Text -- 2 Corinthians 2:3-17 (NET)

2:3 And I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came I would not have sadness from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident in you all that my joy would be yours. 2:4 For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you. 2:5 But if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent (not to exaggerate) he has saddened all of you as well. 2:6 This punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him, 2:7 so that now instead you should rather forgive and comfort him. This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair. 2:8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 2:9 For this reason also I wrote you: to test you to see if you are obedient in everything. 2:10 If you forgive anyone for anything, I also forgive him– for indeed what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything) I did so for you in the presence of Christ, 2:11 so that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes). 2:12 Now when I arrived in Troas to proclaim the gospel of Christ, even though the Lord had opened a door of opportunity for me, 2:13 I had no relief in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye to them and set out for Macedonia.

Apostolic Ministry

2:14 But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and who makes known through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of him in every place. 2:15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing– 2:16 to the latter an odor from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 2:17 For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit, but we are speaking in Christ before God as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Co 2:3

¹ tn The words “to you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

² sn So that when I came. Regarding this still future visit by Paul, see 2 Cor 12:14; 13:1.

NET Notes: 2Co 2:4

¹ tn Or “the love that I have in great measure for you.”

NET Notes: 2Co 2:5

¹ tn Or “(not to say too much)”; Grk “(not to burden you [with words]).”

NET Notes: 2Co 2:7

¹ tn Grk “so that on the other hand.”

² tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted and must be supplied from the context.

³ tn Grk “comfort him, lest somehow such a person be swallowed up by excessive grief,” an idiom for a person being so overcome with grief as to despair or give up completely (L&N 25.285). In this context of excessive grief or regret for past sins, “overwhelmed” is a good translation since contemporary English idiom speaks of someone “overwhelmed by grief.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the difficulty of expressing a negative purpose/result clause in English, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

NET Notes: 2Co 2:8

¹ tn Or “I urge you to show that your love for him is real.”

NET Notes: 2Co 2:9

¹ tn The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied (as an understood direct object).

² tn Grk “to know the proof of you,” that is, to know if the Corinthians’ obedience to Paul as an apostle was genuine (L&N 72.7).

NET Notes: 2Co 2:11

¹ tn Or “be taken advantage of.”

NET Notes: 2Co 2:12

¹ sn Troas was a city and region in the northwest corner of Asia Minor.

² tn This has been translated as a concessive participle (“even though”). The passive construction (“a door of opportunity had been opened for me by the Lord”) has been converted to an active one in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Grk “a door”; the phrase ἀνοίγω θύραν (anoigw quran, “to open a door”) is an idiom meaning “to make possible some opportunity” (L&N 71.9).

NET Notes: 2Co 2:13

¹ tn Or “I had no peace of mind.”

² tn Or “I took my leave of them.”

³ tn Since this refers to the outset of a journey, the aorist ἐξῆλθον (exhlqon) is taken ingressively.

NET Notes: 2Co 2:14

¹ tn Or “who always causes us to triumph.”

² tn Or “in the Messiah.”

³ tn Or “who reveals.”

NET Notes: 2Co 2:16

¹ tn The same Greek word (ὀσμή, osmh) translated “odor” here (in relation to the stench of death) has been translated “fragrance” in 2:14 and in the next phrase of the present verse. The word itself can describe a smell or odor either agreeable or disagreeable depending on the context (L&N 79.45).

² sn These things refer to the things Paul is doing in his apostolic ministry.

NET Notes: 2Co 2:17

¹ tn The participle καπηλεύοντες (kaphleuonte") refers to those engaged in retail business, but with the negative connotations of deceptiveness and greed – “to peddle for profit,” “to huckster” (L&N 57.202). In the translation a noun form (“hucksters”) has been used in combination with the English verb “peddle…for profit” to convey the negative connotations of this term.

² tn Or “in the presence of.”

³ tn Or “persons of pure motives.”