to be away · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
bold
θαρρῶtharrō
G2292
to exercise courage · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
toward
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
2 Corinthians 10:10 For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which i…
Galatians 5:2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
Isaiah 42:3-4 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messeng…
1 Corinthians 2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
2 Corinthians 11:30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 10:1-6
Here we may observe,
I. The mild and humble manner in which the blessed apostle addresses the Corinthians, and how desirous he is that no occasion may be given him to use severity. 1. He addresses them in a very mild and humble manner: I Paul myself beseech you, Co2 10:1. We find, in the introduction to this epistle, he joined Timothy with himself; but now he speaks only for himself, against whom the false apostles had particularly levelled their reproaches; yet in the midst of the greatest provocations he shows humility and mildness, from the consideration of the meekness and gentleness of Christ, and desires this great example may have the same influence on the Corinthians. Note, When we f…
I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness - Having now finished his directions and advices relative to the collection for the poor, he resumes his argument relative to the false apostle, who had gained considerable influence by representing St. Paul as despicable in his person, his ministry, and his influence. Under this obloquy the apostle was supported by the meekness and gentleness of Christ; and through the same heavenly disposition he delayed inflicting that punishment which, in virtue of his apostolical authority, he might have inflicted on him who had disturbed and labored to corrupt the Christian Church.
Who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you - He seem…
Now I Paul myself beseech you,.... The apostle having said what was necessary and proper to stir up the Corinthians to a liberal contribution for the poor saints at Jerusalem, returns to the vindication of himself against the false apostles; and earnestly entreats the members of this church,
by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, not to regard their reproaches, and join with them in them; for did they but consider the meek and gentle deportment of Christ, so worthy of his and their imitation, they would see there was no reason to reflect on him for that part of his conduct, in which he followed his Lord and master; whose meekness was to be seen in the assumption of human nature, in the w…
The Church Fathers
Paul is saying that he is the same person whether present or absent. He refers here to the meekness and gentleness of Christ because he does not want to appear to be harsher in person than in a letter. At the same time, he warns them that he can be severe with them if he has to be and that if they do not put things right in his absence, they may get an unpleasant surprise when he comes.
Some Jewish believers were ordering Gentile converts to follow the law of Moses. They condemned Paul, calling him base and stupid, and claiming that although he kept the law in secret himself, he was prepared to dispense the Gentiles from it publicly, because he thought they were too ignorant to be able to keep it. Paul refutes this charge by reminding the Corinthians of the miracles which he had done among them and of the gifts which they had received because of him.
"Who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am of good courage toward you." What, pray, is this? Surely he speaks in irony, using their speeches. For they said this, that 'when he is present indeed, he is worthy of no account, but poor and contemptible; but when absent, swells, and brags, and sets himself up against us, and threatens.' This at least he implies also afterwards, saying, "for his letters," say they, "are weighty, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account." He either then speaks in irony, manifesting great severity and saying, 'I, the base, I, the mean, when present, (as they say,) and when absent, lofty:' or else meaning that even though he should utter great things, it is not out of pride, but out of his confidence in them.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Boldness, Holy · Ministers should exhibit, in: Faithfulness to their people — Ministers should exhibit, in: Faithfulness to their people
Example · CHRIST, OUR — CHRIST, OUR
Gentleness · OF CHRIST — OF CHRIST
Meekness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Paul · Per — Per
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
2 Corinthians 10:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Corinthians 10:1-6
1. Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:
1. Pro ipse ego Paulus exhortor vos [738] per lenitatem et mansuetudinem Christi, qui secundum faciem humilis quidem sum inter vos, absens autem audax sum in vos.
2. But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
2. Rogo autem, ne praesens audeam ea fiducia, qua cogito audax esse in quosdam, qui nos aestimant, acsi secundum carnem ambularemus.
3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do no…
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Corinthians 10:1–end
In this section, Paul defends his ministry as an apostle. • These chapters pose several problems arising from a distinct change of tone and style. Chapters 1–9 are full of joy stemming from the reconciliation of sinners with God and of the Corinthians with Paul. Yet from this point on, Paul is on the defensive. These chapters are full of harsh words, bitter recriminations, passionate irony, and rebuke. The remarkable break at 10:1 has inspired a number of explanations: (1) These chapters might be a separate letter, perhaps the “severe letter” sent earlier to Corinth (2:3-4; 7:8-9). (2) It might be that, while the majority of the church members were obedient to the appeal for reconciliation,…
