Bible Strands
2 Corinthians 11:23
Are they servants of Christ? (I am speaking as if I were out of my mind.) I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Corinthian church while defending his apostolic authority against rival teachers, listing his personal sufferings to demonstrate his genuine service.
The words — παραφρονῶν (paraphrōn) translates literally as "beside myself," and ὑπὲρ (huper) means "above" or "beyond," framing Paul’s claim as an exaggerated comparison of his own suffering.
The thread — This pattern of enduring hardship for ministry appears in 2 Corinthians 6:4, which lists troubles and calamities, and 2 Corinthians 1:9, which notes feeling under the sentence of death.
Why it lands — It requires readers to measure spiritual authenticity by the cost of obedience rather than by outward success, and to endure hardship without relying on self-sufficiency.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 6:4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;
- 2 Corinthians 1:9 Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.
- 2 Corinthians 6:9 unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed;
- Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.
- 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
- 2 Corinthians 11:24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
- Acts 9:16 I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”
- 2 Corinthians 3:6 And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
- Colossians 1:29 To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.
- 2 Timothy 2:9 for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained!