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1So until these issues were settled , I decided against paying you another painful visit.[#2:1 See 2 Cor. 2:4–11.; #2:1 Paul implies that he had already paid them one painful visit ( 1:15–17).]
2For if I brought you pain, you would be unable to bring me joy.
3And this was the very point I made in my letter, for I didn’t want to come and find sadness filling the very ones who should give me cheer. But I’m confident that you will do what’s right so that my joyous delight will be yours.
4I wrote you previously sobbing and with a broken heart. I was filled with anguish and deep distress. I had no intention of causing you pain but to convey the overwhelming measure of my love for you.[#2:4 Paul is referring here (and in v. 3) not to 1 Corinthians but to a letter he had written them after they received 1 Corinthians and failed to properly respond to what he wrote. This painful letter (see also 7:8) was a reprimand that powerfully impacted them. God has sovereignly chosen that we would not have this painful letter included in the New Testament, but its impact on the Corinthians is noteworthy. See also Prov. 27:6.]
5For the one who has caused me grief has not only grieved me but, to some extent, has caused you all grief as well.
6I believe that your united rebuke has been punishment enough for him.[#2:6 The Aramaic can be translated “Your triple rebuke is enough punishment.”]
7Instead of more punishment, what he needs most is your encouragement through your gracious display of forgiveness.
8I beg you to reaffirm your deep love for him.
9You see, I wrote previously in order to see if your hearts would pass the test and if you were willing to follow my counsel in everything.
10If you freely forgive anyone for anything, then I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I did so for you before the face of Christ,
11so that we would not be exploited by the adversary, Satan, for we know his clever schemes.[#2:11 The Aramaic can be translated “so that Satan will not overtake us.”]
12When I arrived at Troas, bringing the wonderful news of Christ, the Lord opened a great door of opportunity to minister there.
13Still, I had no peace of mind, because I couldn’t find my dear brother Titus anywhere. So after saying goodbye to the believers, I set out for Macedonia to look for him.[#2:13 Titus was a spiritual son to Paul whom he greatly loved. This is the Titus Paul wrote his letter to (book of Titus). He was responsible to collect and distribute an offering for the church in Jerusalem ( 2 Cor. 8:6). It is possible that Titus was the one who carried the painful letter to Corinth. After finding Titus in Macedonia, Paul sent him back to Corinth to deliver this letter.]
14God always makes his grace visible in Christ, who includes us as partners of his endless triumph. Through our yielded lives he spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go.[#2:14 As translated from the Aramaic. The Greek is “Thanks be to God.”; #2:14 Or “who always leads us as captives in his triumphant procession.” This difficult-to-translate passage may be an allusion to the Roman victory procession in celebration of their military triumphs. See also Col. 2:15.; #2:14 Or “manifests.”]
15We have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God —a perfume of life to those being saved and the odor of death to those who are perishing.[#2:15 Although this is true of every believer, Paul, throughout this section, uses “we” in reference to apostles.; #2:15 Or “We are Christ’s sweet fragrance [of sacrifice] that ascends to God.”; #2:15 That is, a sacrifice ready to be offered.]
16The unbelievers smell a deadly stench that leads to death, but believers smell the life-giving aroma that leads to abundant life. And who of us can rise to this challenge?[#2:16 As challenging as our ministry may be, God empowers us to overcome by his Holy Spirit. He empowers everyone he calls.]
17For unlike so many, we are not peddlers of God’s Word who water down the message. We are those sent from God with pure motives, who speak in the sight of God from our union with Christ.[#2:17 The Greek word kapēleuō (a hapax legomenon) means “retailer,” but in classical Greek it comes with a negative connotation (“one who sells at an illegitimate profit”). The adverbial form of the noun is “cheating” or “deceitful.”; #2:17 Paul states that his ministry of teaching and preaching happened while he was in the presence of God. His eyes were set on God, not on the people’s response.]