The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (194 page)

15:52 the last trumpet:
The final blast that will inaugurate the general resurrection (1 Thess 4:16). • Several uses of the trumpet in ancient Israel fill out the background to this image. The trumpet was a
liturgical
instrument that summoned Israel to meet the Lord (Ex 19:16-17), to worship him on the Feast of Trumpets (Lev 23:23-25), and to enjoy his rest every jubilee year (Lev 25:9). The trumpet was also a
military
instrument that called soldiers into battle (Judg 7:19-23; Jer 4:19). These uses overlapped in the conquest of Jericho, where the military operation against the city was itself a liturgical action of processing and blowing trumpets (Josh 6:1-21). Trumpet imagery is also used in the Prophets to signal Israel's restoration from the covenant death of exile (Is 27:13) and to commence the judgment of the wicked on the "day of the Lord" (Joel 2:1; Zeph 1:15-16). 
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15:53 put on immortality:
Our risen bodies will be robed with undying life, not stripped away like worthless garments.
See note on 2 Cor 5:4
. 
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15:54-55
Paul appeals to Is 25:8 and Hos 13:14 to announce the final demise of death. • Isaiah describes a banquet of rich foods where all nations come to celebrate the end of suffering as the Lord swallows up death for ever. Hosea likewise forecasts that death will one day be robbed of its power and taunted like a defeated enemy. In Paul's mind, this day will dawn with the general resurrection. 
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15:58 your labor is not in vain:
The assurance that God will reward our faithfulness in the resurrection puts the struggles of daily life in perspective. Practically speaking, Paul is summoning us to glorify God in our bodies (6:20; CCC 364). 
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16:1-4
Paul spent considerable energy on his third missionary journey collecting donations for the poor of Jerusalem (Rom 15:25-27; 2 Cor 8-9). On the one hand, this relief offering was meant to alleviate suffering in the mother Church of Christianity. On the other, Paul was asking his Gentile Churches to make a symbolic gesture of unity and solidarity with Jewish believers in need. The gift was successfully delivered on his final journey to Judea (Acts 24:17). 
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16:1 Now concerning:
Paul is responding to an inquiry from a previous Corinthian letter.
See note on 1 Cor 7:1
. 
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16:2 first day of every week:
Sunday, the Lord's day (Acts 20:7; Rev 1:10). Paul is probably directing his readers to collect their donations when they gather for prayer and eucharistic worship. He hopes they will give generously to this charitable campaign (2 Cor 9:6-15; CCC 1351). 
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16:5 Macedonia:
A Roman province in upper Greece, just north of the province of Achaia, where the city of Corinth is located. 
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16:8 Ephesus:
Paul was writing from the capital of the Roman province of Asia (modern Turkey). He eventually made it to Corinth (Acts 20:1-2) after Pentecost, which was a Jewish festival celebrated in the spring, 50 days after Passover (Lev 23:15-21). 
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16:10 Timothy:
One of Paul's delegates sent ahead to Corinth (4:17).
See note on 1 Tim 1:2
. 
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16:12 Apollos:
A missionary who had worked in Corinth but was now in Asia (1:12; 3:5-6). The Corinthians may have requested his return. 
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16:14 Let all . . . be done in love:
This verse is a concise summary of Paul's teaching in the letter (8:1-3; 13:1-13; 14:1; 16:22). 
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16:17 Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus:
Possibly the informants from Chloe who updated Paul on the struggles of the Corinthian Church (1:11). They may have also delivered to him the Church's letter of questions (7:1). 
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16:19 Aquila and Prisca:
A Christian couple who worked closely with Paul as tentmakers and missionaries, first in Corinth and then in Ephesus (Acts 18:1-3, 18-19). They opened their home for Christian gatherings (Rom 16:3-5). "Prisca" is an alternative spelling for "Priscilla". 
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16:20 a holy kiss:
A customary sign of peace and brotherly affection among the early Christians (Rom 16:16; 1 Thess 5:26). 
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16:21 I, Paul, write this:
Paul's handwritten signature was a mark of the letter's authenticity (2 Thess 3:17). Most of the letter was probably dictated to a secretary (cf. Rom 16:22). 
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16:22 Our Lord, come!:
A rendering of the Aramaic expression,
marana tha
("Lord, come!"). This prayer, which is likewise echoed in Rev 22:20, was spoken at the end of one of the the earliest eucharistic liturgies on record (
Didache
10, 6). Its use in the liturgy indicates what Paul himself asserts in 1 Cor 11:26, namely, that the sacramental worship of the Church is oriented to the coming of Christ in glory (CCC 671).
See note on 1 Cor 11:26
. 
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INTRODUCTION TO

Author and Date
 The Apostle Paul is generally acknowledged as the author of 2 Corinthians. This conclusion is based on the letter's signature (1:1), the subsequent testimony of various Church Fathers, and the decidedly Pauline language and style of the epistle. Some scholars question whether the letter was originally written as a unified whole or is a patchwork of various letters written at different times. Pronounced differences in tone between chapters 1-9 (affectionate) and chapters 10-13 (severe) lead many to posit that two different letters, written under different circumstances, have been sewn together by a later editor into a single epistle. Others dissect the letter further, claiming that 2 Corinthians is a composite of at least three or more fragments of correspondence with the Corinthian Church. Still others defend the unity of the letter, sometimes explaining the changes in topic and tone as the result of Paul's receiving updated information about the situation in Corinth as he was writing the letter. Regardless of whether any of these hypotheses is correct, Paul is still regarded as the author of each and every part of the letter we now possess. Indeed, 2 Corinthians is one of the most personal and autobiographical of the apostle's writings.

Paul wrote 2 Corinthians on his third missionary tour (Acts 18:23-21:16), not long after writing and sending 1 Corinthians. Only now he has left Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8) and traveled to northern Greece into the Roman province of Macedonia (2:13; 7:5; 9:2). It is likely that Paul penned this letter in the fall of
A.D.
56, having written 1 Corinthians earlier that same year.

Destination
 The Church in NT Corinth was young and unstable when Paul wrote this letter. The apostle had established a small community of Christians there about
A.D.
51 (Acts 18:1-18). Soon after Paul's departure, however, the Church was bombarded with temptations. Pressures from the surrounding pagan culture, especially the idolatry and immorality so rampant in ancient Corinth, posed a constant threat to their Christian commitment. Internal strife and divided loyalties were also tearing the community apart from within. By the time Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, the community was further threatened by outside intruders claiming to be legitimate apostles. These troublemakers moved in during Paul's absence and turned a number of the Corinthians against him, claiming that Paul was fickle, inarticulate, and plainly unqualified to be a messenger of Christ. These false teachers created tensions between Paul and the Corinthians that eventually reached a point of crisis. Paul therefore made a brief emergency visit to Corinth to set things straight, but he was unexpectedly attacked by an unnamed offender when he arrived (2:5; 7:12). To the apostle's distress, most of the Corinthians failed to defend him against this outspoken opponent. Only later did the majority of them repent of their guilty silence and again give Paul their full allegiance (7:9). Chapters 10-13 indicate, however, that a minority of the Corinthians remained impenitent and continued to question the validity of Paul's apostleship (12:21).

Purpose
 Paul wrote 2 Corinthians for several reasons.
(1)
He hoped to strengthen his relationship with loyal supporters in Corinth and prevent them from falling prey to the groundless claims of the "false apostles" (11:13) who were infiltrating the Church and attacking his integrity.
(2)
He wrote to assert and defend his apostolic authority against those who doubted or denied it (10:10; 12:11-12).
(3)
He sought to resume his collection efforts for the poor Christians in Jerusalem and so appealed to the generosity of his readers in this regard (chaps. 8-9).
(4)
The second section of the letter (chaps. 10-13) was written to confront the "false apostles" (11:13) and their Corinthian followers. Paul warns that he will "not spare" (13:2) these detractors if they persist in their opposition to his ministry.
(5)
Paul also wrote to inform the Corinthians of his plan to visit them for a third time (12:14; 13:1).

Themes and Characteristics
 Second Corinthians is a deeply personal and emotional letter. This makes it sometimes difficult to follow, but it gives us a rare glimpse of both the tenderness and the tenacity of Paul. He was a spiritual father going through the painful experience of his own children rising up against him and going their own way. The highs and lows of this experience are stamped into the first and second halves of the letter: early on Paul is bursting with joy to hear that some of the Corinthians are turning back to him (chaps. 17), but later his anger and frustration return when he remembers that others are still acting in defiance (chaps. 10-13). Throughout the letter Paul makes use of the rhetorical arts to affirm and encourage the faithful as well as to denounce and expose the malice of his detractors for what it is.

In its content, 2 Corinthians is mainly an apologetic letter. Apart from chapters 8-9, where he urges readers to make a generous donation for the poor, Paul directs most of his energy to a sustained defense of his apostolic authority. He has no desire to do this, but missionary intruders have backed him into a corner and forced him to fight his way out (10:11). First, Paul stresses that God has qualified him for ministry (3:4-6), just as he had qualified Moses to shepherd the people of Israel. This bold comparison actually works to Paul's advantage: through the ministry of Moses, death came to faithless Israel; but through the ministry of the apostle, the Spirit is poured out in a powerful and life-giving way upon the people of the New Covenant (3:7-18). The Corinthians are living proof of this effect, having received the Spirit through the apostolic actions of Paul (3:23). Second, Paul brings up again and again his own experience of suffering as the credentials of which he is most proud (1:5-11; 2:4; 4:7-12; 6:48; 7:5; 11:23-29). This is to emphasize that God alone deserves the credit for his missionary successes (1:21-22; 5:18; 10:17). Unlike the false teachers (11:21), he boasts, not in himself, but in the power of grace made effective through his weaknesses (12:9-10). By reasserting his authority as an ambassador of Christ (5:20), Paul hopes to avoid a further confrontation with the Corinthians, which would force him to use this authority in a disciplinary way (13:10). «

OUTLINE OF THE SECOND LETTER OF SAINT PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS

1. Address and Prologue (
1:1-11
)

   A. Greeting (
1:1-2
)

   B. Thanksgiving (
1:3-11
)

2. Paul's Apostolic Ministry (
1:12-7:16
)

   A. Paul's Travel Plans (
1:12-2:17
)

   B. Ministry of the New Covenant (
3:1-4:18
)

   C. The Christian's Eternal Destiny (
5:1-10
)