2 Corinthians 2:1
in 2 Corinthians 2So I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But I determined this for myself, that I would not come again to you with sorrow.
KJV
But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.
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This verse in 2 Corinthians 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe word "again" shows that he had been grieved before as well. However, he did not say openly: "you also grieved me before," but in another way: "I did not come so as not to grieve you again," which, nevertheless, has one and the same …
This site's exposition
not to make another painful visit
on 2 Corinthians 2:1-2
Paul made up his mind against another painful visit, since it would grieve both Paul and a church recovering from the first. Verse 2 gives the logic: if I grieve you, who is left to cheer me but those whom I have grieved?
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Paul was afraid that if he rebuked a few he would cause pain to many, because all the members of a body suffer when one of them is in pain.
"But I determined for myself that I would not come again to you with sorrow." The expression "again" proves that he had already been made sorry from thence, and whilst he seems to be speaking in his own defence he covertly rebukes them. Now if they had both already made him sorry and were about again to make him sorry, consider how great the displeasure was likely to be. But he saith not thus, "Ye made me sorry," but turns the expression differently yet implying the very same thing thus, "For this cause I came not that I might not make you sorry:" which has the same force as what I said, but is more palatable.
The Medieval Church1 voice
After giving a general excuse for his delay in visiting the Corinthians, the Apostle now gives the cause of his delay and how he spared them. In regard to this he does two things: first, he mentions that one cause of his delay was that …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But I determined with myself,....
If he had made them sorry, that would have been a sorrow to himself, for there would have been none to have made him glad. But his desire was to have a cheerful meeting with them, and not to have it embittered by any unhappy occasion of disagreeing. He tells them it was to the same intent that he wrote his former epistle,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
But I determined this with myself - I made up my mind on this point; I formed this resolution in regard to my course. That I would not come again to you in heaviness - In grief (ἐνη λύπ enē lup). “I would not come, if I could avoid it, in circumstances which must have grieved both me and you. I would not come while there existed among you such irregularities as must have pained my heart, and as must have compelled me to resort to such acts of discipline as would be painful to you.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
with myself--in contrast to "you" (2Co 1:23). The same antithesis between Paul and them appears in 2Co 2:2. not come again . . . in heaviness--"sorrow"; implying that he had already paid them one visit in sorrow since his coming for the first time to Corinth.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
But I determined this - The apostle continues to give farther reasons why he did not visit them at the proposed time. Because of the scandals that were among them he could not see them comfortably; and therefore he determined not to see them at all till he had reason to believe that those evils were put away.
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἔκρινα | ekrina | I judged | G2919 → | |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| ἐμαυτῷ | emauto | within myself | G1473 → | 839 times |
| τοῦτο | touto | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| τὸ | to | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| πάλιν | palin | again | G3825 → | 139 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| λύπῃ | lupe | grief | G3077 → | 16 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| ὑμᾶς | humas | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἐλθεῖν. | elthein | to come. | G2064 → | 628 times |
ἜκριναI judged
ekrinaG2919 →
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
ἐμαυτῷwithin myself
emautoG1473 →839 times
τοῦτοthis
toutoG3778 →1381 times
τὸ<the>
toG3588 →19766 times
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
πάλινagain
palinG3825 →139 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
λύπῃgrief
lupeG3077 →16 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
ὑμᾶςyou
humasG4771 →2973 times
ἐλθεῖν.to come.
eltheinG2064 →628 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 4:21Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 13:2
I already warned you the second time I was with you. So now in my absence I warn those who sinned earlier and everyone else: If I return, I will not spare anyone,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 13:10
This is why I write these things while absent, so that when I am present I will not need to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord gave me for…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:7
On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children.
- 2 Corinthians 13:2
Through
2 Corinthians 1:23I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 4:21
Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Galatians 1:20
I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie.
- 1 Corinthians 4:21
Through
2 Corinthians 13:10This is why I write these things while absent, so that when I am present I will not need to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord gave me for…
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 10:8
For even if I boast somewhat excessively about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed.
- 2 Corinthians 10:8
Through
2 Corinthians 2:4For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 7:12
So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong or the one who was harmed, but rather that your earnestness on our behalf would be…
- Proverbs 27:5–6
Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.
- 2 Corinthians 7:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 2 Corinthians
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily 4 on 2 Corinthians; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 2 Corinthians.