It is authored by Paul the Apostle and Timothy (2 Corinthians 1:1) in Macedonia in 55–56 CE.

[1] According to theologian Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer, chapters 10–13 "contain the third chief section of the Epistle, the apostle's polemic vindication of his apostolic dignity and efficiency, and then the conclusion".

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: The weapons (Biblical Greek: ὅπλα, opla) which Paul refers to are "not carnal", (Biblical Greek: ου σαρκικα, ou sarkika).

[4] Paul knows that he is criticised for being bold and direct in his writings but treated as weak and unassertive when he is present: he has made the same point in verse 1, Biblical commentator Edward Plumptre notes also the criticism that Paul's delay in returning to Corinth, which he has explained in 2 Corinthians 2:15–17, was also considered to be "a proof that he was shirking [an] encounter".

[6] Believers should not glories in oneself, nor in outward circumstances of life, or inward endowments of mind, but in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the author and donor of all gifts, natural and spiritual.