2 Corinthians 13: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Paul announces a third visit and warns that this time he will not spare those who sinned earlier or anyone else. He answers the demand for proof that Christ speaks through him by pointing to Christ, who was crucified in weakness but lives by God's power, and he tells them to test themselves. He explains that he writes ahead so he will not have to be harsh in person, since his authority was given for building up and not for tearing down, and he ends with final instructions, greetings, and a blessing.

Claim by Claim

1. 13:1
   • Paul says this is the third time he is coming to them.
   • Every matter is to be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses.
2. 13:2
   • Paul says he told them beforehand.
   • Paul says he now forewarns them, as though present the second time.
   • Paul says he is absent now.
   • Paul writes to those who sinned previously and to all the rest.
   • Paul says that if he comes again he will not spare.
3. 13:3
   • The Corinthians are seeking proof that Christ speaks in Paul.
   • Christ is not weak toward the Corinthians.
   • Christ is powerful among them.
4. 13:4
   • Christ was crucified out of weakness.
   • Christ lives by the power of God.
   • Paul and his companions are weak in Christ.
   • Paul and his companions will live with Christ by the power of God toward the Corinthians.
5. 13:5
   • Paul tells them to examine themselves as to whether they are in the faith.
   • Paul tells them to test themselves.
   • Paul asks whether they do not recognize about themselves that Jesus Christ is in them.
   • Paul adds the qualification: unless they are failures who do not stand the test.
6. 13:6
   • Paul hopes they will know that he and his companions are not failures who fail the test.
7. 13:7
   • Paul prays to God that they do no evil.
   • Paul says his prayer is not so that he and his companions may appear approved.
   • Paul says his prayer is so that they may do what is good.
   • Paul allows that he and his companions may appear to be failures who fail the test.
8. 13:8
   • They can do nothing against the truth.
   • They can act only for the truth.
9. 13:9
   • Paul and his companions rejoice when they are weak and the Corinthians are strong.
   • Paul and his companions pray for the Corinthians' restoration to completeness.
10. 13:10
    • Paul writes these things while absent.
    • Paul writes so that when present he will not have to act severely.
    • The authority Paul has was given him by the Lord.
    • That authority was given for building up.
    • That authority was not given for tearing down.
11. 13:11
    • Paul addresses them as brothers and gives a final word.
    • Paul's parting word can mean either 'rejoice' or 'farewell'.
    • Paul tells them to be restored to completeness.
    • Paul tells them to be encouraged.
    • Paul tells them to be of one mind.
    • Paul tells them to live in peace.
    • The God of love and peace will be with them.
12. 13:12
    • Paul tells them to greet one another with a holy kiss.
13. 13:13
    • All the saints send greetings to them.
14. 13:14
    • Paul pronounces the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ upon them all.
    • Paul pronounces the love of God upon them all.
    • Paul pronounces the fellowship of the Holy Spirit upon them all.
    • The blessing closes with Amen.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

13:1

The second sentence quotes a rule from Israel's law (Deuteronomy 19:15): no charge could be upheld in court on one person's word alone. "Every word" here means every matter or accusation, not every spoken word. Paul is telling the Corinthians that when he arrives he will follow proper procedure, and possibly also that his repeated visits themselves count as the required testimony.

13:2

Paul counts the visit ahead as his third, so he had already been to Corinth twice. In the Greek it is not certain whether "the second time" attaches to the visit he made or to the warning he gave; the sentence can be read either way, and translators have to pick one.

13:3

"To you-ward" is old English for "toward you," that is, in his dealings with you.

13:4

In the King James, "crucified through weakness" does not mean weakness was the cause of the crucifixion; "through" here means "in a state of," so the sense is that he was weak when he was crucified. Crucifixion was the Roman execution reserved for slaves and rebels, deliberately public and humiliating, so "weakness" carries the idea of total powerlessness in the eyes of the world.

13:5

The King James "reprobates" translates a word that means "failing the test," the opposite of "approved" in verse 7. It was used of metal that did not pass assay. The word does not carry the later English sense of a degenerate or immoral person. "Prove your own selves" likewise means test yourselves, not demonstrate something to others. Paul is playing on this pair of words through verses 5 to 7.

13:7

"Honest" in 1611 meant honorable, fitting, what is right in the eyes of others; it was not limited to truth telling. "Approved" is the word that passes the test, set against "reprobates," the word that fails it.

13:9

"Perfection" here translates a word for mending or setting right: repairing a torn net, resetting a dislocated bone, putting something back into working order. It is about being restored and made whole rather than being flawless.

13:10

"Edification" is building language, from the word for a house. Paul regularly describes his work as construction and its opposite as demolition.

13:11

The Greek word behind "farewell" was the ordinary word for "rejoice," and it doubled as a parting greeting, so it can be read either way here. "Be perfect" is the same mending word as in verse 9: let what is broken among you be set right. "Brethren" was the standard address to a whole congregation, women included.

13:12

A kiss on the cheek was a normal greeting between family and close friends in the ancient Mediterranean world. Calling it "holy" marks it as the greeting used among members of the congregation when they met.

13:13

"Saints" translates a word meaning those set apart as God's own. In Paul's letters it is his usual term for ordinary members of the churches, not for a select few of exceptional holiness. "Salute" simply means greet.

13:14

"Communion" translates koinonia, which covers both sharing in something and partnership with one another; the Greek here can mean sharing in the Holy Spirit or the fellowship the Spirit creates, and readers have taken it both ways. "Ghost" in 1611 English meant spirit, with none of the modern sense of an apparition. Many modern Bibles number this as verse 13, having combined the two greetings above.