Theophylact of Ohrid, on 2Cor 1:8

“For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, of our tribulation, which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure above our strength, so that we were weary even of life.”

“Since he mentioned affliction indefinitely, he now explains what exactly the affliction was. Through this he also shows his love for them, for it is characteristic of love to reveal to others what has happened. At the same time he also presents an explanation for his delay. In Asia, he says, an affliction befell him, about which he also speaks in the first epistle: "for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries" (1 Cor. 16:9). It would seem that he says one and the same thing when he uses the expressions "exceedingly" and "beyond our strength," but in reality they are not the same. He says the following: the trial was excessive, that is, great; then, since a trial, even being severe, can be courageously endured by one who has the strength to endure it, he says that it was not only great but also exceeded our strength, that is, both great and unbearable, such that we despaired even of life, that is, we no longer hoped even to remain alive. David calls such a state the chains of hell, the pangs of death, because they give birth to death, and the snare of death (Ps. 18:4–6).”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.