2 Corinthians 2:7

ὥστε τοὐναντίον μᾶλλον κ. τ. λ.: so that contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and comfort him (cf., for the sentiment, Sir 8:5, Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 4:32). We should expect some verb like δεῖν, but it is perhaps sufficiently suggested by ὥστε. χαρίζεσθαι is generally found in the N.T. in the sense of “to bestow a favour”; but it conveys the special meaning “to forgive” in the passages referred to above. μήπως τῇ περισσοτέρᾳ λύπῃ κ. τ. λ.: lest such an one should be swallowed up with his excessive sorrow, sc., should be driven to despair through overmuch severity. Again (see on 2 Corinthians 2:4 above) we are not to press the comparative force of περισσοτέρᾳ.