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On the second letter to the Corinthians (homilies 1-30)

OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS JOHN ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, CHRYSOSTOM, COMMENTARY ON THE

SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.

HOMILY I. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our

brother, to the Church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all com 61.382 fort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 1. It is worthwhile to inquire first, for what reason he adds a second Epistle to the former, and why he so begins from the mercies of God and His 61.383 comfort. For what reason then does he add a second? Having said in the first Epistle, that, 'I will come to you, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power;' and at the end again promising this very thing more gently: 'For I will come unto you,' he says, 'when I shall pass through Macedonia; for I do pass through Macedonia; and it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you:' after a long time had passed he had not come, but even when the time was past, he was still intending and delaying, the Spirit detaining him on other matters far more necessary than these. For this reason a second epistle was needed, which would not have been needed if he had been but a little behindhand. But not for this reason only, but also because they had become better since the first. For indeed the man who had committed fornication, whom they had before applauded, and on whom they prided themselves, this man they had cut off and completely separated. And he showed this when he said, 'But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all.' 'Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted by many.' And going on, he hints at the same thing again, saying, 'For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you; yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.' And the blessing, which he commanded, they collected with much diligence; wherefore he also said, 'For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago.' And Titus, whom he sent, they received with all good will. And showing this very thing he said again, that 'his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.' For all these reasons he writes the second Epistle. For it was necessary, just as he reproved them when they sinned, so also to receive and praise them when they were corrected. Wherefore the whole Epistle is not of a more condemnatory tone, but only a few parts at the end of it. For there were also among them some from the Jews who were high-minded, and who slandered Paul as arrogant and worthy of no account; wherefore they also said, 'For his letters are weighty, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.' What they were saying was this: 'When he is present,' it says, 'he seems worthy of nothing;' for this is what 'his bodily presence is weak' means; 'but when he is gone he boasts great things, through what he writes;' for 'his letters are weighty' means this. And that they might seem to dignify their own position, they pretended not to receive. Which thing therefore also he himself hinting at

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In epistulam ii ad Corinthios (homiliae 1-30)

ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟΛΕΩΣ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΥΣΟΣΤΟΜΟΥ ΥΠΟΜΝΗΜΑ ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ

ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ ∆ΕΥΤΕΡΑΝ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗΝ.

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ Αʹ. Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ θε λήματος Θεοῦ, καὶ Τιμόθεος ὁ

ἀδελφὸς, τῇ Ἐκ κλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορίνθῳ, σὺν τοῖς ἁγίοις πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ· χά ρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ Κυ ρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Εὐλογητὸς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ Πα τὴρ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν, καὶ Θεὸς πάσης παρακλή 61.382 σεως, ὁ παρακαλῶν ἡμᾶς ἐν πάσῃ τῇ θλίψει ἡμῶν, εἰς τὸ δύνασθαι ἡμᾶς παρακαλεῖν τοὺς ἐν πάσῃ θλίψει, διὰ τῆς παρακλήσεως, ἧς πα ρακαλούμεθα αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ. αʹ. Ἄξιον ζητῆσαι πρότερον, τίνος ἕνεκεν δευτέραν προστίθησιν Ἐπιστολὴν τῇ προτέρᾳ, καὶ τί δήποτε οὕτως ἄρχεται ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τῆς 61.383 παρακλήσεως. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν δευτέραν προστίθησιν; Εἰπὼν ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ Ἐπιστολῇ, ὅτι Ἐλεύσομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ γνώσομαι, οὐ τὸν λόγον τῶν πεφυσιωμένων, ἀλλὰ τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ πρὸς τῷ τέλει πάλιν προσηνέστερον αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὑποσχόμενος· Ἐλεύσομαι γὰρ, φησὶ, πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὅταν Μακεδονίαν διέλθω· Μακεδονίαν γὰρ διέρχομαι· πρὸς ὑμᾶς δὲ τυχὸν παραμενῶ, ἢ καὶ παραχειμάσω· πολλοῦ μεταξὺ γενομένου χρόνου οὐ παρεγένετο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς προθεσμίας παρελθούσης, ἔμελλεν ἔτι καὶ ἐβράδυνε, τοῦ Πνεύματος αὐτὸν κατέχοντος ἐν ἑτέροις πολλῷ τούτων ἀναγκαιοτέροις. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἐπιστολῆς ἐδεήθη δευτέρας, οὐκ ἂν δεηθεὶς εἰ παρὰ μικρὸν ὑστέρησεν. Οὐ διὰ τοῦτο δὲ μόνον, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ βελτίους ἦσαν ἀπὸ τῆς προτέρας γεγενημένοι. Καὶ γὰρ τὸν πεπορνευκότα, ὃν πρότερον συνεκρότουν, καὶ ἐφ' ᾧ μέγα ἐφρόνουν, τοῦτον ἐξέκοψαν καὶ ἀφώρισαν παντελῶς. Καὶ τοῦτο ἐδήλωσεν εἰπών· Εἰ δέ τις λελύπηκεν, οὐκ ἐμὲ λελύπηκεν, ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ μέρους, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιβαρῶ πάντας ὑμᾶς. Ἱκανὸν τῷ τοιούτῳ ἡ ἐπιτιμία αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ τῶν πλειόνων. Καὶ προϊὼν πάλιν τὸ αὐτὸ αἰνίττεται λέγων· Ἰδοὺ γὰρ τὸ κατὰ Θεὸν λυπηθῆναι ὑμᾶς, πόσην κατειργάσατο ἐν ὑμῖν σπουδήν· ἀλλὰ ἀπολογίαν, ἀλλὰ ἀγανάκτησιν, ἀλλὰ φόβον, ἀλλὰ ἐπιπόθησιν, ἀλλὰ ζῆλον, ἀλλὰ ἐκδίκησιν. Ἐν παντὶ συνεστήσατε ἑαυτοὺς ἁγνοὺς εἶναι ἐν τῷ πράγματι. Καὶ τὴν εὐλογίαν δὲ, ἣν ἐκέλευσε, μετὰ πολλῆς συνήγαγον τῆς σπουδῆς· διὸ καὶ ἔλεγεν· Οἶδα γὰρ τὴν προθυμίαν ὑμῶν, ἣν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καυχῶμαι Μακεδόσιν, ὅτι Ἀχαΐα παρεσκεύασται ἀποπέρυσι. Καὶ τὸν Τίτον, ὃν ἔπεμψε, μετὰ πάσης ἐδέξαντο τῆς εὐνοίας. Καὶ τοῦτο αὐτὸ δεικνὺς πάλιν ἔλεγεν, ὅτι Τὰ σπλάγχνα αὐτοῦ περισσοτέρως ἐστὶν εἰς ὑμᾶς, ἀναμιμνησκομένου τὴν πάντων ὑμῶν ὑπακοὴν, ὥστε μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου ἐδέξασθε αὐτόν. ∆ιὰ ταῦτα πάντα γράφει τὴν δευτέραν Ἐπιστολήν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐχρῆν, ὥσπερ ἡνίκα ἡμάρτανον ἐνεκάλει, οὕτω διορθωθέντας ἀποδέξασθαι καὶ ἐπαινέσαι. ∆ιόπερ οὐδὲ καταφορικωτέρα ἐστὶ πᾶσα ἡ Ἐπιστολὴ, ἀλλ' ὀλίγα τοῦ τέλους αὐτῆς μέρη. Καὶ γὰρ ἦσαν καὶ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐξ Ἰουδαίων μέγα φρονοῦντες, καὶ Παῦλον διαβάλλοντες ὡς ἀλαζόνα καὶ οὐδενὸς ἄξιον λόγου· διὸ καὶ ἔλεγον· Αἱ μὲν ἐπιστολαὶ βαρεῖαι, ἡ δὲ παρουσία τοῦ σώματος ἀσθενὴς, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἐξουθενημένος. Ὃ δὲ ἔλεγον τοῦτο ἦν· Ὅταν μὲν παρῇ, φησὶν, οὐδενὸς ἄξιος φαίνεται· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν, Ἡ παρουσία τοῦ σώματος ἀσθενής· ἀπελθὼν δὲ κομπάζει μεγάλα, δι' ὧν ἐπιστέλλει· τὸ γὰρ, Αἱ ἐπιστολαὶ βαρεῖαι, τοῦτο σημαίνει. Καὶ ἵνα δόξωσι τὰ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς σεμνοποιεῖν, ὑπεκρίνοντο μὴ λαμβάνειν. Ὅπερ οὖν καὶ αὐτὸ αἰνιττόμενος