2 Coríntios 2:3

3 E escrevi isto mesmo, para que, chegando, eu não tenha tristeza da parte dos que deveriam alegrar-me; confiando em vós todos, que a minha alegria é a de todos vós.

2 Coríntios 2:3 Meaning and Commentary

2 Corinthians 2:3

And I wrote this same unto you
Not what he had written in the preceding verse, or in ( 2 Corinthians 1:23 ) , where he says, that his not coming to them as yet was to spare them; but what he had written to them in his former epistle, concerning the excommunication of the incestuous man, which had so much grieved both him and them; and this the apostle chose rather to order by writing, than in person; hoping to hear of their repentance and amendment, before he came among them:

lest,
says he,

when I came,
or should come,

I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice;
some copies and the Complutensian edition read, "sorrow upon sorrow"; and so does the Vulgate Latin version, which seems to be transcribed from ( Philippians 2:27 ) , that is, he took this method of sending a reproving letter, in order to bring them to a sense and acknowledgment of sin; lest should he come in person, some would have been a grief and trouble to him, having fallen into sin not repented of; who ought to have been matter of rejoicing to him, as being the seals of his apostleship, and his work in the Lord: and this step he was the more encouraged to take, through the confidence he had of them,

having confidence in you all;
being fully persuaded of their affection for him, and opinion of him:

that my joy is the joy of you all;
that their joy and grief were mutual and common; that what he rejoiced in, they did likewise; and what was displeasing to him was displeasing to them; and therefore upon the first hint given, he took care to remove the occasion of such displeasure, that their mutual comfort might take place; assuring them, and of which they might be assured, that it was no joy to him to grieve them; he could have none when theirs was gone; his ultimate view in writing to them in the manner he had, was not to grieve, but to bring them to repentance and reformation, which issued in the mutual joy of him and them.

2 Coríntios 2:3 In-Context

1 Mas deliberei isto comigo mesmo: não ir mais ter convosco em tristeza.

2 Porque, se eu vos entristeço, quem é, pois, o que me alegra, senão aquele que por mim é entristecido?

3 E escrevi isto mesmo, para que, chegando, eu não tenha tristeza da parte dos que deveriam alegrar-me; confiando em vós todos, que a minha alegria é a de todos vós.

4 Porque em muita tribulação e angústia de coração vos escrevi, com muitas lágrimas, não para que vos entristecêsseis, mas para que conhecêsseis o amor que abundantemente vos tenho.

5 Ora, se alguém tem causado tristeza, não me tem contristado a mim, mas em parte (para não ser por demais severo) a todos vós.