# 2 Corinthians 2 **Book:** [2 Corinthians](/codex/2-corinthians/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 1. But I determined this for myself, that I would not come again to you with sorrow. 2. For if I make you sorry, who then is he that maketh me glad but he that is made sorry by me? 3. And I wrote this very thing, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. 4. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be made sorry, but that ye might know the love that I have more abundantly unto you. 5. But if any hath caused sorrow, he hath caused sorrow, not to me, but in part (that I press not too heavily) to you all. 6. Sufficient to such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the many; 7. so that contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow. 8. Wherefore I beseech you to confirm your love toward him. 9. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye are obedient in all things. 10. But to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also: for what I also have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your sakes have I forgiven it in the presence of Christ; 11. that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 12. Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and when a door was opened unto me in the Lord, 13. I had no relief for my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went forth into Macedonia. 14. But thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place. 15. For we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish; 16. to the one a savor from death unto death; to the other a savor from life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17. For we are not as the many, corrupting the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:1-17, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 1. But I determined this for myself, that I would not come to you again in sorrow. 2. For if I make you sorry, then who will make me glad but he who is made sorry by me? 3. And I wrote this very thing to you, so that, when I came, I wouldn’t have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy would be shared by all of you. 4. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be made sorry, but that you might know the love that I have so abundantly for you. 5. But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow, not to me, but in part (that I not press too heavily) to you all. 6. This punishment which was inflicted by the many is sufficient for such a one; 7. so that on the contrary you should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his excessive sorrow. 8. Therefore I beg you to confirm your love toward him. 9. For to this end I also wrote, that I might know the proof of you, whether you are obedient in all things. 10. Now I also forgive whomever you forgive anything. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11. that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes. 12. Now when I came to Troas for the Good News of Christ, and when a door was opened to me in the Lord, 13. I had no relief for my spirit, because I didn’t find Titus, my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went out into Macedonia. 14. Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and reveals through us the sweet aroma of his knowledge in every place. 15. For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are saved, and in those who perish; 16. to the one a stench from death to death; to the other a sweet aroma from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17. For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:1-17, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 1. But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. 2. For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? 3. And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. 4. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. 5. But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. 6. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. punishment: or, censure 7. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 8. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. 9. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 10. To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; person: or, sight in the person: or, in the sight 11. Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 12. Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, 13. I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia. 14. Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. 15. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 16. To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17. For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. corrupt: or, deal deceitfully with in Christ: or, of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:1-17, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 1. And I decided this to myself, not again to come in sorrow unto you, 2. for if I make you sorry, then who is he who is making me glad, except he who is made sorry by me? 3. and I wrote to you this same thing, that having come, I may not have sorrow from them of whom it behoved me to have joy, having confidence in you all, that my joy is of you all, 4. for out of much tribulation and pressure of heart I wrote to you through many tears, not that ye might be made sorry, but that ye might know the love that I have more abundantly toward you. 5. And if any one hath caused sorrow, he hath not caused sorrow to me, but in part, that I may not burden you all; 6. sufficient to such a one is this punishment, that [is] by the more part, 7. so that, on the contrary, [it is] rather for you to forgive and to comfort, lest by over abundant sorrow such a one may be swallowed up; 8. wherefore, I call upon you to confirm love to him, 9. for, for this also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether in regard to all things ye are obedient. 10. And to whom ye forgive anything, I also; for I also, if I have forgiven anything, to whom I have forgiven [it], because of you, in the person of Christ, [I forgive it,] 11. that we may not be over-reached by the Adversary, for of his devices we are not ignorant. 12. And having come to Troas for the good news of the Christ, and a door to me having been opened in the Lord, 13. I have not had rest to my spirit, on my not finding Titus my brother, but having taken leave of them, I went forth to Macedonia; 14. and to God [are] thanks, who at all times is leading us in triumph in the Christ, and the fragrance of His knowledge He is manifesting through us in every place, 15. because of Christ a sweet fragrance we are to God, in those being saved, and in those being lost; 16. to the one, indeed, a fragrance of death to death, and to the other, a fragrance of life to life; and for these things who is sufficient? 17. for we are not as the many, adulterating the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God; in the presence of God, in Christ we do speak. (2 Corinthians 2:1-17, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Dating of Paul's Letters](/codex/dating-of-pauls-letters/), via [2 Corinthians 2.1](/codex/2-corinthians-2-1/) **Concepts:** - [Church at Corinth](/codex/church-at-corinth/), via [2 Corinthians 2.1](/codex/2-corinthians-2-1/), [2 Corinthians 2.3-4](/codex/2-corinthians-2-3-4/) - [In-House Judgment Principle (1 Cor 5)](/codex/in-house-judgment-principle-1-cor-5/) - [Rebellious Son, OT Stoning vs NT Restoration](/codex/rebellious-son-ot-stoning-vs-nt-restoration/) **Lexicon:** - [G4567 - satanas](/codex/g4567-satanas/), via [2 Corinthians 2.11](/codex/2-corinthians-2-11/) - [G5218 - hypakoe](/codex/g5218-hypakoe/), via [2 Corinthians 2.9](/codex/2-corinthians-2-9/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.