GENRE

No one disputes that 2 Corinthians is a letter. More specifically, many also view it (or some of its constituent parts) as an apologetic letter. Such letters often open by listing charges to be refuted, but (as in 2 Corinthians) they can allude to these charges later. Technically, our letter may not fit the precise contours laid out for such letters in later handbooks; but such handbooks did not dictate practice even in their own day, much less Paul's. Much of Paul's letter is indisputably apologetic in character.

Although Paul disclaims the need for letters of recommendation (3:1), some argue plausibly that this letter, or part of it, is an apologetic letter of self-commendation. Because Paul parodies and inverts the values of his opponents, some even view the letter (or part of it) as a parody of apologetic; but Paul may simply offer apologetic based on different values than the Corinthians hold.

We treat the major questions of situation, opponents, and partition below, reserving other comments for the texts in 2 Corinthians that raise them.

THE SITUATION IN 2 CORINTHIANS

For general background on Corinth and its churches, see the introduction to 1 Corinthians. The specific situation has advanced beyond that described in 1 Corinthians, but exact reconstructions of it vary, not least according to the number and sequence of component letters reconstructed in 2 Corinthians.