Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Corinthians 7:9

"I now rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly sort, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing." — 2 Corinthians 7:9 (ASV)

Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, etc. I have no pleasure in giving pain to anyone, or in witnessing the distress of any. When men are brought to repentance under the preaching of the gospel, the ministers of the gospel do not find pleasure in their grief as such. They are not desirous of making men unhappy by calling them to repentance, and they have no pleasure in the deep distress of mind which is often produced by their preaching, in itself considered. It is only because such sorrow is an indication of their return to God, and will be followed by happiness and by the fruits of good living, that they find any pleasure in it, or that they seek to produce it.

But that you sorrowed to repentance: It was not mere grief; it was not sorrow producing melancholy, gloom, or despair; it was not sorrow that led you to be angry at the one who had reproved you for your errors—as is sometimes the case with the sorrow produced by reproof—but it was sorrow that led to a change and reformation.

It was sorrow that was followed by putting away the evil for which there was reason to reprove you. The word here rendered "repentance" (metanoian) is a different word from that which, in 2 Corinthians 7:8, is rendered "I did repent," and indicates a different state of mind.

This word properly means a change of mind or purpose . It denotes a change for the better—a change of mind that is durable and productive in its consequences, a change that amounts to a permanent reformation. (See Campbell's Dissertations).

The sense here is that it produced a change, a reformation. It was sorrow for their sin that led them to reform and to put away the evils that had existed among them. It was this fact, and not that they had been made sorry, that led Paul to rejoice.

After a godly manner. The margin reads, "According to God." (See Barnes on 2 Corinthians 7:10).

That you might receive damage by us in nothing. The Greek word rendered "receive damage" (zhmiwyhte) properly means to bring loss upon anyone, or to receive loss or detriment. (See Barnes on 1 Corinthians 3:15).

. The meaning here seems to be: "So that on the whole, no real injury was done to you in any respect by me. You were indeed put to pain and grief by my reproof. You sorrowed. But on the whole, it has done you no injury. It has been a benefit to you."

If you had not reformed—if you had been pained without putting away the sins for which the reproof was administered, if it had been mere grief without any proper fruit—you might have said that you would have suffered a loss of happiness, or you might have given me occasion to inflict severer discipline.

But now you are gainers in happiness by all the sorrow that I have caused. Sinners are ultimately gainers in happiness by all the pain of repentance produced by the preaching of the gospel. No man suffers loss by being told of his faults if he repents; and men are under the highest obligations to those faithful ministers and other friends who tell them of their errors and who are the means of bringing them to true repentance.