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1 and 2 Corinthians

  1. Lesson One
    Overview of 1 and 2 Corinthians (Skim 1 and 2 Corinthians)
    24 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    Holiness in the Context of Freedom (1 Corinthians 5–8, 10, 15)
    20 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  3. Lesson Three
    Unity and Order in the Context of Diversity (1 Corinthians 1–3, 11–14)
    19 Activities
  4. Lesson Four
    Paul's Apostleship (1 Corinthians 4, 9, 16, 2 Corinthians 1–7)
    19 Activities
    |
    3 Assessments
  5. Lesson Five
    Author and Audience (2 Corinthians 8–13)
    25 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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1 and 2 Corinthians Author and Audience (2 Corinthians 8–13) In | Workbook: Acts 9 and 2 Corinthians 11
Lesson 5, Activity 12

In | Workbook: Acts 9 and 2 Corinthians 11

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Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

In 2 Corinthians, we find an account of Paul escaping from Damascus.

At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.
2 Corinthians 11:32-33 ESV

This story is also recounted in Acts. While there is overlap in the two accounts, there are different details provided:

When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.
Acts 9:23-25 ESV

7. What’s different between the two accounts (2 Corinthians 11:32-22; Acts 9:23-25)?

Acts 9 and 2 Corinthians 11

Who was after Paul in Damascus—the Jews or the governor? Second Corinthians says it was the governor, while Acts says it was the Jews.

While it may seem a troubling discrepancy between the two accounts, they don’t contradict each other. As we’ve seen in Jesus’ trials and passion, Jewish leaders were not averse to appealing to outside authorities and influencers to carry out persecution on their behalf. In this scenario, Jewish leaders (Acts 9:23) collaborated with the Nabatean King Aretas (2 Cor 11:32)—whose role here is a mystery—for Paul’s imprisonment. What we’re reading in the two accounts is less a discrepancy than two different elements in a single event.

Reference: Craig S. Keener, Acts: Exegetical Commentary: Volume 1: 1:1–2:47, 2012, pp. 242-249.