📖WEB · 2 Corinthians 1:10
What does 2 Corinthians 1:10 mean?
"who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;"
— 2 Corinthians 1:10 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so also are you of the comfort.
For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life.
Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,
who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;
you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift given to us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf.
For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
For we write no other things to you, than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end;
Explanation
Paul is describing a pattern of divine rescue that spans past, present, and future. He says that God delivered him from a mortal danger so severe he thought he would die ("so great a death"), that God continues to deliver him even now, and that he holds confident hope God will keep delivering him in the future. The verse is built around three tenses of the same verb—delivered, does deliver, will deliver—showing that Paul's confidence isn't based on a single miracle but on an ongoing relationship with a God who consistently rescues his people.
The context is crucial for understanding this verse rightly. Paul had just described a crisis in the province of Asia so severe that he "despaired even of life" and felt he had received "the sentence of death" (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). Scholars debate the exact nature of this ordeal—whether it was persecution, illness, or a life-threatening trial—but the text
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