Bible Strands
2 Corinthians 11:26
In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Corinthian believers while defending his ministry credentials against competing teachers. He catalogs his hardships to establish the tangible cost of his apostolic work.
The words — κινδύνοις (kindunois) marks the recurring peril that frames each clause of the verse. ὁδοιπορίαις (hodoiporiais) specifies the frequent journeyings that place him in these threats.
The thread — The text aligns with the persecution accounts in Acts 14:5, Acts 13:50, and Acts 17:5, where Jewish and Gentile opposition converge against Paul.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to evaluate spiritual authority by the physical and social costs endured, not by outward success. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of whether a teacher's claims match the suffering they actually bear.
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
In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
Cross-references
- Acts 14:5 But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,
- Acts 13:50 The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.
- Acts 17:5 The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.
- Acts 20:19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews.
- Acts 25:3 to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
- 2 Corinthians 1:8 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the hardships we encountered in the province of Asia. We were under a burden far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.
- Acts 9:23 After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him,
- Acts 11:25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
- Acts 13:1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.
- Acts 14:19 Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.