2 Corinthians 11:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“You do not have gentle rulers, but harsh and unbearable ones.” “If someone strikes you in the face.” Do you see again the extreme degree of tyranny? He said this not because the false apostles actually struck them in the face, but because they despised and dishonored them. For this reason he also added...

He says this not because they were actually struck in the face, but because they endured no less than those who are struck in the face. He said it with their arrogance in view. For what could be more shameful than this? The false apostles took away their freedom, their possessions, and their honor, and treated them like slaves.

“In whatever anyone is bold, I speak foolishly, I also am bold.” The Apostle softened what he intended to say by calling it madness. Yet he makes clear that he dares not to insult them, not to devour them, not to take from them, but to set forth his own labors. First of all he sets forth what they regarded as worthy of honor, teaching that even in this they have no advantage over him.

I do it to remove every pretext from the greedy false apostles who deceive you and boast of being like me. “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” And “you, being sensible people,” this is irony, “gladly endure the senseless. You endure it when someone enslaves you, when someone devours you, when someone takes from you, when someone exalts himself, when someone strikes you in the face. To my shame I say that we were too weak for this.” I speak to our mutual shame: mine, ironically, and yours, by way of reproof. The Apostle speaks as though saying: There is nothing to be done; I must admit that I was not capable of the actions just listed. In general, I was not distinguished among you by those showy qualities with which the false apostles tried to glitter, and by which they evidently blinded you. But how are you not ashamed at your inability to distinguish true worth from false? How could you forget everything that revealed in me the true Apostle of Christ?

By placing himself among the false teachers as though he were senseless, the Apostle exposes their senselessness and reproaches those who accepted them. Through both he opens a path for his word, so that they may not think he acts from folly. They boast, and you listen. So allow me also to boast. They boast much and without measure. Then grant me at least a little boasting. Yet although necessity compels me, and although this is profitable for you, still I will say that this thing is not according to the Lord. Let no one think of imitating me in it. One thing I say by way of correction. If you consider me senseless, limit this senselessness to this part of my boasting. Do not extend it to all my deeds and words, or to all my teaching, orders, and institutions. Explaining what part of the boasting he means, he says: “to boast according to the flesh.” By this he does not mean what he has already said, namely, that he burdened no one in anything. He means what he is about to say below, in verse 22: that he too is a Hebrew, an Israelite, and the seed of Abraham (Theophan). “Mark Paul’s prudence,” Chrysostom exclaims. “He pointed to advantages which, as he had shown, are nothing, and only then called his boasting madness. Indeed, if it is madness to boast of real goods, it is far greater madness to boast of things that mean nothing. This very thing he calls not according to the Lord. For being a Hebrew and the like brings no profit. Therefore do not think that I regard this as virtue. But since they boast, I too am compelled to compare myself with them in this. He does the same elsewhere” (Phil 3:4). “You endure it if someone enslaves you.” “See,” says blessed Theophylact, “in what servility he reproaches the Corinthians.” “Do you see,” says Chrysostom, “that he now shows that the false apostles take, and not only take, but to excess? For this is what the word ‘devour’ means.” “If someone strikes you in the face.” The Apostle said this not because the false apostles actually struck them in the face, but because they despised and dishonored them. “You suffer no less than those who are struck in the face” (Chrysostom).

"You receive it if someone enslaves you." "See in what servility he reproaches the Corinthians, and how they submitted beyond measure to the false apostles!" (Theophylact, Oecumenius). Καταδουλοι means that he turns you into slaves, binds you in everything, and leaves you no freedom in anything. "You," he says, "have handed over to them your possessions, your flesh, and your freedom. To become masters not only of your possessions, but of yourselves, is far more than merely taking. He spoke of this before: 'If others partake of authority over you, should not we much more?' (1 Cor 9:12)" (Chrysostom). "If someone devours, if someone takes what is improper." "Devours," κατεσθιει, means eating up or consuming. "Takes," λαμβανει, means receives or takes. "What is improper" is not in the original. "Do you see that now he shows the false apostles take, and not only take, but take excessively? For this is what the word 'devour' means" (Chrysostom). Therefore "they boast in vain of despising money" (Theodoret). "And what the Apostle said above, 'that wherein they boast' (v. 12), he said about their boasting. They only boasted and did not possess the truth. They merely acted hypocritically, as though they did not take" (Theophylact). "If someone exalts himself," επαιρεται, means he raises himself up, proudly lifts his head, and looks down on you, counting you as nothing. This last point is expressed more strongly in the metaphor: "if someone strikes you in the face." "The Apostle said this not because the false apostles actually struck them in the face, but because they despised and dishonored them. Your slavery, he says, is not light. You have masters who are not gentle, but heavy and unbearable. You suffer no less than those who are struck in the face. Do you see the extreme degree of tyranny?" (Chrysostom).