II Corinthians 11:29 · Bible study
2 Corinthians 11:29 Commentary: Pastoral Sympathy and Holy Zeal
Greek · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Examine Paul's deep pastoral sympathy for the weak and his burning response to stumbling. Greek word study, commentary, and application.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Paul expresses his pastoral solidarity with the weak and his burning response to any cause of stumbling.
- Key words: ἀσθενέω (weak), σκανδαλίζω (cause to stumble), πυρόω (burn).
- Main debate: Whether the burning is primarily grief over the offense or anger at the offender, with most commentators seeing both.
- Theological theme: Pastoral care requires both sympathy and holy zeal.
- Best use: A model for pastoral and congregational ministry, encouraging empathy and active opposition to sin.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?
WEB World English Bible 2000
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I don’t burn with indignation?
KJV King James Version 1769
Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not?
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is caused to stumble, and I burn not?
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Who is infirm, and I am not infirm? who is stumbled, and I am not fired;
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is stumbled, and I burn not?
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?
Translations in other languages (10 available)
¿ Quién enferma, y yo no enfermo? ¿ Quién se escandaliza, y yo no me quemo?
Quem enfraquece, que eu também não enfraqueça? Quem não tropeça no pecado ,que eu não me queime por dentro ?
Qui est faible, que je ne sois faible? Qui vient à tomber, que je ne brûle?
Wer ist schwach, und ich werde nicht schwach? Wer wird geärgert, und ich brenne nicht?
Wie is er zwak, dat ik niet zwak ben? Wie wordt er geergerd, dat ik niet brande?
Chi è debole ch’io non sia debole? Chi è scandalizzato, che io non arda?
Któż choruje, a ja nie choruję? Któż się gorszy, a ja nie palę?
Кто изнемогает, с кем бы и я не изнемогал? Кто соблазняется, за кого бы я не воспламенялся?
有誰 軟弱， 我不 軟弱呢？有誰 跌倒， 我 不 焦急呢？
Who is feeble and I am not feeble? who is in danger of falling, and I am not angry?
Verse in Context
Original Language (Koine Greek)
New Testament · Koine Greek · II Corinthians 11:29
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Paul here displays the heart of a true pastor. The two rhetorical questions capture his complete identification with the weak (astheneō) and his intense reaction when someone is caused to stumble (skandalizetai). Clarke sees Paul bearing the burden of those 'weak in the faith' and burning with 'zeal to restore' the fallen. Barnes emphasizes a broader sympathy: Paul shares the feelings of all who are weak, whether in body, mind, or faith. The Greek verb purōō ('I burn') is used figuratively, only here and 1 Corinthians 7:9 in the New Testament. Its force is debated: some (Calvin, Wesley) see it as a sympathetic pain, as if fire in the bosom; others (Barnes, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) include righteous indignation against the one who caused the offense. Most agree both grief and anger are present. The emphatic pronoun egō ('I myself') in the second clause underscores that Paul personally takes up the cause of the hurt believer. This verse defines pastoral ministry as both sharing suffering and passionately opposing whatever leads others into sin.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: Paul identifies with the weak and reacts intensely when they are caused to stumble.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'weak' in this verse | All see Paul identifying with those who lack strength, whether in body, faith, or social status. | Some focus on weak in faith (Clarke, citing 1 Cor 8, 9); others see a more general sympathy (Barnes). |
| Object of the burning | All agree it expresses deep emotion over the stumbling of a brother. | Some view it as grief for the person (Wesley), others as indignation against the tempter (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown), and many as both. |
| Rhetorical function of the questions | Both questions expect a strong negative answer, emphasizing Paul's involvement. | Some interpret them as highlighting the false apostles' lack of care (Matthew Henry); others see them purely as an expression of Paul's own heart (Barnes). |
Historical & Cultural Context
This verse appears in Paul's extended defense of his apostolic credentials. In 2 Corinthians 11, he contrasts himself with the 'false apostles' who have infiltrated the Corinthian church. After cataloguing his sufferings (beatings, shipwreck, journeys, dangers), he adds the daily pressure of his 'anxiety for all the churches' (v. 28). Verse 29 then specifies the shape of that anxiety.
Paul's language echoes the Old Testament prophets and leaders who burned with righteous anger when God's people strayed. Numbers 25 records Phinehas turning God's wrath away by his jealousy. Ezra tore his clothes in grief over the people's unfaithfulness. Nehemiah burned with anger when he heard of oppression and Sabbath breaking. Paul stands in this tradition of shepherds who feel the sins and failures of the flock as their own injury.
The term 'weak' (astheneō) carried a wide range: physical sickness, poverty, or, as in 1 Corinthians 8 and 9, a scrupulous conscience about matters of custom. Paul had earlier written that he became 'weak to the weak' to win them. Here he insists that this identification is not a strategy but a genuine sharing of pain. The word 'offended' (skandalizetai) means to be caught on a trap, to fall into sin or apostasy. In a church surrounded by pagan influences and false teaching, the danger was real. Paul's pastoral heart could not remain detached. He burned, a word that in Greek often describes metal glowing in fire, with an emotion so intense it consumed him.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for 2 Corinthians 11:29. The Greek text is stable across the major manuscript families. Differences in English translations (e.g., 'burn with grief' vs. 'burn not') reflect interpretive choices rather than manuscript variation.
Reception History
From the early church to the Reformation, this verse has been a touchstone for describing pastoral love. Calvin wrote that 'concern produces sympathy,' and that the minister 'must put himself in the place of all.' In the Methodist tradition, Wesley highlighted the burning as a sign of true discipleship. Nineteenth-century commentators like Barnes and Clarke used it to emphasize the affective dimension of ministry, a pastor’s heart must feel the congregation’s pains and be fired by their falls. Modern homiletics often cites this verse to argue that preaching must come from a heart that both suffers with and burns for the people.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Pastor's Sympathetic Weakness. Paul enters the experience of the weak, whether in body, faith, or outer circumstance. This is not condescension but genuine partnership in suffering.
- The Pastor's Burning Indignation. When a believer is caused to stumble, Paul cannot remain neutral. His response is fire, grief for the fallen, anger at the tempter.
- The Union of Love and Zeal. True ministry requires both compassion and holy anger. Neither cancels the other; together they form the heart of a shepherd.
Five-point outline
- The Two Questions. A window into Paul's soul. Both are rhetorical, expecting a strong negative: 'Of course I am weak; of course I burn.'
- The Meaning of 'Weak.' Physical affliction, poverty, weak conscience, or all? The breadth of the term invites application to every form of human frailty.
- The Stumbling Block. The Greek skandalizō pictures a trap. Paul's concern is that nothing in his conduct or teaching cause another to fall from faith.
- The Burning, What Kind of Fire? Sorrow for the disaster? Anger at the cause? Most see both, as the fire of care for the church.
- Application for Today's Shepherds. We are called to carry the weight of others' weaknesses and to burn against whatever damages faith.
Illustration hooks
- A pastor visits a family after a member has been led into destructive teaching; he feels both the ache of their hurt and fire against the deception.
- A small-group leader watches a new believer become confused by false doctrines; she wrestles with how to correct without crushing.
- A Christian friend learns that someone they respected has fallen into public sin; they feel a mix of compassion and outrage.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Am I allowed to be angry when someone misleads others, or should I only feel sad?
- How do I balance sympathy for a person with a desire to confront their error?
- Is Paul's reaction a model for all believers, or is it unique to his role as an apostle?
Leading a Discussion
Paul's pastoral heart is laid bare in this verse. In just two questions, we see his complete identification with the weak and his passionate response when a fellow believer stumbles. This passage challenges our view of ministry and community.
Discussion questions
- Read the verse aloud. What do the two questions reveal about Paul's relationship with the churches?
- How does Paul define 'weak' in other passages (e.g., 1 Corinthians 8:9, 13, 9:22)? How does that background inform this verse?
- Why does the Greek text use the emphatic pronoun 'I myself' in the second question but not the first? What does that shift emphasize?
- When you read 'I burn,' what emotions come to mind? Is Paul describing grief, anger, or both? What evidence in the text and context supports your view?
- In what situations do you find it easy to 'be weak' with someone? When is it difficult?
- How can a church cultivate both compassion for the stumbling and a holy indignation against the causes of stumbling?
- What safeguards can prevent holy anger from becoming unholy bitterness or self-righteousness?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Numbers 25:6 | Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting. |
| Numbers 25:11 | “Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I didn’t consume the children of Israel in my jealousy. |
| Ezra 9:1 | Now when these things were done, the princes came near to me, saying, “The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, following their abominations, even those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. |
| Ezra 9:3 | When I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe, and pulled the hair out of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded. |
| Nehemiah 5:6 | I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. |
| Nehemiah 5:13 | Also I shook out my lap, and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that doesn’t perform this promise; even may he be shaken out and emptied like this.” All the assembly said, “Amen,” and praised Yahweh. The people did according to this promise. |
| Nehemiah 13:15 | In those days I saw some men treading wine presses on the Sabbath in Judah, bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I testified against them in the day in which they sold food. |
| Nehemiah 13:20 | So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares camped outside of Jerusalem once or twice. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke reads Paul's questions as a demonstration of immediate, personal sympathy with every struggling believer. For him, being weak or offended prompts not mere concern but a consuming zeal to restore and confirm, a willingness to bear their burden and condescend to their level.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes emphasizes Paul's profound personal sympathy with every kind of weakness and offense, taking the
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin argues that indifference to a brother's weakness comes not from strength but from a lack of real concern for the Church. True pastoral care produces sympathy, making the minister enter into every believer's condition and take their afflictions upon himself.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible notes that Paul's question reveals how deeply he shared in the anxieties of every individual believer. His care was not distant oversight but a personal taking‑upon himself of each member's struggles. Cross‑references throughout Paul's letters confirm this pattern of bearing the flock's burdens as his own.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes emphasize Paul's profound identification with other believers: he counts every weakness as his own and feels personal anguish when anyone is stumbled. His burning response reveals a pastor whose love is so intense that others' spiritual wounds become his own.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill highlights that Paul's care extended to every individual believer, not just whole churches. He felt personally responsible for the weak, tailoring his teaching to their capacity. Gill notes Paul used a Hebrew word meaning to burn, showing that any offense to a believer caused him intense, fiery grief until reconciliation was achieved.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB points out that in the Greek text, Paul's "I burn not" has an emphatic "I." This means he does not merely sympathize with the offended person but personally burns with indignation at the one who caused the offense, taking up their cause as his own and being even more disturbed than the one who stumbled.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry emphasizes that Paul catalogs his sufferings not out of pride but to honor God, who enabled him to endure so much for Christ. Paul's point in listing hardships rather than privileges was to show how he far surpassed the false apostles who tried to undermine his authority.
Vincent's Word Studies Evangelical 1887
Burn. With sorrow over the stumbling or with indignation over the cause. This and 1 Co 7:9 are the only instances in which the word is used figuratively.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley highlights Paul's deep personal union with every believer, not just churches as a whole. Paul feels the weakness of the weak by genuine sympathy and condescension. When any believer is offended or hindered in faith, Paul burns with anguish as if fire were in his own heart.