2 Corinthians 7:3
New International Version
I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you.

New Living Translation
I’m not saying this to condemn you. I said before that you are in our hearts, and we live or die together with you.

English Standard Version
I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

Berean Standard Bible
I do not say this to condemn you. I have said before that you so occupy our hearts that we live and die together with you.

Berean Literal Bible
I do not speak for condemnation; for I have before said that you are in our hearts for us to die together and to live together.

King James Bible
I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.

New King James Version
I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

New American Standard Bible
I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

NASB 1995
I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together.

NASB 1977
I do not speak to condemn you; for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together.

Legacy Standard Bible
I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together.

Amplified Bible
I do not say this to condemn you, for I have said before that you are [nested] in our hearts [and you will remain there] to die together and to live together [with us].

Christian Standard Bible
I don’t say this to condemn you, since I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I don’t say this to condemn you, for I have already said that you are in our hearts, to live together and to die together.

American Standard Version
I say it not to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die together and live together.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
It was not to condemn you that I spoke previously, for I said that you are in our heart to die and to live as one.

Contemporary English Version
I am not saying this to be hard on you. But, as I have said before, you will always be in our thoughts, whether we live or die.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I speak not this to your condemnation. For we have said before, that you are in our hearts, to die together, and to live together.

English Revised Version
I say it not to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die together and live together.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I'm not saying this to condemn you. I've already told you that you are in our hearts so that we will live and die together.

Good News Translation
I do not say this to condemn you; for, as I have said before, you are so dear to us that we are always together, whether we live or die.

International Standard Version
I am not saying this to condemn you. I told you before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together.

Literal Standard Version
I do not say [it] to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together;

Majority Standard Bible
I do not say this to condemn you. I have said before that you so occupy our hearts that we live and die together with you.

New American Bible
I do not say this in condemnation, for I have already said that you are in our hearts, that we may die together and live together.

NET Bible
I do not say this to condemn you, for I told you before that you are in our hearts so that we die together and live together with you.

New Revised Standard Version
I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.

New Heart English Bible
I say this not to condemn you, for I have said before, that you are in our hearts to die together and live together.

Webster's Bible Translation
I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.

Weymouth New Testament
I do not say this to imply blame, for, as I have already said, you have such a place in our hearts that we would die with you or live with you.

World English Bible
I say this not to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and live together.

Young's Literal Translation
not to condemn you do I say it, for I have said before that in our hearts ye are to die with and to live with;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Paul's Joy in the Corinthians
2Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you. I have said before that you so occupy our hearts that we live and die together with you. 4Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows.…

Cross References
2 Corinthians 6:11
We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians. Our hearts are open wide.

Philippians 1:7
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me.


Treasury of Scripture

I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that you are in our hearts to die and live with you.

to condemn.

2 Corinthians 7:12
Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.

2 Corinthians 2:4,5
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you…

2 Corinthians 13:10
Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.

for.

2 Corinthians 6:11,12
O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged…

ye.

2 Corinthians 3:2
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:

2 Corinthians 11:11
Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth.

2 Corinthians 12:15
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

to die.

Ruth 1:16,17
And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: …

1 Thessalonians 2:8
So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

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2 Corinthians 7
1. He proceeds in exhorting them to purity of life;
2. and to bear him like affection as he does to them.
3. Whereof lest he might seem to doubt, he declares what comfort he took in his afflictions
6. by the report which Titus gave of their godly sorrow,
8. which his former epistle had wrought in them;
13. and of their loving-kindness and obedience toward Titus, answerable to his former boastings of them.














(3) I speak not this to condemn you.--Better, I do not speak as condemning. There is no "you" in the Greek, and the form of expression seems intentionally vague, as leaving it an open question whether his words might refer to his readers or to others. We trace here a sudden revulsion of feeling. What he had just said seemed to imply that he condemned them for even listening to the calumnies which had been circulated against him, for joining in any measure even of outward friendship with men of evil lives; and then there rushes on his memory the recollection of all the good news which Titus had brought. Indignation and jealous sensitiveness are swallowed up in the overflowing thankfulness to which those tidings had given birth at the time, and which were now renewed.

I have said before . . .--He had not used the form of expression before, as far as this letter is concerned, but the fact was implied in what he had said in 2Corinthians 6:11 : "Our heart is enlarged." The words that follow are partly an almost proverbial expression for strong attachment, as in Horace (Odes, iii. 9): "Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens"--

"With thee I fain would live,

With thee I fain would die;"

partly with a profounder meaning, that, whether in death or life (the order of the words throws us back on "dying, but behold, we live," in 2Corinthians 6:9), his heart and prayers would be with them and for them.

Verse 3. - I speak not this to condemn you. "Not by way of condemnation am I speaking." My object is to maintain the old love between us; what I say, therefore, is merely to defend myself, not to complain of you (comp. 1 Corinthians 4:14). I have said before. He has not said it in so many words, but has implied it in 2 Corinthians 3:2, 3; 2 Corinthians 6:11-14. Ye are in our hearts. So he says to his beloved Philippians, "I have you in my heart" (Philippians 1:7). To die and live with you. Similarly he tells the Thessalonians that he was ready to give them even his own life (1 Thessalonians 2:8). This is no mere conventional expression of deep affection, like Horace's, "Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens;" nor is it the description of some compact for life and death like that of the Theban Band. It has the deeper meaning which was involved by the words "life" and "death" on the lips of a Christian (2 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 6:9). And one whose life was, for Christ's sake, a daily death, naturally mentions death first.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
I do not say this
λέγω (legō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

to
πρὸς (pros)
Preposition
Strong's 4314: To, towards, with. A strengthened form of pro; a preposition of direction; forward to, i.e. Toward.

condemn [you].
κατάκρισιν (katakrisin)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2633: Condemnation, censure. From katakrino; sentencing adversely.

I have said before
προείρηκα (proeirēka)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 4302: To tell (say) beforehand, forewarn, declare, tell plainly. From pro and lego; to say beforehand, i.e. Predict, forewarn.

that
ὅτι (hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754: Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

you {so} occupy
ἐστε (este)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

our
ἡμῶν (hēmōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.

hearts
καρδίαις (kardiais)
Noun - Dative Feminine Plural
Strong's 2588: Prolonged from a primary kar; the heart, i.e. the thoughts or feelings; also the middle.

that
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

we live
συζῆν (syzēn)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 4800: To live together with. From sun and zao; to continue to live in common with, i.e. Co-survive.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

die together [with you].
συναποθανεῖν (synapothanein)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 4880: To die together with. From sun and apothnesko; to decease in company with, or, similarly to.


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NT Letters: 2 Corinthians 7:3 I say this not to condemn you (2 Cor. 2C iiC 2Cor ii cor iicor)
2 Corinthians 7:2
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