Ivar Vegge shows that the ancient Mediterranean world was especially sensitive to idealized praise and blame or threats as hortative means. This is reflected in the pedagogy of the moral philosophers (psychagogy) and in the letter-writing tradition (epistolography), and to some extent also in the rhetorical tradition. Paul utilizes this method in 2 Corinthians. Developing a suggestion by R. Bieringer, the author starts by arguing that 2 Cor 7:5-16 is a highly idealized description of reconciliation (i.e. praise) where the aim is to exhort to full reconciliation. He then interprets a number of...