Commentaries:
What Paul is saying is, "I'm going to restrain myself. I will abstain from boasting, but I will tell the truth, that God gave me a vision of the third heaven." He is letting them know that he has superior knowledge and understanding, but he says, "I will refrain from boasting and just give you the truth of it." The application to us is that Paul forebore so that he would not cause offense. He refrained or abstained.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Forbearance
When II Corinthians 12:1-7 is thoroughly examined, it is obvious that the person who was taken up in a vision to the "third heaven" was the apostle Paul himself!
In the eleventh chapter of II Corinthians, Paul explains his physical sufferings and persecutions. In chapter 12, however, he begins to relate some of his spiritual experiences. Notice that in the first seven verses, the pronoun "I" is mentioned fourteen times! In the very first verse, Paul says, ". . . I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord." This is clear from II Corinthians 12:7, where Paul said, "Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh."
Paul begins to tell about his vision in verse 2 by saying, "I know ["know" is the correct translation, not "knew," which can be verified by checking the original Greek] a man in Christ about fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven."
Paul is speaking about himself! He was "caught up to the third heaven"—in vision. This "third heaven" is where God's throne is. The vision was so vivid and realistic that he was unable—at the time—to tell whether he was taken bodily to heaven, or whether he was merely seeing it in his mind's eye. But God's Word provides the answer! "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven" (John 3:13).
But why speak of seeing the third heaven by using the roundabout "I know a man"? Paul gives the answer in II Corinthians 12:6, "For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me." Paul simply did not want others to think of him as some great, exalted personage! By speaking indirectly ("I know a man") he emphasized this point.
Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986)
What Is the Reward of the Saved?
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
2 Corinthians 12:1-7
2 Corinthians 12:1-7
Colossians 3:12
Titus 3:1-2
1 Peter 5:5
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