Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Corinthians 2

But I determined this with myself.—Better, I determined for myself. The chapter division is here obviously wrong, and interrupts the sequence of thought. St. Paul continues his explanation. He did not wish to come again, that is, to make his second visit to Corinth, in grief, and if he had carried out his first plan, that would have been the almost inevitable result. He consulted his own feelings (“for myself”) as well as theirs.

Who is he then that maketh me glad?—The force of the “for,” with which the verse opens, lies below the surface. He had wished to avoid a visit that would cause sorrow to himself and others, and events had shown that he was right. But it might be said, perhaps had been said, that he didn’t seem to care about giving pain when he wrote, as, e.g., in 1 Corinthians 4:18; 1 Corinthians 5:2–7; 1 Corinthians 6:5–8. “Yes,” is his answer. “But then the pain which I inflict” (the pronoun is emphatic) “gives to him who suffers it the power of giving me joy, and so works out an ample compensation”—a thought to which he returns in 2 Corinthians 7:8.

The abruptness of the question and the use of the singular number show that he has the one great offender, the incestuous adulterer of 1 Corinthians 5:1, before his mind’s eye. He sees him, as it were, and can point to him as showing how well the course he had taken had worked.

And I wrote this same unto you.—Here, again, we have to read between the lines. The pronoun, which does not refer to anything that has been actually said, shows with what definiteness certain passages in his first letter were stamped upon his memory. The question might be asked, “Why had he written so sharply?” And he makes answer to himself that the result had been what he had intended: that his motive in so writing as to give pain had been to avoid giving and receiving pain when he came in person. He wanted his visit to be one of unmixed joy for himself, and if so, given their mutual sympathy, it could not fail to give his disciples joy also.

Out of much affliction and anguish.—Some might think that it cost him little to write sharp words like those he has in mind. He remembers well what he felt as he dictated them—the intensity of his feelings, pain that such words should be needed, anxiety about their outcome, the very tears that then, as at other times (Acts 20:19; Acts 20:31; 2 Timothy 1:4), were the outflow of strong emotion.

Those who were indignant at his stern words should remember, or at least learn to believe this, and so see in them the strongest proof of his abounding love for them. The heart of St. Paul was in this matter as the heart of Him who said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Revelation 3:19). The motive in such a case is not to give pain, but to lead those whom we reprove to feel how much we love them.

Regarding the word “anguish,” see the note on Luke 21:25. Given that it is used only by St. Luke and St. Paul in the New Testament, we may, perhaps, see in it another example of medical terminology. The anguish was like that of a tight pressure or constriction of the heart.

But if any have caused grief.—The man who had been the chief cause of his sorrow is now prominent in his thoughts. He will not name him. He is, as in 1 Corinthians 5:1–5, and here in 2 Corinthians 2:7, “a man,” “such a one.” The abrupt introduction of the qualifying clause, “but in part,” and the absence of any authoritative punctuation, makes the construction ambiguous.

It admits of three possible explanations:

1. “If any have caused grief, it is not I alone whom he has grieved, but in part, to some extent—not to press the charge against him too heavily—all of you.” They, the members of the Corinthian Church, were really the greatest sufferers from the scandal which brought shame upon it.
2. “If any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, save in part” (i.e., he is not the only offender), “that I may not press the charge against all of you—so that I may not treat you as if you were all open to the same condemnation, or had all caused the same sorrow.”
3. Combining parts of (1) and (2): “It is not I whom he has grieved, save in part, that I may not lay the blame on all of you.”

Of these, explanation (1) seems the simplest and most natural.

In any case, it is important to remember that the position of the pronoun in the Greek, “me he hath not grieved,” makes it specially emphatic.