Devine Scripture

2 Corinthians 11:33

What does 2 Corinthians 11:33 mean?

A plain-English look at 2 Corinthians 11:33 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What 2 Corinthians 11:33 means

Paul concludes with an image of weakness: he escaped Damascus by being lowered in a basket through a window in the wall. This was not a heroic victory march but a humble, even embarrassing, retreat. Yet it was God’s means of deliverance, enabling further ministry. The story captures Paul’s theme: he does not boast in conquest but in dependence. When cornered, he relied on help and took the lowly way out. In such moments, Christ’s sustaining grace shines. Ending here leaves the Corinthians with a vivid picture of the kind of apostolic life Paul defends—a life where God’s power preserves a servant who is content to be small.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

and through a window was I let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

and through a window was I let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And being let down in a basket from the wall through a window, I got free from his hands.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and through a window in a rope basket I was let down, through the wall, and fled out of his hands.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall: and so escaped his hands.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

and through a window in a basket I was let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.

Context

This final verse ties the chapter’s threads together by embodying the principle of v.30. The escape from Damascus contrasts sharply with the domineering leaders the Corinthians had tolerated. Paul’s ministry, marked by vulnerability and rescue rather than swagger, is the authentic pattern he sets before them. The scene prepares for the next chapter’s continued emphasis on weakness amid revelation, reinforcing that true apostolic authority flows through humility and dependence on God, not through worldly triumphs or manipulative power.

v.32In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to take me:

v.33This passage

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • 1 Samuel 19:12

    So Michal let David down through the window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.

  • Acts 9:25

    but his disciples took him by night, and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket.

  • Joshua 2:18

    Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt gather unto thee into the house thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household.

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