2 Corinthians 2:1

2:1 So ¹  I made up my own mind ²  not to pay you another painful visit. ³ 

2 Corinthians 2:3

2:3 And I wrote this very thing to you, ⁴  so that when I came ⁵  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 Corinthians 2:7

2:7 so that now instead ⁶  you should rather forgive and comfort him. ⁷  This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair. ⁸ 

¹ tc Although usually δέ (de, “now”; found in א A C D¹ F G Ψ 0285 Ï lat) should take precedent over γάρ (gar) in textually disputed places in the corpus Paulinum, the credentials for γάρ here are not easily dismissed (Ì⁴⁶ B 0223 0243 33 1739 1881 al); here it is the preferred reading, albeit slightly.

² tn Or “I decided this for myself.”

³ tn Grk “not to come to you again in sorrow.”

⁴ tn The words “to you” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

⁵ sn So that when I came. Regarding this still future visit by Paul, see 2 Cor 12:14; 13:1.

⁷ tn Grk “so that on the other hand.”

⁸ 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.

⁹ 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.