2 Corinthians 2:4-7

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. ¹  2:5 But if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent (not to exaggerate) ²  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 ³  you should rather forgive and comfort him. ⁴  This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair. ⁵ 

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

² tn Or “(not to say too much)”; Grk “(not to burden you [with words]).”

³ tn Grk “so that on the other hand.”

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.