2 Corinthians 13:11: five short orders at the end of Paul’s tensest letter
11As to the rest, brothers, rejoice, be perfect, be encouraged, have the same mind, have peace. And so the God of peace and love will be with you.
Five imperatives and a promise, and the force is in the contrast with what came before. This edition renders the second imperative as be perfect and names God by peace and by love. After thirteen chapters of self-defence, Paul ends by asking for joy and peace, not for victory in the argument.
Short answer
2 Corinthians 13:11 closes the letter with five short imperatives and a promise. It comes after thirteen chapters of tension with a community questioning Paul’s authority. The closing promise is shaped by the list: the God of peace and of love appears where peace is.
- Written by
- Raphael Navarro Schmitt
- Reviewed by
- Maria Luisa Navarro Schmitt
- Published on
- Reading time
- 2 min read
Ancient letters ended with formulas of greeting, and this one uses the format. What it puts inside the format is what stands out, given everything the letter has been.
Where this verse appears
2 Corinthians is the most personal and the harshest of Paul’s letters. He defends himself against accusations, mocks rivals, threatens a severe visit and writes passages of evident anger.
This verse is the last thing he says before the closing greetings. It comes immediately after the notice that he does not intend to use severity when he arrives.
What it says
The five imperatives are of different kinds. Two concern an inner state — rejoicing, being encouraged; one concerns character, rendered here as being perfect; two concern relationship — having the same mind, and having peace.
The order is not random. The list moves from the individual to the collective and ends exactly where the letter hurt: living together. After thirteen chapters of argument, Paul asks them to be at peace rather than to agree with him.
The closing promise is usually read as automatic, and the text suggests otherwise. It comes after the list and names God by precisely the two attributes the imperatives ask for. It is not a threat but a consistency: the God of peace and of love is found where those things exist.
What to do with it today
For anyone at the end of a long conflict, this verse is a model for closing. It does not require the argument to be won, does not demand a retraction, and does not reopen the subject.
And there is a practical detail in the fourth item. Having the same mind is not having the same opinion: in context, it is seeking the same direction. Communities that confuse the two tend to split over subjects that did not deserve it.
What the passages say
18If it is possible, in so far as you are able, be at peace with all men.
The same instruction about peace in another letter, with a realistic clause attached: as far as it depends on you. It is the counterweight that stops peace being read as one side’s responsibility.
9All the things that you have learned and accepted and heard and seen in me, do these. And so shall the God of peace be with you.
Another letter-ending with the same closing promise and the same structure: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you. The repetition suggests a deliberate formula.
A prayer to carry with you
Lord, I have an argument to end and I do not want to give ground. Let me finish in peace without pretending to agree, and stay where that peace is. Amen.