ACC ~ 2 Corinthians 11 v6

RHETORICAL SKILL. AMBROSIASTER: This does not refer to the apostles, who were unlettered men of no eloquence, but to the false teachers whose rhetorical skill the Corinthians preferred. Paul did not mean by this that he did not know how to speak but that commendation did not depend on mere eloquence. A person of little eloquence is not guilty before God, but someone who does not know God is liable to be charged with ignorance, because it was a sin to be ignorant of what is conducive to salvation. It was not eloquence which would commend Paul’s message but the power to save which accompanied it. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

LEARNED IN HEBREW. JEROME: Paul was learned in Hebrew letters and sat at the feet of Gamaliel, whom he was not ashamed to acknowledge, but he showed a contempt for Greek eloquence, or at least he kept quiet about it because of his humility, so that his preaching lay not in the persuasiveness of his words but in the power of his signs. AGAINST RUFINUS 1.17.

UNSKILLED IN SPEAKING. CHRYSOSTOM: The false apostles obviously had the gift of eloquence which Paul lacked. But that means nothing as far as the substance of the preaching is concerned and may even cast a shadow over the glory of the cross, which is anything but superficially attractive. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 23.3.

PAUL’S FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE 2 CORINTHIANS 11:7-11

OVERVIEW: Paul accepted contributions from the Macedonians because they corrected their faults, but he refused anything from the Corinthians because they were less ready to correct theirs (AMBROSIASTER, THEODORET OF CYR). One who accepts payment from sinners loses authority to admonish them (AMBROSIASTER). By indicating love as the motive for his behavior, Paul makes his admonition even more serious (CHRYSOSTOM). Beware of Satan’s disguises (CYPRIAN, CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, AUGUSTINE).

2 Cor