2 Corinthians 11:21

I agree that I was not bold enough to treat you in such ways. Ha! Do you think that [IRO] I should feel ashamed because I did not do that? So now, talking like a person who does not have any sense, I will boldly tell you some things about myself, just like those false apostles tell you things about themselves.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.

In Context

20When people treat you as if they were your bosses, you gladly submit to them. You think that it is all right when others force you to provide for their needs. You think that it is all right when people take control over you, when they boast about themselves, or when they insult you by slapping you in the face.

22Do they tell you that they are Hebrews and can speak the Hebrew language? Well, I can say the same thing about myself. Do they tell you that they belong to God’s people, the nation of Israel? Well, I can say the same thing about myself. Do they tell you that they are descendants of our great ancestor Abraham? Well, he is my ancestor, too.

Read all of 2 Corinthians 11

Cross References

2 Corinthians 10:1Now I myself, Paul, appeal to you in a gentle and humble way, like Christ would. Certain people among you have falsely accused me by saying, “When Paul is with you, he is humble and speaks gently to you, but when he is away from you, in the letters he writes to you he threatens to punish you.” Those people claim that I do not have authority over you as an apostle.

2 Corinthians 11:17About the things that I am going to tell you, boasting confidently about myself, surely you know that they are not the kind of things that the Lord Jesus would say. Instead, I will speak as a foolish person would speak.

2 Corinthians 13:10That is why I am writing these things while I am still away from you. What I want is that when I visit you, you will already be conducting your lives as God wants you to, and so I will not have to discipline you severely, as the Lord Jesus Christ gave me the authority to do. The authority that I have from the Lord is to help you to become spiritually mature believers, not to cause you to stop trusting in him.

Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 11:17-22

The Apostle Asserts His Claims. ( a. d. 57.) 16 I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. 17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. 18 Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. 19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. 20 For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study 2 Corinthians 11:21