2 Corinthians 12:14

ἰδοὺ τρίτον τοῦτο κ. τ. λ.: behold this is the third time that I am ready to come to you. While these words only express that he had been ready to go twice before, they are quite consistent with the hypothesis, required by 2 Corinthians 13:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 2:1 (see Introd., p. 5), that he had actually paid two previous visits to Corinth, the first of which is described in Acts 18. That we have no details of the second is no argument against its having taken place. καὶ οὐ καταναρκ. κ. τ. λ.: and I will not be a burden to you, following in this my practice on the two former occasions; for I seek not yours but you; for the children are not bound to lay up for the parents, in which relation he stands to them (1 Corinthians 4:14 f., cf. Galatians 4:19), but the parents for the children (cf. Proverbs 19:14). See on 2 Corinthians 11:12 for St. Paul's principles of action in this matter.