Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
2 Corinthians 2:5-13, Forgive the offender; no rest at Troas
The man who caused the grief has been punished enough by the majority, so Paul urges the church to forgive him lest Satan outwit them, then tells how he left an open door at Troas because Titus had not come.
2 Corinthians 2:5-13, in every translation this tool compares.
Whoever caused grief has grieved the whole church and not Paul alone, and the punishment by the majority is enough, so they should now forgive and comfort him and reaffirm their love, lest he be overwhelmed by sorrow. Paul has forgiven too, so that they are not outwitted by Satan, whose schemes they know. When he came to Troas to preach and found a door opened in the Lord, he had no rest because he did not find his brother Titus there, so he said goodbye and went on to Macedonia.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/synagogue\/","n":"The synagogue","s":"The local gathering place where Jews met on the Sabbath to pray and study Scripture. It was also a community center, run by people of standing.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/the-satan\/","n":"The satan, the tempter","s":"The accuser, tempter and deceiver of Jewish belief, seen as the power behind human and political evil. In the Gospels he tests Jesus and is the strong man Jesus binds, and John calls him the ruler of this world.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/travel-and-its-dangers\/","n":"Roads, robbers and the dangers of travel","s":"Travel by land was slow and risky. Robbers worked the lonely roads, rivers had to be forded, and news moved no faster than the people who carried it.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/letters-and-letter-carriers\/","n":"Letters, scribes and carriers","s":"Letters were usually dictated to scribes, carried by trusted travelers because there was no public post, and read aloud to the people they were sent to.","r":""}
Keener takes the majority as a name for the whole believing community, a usage also found at Qumran. Most ancient legal settings, including discipline in synagogues and at Qumran, set a period of punishment such as exclusion before restoration, while Pharisaic Judaism stressed receiving back the repentant (Keener and his notes). Who the offender was is disputed (Keener and his notes). Carson, Moo and Morris hold that he was not the incestuous man of 1 Corinthians 5: these passages hint at no sexual sin, and "The offense was against Paul", the question being whether the church would stand with him. One of Judaism's basic convictions about Satan was that he deceived and came in disguises (Keener and his notes). Troas is Alexandria Troas, the port for Macedonia (Keener), though Carson, Moo and Morris note that the name could mean the region around it. Communication moved no faster than travel, so Paul could not know how Titus or his letter had been received, and he feared for him on the road (the cultural backgrounds notes; Keener). Carson, Moo and Morris think he had a fallback plan to meet Titus in Macedonia.
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on 2 Corinthians 2:5-7, 2:9-11, 2:12 and 2:13
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on 2 Corinthians 2:6-8, 2:11 and 2:12-13
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 9, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Occasion, Historical Reconstruction, with note 4
