Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Corinthians 7:5

"For even when we were come into Macedonia our flesh had no relief, but [we were] afflicted on every side; without [were] fightings, within [were] fears." — 2 Corinthians 7:5 (ASV)

For, when we were come into Macedonia . . .—His feeling has led him back to the narrative from which he had digressed in 2 Corinthians 2:13. He had come from Troas full of anxiety and agitation. He arrived in Macedonia. Much remained the same. His body was still suffering from lack of rest, even though his spirit had found relief in the thought that the coming of Titus could not now be far off. (Compare “our flesh” here, with “I had no rest for my spirit” in 2 Corinthians 2:13.)

Without were fightings, within were fears.—We have no knowledge to what the first clause refers. It is natural to think either of dangers and persecutions from pagans, or, probably, of conflicts with the party of the circumcision, or, as he calls them in Philippians 3:2, of “the concision,” at Philippi. The “fears” clearly refer to his alarm and anxiety about the effect produced by his first Epistle.