Aramaic Word Study – Weakness –  Korah כרה    Kap Resh Hei 

II Corinthians 12:9: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

“If perfect earthly sight were offered to me tomorrow, I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.”  Fanny J. Crosby, poet, and writer of thousands of hymns.

I find that one of the songs on my Pod that I play on my disability bus has become a favorite for some of the people I drive to hospitals, doctor appointments, and physical therapy.  The song is simply titled: “His Grace Is Sufficient for Me.”  

I like the way one translator paraphrased this by saying: “My grace is all you need.”   Paul, therefore, rejoiced in his weaknesses for the power of God rested on him.  I need to examine a few words here to understand what Paul is really talking about. 

The Apostle Paul could not have been a weak person in character.  I mean this old boy had one strong character which is very apparent when you read about him in the Bible.  He was not weak in decision-making, lacking courage or commitment. In that, he was powerful and strong. 

Thus this weakness has to be more than emotion or courage.  I doubt it is a weakness in scholarship as he was a member of the Sanhedrin and was well versed in the laws of God.  The word for weakness in the Greek is astheneia which is a physical weakness or a physical disability. The Aramaic uses the word korih from the root word korah.  This also means a physical weakness, disability, or a disease.  This is the same word he uses when he says he will glory in his infirmities. I said in an earlier study that this disability was likely arthritis, that is purely a guess but it fits both Greek and Aramaic and the Apostle Paul’s age. 

We learn in the next verse that on top of korah, he also suffered insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties.  But he rejoices in these.  Korah, however, was different, he needed good health to carry on the ministry not to mention to endure physical hardships.  Emotionally, he could handle it but the poor old physical body, not so much. So much so that we learn in the prior verses that he suffered a thorn in the flesh that he called upon God three times to be delivered and each time God told Him His grace was all He needed.  The word for grace in the Greek is charis which means a blessing, a favor or a gift.  The word is Aramaic is yibotha which means exactly the same thing, a favor or a gift. 

I believe that gift is found in this verse. Strength when he was weak.  The word strength in Greek is dynamos as we all know is the word we get dynamite from.  But in the Aramaic the word is 

chila which is an accumulating power and abilities.  In other words, in his weakness, he discovered abilities and power he never knew he had. 

You see what Paul is telling us is that when we depend upon our own power and strength we never give the power and strength of God a chance to manifest. I do not know how this power and strength was manifested but it brought him through many difficulties. 

When we face a situation that just saps us of all our strength, it is then that God can reveal what He has already endowed us with.  We will never suffer more than we can bear I Corinthians 10:13.  

The key is, we don’t get that strength, we already have it, it is a yibotha, a gift that can only be revealed when we have reached the end when we confront our weakness, then like a supercharger, God’s power kicks in.  Fanny Crosby was convinced that she would not have written her beautiful songs if it wasn’t for her blindness.   

We as believers will all experience this yibotha.  There will come a time our physical bodies will have reached their limits and what we fear most for all our lives we will eventually confront death’s door.  When that time comes suddenly God’s yibotha will kick in and like Paul, we will rejoice and welcome it without the fear we thought we would have.  Maybe you feel don’t have this strength or power, but it will be there when we need it.

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