3rd Missionary Trip - Lorin

make the trip at this moment. Paul indicates that later on he will plan on traveling to Corinth from Ephesus ὅταν
εὐκαιρήσῃ, whenever he has opportunity.
The prepositional phrase Περὶ δὲ Ἀπολλῶ, but about Apollos, suggests this may have been an issued
raised by the Corinthians in their letter to Paul that prompted in part the writing of First Corinthians. 148 This is not
certain, but if it was the case, then Apollos’ refusal to travel to Corinth at the time is all the more intriguing. It could
have been based upon a bad experience in his first earlier visit there, or, more likely, upon some pressing need
taking place in his current ministry in Ephesus.
2 Cor 1:8-11, 15-18 (plans), 23
8 Οὐ γὰρ θέλομεν ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, ὑπὲρ τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν τῆς γενομένης ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ, ὅτι καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν
ὑπὲρ δύναμιν ἐβαρήθημεν ὥστε ἐξαπορηθῆναι ἡμᾶς καὶ τοῦ ζῆν· 9 ἀλλὰ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸ ἀπόκριμα τοῦ θανάτου
ἐσχήκαμεν, ἵνα μὴ πεποιθότες ὦμεν ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῖς ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ τῷ ἐγείροντι τοὺς νεκρούς· 10 ὃς ἐκ τηλικούτου
θανάτου ἐρρύσατο ἡμᾶς καὶ ῥύσεται, εἰς ὃν ἠλπίκαμεν [ὅτι] καὶ ἔτι ῥύσεται, 11 συνυπουργούντων καὶ ὑμῶν ὑπὲρ
ἡμῶν τῇ δεήσει, ἵνα ἐκ πολλῶν προσώπων τὸ εἰς ἡμᾶς χάρισμα διὰ πολλῶν εὐχαριστηθῇ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν. . . .
15 Καὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πεποιθήσει ἐβουλόμην πρότερον πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐλθεῖν, ἵνα δευτέραν χάριν σχῆτε, 16 καὶ διʼ ὑμῶν
διελθεῖν εἰς Μακεδονίαν καὶ πάλιν ἀπὸ Μακεδονίας ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς καὶ ὑφʼ ὑμῶν προπεμφθῆναι εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν.
17 τοῦτο οὖν βουλόμενος μήτι ἄρα τῇ ἐλαφρίᾳ ἐχρησάμην; ἢ ἃ βουλεύομαι κατὰ σάρκα βουλεύομαι, ἵνα ᾖ παρʼ ἐμοὶ
τὸ ναὶ ναὶ καὶ τὸ οὒ οὔ; 18 πιστὸς δὲ ὁ θεὸς ὅτι ὁ λόγος ἡμῶν ὁ πρὸς ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἔστιν ναὶ καὶ οὔ. . . .
23 Ἐγὼ δὲ μάρτυρα τὸν θεὸν ἐπικαλοῦμαι ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχήν, ὅτι φειδόμενος ὑμῶν οὐκέτι ἦλθον εἰς Κόρινθον.
8 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were
so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence
of death so that we would rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He who rescued us from so
deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, 11 as you also
join in helping us by your prayers, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through
the prayers of many. . . .
15 Since I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a double favor; 16 I wanted to
visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on to Judea.
17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to ordinary human standards, ready
to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been “Yes
and No.” . . .
23 But I call on God as witness against me: it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth.
With the shift to references in Second Corinthians our time frame shifts to the period of some months
after Paul left Ephesus to travel to Macedonia in order to help the churches in that province, prior to traveling on
to Achaia and Corinth. As we work through the Corinthian ministry details we will try to sort out the sometimes
confusing sets of statements of Paul regarding his travel plans, as well as those of several of his associates. Paul
seemed to remain very flexible in his plans, and thus they shifted from what he anticipated in First Corinthians to
what he states in Second Corinthians.
In verses eight through eleven of the above passage Paul alludes to a period of intense suffering during
the time of his ministry in Ephesus (ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ). The mystery here is identifying what happened, since Luke’s
description in Acts 19:1-20:1 does not suggest anything close to what Paul alludes to in this second letter to
Corinth. Verses eight through eleven stand as a concrete affirmation of hope in God (εἰς ὃν ἠλπίκαμεν, in Whom
we have set our hope, v. 10) that the apostle stresses in his Proem prayer
of thanksgiving in vv. 3-7. From the inclusive ‘we’ in vv. 3-7 that includes
the Corinthian readers to the more limited editoral ‘we’ in vv. 8-11 that centers
on Paul and perhaps also his associates with him in Ephesus, Paul
provides a concrete example of having come through exceeding difficult
times at Ephesus through the deliverance of God. Such deliverance (ὃς ἐκ
τηλικούτου θανάτου ἐρρύσατο ἡμᾶς, v. 10) by God strengthens Paul’s con-
148The construction περὶ δέ in 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1 does signal various questions and issues raised by the Corinthians in their
letter to Paul. It may be that the Corinthians requested a visit from Apollos in this letter.
We have already discussed the possible force of περὶ δέ (under 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1). If it denotes a topic raised by the
addressees, Robertson and Plummer would be correct to argue that the Corinthians had actually requested a visit from Apollos
rather than from Timothy.
Page 423
95 However, we have noted Margaret Mitchell’s persuasive arguments that this need not always
be the case. 96
[Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament
Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 1333.]