2 Corinthians 13 KJV
Final Warnings and Greetings
2 Corinthians Chapter 13: Final Warnings and Greetings
The chapter's closing benediction (v.14) is the New Testament's most explicit Trinitarian formula, coordinating the distinct persons of Christ, God, and the Spirit in a single liturgical blessing that later shaped baptismal and creedal language.
1his is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
2 I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:
3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.
4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.
7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.
10 Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.
11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
12 Greet one another with an holy kiss.
13 All the saints salute you.
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
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Did You Know?
The chapter's closing benediction (v.14) is the New Testament's most explicit Trinitarian formula, coordinating the distinct persons of Christ, God, and the Spirit in a single liturgical blessing that later shaped baptismal and creedal language.
Paul's citation of the 'two or three witnesses' rule (v.1) repurposes the Deuteronomic courtroom statute (Deut 19:15) to authorize apostolic discipline, transforming an Old Testament forensic principle into a mechanism for verifying charges within the Corinthian congregation.
Verse 8's assertion that 'we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth' articulates an ontological claim about apostolic power being constrained by divine reality itself, rather than by human authority or rhetorical success.
The self-examination imperative in v.5 employs the metallurgical term dokimazล, urging the Corinthians to apply the same assaying process used for precious metals to their own faith, thereby linking personal spiritual integrity to the chapter's broader theme of proven apostleship.
Paul's reference to his intended 'third' visit (v.1) functions as a deliberate inclusio with 2 Cor 12:14, framing the entire letter as a three-fold apostolic testimony that mirrors the very legal standard he invokes for judgment.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain This is the third time I am coming to you โ not merely preparing to come to you. This proves an intermediate visit between the two recorded in Ac 18:1; 20:2. In the mouth of two orโฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on 2 Corinthians 13 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: He threatens a severe proof of his apostolic authority, but prefers they would spare him the necessity for it.
- 1
- This is the third time I am coming to you โ not merely preparing to come to you. This proves an intermediate visit between the two recorded in Ac 18:1; 20:2. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established โ Quoted from De 19:15, Septuagint. "I will judge not without examination, nor will I abstain from punishing upon due evidence" [CONYBEARE and HOWSON]. I will no longer be among you "in all patience" towards offenders (2Co 12:12). The apostle in this case, where ordinary testimony was to be had, does not look for an immediate revelation, nor does he order the culprits to be cast out of the church before his arrival. Others understand the "two or three witnesses" to mean his two or three visits as establishing either (1) the truth of the facts alleged against the offenders, or (2) the reality of his threats. I prefer the first explanation to either of the two latter.
- 2
- Rather, "I have already said (at my second visit), and tell you (now) beforehand, AS (I did) WHEN I WAS PRESENT THE SECOND TIME, SO also NOW in my absence (the oldest manuscripts omit the 'I write,' which here wrongly follows in English Version Greek text) to them which heretofore have sinned (namely, before my second visit, 2Co 12:21), and to all others (who have sinned since my second visit, or are in danger of sinning)." The English Version, "as if I were present the second time," namely, this next time, is quite inconsistent with 2Co 13:1, "this is the third time I am coming to you," as Paul could not have called the same journey at once "the second" and "the third time" of his coming. The antithesis between "the second time" and "now" is palpable. if I come again, &c. โ that is, whensoever I come again (Ac 20:2). These were probably the very words of his former threat which he now repeats again.
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