2 Corinthians 7:12

12. The ἀλλʼ before οὐδέ (Bא3) is doubtful. ὑμῶν τὴν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν (BCD2KLP, d Syrr. Copt. Aeth.) rather than ὑμῶν τ. ὑπ. ὑμῶν (אDF) or ἡμῶν τ. ὑπ. ὑμῶν (some cursives, f Vulg. Goth.). Comp. 2 Corinthians 6:16; 2 Corinthians 8:8; 2 Corinthians 8:19 for similar confusion between ἡμεῖς and ὑμεῖς.

12. ἄρα εἰ καὶ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν. So then, although I did write to you, and did not let ‘the matter’ pass without notice. This is again a reference to the painful letter between our 1 and 2 Corinthians: see on 2 Corinthians 1:17 and 2 Corinthians 2:3.

τοῦ�. Not the incestuous person of 1 Corinthians 5:1; for in that case ὁ� would be the man’s father, and would have been alive when the son contracted the incestuous union. Theodoret tries to evade this difficulty by suggesting καὶ τεθνεὼς γὰρ ἠδίκητο, τῆς εὐνῆς ὑβρισθείσης. But the Apostle would not have written thus of a dead person. It is hardly credible that a member of the Corinthian Church had had his father’s wife while his father was still alive, and that the Corinthian Christians, so far from being distressed and feeling humiliated, were πεφυσιωμένοι (1 Corinthians 5:2), i.e. retained their usual self-complacency and spiritual pride. Moreover, the Apostle would hardly treat such a sin as being an injury inflicted on an individual. It was a scandal to the whole Church. Perhaps ὁ� is Timothy, who may have been grossly insulted by a leader of rebellion against S. Paul; or (more probably) it may be the Apostle himself. Then the meaning would be, ‘Still less (οὐδέ) was my letter prompted by personal resentment’; nor yet for his sake that suffered the wrong. If the ἀλλʼ before οὐδέ is genuine, this makes the second alternative still more improbable when compared with the first: ‘not on account of the injurer, but (I need hardly say) still less on account of the injured.’ See p. 44; also Findlay on ‘Paul the Apostle,’ and Lock on ‘Timothy,’ in Hastings’ DB. iii. p. 711, iv. p. 768.

ἀλλʼ ἕνεκεν τοῦ φανερωθῆναι τὴν σπουδὴν ὑμῶν τὴν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς. See critical note. But for the sake of your earnestness on our behalf being made manifest (2 Corinthians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 4:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11) unto you. The repetition of ἕνεκεν is worth preserving in translation, and ‘for the sake of’ suits all three clauses. The apparent difficulty of the Apostle’s wishing the Corinthians’ zeal for him to be made manifest to themselves probably caused the change of reading. But Calvin gives the right sense; vos ipsi nondum intelligebatis, quo essetis in me studio, donec in hac causa experti estis. This crisis revealed to themselves their own fundamental loyalty to him. Moreover, πρὸς ὑμᾶς might mean ‘among you’ or ‘with you’ (1 Thessalonians 3:4).

ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ. The letter was written, not only with a high aim, but with a ‘full sense of responsibility. The R.V. rightly keeps the clause at the end of the sentence, when it comes with solemn emphasis, as in 2 Corinthians 4:2 and Romans 14:22. The clause must be taken with ἔγραψα, not with φανερωθῆναι.