Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Corinthians 2:4

"For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be made sorry, but that ye might know the love that I have more abundantly unto you." — 2 Corinthians 2:4 (ASV)

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.