If we follow this reading, the whole verse may be read thus ; Wherefore, as we have obtained mercy, or been graciously entrusted erinev, with this ministry, we do not act wickedly, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, &c. Verse 2. But have renounced] ATEITаuela, we have disclaimed the hidden things of dishonesty; ra xpUTTA Tys axons, the hidden things of shame; those things which wicked men do; and which they are ashamed to have known, and ashamed to own. Dr. Whitby thinks that the apostle refers to carnal abominations, of which the Jews and their Rabbins were notoriously guilty. And it does appear, from the first Epistle, that there were persons in Corinth who taught that fornication was no sin: and it appears also, that several had taken the part of the incestuous person.

Not walking in craftiness] Пavovyia; in subtilty, and clever cunning, as the false teachers did; who were accomplished fellows, and capable of any thing. The word is compounded of nav all, and Εργον work.

Nor handling the word of God deceitfully.] Not using the doctrines of the gospel to serve any secular or carnal purpose; nor explaining away their force, so as to palliate or excuse sin; not generalizing its precepts, so as to excuse many, in particular circumstances, from obedience; especially in that which most crossed their inclinations. There were deceitful handlers of this kind, in Corinth; and there are many of them still in the garb of Christian ministers: persons who disguise that part of their creed, which, though they believe is of God, yet would make them unpopular; affecting moderation, in order to procure a larger audience, and more extensive support. Not attacking prevalent and popular vices; calling dissipation of mind, relaxation; and worldly and carnal pleasures, innocent amusements, &c. In a word, turning with the tide, and shifting with the wind of popular opinion, prejudice, fashion, &c.

But by manifestation of the truth] An open explicit acknowledgment of what we know to be the truth; what we are assured is the gospel of Jesus; concealing nothing; blunting the edge of no truth; explaining spiritual things, not in the words of man's wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit of God.

Commending ourselves to every man's conscience] Speaking so, that every man's conscience shall bear its testimony that we proclaim the truth of God. This is one characteristic of Divine truth: even every man's conscience will acknowledge it, though it speak decidedly against his own practices.

In the sight of God.] Whose eye is ever on the heart and conscience of man; and who always bears testimony to his own word.

Verse 3. But if our gospel be hid] Kenaλuμμevov, veiled; he refers to the subject that he had treated so particularly in the conclusion of the preceding chapter. If there be a veil on the gospel, it is only to the wilfully blind; and if any man's heart be veiled that hears this gospel, it is a proof that he is among the lost, añoλλuμevoi; those who are fully under the power of sin; who have given up themselves to work wickedness; persons who are mere heathens, or live like such: and yet such as Jesus Christ came to seek and save: for the word does not necessarily imply those that will perish eternally; but is a common epithet to point out a man without the gospel, and without God in the world. Christ commands his disciples in preaching the gospel, to go polaтx та añoλwhoтa, to the LOST sheep of the house of Israel: Matt. vi. 10. for himself says, Matt. xviii. 11. and Luke xix. 10. The Son of man is come, Cyrŋoai xai owoal to aroλwλ05, to seek and to SAVE that which is LOST. And such persons he represents under the parable of the lost sheep; for to find, to añoλwλ05 that which is LOST, the good shepherd leaves the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and goes in search of it. Matt. xviii. 12. Luke xv. 4. The word more properly signifies in all those connexions, and in the parallel passages, not those who ARE LOST, but those who are perishing; and will perish, if not sought and saved.

Verse 4. In whom the god of this world, &c.] We see here that those whose minds were blinded, are they who believe not; and because they believe not, their minds continue in darkness; and are proper subjects for Satan to work on; and he deepens the darkness; and increases the hardness. But who is meant by the god of this world? It is generally answered, the same who is called the Prince of this world, John xvi. 11. But the question recurs, who is the Prince of this world? and the answer to both is, SATAN. The Reader will do well to consult the Notes on John xii. 31. and the concluding observations on John xiv. I must own I feel considerable reluctance to assign the epithet eos, THE God, to Satan; and were there not a rooted prejudice in favour of the common opinion; the contrary might be well vindicated, viz. that by the God of this world, the Supreme Being is meant, who in his judgment gave over the minds of the unbelieving Jews to spiritual darkness, so that destruction came upon them to the ut

termost. Satan, it is true, has said that the kingdoms of the world and their glory are his; and that he gives them to whomsoever he will: Matt. iv. 8, 9. but has God ever said so? and are we to take this assertion of the boasting devil and father of lies for truth? certainly not. We are not willing to attribute the blinding of men's minds to God, because we sometimes forget that he is the God of justice, and may in judgment remove mercies from those that abuse them but this is repeatedly attributed to him in the Bible; and the expression before us is quite a parallel to the following, Isa. vi. 9.-Go and tell this people; hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. MAKE the HEART of this PEOPLE FAT, and MAKE their EARS HEAVY, and SHUT their EYES, LEST they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, &c. and see the parallel places, Matt. xiii. 14, 15. Mark iv. 12. John xii. 40. and particularly Rom. xi. 8-10. GOD HATH GIVEN THEM THE SPIRIT of SLUMBER, EYES that they SHOULD not SEE, and EARS that they SHOULD not HEAR; let their EYES be DARKENED, &c. Now all this is spoken of the same people, in the same circumstances of wilful rebellion, and obstinate unbelief; and the great God of heaven and earth, is he who judicially blinds their eyes; makes their hearts fat, i. e. stupid; gives them the spirit of slumber, and bows down their back, &c. On these very grounds it is exceedingly likely, that the apostle means the true God, by the words the God of this world.

And as to the expression this world, alwvos TOUTOU, we are not to imagine that it necessarily means wicked men, or a wicked age; for it is frequently used to express the whole mundane system, and all that is called time: Whosoever speaketh || against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither EY TOUTW TW alwvi, in THIS WORLD, nor in the world to come. Matt. xii. 32. In Luke xx. 34. the children voi te alvos T8T8 of THIS WORLD, mean simply mankind at large, in their state of probation in this lower world, in opposition to their state in the world to come. The same meaning the word has in several other places, to which I need not refer ; it simply implying the present state of things, governed by the Divine Providence, in contradistinction from the eternal state: and it is very remarkable that in 1 Tim. i. 17, God himself is called Bartheus Twv alwvwv, the king of the WORLD; what we call king eternal; but here evidently means Him who governs both worlds; and rules in time and eternity. This

character among the Asiatics is considered essential to God; and therefore in the very first surat of the Koran he is called Rubbi alálameen, “the Lord of both worlds," an expression perfectly similar to that above. But it is needless to multiply examples. They exist in abundance. Some, and particularly the ancient fathers, have connected rou alwvos Toutou, with Twy α15wv, and have read the verse-But God hath blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world, &c. Irenæus, Tertullian, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Photius, Theophylact, and Augustin, all plead for the above meaning; and St. Augustin says, that it was the opinion of almost all the ancients.

Lest the light of the glorious gospel] They have resisted the grace which God gave them; and have refused to yield to the evidences which amply prove the Messiahship of Jesus; and therefore their eyes were judicially darkened; as it is said in the prophet, He hath closed their eyes, and hath given them the spirit of slumber. That is, they have shut their eyes against the light, and their blindness and stupor are the consequence.

By glorious gospel, we are to understand the luminous gospel; that which comes with so much light and evidence to every candid mind.

Who is the image of God] Christ is called, Heb. i. 3. the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of his person. See the Note there.

Verse 5. For we preach not ourselves] We neither proclaim our own wisdom nor power; we have nothing but what we have received; we do not wish to establish our own authority; nor to procure our own emo lument.

But Christ Jesus the Lord] We proclaim the author of this glorious gospel as CHRIST, & Xpisos, the same as ne ha-mashiach, the MESSIAH, the anointed one; Him of whom the prophets wrote; and who is the expectation, as he is the glory of Israel. We proclaim him as Jesus yo, Yehoshua, the Saviour and Deliverer, who saves men from their sins, See Matt. i. 21. And we proclaim Jesus of Nazareth to be the long expected Messiah; and that there will be none other. And further, we proclaim this Jesus, the Messiah, to be the LORD, & Kupios, the great Ruler who has all power in heaven and earth; who made and governs the world; and who can save to the uttermost all that come to God through him. Such was the Redeemer preached by St Paul.

Verse 12. Death worketh in us, &c.] We apostles are in continual danger, and live a dying life; while you who have received this gospel from us, are in no danger.

Verse 13. We having the same spirit of faith] As David had when he wrote Psal. cxvi. 10. I believed, therefore have I spoken; we also believe that we shall receive the fulfilment of all God's promises; and being fully convinced of the truth of the Christian religion, we speak, and testify, that our deliverance is from God; that he does not fail those who trust in him; and that he saves, to the uttermost, them who come unto him through Christ Jesus.

Verse 14. Knowing that he which raised up the Lord, &c.] And though we shall at last, seal this truth with our blood; we fear not, being persuaded that as the body of Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Father, so shall our bodies be raised and that we shall have an eternal life with him in glory.

Verse 15.] For, all things are for your sakes] We proclaim all these truths, and bear all these sufferings for your sakes; thinking all our sufferings nothing if we can gain converts to Christ, and build believers up on their most holy faith.

That the abundant grace] Η χαρις πλεονάσασα; the abounding benefit; the copious outpouring of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit by which you have been favoured and enriched; may, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God: i. e. that the gratitude of the multitudes which have been converted, may keep pace with the blessings which they have received, and EpicEvay, abound, as these blessings have abounded.

Verse 16. For which cause we faint not] Ovx exxanovμed. See on verse 1. Here we have the same various reading syxxnover, we do no wickedness; and it is supported by BDEFG. κουμεν, and some others; but it is remarkable that Mr. Wakefield follows the common reading here, though the various reading is at least as well supported in this verse as in verse first. The common reading, faint not, appears to agree best with the apostle's meaning.

But though our outward man] That is,, our body: that part of us that can be seen, heard, and felt-perish, be slowly consumed by continual trials and afflictions; and be martyred at last :

Yet the inward man] Our soul; that which cannot be felt or seen by others; is renewed, is revived, and receives a daily increase of light and life from God: so that we grow more holy, more happy, and more meet for glory every day.

It was an opinion among the Jews, that even spirits stood in need of continual renovation. They say that "God renews the angels daily, by putting them into the fiery river from which they proceeded, and then gives them the same name they had before." And they add, that in like manner, he renews the hearts of the Israelites every year, when they turn to him by repentance. It is a good antidote against the fear of death, to find, as the body grows old and decays, the soul grows young, and is invigorated. By the outward man, and the inward man, St. Paul shews that he was no materialist; he believed that we have both a body and a soul; and so far was he from supposing that when the body dies, the whole man is decomposed, and continues so to the resurrection; that he asserts that the decays of the one, lead to the invigorating of the other; and that the very decomposition of the body itself leaves the soul in the state of renewed youth. The vile doctrine of materialism, is not apostolic.

Verse 17. For our light affliction, &c.] Mr. Blackwall, in his sacred classics, has well illustrated this passage. I shall here produce his paraphrase as quoted by Dr. Dodd:"This is one of the most emphatic passages in all St. Paul's writings, in which he speaks as much like an orator as he does as an apostle. The lightness of the trial is expressed by To ελapoor TYS EXIews, the lightness of our affliction; as if το ελάφρον της θλίψεως, he had said, it is even levity itself in such a comparison. On the other hand, the xa0' Urepoλ as UTEPCOλy, which καθ' υπερβολήν εις υπερβολην, we render far more exceeding, is infinitely emphatical, and cannot be fully expressed by any translation. It signifies. that all hyperboles fall short of describing that weight,