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2 Corinthians
13:11-14
10. Conclusion, 13:11-14
The grace of God
Paul concludes his letter with final greetings and a benediction. The benediction in v14 is trinitarian in form and is often used in liturgical worship.
The final section of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, 10:1-13:10, deals with his apostolic authority. It serves as an "apologia" of his ministry. His authority had been questioned by some of the members of the Corinthian church. Party spirit had taken hold in the church and now Paul and his followers were isolated. He winds up this section with an exhortation aimed at restoring discipline in the Corinthian Church, and then, in 13:11-14, he concludes with final greetings and a benediction.
loipon adv. "finally" - remaining, for the rest. Paul has used this word before to signal the end of a letter; "Finally".
adelfoi (oV) "brothers" - Often vocative in first Corinthians, but here expressing "solidarity", Furnish.
cairete (cairw) pres. imp. "good-by" - rejoice. The word can have the meaning "farewell", but more likely it means "rejoice", particularly as it stands at the head of a series of imperatives. "Be cheerful", Peterson.
katartizesqe (katarizw) pres. pas. imp. "aim at perfection" - be restored. This is possibly a "be what you are" idea and therefore "aim at perfection" is a reasonable paraphrase. Yet, the verb is passive and therefore, the idea may be of allowing the Spirit of Christ to restore us. So, what we could have here is a "walk by the Spirit" idea.
parakaleisqe (parakalew) pres. pas. imp. "listen to my appeal" - be encouraged, possibly encourage yourselves. The NIV's "listen to my appeal" goes beyond the text.
to auto froneite (fronew) pres. imp. "be of one mind" - be of the same mind. "Be harmonious in thought and aim." Plummer.
eirhneuete (eirhneuw) pres. "live in peace" - be at peace. Barrett suggests a cause and effect action between the imperative "be of one mind" and the imperative "be at peace" such that "live in peace" "expresses the result of being of the same mind."
kai "and" - Coordinative, "and".
thV .... eirhnhV (h) gen. "peace" - of peace. The genitive, as with the genitive "of love", is adjectival, attributive, limiting "God". Paul often ends his letters with a benediction, usually on the subject of peace, here also with "love". The presence of the future verb to-be e[stai indicates that the benediction is in the form of a promise, as NIV. It is possible that the future stands in place of an optative which would then shape the benediction in the form of a wish, although this is unlikely. So, a promise is likely and is particularly applicable to a church that has been somewhat quarrelsome and in need of divine help. "God will be there to help them. He is the God of love and peace and in situations of conflict what is need above all is the peace and love that he alone can give", Best.
aspasasqe (aspazomai) aor. pas. "greet" - The exhortation that his readers "greet" one another is found in a number of Paul's letters, Rom.16:6, 1Cor.16:20, 1Thes.5:26. It is actually a common ending in hellenistic letters of the time, other than for the addition of the modifying adjective "holy".
en + "with" - in, on, ... Here obviously with an adverbial sense expressing manner, "with".
aJgiw/ adj. "holy" - holy. The kiss may be "holy" in that it is respectful, a pure and sincere greeting, but possibly holy is being used to distinguish the kiss as a greeting between believers, as opposed to a greeting between non-believers.
filhmati (a atoV) dat. "kiss" - At this time a kiss was a common act of affection or respect, given at the point of meeting someone and at departure. It later became a standard form of greeting between believers. In Western culture today an extended right hand (to show that there is no weapon in it!!!!) serves the same purpose, which in a Christian context we might call "offering the right hand of fellowship."
Verse numbering here is confused. In some English versions this verse is v12b, with the grace treated as v13. The NIV numbering, also found in the REB, follows the RV and AV, originating in the second folio edition of the Bishops' Bible in 1572.
oiJ a{gioi (oV) "[all] God's people here" - the holy ones, the saints. The adjective functions as a substantive.
aspazontai (aspazomai) pres. "send their greetings" - greet [you]. This greeting from believers who are presently fellowshiping with Paul is another common feature often found at the end of a Pauline letter, cf. Rom.16:16, 1Cor.16:19, Phil.4:22.
This concluding benediction is trinitarian in form, although it is obviously not intended as a trinitarian doctrinal statement ("love of God", not "love of the Father"). None-the-less, by association Jesus is being elevated to the status of divine. Paul would normally just offer a benediction of grace, so the benediction here is quite unique, although he is saying nothing here that he hasn't said elsewhere. The sample sermon focuses on the trinitarian nature of the verse due to the fact that it is the epistle for Trinity Sunday A in the three year series of readings for the church year. "Paul turns to his Corinthian friends, impoverished by their party-spirit, to contemplate the unlimited wealth of blessing which God makes available to them in Christ by the power of the Spirit", Bruce.
"May ... be [with] you" - There is no verb and so the intended action must be assumed. The NIV has opted for a wish/prayer, ie. an optative verb to-be. The presence of the preposition meta + gen. = "with", certainly leads to this conclusion, although an imperative is also a possibility, eg. "the grace of ...... be with you all", Barclay. It is also possible that an indicative is intended making the benediction a statement of fact, a declaration that divine grace etc. is with the readers. "May these be by the side of each and every one of you: the grace of the ......", Cassirer.
hJ cariV (iV ewV) "the grace" - the grace or favour. Here, the gracious kindness of God's mercy extended to all who believe.
tou Ihsou Cristou gen. "of the Lord Jesus Christ" - The genitive here, as for "of God" and "of the Holy Spirit", is usually treated as subjective, although it is possible to argue that "of the Holy Spirit" is objective, the fellowship that believers experience in the Holy Spirit. "Of the Holy Spirit", as with the other two genitives, is better treated as subjective rather than objective, ie. the fellowship experienced by believers which is the product of the Holy Spirit's activity in the life of the Christian community. On the other hand, the genitives may simply be adjectival, possessive, expressing a particular aspect/quality belonging to all members of the trinity, but individually identified, and experienced by believers through their association with the divine. Jesus is gracious, merciful, giving, and we experience that grace in union with him. God [the Father] is loving and we experience that love in union with him. The Holy Spirit is unifying, participatory, and we experience that fellowship in union with him. In the end, given that the benediction is most likely a wish-prayer, the genitives may best be classified as ablative expressing source/origin; a grace / love / fellowship which is derived from / is dependent on the divine. It is these qualities for which Paul prays on behalf of his readers.
hJ agaph (h) "the love" - love. Best understood as "compassion".
hJ koinwnia (a) "fellowship" - close association, fellowship. An association involving close mutual relations and involvement*.
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