2 Corinthians 11:29Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

See what pastoral love. The falls of others, he says, intensify my own sufferings. The stumblings of others kindle in me a fire of grief. All who are entrusted with the guidance of rational sheep must strive for this. Let them not prove worse than the one who showed such tireless care for irrational sheep, and for so many years (cf. Gen 29-30). There, in the Old Covenant, if there had been any negligence, there would have been no harm. But here, in the New Covenant, if even one rational sheep perishes or is snatched by a beast, the loss is great, the harm is very grave, and the punishment unspeakably severe (cf. Lk 15:3-7).

"Who is weak, and I am not weak?" Lest someone say that he did indeed care, but cared in an ordinary way, he shows the character of his care. He did not say, I share in grief, but, I myself undergo it to the point of weakness. Understand this weakness both bodily and especially spiritual. The word "who" should be understood in this way: whether the person is important or insignificant. "Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?" Thus he expressed the excess of his grief, for he says, I burn. In enduring everything else he rejoiced, knowing that he endured it for the Lord. Here, however, he is wounded in soul. Another's stumbling, even that of an insignificant and rejected man, causes him great grief.

Paul does not mean that he pretended to take their weaknesses upon himself. Rather, he speaks of sympathy with their weaknesses.

Who would be weak, as you are in your mind, and I would not grieve for them? Who is made to stumble in the faith, and I do not burn with the search for means to convert him? Compare the interpretation on 1 Cor 9:22.

The Apostle speaks of sympathy for all and of compassion with that love which brings healing to wounds. Here, therefore, he also shows with what care he guards and directs the church entrusted to him.

Through this he also shows that he should be considered inferior in nothing to the other apostles. For, as he said of himself, “I labored more abundantly than they all” (1 Cor 15:10).

“Who is weak, and I am not weak?” He did not say, “I am weak with others,” but simply, “I am weak.” As one clothed with the very weakness itself, so I grieve and lament.

“Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?” When others are made to stumble, I am inflamed and consumed.

The captivity of our brethren must be regarded as our captivity, and the danger threatening others as our danger. Know with certainty that our unity has one body.

Not only love, but religion itself, must inspire us so that all the members of our household may be redeemed.

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.

All the calamities endured by the Apostle caused him many outward sufferings. Yet the inward anxiety over the success of his evangelic work gave him especially many torments. Meanwhile not everyone believed in this painful inner feeling, since it was invisible. This was true, for example, of those who had yielded to the influence of the false teachers. Therefore the Apostle again calls God as witness, and again praises sufferings and the exhaustion that comes from them as something very high and glorious. "See again," Saint John Chrysostom exclaims, "how great his grief is, as shown by the word burning. I am inflamed, I am consumed, he says. This grief is truly greater than all. The other sorrows were grievous, but soon passed and brought unfading joy.

"Lest you say that Paul cared, but cared only lightly, he showed how great his care was by saying: Who is weak, and I am not weak? He did not say, I share in grief, but, I am so troubled and grieved as though I myself were in the same infirmity and suffered the same sickness. Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn, that is, burn as in fire, zealous for his salvation? See again how great his grief is, as shown by the word burning. I am inflamed, I am consumed, he says. This grief is truly greater than all the others. The other sorrows, though grievous, soon passed and brought unfading joy. But this grief, to endure so many sufferings for every weak person, whoever he might be, oppressed, constrained, and wounded his heart.