2 Corinthians 7:8

8 For if indeed I grieved you by my letter, I do not regret [it]. Even if I did regret [it] (I see that that letter grieved you, even though for {a short time}),

2 Corinthians 7:8 Meaning and Commentary

2 Corinthians 7:8

For though I made you sorry with a letter
His former epistle, relating to the incestuous person:

I do not repent, though I did repent;
not of writing the letter, which was wrote by divine inspiration; but of the sorrow occasioned by it, though now he did not repent of that:

for I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though it were
but for a season;
inasmuch as the sorrow was true, hearty, and genuine, though it was but for a time, the apostle was entirely satisfied, and the more pleased, because of its brevity, since it was sincere.

2 Corinthians 7:8 In-Context

6 But God, who comforts the humble, comforted us by the coming of Titus,

7 and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort [with] which he was comforted among you, [because he] reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.

8 For if indeed I grieved you by my letter, I do not regret [it]. Even if I did regret [it] (I see that that letter grieved you, even though for {a short time}),

9 now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance. For you were grieved according to [the will of] God, so that you suffered loss in no way through us.

10 For grief according to [the will of] God brings about a repentance [leading] to salvation, not to be regretted, but worldly grief brings about death.

Footnotes

• [a]. Some manuscripts have "for I see"
• [b]. Literally "an hour"