But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency may be of the power of God, and not of us.

“This visible appearance cheats death and the devil; for the wealth within, the beauty, is unseen by them. And they rave about the carcase, which they despise as weak, being blind to the wealth within; knowing not what a "treasure in an earthen vessel" we bear, protected as it is by the power of God the Father, and the blood of God the Son, and the dew of the Holy Spirit.”

“Since therefore he said, that the Gentiles were without God, whilst their god was the devil, not the Creator, it is clear that he must be understood to be the lord of this world, whom the Gentiles received as their god-not the Creator, of whom they were in ignorance. But how does it happen, that "the treasure which we have in these earthen vessels of ours" should not be regarded as belonging to the God who owns the vessels? Now since God's glory is, that so great a treasure is contained in earthen vessels, and since these earthen vessels are of the Creator's make, it follows that the glory is the Creator's; nay, since these vessels of His smack so much of the excellency of the power of God, that power itself must be His also! Indeed, all these things have been consigned to the said "earthen vessels" for the very purpose that His excellence might be manifested forth.”

“"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves." For seeing he had spoken many and great things of the unspeakable glory, lest any should say, 'And how enjoying so great a glory remain we in a mortal body?' he saith, that this very thing is indeed the chiefest marvel and a very great example of the power of God, that an earthen vessel hath been enabled to bear so great a brightness and to keep so high a treasure. And therefore as admiring this, he said, "That the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;" again alluding to those who gloried in themselves. For both the greatness of the things given and the weakness of them that receive show His power; in that He not only gave great things, but also to those who are little. For he used the term "earthen" in allusion to the frailty of our mortal nature, and to declare the weakness of our flesh. For it is nothing better constituted than earthenware; so is it soon damaged, and by death and disease and variations of temperature and ten thousand other things easily dissolved. And he said these things both to take down their inflation, and to show to all that none of the things we hold is human. For then is the power of God chiefly conspicuous, when by vile it worketh mighty things. Wherefore also in another place He said, "For My power is made perfect in weakness." And indeed in the Old [Testament] whole hosts of barbarians were turned to flight by gnats and flies, wherefore also He calleth the caterpillar His mighty force; and in the beginning, by only confounding tongues, He put a stop to that great tower in Babylon. And in their wars too, at one time, He routed innumerable hosts by three hundred men; at another He overthrew cities by trumpets; and afterwards by a little and poor stripling, David, He turned to flight the whole army of barbarians. So then here also, sending forth twelve only He overcame the world; twelve, and those, persecuted, warred against.”

“Above all the work of the new Testament as regards good actions, he now goes on to treat of its usefulness as regards the endurance of evils. And concerning this he does two things. First he shows the endurance of evils which they were suffering; second he makes this plain, at *for we who live*, etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he gives the cause why they are exposed to tribulations by God; second he shows that in these tribulations they behave patiently, at *we suffer tribulation in all things*, etc.; third he assigns the reason for this patience, at *always the mortification of Jesus*, etc. He says therefore: God has shone into our minds for the enlightenment of others, and this light is the greatest treasure. Wis. 7: *for the treasure is infinite*, etc. Is. 33: *the riches of salvation is wisdom*, etc. Now this greatest treasure we do not have in a precious place, but in a thing that is cheap and made of clay; and the reason for this is that its efficacy might be attributed to God. And this is what he says: *we have this treasure*, that is, that light by which we enlighten others, *in vessels of clay*, that is, in a body that is fragile and cheap. Ps. 102: *he himself has known our frame*. Jer. 18: *as clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in the hand*, etc. Is. 64: *and now, Lord, you are our father, but we are clay*. Therefore we have it in vessels of clay, so that the sublimity of this light might be *of the power of God*, that is, be attributed to God, and not believed to be from ourselves. For if we were rich, if powerful, if noble according to the flesh, whatever great thing we did would be attributed not to God but to ourselves. But now, because we are poor and contemptible, this sort of sublimity is attributed to God and not to us. And therefore God wills us to be held in contempt, and to be exposed to tribulations. Deut. 32: *lest they should say: our hand is exalted*, etc. And 1 Cor. 1: *that no flesh should glory*, etc. Wis. 12: *you sent forth your forerunners lest they should say*, etc. Consequently, when he says *we suffer tribulation in all things*, etc., he shows their patience in the things which they suffer. And concerning this he does two things. First he shows the evils which they suffer in general; second he enumerates them in particular, at *we are made poor, but not destitute*, etc. He says therefore: Truly we have this treasure in vessels of clay, because *we suffer tribulation in all things*; as if to say: no manner of being troubled is lacking to us. Acts 14: *through many tribulations*, etc. Nor is it a wonder, since as is said in the last chapter of Luke: *it behooved Christ to suffer, and so to enter*, etc. And although we are thus troubled, nevertheless *we are not straitened*. And he speaks after the likeness of a traveler, who, when no way is open to him by which he might go out of some narrow place, is straitened. As if to say: men who trust only in the world are straitened, if they are troubled on every side by the world, because no way of remedy is open to them, since they hope in nothing but the world. But we, although we are troubled in the world, because nevertheless we trust in God and hope in Christ, a way of escape and of help from God is open to us, and therefore we are not straitened. Consequently, when he says *we are made poor*, etc., he enumerates the tribulations in particular. Now there are four things in which men are accustomed to be troubled, and in these the apostles were troubled, namely in exterior things, in the unrest of their state, in the wounding of their reputation, and in the affliction of their own body. As to the first, therefore, he says *we are made poor*, that is, we are impoverished. For *aporos* in Greek is called *poor* in Latin; as if to say: we are so poor that necessary things are lacking. 1 Cor. 4: *even to this hour we hunger*, etc. But *we are not destitute* of God, who is our treasure. For riches are not sought for their own sake, but for the sufficiency of life. Whence men who are without the help and hope of God, if they lack riches, are destitute; but those who trust and hope only in God, however much they are made poor, are not destitute. Below, ch. 6: *as having nothing, and possessing all things*. But this does not suffice either — indeed, along with this we are troubled — *we suffer persecution*, namely from place to place. Matt. 10: *they will persecute you*. But *we are not forsaken* by God, who does not fail to provide help. Heb., last chapter: *I will not leave you*, etc. Ps. 9: *let them hope in you who know you*, etc. But along with this we are wounded in reputation, because *we are humbled*, that is, we are despised and reckoned as nothing. Jn. 16: *the hour comes, that whoever kills you*, etc. Matt. 5: *blessed will you be when they hate you*, etc. But because when someone is despised, and the cause of the contempt is present, the one who is despised is accustomed to be confounded; but when the cause is not present, he is not confounded, and in their case the cause of contempt was not present, therefore he says *we are not confounded*. As if to say: because the cause is not present, we do not care. Ps. 30: *in you, Lord, have I hoped, let me not be confounded*, etc. But as though these were few, he adds, for the heightening of the tribulation, saying *we are cast down to the perils of death, but we do not perish*, that is, we do not cease from good, or we do not perish because God sustains us. Job 11: *when you shall think yourself consumed*, etc. 1 Cor. 4: *as the refuse of this world*, etc. Ps. 43: *we are esteemed as sheep*, etc. Consequently, when he says *always the mortification*, etc., he adds the reason for this patience. Concerning which it must be known that in Christ such was the process: for from the beginning of his conception, having passable flesh, he suffered and died, but nevertheless within he lived by a spiritual life. But after the resurrection, that spiritual and glorious life was carried through even to the body, and the body itself was made glorious and immortal, because: *Christ rising from the dead, dies now no more*, etc. Whence from this a twofold state is taken in the body of Christ, namely of death and of glory. And therefore he says: that for this reason we patiently sustain the perils of death and the sufferings, that we may arrive at the glorious life. And this is what he says: *thus we always sustain*, that is, in all things and everywhere, *the mortification of Jesus*, that is, on account of Jesus, or after the likeness of the death of Jesus, Gal., last chapter: *the marks of the Lord Jesus*, etc. Because on account of the truth we have suffered, just as Jesus also. *In our body*, not only in the mind, Ps. 43: *for your sake we are put to death all the day*. *That the life of Jesus*, that is, the life of grace which Jesus gives; or the life of glory to which Jesus arrived through his sufferings, Lk. 24: *ought not Christ to have suffered, and so to enter into glory*, that is, might manifestly appear even to enemies. He says therefore *in* the future, namely in the resurrection, or even now the life of glory, *in our bodies*, not only in our souls, Judges 7: *the pitchers being broken, the lamps appeared*. And therefore Ambrose says: he did not fear to die, on account of the promised resurrection. *Bearing about*, that is, carrying and sustaining everywhere, because wherever we go we suffer and are not cut down. And this is so that *the life of Jesus*, which now lies hidden in our heart, *may be made manifest in our bodies*, namely when he will reform the body of our lowliness, etc., Phil. 3:21. Col. 3: *you are dead, and your life*, etc. 2 Tim. 2: *if we have died together, we shall also live together*.”

“But we have this treasure . The treasure is the ministry and preaching of the Gospel entrusted to him by God. Cf. ver. 1 and vers. 5 and 6. In earthen vessels . (1.) In a body of dust frail and fragile. Our body is as an earthenware vessel; for as an earthen vessel is nothing but clay baked in the fire, so is our body nothing but earth made solid by the heat of the soul. Take away the soul, and the body returns to the dust whence it came. C£ Ps. ciii. 14. Or, (2.) in earthen vessels means in ourselves ; for though we are Apostles, still we are men, frail and fashioned from the dust, and, like earthen vessels, are worthless, weak, and contemptible, exposed to injuries at the hands of all. This explanation is favoured by the words that follow : M We are troubled on every side,” &c. So in 1 Cor. i. 27, it was said that God had chosen the Apostles as the foolish, and weak, and base things of the world ; and also in 1 Cor. ii. 1, Paul said that he had come to the Corinthians, not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, but in weakness, and fear, and trembling ; and again, in 1 Cor. iv. 9, he expresses the same idea. Origen (Horn, in Numer.) symbolically interprets this treasure as the grace of the Holy Spirit hidden in earthen vessels, ue ., in the rude, unpolished, and unadorned words of the law and the Gospel That the excellency of the power may he of God and not of us. God wills me to have this treasure in an earthen vessel, in order that the excellency which is in me, and the fruit that I gather in the conversion of the heathen, may not be ascribed to me, but to the power of God and the grace of Christ. EARTHEN VESSELS 47”

“But we have, this treasure in earthen vessels,.... This is a further commendation of the Gospel; and by which the apostle removes an objection against it, taken from the cross and persecutions that attend it, and the outward meanness of the ministers of it. The Gospel is called a "treasure", for not grace, nor Christ, but the Gospel is here meant; which is so styled, because it contains rich truths, and an abundance of them; comparable to gold, silver, and precious stones, for the price of them, their antiquity, distance of place from whence they come, and their duration; because it has in it rich blessings, spiritual ones, the blessings of the new covenant, solid, substantial, and irreversible ones, and a fulness of them; and because it consists of exceeding great and precious promises, of more worth than thousands of gold and silver; free, absolute, and unconditional ones, which are yea and amen in Christ, and relate both to this, and the other world; and also because it exhibits and shows forth to us the riches of God and of Christ, of grace and of glory; which are unsearchable, substantial, satisfying, and durable: the repository, or cabinet, in which this treasure is, are "earthen vessels"; by which are meant, ministers of the word, who are so in themselves, in their own esteem, and in the esteem of others; probably the apostle might have in view Lam 3:2. The doctors and scholars among the Jews are compared hereunto; "says R. Eleazar (p), to what is a disciple of a wise man like, in the esteem of a man of the world? at first he is like to a golden cup; when he has conversed with him, he is like to a silver cup; and when he has received any profit by him, he is like , "to an earthen cup", which, when broken, cannot be repaired again: the law (say they) is not confirmed but by him, who makes himself , "as an earthen vessel" (q): R. Joshua (r) was a great man in the king's palace, and he was deformed; wherefore Caesar's daughter said, wisdom is beautiful , "in an ugly vessel"; and he brought her a simile in proof of it from wine, which is not kept in a silver vessel.'' The allusion is either to the earth itself, in which treasure lies, or is hid, and out of which it is dug; or to pots and vessels made of earth, into which treasure has been used to be put; or to earthen pitchers, in which lights or lamps were formerly carried; see Jdg 7:16 where Gideon's three hundred men, are said to have empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers; they carried lamps with them to give them light, it being night when they went into the camp of Midian; and those they put into pitchers, that the Midianites might not perceive them afar off, as a Jewish commentator well observes (s); in like manner the Gospel put into earthen vessels is a glorious light to some, whilst it is hidden to others: yea, even lamps themselves were no other than earthen vessels, in which light was put; for so says Maimonides (t), a lamp, a burning light, is , "an earthen vessel", like a reed; and on the top of it is a little ear, which joins to it; and when it is made, a piece of old cloth is put upon the burning oil, and it continues in it; also an earthen vessel is made, in which there is a hollow place for to set the light in, and in it is gathered all that flows from the oil out of the light; and it is strengthened about the head of the candlestick, that the brass might not be hurt by the oil; and this vessel is called the house in which the light subsides, or the receptacle of the light; and which receptacle, another of the Misnic commentators says (u), is an earthen vessel, made to put the light in; and the lamp, he also says, is like an earthen platter, sharp pointed below, &c. and this allusion well agrees with the context, in which the Gospel is represented as a glorious light, shining in darkness, Co2 4:4. The Greek word the apostle uses, signifies also "shells of fishes"; and in like manner does Philo the Jew (w) compare the human body; "I am (says he) very little concerned for this mortal body which is about me, and cleaves to me , "like the shell of a fish"; though it is hurt by everyone.'' And the reference may be to pearls, which are said to have been found in such shells, particularly in oysters; and is designed to express, either the frail mortal bodies of the ministers of the Gospel, comparable to brittle shells; or baked earth; or rather the outward mean despicable condition of the apostles, and preachers of the word; being men of no figure in the world, for birth, learning, or outward grandeur; and being attended with sinful infirmities also, as other men; and more especially as they were labouring under reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions, for the sake of the Gospel; see Jer 32:14. The reason why it pleased God to put such a rich and valuable treasure into the hands of persons so mean and contemptible was, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us: that is, that it might appear that the making of such persons ministers of the word was not of themselves, was not owing to their natural abilities, or to any diligence and industry, and acquirements of their own, or to any instructions they had received from others, but to the grace of God, and the effectual working of his power; and that the success which attended their ministrations in the conversion of sinners, and building up of saints, could only be ascribed to the exceeding greatness of divine power; and that the supporting of them in their work, under all the persecutions raised against them, and opposition made unto them, could be attributed to nothing else; of which power, instances are given in the following verses. (p) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 52. 2. (q) Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 4. 2. (r) Juchasin, fol. 33. 2. (s) Laniado in Judg. vii, 16. (t) In Misn. Celim, c. 2. sect. 8. (u) Bartenora in ib. (w) De Joseph. p. 536.”

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels - The original, οστρακινοις σκευεσιν, signifies, more literally, vessels made of shells, which are very brittle; and as the shell is the outward part of a fish, it is very fit, as Dr. Hammond observes, to resemble our bodies in which our souls dwell. The Platonists make two bodies of a man: the one they call οξημα ψυχης, the chariot of the soul; the other, that which we see and touch; and this they call οστρακινον which is the same to us as the shell is to the fish. The word οστρακον not only signifies a shell, or vessel made of shell, but also πηλος ωπτημενος, an earthen vessel which has been burnt in the kiln, and earthen vessels or pottery in general; the difference between σκευη οστρακινα, earthen ware, and σκευη κεραμεως, the potter's vessel, is this: the latter implies the vessel as it comes out of the hands of the potter Before it is burnt; and the other is the vessel After it has passed through the kiln. St. Chrysostom, speaking of this difference, observes that the vessels once baked in the kiln, if broken, are incapable of being restored, δια την εκ τουπυρος εγγινομενην αυτοις ἁπαξ αντιτυπιαν, because of the hardness once gotten by fire; whereas the others are of clay unbaken, if they be spoiled ῥᾳδιωϚπρος το δευτερον επανελθῃ σχημα, they may easily, by the skill of the potter, be restored to some second form. See Hammond. This comports excellently with the idea of St. Paul: our bodies are in a recoverable form: they are very frail, and easily marred; but by the skill of the workman they may be easily built up anew, and made like unto his glorious body. The light and salvation of God in the soul of man is a heavenly treasure in a very mean casket. The rabbins have a mode of speech very similar to this. "The daughter of the emperor thus addressed Rabbi Joshua, the son of Chananiah: O! how great is thy skill in the law, and yet how deformed thou art! what a great deal of wisdom is laid up in a sordid vessel! The rabbi answered, Tell me, I pray thee, of what are those vessels in which you keep your wines? She answered, They are earthen vessels. He replied, How is it, seeing ye are rich, that ye do not lay up your wine in silver vessels, for the common people lay up their wine in earthen vessels? She returned to her father, and persuaded him to have all the wine put into silver vessels; but the wine turned acid; and when the emperor heard it he inquired of his daughter who it was that had given her that advice? She told him that it was Rabbi Joshua. The rabbi told the whole story to the emperor, and added this sentence: The wisdom and study of the law cannot dwell in a comely man. Caesar objected, and said, There are comely persons who have made great progress in the study of the law. The rabbi answered, Had they not been so comely they would have made greater progress; for a man who is comely has not an humble mind, and therefore he soon forgets the whole law." See Schoettgen. There is a great deal of good sense in this allegory; and the most superficial reader may find it out. That the excellency of the power may be of God; and not of us - God keeps us continually dependent upon himself; we have nothing but what we have received, and we receive every necessary supply just when it is necessary; and have nothing at our own command. The good therefore that is done is so evidently from the power of God, that none can pretend to share the glory with him.”

“"Lest any should say, How then is it that we continue to enjoy such unspeakable glory in a mortal body? Paul replies, this very fact is one of the most marvellous proofs of God's power, that an earthen vessel could bear such splendor and keep such a treasure" [CHRYSOSTOM, Homilies, 8.496, A]. The treasure or "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God." The fragile "earthen vessel" is the body, the "outward man" (Co2 4:16; compare Co2 4:10), liable to afflictions and death. So the light in Gideon's pitchers, the type (Jdg 7:16-20, Jdg 7:22). The ancients often kept their treasures in jars or vessels of earthenware. "There are earthen vessels which yet may be clean; whereas a golden vessel may be filthy" [BENGEL]. that the excellency of the power, &c.--that the power of the ministry (the Holy Spirit), in respect to its surpassing "excellency," exhibited in winning souls (Co1 2:4) and in sustaining us ministers, might be ascribed solely to God, we being weak as earthen vessels. God often allows the vessel to be chipped and broken, that the excellency of the treasure contained, and of the power which that treasure has, may be all His (Co2 4:10-11; Joh 3:30). may be of God . . . not of us--rather, as Greek, "may be God's (may be seen and be thankfully [Co2 4:15] acknowledged to belong to God), and not (to come) from us." The power not merely comes from God, but belongs to Him continually, and is to be ascribed to him.”