The Weight of Glory and the Two Dwellings
It is said: he who seeks his own glory is not true, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him, he is true. If we were proclaiming ourselves, it would be suspected that we are deceiving with the word, but if we proclaim Christ and his glory, there is no deception in the preaching.
In the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6), instead of 'through Jesus Christ', through him. Toward the illumination of knowledge, that the knowledge was not found by reasoning, but was revealed through revelation. Instead of 'through Jesus Christ' it shone in our hearts, and the knowledge was not found by reasoning, but was made known through revelation and illumination; for no man could ever reach this, having taken on flesh (2 Cor 4:7–9).
Through these and the following, he shows that God does not allow to be tested beyond what we are able. For even if we are being afflicted by those who persecute, yet we are not so distressed as to have no escape or recourse anywhere; for God widens the way for those afflicted through piety, as David says: 'In affliction you widened me' (2 Cor 4:10).
We always carry the death, always risking because, being partakers of the sufferings of Christ, we are at risk (2 Cor 4:11). The Lord was delivered unto death for us, but we for ourselves through Jesus, so that we might become partakers of his life (2 Cor 4:12).
Because of the preaching the apostles were risking, but they proclaimed so that the believing ones might live, and this is the life in you (2 Cor 4:13). Since, he says, there is a spirit of slavery in the law, but a spirit of adoption in the grace. And he said that we have the same spirit which David also had; the same spirit added the faith, not of the legal slavery. Having, he says, the same spirit as David who spoke according to faith, just as he said: 'I believed, therefore I spoke' (Psalm 116:5). Then, having said 'the spirit added the faith', for this is common to new and old only, since in the law there was a spirit of slavery, but in the grace a spirit of adoption.
If deaths and dangers and temptations follow (2 Cor 4:17–18), how is the affliction lighter? How is it being spent away? For the temptations remained with him and were driving him into old age. How then is the affliction of the saints light? Or is it evident that, being weighed against the glory of the coming age and against the prepared good things for the righteous, even the heaviest temptations appear light to me? And the afflictions are not merely light, but excessive, yet these afflictions fall far short of the greatness of the glory; for the great thing is a body and is heavy. Or he said 'weight' by way of a metaphor of the scales; for the glory, being weighed against the afflictions, is found to be most heavy of all. And he says 'spent away' regarding the temporal; for even if the crushing is long and causes grief, it appears temporal as compared to the infinite glory.
A dwelling, a tent; not the tent but the dwelling (2 Cor 5:1–2); for the dwelling here ceases, but the tent rises up. And he said 'dwelling' for the conduct, both the mortal and the expected. Furthermore, he shows that he calls the corruption and the incorruption 'dwellings'. He says 'dwelling, tent' regarding the body, which, he says, even if it should be corrupted in temptations and dangers through Christ, we shall lay it aside as a corruptible dwelling among the last of things made by hands. But we shall find in the heavens another dwelling, which God provides, incorruptible and not made by hands. Through these things, he shows both the mortal conduct and the immortal. Through the 'putting on', he shows that the corruptible flesh rises up and puts on the immortal; for the 'putting on' is said in reference to another garment. And he says 'two dwellings', the mortal and the expected; and 'two habitations', the corruption and the incorruption, because we are being laid aside from the one and are putting on the other. And he calls the one from heaven 'habitation'—the incorruption from the heavens—since it is not made by hands but is a gift of God. All indeed are righteous and unrighteous (2 Cor 5:3)...
Greek
λεγόμενον· ὁ ζητῶν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δόξαν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθινός, ὁ δὲ ζητῶν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ πέμψαντος αὐτόν, οὗτος ἀληθής ἐστιν. Εἰ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκηρύσσομεν, ἦν ὑποπτεῦσαι ὅτι δολοῦμεν τὸν λόγον, εἰ δὲ Χριστὸν καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ δόξαν κηρύσσομεν, οὐδὲ εἷς δόλος ἐν τῷ κηρύγματι. 2 Kor 4,6 Ἐν προσώπῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀντὶ τοῦ διὰ Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, δι' ἐκεῖνον. Πρὸς φωτισμὸν τῆς γνώσεως, ὅτι ἡ γνῶσις οὐ λογισμοῖς εὑρέθη, ἀλλὰ δι' ἀποκαλύψεως ἐξετέθη. Ἀντὶ τοῦ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἔλαμψεν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡ γνῶσις οὐ λογισμοῖς εὑρέθη, ἀλλὰ δι' ἀποκαλύψεως καὶ ἐλλάμψεως ἐγνωρίσθη· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε τούτου ἐφικέσθαι ἠδυνήθη ἄνθρωπος σαρκίον περιβεβλημένος. 2 Kor 4,7–9 ∆είκνυσι διὰ τούτων καὶ τῶν ἑξῆς, ὅτι οὐ συγχωρεῖ ὁ θεὸς πειρασθῆναι ὑπὲρ ὃ δυνάμεθα. εἰ γὰρ καὶ θλιβόμεθα ὑπὸ τῶν διωκόντων, ἀλλ' οὐχ οὕτω στενοχωρούμεθα ὡς μηδαμοῦ ἔχειν ἀποφυγὴν καὶ ἀπόκλισιν· πλατύνει γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τοῖς δι' εὐσέβειαν θλιβομένοις, ὅθεν καὶ ὁ ∆αυίδ φησιν· ἐν θλίψει ἐπλάτυνάς με. 2 Kor 4,10 Τὴν νέκρωσιν ἀεὶ περιφέρομεν τῷ κινδυνεύειν ἀεὶ διὰ Χριστὸν κοινωνοὶ τῶν παθημάτων τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὄντες. 289 2 Kor 4,11 Ὁ κύριος δι' ἡμᾶς εἰς θάνατον παρεδόθη, ἡμεῖς δὲ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτῶν διὰ Ἰησοῦν, ἵνα κοινωνοὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ ζωῆς γενώμεθα. 2 Kor 4,12 ∆ιὰ τὸ κήρυγμα οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἐκινδύνευον, ἐκήρυττον δὲ ἵνα ζήσωσιν οἱ πιστεύοντες, καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ ἡ δὲ ζωὴ ἐν ὑμῖν. 2 Kor 4,13 Ἐπειδή, φησί, πνεῦμα δουλείας ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, πνεῦμα δὲ υἱοθεσίας ἐν τῇ χάριτι. εἶπε δὲ ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ αὐτὸ ἔχομεν ὃ καὶ εἶχεν ὁ ∆αυίδ, προσέθηκε τῆς πίστεως τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα, οὐ τῆς νομικῆς δουλείας. Ἔχοντες, φησί, τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα τῷ ∆αυὶδ τῷ κατὰ πίστιν λαλήσαντι, καθὼς ἔφη· ἐπίστευσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα. εἶτα εἰπὼν πνεῦμα προσέθηκε τῆς πίστεως· τοῦτο γὰρ κοινὸν νέας καὶ παλαιᾶς μόνον, ἐπεὶ ἐν μὲν τῷ νόμῳ πνεῦμα ἦν δουλείας, ἐν δὲ τῇ χάριτι πνεῦμα υἱοθεσίας. 2 Kor 4,17–18 Εἰ θάνατοι καὶ κίνδυνοι καὶ πειρασμοὶ παρηκολούθουν, πῶς ἐλαφροτέρα ἡ θλίψις; πῶς παραυτίκα; καὶ γὰρ παρέμειναν αὐτῷ οἱ πειρασμοὶ καὶ εἰς γῆρας ἐλαύνοντο. πῶς οὖν ἐλαφρά ἐστιν ἡ θλίψις τῶν ἁγίων; ἢ δηλονότι ἀντεξαγομένη πρὸς τὴν δόξαν τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος καὶ πρὸς τὰ προκείμενα ἀγαθὰ τοῖς δικαίοις· πρὸς γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ βαρύτατοι πείρας μοι ἐλαφροὶ καταφαίνονται. καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἐλαφραὶ αἱ θλίψεις ἀλλὰ καθ' ὑπερβολήν, αἵπερ θλίψεις πολὺ ὑστεροῦνται τοῦ μεγέθους τῆς δόξης· τὸ γὰρ μέγα σῶμα καὶ βαρύ ἐστιν. ἢ καὶ βάρος εἶπεν κατὰ μεταφορὰν τῶν σταθμίων· ἀντισταθμιζομένη γὰρ ταῖς θλίψεσιν ἡ δόξα βαρυτάτη πάνυ εὑρίσκεται. παραυτίκα δὲ λέγει τὸ πρόσκαιρον· κἂν γὰρ μακρὰν ᾖ τὸ θλίβον καὶ λυποῦν, ἀλλὰ πρόσκαιρον φαίνεται ὡς πρὸς τὸ τῆς δόξης ἀπέραντον. 2 Kor 5,1–2 Οἰκία σκήνους οὐ τὸ σκῆνος ἀλλ' ἡ οἰκία· ἡ γὰρ οἴκησις ἡ ἐνταῦθα παύεται, τὸ δὲ 290 σκῆνος ἀνίσταται. καὶ οἰκίαν εἶπε τὴν διαγωγὴν τήν τε θνητὴν καὶ τὴν προσδοκωμένην. ἑξῆς μέντοι δείκνυσιν ὅτι οἰκητήριον λέγει τὴν φθορὰν καὶ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν. 289,ξολ2 Οἰκίαν σκήνους λέγει τὸ σῶμα, ὅπερ, φησίν, ἐὰν καὶ διαφθαρῇ ἐν πειρασμοῖς καὶ κινδύνοις 290,ξολ2 διὰ Χριστόν, ἀποθησόμεθα αὐτὸ ὡς οἰκίαν φθαρτὴν καὶ ἐν ἐσχάτῳ τῶν χειροποιήτων. εὑρήσομεν δὲ ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἑτέραν οἰκίαν ἣν παρέχει ὁ θεὸς ἄφθαρτον καὶ ἀχειροποίητον. διὰ δὲ τούτων τήν τε θνητὴν διαγωγὴν καὶ τὴν ἀθάνατον ἐμφαίνει. ∆ιὰ τοῦ ἐπενδύσασθαι δείκνυσιν ὅτι ἡ φθαρτὴ σὰρξ ἀνίσταται καὶ τὴν ἀθάνατον ἐπενδύεται· ἡ γὰρ ἐπένδυσις λέγεται πρὸς ἑτέρῳ ἐνδύματι. οἰκίαν δὲ δύο λέγει, τὴν θνητὴν καὶ τὴν προσδοκωμένην· καὶ δύο οἰκητήρια, τὴν φθορὰν καὶ τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἀπολυόμεθα, τὸ δὲ ἐπενδυόμεθα. οἰκητήριον δὲ λέγει τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τὴν ἐξ οὐρανῶν ἀφθαρσίαν, καθὸ οὐκ ἔστι χειροποιητὴ ἀλλὰ θεοῦ δωρεά. 2 Kor 5,3 Πάντες μὲν δίκαιοι καὶ ἄδικοι
About this text
A close reading of Paul's letter to the Corinthians reveals how spiritual decisions are made with divine authority and integrity.
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- Copy-text PG 65 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.