John Calvin Commentary 2 Corinthians 1:6

"But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:" — 2 Corinthians 1:6 (ASV)

Whether we are afflicted. From the fact that before the clause our hope of you is steadfast, the connecting particle and is introduced, Erasmus has formed the idea that some word must be understood to correspond with those words—for your consolation and salvation—in this way: whether we are afflicted, IT IS for your consolation. I think it, however, more probable that the connecting particle and is used here as meaning: Thus also, or in both cases. He had already stated that he received consolation so that he might communicate it to others.

Now he goes a step farther and says that he has a steadfast hope that they would be partakers of the consolation. Besides, some of the most ancient Greek manuscripts introduce this statement immediately after the first clause—and our hope of you is steadfast. This reading removes all ambiguity.

For when it is introduced in the middle, we must necessarily refer it to the latter clause, equally as to the former. At the same time, if anyone wishes to have a complete sentence in each clause by supplying some verb, there will be no great harm in this, and there will be no great difference as to the meaning. For if you read it as one continued statement, you must, at the same time, explain the different parts in this manner—that the Apostle is afflicted and is refreshed with consolation for the advantage of the Corinthians, and that he entertains, therefore, the hope that they will eventually be partakers of the same consolation that is in reserve for him. For my own part, I have adopted the way that I have judged more suitable.

It is, however, to be observed that the word afflicted here refers not merely to outward misery, but also to that of the mind, so as to correspond with the opposite term comforted (παρακαλεῖσθαι). Thus the meaning is that the person’s mind is pressed down with anxiety from a feeling of misery.

What we translate as consolation is in the Greek παράκλησις—a term that also signifies exhortation. If, however, you understand that kind of consolation by which a person’s mind is lightened of grief and raised above it, you will grasp Paul’s meaning.

For example, Paul himself would almost have fallen down dead under the pressure of so many afflictions if God had not encouraged him by raising him up through His consolation. Similarly, the Corinthians derive strength and fortitude of mind from his sufferings, while they take comfort from his example.

Let us now sum up the whole matter briefly. As he saw that some made his afflictions an occasion for holding him in contempt, intending to call the Corinthians back from an error of this nature, he first shows that he ought to be highly esteemed among them because of the advantage they gain. Then, afterwards, he associates them with himself, so that they might consider his afflictions as, in a way, their own.

“Whether I suffer afflictions or experience consolation, it is all for your benefit, and I cherish an assured hope that you will continue to enjoy this advantage.”

For Paul’s afflictions, and his consolations also, were such that they would have contributed to the edification of the Corinthians, had the Corinthians not, of their own accord, deprived themselves of the advantage resulting from it. Accordingly, he declares his confidence in the Corinthians to be such that he entertains the assured hope that his having been afflicted and having received consolation for their advantage will not be in vain.

The false apostles made every effort to turn everything that befell Paul into a reproach against him. Had they obtained their wish, the afflictions he endured for their salvation would have been vain and fruitless; they would have derived no advantage from the consolations with which the Lord refreshed him.

To such contrivances he opposes his present confidence. His afflictions tended to promote the comfort of believers, as they provided an occasion for confirmation when believers perceived that he suffered willingly and endured with fortitude so many hardships for the sake of the gospel.

For although we may acknowledge that we ought to endure afflictions for the sake of the gospel, we nevertheless tremble because we are conscious of our weakness and think ourselves unprepared for it. In that case, we should recall the examples of the saints, which should make us more courageous.

On the other hand, his personal consolation flowed out to the whole Church, since they concluded that God, who had sustained and refreshed him in his distress, would similarly not fail them. Thus their welfare was promoted in both ways, and this is what he introduces, as it were, parenthetically when he says—which is made effectual in the endurance, etc.

For he wished to add this clause as an explanation, so that they might not think that they had nothing to do with the afflictions which he alone endured.

Erasmus takes the participle γουμένης in an active sense, but a passive meaning is more suitable, as Paul simply intended to explain how everything that befell him was for their salvation. Accordingly, he says that he suffers, indeed, alone, but that his sufferings serve to promote their salvation—not as though they were expiations or sacrifices for sins, but as edifying them by confirming them. Hence he connects consolation and salvation to point out the way in which their salvation was to be accomplished.