_HAVING SHEWED THE REASON WHY HE CAME NOT TO THEM, HE REQUIRETH THEM TO FORGIVE AND TO COMFORT THAT EXCOMMUNICATED PERSON, EVEN AS HIMSELF ALSO, UPON HIS TRUE REPENTANCE, HAD FORGIVEN HIM: DECLARING WITHAL WHY HE DEPARTED FROM TROAS TO MACEDONIA, AND THE HAPPY SUCCESS WHICH GOD GAVE TO HIS PREACHING... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR—I WOULD NOT COME AGAIN, &C.— "I purposed in myself, it is true, to come to you again; but I resolved too that it should be without bringing sorrow with me." That this is the meaning of this verse, and not that he would not come to them in sorrow a second time, is past doubt, since he had never b... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IF I MAKE YOU SORRY, &C.— "For if I were to do any thing that would be a trouble to you, whom I so dearly love, nothing but a sense of duty, and hope of rectifying what was amiss among you, could ever reconcile me to it, much less give me any satisfaction in it: and which of you, in that case, c... [ Continue Reading ]
I WROTE THIS SAME UNTO YOU,— That _I wrote_ relates to the first epistle to the Corinthians is evident, because it is so used in the next and the ninth verse; and what he wrote in that epistle, which he calls αυτο τουτο, _this very thing,_ was, most probably, concerning the punishment of the fornica... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ANGUISH OF HEART— _Over-bearing anguish_ seems the import of the word συνοχη, which nearly resembles the verb συνεχει, ch. 2 Corinthians 5:14. See the place.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF ANY HAVE CAUSED GRIEF, &C.— St. Paul being satisfied with the Corinthians for their ready compliance with his orders in his former letter to punish the fornicator, intercedes to have him restored; and to that end speaks of him as a penitent in milder terms. St. Chrysostom, the Syriac, and Ara... [ Continue Reading ]
SUFFICIENT TO SUCH A MAN, &C.— "Sufficient to such a one, who has here been the aggressor, but is now a penitent, is this rebuke and censure, which he has already suffered by many, and, indeed, by the whole body of your society, which has shewn so wise and pious a readiness to pursue the directions... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN I COME TO TROAS— _When I came to Troas, and a door to the gospel of Christ was opened._ Knatchbull. How uneasy St. Paul was, and upon what account, see ch. 2 Corinthians 7:5. It was not barely for the absence of Titus, but for want of the news he was to bring with him, ch. 2 Corinthians 7:7. In... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH CAUSETH US TO TRIUMPH IN CHRIST,— That is, "In the success of my preaching in my journey to Macedonia, and also in my victory at the same time at Corinth, over the false Apostles, my opposers, who had raised a faction against me among you." Thus St. Paul represents himself as triumphing throug... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WE ARE UNTO GOD, &C.— _For, upon God's account,_ [_or, in order that God may be known_] _we communicate a savoury odour of Christ, to them who are saved, and to them who are not,_ 2 Corinthians 2:16. _To the one we are the savour of death, so as to prove mortal to them; and to the others the sav... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH CORRUPT THE WORD OF GOD:— Καπηλευοντες, _adulterating,_ is an expressive phrase, alluding to the practice of those who deal in liquors, which they debase for their own greater gain; and it insinuates, in strong terms, the mean temper and conduct of their false teachers. _INFERENCES.—_What a te... [ Continue Reading ]