How does Paul's list of sufferings in 1 Corinthians 4 compare to 2 Corinthians?
Paul's list in 1 Corinthians 4 is much the same as the sufferings and persecutions he lists in 2 Corinthians. Both portray apostolic weakness and hardship: being fools for Christ, hungry, thirsty, naked, buffeted, homeless, reviled, persecuted, defamed, and treated as the world's filth and offscouring.
Les explains that after going through the list of sufferings and persecutions in 2 Corinthians, the study returns to 1 Corinthians 4:10-12, where Paul says much the same thing. In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul calls himself and other apostles fools for Christ's sake, weak while the Corinthians were wise and strong; they had not yet gone through the trials, tribulations, and persecutions Paul had. Les suggests Paul may have been preparing them for coming persecution under the Roman Empire, even death for their faith, as the apostles had already faced and as Paul would within a few years. Paul then lists hunger, thirst, nakedness, being buffeted, and having no certain dwelling place, noting he had no mansion and had given up wealth and prestige as apostle of the Gentiles. He labored with his own hands as a tentmaker, was reviled, persecuted, defamed, and counted as the filth of the world and the offscouring of all things.
More Questions
What are the 2 Corinthians verses saying about Paul's suffering?
The verses in 2 Corinthians are decrying the fact that Paul suffered so much to get the gospel to the Gentiles.