2 Corinthians 2

¹For I decided this for myself: not to come to you again in grief. ²For if I grieve you, who is there to cheer me except the one who is grieved by me? ³And I wrote this very thing so that when I came I would not have grief from those who ought to make me rejoice, since I am confident about all of you that my joy is the joy of all of you. ⁴For out of great affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not so that you would be grieved but so that you would know the love that I have so abundantly for you.

⁵Now if anyone has caused grief, he has grieved not me but, in some measure—not to press it too hard—all of you. ⁶This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person, ⁷so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, or else such a person may be swallowed up by excessive grief. ⁸Therefore I urge you to confirm your love for him. ⁹For this is also why I wrote: to know your proven character, whether you are obedient in everything. ¹⁰Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. For what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven for your sake in the presence of Christ, ¹¹so that we would not be taken advantage of by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

¹²Now when I came to Troas for the good news of Christ, and a door was opened for me in the Lord, ¹³I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother. But I said farewell to them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us makes known in every place the aroma of the knowledge of him. ¹⁵For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: ¹⁶to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷For we are not like the many, peddling the word of God; rather, as from sincerity, as from God, we speak before God in Christ.

Translation notes 8

2:1–7 — “Grief.” One Greek word family runs through verses 1–7 and returns in 7:8–11. It covers grief, sorrow, pain, and hurt. The draft keeps “grief” and “grieve” so the connection is audible; “pain” or “hurt” would be equally accurate in several places.

2:1 — “Again in grief.” The wording implies an earlier painful visit not described in Acts. The letter mentioned in verses 3–4 and 9 is likewise not 1 Corinthians in most readings; see the study notes.

2:5–8 — “Such a person”; “the majority.” The offender is never named, and the letter does not say what he did. “The majority” can also mean “most of you”; the punishment was decided by the community, not by Paul alone. Whether this is the man of 1 Corinthians 5 is disputed.

2:10 — “In the presence of Christ.” Literally “in the face of Christ.” Face and appearance language recurs in the letter (for example 1:11; 3:7, 13, 18; 4:6; 5:12; 8:24; 10:1, 7).

2:11 — “Taken advantage of.” The verb means to get the better of someone or to defraud; it recurs at 7:2 and 12:17–18.

2:14 — “Leads us in triumphal procession.” The image is a Roman general's triumph. The verb most naturally means to lead someone as a captive in such a procession, not to cause someone to triumph; the study notes explain the alternatives. “The knowledge of him” can refer to knowledge of God or of Christ.

2:14–16 — “Aroma”; “sweet fragrance.” Two Greek words: a neutral word for smell in verses 14 and 16, and a word for a pleasing scent in verse 15. A smell of death and a smell of life are the same aroma perceived differently.

2:17 — “Peddling.” The verb describes small retail trade, with an implication of adulterating goods for profit. The Greek base reads “the many”; some editions read “the rest.”