King James Version · Under Rome
2 Corinthians 10
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Now I myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to . For though we walk in , we do not war after : (For the weapons of our warfare are not , but mighty through to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of , and bringing into every thought to the of Christ; And having in a readiness to all , when your is fulfilled. Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s. For though I should boast somewhat more of our , which hath given us for edification, and not for your , I should not be : That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily is weak, and his speech contemptible. Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present. For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not . But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching of Christ: Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having , when your is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, To preach in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him in . For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom commendeth.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.