The Letters · New Testament
2 Corinthians 7
2 Corinthians 7: the arrival of Titus and two kinds of sorrow
General context
Paul draws a conclusion from the promises just quoted and calls for cleansing from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. He asks the readers to receive him, denying that he has wronged, corrupted or defrauded anyone, and says he is not writing to condemn them because they are in his heart to die and live together. He then returns to the journey he broke off earlier. In Macedonia he found no rest, troubled on every side, with fightings outside and fears within, until God comforted him by the coming of Titus, and not only by his arrival but by the report he brought of their earnest desire, mourning and fervent mind. Paul says his earlier letter made them sorry and that he does not regret it, though he had regretted it, because the sorrow lasted only a season and led to repentance. He distinguishes godly sorrow, which works repentance to salvation, from the sorrow of the world, which works death, and lists what their sorrow produced: carefulness, clearing of themselves, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal and revenge. He says he wrote not for the sake of the one who did the wrong or the one who suffered it, but so his care for them would be plain. He closes with joy over Titus, whose spirit they refreshed, notes that his boasting about them to Titus proved true, and says Titus remembers their obedience and how they received him with fear and trembling.
Cited passages: 2 Corinthians 7:1, 2 Corinthians 7:2, 2 Corinthians 7:3, 2 Corinthians 7:4, 2 Corinthians 7:5, 2 Corinthians 7:6, 2 Corinthians 7:7, 2 Corinthians 7:8, 2 Corinthians 7:9, 2 Corinthians 7:10, 2 Corinthians 7:11, 2 Corinthians 7:12, 2 Corinthians 7:13, 2 Corinthians 7:14, 2 Corinthians 7:15, 2 Corinthians 7:16
2 Corinthians 7 (KJV)
1Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
3I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.
4Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
5For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
6Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
7And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
8For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
9Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
10For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
11For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
12Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.
13Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.
14For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.
15And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.
16I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.
Historical context
The chapter establishes a sequence: a letter was sent, Titus travelled, Paul waited in Macedonia without rest, and Titus arrived with news. It names Macedonia and Titus and no one else. Two parties in the earlier trouble are mentioned and both are left anonymous, him that had done the wrong and him that suffered wrong, and the chapter states plainly that the letter was written for neither of them but so that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. The earlier letter's contents are not given, only its effect, that it made the readers sorry for a season. Paul's own change of mind is recorded without explanation, that he does not repent though he did repent. No Old Testament passage is quoted here, and no date or itinerary beyond Macedonia is supplied.
Cited passages: 2 Corinthians 7:5, 2 Corinthians 7:6, 2 Corinthians 7:7, 2 Corinthians 7:8, 2 Corinthians 7:9, 2 Corinthians 7:12, 2 Corinthians 7:13, 2 Corinthians 7:15
Literary context
This chapter closes a loop the letter left open in chapter two, where Paul went into Macedonia because he had not found Titus. The unrest is restated almost as a repetition, without were fightings, within were fears, and then answered by the arrival. Comfort is the connecting word, and it passes down a chain: God comforts Paul, Titus is comforted by the Corinthians, and Paul is comforted by Titus being comforted. Sorrow is handled the same way, split into two kinds and then itemised in a single sentence that repeats yea, what six times after an opening what carefulness, so the argument sounds like a list being counted out. The chapter also reverses the letter's earlier defensiveness. Paul had asked them to receive him; by the last verse he is the one expressing confidence in them.
Cited passages: 2 Corinthians 7:2, 2 Corinthians 7:4, 2 Corinthians 7:5, 2 Corinthians 7:6, 2 Corinthians 7:7, 2 Corinthians 7:9, 2 Corinthians 7:10, 2 Corinthians 7:11, 2 Corinthians 7:13, 2 Corinthians 7:16
Key moments
- Receive us (2 Corinthians 7:2). Paul asks to be received and denies wronging, corrupting or defrauding anyone.
- Fightings and fears (2 Corinthians 7:5). He describes arriving in Macedonia troubled outside and afraid within.
- Comforted by the coming of Titus (2 Corinthians 7:6). God comforts Paul through Titus' arrival.
- No regret over the letter (2 Corinthians 7:8). Paul says he does not repent of the letter that made them sorry, though he once did.
- Two kinds of sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10). He distinguishes godly sorrow leading to repentance from worldly sorrow that works death.
- The boasting proved true (2 Corinthians 7:14). Paul says what he boasted to Titus about them turned out to be true.
For reflection
Paul separates a sorrow that works repentance from a sorrow of the world that works death, and describes the difference by what it produced. Looking at a regret you carry, what has it actually produced?
