Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
To commend ourselves? (eautouv sunistanein). Late (Koin‚) form of sunisthmi, to place one with another, to introduce, to commend. Paul is sensitive over praising himself, though his enemies compelled him to do it.
Epistles of commendation (sustatikwn epistolwn). Late verbal adjective from sunisthmi and often in the papyri and in just this sense. In the genitive case here after xrhzomen. Such letters were common as seen in the papyri (Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 226). N.T. examples of commending individuals by letters occur in Acts 15:25 f.; Acts 18:27 (Apollos), I Corinthians 16:10 f. (Timothy); Romans 16:1 (Phoebe with the verb sunisthmi); Colossians 4:10 (Mark); II Corinthians 8:22 f. (Titus and his companion).
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing 2 Corinthians 3:1:
Acts 18:27
Romans 3:5
Romans 12:13
Romans 16:1
2 Corinthians 4:2
2 Corinthians 10:18
3 John 1:9
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