◄ 2 Corinthians 11:17 ►
In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool.
Study Bible
In this confident boasting of mine,

Paul is addressing the Corinthian church, defending his apostolic authority against false apostles. His "confident boasting" is a rhetorical strategy to highlight the absurdity of boasting in human achievements. In the Greco-Roman world, boasting was common among philosophers and leaders to establish credibility. Paul contrasts this with the Christian virtue of humility, as seen in Jeremiah 9:23-24, where boasting is only appropriate in understanding and knowing God.

2Co 10:17 Rather, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
2Co 10:13 We, however, will not boast beyond our limits…
Jer 9:23-24 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man…

I am not speaking as the Lord would,

Paul acknowledges that his approach is not in line with Christ's teachings, which emphasize humility and servanthood (Matthew 20:26-28). This phrase underscores the tension between worldly wisdom and divine wisdom, a recurring theme in Paul's letters (1 Corinthians 1:18-25). By admitting this, Paul distances his method from the divine example, emphasizing that his boasting is a necessary, albeit uncomfortable, tactic to counteract the influence of false teachers.

1Co 7:12 To the rest I say this: If a brother has an unbelieving wife…
1Co 7:25 Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord,…
1Co 7:6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.

but as a fool.

Paul uses irony to call attention to the foolishness of boasting. In 1 Corinthians 4:10, he refers to himself as a "fool for Christ," highlighting the paradox of the Christian life, where true wisdom often appears foolish to the world. This self-deprecating term serves to undermine the false apostles who boast in their credentials and achievements. Paul’s use of "fool" aligns with the biblical theme that God uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27).

2Co 12:11 I have become a fool, but you drove me to it…
1Co 4:10 We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ.…
1Co 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of 2 Corinthians, Paul is addressing the church in Corinth. He is defending his apostleship and contrasting his ministry with that of false apostles.

2. Corinth
A major city in ancient Greece, known for its wealth and immorality. The church in Corinth faced many challenges, including divisions and the influence of false teachers.

3. False Apostles
Individuals who were misleading the Corinthian church by questioning Paul's authority and promoting a different gospel.
Teaching Points
Understanding Contextual Boasting
Paul uses "foolish" boasting to make a point. He contrasts human boasting with boasting in the Lord, teaching us to discern when and how to speak about our achievements.

Discernment in Leadership
The Corinthian church struggled with discerning true from false apostles. This teaches us the importance of evaluating leaders by their adherence to the gospel and their fruits.

Humility in Service
Paul’s approach highlights the value of humility. Even when defending his ministry, he acknowledges the foolishness of boasting, reminding us to serve with humility.

The Danger of Comparison
Paul warns against comparing ourselves to others, which can lead to pride or discouragement. Instead, we should focus on our unique calling in Christ.

The Role of Suffering in Ministry
Paul’s hardships, which he later details, show that suffering can be a mark of true apostleship and dedication to Christ, encouraging us to persevere in trials.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Paul’s approach to boasting in 2 Corinthians 11:17 challenge our understanding of humility and confidence in our own lives?

2. In what ways can we discern true spiritual leadership in our churches today, as Paul advises the Corinthians?

3. How can we apply Paul’s example of humility and service in our personal and professional lives?

4. What are some practical ways to avoid the pitfalls of comparison and instead focus on our unique calling in Christ?

5. Reflect on a time when you faced trials or suffering in your ministry or personal life. How can Paul’s example of perseverance encourage you to continue in faithfulness?
Connections to Other Scriptures
2 Corinthians 10:12-18
Paul discusses the folly of self-commendation and the importance of boasting only in the Lord, setting the context for his "foolish" boasting in chapter 11.

Philippians 3:4-8
Paul speaks of his reasons for confidence in the flesh but considers them loss for the sake of Christ, paralleling his approach in 2 Corinthians 11.

Proverbs 26:4-5
These verses discuss the wisdom of answering a fool according to his folly, which relates to Paul's method of addressing the Corinthians.
Sermons
Apostolic BoastingsR. Tuck 2 Corinthians 11:10, 21-30
A Picture of Religious ImpostersD. Thomas, D. D.2 Corinthians 11:16-20
Comparison of Himself with His OpponentsC. Lipscomb 2 Corinthians 11:16-20
St. Paul's CharacterD. J. Vaughan, M. A.2 Corinthians 11:16-20
People
Aretas, Corinthians, Ephesians, Eve, Israelites, Paul
Places
Achaia, Corinth, Damascus, Macedonia
Topics
Authority, Boastful, Boasting, Command, Confidence, Credit, Folly, Fool, Foolish, Foolishly, Foolishness, Glorying, Lord's, Myself, Order, Reckless, Saying, Seems, Speak, Taking, Talking
Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Corinthians 11:16-21

     8756   folly, examples

2 Corinthians 11:16-22

     6121   boasting

2 Corinthians 11:17-18

     8820   self-confidence

Library
Simplicity Towards Christ
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.'--2 COR. xi. 3. The Revised Version, amongst other alterations, reads, 'the simplicity that is towards Christ.' The inaccurate rendering of the Authorised Version is responsible for a mistake in the meaning of these words, which has done much harm. They have been supposed to describe a quality or characteristic belonging to Christ or the Gospel; …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

This we have Undertaken in Our Present Discourse...
2. This we have undertaken in our present discourse: may Christ help us, the Son of a virgin, and the Spouse of virgins, born after the flesh of a virgin womb, and wedded after the Spirit in virgin marriage. Whereas, therefore, the whole Church itself is a virgin espoused unto one Husband Christ, [2028] as the Apostle saith, of how great honor are its members worthy, who guard this even in the flesh itself, which the whole Church guards in the faith? which imitates the mother of her husband, and …
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

Letter ii (A. D. 1126) to the Monk Adam
To the Monk Adam [3] 1. If you remain yet in that spirit of charity which I either knew or believed to be with you formerly, you would certainly feel the condemnation with which charity must regard the scandal which you have given to the weak. For charity would not offend charity, nor scorn when it feels itself offended. For it cannot deny itself, nor be divided against itself. Its function is rather to draw together things divided; and it is far from dividing those that are joined. Now, if that …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

What 'the Gospel' Is
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.--Mark i. 1 My purpose now is to point out some of the various connections in which the New Testament uses that familiar phrase, 'the gospel,' and briefly to gather some of the important thoughts which these suggest. Possibly the process may help to restore freshness to a word so well worn that it slips over our tongues almost unnoticed and excites little thought. The history of the word in the New Testament books is worth notice. It seldom occurs in those …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Protevangelium.
As the mission of Christ was rendered necessary by the fall of man, so the first dark intimation of Him was given immediately after the fall. It is found in the sentence of punishment which was passed upon the tempter. Gen. iii. 14, 15. A correct understanding of it, however, can be obtained only after we have ascertained who the tempter was. It is, in the first place, unquestionable that a real serpent was engaged in the temptation; so that the opinion of those who maintain that the serpent is only …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Of this Weakness of His, He Saith in Another Place...
13. Of this weakness of his, he saith in another place, "We made ourselves small among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children." [2510] For in that passage the context indicates this: "For neither at any time," saith he, "used we flattering words, as ye know, nor an occasion of covetousness; God is witness: nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others when we might have been burdensome to you as the Apostles of Christ: but we made ourselves small among you, even as a nurse cherisheth …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

Wherefore they who Say that the Marriages of Such are not Marriages...
13. Wherefore they who say that the marriages of such are not marriages, but rather adulteries, seem not to me to consider with sufficient acuteness and care what they say; forsooth they, are misled by a semblance of truth. For, whereas they, who of Christian sanctity marry not, are said to choose the marriage of Christ, hence certain argue saying, If she, who during the life of her husband is married to another, be an adulteress, even as the Lord Himself hath laid down in the Gospel; therefore, …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

The Godly are in Some Sense Already Blessed
I proceed now to the second aphorism or conclusion, that the godly are in some sense already blessed. The saints are blessed not only when they are apprehended by God, but while they are travellers to glory. They are blessed before they are crowned. This seems a paradox to flesh and blood. What, reproached and maligned, yet blessed! A man that looks upon the children of God with a carnal eye and sees how they are afflicted, and like the ship in the gospel which was covered with waves' (Matthew 8:24), …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Paul at Corinth
'After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2. And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. 3. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tent-makers. 4. And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. 5. And when Silas and Timotheus …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

For not Even Herein Ought Such as are Married to Compare Themselves with The...
10. For not even herein ought such as are married to compare themselves with the deserts of the continent, in that of them virgins are born: for this is not a good of marriage, but of nature: which was so ordered of God, as that of every sexual intercourse whatever of the two sexes of human kind, whether in due order and honest, or base and unlawful, there is born no female save a virgin, yet is none born a sacred virgin: so it is brought to pass that a virgin is born even of fornication, but a sacred …
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

But when He Might Use to Work, that Is...
15. But when he might use to work, that is, in what spaces of time, that he might not be hindered from preaching the Gospel, who can make out? Though, truly, that he wrought at hours of both day and night himself hath not left untold. [2518] Yet these men truly, who as though very full of business and occupation inquire about the time of working, what do they? Have they from Jerusalem round about even to Illyricum filled the lands with the Gospel? [2519] or whatever of barbarian nations hath remained …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

Moreover, if Discourse must be Bestowed Upon Any...
21. Moreover, if discourse must be bestowed upon any, and this so take up the speaker that he have not time to work with his hands, are all in the monastery able to hold discourse unto brethren which come unto them from another kind of life, whether it be to expound the divine lessons, or concerning any questions which may be put, to reason in an wholesome manner? Then since not all have the ability, why upon this pretext do all want to have nothing else to do? Although even if all were able, they …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

Which Thing Whoso Thinks Cannot have Been done by the Apostles...
6. Which thing whoso thinks cannot have been done by the Apostles, that with them women of holy conversation should go about wheresoever they preached the Gospel, that of their substance they might minister to their necessities, let him hear the Gospel, and learn how in this they did after the example of the Lord Himself. Our Lord, namely, according to the wont of His pity, sympathizing with the weak, albeit Angels might minister unto Him, had both a bag in which should be put the money which was …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

And that which Follows Concerning Birds of the Air and Lilies of the Field...
35. And that which follows concerning birds of the air and lilies of the field, He saith to this end, that no man may think that God careth not for the needs of His servants; when His most wise Providence reacheth unto these in creating and governing those. For it must not be deemed that it is not He that feeds and clothes them also which work with their hands. But lest they turn aside the Christian service of warfare unto their purpose of getting these things, the Lord in this premonisheth His servants …
St. Augustine—Of the Work of Monks.

That the Ruler Should be a Near Neighbour to Every one in Compassion, and Exalted Above all in Contemplation.
The ruler should be a near neighbour to every one in sympathy, and exalted above all in contemplation, so that through the bowels of loving-kindness he may transfer the infirmities of others to himself, and by loftiness of speculation transcend even himself in his aspiration after the invisible; lest either in seeking high things he despise the weak things of his neighbours, or in suiting himself to the weak things of his neighbours he relinquish his aspiration after high things. For hence it is …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

"The Carnal Mind is Enmity against God for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. So Then they that Are
Rom. viii. s 7, 8.--"The carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." It is not the least of man's evils, that he knows not how evil he is, therefore the Searcher of the heart of man gives the most perfect account of it, Jer. xvii. 12. "The heart is deceitful above all things," as well as "desperately wicked," two things superlative and excessive in it, bordering upon an infiniteness, such …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Blessed Hope and Its Power
PHILIPPIANS iii. 17-21 The problem of the body--Cautions and tears--"That blessed hope"--The duty of warning--The moral power of the hope--The hope full of immortality--My mother's life--"He is able"--The promise of his coming The Apostle draws to the close of his appeal for a true and watchful fidelity to the Gospel. He has done with his warning against Judaistic legalism. He has expounded, in the form of a personal confession and testimony, the true Christian position, the acceptance of the …
Handley C. G. Moule—Philippian Studies

What the Ruler's Discrimination Should be Between Correction and Connivance, Between Fervour and Gentleness.
It should be known too that the vices of subjects ought sometimes to be prudently connived at, but indicated in that they are connived at; that things, even though openly known, ought sometimes to be seasonably tolerated, but sometimes, though hidden, be closely investigated; that they ought sometimes to be gently reproved, but sometimes vehemently censured. For, indeed, some things, as we have said, ought to be prudently connived at, but indicated in that they are connived at, so that, when the …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

An Essay on the Mosaic Account of the Creation and Fall of Man
THERE are not a few difficulties in the account, which Moses has given of the creation of the world, and of the formation, and temptation, and fall of our first parents. Some by the six days of the creation have understood as many years. Whilst others have thought the creation of the world instantaneous: and that the number of days mentioned by Moses is only intended to assist our conception, who are best able to think of things in order of succession. No one part of this account is fuller of difficulties, …
Nathaniel Lardner—An Essay on the Mosaic Account of the Creation and Fall of Man

St. Malachy Becomes Bishop of Connor; He Builds the Monastery of iveragh.
16. (10). At that time an episcopal see was vacant,[321] and had long been vacant, because Malachy would not assent: for they had elected him to it.[322] But they persisted, and at length he yielded when their entreaties were enforced by the command of his teacher,[323] together with that of the metropolitan.[324] It was when he was just entering the thirtieth year of his age,[325] that he was consecrated bishop and brought to Connor; for that was the name of the city through ignorance of Irish ecclesiastical …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and the Spirit of Error Carrieth Many Away.
There is a time when the spirit of error is going abroad, and truth is questioned, and many are led away with delusions. For Satan can change himself into an angel of light, and make many great and fairlike pretensions to holiness, and under that pretext usher in untruths, and gain the consent of many unto them; so that in such a time of temptation many are stolen off their feet, and made to depart from the right ways of God, and to embrace error and delusions instead of truth. Now the question is, …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

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