2 Corinthians 7:9

9 nunc gaudeo non quia contristati estis sed quia contristati estis ad paenitentiam contristati enim estis secundum Deum ut in nullo detrimentum patiamini ex nobis

2 Corinthians 7:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Corinthians 7:9

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry
Their grief and sorrow, as a natural passion, was no matter or cause of joy to him; nor was this what he sought after, being what he could take no real pleasure in; for so far as that was a pain to them, it was a pain to him:

but that ye sorrowed to repentance;
their sorrow issued in true evangelical repentance, and this was the ground of his rejoicing; for as there is joy in heaven among the angels, at the repentance of a sinner, so there is joy in the church below, among the saints and ministers of the Gospel, when either sinners are brought in, or backsliders returned by repentance:

for ye were made sorry after a godly sort;
what gave him so much joy and satisfaction was, that their sorrow was of the right sort; it was a godly sorrow, they sorrowed after; or according to God, according to the will of God, and for sin, as it was committed against him; it was a sorrow that God wrought in them:

that ye might receive damage by us in nothing;
what added to his pleasure was, that his writing to them, and the effect it produced, had not been in the least detrimental to them; things had worked so kindly, and this sorrow had wrought in such a manner, that they were not hurt in their souls, but profited; nor in their church state, they had not lost one member by it; nay, the offender himself, which was the occasion of all this trouble, was recovered and restored by these means.

2 Corinthians 7:9 In-Context

7 non solum autem in adventu eius sed etiam in solacio quo consolatus est in vobis referens nobis vestrum desiderium vestrum fletum vestram aemulationem pro me ita ut magis gauderem

8 quoniam et si contristavi vos in epistula non me paenitet et si paeniteret videns quod epistula illa et si ad horam vos contristavit

9 nunc gaudeo non quia contristati estis sed quia contristati estis ad paenitentiam contristati enim estis secundum Deum ut in nullo detrimentum patiamini ex nobis

10 quae enim secundum Deum tristitia est paenitentiam in salutem stabilem operatur saeculi autem tristitia mortem operatur

11 ecce enim hoc ipsum secundum Deum contristari vos quantam in vobis operatur sollicitudinem sed defensionem sed indignationem sed timorem sed desiderium sed aemulationem sed vindictam in omnibus exhibuistis vos incontaminatos esse negotio