The Second Epistle to the Corinthians

The New International Commentary on the New Testament

by Paul Barnett, Paul the Apostle

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians [NICNT] illuminates the historical background of the church at Corinth and clarifies the meaning of Paul's passionate letter both for those first-century Christians and for today.

Barnett assumes and offers argument for the unity of the letter and takes the view that Paul is addressing the issue of triumphalism in Corinth expressed by the newly arrived missioners who portray Paul as inferior to themselves. It is also endemic among the Corinthians and according to Barnett, the recurring theme of the letter is power-in-weakness, based on the motif of the Resurrection of the Crucified, which lies at the heart of the gospel of Christ. A powerfully written and argued commentary.

Genres: Reference, Theology, Biblical Studies, Christianity, New Testament, Christian, Nonfiction

692 pages, Hardcover

First published April 17, 1997

About the author

Paul Barnett, former Anglican Bishop of North Sydney, Australia, is a Visiting Fellow in Ancient History at Macquarie University and Teaching Fellow at Regent College, Vancouver and Moore College, Sydney. He is a frequent traveler to Israel, where Christianity began, and to Turkey and Greece, to which it rapidly spread.

Reviews

[Kofi Opoku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Barnett writes with great clarity and precision. His insights into Paul's motivation for writing the letter, the Judaizing situation at Corinth, and his occasional notes about how Paul's message applies to a contemporary audience were all very helpful.

[Chad Gibbons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This commentary is perfect for its intended audience. Greek words and textual problems are mostly relegated to the footnotes while the rest is solid exposition of the text. If you're only going to get one commentary on 2 Corinthians, this is the one you need to get.

[Scott Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Barnett is an Australian Anglican Bishop and is currently a fellow in ancient history at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia and a teaching fellow at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. As with most commentaries, much can be gleaned from the commentator’s Introduction. Barnett’s excellent Introduction to Second Corinthians is no exception. The author provides an excellent timeline and table of events of the Apostle Paul’s dealings with the Corinthian church, including assumed dates for his four letters and three visits (p.14-15). Barnett also defends the cohesive character of the letter and succinctly summarizes the Apostle’s four main objectives: (1) to explain and defend his actions against “false apostles,” (2) to explain how suffering is requisite for Christ’s apostolic ministry, (3) to encourage the church to resolve differences before the Apostle’s return, and (4) a pastoral encouragement and doctrinal corrective. Barnett concludes each central section of the epistle with a helpful pastoral application and summary. Allow me to provide one example of the wonderful encouragement found throughout this commentary, “Death, the grim reaper, leaves none unharvested . . . Everyone – believers included and with no exceptions – faces his inexorable scythe. But, thanks be to God, the believer, confident of the certainty of Christ’s resurrection as founded on the apostolic word, ‘knows’ that beyond death lies the sure prospect of ‘a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. . .’” I highly recommend this commentary for its orthodoxy plus its warm encouragement.

[Vanjr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely a good discussion of 2 Corinthians, but somewhat pales to 1 Corinthians and Gordon Fee's commentary. Recommend. I have a couple of other 2 Corinthian commentaries, but have not read them yet so I am unsure if there are better options.

[Andy]

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