2 Corinthians 12:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

These words were spoken by Paul very obscurely, but not without purpose or in vain. Since the discussion concerns money, and the Apostle defends himself by saying that he takes nothing, it was fitting for him to veil his words.

What, then, does what he says mean? Earlier the Apostle said that he had taken nothing. On the contrary, he was even ready to give and spend his own, and he discoursed at length about this both in this epistle and in the first.

Now he says something else. He seems to introduce the words of an objection made against him and answers it beforehand.

The meaning of these words is as follows. I myself did not burden you, but someone may suspect that, while taking nothing myself, I as a crafty man instructed those sent by me to ask you for something in their own name. Thus, by this device, I would seem not to take while in fact taking. Whether this is just, see and understand. He calls this deed craftiness in order to reproach and shame them. He also shows that they might have given unwillingly and as though by deception, for craftiness consists precisely in taking from someone against his will. It is the greatest disgrace for them if they think themselves victims of craftiness because they feed their teacher.

But let it be that I did not burden you at all. Perhaps, as a crafty man, I was plundering you by prudence, or by guile.

Paul is silent about none of the things that opponents could bring against him, so that he may clear himself of every accusation. For he undertook nothing by deceit toward the Corinthians. On the contrary, he always acted in simplicity. He pursued a twofold aim: to care for the Corinthians before God, and not to bring them into expense. He himself considered it enough to be content with what is promised in the coming Kingdom. It is possible that they could have suspected him of rejecting support because they offered too little, when more was due in view of his merits. Thus they might suppose that, because of a low estimate of his worth, he did not reject money itself, but despised what seemed to him an insufficient amount.

“Did I make gain of you by any of those whom I sent to you? I urged Titus, and with him I sent the brother. Did Titus make gain of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?” But perhaps someone will say that, using craft, when I was with you I took nothing from you, but received your offerings through those whom I sent to you. Therefore speak according to the truth itself. Who among those sent by us, Titus or anyone else, used the authority given to preachers? The Apostle called the offering “making gain” because it is somehow natural for a person who gives unwillingly, even if he is paying a debt, to think that what is taken from him is taken greedily. Having said this in rebuke of the false apostles, he shows the Corinthians his dignity as a teacher.

On the basis of these words, the Shtundists reproach Orthodox clergy for taking payment for the performance of occasional services. But when the Apostle describes his manner of acting in Corinth, he does not establish it as a general rule. If he took nothing from the Corinthians, it was not because the rules of his ministry required this. Nor was it because he had no right to do so. It was because he wished to have greater success in preaching (1 Cor 9:12). He did not wish to be exposed to accusations of self-interest, even unjust ones (vv. 1, 5). He also wished to have a certain special boast and reward (vv. 16-18). This cannot be made into a general rule. It was called forth by exceptional circumstances.

Finally, St. Paul defends and proves his apostolic calling by pointing to the signs of his apostleship in Corinth (2 Cor 12:11-18), which were manifested in all kinds of wonders and mighty works. “For in what were you inferior to the other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong. Children ought not to lay up for parents, but parents for children. And I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” In the same spirit acted the Apostle’s disciples whom he sent to Corinth, Titus and the other brother.

Returning to the thought of his disinterestedness, the Apostle, after excusing himself for taking nothing from the Corinthians, declares that he will take nothing from them in the future either. For he came not to collect from them, but to give to them, as a father gives to children. According to the natural law, he gathers benefits for his offspring. For this, children ought to love their parents, that is, give them their souls, or the feelings of spiritual love. This is what the Apostle wished to see from the Corinthians. Yet they did not fully correspond to the Apostle’s love, though he cared for them so greatly that he was ready to spend everything for them. And not only he cares for them so disinterestedly, but also his fellow workers, such as Titus the Apostle.

The Apostle constructs likely suppositions from his ill-wishers. Someone will say about me that I personally did not burden you with anything, but this was a clever trick. Under this mask of disinterestedness, I, as a crafty man, managed matters so skillfully that I took from you without your noticing. “I caught you,” hymas elabon, that is, I stripped you, or took from you, or got you into my hands. In other words, I gained control of your possessions while you did not notice and continued to consider me one who acted without payment. But if he did not take personally, yet took somehow indirectly, this still could not have been done invisibly, but visibly. And how visibly? In no other way than through his helpers and fellow ministers. The Apostle therefore points to this next.