2 Coríntios 2
Theophylact of Ohrid
2 Coríntios 2:1
The word "again" shows that he had been grieved before as well. However, he did not say openly: "you also grieved me before," but in another way: "I did not come so as not to grieve you again," which, nevertheless, has one and the same force (for he grieved them with reproaches because they had grieved him with their sins), but for them it was more bearable. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:2
Although I grieve you, he says, with reproaches and indignation toward you, yet because of this very thing I also rejoice, seeing that you respect me to such a degree that my indignation and reproaches produce sorrow in you. For no one gladdens me so much as the one who grieves in this way at the sight of my indignation. This shows that he does not despise me. He gladdens me, because in this way he gives hope of his own correction. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:3
What? That I did not come to you, sparing you. Where did he write? In this very epistle. For this reason I wrote to you now, so that you would correct yourselves, and so that, finding you uncorrected, I would not have sorrow from you, from whom it was fitting to provide me occasions for joy. I wrote, he says, hoping that you would correct yourselves, and thereby gladden me. And my joy is joy for all of you. And I said "so that, when I come, I might not have sorrow" because I have in mind not my own benefit, but yours. For I know that if you see me rejoicing, you will rejoice, and if you see me grieving, you will grieve. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:4
Since he said above that he rejoices when they grieve, lest they say: you endeavor to sadden us so that you yourself may rejoice, he explains that he himself grieves greatly, grieves more than the sinners themselves. Not from sorrow only, but "from great sorrow," and not with tears only, but "with many tears" I wrote. That is, grief, compressing and constricting my heart, was crushing it, and therefore I wrote like a father and at the same time a physician who, performing incisions and cauterizations on his son, grieves doubly—both because the son is sick and because he himself must subject him to the incision—but, on the other hand, also rejoices because he hopes for the son's recovery. So, he says, I too, in grieving you who are sinning, sorrow, but on the other hand also rejoice when you grieve, for I have hope in your correction. Not "to grieve you" should he have said, but "to correct you"; however, he does not say this, but sweetens his speech, wishing to attract them with the assurance that he loves them more than his other disciples, and that if he grieves them, he grieves them out of love, not out of anger. For it is a sign of the greatest love that I grieve over your transgressions and hasten to rebuke you and thereby grieve you. If I did not love you, I would have left you without healing. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:5
He wishes through this to confirm love toward the one who had fallen into fornication, about whom he wrote in the first epistle, for at Paul's command they had all turned away from him as one who inspired loathing. And so, lest by again commanding the opposite—that is, to receive him and show him affection—they should take offense at Paul as being inconstant, he very prudently presents the matter and makes them also participants in the forgiveness, saying: as he grieved all of us in common, so all in common ought to rejoice at his forgiveness. For he grieved not me alone, he says, but also all of you "in part," that is, he struck you with some small measure of sorrow; I would not say that he grieved you completely, as he did me, but still, so as not to burden him who had fallen into fornication, "in part," I say, he grieved you. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:6
He does not say: for the one who fell into fornication, but "for such a one," as also in the first epistle. But there he did not even wish to name him, while here, sparing him, he never recalls the sin, teaching us also to show compassion toward those who have stumbled. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:7
Not only, he says, remove the prohibition, but also grant him something more, and comfort him, that is, restore him, heal him, just as one who has punished someone would not only release him but would also apply care to the healing of his wounds. And he said well: "you would do better to forgive." For, lest he think that he receives forgiveness as one who has sufficiently confessed and repented enough, he shows that he receives forgiveness not so much for his repentance as by their indulgence. It is necessary, he says, to receive him, comfort him, and heal him, "lest he be swallowed up," as if by some beast, or by waves, or by a storm, or lest from despair he resort to suicide, like Judas, or lest he become even worse, that is, not being able to endure the sorrow from excessive punishment, he give himself over to greater impiety. Notice how he also restrains him, so that having received forgiveness, he does not become even more negligent. I accepted you, he says, not because you have been completely cleansed of defilement, but out of fear that in your weakness you might do something worse. Notice also that punishments should be assigned not only according to the nature of the sins, but also in accordance with the disposition of those who have sinned. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:8
He no longer commands as a teacher, but as an advocate asks the judges "to show him love," that is, to receive him with firm love, and not simply and casually. He also shows their virtue, for those very people who previously loved the man so much that they boasted of him, now because of his sin conceived such an aversion to him that Paul himself intercedes on his behalf. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:9
He frightens them so that, fearing condemnation for disobedience, they would more willingly show leniency to the man. "I wrote for this reason," he says, "to test by experience" your virtue of obedience — whether you will show me the same obedience now, when he ought to be comforted, as you showed then, when I punished him. For this is the meaning of the words: "whether you are obedient in all things." Although he wrote not for this reason, but with the salvation of the sinner in mind, he nevertheless says "for this reason," in order to dispose them all the more in favor of the guilty one. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:10
By this he softens the disagreement and stubbornness by which they might not have shown the man leniency. For here he presents them as the source of his forgiveness, and himself as agreeing with them, saying: "whom you forgive anything, him I forgive also." Lest they should think that forgiveness was granted at their discretion, and consequently neglect the forgiveness of the man, he shows that he has already granted him this, so that they could not oppose him. And lest they should be offended, as though being disregarded, he says: "for your sakes" I granted him forgiveness, for I knew that you would agree with me. Then, lest it should seem that he forgave him for the sake of men, he added: "in the person of Christ," that is, he forgave by the will of God, before the face of Christ and as if by His command, as one representing His person, or: to the glory of Christ; for if forgiveness is accomplished to the glory of Christ, how can one not forgive the one who has sinned, so that Christ may be glorified? — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:11
Lest, he says, there be common harm and lest the number of Christ's flock be diminished. He beautifully called this matter an injury. For the devil not only takes what belongs to him, but also seizes what is ours, chiefly as a result of our own conduct, that is, on account of immoderately imposed repentance. Therefore he called the craftiness and deceit of the devil his devices, and mentioned how he destroys under the guise of piety; for he casts into perdition not only by drawing into fornication, but also by excessive grief. How is this not an injury, when he catches us through ourselves? — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:12-13
Above he mentioned the affliction that befell him in Asia and showed how he was delivered from it; now again he reports that he was grieved by another thing as well, namely that he did not find Titus. For when there is no comforter, things become harder. So why do you accuse me of delay, when I was enduring so many hardships that do not allow us to go where we wish? He says that he went to Troas not without purpose, but "for the gospel," that is, in order to preach. Why then did you preach, but not for long? — Because he did not find Titus. "I had no rest in my spirit," that is, he was grieved, distressed on account of his absence. Did you therefore abandon the work of God? Not for that reason, but because due to his absence the work of preaching met with hindrance, for Paul greatly desired to preach, but the absence of Titus, who helped him greatly when he was with him, was an obstacle. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:13
That is, he was not there for a long time due to difficult circumstances. For although a great door was opened, that is, there was much work to do, yet for lack of a helper it met with hindrance. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:14
Since he mentioned many afflictions—the affliction in Asia, the affliction in Troas, the affliction from not having come to them—lest it seem that he enumerates afflictions with sorrow, he says: "Thanks be to God, who always causes us to triumph," that is, who makes us glorious. For a triumph is the procession of a king or commander through a city with victory and trophies. And God makes us glorious in victory over the devil. Because what seems to be dishonor constitutes our glory, for then the devil falls. All of this, however, takes place in Christ, that is, through Christ and through preaching. Or: for the fact that we triumph in Christ, we are glorified; for bearing Christ Himself, as a kind of trophy, we are glorified by His radiance. The precious ointment, he says, is the knowledge of God, which we reveal to all people, or rather – not the ointment itself, but its fragrance. For the present knowledge is not entirely clear, but "as through a glass, darkly" (1 Cor. 13:12). Thus, just as someone smelling the fragrance knows that somewhere there is ointment, but what it is in its essence he does not know, so also we know that God exists, but Who He is in His essence we do not know. Thus, we are like a royal censer, and wherever we come, we bring the fragrance of spiritual ointment, that is, the knowledge of God. Therefore, having said above that we always triumph, he now says: in every place we impart fragrance to people. For every place and time is filled with our teachings. Thus, one must endure courageously, since even now, before receiving the good things to come, we are glorified to such a degree. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:15
He says this both because we offer ourselves as a sacrifice, dying for Christ, and because at the slaying of Christ we too send up a certain fragrance. The meaning of his words is as follows: whether someone is saved or perishes, the Gospel preserves its dignity and we continue to be what we are. Just as light, though it blinds those with weak sight, nevertheless remains light, or as honey, though it may seem bitter to those suffering from jaundice, nevertheless does not cease to be sweet, so too the Gospel emits fragrance, even though unbelievers perish. And we are "the fragrance of Christ," but not simply so, but "to God." And if God has determined this concerning us, who will contradict? — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:16
Since he said: "we are a fragrance even among those who are perishing," lest you think that those who perish are also pleasing and acceptable to God, he added the following: smelling this fragrance, some are saved, while others perish. Just as myrrh, they say, suffocates swine and beetles, so too Christ was set as a stone of stumbling and offense. Likewise, fire purifies gold but burns up thorns. Since he said so much with the words "we are a fragrance," and "we triumph," he again tries to temper his speech. For this reason he says that we by ourselves without God's help are insufficient; for everything belongs to Him and there is nothing of our own. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians
2 Coríntios 2:17
Here he points to the false apostles, who regarded the grace of God as their own work. Therefore, he says, I said: "who is sufficient?" – and ascribed everything to God, that I am not like the false apostles, I do not corrupt or distort the gift of God. He hints that they mix the contrivances of worldly wisdom into the evangelical teaching and try to sell for money what should be given freely. But we are not like that. Therefore he adds the following. That is, we speak from a pure mind incapable of deceit, and as having received what we say from God, not as something accomplished by us. "In Christ" – not from our own wisdom, but inspired by His power; and he said "before God" to show the uprightness and openness of heart: our heart is so pure that we lay it open before God. — Commentary on 2 Corinthians