2 Corinthians 12:10 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities. — The thoughts of the Apostle go back to the sufferings of which he had spoken fully in 2 Corinthians 11 and elsewhere. One new word is added, “reproaches” (better, insults), which elsewhere in the New Testament meets us only in Acts 27:10; Acts 27:21, in the sense of material damage. Here the reference is probably to the taunts and sneers to which we have traced allusions in 2 Corinthians 1:17; 2 Corinthians 3:1; 2 Corinthians 7:8; 2 Corinthians 8:2; 2 Corinthians 10:10; 2 Corinthians 11:6; 2 Corinthians 11:8; 2 Corinthians 11:16. He was able to bear even these with satisfaction when he felt that he was bearing them for the sake of Christ. He had learnt to add another paradox to those of 2 Corinthians 6:9-10, and to feel that the greatest weakness was not only compatible with the highest strength, but might be the very condition of its energy.