SECOND CORINTHIANS REVEALS the amazing breadth of Paul's knowledge of the scriptures. No fewer than fifteen explicit Old Testament quotations and forty-six allusions appear in 2 Corinthians. 1 The tripartite canon of law, prophets, and writings is almost equally represented, with the predominant cluster of texts coming from Exodus and Deuteronomy; Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel; and Psalms and Proverbs. When the subject matter of these passages is taken into account, it is striking that they cluster around the first exodus and its covenant, the prophetic promise of a "second exodus" redemption and new covenant or new creation, and the suffering of the righteous. This distribution corresponds to the fact that 2 Corinthians centers on the nature of Paul's ministry as an apostle of the new covenant (3:4-6) whose life "in Christ" is characterized by his own suffering (
In his now programmatic article, ‘Die Legitimität des Apostels’, E. Käsemann drew attention to the fact that the issue at stake in 2 Corinthians was Paul himself and that, of all the accusations being levelled against him, Paul was especially being blamed for his supposed ‘Selbstlob’. From his opponents' perspective, Paul's μέτρον τοκανόνος; (10. 12 ff.) and his δοκιμή (13. 3, 6) appeared questionable, lacking the obvious and objective power and authority associated with apostleship. His boasting was thus viewed to be irresponsible, illegitimate, and deceitful (5. 12; 11. 16; 12. 16). Specifically, Paul lacked a ‘fixed μέτρον’, i.e. an objective evidence for his legitimacy, which was ‘controllable’. For, in contrast to the apostles in Jerusalem, Paul could not point to a commissioning from the earthly Jesus, the miraculous signs of an apostle, or financial support from churches to support his claims. Hence, ‘seinem Apostolat fehlt die nachprüfbare Eindeutig-keit’.
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