EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
2 Corinthians 5:2. Confirmation of the certainty expressed in
2 Corinthians 5:1, not an explanation why he should precisely mention the fact that he has such comfort in the prospect of death (Hofmann)—as if, instead of
οἴδαμεν,
λέγομεν or some similar
verbum, declarandi had precede.
καὶ γάρ] does not here any more than elsewhere mean merely
for (see, on the other hand, Hartung,
Partikell. I. p. 138), but it means
for also, so that
καί is connected with
ἐν τούτῳ. Previously, namely, the case was supposed:
ἐὰν …
καταλυθῇ; to which this
καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ now corresponds, so that the train of thought is: “we know that, in case our present body shall have one day been destroyed, we have a body in heaven; for if this were not so, we should not already
in the present body be sighing after the being clothed upon with the heavenly.”[208] This longing is an inward assurance of the fact that, if our earthly house, et.
καὶ γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ] The emphasis is on
ἐν:
for also in this. Not merely perhaps after the
κατάλυσις supposed as possible (
2 Corinthians 5:1) shall we long for the heavenly body, but
already now, while we are not yet out of the earthly body but are still
in it, we are sighing to be clothed upon with the heavenly. This is proved to be the right interpretation by the parallel in
2 Corinthians 5:4, where our
ἐν is represented by
οἱ ὄντες ἐν. On
καί,
also, in the sense of
already or
already also, see Hartung,
l.c. p. 135; Stallbaum,
ad Plat. Gorg. p. 467 B; Fritzsche,
ad Lucian. p. 5 ff. With
τούτῳ, according to the supposition of Grotius and others, including Fritzsche and Schrader,
σώματι is to be mentally supplied, so that, as is often the case in the classic writers, the pronoun is referred to a word which was contained only
as regards the sense in what preceded. See Fritzsche,
Diss. I. p. 47; Hermann,
ad Viger. p. 714; Seidler,
ad Eur. El. 582. Rückert wrongly thinks that Paul in that case must have written
ἐν αὐτῷ. This prevalent phenomenon of language applies, in fact, equally in the case of all demonstrative and relative pronouns; see the passages in Matthiae, p. 978 f. Seeing, however, that the following
τὸ οἰκητήριον ἡμ.
τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ proves that Paul also, in
ἐν τούτῳ, was regarding the body
under the figure of a dwelling, and seeing that he himself in
2 Corinthians 5:4 has expressly written
τῷ σκήνει instead of
τούτῳ, the supplying of
τῷ σκήνει is to be preferred (so Beza and others, including Olshausen, Osiander, Neander, Ewald[209]). Others take
ἐν τούτῳ as
propterea (see on
John 16:20;
Acts 24:16), and refer it partly to what was said in
2 Corinthians 5:1, as Hofmann: “on account of the death in prospect” (comp. Estius, Flatt, Lechler, p. 138), or Delitzsch, p 436: “in such position of the case;” partly to what follows, which would be the epexegesis of it (Erasmus, Usteri, Billroth, the latter with hesitation). So also Rückert:
in this respect. But the parallel of
2 Corinthians 5:4 is decidedly against all these views, even apart from the fact that that over which we sigh is in Greek given by
ἐπί with the dative or by the accusative, and hence Hofmann’s view in particular would have required
ἐπὶ τούτῳ or
τοῦτο.
τὸ οἰκητήριον …
ἐπιποθοῦντες contains the
reason of the sighing:
because we long for, etc. Paul himself gives further particulars in
2 Corinthians 5:4. Hofmann wrongly thinks that Paul
explains his sighing from
the fact, that his
longing applies to that clothing upon,
instead of which death sets in. The latter point is purely imported in consequence of his erroneous explanation of
ἐν τούτῳ. It is the sighing of the
longing to experience the last change by means of
the being clothed upon with the future body. This longing to be clothed upon with the heavenly body (not, as Bengel and many of the older expositors would have it: with the
glory of the transfigured soul, to which view Hofmann also comes in the end, since he thinks of the
eternal light in which God dwells and Christ with Him lives)
extorts the sighs. Against the reference of
ἐπενδύσ. to an organ of the intermediate state, see on
2 Corinthians 5:3, Remark. According to Fritzsche, the participle is only a continuation of the discourse by attaching another thought: “
in hoc corpore male nos habentes suspiramus et coeleste superinduere gestimus.” But in that case no logical reference would be furnished for
καί; besides, it seems unwarrantable to supply
male nos habentes, since Paul himself has added quite another participle; and in general, wherever the participle seems only to continue the discourse, there exists such a
relation of the participle to the verb, as forms
logically a basis for the participial connection. Comp.
Ephesians 5:16. According to Schneckenburger,
στενάζομεν ἐπιποθοῦντες stands for
ἐπιποθοῦμεν στενάζοντες, so that the chief fact is expressed by the participle (Nägelsbach on the
Iliad, pp. 234, 280, ed. 3; Seidler,
ad Eur. Iph. T. 1411; Matthiae, p. 1295 f.). An arbitrary suggestion, against the usage of the N. T., which is different even in the passages quoted by Buttmann,
neut. Gr. p. 275 [E. T. 320], and to be rejected also on account of
2 Corinthians 5:4,
στενάζομεν βαρούμ.
The distinction between
οἰκία and
οἰκητήριον is rightly noted by Bengel: “
οἰκία est quiddam magis absolutum,
οἰκητήριον respicit incolam,”
house—habitation (
Judges 1:6; Eur.
Or. 1114; Plut.
Mor. p. 602 D;
2Ma 11:2-3;
2Ma 2:15).
τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ] that
which proceeds from heaven; for it is
ἐκ θεοῦ,
2 Corinthians 5:1. God furnishes from heaven the resurrection-body (
1 Corinthians 15:38) through Christ (
Php 3:21), in the case of the dead, by means of raising, in the case of the living, by means of transforming (
1 Corinthians 15:51). The latter is what is thought of in the present passag.
ἐπενδύσασθαι] With this Paul passes to another but kindred figure, namely, that of
a robe, as also among the Rabbins (Schoettgen,
Hor. p. 693) and the Neo-Platonists (Gataker,
ad Anton. p. 351; Bos,
Exercit. p. 60; Schneckenburger,
Beitr. p. 127) the body is frequently represented as the robe of the soul. See also Jacobs,
ad Anthol. XII. p. 239. But he does not simply say
ἐνδύσασθαι, but
ἐπενδύσασθαι,
to put on over (which is not to be taken with Schneckenburger of the
succession; see, on the contrary, Plut.
Pelop. 11 :
ἐσθῆτας ἐπενδεδυμένοι γυναικείας τοῖς θώραξι, Herod. i 195:
ἐπὶ τοῦτον ἄλλον εἰρίνεον κιθῶνα ἐπενδύνει), because the longing under discussion is directed to the living to see the Parousia and the becoming transformed alive. This
transformation in the living body, however, is in so far an
ἐπενδύσασθαι, as this denotes the acquisition of a new body with
negation of the previous death (the
ἐκδύσασθαι). This is not at variance with
1 Corinthians 15:53, where the simple
ἐνδύσασθαι is used of the same transformation; for in that passage
τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο is the subject which puts on, and, consequently,
τὸ φθαρτὸν τοῦτο ἐνδύεται is quite equivalent to
ἐπενδυόμεθα, because in the latter case, as at the present passage, the self-conscious Ego[210] is the subject.
Regarding
ἐπιποθεῖν, in which
ἐπί does not make the meaning stronger (
ardenter cupere), as it is usually taken, but only indicates the
direction of the longing (
πόθον ἔχειν ἐπί τι), see Fritzsche,
ad Rom. I. p. 30 f.
[208] If that
οἰκοδομὴν ἐκ θεοῦ ἔχομεν were not correct, it would be absurd, instead of being contented with the earthly habitation, to be longing already
in it after being clothed upon with the heavenly habitation. Quite similar is the argument in
Romans 8:22.
[209] See also Klöpper in the
Jahrb. für deutsche Theol. 1862, p. 13.
[210] The inward man. He is
put on with the earthly body, and sighs full of longing
to put on over it the heavenly body.
2 Corinthians 5:2-3 and
2 Corinthians 5:4 form two parallel sentences, both introduced by
καὶ γάρ, of which either may be used to elucidate the other. Both bring out the Apostle’s shrinking from death,
i.e., the act of dying, and his half-expressed anxiety that he may survive until the Day of Christ (
cf.1 Thessalonians 4:15).
2.
For in this] i.e. this tabernacle.
we groan] Cf.
Romans 8:23.
to be clothed upon] i.e. to put on in addition. See
1 Corinthians 15:53. “The flesh will not be annihilated, but spiritualized, glorified and beautified, as the human body of Christ was at the Transfiguration.” St Jerome, cited by Bp Wordsworth. The Greek for the ‘fisher’s coat’ spoken of in
John 21:7 is, as Dean Stanley reminds us, derived from the word used here.
with our house] Rather,
dwelling-place. The word house (
οἰκία) is more absolute, dwelling-place (
οἰκητήριον) has reference to the inhabitant. Bengel.
2 Corinthians 5:2.
Ἐν τούτῳ,
in this) The same phrase occurs, ch.
2 Corinthians 8:10, and elsewhere.—
στενάζομεν,
we groan) The epitasis[25] follows,
we do groan being burdened,
2 Corinthians 5:4.—
οἰκητήριον,
a dwelling-place, a domicile)
οἰκία,
a house, is somewhat more absolute;
οἰκητήριον,
a domicile, has reference to the inhabitant.—
τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ)
which is from heaven:ἐξ here signifies
origin, as,
of the earth,
John 3:31. Therefore this domicile (abode) is not heaven itself.—
ἐπενδύσασθαι, [to have the clothing put upon us]
to be clothed upon) It is in the Middle voice:
ἔνδυμα, the
clothing, viz., the body: hence the expression,
being clothed [
2 Corinthians 5:3], refers to those living in the body;
ἐπένδυμα,
the clothing upon, refers to the heavenly and glorious habitation, in which even the body,
the clothing, will be clothed. As the clothing of grass is its greenness and beauty,
Matthew 6:30, so the heavenly glory is the domicile and clothing of the whole man, when he enters into heaven.
[25] See App. Strengthening of the words already used by something additional on their repetition.—ED.
Verse 2. -
In this we groan. Since we have the firstfruits of the Spirit, who assures us of that future building from God, we, in this earthly tent, "groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit the redemption of our body" (
Romans 8:23).
To be clothed upon; rather,
to further clothe ourselves with. Here the metaphors of a tent and a garment - the "wandering tent" and the "mortal vesture of decay" - are interfused in a manner on which only the greatest writers can venture The corruptible yearns to clothe itself with the incorruptible, the mortal with immortality (
1 Corinthians 15:53). The glorified body is compared to an over garment,
House; rather,
habitation (
oiketerion). 2 Corinthians 5:2
In this
Tabernacle. As if pointing to his own body. See on1 Corinthians 15:54.
Earnestly desiring (ἐπιποθοῦντες)
The participle has an explanatory force, asActs 27:7, "because the wind did not suffer us." We groan because we long. Rev., longing. The compounded preposition ἐπί does not mark the intensity of the desire, but its direction.
To be clothed upon (ἐπενδύσασθαι)
Only here and2 Corinthians 5:4. Compare ἐπενδύτης fisher's coat,John 21:7 (see note). Lit., to put on over. The metaphor changes from building to clothing, a natural transformation in the mind of Paul, to whom the hail-cloth woven for tents would suggest a vesture.
House (οἰκητήριον)
Not οἰκία house, as2 Corinthians 5:1. This word regards the house with special reference to its inhabitant. The figure links itself with building,2 Corinthians 5:1, as contrasted with the unstable tent.
From heaven (ἐξ οὐρανοῦ)
As from God,2 Corinthians 5:1.
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