2 Corinthians 11:26Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

David also complained of this: “It was not my enemy who magnified himself against me, for from him I would have hidden. But it was you, a man my equal, my friend and my familiar” (Ps 54:13-14). And in another place: “the man who was at peace with me” (Ps 40:10).

“In dangers from Gentiles.” He endured persecutions from Gentiles for preaching the one God and the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation. “In dangers in the city.” The danger in the city was so real that he fled from the hands of those who rose against him through a window (cf. 2 Cor 11:32). “In dangers in the wilderness.” This danger came from the plots of the Jews, when they wished to kill him on the road (cf. Acts 27:43). “In dangers at sea.” He had already said above, “three times I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day I spent in the deep.” What other danger at sea could there have been? Yet there was also this danger: while at sea, that is, on the ship, the soldiers planned to kill all the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape (cf. Acts 27:42).

This is what Saint Paul the Apostle boasts in as a true minister of Christ. Would that all successors of the Apostle and sacred ministers of the New Covenant, like Paul, placed their true dignity not in luxury and worldly comfort, nor in the splendor of their position. Rather, let them place it in sorrows and labors for the Gospel of Christ.

“Dangers among false brethren.” This refers to those of the Jews who had believed, but who did not wish to part with the ritual laws of Moses. The struggle with them occupied half of Paul’s life. Willingly and unwillingly, the Apostle constantly had to keep watch and to be in hunger and cold. “In fastings often.” “This,” according to blessed Theodoret, “is one of the voluntary struggles.” Fasting is the best preparation for preaching with the power of the word. Therefore all the Apostles fasted when setting out to preach. “The pressure upon me every day.” “Riots, disorders, oppressions from the people. Everywhere there were waves and torrents for him.” “The care of all the churches.” “This is the summit of all. In this his soul was tormented and his heart was torn. For if someone caring for one matter often knows no rest from anxieties even when no one troubles him, then imagine what Paul had to endure. He had the care of cities, peoples, tribes, and the whole world. In matters so important, amid so many enemies, he labored alone. He was so sensitive and cared for all so deeply, as no father cares for his children” (Chrysostom).

In journeys often: dangers in rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from kinsmen, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in cities, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brethren; in labor and hardship, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2 Cor 11:24-27). Finally, let us remember also the longsuffering of the Man of God who has gathered us today in this church. The wondrous Alexius left home, wealth, parents, and bride, choosing the narrow path of salvation. For seventeen years he lived without a dwelling, among the poor, in the church porch. And what is still harder, as the account of his life says, “the ever-memorable one remained unknown in his father’s house, so poor and exhausted, attacked by the enemy, inflamed by love for his relatives, and mocked by his own servants. This was not for ten days or a hundred, but for seventeen whole years” (Prologue). What resolve in the intention of salvation. What constancy in fulfilling it. What patience in temptations. Our sloth looks unwillingly at such examples of longsuffering in faith. It more readily seeks examples of how to be saved more easily and quickly. It is true that the infinitely merciful God has made even this possible, so that no sinner, in any circumstances, should have cause to despair. In the Gospel we see how a few words of repentance and faith opened Paradise to the thief. Yet let us not fail to note that in certain circumstances this example is without parallel. It was unparalleled in the unexpected closeness in which fate placed the dying man to the Savior, with no possibility of departing from Him while nailed to the cross. It was also unparalleled in those wondrous moments of grace. Let us also observe that repentance, not too late for the thief on the cross, was too late for the other in the very same circumstances and in the same moments of grace. The saved thief turned to Christ alone, in contrast to the impenitence of the chief priests, rulers, Pharisees, scribes, elders, and all Jerusalem. Who will dare to say that this swift and irresistible rising from perdition to salvation is easier and more reliable to accomplish? Is it not rather safer to attain salvation by gradual progress on the path of repentance and self-correction, with patience and longsuffering?

Ravines are a convenient den for wicked people. So it remains to this day. “Dangers from kinsmen,” εκ γενους, from his own race, means that he was in dangers from the Jews, “my kinsmen, and more from them than from others. They were enraged against me to the point of savagery because of their senseless zeal for the faith and their envy of the Gospel’s successes” (Theophylact). “Dangers from Gentiles,” εξ εθνων: he was in dangers from Gentiles. The Jews did not everywhere rise up against Saint Paul by themselves. Often they inflamed the Gentiles against him. These could also be displeased with him on their own account, either because the temples were being deserted, or because the work of craftsmen who made objects for pagan religious veneration was being diminished, as happened in Ephesus. “Perhaps he was safe in cities? Not at all” (Theophylact). He was also in dangers “in cities,” εν πολει, in a city. “By this he indicated the uprisings that occurred against him” (Theodoret). “Was he safer in the wilderness? Not even there” (Theophylact). “Dangers in the wilderness”: even in the wilderness he was in dangers, “for he was often compelled to pass through deserted places” (Theodoret). These are not dangers from robbers, but from wild beasts, serpents, sandstorms, and the like. “Dangers at sea.” “Even when he left the land, dangers met him at sea” (Theophylact). This does not mean dangers from the sea itself, for he already spoke of that. It means dangers from sailors and from those who sailed with him. “For he often had to venture upon sea travel, taking care to fill islands and the mainland with piety” (Theodoret). Dangers were everywhere. “Everywhere struggles lay before me, in various places, villages, cities, and deserts” (Chrysostom). “The devil everywhere stirred up battles against me. There was no safe place for me. Neither city nor wilderness hid me from dangers” (Oecumenius). “Dangers among false brethren.” “Here is a new kind of warfare. Not only enemies, but those who had the mask of brotherhood waged war against the Apostle. In this case much magnanimity was needed, and much prudence” (Chrysostom). This refers to those of the Jews who had believed, but did not wish to part with the law. Everywhere they caused Saint Paul much grief, tearing down what he had built. At their instigation, not long afterward, an uprising against Saint Paul occurred in Jerusalem, which nearly cost him his life. “This kind of temptation is the most sensitive and bitter. David too complains with deep sorrow: ‘If an enemy had reproached me, I could have endured it... But you, a man my equal’ (Ps 54:13-14). And again: ‘The man of my peace... has magnified his stumbling against me’ (Ps 40:10)” (Theophylact).