Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Corinthians 7:8

"For though I made you sorry with my epistle, I do not regret it: though I did regret [it] (for I see that that epistle made you sorry, though but for a season)," — 2 Corinthians 7:8 (ASV)

For though I made you sorry with a letter.—A better translation is For even if, and, since the Greek includes the article, with my letter.

Titus had told him this. Ordinarily, causing pain to others would have been a source of grief to him, but now he cannot bring himself to say, I regret. (This is perhaps better than repent. For more on these words, see notes on Matthew 21:29 and Matthew 27:3). He admits, however, that there had been a moment, either when he first heard of their grief or during his previous anxiety, when he had half regretted writing so strongly. Now he sees that that grief was only transient, and he trusts that the good produced by it will be lasting.