Persecuted - Often persecuted, persecuted in all places. The Book of Acts shows how true this was.

But not forsaken - Not deserted; nor left by God Though persecuted by people, yet they experi enced the fulfillment of the divine promise that he would never leave nor forsake them. God always interposed to aid them; always saved them from the power of their enemies; always sustained them in the time of persecution. It is still true. His people have been often persecuted. Yet God has often interposed to save them from the hands of their enemies; and where he has not saved them from their hands, and preserved their lives, yet he has never left them, but has sustained, upheld, and comforted them even in the dreadful agonies of death.

Cast down - Thrown down by our enemies, perhaps in allusion to the contests of wrestlers, or of gladiators.

But not destroyed - Not killed. They rose again; they recovered their strength; they were prepared for new conflicts. They surmounted every difficulty, and were ready to engage in new strifes, and to meet new trials and persecutions.

Persecuted, but not forsaken - Διωκομενοι, αλλ' ουκ εγκαταλειπομενοι. The διωκομενοι, pursued, is peculiar to the δρομος, or race, when one being foremost others pursue, and get up close after him, endeavoring to outstrip him, but cannot succeed: this is the meaning of ουκ εγκαταλειπομενοι, not outstripped, or outgone, as the word implies. So in Plutarch: τους απολειφθεντας ου στεφανουσι, they do not crown them that are distanced or left behind. So says the apostle, 1 Corinthians 9:24 : All run, but only One receiveth the Prize.

Cast down, but not destroyed - Καταβαλλομενοι αλλ' ουκ απολλυμενοι. This also belongs to wrestlers, where he that throws the other first is conqueror. And so Hesychius: καταβαλει, νικησει, ῥιψει, to cast down is to overcome, to throw. And then, the being not destroyed signifies that, although they were thrown down-cast into troubles and difficulties, yet they rose again, and surmounted them all.

Persecuted, but not forsaken,.... Pursued from place to place, and followed with menaces, curses, and reproaches; laid hold on, proscribed, imprisoned, and threatened with the severest tortures, and death itself; but our God never leaves us nor forsakes us; though we are followed close by evil men, and left by our friends, we are not forsaken of God:

cast down we sometimes are, as an earthen vessel; 2 Corinthians 4:7, which may be cast out of a man's hands, in order to be dashed to pieces; or as a man in wrestling, see Ephesians 6:12 may be thrown to the ground by his antagonist, so we are sometimes foiled by sin, Satan, and the world:

but not destroyed; we are still safe in the hands of Christ, and are kept by the power of God; and, indeed, to what else can all this be ascribed? it is surprising that earthen vessels should bear and suffer so much, and not fall, or be dashed to pieces.

Persecuted - forsaken (διωκόμενοι - ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι)

Rev., for persecuted, pursued, the primary meaning of the verb, thus giving vividness to the figure. Forsaken, lit., left behind in (some evil plight). The figure is, pursued by enemies, but not left to their power: left in the lurch.

Cast down - destroyed (καταβαλλόμενοι - ἀπολλύμενοι)

This carries on the previous figure. Though the pursuers overtake and smite down, yet are we not killed. Rev., smitten down. In all these paradoxes the A.V. fails to bring out the metaphors.

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

4:8,9 In these two verses are four pairs of contrasts which should the frailty of the instruments and the greatness of the power:

(1) Troubled on every side, yet not distressed. pressed on every side (Revised Version), but not hemmed in by the pressure.

(2) Perplexed, but not in despair. In apparently overwhelming difficulties, but never reduced to despair.

(3) Persecuted, but not forsaken. Persecuted by their enemies, but not forsaken and delivered over to them.

(4) Cast down, but not destroyed. Overthrown and cast to the earth, but even then rescued from the enemy, standing over them prostrate, so that they are not destroyed.

9. not forsaken-by God and man. Jesus was forsaken by both; so much do His sufferings exceed those of His people (Mt 27:46).

cast down-or "struck down"; not only "persecuted," that is, chased as a deer or bird (1Sa 26:20), but actually struck down as with a dart in the chase (Heb 11:35-38). The Greek "always" in this verse means, "throughout the whole time"; in 2Co 4:11 the Greek is different, and means, "at every time," "in every case when the occasion occurs."

4:8-12 The apostles were great sufferers, yet they met with wonderful support. Believers may be forsaken of their friends, as well as persecuted by enemies; but their God will never leave them nor forsake them. There may be fears within, as well as fightings without; yet we are not destroyed. The apostle speaks of their sufferings as a counterpart of the sufferings of Christ, that people might see the power of Christ's resurrection, and of grace in and from the living Jesus. In comparison with them, other Christians were, even at that time, in prosperous circumstances.