An Exegesis of 2 Corinthians 4:7-15

    This middle section of 2 Corinthians 4 includes one of the more common images from the Pauline letters: "earthen vessels" or "clay jars." That imagery has been used for everything from a description of mortal bodies as containers for immortal souls to the name for a rock band. Consideration of 2 Corinthians 4:7-15 allows us to place this imagery within the context of Paul’s ministry and within the argument of 2 Corinthians. By doing so we will be able to see how this image informs Paul’s own view of the church, the ministry of the gospel, and how those issues are related to the cross of Jesus.

    In the section immediately preceding our text, Paul discusses how he and his associates have carried out their ministry. They do not behave like others who are charlatans and who "falsify God’s word" (4:2).¹ This is likely a reference to other preachers who had come into Corinth, who provided the eloquent speech which the Corinthians desired (10:10-12; see also 1 Cor 2:1-5) and demanded that the Corinthians support them financially (11:7-11, 19-21). These preachers had apparently won the allegiance of much of the Corinthian congregation. Paul has experienced some reconciliation with this church (7:5-16; note also the sense of relief in 1:3-7), though that reconciliation is not yet complete.²

    In an effort to solidify this reconciliation with the Corinthian church, Paul presents an explanation of his ministry in 2 Cor 2:14-7:4. Paul hopes to make clear to the Corinthians why his ministry is carried out in apparent weakness and shame. He wants them to understand why his ministry must look like this, so that they will not become infatuated with such "super-apostles" (12:11) again in the future, so that the Corinthians "may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart" (5:12). Our text is a part of this explanation for Paul’s ministry.

    In 4:1-6, immediately before our text, Paul discusses the goal of his ministry: to proclaim Christ and not himself (4:5), which necessitates a style of ministry distinct from the charlatans and those blinded by the god of this world (4:4). In the passage following our text, Paul will explain why he does not lose hope, even in the face of suffering, death, and divine judgment (4:16-5:10). He does not lose heart, since all that he does is not for himself but for the benefit of the Corinthians and for the glory of God (4:15). He sees beyond this temporary struggle (including his struggle with this problematic congregation) to the glory that God has prepared (4:17), and for which God has given the Spirit as a guarantee (5:5). Our text provides the bridge between these two sections, as Paul explains how the shining glory of God (4:6) can be revealed in those who are "wasting away" (4:16).

⁷But we have this treasure in earthenware jars, in order that the surpassing character of the power may be from God and not from us. ⁸Always we are oppressed but not crushed, at a loss but not lost, ⁹persecuted but not abandoned, thrown down but not destroyed, ¹⁰always carrying around in our bodies the dying of Jesus, in order that also the life of Jesus may be revealed in our bodies. ¹¹For we who are alive are always being handed over into death because of Jesus, in order that also the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh. ¹²So then, death is being worked in us, but life [is being worked] in you. ¹³And because we have the same spirit of faith, in accordance with what is written, "I believed, therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore we also speak, ¹⁴because we know that the one who raised Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and will present us with you. ¹⁵For everything is because of you, in order that grace, increasing through the majority, may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

Vs. 7 — qeou~ should be treated as a genitive of source ("from God"), as suggested by the following, parallel phrase ec  umwn ("from us").

ina .. New Revised Standard Version (hereafter, NRSV) adds "it might be made clear," perhaps feeling that this is the sense of what more woodenly would be "in order that it might be..." However, there are others in Corinth who also claim power, but Paul wants to deny that their power comes from God. Thus, this is probably not a statement about perceptions, but a statement about the actual source of the power. In this way, Paul’s power comes from God (which should raise in the Corinthians’ minds the question about the source of the "super-apostles’" power). Compare New Jerusalem Bible, "so that the immensity of the power is God’s, and not our own."

V. 8 — panti_ could be understood as a dative of manner ("in every way", NRSV) or of place ("in every place"). However, it should probably be understood as a dative of time ("always") since verses 10 and 11 each begin with different words meaning "always" (pantote, aei). Today’s English Version and The Contemporary English Version both understand panti_ in a temporal sense, but weaken it to "often."

Vs. 13 — Most published translations use "spirit" rather than "Spirit" (i.e., Holy Spirit). They are probably correct, since the following quote says "we believe," and "spirit of faith" could then be understood as a genitive of quality describing the human spirit which has such faith.

I. The earthly nature of ministry (vv. 7-12)             (We have / e!xomen )
        A. Source of power (v. 7)
                1. The containers do not correspond to the treasure
                2. There is a purpose for this: the power is from God
        B. Down but not out (vv. 8-9)
        C. Ministry is a matter of death and life (vv. 10-12)
                1. Jesus’ death marks our lives (v. 10a)
                        2. Purpose: that Jesus’ life may be revealed in us (v. 10b)
                1' We are handed over (as Jesus was) (v. 11a)
                        2'. Purpose: that Jesus’ life may be revealed in us (v. 11b)
                3. God works death and life (v. 12)

II. How do we dare? (vv. 13-15)                         (having / e1xontej)
        A. Because of faith (v. 13)
        B. Because of the resurrection (v. 14)
        C. Because of you (v. 15a)
        D. For God’s glory (v. 15b)

Notice that the text is divided into two sections, each of which begins with mention of "having" something (e1xw). "God" (qeo&j) is explicitly mentioned only in vv 7 and 15, forming an inclusio around the text and confirming that 4:7-15 is an appropriate unit to consider.

    This verse begins a contrast between the shining glory of God (vs 6) and the "earthenware jars" (author’s translation) in which that treasure is placed.³ The "treasure" here is not an immortal soul, or individual salvation,⁴ but it is the ministry of the gospel which Paul spoke of "having" (e1xw) by the mercy of God in 4:1. Thus, the "we" in this passage does not mean Christians in general or Paul plus the Corinthian church (note the contrast between "we" and "you" in v. 12), but refers to Paul and his co-workers.

    Their lives which hold this ministry are called "earthenware jars." The image was used by Hellenistic philosophers to describe the body as opposed to the soul which it contained.⁵ However, we have already suggested that this meaning is foreign to Paul’s thought here. A more likely background for this metaphor is found in the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophets spoke of God’s power and contrasted it with the frailty of humans, who could be compared to breakable pottery (Isaiah 29:16, 30:14, 45:9; Jeremiah 22:28). None of these texts, however, use the same words as Paul does here. There are four passage in Leviticus, however, which speak precisely about "earthenware jars" (skeu~oj o)stra&kinon) used by the priests in purification rites, and which were disposable, broken when they became ritually unclean (Lev 6:21, 11:33, 14:50, 15:12, the only passages in the Septuagint to use the same words which Paul uses here).⁶ With this image, Paul declares that the saving power of God is now at work through his life, though his human life is fragile and vulnerable to cracking under the afflictions (note "moral flesh" in vs. 11).

Vv. 8-9

    In verses 8-9, Paul includes a dramatic set of antithetical pairs of participles, each pair first admitting the weakness of Paul’s ministry, followed by all ouk ("but not", an example of correctio⁷) and another participle declaring that this weakness is not defeat or disaster. The four contrasting pairs are made more effective by the lack of connective word between them (asyndeton⁸), and by the play on words in verse 8: aporoumenoi....ecaporoumenoi⁹ which will be especially effective when heard.

    This listing of the sufferings of Paul’s ministry may be considered an example of a "hardship list" (peristasij), a common element in Hellenistic writings of politicians, used to show how much the speaker endured for the sake of their people, and of philosophers, used to show how well they endured life’s struggles without inner turmoil.¹⁰ For example, Plutarch describes the truly wise person as

"not impeded when confined, and under no compulsion when flung down a precipice, and not in torture when on the rack, and not injured when mutilated, and is invincible when thrown down in wrestling, and is not blockaded under siege, and is uncaptured while his enemies are selling him into slavery."

    As one looks at the other "hardship lists" in Paul’s letters,¹³ it is striking that Paul has written most of these to the church at Corinth, which apparently had a very difficult time understanding how and why Paul’s ministry could be accompanied by such suffering, weakness, and shame, rather than embodying the beauty, eloquence, and strength valued by their society. We should also notice that our text and 2 Cor 6:4-10 are not simply enumerations of sufferings. Such a simple list could certainly have shown how Paul and his associates are "earthenware jars." The dramatic set of antithetical pairs shows something else: that God’s power is revealed through this weakness, and not simply despite this weakness (see vs. 7). This is precisely how God has chosen to reveal the power of the gospel; this is what it means to have the power be "from God, and not from us."¹⁴

    Each of these verses includes the contrast between "death" and "life," holding these 3 verses together as the next subunit in Paul’s presentation. The first half of verse 10 is Paul’s summary of what the weakness, suffering, and humiliation described in vv. 8-9 amount to: they are how Paul carries, in his own body, the dying of Jesus. nekrw&sij in vs. 10 should not be translated as "death" (as NRSV does), but rather as "dying." This is not Paul’s usual word for death, qanatoj which is used in vv. 11 & 12. Rather, nekrwsij indicates the process of dying (cf. the English "necrotic").¹⁵ As Jesus was put to death in weakness and shame, so Paul experiences these same things in his ministry (The Revised English Bible, "we carry with us in our body the death that Jesus died" seems close to this sense, and is certainly better than NRSV). His apostolic suffering is not simply human pain; through it, the dying of Jesus again becomes visible to the world. Since the crucified one has been raised, the life of Jesus is also revealed through this dying now experienced in Paul’s own ministry (10b).

    Verse 11 is given as an explanation of how Paul carries the dying of Jesus, and how that can result in life (note that it begins with an explanatory gar, "for"). Paul carries around the dying of Jesus because he is always being handed over to death -- not merely the danger of being put to death, but experiencing the assault of death.¹⁶ To carry the dying of Jesus is not simply about holding a particular doctrine of atonement, or wearing cross-shaped jewelry. It is about how Paul lives and carries out his ministry. To be "in Christ" is to be conformed to his death, and Paul reflects that reality in his ministry. paradido&meqa ("we are handed over") does not explicitly state by whom this is done, but we should probably understand the action of God behind this verb. Since this "being handed over" is not simply accident or tragedy but is "carrying the dying of Jesus in the body," it is God who is always handing over Paul to death.

    However, this is not a declaration of futility or frustration. Rather, through this ministry, the life of Jesus is made visible. Verses 10 and 11 are clearly parallel to one another. They both begin with a temporal reference ("always"), followed by a clause that refers to Jesus and to death; then each verse has a i#na clause ("in order that"), with "the life of Jesus" as the subject and "be revealed" as the verb; in each verse, the final clause contains a prepositional phrase introduced by e0n and modified by "our." What was described as "in our body" in vs. 10 is described in the parallel section of vs. 11 as "in our mortal flesh." The dying of the cross becomes visible in the actual, concrete, daily life of Paul. The message and the messenger are inseparably joined. The other preachers came in a way that exalted the values of society, beauty, eloquence, strength. Paul comes preaching the cross, and insists that this message shapes the messenger in a cruciform ministry.

    Verse 12 states the implications, the conclusion (wste, "so then") drawn from this paradox of Jesus’ life being revealed through Paul carrying around the dying. The voice of energeitai is either middle or passive. If middle, we may end up with a translation similar to NRSV: "death is at work."¹⁷ However, since in vs. 11 we saw a passive verb which probably indicated the action of God, we should consider such a meaning here as well, and understand energeitai as a passive.¹⁸ "The life" which is spoken of in the last half of the verse is not "life in general," but specifically the life of Jesus, mentioned explicitly in vv.10 and 11. So also, "death" here is not death in general, but specifically THE death (o9 qa&natoj), the death of Jesus which Paul carries and into which Paul is handed over by God. This death does not simply "happen" to Paul because he’s unlucky; it is God conforming Paul to the cross of Christ.

    The vocabulary of "death" (qa&natoj) and "life" (zwh&) forms an important and central contrast in this passage, and so deserves further consideration. "Death" for Paul is not simply a natural process, nor is it the heroic act of self-sacrifice. Death remains a terrible force, the final enemy (1 Cor 15:26). Death is not a neutral power, but is the companion and the consequence of sin (Rom 5:12). Paul looks ahead in hope to the end, when death will finally and ultimately be defeated (1 Cor 15:26, 2 Cor 5:4). Until then, the existence of the believer continues to be marked by death. Paul and his companions are ‘the stench of death" (2 Cor 2:16, author’s translation) to those who will not receive the gospel of the cross.

    But even though death has not been eliminated, the balance of power has shifted irrevocably. For those in Christ, death has lost its sting (1 Cor 15:55), and the apostles are the "aroma of life" (2 Cor 2:16). They have been baptized into Christ’s death ("THE death" in 2 Cor 4:12), and it is only in connection with this death that new life, true life is possible (Rom 6:3-4). Paul’s discussion of "death" and "life" always remains connected to Jesus’ death on the cross, and to God’s victory at the resurrection. That means that now both life and death may be experienced as service to God (Rom 14:7-9).

Vv. 13-15

    Verse 13 begins with a circumstantial participle (e!xontej, "having"), indicating the reason that Paul and his associates can carry on in a ministry marked by such death as described in vv. 8-12. Quoting the Septuagint wording of Psalm 115:1, Paul declares that faith, which he shares with the psalmist, results in proclamation.

    Verse 14 likewise begins with a circumstantial participle (ei0do&tej, "knowing"), and again it should be taken as indicating "cause:" this is the reason why Paul can believe and can speak. Through this introduction, Paul is reminding the Corinthian church of the tradition they confess together: God has raised Jesus from the dead, and so the death at work in Paul will not be the end. God will raise Paul as well,²⁰ and bring him and the Corinthians into God’s presence. Paul’s ability to continue in this ministry does not rest on his own strength or performance, but on the conviction that God has raised Jesus from the dead.

    The standard editions of the Greek NT include kurion ("Lord") before the first use of "Jesus" in this verse. However, ku&rion is omitted by P46 (3^rd century), by good Alexandrian texts (B, 33, 1739) and some Western witnesses (Vulgate, Tertullian). The variety of texts which omit the word make it unlikely that this has happened by accident. It seems more likely that "Lord" has been inserted by pious scribes, and we should read the text without it (following the general practice which gives preference to the shorter reading).²¹ Thus, Paul uses the name "Jesus" by itself 6 times in this passage (vv. 10, 11, and 14, twice each). This is remarkable, since "Jesus" appears 140 times in the undisputed Pauline letters, but only 16 times without another modifier like "Lord" or "Christ."²² 38% of these occurrences of the simple name "Jesus" in Paul’s letters appear in vv. 10-14. This repeated use of the name "Jesus" is a focusing device called conduplicatio,²³ and is a way for Paul to emphasize for the Corinthians the earthly Jesus, and his suffering, humiliating, all-too-earthy death as the central act by which God’s power is revealed.

    Verse 15 begins yet another explanation (gar, "for"),²⁴ finishing off a series of explanatory clauses which ties vv. 13-15 together as the second major unit of this text. Verse 15 begins by expanding on the "with you" of verse 14. Paul will not be separated from them, even (or especially!) at the resurrection. Paul’s suffering ministry is for their sake, so that the life of Jesus can be worked by God among them (vs. 12), and so even death cannot separate the apostle from his spiritual children.

    Verse 15b has been described as a "syntactical thicket,"²⁵ mainly because it is unclear what one should do with the euxaristian ("thanksgiving"). There are at least three possibilities:

1) It could be the object of the preposition dia&. Thus: "in order that grace, increasing because of the thanksgiving of the majority,²⁶ may overflow to the glory of God." One might question, however, whether Paul thinks that God’s grace increases because of our thanksgiving.

2) It could be the direct object of "increasing." Thus: "...in order that grace, increasing the thanksgiving through the majority, may overflow to the glory of God." This is certainly a better option than #1.

3) It could be the direct object of the verb "overflow" in its causative sense. Thus: "in order that grace, increasing through the majority, may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God." This option seems to be the best (and is adopted by NRSV and NIV). Grace working through more and more of the Corinthians, as this reconciliation continues, will result in more thanks (especially from Paul!), which will lead to God being glorified in overflowing thanksgiving.

    Despite the syntactical problems with this verse, we should notice how well crafted it is, and what a dramatic ending for this section Paul has composed. It is a carefully balanced chiasm:

Grace increasing through the majority the thanksgiving

h9 xa&rij pleona&sasa dia\ tw~n pleio&nwn th_n eu0xaristi&an

"Grace" and "thanksgiving" frame this clause, and they are held together by their similar sounds. The thanksgiving (eu0xaristi&an) which Paul hopes for and celebrates here is rooted in the grace (xa&rij) of God, that grace which has become active among the Corinthians through this very unglorious-looking ministry of Paul.

    To the Corinthian church, so enamored of the values of society around them, Paul declares that the gospel’s messengers are not marked by the world’s standards of power, success, or glory. Rather, their lives are marked by suffering, shame, and the death of Jesus, all for the sake of others. The cross of Christ remains the criterion for faithful ministry. "A lack on the apostles’ part with regard to measuring up to worldly expectations in appearance and performance cannot justifiably discredit them — on the contrary, it establishes them as emissaries of God since in their weakness God’s strength is known and made present for the churches."²⁷

POSSIBILITIES FOR PROCLAMATION

    This text appears in the Revised Common Lectionary for Proper 4 B, and is paired with Mark 2:23-3:6, the story of the Pharisees criticizing Jesus’ disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath. There may be a way to connect these two passages, since in the Mark text Jesus’ disciples didn’t measure up to the standards expected for those who claimed faithfulness to God. Jesus’ ministry didn’t seem particularly godly to those around him, just as Paul’s did not seem godly in the eyes of his society or of some in the Corinthian church.

    In this passage, Paul is speaking specifically about his own apostolic ministry. We may, however, use this text to consider the ministry of the gospel which we all share, and how that ministry might be shaped and evaluated. This text will, and should, call into question many of the ways that we tend to judge the "success" of our own ministry, or of our pastors, or of our congregations. Adopting the values of our own society, we look for things like growth in numbers, larger and larger budgets, respect and influence within the halls of power, dangers avoided. Paul turns our expectations on their heads. To carry the gospel will mean being shaped in ways that the world (and perhaps at times we ourselves) will consider foolish, weak, and shameful: to stand with the poor and the outcast, to declare the futility of our own schemes, and to insist that God’s grace in Jesus’ death and resurrection has begun the demolition of this world’s ways of assigning value and worth. The hope which sustains us, and sustains our ministry together in the gospel, does not rely on the world’s definitions of "success," nor does it rely on the brilliance of its official ministers. It relies on the grace of the God who raised Jesus from the dead, and who is at work through our very human and earthly ministry to work death and life for the sake of the world.

ENDNOTES

¹ Unless otherwise indicated, all biblical quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version.

² For this basic sketch of the letter’s background, see Calvin J. Roetzel, The Letters of Paul. Conversations in Context, 4th edition (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1998), 92-94.

³ Thus de& needs to be translated as "but" rather than "and."

⁴ As may be indicated, for example, by the New Living Translation: "But this precious treasure-- this light and power that now shine within us..."

⁵ Victor Paul Furnish, II Corinthians (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984), 253.

⁶ This allusion to the Mosaic regulations is made more likely after the extended discussion of Moses and the Law in 2 Corinthians 3.

⁷ "Correctio." The Forest of Rhetoric. Accessed March 16, 2002. <http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm>.

⁸ "Asyndeton." A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples. Accessed March 16, 2002. <http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/rhetoric.htm#13>.

⁹ Furnish, 254 creatively translates this play on words as "despairing, but not utterly desperate."

¹⁰ Ben Witherington III, Conflict and Community in Corinth (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 388 f.

¹¹ Plutarch, "Conspectus of the Essay, ‘The Stoics Talk More Paradoxically than the Poets’" 1057E; and Epictetus, "Discourses" II.xix.24, cited in Furnish, 281.

¹² Witherington, 388 f.

¹³ Fred O. Francis and J. Paul Sampley, eds., Pauline Parallels, 2nd edition (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), p. 178 lists Rom 8:31-39 and 1 Cor 4:8-13 as primary formal parallels to this text. The notes at the bottom of the page add 2 Cor 6:1-10, 11:21-29, 12:20. 2 Cor 13:4 might also be considered here.

¹⁴ See Charles B. Cousar, A Theology of the Cross (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990), 150 f.

¹⁵ Frederick W. Danker, ed, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2000),  668, "nekrw&sij" #1, "death as a process...putting to death."

¹⁶ Rudolf Bultmann, The Second Letter to the Corinthians. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1985 [original 1976], 116. Here, the New Living Translation seems to have missed the point when it translates the phrase as "Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus."

¹⁷ The middle form of this verb is not uncommon in the NT with the meaning of "expresses itself." See Romans 7:5 for an example.

¹⁸ So also Furnish, 257.

¹⁹ Witherington, 341 f.

²⁰ Perhaps Paul has begun to consider, more seriously than he did in 1 Thessalonians 4 or even 1 Corinthians 15, the possibility that he may die before the parousia of Jesus. However, notice that Paul still speaks about his resurrection as FUTURE.

²¹ So also Ralph Martin, 2 Corinthians. Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, Tx: Word, 1986), 83. The omission is also supported by Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (United Bible Societies, 1971), 579.

²² Outside of our text, the name "Jesus" is found by itself in Romans 3:26, 8:11; 1 Cor 12:3; 2 Cor 4:5, 11:4; Gal 6:17; Phil 2:10; 1 Thess 1:10, 4:14 (twice). Thus, 2 Cor 4:10-14 is by far the most concentrated use of the simple name "Jesus" in the Pauline letters.

²³ "Conduplicatio." A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices. Accessed March 16, 2002. <http://virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm>.

²⁴ Alternatively, the gar could be understood as an "emphatic" use, and thus the NRSV "Yes, ...."

²⁵ Furnish, 259.

²⁶ I have chosen to translate twn pleionwn as "the majority" (i.e., of the Corinthian church) rather than simply as "more people" (as NRSV), since the growing reconciliation with the Corinthian church, rather than the general spread of the gospel, seems to be Paul’s concern in this text.

²⁷ David A. deSilva, The Credentials of an Apostle. Paul’s Gospel in 2 Corinthians 1-7 (North Richland Hills, Tx: Bibal Press, 1988), 88.

Martin, Ralph. 2 Corinthians. Word Biblical Commentary. Waco, Tx: Word, 1986.

Metzger, Bruce M. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament. United Bible Societies, 1971.

Roetzel, Calvin J. The Letters of Paul. Conversations in Context, 4^th edition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1998.