2 Corinthians 5

2 Corinthians 5
A folio of Papyrus 46 (written ca. AD 200), containing 2 Corinthians 11:33–12:9. This manuscript contains almost complete parts of the whole Pauline epistles.
BookSecond Epistle to the Corinthians
CategoryPauline epistles
Christian Bible partNew Testament
Order in the Christian part8

2 Corinthians 5 is the fifth chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle and Timothy (2 Corinthians 1:1) in Macedonia in 55–56 CE.[1]

The 17th-century theologian John Gill summarises the contents of this chapter:

The apostle, in this chapter, enlarges upon the saints' comfortable assurance, expectation, and desire of the heavenly glory; discourses of the diligence and industry of himself and other Gospel ministers in preaching the word, with the reasons that induced them to it; and closes it with a commendation of the Gospel ministry from the important subject, sum, and substance of it.[2]

Text

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The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

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Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:[a]

Verse 1

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For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.[4]
  • "Our earthly house": refers to the body; similarly, Plato also calls the body Ancient Greek: γὴινον σκήνον, gēinon skēnov, "an earthly tabernacle", just as the Jews call the body a house or a "tabernacle."[5] Abarbinel paraphrases Isaiah 18:4 "my dwelling place, which is the body, for that is "the tabernacle of the soul"."[6]
  • "House not made with hands, eternal in the heavens": can be interpreted as "glorified body" after resurrection, or "the holy house" in the world to come,[7] which might be intended in Isaiah 56:5 or Proverbs 24:3.[2]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The page(s) containing this chapter is currently missing from Codex Alexandrinus.[3]

References

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  1. ^ MacDonald 2007, p. 1134.
  2. ^ a b John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:1
  3. ^ Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Erroll F. Rhodes (trans.). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. pp. 107, 109. ISBN 978-0-8028-4098-1.
  4. ^ 2 Corinthians 5:1 NKJV
  5. ^ In Clement. Alexandr. Stromat. l. 5. p. 593. Quote: "every man (Sepher Caphtor, fol. 38. 2.) has two houses, "the house of the body" and the house of the soul"; one is the outward, the other the inward house." apud Gill, John. On 2 Corinthians 5:1.
  6. ^ Mashmia Jeshua, Bnei Brak 2014, vol. 3. 3,16
  7. ^ Zohar in Exod. fol. 34. 3. & 35. 3.

Sources

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  • MacDonald, Margaret (2007). "66. 2 Corinthians". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 1134–1151. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
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