2 Corinthians 11:28Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Here another sea of trials opens before us. By the words "besides the outward incidents," or more plainly, "besides the rest," he made clear that he had omitted far more than he had said. Nor did he stop there. He points us also to the anxieties he experienced from the multitude of people who gathered around him, saying: "the daily concourse of people, the care of all the churches." Again, this labor alone would be enough to raise him to the very summit of virtue. "The care," he says, "of all the churches," not of one, nor of two or three, but of all that existed in the world. As vast as the earth is, which the sun illumines with its rays, so great was the care and solicitude of this blessed man. See what breadth of heart. See what greatness of soul.

“Besides the things from without, there is the daily pressure upon me,” that is, the furious uprising and assault that the peoples make against me every day by common agreement.

“The care of all the churches.” This is the weightiest thing of all. If one who cares for a single household, even with servants and stewards, cannot even rest, what must one soul truly endure? Amid such dangers, it bears concern for the whole world, and for souls.

Besides the other sorrows that gathered over me daily, there was, in addition, anxiety not for one city or for one country, but for all the churches.

The care he calls daily comes from the custom of teaching the people entrusted to him every day. The events he mentioned above are additional cares caused by necessity.

The day is given for labor, and the night for rest. Yet when need arose, Paul taught also at night, so that he might help everyone. Without concern for his own rest, he undoubtedly took up his labor even then.

“Besides the external things.” The Apostle says: from many things I am compelled to recount only a few.

“The daily pressure,” that is, every day they lead me and take me from place to place, now to the synagogue, now to prisons, now to tribunals.

“And the care of all the churches.” Even when the persecutors are at rest, the very care for the churches consumes me, because concern for the whole world always pursues me.

“The daily pressure.” The Apostle speaks of what came not from external enemies and dangers, but from within the Church. It is better, therefore, to refer this word either to the gathering of people, as in the Russian translation, or to the concurrence of circumstances and difficulties he met while caring for the churches.

Besides the sorrows and trials sent upon the Apostle from without, he also points to many others. Their inner source was his personal, fiery zeal for the good of his individual disciples and of whole churches.

“Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?” This is the ideal of a true shepherd, not a hireling.

The apostolic journeys over stormy seas were grievous, but his wanderings along the land roads of the ancient East were no easier. They are not safe even now, and were still less safe then. Rivers also offered no convenience for travel, because there were no bridges or regular navigation. During the rains the rivers overflowed in violent torrents, and afterward they became shallow. Robbers attacked along the roads. In the lodgings his kinsmen, the Jews, attacked him, seeing in Paul's preaching a betrayal of the nation. Often they also stirred up the Gentiles against the Apostle. Dangers met him in cities. Nor was he safe in the wilderness, because of beasts and every kind of creeping thing.

"Besides what is outside," χωρις των παρεκτος, means besides the rest: I leave the rest aside. "Out of many things," he says, "I am compelled to recount only a few" (Theodoret). He means: "More has been omitted than set forth. Even what has been listed cannot be described in detail. For the Apostle did not mark each temptation separately, but recalled only those whose number was not great and could be retained in memory, saying: five times, three times, once. Concerning the other temptations he did not even say this, because he endured them many times" (Chrysostom). "The daily pressure." "Uprisings, riots, oppression from the people, and the assault of whole cities. In this most of all the Jews revealed their enmity toward him, because the Apostle put them to shame more than anyone else.