2 Corinthians 1

This is the first chapter of 2 Corinthians. Paul opens the letter against the background of the tension that arose between him and the Corinthian church after he sent 1 Corinthians. The greeting and thanksgiving are followed by Paul's defense of his sincerity, which begins in this chapter and continues into 2 Corinthians 2.

Outline

• Verses 1–2: Paul and Timothy greet the church at Corinth and all the saints throughout Achaia.
• Verses 3–7: Paul praises the God of all comfort. He says that the comfort received in tribulation enables believers to comfort others.
• Verses 8–11: Paul relates that in Asia he suffered tribulation so severe that he despaired even of life. Trusting in God, who raises the dead, he asks for the believers' prayers.
• Verses 12–14: Paul appeals to the testimony of his conscience that he has conducted himself not by fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God.
• Verses 15–22: Paul explains his plan to travel by way of Corinth and Macedonia to Judea. He insists that he is not someone who says "yea yea, and nay nay," and declares that the promises of God are "yea" in Christ.
• Verses 23–24: Paul states that he did not return to Corinth because he wished to spare the believers.

Key Verses

• 2 Corinthians 1:4: "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." This verse captures the chapter's theme that the comfort one receives flows outward to the comforting of others.
• 2 Corinthians 1:20: "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen." This verse is often cited as a confession that the promises of the Old Testament are fulfilled in Christ.
• 2 Corinthians 1:22: "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." This verse describes the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of what believers will receive in the future.

People and Places

• Paul: The apostle who sent the letter.
• Timothy: Paul's coworker, who joins in the greeting.
• Silvanus: A companion who preached the gospel with Paul in Corinth. He is generally identified with the Silas of the Book of Acts.
• Corinth: A city in the province of Achaia and the home of the church that received the letter.
• Achaia, Macedonia, Asia, Judea: Regions mentioned in connection with Paul's travel plans and movements.

Points to Consider

• The text does not specify what "our trouble which came to us in Asia" in verse 8 was. Some interpreters connect it with the riot at Ephesus (Acts 19), an imprisonment, or an illness, but none of these identifications has been established.
• The travel plan in verses 15–16 differs from the plan recorded in 1 Corinthians 16:5–7. On the basis of this difference and the letter written "with many tears" mentioned in chapter 2, scholars have long debated how to reconstruct the order in which 2 Corinthians was composed.
• The "anointing" and "sealing" in verses 21–22 are emphasized differently depending on the interpretive tradition. The Reformed tradition tends to read them in connection with the assurance of salvation, while traditions that emphasize the sacraments sometimes relate them to baptism.
• Verse 24, "Not for that we have dominion over your faith," is frequently cited in discussions of the nature of pastoral authority.

In the Korean Church

The "God of all comfort" passage in verses 3–7 is known to be frequently used in sermons comforting church members who are experiencing tribulation or loss, as well as at funeral services and during pastoral visits.