Third Heaven

Biblical Text

The expression "third heaven" appears only once in the entire Bible, in 2 Corinthians 12:2. Paul says that "a man in Christ" was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years earlier. He adds that he does not know whether the man was in the body or out of the body; God alone knows. In verse 4 he goes on to say that the man was caught up into paradise and "heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter" (2 Corinthians 12:2–4).

This account occurs in a passage in which Paul reluctantly "boasts" about himself in response to those in the Corinthian church who were disparaging him. He immediately adds that, lest he "should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations," he was given "a thorn in the flesh." He concludes, "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:7–10).

Background

The Old Testament Hebrew word for heaven, shamayim, is plural in form. The Old Testament also contains expressions such as "the heaven of heavens" (Deuteronomy 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27). Jewish literature from around the New Testament period often depicted heaven as divided into multiple levels. Some writings speak of seven heavens, and others, such as 2 Enoch, are known to place paradise in the third heaven (see apocalyptic literature).

The Greek verb harpazō, translated "caught up," means "to snatch" or "to seize and carry off." The same verb is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, where believers are "caught up" to meet the Lord, a verse that became a basis for the concept of the rapture.

Significance in the Wider Scriptural Witness

The New Testament refers to the heavens in the plural in several places. For example, it says that Christ "ascended up far above all heavens" (Ephesians 4:8–10). The paradise that Paul mentions alongside the third heaven is the place Jesus promised to the thief on the cross (Luke 23:43), and it is also the paradise of God, where the tree of life stands (Revelation 2:7). For this reason, the third heaven is commonly understood to refer to the place of God's presence, that is, heaven.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• Who is "the man"? Because of the context of verse 7, most interpreters believe Paul was humbly describing his own experience in the third person.
• Levels of heaven: A widely known view identifies the first heaven as the atmosphere, the second as the realm of the sun, moon, and stars, and the third as the place where God dwells. Other scholars, however, read the passage against the background of the multilayered heavens found in Jewish literature.
• The relationship between the third heaven and paradise: Some regard these as two descriptions of the same experience, while others see them as two distinct stages or places.
• Bodily transport or vision? Because Paul himself withheld judgment, the text does not allow a firm conclusion.
• The date "fourteen years" earlier: Some speculate that the experience should be linked to a particular event in Acts (for example, his stoning at Lystra, Acts 14:19), but the text does not say.

Paul did not relate what he saw or what words he heard there. Modern accounts that describe the appearance or structure of the third heaven in detail go beyond what the text says.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, this passage is sometimes cited in connection with testimonies of having "seen heaven" or with so-called ipsin (trance) experiences. Within Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement, it is sometimes regarded as a biblical example of such experiences. Reformed (Reformed) voices, by contrast, note that Paul did not disclose what he saw and instead gloried in his weakness, and they therefore urge caution about treating such experiential accounts as a foundation for faith (see cessationism and continuationism). In preaching, the passage is often treated together with the thorn-in-the-flesh text and expounded under the theme "when I am weak, then am I strong."