John Calvin 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 had come into Macedonia, the heaviness of his grief tends to show how effective the consolation was. "I was pressed on every side," he says, "by afflictions both internal and external. All this, however, has not prevented the joy that you have given me from prevailing over it, and even overflowing." When he says that he had no rest in his flesh, it is as if he had said, "As a man, I had no relief." For he excepts spiritual consolations, by which he was meanwhile sustained. He was afflicted, therefore, not merely in body, but also in mind, so that, as a man, he experienced nothing but great bitterness of afflictions.

Without were fightings: by fightings he means outward assaults with which his enemies troubled him. By fears he means the anxieties that he endured on account of the internal problems of the Church, for it was not so much by personal as by public evils that he was disturbed. What he means, then, to say is this: that there were not merely open enemies who were hostile to him, but that he endured, nevertheless, much distress because of internal evils.

For he saw how great was the infirmity of many, indeed of almost all, and meanwhile what, and how varied, were the schemes by which Satan attempted to throw everything into confusion—how few were wise, how few were sincere, how few were steadfast, and how many, on the other hand, were either mere pretenders, and worthless, or ambitious, or unruly.

Amid these difficulties, the servants of God must necessarily feel alarmed and be racked with anxieties, and all the more so because they are compelled to bear many things silently, so that they may preserve the peace of the Churches. Therefore, he aptly expressed himself when he said: Without were fightings; within were fears.

For faithful pastors openly oppose those enemies who openly attack Christ’s kingdom, but they are inwardly tormented and endure secret tortures when they see the Church afflicted with internal evils, to eliminate which they dare not openly speak out.

But although he had almost constant conflicts, it is probable that he was at that time more severely pressed than usual. The servants of Christ, undoubtedly, are rarely exempt from fears, and Paul was seldom free from outward fightings; but as he was at that time more violently oppressed, he uses the plural terms—fightings and fears—meaning that he had to fight in many ways and against various enemies, and that he had at the same time many kinds of fear.