2 Corinthians 11:20 - Exposition

For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage. The verse gives us an unexpected and painful glimpse of the enslaving ( Galatians 2:4 ), greed-loving ( Matthew 23:1-39 . 14; Romans 16:1-27 ;18), gain-hunting ( 1 Peter 5:2 , 1 Peter 5:3 ), domineering ( 3 John 1:9 ). and even personally violent and insulting character of these teachers; whom yet, strange to say, the Corinthians seem to take at their own estimate, and to tolerate any extreme of insolence from them, while they were jealously suspicious of the disinterested, gentle, and humble apostle. If a man devour you. As the Pharisees "devoured" widows' houses ( Matthew 23:14 ). Take of you; rather, seize you; makes you his captives. The verb is the same as "caught you," in 2 Corinthians 12:16 . Smite you on the face. They must have brought their insolence with them from Jerusalem, where, as we see, not only from the details of our Lord's various mockeries, but from the accounts of the priests in Josephus and the Talmud, the priests made free use of their fists and staves! The fact that so many of the converts were downtrodden slaves and artisans would make them less likely to resent conduct to which they were daily accustomed among the heathen. Neither Greeks nor Orientals felt to anything like the same extent as ourselves the disgrace of a blow. That sense of disgrace rises flora the freedom which Christianity has gradually wrought for us, and the deep sense of the dignity of human nature, which it has inspired Christ had been so smitten, and so was Paul himself long afterwards ( Acts 23:2 ), and he had to teach even Christian bishops that they must be "no strikers" ( 1 Timothy 3:3 ; Titus 1:7 ). The "syllogism of violence" has, alas! been in familiar use among religious teachers in all ages ( 1 Kings 22:24 ; Nehemiah 13:25 ; Isaiah 58:4 ; Matthew 5:39 ; Luke 22:64 ; 1 Corinthians 4:11 ).