50 Fun Facts About 2 Corinthians

How did Paul escape Damascus, 'let down by the wall' through a window, in 2 Corinthians 11?

In a basket, Paul says, he slipped 'through a window' and 'escaped his hands' while the city was under guard. Acts 9 tells the same escape from the outside, with disciples doing the lowering.

'My grace is sufficient for thee', says 2 Corinthians 12:9, 'for my strength is made perfect in' what?

Weakness is where strength is made perfect, Paul is told after asking the Lord to remove his 'thorn in the flesh', so he resolves to 'take pleasure in infirmities'. The next verse adds 'when I am weak, then am I strong'.

What sort of person does 2 Corinthians 9:7 say God loves, one who gives not 'grudgingly, or of necessity'?

A cheerful giver is God's favourite because each person should give 'as he purposeth in his heart', Paul says, urging Corinth to finish the collection it had promised a year earlier.

What does 2 Corinthians 6:14 warn believers not to be 'with unbelievers', contrasting light with darkness?

Unequally yoked is a farming image, two mismatched animals pulling one plough, and the passage goes on to ask what part 'he that believeth' has with 'an infidel'. The verse never mentions marriage, its usual modern application.

What does 2 Corinthians 5:17 say anyone 'in Christ' is, adding that 'old things are passed away'?

A new creature, in modern translations 'a new creation', is what Paul says anyone in Christ becomes, and the verse ends 'behold, all things are become new'. It follows his line that he now knows no one 'after the flesh'.

What diplomatic title does Paul claim 'for Christ' in 2 Corinthians 5:20, speaking 'in Christ's stead'?

Ambassadors for Christ is the title Paul claims, 'as though God did beseech you by us', and he adds in the next verse that God 'made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin'.

2 Corinthians 5:7 says believers 'at home in the body' walk 'by faith', and not by what?

Sight is what faith replaces while 'we are absent from the Lord', Paul says, adding that he would rather be 'absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord'.

In what does 2 Corinthians 4:7 say 'we have this treasure', so the power is 'of God, and not of us'?

Earthen vessels, 'jars of clay' in modern versions, hold the treasure of the gospel so that its 'excellency' is plainly God's, and the next verses list being 'troubled on every side, yet not distressed'.

Into what is 'Satan himself transformed' in 2 Corinthians 11:14, so 'his ministers' can pass as righteous?

An angel of light is the disguise, 'and no marvel', Paul says, since the devil's servants likewise appear as 'the ministers of righteousness' in the very next verse.

Whom did 'the serpent' beguile 'through his subtilty', in 2 Corinthians 11:3's warning about corrupted minds?

Eve is the warning, because Paul fears the Corinthians could be led 'from the simplicity that is in Christ' just as she was deceived in Eden, by rivals preaching 'another Jesus'.

Who is named with Paul as co-sender in the first verse of 2 Corinthians, called simply 'our brother'?

Timothy shares the greeting, and the letter is addressed not only to Corinth but to 'all the saints' of the surrounding province. Jerome later claimed a different companion actually penned it for Paul.

2 Corinthians 1:3 calls God 'the Father of mercies' and 'the God of all' what, a gift meant to be passed on?

Comfort is the word, and the next verse explains why God gives it: 'that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble'. Forms of the word come four times in that one verse alone.

In which Roman province does 2 Corinthians 1:8 say Paul was 'pressed out of measure' and 'despaired even of life'?

Asia, the Roman province on the west coast of modern Turkey, is where Paul says he had 'the sentence of death' in himself, though he never says what the trouble was, only that it taught him to trust 'God which raiseth the dead'.

What change does Paul defend in 2 Corinthians 1, denying he used 'lightness' or meant 'yea yea, and nay nay'?

His travel plans had changed, skipping a promised stop at Corinth, and Paul swears that 'to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth' rather than make another visit 'in heaviness'.

With what does Paul say he wrote to Corinth 'out of much affliction and anguish of heart', in 2 Corinthians 2:4?

Many tears went into that earlier 'letter of tears', which is not 1 Corinthians, and Paul admits in chapter 7 that he briefly regretted sending it: 'I do not repent, though I did repent'.

Where do some scholars think Paul's anguished earlier message to Corinth, mentioned in chapters 2 and 7, survives today?

In 2 Corinthians 10 to 13, where the tone turns abruptly 'bitterly reproachful', is where some place the lost severe letter, though others hold that it simply did not survive.

In which port did Paul find 'a door was opened' yet have 'no rest in my spirit', per 2 Corinthians 2:12–13?

Troas, the port for crossing from Anatolia to Europe, is where Paul abandoned an open door because a companion had not arrived with word from Corinth, so he crossed the sea to look for him.

What does 2 Corinthians 3:2 call the Corinthians themselves, 'written in our hearts, known and read of all men'?

Our epistle, Paul says, is the church itself, 'written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God', so he needs none of the 'epistles of commendation' that rival teachers carried.

Which Old Testament figure's veiled face does 2 Corinthians 3 use to argue the old covenant's brightness was passing?

Moses 'put a vail over his face' so Israel could not watch the fading, Paul says, and the same veil 'remaineth' whenever the old covenant is read, 'which vail is done away in Christ'.

What does 2 Corinthians 3:17 say there is 'where the Spirit of the Lord is', right after 'the Lord is that Spirit'?

Liberty, 'freedom' in modern translations, is the mark of the Spirit, and the next verse says believers are 'changed into the same image' with unveiled faces as they behold the Lord.

What title does 2 Corinthians 4:4 give the one who 'hath blinded the minds of them which believe not'?

The god of this world is Paul's name for the devil here, whose blinding keeps unbelievers from seeing 'the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God'. Two verses on, God 'hath shined in our hearts' instead.

2 Corinthians 4:17 says 'our light affliction, which is but for a moment' works an 'eternal weight of' what?

Glory, 'far more exceeding and eternal', outweighs present trouble because, as the next verse says, 'the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal'.

Before what does 2 Corinthians 5:10 say 'we must all appear', to receive for 'things done in his body'?

The judgment seat of Christ is where everyone receives 'according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad', and that prospect, Paul says in the next verse, is why 'we persuade men'.

Which 'ministry' does 2 Corinthians 5:18 say God gives, described as 'not imputing their trespasses unto them'?

Reconciliation is the ministry, and the next verse spells it out: 'God was in Christ' restoring all people to himself, then handing believers 'the word of reconciliation' to pass on.

With which name for the devil does 2 Corinthians 6:15 ask 'what concord hath Christ'?

Belial is the name, and the verse goes on to ask what part a believer has 'with an infidel', before Paul calls the church 'the temple of the living God'.

Which companion's arrival with news from Corinth cheered Paul, who was 'cast down', according to 2 Corinthians 7:6?

Titus brought word that the Corinthians had received the severe letter with 'mourning' and 'fervent mind', and Paul, 'troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears', was lifted by that arrival.

What does 'godly sorrow' work, per 2 Corinthians 7:10, unlike worldly sorrow, which 'worketh death'?

Repentance 'to salvation not to be repented of' is what godly sorrow produces, and Paul says he is glad he made the Corinthians sorry 'after a godly manner' with his earlier letter.

Believers in which Roman province gave 'beyond their power' amid 'deep poverty', the model held up in 2 Corinthians 8?

Macedonia's churches begged 'with much intreaty' to join the collection, and Paul uses their generosity to shame the richer Corinthians into finishing the gift they had promised a year before.

Which province, Corinth's own, had Paul boasted 'was ready a year ago' with its collection, per 2 Corinthians 9:2?

Achaia, the province surrounding Corinth in the letter's own address, had been Paul's boast to the northern churches, which is why he sends brethren ahead so the gift is ready 'as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness'.

What does 2 Corinthians 10:4 say 'the weapons of our warfare are not', though 'mighty through God'?

Carnal, meaning fleshly, is what the weapons are not, being instead for 'the pulling down of strong holds' and 'casting down imaginations' that rise against 'the knowledge of God'.

Critics said Paul's writing was 'weighty and powerful' but what about him was 'weak', per 2 Corinthians 10:10?

His bodily presence was weak and his speech 'contemptible', said the critics, and Paul replies that what he is 'in word by letters when we are absent' he will be 'in deed when we are present'.

As what does Paul hope to present the Corinthians 'to Christ', having 'espoused you to one husband'?

A chaste virgin is the bride Paul, playing the father of the bride, is 'jealous over you with godly jealousy' to deliver, which is why rival preachers of 'another Jesus' alarm him so.

What does 2 Corinthians 11:13 call Paul's rivals, 'deceitful workers' who disguise themselves as Christ's messengers?

False apostles is the verdict on the rivals Paul sarcastically calls 'the very chiefest apostles', men he says he was 'not a whit behind' even if he is 'rude in speech'.

What does Paul say he 'robbed', 'taking wages of them, to do you service', in 2 Corinthians 11:8?

Other churches, meaning brethren who travelled down from the north, covered what Paul lacked in Corinth so that he was 'chargeable to no man' there, a refusal of local money his rivals used against him.

Paul matches his rivals' boasts in 2 Corinthians 11:22: Hebrews, Israelites and 'the seed of' whom, 'so am I'?

Abraham's seed, Hebrews and Israelites are the credentials Paul matches one by one, and Paul caps the list by claiming to be 'more' a minister of Christ, 'in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft'.

How many times does Paul say he 'suffered shipwreck', in the 2 Corinthians 11 list that includes 'once was I stoned'?

Three shipwrecks had already happened when Paul wrote, before the famous one on the way to Rome in Acts 27, alongside being 'thrice' beaten 'with rods' and receiving 'forty stripes save one' five times.

How long does 2 Corinthians 11:25 say Paul spent 'in the deep', in his catalogue of hardships?

A night and a day 'in the deep' is the detail that follows the shipwrecks, in a list that goes on to 'perils of waters', 'perils of robbers' and 'perils among false brethren'.

Which king's governor kept Damascus 'with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me', per 2 Corinthians 11:32?

Aretas the king, a Nabataean ruler, had a governor holding Damascus who wanted Paul arrested, which is why the apostle left the city by a window in the wall rather than through a gate.

How long before writing does Paul place the 'man in Christ' 'caught up to the third heaven', in 2 Corinthians 12?

About fourteen years earlier, 'whether in the body, I cannot tell', the man Paul describes was caught up, and Paul keeps the coy third person even as he pivots to boasting only 'in mine infirmities'.

Into what does 2 Corinthians 12:4 say the man was 'caught up', hearing words 'not lawful for a man to utter'?

Paradise and 'the third heaven' are the two names Paul gives the place, and he insists twice that he cannot tell whether the man was 'in the body, or out of the body'.

What does 2 Corinthians 13:5 command readers to do, 'whether ye be in the faith', before 'prove your own selves'?

Examine yourselves is the order, with the test that 'Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates', and it comes as Paul warns that on his next visit he 'will not spare'.

With what does 2 Corinthians 13:12 say believers should 'greet one another', in the closing verses?

A holy kiss is the greeting, sent along with the salutations of 'all the saints', just before the blessing that ends the letter.

What completes 2 Corinthians 13:14 after 'the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God'?

The communion of the Holy Ghost closes the letter, after a final plea to 'be of one mind, live in peace', and the line is still spoken as a blessing in many congregations.

What do scholars call Paul's second trip to Corinth, recalled in 2 Corinthians 2:1 and likely made from Ephesus?

The painful visit, made 'in heaviness' in the King James wording, went so badly that an anguished letter followed it, and Paul now promises the planned third visit will be different.

For believers in which city was the collection Paul organises in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 intended?

Jerusalem's church, its poor in particular, was the destination of the collection, and Paul sends unnamed brethren ahead so that the money is 'ready' when he arrives rather than gathered in a rush.

How often does 2 Corinthians 4:16 say 'the inward man is renewed', even as 'our outward man perish'?

Day by day is the pace of renewal, which is why Paul says 'we faint not', and the next verse calls present trouble a 'light affliction, which is but for a moment'.

Which apocryphal text, also found in the Acts of Paul, was treated as scripture by Syriac writers such as Aphrahat?

3 Corinthians, written by an unknown author posing as Paul, is framed as his reply to a letter from Corinth, and Ephrem the Syrian apparently accepted it too, since he wrote a commentary on it.

Which Damascus gate, one of the old city's seven, may have been the route of Paul's escape in 2 Corinthians 11?

Bab Kisan, set in a wall built in the Roman era and dedicated to Saturn, takes its name from a slave who became famous during a conquest by the Caliph Mu'awiya, centuries after Paul's descent from the wall.

What 'wrong' does Paul sarcastically apologise for in 2 Corinthians 12:13, the one way Corinth was 'inferior'?

Not being a burden is the 'wrong', because Paul had refused Corinthian money while accepting it elsewhere, and in the next verse he promises the same on his coming visit: 'I seek not yours, but you'.

Paul's 'thorn in the flesh' was given, 2 Corinthians 12:7 says, lest he be 'exalted above measure' through what?

The revelations, the visions he had just described, are the reason Paul says the thorn was sent, and he asked the Lord 'thrice' to remove it before being told 'my grace is sufficient for thee'.