<p>11:29- see on 1 Cor. 8:9.</p><p><em>Who is weak, without me being weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?</em>- The word he uses for &ldquo;weak&quot; is one which features frequently in his writings, and it nearly always refers to the spiritually weak (Rom. 4:19; 14:1,2,21; 1 Cor. 8:9,11,12). He was so sensitive to his brethren that when he considered their spiritual weakness, he felt the same. He identified with them, he could put his arm around someone who was all slipping way and say &ldquo;I&rsquo;m with you&quot; and so evidently mean it. He had a genuine and obvious sense of solidarity with them. He wasn&rsquo;t critical of them to the extent that he made a barrier between him and them. They knew his disapproval of their ways, but yet it was so evident that his heart bled for them. And when Paul saw a brother being offended, he burnt. His heart burnt and bled as he saw someone drifting away with a chip on their shoulder. He didn&rsquo;t just shrug and think 'Well that&rsquo;s up to them, their choice'. He cared for them. That brother, that sister, and their future meant so much to him. If Paul had lived in the 21st century, he would have telephoned them, written to them, visited them, met with them regularly. To be weak and to be offended are bracketed in Rom. 14:21: &quot;Your brother is offended, or is made weak&quot;. And here in 2 Cor. 11:29 we have the same idea: &quot;Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?&quot;. The parallels imply that if the weak brother was offended, Paul himself was as it were offended, even though he himself didn&rsquo;t stumble. He could identify with the spiritual weakness of others to the point of feeling that he himself had committed it or was in the shoes of the sinner- even though he himself was innocent. Paul could share with the Corinthians that he &lsquo;burnt&rsquo; every time a brother stumbled from the way, feeling weak with the weak. The 'burning' could be a reference to the figurative usage of fire as the end destruction of the condemned at the last day. Paul felt their condemnation as if it were happening to him. He did not shrug and turn away but rather felt their spiritual situation as being his, such was his identity with them. He was no mere platform speaker, or a church member only theoretically connected with their brethren by common ascent to a statement of faith.</p>