2 Cor. i. 23
But I call God for a witness upon my soul, that to
spare you I forbare to come unto Corinth.
sayest thou, O blessed
Paul? To spare them thou camest not to Corinth? Surely thou
presentest us with something of a contradiction. For a little
above thou saidst that thou therefore camest not, because thou
purposest not according to the flesh nor art thine own master, but
art led about every where by the authority of the Spirit, and didst
set forth thine afflictions. But here thou sayest it was thine
own act that thou camest not, and not from the authority of the
Spirit; for he saith, “To spare you I forbare to come to
Corinth.” What then is one to say? either, that this too was
itself of the Spirit, and that he himself wished to come but the
Spirit suggested to him not to do so, urging the motive of sparing
them; or else, that he is speaking of some other coming, and would
signify that before he wrote the former Epistle he was minded to
come, and for love’s sake restrained himself lest he should find
them yet unamended. Perhaps also, after the second Epistle though
the Spirit no longer forbade him to go, he involuntarily stayed
away for this reason. And this suspicion is the more probable, that in the first instance the Spirit forbade him: but afterwards upon his own conviction also that this was more advisable, he stayed away.
And observe, I pray you, how he remembers again his
own custom, (which I shall never cease to observe,) of making what
seems against him tell in his favor. For since it was natural for
them to respect this and say, ‘It was because thou hatedst us, thou wouldest not come unto us,’ he shows on the contrary, that the cause for which he would not come was that he loved them.
What is the expression, “to spare you?” I heard, he saith, that some among you had committed fornication; I would not therefore come and make you sorry: for had I come, I must needs have enquired into the matter, and prosecuted and punished, and exacted justice from many. I judged it then better to be away and to give opportunity for repentance, than to be with you and to prosecute, and be still more incensed. For towards the end of this Epistle he hath plainly declared it, saying, “I fear lest when I come, my God should humble me before you, and that I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore, and repented not of the lasciviousness and uncleanness which they committed.” (2 Cor. xii. 20, 21.) This therefore here also he intimates, and he saith it indeed as in his own defence; yet rebuketh them most severely and putteth them in fear; for he implied that they were open to punishment, and will also have somewhat to suffer, unless they be quickly reformed. And he says the same thing again at the end of the Epistle thus; “If I come again, I will not spare.” (2 Cor. xiii. 2.) Only there he says it more plainly: but here, as it was the proem, he does not say it so but in a repressed tone; nor is he content even with this, but he softens it down, applying a corrective. For seeing the expression was that of one asserting great authority, (for a man spares those whom he has also power to punish,) in order to relieve it, and draw a shade over what seems harsh, he saith,
Ver. 24. “Not for that we have
lordship over your faith.”
That is, I did not therefore say, “To spare you I
came not,” as lording it over you. Again, he said not you, but
“your faith,” which was at once gentler and truer. For him
that hath no mind to believe, who hath power to compel?
“But are helpers of your joy.”
For since, saith he, your joy is ours, I came not, that I might not plunge you into sorrow and increase my own despondency; but I stayed away that ye being reformed by the threat might be made glad. For we do every thing in order to your joy, and give diligence in this behalf, because we are ourselves partakers of it. “For by faith ye stand.”
Behold him again speaking repressedly. For he was
afraid to rebuke them again; since he had handled them severely in
the former Epistle, and they had made some reformation. And if, now that they were reformed, they again received the same reproof, this was likely to throw them back. Whence this Epistle is much gentler than the former.
Chap. ii. 1. “But I determined for myself
that I would not come again to you with sorrow.”