2 Corinthians 1:8

For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8) We would not, brethren, have you ignorant.—From the generalised language of the previous verses he passes to something more specific. The phrase by which he calls attention to the importance of what he is about to write is characteristic of the Epistles of this period (Romans 1:13; 1Corinthians 10:1; 1Corinthians 12:1; 1Thessalonians 4:13).

Our trouble which came to us in Asia.—The allusion may possibly be to the Demetrius tumult of Acts 19:24-41, or to some like time of danger, such as that referred to in 1Corinthians 15:32. On the other hand, however, he would probably, in that case, have spoken of a definitely localised danger, as he does in the last reference as being “in Ephesus.” The words “in Asia” suggest a wider range of suffering, such as we find referred to in the speech to the elders at Miletus (Acts 20:19), and the context leads us to think of bodily illness as well as of perils and anxieties.

We were pressed out of measure.—The adverbial phrase is specially characteristic of the Epistles of this period. We find it in the “exceedingly sinful” of Romans 7:13; the “more excellent (or, transcending) way” of 1Corinthians 12:31; and again in 2Corinthians 4:17; Galatians 1:13.

Insomuch that we despaired even of life.—The language is obviously more vividly descriptive of the collapse of illness than of any peril such as those referred to in the previous Note. St. Paul could hardly have despaired of life during the tumult of Acts 19.

Benson Commentary

2 Corinthians 1:8-11. For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant — As if he had said, We speak thus concerning the sufferings wherewith God is pleased to exercise his people, because we have lately experienced them in a large measure: of our trouble which came to us in Asia — It is probable that the apostle here refers either to some opposition which he met with in his journey through Galatia and Phrygia, (Acts 18:23,) of which no particular account has reached us; or to the tumult excited by Demetrius, as is related Acts 19:23-41. “It may be said, perhaps, that it does not appear from the history that any danger threatened Paul’s life in the uproar at Ephesus, so imminent as that from which he here represents himself to have been delivered. This matter, it is true, is not stated by the historian in form; but the personal danger of the apostle we cannot doubt must have been extreme, when the whole city was filled with confusion; when the populace had seized his companions; when, in the distraction of his mind, he insisted on coming forth among them; when the Christians, who were about him, would not suffer him; when his friends, certain of the chief of Asia, sent to him, desiring that he would not adventure himself into the tumult; when, lastly, he was obliged to quit immediately the place and the country; and, when the tumult was ceased, to depart into Macedonia. Nothing could be more expressive of the circumstances in which the history describes him to have been at the time when the epistle purports to have been written,” than the verses under consideration. “It is the calm recollection of a mind emerged from the confusion of instant danger. It is that devotion and solemnity of thought which follows a recent deliverance. There is just enough of particularity in the passage to show that it is to be referred to the tumult at Ephesus.” — Paley. That we were pressed out of measure — The Corinthians knew before that he had been in trouble. He now declares the greatness and the fruit of it; above strength — Above the ordinary strength of a Christian, even of an apostle; insomuch that we despaired even of life — Ourselves, and were looked upon by others as dead men. We had the sentence of death in ourselves — That is, not only did others apprehend this concerning us, but we ourselves did indeed think that the appointed end of our life and ministry was come. That we should not trust in ourselves — That, for the future, we should put no confidence in our own wisdom or power to elude the designs of our enemies, nor merely regard human probabilities; but in the greatest and most extreme dangers should learn to repose a cheerful confidence in the power and providence of that God who, at his own pleasure, raiseth the dead by his almighty word; who delivered us from so great a death — As then threatened us; and doth still deliver — In the various dangers with which we are continually surrounded. In whom we trust that he will yet deliver us — From every evil, and preserve us to his heavenly kingdom. Ye also — As well as other churches; helping by prayer for us — From this we learn, that the most eminent saints may be assisted and benefited by the prayers of persons much inferior to them in station and piety; which is a great encouragement to us to pray for one another, and a reason for our desiring each other’s prayers. That for the gift — Namely, my deliverance; bestowed by the means of many persons praying for it, thanks may be given by many on our behalf — Since nothing can be more reasonable than that mercies obtained by prayer should be acknowledged in praise.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:1-11 We are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. The Lord is able to give peace to the troubled conscience, and to calm the raging passions of the soul. These blessings are given by him, as the Father of his redeemed family. It is our Saviour who says, Let not your heart be troubled. All comforts come from God, and our sweetest comforts are in him. He speaks peace to souls by granting the free remission of sins; and he comforts them by the enlivening influences of the Holy Spirit, and by the rich mercies of his grace. He is able to bind up the broken-hearted, to heal the most painful wounds, and also to give hope and joy under the heaviest sorrows. The favours God bestows on us, are not only to make us cheerful, but also that we may be useful to others. He sends comforts enough to support such as simply trust in and serve him. If we should be brought so low as to despair even of life, yet we may then trust God, who can bring back even from death. Their hope and trust were not in vain; nor shall any be ashamed who trust in the Lord. Past experiences encourage faith and hope, and lay us under obligation to trust in God for time to come. And it is our duty, not only to help one another with prayer, but in praise and thanksgiving, and thereby to make suitable returns for benefits received. Thus both trials and mercies will end in good to ourselves and others.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For we would not have you ignorant - We wish you to be fully informed; see the notes, 1 Corinthians 10:1; 1 Corinthians 12:1. The object of Paul here is, to give a full explanation of the nature of his trials, to which he had referred in 2 Corinthians 1:4. He presumed that the Corinthians would feel a deep interest in him and in his trials; that they would sympathize with him, and would pray that those sufferings, and that this deliverance might be attended with a blessing 2 Corinthians 1:11; and perhaps he wished also to conciliate their kindness toward himself by mentioning more at length the nature of the trials which he had been called to endure on account of the Christian religion, of which they were reaping so material benefits.

Of our trouble which came to us in Asia - The term "Asia" is often used to denote that part of Asia Minor of which Ephesus was the capital; see the note, Acts 2:9. There has been considerable diversity of opinion as to the "troubles" to which Paul here refers. Some have supposed that he refers to the persecutions at Lystra Acts 14:6, Acts 14:19-20, from which he had been recovered as it were by miracle; but as that happened so long before this, it seems improbable that he should here refer to it. There is every mark of freshness and recentness about this event; and Paul evidently referred to some danger from which he had been lately delivered, and which made a deep impression on his mind when he wrote this Epistle. Semler supposes that he refers to the lying in wait of the Jews for him when he was about to go to Macedonia, mentioned in Acts 20:3. Most commentators have supposed that be refers to the disturbances which were made at Ephesus by Demetrius and his friends, mentioned in Acts 19, and by reason of which he was compelled to leave the city.

The only objection to this is, that which is mentioned by Whitby and Macknight, that as Paul did not go into the theater there Acts 19:31, he incurred no such risk of his life as to justify the strong expressions mentioned in 2 Corinthians 1:9-10. They suppose, therefore, that he refers to the danger to which he was exposed in Ephesus on another occasion, when he was compelled to fight there with wild beasts; see 1 Corinthians 15:32. But nearly all these opinions may be reconciled, perhaps, by supposing that he refers to the group of calamities to which he had been exposed in Asia, and from which he had just escaped by going to Macedonia - referring perhaps more particularly to the conflict which he had been compelled to have with the wild beasts there. There was the riot excited by Demetrius Acts 19, in which his life had been endangered, and from which he had just escaped; and there had been the conflict with the wild beasts at Ephesus (see the note, 1 Corinthians 15:32), which perhaps had occurred but just before; and there were the plots of the Jews against him Acts 20:3, from which, also, he had just been delivered. By these trials, his life had been endangered, perhaps, more than once, and he had been called to look death calmly in the face, and to anticipate the probability that he might soon die. Of these trials; of all these trials, he would not have the Corinthians ignorant; but desired that they should be fully apprized of them, that they might sympathize with him, and that through their prayers they might be turned to his benefit.

That we were pressed out of measure - see Acts 19. We were borne down, or weighed down by calamity (ἐβαρηθεμεν ebarēthemen) exceedingly καθ ̓ ὑπερβολὴς kath' huperbolēs, supereminently. The expression denotes excess, eminence, or intensity. It is one of Paul's common and very strong expressions to denote anything that is intensive or great; see Romans 7:13; Galatians 1:13; 2 Corinthians 4:17.

Above strength - Beyond our strength. More than in ourselves we were able to bear.

Insomuch that we despaired even of life - Either expecting to be destroyed by the wild beasts with which he had to contend, or to be destroyed by the people. This was one of the instances undoubtedly, to which he refers in 2 Corinthians 11:23, where he says he had been "in death oft." And this was one of the many cases in which Paul was called on to contemplate death as near. It was doubtless one cause of his fidelity, and of his great success in his work, that he was thus called to regard death as near at hand, and that, to use the somewhat unpoetical, but deeply affecting lines of Baxter, expressing a sentiment which guided all his ministry, and which was one source of his eminent success,

He preach'd as though he ne'er would preach again,

As a dying man to dying men.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8, 9. Referring to the imminent risk of life which he ran in Ephesus (Ac 19:23-41) when the whole multitude were wrought up to fury by Demetrius, on the plea of Paul and his associates having assailed the religion of Diana of Ephesus. The words (2Co 1:9), "we had the sentence of death in ourselves," mean, that he looked upon himself as a man condemned to die [Paley]. Alford thinks the danger at Ephesus was comparatively so slight that it cannot be supposed to be the subject of reference here, without exposing the apostle to a charge of cowardice, very unlike his fearless character; hence, he supposes Paul refers to some deadly sickness which he had suffered under (2Co 1:9, 10). But there is little doubt that, had Paul been found by the mob in the excitement, he would have been torn in pieces; and probably, besides what Luke in Acts records, there were other dangers of an equally distressing kind, such as, "lyings in wait of the Jews" (Ac 20:19), his ceaseless foes. They, doubtless, had incited the multitude at Ephesus (Ac 19:9), and were the chief of the "many adversaries" and "[wild] beasts," which he had to fight with there (1Co 15:32; 16:9). His weak state of health at the time combined with all this to make him regard himself as all but dead (2Co 11:29; 12:10). What makes my supposition probable is, that the very cause of his not having visited Corinth directly as he had intended, and for which he proceeds to apologize (2Co 1:15-23), was, that there might be time to see whether the evils arising there not only from Greek, but from Jewish disturbers of the Church (2Co 11:29), would be checked by his first Epistle; there not being fully so was what entailed on him the need of writing this second Epistle. His not specifying this here expressly is just what we might expect in the outset of this letter; towards the close, when he had won their favorable hearing by a kindly and firm tone, he gives a more distinct reference to Jewish agitators (2Co 11:22).

above strength—that is, ordinary, natural powers of endurance.

despaired—as far as human help or hope from man was concerned. But in respect to help from God we were "not in despair" (2Co 4:8).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

We are at a great loss to determine what these troubles were in Asia, of which the apostle doth here speak. We read of several troubles Paul met with in Asia: it was there he was in danger through the tumult raised by Demetrius, Acts 19:23. It was there (at Ephesus) where he fought with beasts after the manner of men, as he told us in the former Epistle, 1 Corinthians 15:32. Whoso readeth Acts 19:1-41 and Acts 20:1-38, will find the largest account we have in Scripture of the troubles Paul met with in Asia. But this Epistle is thought to have been written at a time that will not agree to the time of those troubles; therefore they are thought to have been some troubles of which we have a mention no where else in holy writ.

We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: whatsoever they were, this text tells us they were very great, and above his natural strength to have borne; some think, above the strength of ordinary Christians, insomuch that if the apostle had not found the more than ordinary assistances of the Spirit of God, he could not have stood under them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble,.... The apostle was very desirous that the Corinthians might be thoroughly acquainted with the trouble that had lately befallen them; partly because it would clearly appear from hence what reason he had to give thanks to God as he had done; and partly, that they might be encouraged to trust in God, when in the utmost extremity; but chiefly in order to remove a charge brought against him by the false apostles; who, because he had promised to come to Corinth, and as yet had not come, accused him of lightness and inconstancy, in as much as he had not kept his promise. Now to show that it was not owing to any such temper and disposition of mind in him, he would have them know, that though he sincerely intended a journey to them, yet was hindered from pursuing it, by a very great affliction which befell him: the place where this sore trouble came upon him, is expressed to be in Asia: some have thought it refers to all the troubles he met with in Asia, for the space of three years, whereby he was detained longer than he expected; but it seems as though some single affliction is here particularly designed: many interpreters have been of opinion, that the tumult raised by Demetrius at Ephesus is here meant, when Paul and his companions were in great danger of their lives, Acts 19:21, but this uproar being but for a day, could not be a reason why, as yet, he had not come to Corinth: it seems rather to be some other very sore affliction, and which lasted longer, that is not recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: the greatness of this trouble is set forth in very strong expressions,

as that we were pressed out of measure. The affliction was as an heavy burden upon them, too heavy to bear; it was exceeding heavy, , even to an "hyperbole", beyond expression; and

above strength, that is, above human strength, the strength of nature; and so the Syriac renders it, , "above our strength"; but not above the strength of grace, or that spiritual strength communicated to them, by which they were supported under it: the apostle adds,

insomuch that we despaired even of life; they were at the utmost loss, and in the greatest perplexity how to escape the danger of life; they greatly doubted of it; they saw no probability nor possibility, humanly speaking, of preserving it.

Geneva Study Bible

{5} For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we {e} despaired even of life:

(5) He witnesses that he is not ashamed of his afflictions, and further that he desires also to have all men know the greatness of them, and also his delivery from them, although it is not yet perfect.

(e) I did not know at all what to do, neither did I see by man's help which way to save my life.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

2 Corinthians 1:8. Οὐ γ. θέλ. ὑμ. ἀγν.] See on Romans 1:13; Romans 11:25; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:13.

ὑπὲρ τῆς θλίψ.] regarding (de) the affliction, concerning the same. See Bernhardy, p. 244; Kühner, II. § 547, 2.

ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ] as in 1 Corinthians 16:19. What particular affliction is meant, and at what place it happened, we do not know. The readers, who must have known it, may have learnt it from Titus or otherwise. Perhaps it was the ἀντικείμενοι πολλοί, 1 Corinthians 16:9, who had prepared for him the extraordinary trial. The tumult of Demetrius in Ephesus, Acts 19:23 ff. (Theodoret, Calvin, Estius, Cornelius a Lapide, Michaelis, Vater, Schrader, Olshausen, Osiander, Ewald, and others), is not to be thought of, since Paul was not in personal danger there, Acts 19:30, and immediately after the tumult set out on his journey to Greece, Acts 20:1. Heumann, Emmerling, Rückert, Bisping, suggest a severe illness. Against this it may be urged that, according to 2 Corinthians 1:5, it must have been a πάθημα τοῦ Χριστοῦ (for the special experience must be held as included under the general one previously spoken of), as well as that Paul speaks in the plural. Both grounds tell at the same time against Hofmann, who thinks of the shipwreck, 2 Corinthians 11:25, to which, in fact, ἐν τ. Ἀσίᾳ, 2 Corinthians 1:8, is not suitable, even if we ventured to make a mere stranding on the coast out of the incident. Besides, the reading ῥύεται, 2 Corinthians 1:10, militates against thi.

ὅτι καθʼ ὑπερβ. κ.τ.λ.] that we were burdened to the uttermost beyond strength, a statement of that which, in regard to the affliction mentioned, is not to be withheld from the readers. καθʼ ὑπερβολήν defines the degree of ἐβαρ. ὑπὲρ δύναμ. See Fritzsche, Diss. I. p. 1 f. (“ut calamitates vires meas egregie superarent”). The view which regards the two expressions as co-ordinate (Chrysostom, Luther, Calvin, Estius, and many, including Flatt, Rückert, Osiander, Hofmann): so heavy that it went beyond our ability, would place alongside of each other the objective greatness of the suffering and its disproportion to the subjectivity (see de Wette): still the position of ἐβαρ., as well as the want of a καί before ὑπέρ, is more favourable to the view which takes ἐβαρ. ὑπ. δύν. together; and this is also confirmed by the subjectivity of the following ὥστε ἐξαπορ. κ.τ.λ. The suffering made itself palpable to him as a πειρασμὸς οὐκ ἀνθρώπινος (1 Corinthians 10:13). Rückert, moreover, has no ground for thinking that ἐβαρήθ. is inappropriately used of persecutions, attempts to murder, and the like, and that ὑπὲρ δύναμιν is also opposed to it. βαρύς, βαρέω, and βαρύνω are used of all troubles by which we feel ourselves burdened. See the passages from Homer in Duncan, Lex., ed. Rost, p. 202; comp. Plat. Crit. p. 43 C; Soph. Trach. 151; Theocr. xvii. 61, and expressions like βαρύμοχθος, βαρύποτμος, βαρυπενθής, βαρυδαίμων, and the lik.

ὥστε ἐξαπορ. κ.τ.λ.] so that we became quite perplexed even (καί) in regard to life, placed in the highest perplexity even with regard to the preservation of our life, ἐκ strengthens the simple verb, iv. 8. Polyb. i. 62. 1, iii. 47. 9, 48. 4. The genitive (τοῦ ζῆν) is the usual case in Greek with ἀπορεῖν, in the sense of having lack of something; seldom is it found in the sense of being perplexed about something (Dem. 1380, 4; Plat. Conv. p. 193 E).

2 Corinthians 1:8-11. Out of his own (and Timothy’s) experience of suffering and comfort, Paul now informs his readers of something special which had lately befallen the two in Asia. The fact in itself he assumes as known to them, but he desires to bring to their knowledge the consoling help of God in it. There is nothing to indicate a reference to an utterance of the church (Hofmann) concerning the event.

Expositor's Greek Testament

2 Corinthians 1:8-11. HIS RECENT PERIL. 2 Corinthians 1:8. οὐ γὰρ θέλομεν κ.τ.λ.: for we would not have you ignorant, brethren, about (for ὑπέρ with gen. in this sense, cf. chap. 2 Corinthians 8:23, 2 Corinthians 12:8, 2 Thessalonians 2:1) our affliction which happened in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life. Having spoken in general terms of the Divine comfort in times of trouble, he goes on to mention his own particular case, the “affliction which befel him in Asia”. What was this? Asia almost certainly means Ephesus, where he had lately been exposed to many adversaries (1 Corinthians 15:32; 1 Corinthians 16:9). We naturally think of the tumult recorded in Acts 19:23 ff.; but the language here used is so strong that he must have been exposed to something worse than a temporary riot. He was “weighed down beyond his power” (ὑπὲρ δύναμιν, a phrase which he never uses elsewhere, and which is specially remarkable from the pen of one who always gloried in the Divine δύναμις granted to him, of which he said πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με, Php 4:13); he “despaired of life,” and yet he describes in this very Epistle (2 Corinthians 4:8) his general attitude in tribulation as “perplexed, yet not despairing”. Nor have we knowledge of any persecution at Ephesus so violent as to justify such language, though no doubt the allusion may be to something of the kind. Whatever the “affliction” was, the Corinthians were acquainted with it, for St. Paul does not enter into details, but mentions it only to inform them of its gravity, and to assure them of his trust in his ultimate deliverance. On the whole, it seems most likely that the reference is to grievous bodily sickness, which brought the Apostle down to the gates of death (see 2 Corinthians 1:9, and cf. chap. 2 Corinthians 4:10 and 2 Corinthians 12:7 ff.). Such an affliction would be truly ὑπὲρ δύναμιν; and it would be necessary to contemplate its recurrence (2 Corinthians 1:10). St. Paul in this Epistle, with unusual frequency, uses the plural ἡμεῖς when speaking of himself; sometimes this can be explained by the fact that Timothy was associated with him in the writing of the letter (2 Corinthians 1:1), but in other passages (e.g., 2 Corinthians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 5:13; 2 Corinthians 5:16, 2 Corinthians 10:7; 2 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Corinthians 10:15, 2 Corinthians 11:21) such an explanation will not suit the context, which demands the individual application of the pronoun.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8. For we would not … have you ignorant] A favourite expression with St Paul. Cf. Romans 1:13; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:13.

of our trouble which came to us in Asia] Some have referred these expressions (1) to the tumult at Ephesus, Acts 19. Others have supposed, in consequence of the very strong expressions here, that some other trouble, a grievous sickness perhaps, is referred to, especially as St Paul says in Asia, not in Ephesus. But Dean Stanley’s remark that “here, as elsewhere, we may observe the under-statement of St Paul’s sufferings in the Acts” (see also ch. 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 and notes), suggests the inference that the tumult at Ephesus was far more serious than it would appear to be from St Luke’s account. We can hardly suppose that the mere ‘dismissal of the assembly’ by the ‘town-clerk’ entirely appeased the multitude. And it is quite possible, since St Luke’s object in the Acts was rather a vindication of St Paul’s ministry than a glorification of his person, that he omits to mention a determined attempt upon St Paul’s life made by Demetrius and the craftsmen, as afterwards (Acts 23:12-15) by the Jews at Jerusalem. For the word translated trouble here and elsewhere, see note on 2 Corinthians 1:4.

Asia] By this is meant Asia Minor. So also Acts 2:9. But it seems (see Acts 16:6) not to have included the whole peninsula usually known by that name.

pressed] Literally, weighed down. Gravati, Calvin; greved, Wiclif, whom the other English versions followed till the Rhemish, from which the A. V. appears to have borrowed its pressed. The expression conveys the idea of anxiety, but is not irreconcileable with the notion of a prolonged effort to escape those who thirsted for his life.

out of measure] Cf. for the same Greek word (though it is variously rendered in English) Romans 7:13; 1 Corinthians 12:31; Galatians 1:13, and especially ch. 2 Corinthians 4:17. Dr Plumptre remarks that the word occurs exclusively in the Epistles of this period of St Paul’s life.

despaired] This expression confirms the idea of a plot to kill the Apostle. Literally, it means that he was utterly at a loss (rathlos, Meyer) to know what to do to protect his life. See ch. 2 Corinthians 4:8, where the same word occurs.

Bengel's Gnomen

2 Corinthians 1:8. Ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ, in Asia) 1 Corinthians 15:32, note. The Corinthians were not ignorant of that affliction, which had befallen him in Asia: but Paul now declares its magnitude and its advantageous result. [The whole epistle presents a journal of his travels; but most excellent precepts are interwoven with the narrative of them.—V. g.]—ὑπὲρ δύναμιν) above ordinary strength.—ἐξαπορηθῆναι, that we despaired) He affirms here, what he denies in another respect, 2 Corinthians 4:8; for he is speaking here of human, there of Divine assistance.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant. This is a favourite phrase with St. Paul (Romans 1:13; Romans 11:25; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). Of our trouble; rather, about our affliction. He assumes that they are aware what the trouble was, and he does not specially mention it. What he wants them to know is that, by the help of their prayers and sympathy, God had delivered him out of this affliction, crushing as it was. Which came to us in Asia. Most commentators refer this to the tumult at Ephesus (Acts 19.); and since St. Paul's dangers, sicknesses, and troubles are clearly understated throughout the Acts, it is possible that the perils and personal maltreatment which were liable to occur during such a season of excitement may have brought on some violent illness; or, again, be may have suffered from some plots (1 Corinthians 16:9, 32; Acts 20:19) or shipwreck (2 Corinthians 11:25). In Romans 16:4 he alludes again to some extreme peril. But St. Paul seems systematically to have made light of external dangers and sufferings. All his strongest expressions (see Romans 9:1-3, etc.) are reserved for mental anguish and affliction. What he felt most keenly was the pang of lacerated affections. It is, therefore, possible that he is here alluding to the overpowering tumult of feelings which had been aroused by his anxiety as to the reception likely to be accorded to his first letter. To this and the accompanying circumstances he alludes again and again (2 Corinthians 2:4, 12; 2 Corinthians 7:5, etc.). The sense of "comfort" resulting from the tidings brought by Titus (2 Corinthians 7:6, 7, 13) is as strong as that expressed in these verses, and the allusion to this anguish of heart is specially appropriate here, because he is dwelling on the sympathetic communion between himself and his converts, both in their sorrows and their consolations. That we were pressed cut of measure, above strength; literally, that toe were weighed down exceedingly beyond our power. The trial seemed too heavy for him to bear. The phrase here rendered "out of measure" occurs in 2 Corinthians 4:17; Romans 7:13; 1 Corinthians 12:31; Galatians 1:13; but is only found in this particular group of letters. Insomuch that we despaired even of life. This rendering conveys the meaning. Literally it is, so that we were even in utter perplexity (2 Corinthians 4:8) even about life. "I fell into such agony of mind that I hardly hoped to survive." Generally, although he was often in perplexity, he succeeded in resisting despair (2 Corinthians 4:8). 2 Corinthians 1:8

Vincent's Word Studies

We would not have you ignorant

See on Romans 1:13.

Came to us in Asia

Rev., better, befell. The nature of the trouble is uncertain. The following words seem to indicate inward distress rather than trouble from without, such as he experienced at Ephesus.

Were pressed out of measure (καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ἐβαρήθημεν)

Rev., better, were weighed down, thus giving the etymological force of the verb, from βάρος burden. For out of measure, Rev, exceedingly; see on 1 Corinthians 2:1.

We despaired (ἐξαπορηθῆναι)

Only here and 2 Corinthians 4:8. From ἐξ out and out, and ἀπορέω to be without a way of escape. See on did many things, Mark 6:20.