◄ 2 Corinthians 2:3 ►
I wrote as I did so that on my arrival I would not be saddened by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would share my joy.
Study Bible
I wrote as I did
This phrase reflects the Apostle Paul's intentionality in his previous correspondence. The Greek verb "ἔγραψα" (egrapsa) indicates a past action with a purpose. Paul’s letters were not merely casual notes but were crafted with the spiritual well-being of the Corinthian church in mind. His writing was a means of addressing issues directly, with the hope of fostering repentance and growth. Historically, letters in the ancient world were a primary means of communication, especially for leaders like Paul who were often on missionary journeys.

so that when I came
Paul’s anticipation of visiting the Corinthian church is evident here. The Greek phrase "ἵνα ἐλθὼν" (hina elthōn) suggests a purpose or result, indicating that his writing was meant to prepare the way for a more harmonious visit. In the context of the early church, apostolic visits were significant events, often involving teaching, correction, and encouragement. Paul’s desire was for his visit to be a time of mutual joy rather than conflict.

I would not be distressed
The word "distressed" translates from the Greek "λύπην" (lypēn), which conveys a sense of grief or sorrow. Paul’s pastoral heart is evident; he seeks to avoid unnecessary pain both for himself and for the church. This reflects the broader biblical principle of seeking peace and reconciliation within the body of Christ, as seen throughout the New Testament.

by those who ought to make me rejoice
Here, Paul expresses his expectation that the Corinthian believers, as his spiritual children, should be a source of joy. The Greek word "χαίρειν" (chairein) for "rejoice" is often used in the New Testament to describe the joy that comes from fellowship and unity in Christ. Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians was meant to be one of mutual encouragement, reflecting the ideal of Christian community.

I had confidence in all of you
Paul’s confidence, or "πεποίθησιν" (pepoithēsin), in the Corinthians is a testament to his faith in their ability to respond positively to his guidance. This confidence is not merely human optimism but is rooted in his trust in God’s work within them. Historically, this reflects the apostolic authority and the expectation that the church would adhere to the teachings and corrections given by their leaders.

that you would share my joy
The phrase "share my joy" underscores the communal aspect of Christian joy. The Greek "χαρᾶς" (charas) for "joy" is a recurring theme in Paul’s letters, often associated with the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. Paul envisions a church where joy is not only personal but shared among believers, reflecting the unity and love that should characterize the body of Christ. This communal joy is a powerful witness to the transformative power of the Gospel in the lives of believers.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul
- The apostle who authored the letter to the Corinthians, addressing issues within the church and expressing his pastoral care and concern.

2. Corinth
- A major city in ancient Greece where the church Paul is addressing is located. Known for its diverse culture and significant challenges to Christian living.

3. The Corinthian Church
- The recipients of Paul's letter, a community of believers facing internal conflicts and moral challenges.

4. Paul's Previous Visit
- An event where Paul had visited the Corinthian church, which had been marked by distress due to unresolved issues.

5. Paul's Letter
- The communication tool used by Paul to address the church's issues before his next visit, aiming to resolve conflicts and encourage joy.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Reconciliation
Paul emphasizes resolving conflicts before his visit to ensure a joyful reunion. Christians should prioritize reconciliation in their relationships to foster unity and joy.

Confidence in Fellow Believers
Paul expresses confidence in the Corinthians' ability to bring him joy. We should have faith in our fellow believers' capacity for growth and positive change.

The Role of Pastoral Care
Paul's approach demonstrates the importance of pastoral care in addressing issues within the church. Leaders should guide with love and seek to restore joy in their communities.

Joy as a Community Goal
The ultimate aim of Paul's letter is shared joy. Christians should strive to create environments where joy is a collective experience, rooted in unity and love.

Preparation for Difficult Conversations
Paul prepares the Corinthians for his visit by addressing issues beforehand. We should approach difficult conversations with preparation and a heart for resolution.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Paul's approach to addressing the Corinthians' issues before his visit reflect the importance of preparation in resolving conflicts?

2. In what ways can we, like Paul, express confidence in our fellow believers to encourage positive change and growth?

3. How can the concept of shared joy in a community be applied to modern church settings or small groups?

4. What steps can we take to ensure that our interactions with others are marked by a spirit of reconciliation and unity?

5. How does the role of pastoral care, as demonstrated by Paul, inform our understanding of leadership within the church today?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Corinthians 4:21
- Paul previously addressed the Corinthians with a choice between coming with a rod or in love and a spirit of gentleness, highlighting his desire for reconciliation and joy.

Philippians 2:2
- Paul speaks of making his joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, and being one in spirit and purpose, which parallels his desire for unity and joy in Corinth.

Hebrews 13:17
- This verse speaks about leaders watching over souls and the joy that comes from obedience, similar to Paul's relationship with the Corinthians.
Sermons
The Sorrow of Faithful LoveR. Tuck 2 Corinthians 2:1-4
Further Explanations and Directions Touching Matters Lust DiscussedC. Lipscomb 2 Corinthians 2:1-11
Sympathy in Grief and JoyJ.R. Thomson 2 Corinthians 2:3, 4
People
Corinthians, Paul, Titus
Places
Achaia, Corinth, Macedonia, Troas
Topics
Behoved, Confidence, Confident, Distressed, Fear, Felt, Grief, Joy, Lest, Letter, Order, Ought, Pain, Receive, Rejoice, Share, Shared, Sorrow, Suffer, Sure, Trusting, Wouldn't, Written, Wrote
Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Corinthians 2:3

     5914   optimism
     8289   joy, of church

2 Corinthians 2:1-5

     5436   pain

2 Corinthians 2:2-5

     5970   unhappiness

Library
The Triumphal Procession
'Thanks be unto God, which always leadeth us in triumph in Christ and maketh manifest through us the savour of His knowledge in every place.'--2 COR. ii. 14 (R.V.) I suppose most of us have some knowledge of what a Roman Triumph was, and can picture to ourselves the long procession, the victorious general in his chariot with its white horses, the laurelled soldiers, the sullen captives, with suppressed hate flashing in their sunken eyes, the wreathing clouds of incense that went up into the blue …
Alexander Maclaren—Romans, Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V)

The Two Effects of the Gospel
And, my brethren, how sweet is that consolation which Paul applied to his own heart amid all his troubles. "Notwithstanding all," he says, "God makes known the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." Ah! with this thought a minister may lay his head upon his pillow: "God makes manifest the savour of his knowledge." With this he may shut his eyes when his career is over, and with this he may open them in heaven: "God hath made known by me the savour of his knowledge in every place," Then follow …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Since These Things are So, Because it were Too Long to Treat Thoroughly Of...
35. Since these things are so, because it were too long to treat thoroughly of all that in that "Pound" [2458] of Dictinius are set down as precedents of lying, meet to be imitated, it seemeth to me that this is the rule to which not only these, but whatever such there be, must be reduced. Namely, either what is believed to be a lie must be shown not to be such; whether it be where a truth is left untold, and yet no falsehood told; or where a true signification willeth one thing to be understood …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

"But if Ye have Bitter Envying," &C.
James iii. 14.--"But if ye have bitter envying," &c. The cunning of Satan, and the deceitfulness of our own hearts, are such that when a grosser temptation will not prevail with conscience in some measure enlightened, then they transform themselves into angels of light, and deal more subtilely with us. And there is no greater subtilty of Satan, nor no stronger self deceit, than this, to palliate and cover vices with the shadow of virtue, and to present corruptions under the similitude of graces. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

There Resulteth Then from all These this Sentence...
41. There resulteth then from all these this sentence, that a lie which doth not violate the doctrine of piety, nor piety itself, nor innocence, nor benevolence, may on behalf of pudicity of body be admitted. And yet if any man should propose to himself so to love truth, not only that which consists in contemplation, but also in uttering the true thing, which each in its own kind of things is true, and no otherwise to bring forth with the mouth of the body his thought than in the mind it is conceived …
St. Augustine—On Lying

On the Study of the Evidences of Christianity.
THE investigation of that important and extensive subject which includes what have been usually designated as The Evidences of Revelation,' has prescriptively occupied a considerable space in the field of theological literature, especially as cultivated in England. There is scarcely one, perhaps, of our more eminent divines who has not in a greater or less degree distinguished himself in this department, and scarcely an aspirant for theological distinction who has not thought it one of the surest …
Frederick Temple—Essays and Reviews: The Education of the World

Of the Matters to be Considered in the Councils.
Let us now consider the matters which should be treated in the councils, and with which popes, cardinals, bishops, and all learned men should occupy themselves day and night, if they loved Christ and His Church. But if they do not do so, the people at large and the temporal powers must do so, without considering the thunders of their excommunications. For an unjust excommunication is better than ten just absolutions, and an unjust absolution is worse than ten just excommunications. Therefore let …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

Epistle xxxv. To Leontius, Ex-Consul.
To Leontius, Ex-Consul. Gregory to Leontius, &c. Since in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some indeed to honour but some to dishonour (2 Tim. ii. 20), who can be ignorant that in the bosom of the Universal Church some as vessels of dishonour are deputed to the lowest uses, but others, as vessels of honour, are fitted for clean uses. And yet it commonly comes to pass that the citizens of Babylon serve in task-work for Jerusalem, while …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

How the Rude in Sacred Learning, and those who are Learned but not Humble, are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 25.) Differently to be admonished are those who do not understand aright the words of the sacred Law, and those who understand them indeed aright, but speak them not humbly. For those who understand not aright the words of sacred Law are to be admonished to consider that they turn for themselves a most wholesome drought of wine into a cup of poison, and with a medicinal knife inflict on themselves a mortal wound, when they destroy in themselves what was sound by that whereby they ought, …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Preparatory Service; Sometimes Called the Confessional Service.
In our examination of the nature and meaning of the Lord's Supper, we have found that it is indeed a most important and holy Sacrament. It is in fact the most sacred of all the ordinances of the Church on earth. There is nothing beyond it--nothing so heavenly, on this side heaven, as this Feast. Nowhere else does the believer approach so near to heaven as when he stands or kneels, as a communicant at this altar, the Holy of Holies in the Church of Christ. What a solemn act! To approach this altar, …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

The Comforts Belonging to Mourners
Having already presented to your view the dark side of the text, I shall now show you the light side, They shall be comforted'. Where observe: 1 Mourning goes before comfort as the lancing of a wound precedes the cure. The Antinomian talks of comfort, but cries down mourning for sin. He is like a foolish patient who, having a pill prescribed him, licks the sugar but throws away the pill. The libertine is all for joy and comfort. He licks the sugar but throws away the bitter pill of repentance. If …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1120) to a Youth Named Fulk, who Afterwards was Archdeacon of Langres
To a Youth Named Fulk, Who Afterwards Was Archdeacon of Langres He gravely warns Fulk, a Canon Regular, whom an uncle had by persuasions and promises drawn back to the world, to obey God and be faithful to Him rather than to his uncle. To the honourable young man Fulk, Brother Bernard, a sinner, wishes such joy in youth as in old age he will not regret. 1. I do not wonder at your surprise; I should wonder if you were not suprised [sic] that I should write to you, a countryman to a citizen, a monk …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

A Book for Boys and Girls Or, Temporal Things Spritualized.
by John Bunyan, Licensed and entered according to order. London: Printed for, and sold by, R. Tookey, at his Printing House in St. Christopher's Court, in Threadneedle Street, behind the Royal Exchange, 1701. Advertisement by the Editor. Some degree of mystery hangs over these Divine Emblems for children, and many years' diligent researches have not enabled me completely to solve it. That they were written by Bunyan, there cannot be the slightest doubt. 'Manner and matter, too, are all his own.'[1] …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Things Pertaining to the Kingdom.
"Now is there solemn pause in earth and heaven; The Conqueror now His bonds hath riven, And Angels wonder why He stays below; Yet hath not man his lesson learned, How endless love should be returned." Hitherto our thoughts about "The Kingdom of Heaven" have been founded on the teaching of the King respecting His Kingdom recorded in the Gospels. But we must not forget to give attention to the very important time in the life of our Lord extending between His Resurrection and Ascension, during which …
Edward Burbidge—The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it?

Elucidations.
I. (Such as have lapsed, cap. vii. p. 660.) The penitential system of the Primitive days, referred to in our author, began to be changed when less public confessions were authorized, on account of the scandals which publicity generated. Changes were as follows: 1. A grave presbyter was appointed to receive and examine voluntary penitents as the Penitentiary of a diocese, and to suspend or reconcile them with due solemnities--circa a.d. 250. 2. This plan also became encumbered with difficulties and …
Tertullian—On Repentance

Letter cxx. To Hedibia.
At the request of Hedibia, a lady of Gaul much interested in the study of scripture, Jerome deals with the following twelve questions. It will be noticed that several of them belong to the historical criticism of our own day. (1) How can anyone be perfect? and How ought a widow without children to live to God? (2) What is the meaning of Matt. xxvi. 29? (3) How are the discrepancies in the evangelical narratives to be accounted for? How can Matt. xxviii. 1 be reconciled with Mark xvi. 1, 2. (4) How …
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome

And for Your Fearlessness against them Hold this Sure Sign -- Whenever There Is...
43. And for your fearlessness against them hold this sure sign--whenever there is any apparition, be not prostrate with fear, but whatsoever it be, first boldly ask, Who art thou? And from whence comest thou? And if it should be a vision of holy ones they will assure you, and change your fear into joy. But if the vision should be from the devil, immediately it becomes feeble, beholding your firm purpose of mind. For merely to ask, Who art thou [1083] ? and whence comest thou? is a proof of coolness. …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Links
2 Corinthians 2:3 NIV
2 Corinthians 2:3 NLT
2 Corinthians 2:3 ESV
2 Corinthians 2:3 NASB
2 Corinthians 2:3 KJV

2 Corinthians 2:3 Commentaries

Bible Hub
2 Corinthians 2:2
Top of Page
Top of Page