and communicate the treasure of the glorious light of the Gospel, shining in his (and our) hearts, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. What an astonishing contrast - Paul like a cheap clay pot containing the indescribably, inexplicably precious treasure—the treasure of the divine reality of the gospel. Baked dust carrying about the most precious treasure God has even given mankind! Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the greatest musicians of all time and his skills on the organ were without equal. Once when an acquaintance praised Back’s rendition of a particular work, he replied like this. “There is nothing very wonderful about it,” he said. “You have only to hit the right notes at the right moment and the instrument does all the rest.” (Patrick Kavanaugh, The Spiritual Lives of Great Composers. Nashville: Sparrow Press, 1992, p. 13.) Martin Luther said: “I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s Word… otherwise I did nothing… The Word did it all.” Skeuos - 23x in 22v - Mt 12:29; Mk 3:27; 11:16; Lk 8:16; 17:31; Jn 19:29; Acts 9:15; 10:11, 16; 11:5; 27:17; Ro 9:21, 22, 23 2Co 4:7; 1Th 4:4; 2Ti 2:20, 21; He 9:21; 1Pe 3:7; Re 2:27; 18:12 NAS = article(2), container(1), goods(1), instrument(1), jar(1), merchandise(1), object(3), property(2), sea anchor(1), someone(1), vessel(3), vessels(6). Baker - Jars (skeuos) or “containers” in the ancient world just as today could be made from a wide variety of materials, wood, glass, stone, brass, gold, silver, or clay. Generally, the more valuable the object to be stored, the nicer the container. Sometimes, how-ever, to throw off potential robbers, one might hide valuable objects, rings, jewels, spices, maybe even gold coins, in plain, unassuming containers. The latter idea, although the less expected, seems to come more in line with Paul’s thinking here…Connecting the imagery of clay jars to human beings is not much of a stretch from a biblical point of view. Not only is man viewed as being created from dust (Ge 2:7), God is pictured as a potter (Isa 29:16; 45:9; 64:8), who can if he chooses, destroy his bad pots (Isa 30:14; Jer 18:1–22; 19:1–13). Paul draws further on this imagery in Rom 9:19–29 to highlight God’s sovereignty over man’s salvation. (Baker, W. R. 2Corinthians. The College Press NIV commentary. Joplin, MO: College Press Pub) So that (2443) (hina) is used to express purpose (see terms of purpose or result). In this case Paul says that the reason God has deposited the treasure of the Gospel in frail men is that when others see weak, frail sinful men and women set free from sin solely by means of proclamation of the life giving Gospel, it will be abundantly clear that the power that produced that effect was supernatural and not natural. A T
2 Coríntios 4:7-9
Vincent on despairing - The word expresses an advance of thought on perplexed, yet on the same line. We are perplexed, but not utterly perplexed. The play between the Greek words cannot be rendered. Homer Kent - Perplexed, but not despairing” is a play on words that is not easily preserved in English (Greek: aporoumenoi all’ ouk exaporoumenoi.). One commentator (Lenski) has rendered it “being at a loss, but not having lost out.” These contrasting phrases emphasize human inability offset by divine enablement. (A Heart Opened Wide - Studies in 2 Corinthians; see also 2 Corinthians 2:14-4:18 The Glory of Christian Ministry - An Analysis)
2 Coríntios 4:16
Vincent - Stanley cites a line attributed to Michael Angelo: “The more the marble wastes the more the statue grows.” Compare Euripides: “Time does not depress your spirit, but it grows young again: your body, however, is weak” (“Heraclidae, ” 702, 703). (2 Corinthians 4)
2 Coríntios 4:16
Vincent remarks that "day by day" is a Hebrew form of expression, but there is no definitive correlate in the OT (cp Ge 39:20, Ps 68:20), and specifically hemera kai hemera does not occur in the Greek Septuagint. Other commentators suggest that this phrase is more probably a colloquial use of the temporal dative, with the repeated hemera denoting repetition, "day after day," or, as in the colloquial English expression "day in and day out." The similar phrase "hemera te hemera" is used in Modern Greek for ‘day by day’. Barnes on day by day "Constantly. There was a daily and constant increase of inward rigor. God imparted to him constant strength in his trials, and sustained him with the hopes of heaven, as the body was decaying, and tending to the grave. The sentiment of this verse is, that in an effort to do good, and to promote the salvation of man, the soul will be sustained in trials, and will be comforted and invigorated even when the body is weary, grows old, decays, and dies. It is the testimony of Paul respecting his own experience; and it is a fact which has been experienced by thousands in their efforts to do good, and to save the souls of men from death. (2 Corinthians 4) Augustine - The renewal of humankind (after the new birth)… proceeds gradually and is accomplished more quickly in some individuals and more slowly in others. To be like Jesus is our goal, Though it doesn’t happen fast; We trust the Spirit as our Guide Till we’re glorified at last. —Branon The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment; the growth of a saint is the work of a lifetime. Alexander von Humboldt - There is a tree in South America called the cow-tree. It grows on the barren flank of a rock that its roots are scarcely able to penetrate. To the eye it appears dead and dried, but when the trunk is pierced there flows from it a sweet and nourishing milk. This is not unlike the Christian, who outwardly may appear to be withering and dying but within possesses a living sap that is welling up to eternal life.