Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
For our light affliction, etc. - 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 , the lightness of our affliction; as if he had said, it is even levity itself in such a comparison. On the other hand, the ' ̔ ̔ , which 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 - eternal glory, so solid and lasting, that you may pass from hyperbole to hyperbole, and yet, when you have gained the last, are infinitely below it. It is every where visible what influence St. Paul' s Hebrew had on his Greek: cabad , signifies to be heavy, and to be glorious; the apostle in his Greek unites these two significations, and says, Weight of Glory."
St. Chrysostom' s observations on these words are in his very best manner, and are both judicious and beautiful:
· · · · , ' ̔ , , , ' ̔ ̔ - , ̔ ̔ .
"The apostle opposes things present to things future; a moment to eternity; lightness to weight; affliction to glory. Nor is he satisfied with this, but he adds another word, and doubles it, saying, ' ̔ ̔ . This is a magnitude excessively exceeding." See Parkhurst, sub voce ̔ .
Other Adam Clarke entries containing 2 Corinthians 4:17:
1 Thessalonians 2:6
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