But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Ver. 32. But I have prayed] So the plaster is ready made before the wound be given; for else the patient might perish, as those do that are stung with scorpions, if not presently anointed with oil of scorpions.
That thy faith fail not] It is our faith that Satan chiefly assaulteth: he knows that nihil retinct qui fidem perdidit. (Seneca.)
Strengthen thy brethren] So he doth notably, in both his Epistles, dooming apostates most severely, 2 Peter 2:1,22 .