Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
terror of the Lord—the coming judgment, so full of terrors to unbelievers [ESTIUS]. ELLICOTT and ALFORD, after GROTIUS and BENGEL, translate, "The fear of the Lord" (II Corinthians 7:1; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Acts 9:31; Romans 3:18; Ephesians 5:21).
persuade—Ministers should use the terrors of the Lord to persuade men, not to rouse their enmity (Judges 1:23). BENGEL, ESTIUS, and ALFORD explain: "Persuade men" (by our whole lives, II Corinthians 5:13), namely, of our integrity as ministers. But this would have been expressed after "persuade," had it been the sense. The connection seems as follows: He had been accused of seeking to please and win men, he therefore says (compare Galatians 1:10), "It is as knowing the terror (or fear) of the Lord that we persuade men; but (whether men who hear our preaching recognize our sincerity or not) we are made manifest unto God as acting on such motives (II Corinthians 4:2); and I trust also in your consciences." Those so "manifested" need have no "terror" as to their being "manifested (English Version, 'appear') before the judgment-seat" (II Corinthians 5:10).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing 2 Corinthians 5:11:
2 Corinthians 4:2
2 Corinthians 5:14
2 Corinthians 6:9
2 Corinthians 7:1
2 Corinthians 13:3
Ephesians 5:21
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