2 Corinthians · 18 verses
2 Corinthians 10
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The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Paul's letters are weighty and forceful; his physical presence, apparently, is another matter entirely.
A distant boldness, and weapons no one can seevv. 1–6
Paul begins with an appeal made in the mildness and gentleness of Christ, though his reputation has an odd geography: humble face to face, bold at a distance. He asks that his arrival need not involve the full force expected by those who suppose that life is governed by the flesh. The warfare here has weapons unlike the usual sort, demolishing strongholds, arguments, and presumptions, then taking thoughts captive to Christ. Punishment waits until obedience is complete—a remarkably orderly arrangement for a battle conducted without fleshly weapons.
The measuring begins, and the map gets largervv. 7–16
Paul turns to appearances, confidence, and the curious habit of measuring oneself against oneself. Such self-comparison, he says, is ignorance dressed as a ruler. His own boasting is kept within the field God assigned, a field that reaches even to them, because he was the first to bring the gospel of Christ there. The ambition is not to borrow another man's territory but to move beyond it, into regions not yet reached.
The proper direction for boastingvv. 17–18
The argument ends by redirecting boasting away from the self-appointed commendation of people and toward the Lord. Approval belongs not to the person who presents his own credentials, but to the person whom the Lord commends.
The text
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Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
2 Cor 10:1Now by the mildness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold when away.
2 Cor 10:2I beg you that when I come I may not need to be as bold as I expect toward those who presume that we live according to the flesh.
2 Cor 10:3For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.
2 Cor 10:4The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
2 Cor 10:5We demolish arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Cor 10:6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.
2 Cor 10:7You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does.
2 Cor 10:8For even if I boast somewhat excessively about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed.
2 Cor 10:9I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you by my letters.
2 Cor 10:10For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but his physical presence is unimpressive, and his speaking is of no account.”
2 Cor 10:11Such people should consider that what we are in our letters when absent, we will be in our actions when present.
2 Cor 10:12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show their ignorance.
2 Cor 10:13We, however, will not boast beyond our limits, but only within the field of influence that God has assigned to us—a field that reaches even to you.
2 Cor 10:14We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we had not come to you. Indeed, we were the first to reach you with the gospel of Christ.
2 Cor 10:15Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. But we hope that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you will greatly increase as well,
2 Cor 10:16so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. Then we will not be boasting in the work already done in another man’s territory.
2 Cor 10:17Rather, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
2 Cor 10:18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 254 passages were voted onto 18 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 5Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- 5Isaiah 55:7Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
- 51 Peter 1:14–15As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
- 5Romans 7:23But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.
- 42 Corinthians 6:7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;
- 5Matthew 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
- 4Ephesians 6:13–18Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.
- 5Romans 1:21For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- 4Jeremiah 1:10See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”
- 41 Corinthians 2:5so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
- 5Jeremiah 4:14Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- 51 Corinthians 3:19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”
- 41 Samuel 17:45–50But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
- 5Psalms 139:2You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.
- 42 Corinthians 13:3–4since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you but is powerful among you.
- 41 Timothy 1:18Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command in keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight,
Onward