Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Corinthians 2:1

γάρ (B17, 37, Copt., Syr., Pesh.) should perhaps be preferred to δέ (אABCFG); and πάλιν ἐν λύπῃ (אABCDFG) is to be preferred to ἐλθεῖν ἐν λύπῃ (some cursives, some versions), and πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐλθεῖν (אABCKL) to ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς (DFG). The whole should read πάλιν ἐν λύπῃ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐλθεῖν (אABCKLOP).

1. ἔκρινα γὰρ ἐμαυτῷ τοῦτο. For I determined (1 Corinthians 2:2; 1 Corinthians 5:3; Titus 3:12) for myself this; the τοῦτο anticipating what is coming (Romans 14:13; 1 Peter 2:19; 2 Peter 3:8). He has just said that it was for their sakes that he gave up his visit to Corinth. He now adds that it was also better for himself that he should do so. ‘With myself’ (A.V.) would have been παρʼ ἐμαυτῷ or ἐν ἐμ.

τὸ μὴ πάλιν ἐν λύπη πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἑλθεῖν. See critical note. The clause is a substantive in apposition with τοῦτο: not again in sorrow to come to you. Here and Romans 9:2 λύπη should be ‘sorrow,’ as in the A.V. of 2 Corinthians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 2:7; 2 Corinthians 7:10; &c. In the A.V. λύπη (Luke 22:45), ὀδύνη (1 Timothy 6:10), πένθος (Revelation 18:7), and ὠδίν (Matthew 24:8) are translated ‘sorrow.’ ‘Again in sorrow’ comes first with emphasis; and this is the point. He had been obliged to come in pain and griet once, and he decided that it was best not to do so again. If he had come to Corinth on his way to Macedonia, there would have been a second sorrowful visit. The former sorrowful visit cannot have been the first visit of all, when he brought the Gospel to Corinth. So there must have been a second visit. See on 2 Corinthians 1:15. This view is confirmed by 2 Corinthians 12:14 and 2 Corinthians 13:1, where he speaks of the coming visit as the third. We need not confine ἐν λύπῃ either to the pain felt by the Apostle or to the pain inflicted by him. What follows shows that both are included: indeed each involved the other.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

2 Corinthians 2:1

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