Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 7:9
Now 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.
9. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry ] Another instance of the tender consideration of St Paul (see note on 2Co 7:3). He will not run the risk of being supposed, even for a moment, to have taken pleasure in others’ pain.
repentance ] It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that the Greek word translated repentance ( penaunce, Wiclif and the Rhemish Version) contains neither the idea of sorrow nor of penitential discipline. The word means change of mind or purpose. Sorrow may or may not accompany it. In most cases, as in this, it will do so. But the essence of Gospel repentance is not the sorrow it produces, but the change it works. The word translated repent in 2Co 7:8 is a different word, and has precisely the meaning usually in our days attached to the word repentance. It, or its cognate verb, only occurs here and in Mat 21:29; Mat 21:32; Mat 27:3, and Heb 7:21. It is a misfortune that the A. V. has employed the same word to express two very different ideas.
after a godly manner ] The original is stronger, according to God, i.e. in such a manner as He had commanded or would approve. Cf. Rom 8:27.
receive damage ] The word signifies to suffer injury or loss. See Mat 16:26, where it is translated lose; Luk 9:25, where it is translated cast away. See also 1Co 3:15. Wiclif renders here suffer pairement; Tyndale, ye were hurte; the Rhemish, well, suffer detriment.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry … – I have no pleasure in giving pain to anyone, or in witnessing the distress of any. When people are brought to repentance under the preaching of the gospel, the ministers of the gospel do not find pleasure in their grief as such. They are not desirous of making people unhappy by calling them to repentance, and they have no pleasure in the deep distress of mind which is often produced by their preaching, in itself considered. It is only because such sorrow is an indication of their return to God, and will be followed by happiness and by the fruits of good living, that they find any pleasure in it, or that they seek to produce it.
But that ye sorrowed to repentance – It was not mere grief; it was not sorrow producing melancholy, gloom, or despair; it was not sorrow which led you to be angry at him who had reproved you for your errors – as is sometimes the case with the sorrow that is produced by reproof; but it was sorrow that led to a change and reformation. It was sorrow that was followed by a putting away of the evil for the existence of which there had been occasion to reprove you. The word rendered here as repentance ( metanoian) is a different word from that which, in 2Co 7:8, is rendered I did repent, and indicates a different state of mind. It properly means a change of mind or purpose; compare Heb 12:7. It denotes a change for the better; a change of mind that is durable and productive in its consequences; a change which amounts to a permanent reformation; see Campbells Diss. ut supra. The sense here is, that it produced a change, a reformation. It was such sorrow for their sin as to lead them to reform and to put away the evils which had existed among them. It was this fact, and not that they had been made sorry, that led Paul to rejoice.
After a godly manner – Margin, according to God; see the note on the next verse.
That ye might receive damage by us in nothing – The Greek word rendered receive damage ( zemiothete) means properly to bring loss upon anyone; to receive loss or detriment; see the note on 1Co 3:15; compare Phi 3:8. The sense here seems to be, So that on the whole no real injury was done you in any respect by me. You were indeed put to pain and grief by my reproof. You sorrowed. But it has done you no injury on the whole. It has been a benefit to you. If you had not reformed, if you had been pained without putting away the sins for which the reproof was administered, if it had been mere grief without any proper fruit, you might have said that you would have suffered a loss of happiness, or you might have given me occasion to inflict severer discipline. But now you are gainers in happiness by all the sorrow which I have caused. Sinners are gainers in happiness in the end by all the pain of repentance produced by the preaching of the gospel. No man suffers loss by being told of his faults if he repents; and people are under the highest obligations to those faithful ministers and other friends who tell them of their errors, and who are the means of bringing them to true repentance.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. Ye sorrowed to repentance] Ye had such a sorrow as produced a complete change of mind and conduct. We see that a man may sorrow, and yet not repent.
Made sorry after a godly manner] It was not a sorrow because ye were found out, and thus solemnly reprehended, but a sorrow because ye had sinned against God, and which consideration caused you to grieve more than the apprehension of any punishment.
Damage by us in nothing.] Your repentance prevented that exercise of my apostolic duty, which would have consigned your bodies to destruction, that your souls might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: the apostle takes all advantages to insinuate himself into the good opinion and affections of the members of this famous church, and to obviate any misrepresentations of him to them from those false teachers that were crept in amongst them. Lest they should take some advantage from his saying, that he repented not that he had made them sorry, he here openeth himself, and tells them, he did not rejoice in their sorrow, but in the blessed product and effect of it; which was their reformation of those abuses and errors which he had reproved them for, the effect of which reproof was this their sorrow for a little season. And that they
were made sorry after a godly manner; they did but sow in tears, they reaped in joy; they had a wet seed time, but a fair harvest. They sorrowed with a sorrow according to God; the cause of their sorrow was their sin, the root of it a love to God, the manner of it such as was agreeable to the will of God.
That ye might receive damage by us in nothing; the wise God so governing things hy his providence, that nothing which the apostle spake or wrote should prove detrimental, but rather advantageous; to this church which he so loved.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. Now I rejoiceWhereas “Idid repent” or regret having made you sorry by my letter, Irejoice NOW, not that yewere caused sorrow, but that your sorrow resulted in your repentance.
ye sorrowedrather, asbefore, “ye were made sorry.”
after a godlymannerliterally, “according to God,” that is, yoursorrow having regard to God, and rendering your mind conformable toGod (Rom 14:22; 1Pe 4:6).
thatTranslate in Greekorder, “to the end that (compare 2Co11:9) ye might in nothing receive damage from us,” which yewould have received, had your sorrow been other than that “aftera godly manner” (2Co 7:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry,…. Their grief and sorrow, as a natural passion, was no matter or cause of joy to him; nor was this what he sought after, being what he could take no real pleasure in; for so far as that was a pain to them, it was a pain to him:
but that ye sorrowed to repentance; their sorrow issued in true evangelical repentance, and this was the ground of his rejoicing; for as there is joy in heaven among the angels, at the repentance of a sinner, so there is joy in the church below, among the saints and ministers of the Gospel, when either sinners are brought in, or backsliders returned by repentance:
for ye were made sorry after a godly sort; what gave him so much joy and satisfaction was, that their sorrow was of the right sort; it was a godly sorrow, they sorrowed after; or according to God, according to the will of God, and for sin, as it was committed against him; it was a sorrow that God wrought in them:
that ye might receive damage by us in nothing; what added to his pleasure was, that his writing to them, and the effect it produced, had not been in the least detrimental to them; things had worked so kindly, and this sorrow had wrought in such a manner, that they were not hurt in their souls, but profited; nor in their church state, they had not lost one member by it; nay, the offender himself, which was the occasion of all this trouble, was recovered and restored by these means.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Now I rejoice ( ). Now that Titus has come and told him the good news from Corinth (2:12f.). This was the occasion of the noble outburst in 2:12-6:10.
Unto repentance ( ). Note the sharp difference here between “sorrow” () which is merely another form of (regret, remorse) and “repentance” () or change of mind and life. It is a linguistic and theological tragedy that we have to go on using “repentance” for . But observe that the “sorrow” has led to “repentance” and was not Itself the repentance.
After a godly sort ( ). In God’s way. “God’s way as opposed to man’s way and the devil’s way” (Plummer). It was not mere sorrow, but a change in their attitude that counted.
That ye might suffer loss by us in nothing ( ). Purpose clause with and first aorist passive subjunctive of , old verb to suffer damage. See on Mt 16:26. This was God’s intention and so he overruled their sorrow to good.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Repentance [] . See on the kindred verb repent, Mt 3:2, and compare on Mt 21:29. Repentance is different from regret of ver. 8, indicating a moral change, as is shown by the next clause. Ye might receive damage [] . Rev., might suffer loss. See on Mt 16:26; Luk 9:25. This somewhat obscure sentence means that the salutary moral results of the apostle ‘s letter compensated for the sorrow which it caused. The epistle which won them to repentance was no damage to them.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Now I rejoice,” (nun chairo) “Now I progressively rejoice,” continue rejoicing, now that Titus has come and I have learned the effect of my letter.
2) “Not that ye were made sorry,” (ouch hoti elupethete) “not that you all were grieved;” more regrets and tears for being caught in doing wrong do not mean much. Even Judas Iscariot seemed to have this kind of sorrow, Mat 27:3-10.
3) “But that ye sorrowed to repentance,” (all’ hoti elupethete eis metanoian) “but that you all were grieved unto repentance;” as David did for his sins and as Peter did for denying the Lord, Psa 51:1-15; Luk 22:62; Joh 21:17.
4) “For ye were made sorry after a godly manner,” (elupethete gar kata theon) “For you all were grieved according to God,” or after a manner of reproof that was godly. The rebuke Paul wrote them was of Divine order for their good. Rom 2:4-5.
5) “That ye might receive damage by us in nothing,” (hina en medeni zerniothete eks hemon) “In order that you might not suffer a loss in anything by us,” or lose not one thing by our neglect to reprove you for wrong, 1Jn 1:8-9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9. Not because you have been made sorry. He means, that he feels no pleasure whatever in their sorrow — nay more, had he his choice, he would endeavor to promote equally their welfare and their joy, by the same means; but that as he could not do otherwise, their welfare was of so much importance in his view, that he rejoiced that they had been made sorry unto repentance. For there are instances of physicians, who are, indeed, in other respects good and faithful, but are at the same time harsh, and do not spare their patients. Paul declares, that he is not of such a disposition as to employ harsh cures, when not constrained by necessity. As, however, it had turned out well, that he had made trial of that kind of cure, he congratulates himself on his success. He makes use of a similar form of expression in 2Co 5:4,
We in this tabernacle groan, being burdened, because we are desirous not to be unclothed, but clothed upon.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) That ye sorrowed to repentance.Here the true word for repentance is used in all the fulness of its meaning. (See Notes on Mat. 3:2; Mat. 3:8.) There is nothing in the Greek corresponding to the variation ye sorrowed and were made sorry, the same word being used in both clauses.
After a godly manner.The English is but a feeble equivalent for the Greek. Literally, according to Godi.e. (as may be seen by comparing the sense of the same or like phrases in Rom. 8:27; Eph. 4:24; Col. 2:8), after His will and purpose. God allowed you, he tells them, to be grieved in order that you might sustain no loss, as you might have done had we held our peace.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. To repentance Over their sorrow alone he could not rejoice: but over a sorrow merging into repentance he could rejoice.
Sorry after a godly manner Literally, sorry according to God. A sorrow that has reference to God in contradistinction from a sorrow that regards the world.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘I now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you were made sorry resulting in repentance; for you were made sorry after a godly sort, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance unto salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death.’
For Paul’s rejoicing is not in that he gave them pain, but in that it brought them to a change of mind and heart. They were made sorry in a godly way which produced ‘repentance’ (a change of mind and heart, a turnaround) and which brought them not loss, but gain. They really in the end lost nothing by it, and they gained everything. Thus the source of his rejoicing.
For that is what godly sorrow does. It produces true repentance which results in salvation, and thus brings no regret. It is only the sorrow of the world, which has no good motive or result behind it, which has a deadening effect, and in the end produces only death. Godly sorrow is the spring of hope, and results in salvation and glory Worldly sorrow has no final hope, and is the harbinger of hopelessness and death. We note here again how quickly Paul can turn from present circumstances to a contemplation of the whole of God’s saving work (compare 2Co 1:10), and the contrast between life and salvation, and death. (The contrast with death confirms that we are to see ‘salvation’ as having its fullest soteriological meaning and not as just referring to wholeness).
He is not here saying that they had not previously been genuinely saved. He is describing the essence of genuine repentance which lies behind salvation, a repentance which must be reproduced continually in the face of (regretfully) continuing sin, so as to ensure the continual saving work that will finally present them perfect before God. Our first repentance is in one sense once for all (it changes the direction of our lives and results in our being within God’s saving purposes) but there will then need to be continuing repentance in the face of continuing, although hopefully diminishing, sin, as we falter in the new way we have taken, and experience God’s continual saving presence.
‘That you might suffer loss by us in nothing.’ Some see this as more specifically having in mind loss of future reward, which is very possible. But it seems more probable that Paul means it in a general way which included any kind of loss, although clearly the idea of such future loss is a constant in Paul’s letters ( 2Co 5:10 ; 1Co 3:12-15; 1Co 4:5; Rom 14:10-12) and is included. In the commercial world the verb zemiomai could refer to loss or damage in money or material goods due to unfavourable conditions or circumstances, such as the loss in goods and lives caused by a storm at sea. Thus the thought may include the havoc that discipline could have caused if over-applied. This was, as we saw earlier, Paul’s concern for the offender whom the Corinthians continued to discipline even after he repented. Had the discipline continued, the man stood in danger of being overwhelmed by excessive sorrow (2Co 2:7). Paul had ensured that this had not happened to the Corinthians as a whole.
So to sum up why he rejoices,
1) The Corinthians’ sorrow only lasted for a little while (2Co 7:8). They were not pained for any extended period of time, and so no permanent damage to the relationship occurred.
2) God’s hand was evident in the church’s response. They had become sorrowful as God intended (‘according to God’ – 2Co 7:9).
3) The kind of sorrow that God intended and had brought about resulted in a turnaround, Your sorrow led you to repentance (2Co 7:9). They did not merely regret what they had done but repented of it, they were totally reoriented. This was demonstrated by the fact that they not only admitted that they had been to blame but also punished the offender (2Co 2:6; 2Co 7:11).
4) Most importantly the church was not harmed in any way by the severity of his letter (2Co 7:9).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul’s rejoicing over the result of his measures:
v. 9. Now 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.
v. 10. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
v. 11. For, behold, this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, ye a, what clearing of yourselves, ye a, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, ye a, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
v. 12. Wherefore, 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. The apostle here develops his second thought more fully, that he was exceeding joyful in spite of all tribulation, v. 4. He had shaken off the uneasiness which he had felt on account of his tenderness for them, and openly stated that he now rejoiced, not on account of the fact of their having been made sorry, for the case required such severe measures, but on account of the fact of their grief’s having led them to repentance. When Paul wrote his letter, there had been no sign of a change of heart on their part, and the danger was that they might have become stubborn. But now that they have accepted the rebuke and repented, lie sees his desire fulfilled, his object attained, and can therefore sap: For you were made sorry according to God, in the manner which God wants to see in the sinner and which He Himself works, so that you might suffer damage from us in nothing. Far from being affected to their hurt, the Corinthian Christians rather had reason for congratulating themselves on account of the benefit which had come to them as a result of the apostle’s measures. Sorrow and grief, in this case, is in itself a blessing, and the entire process is salutary. Mark that it is God that works repentance, and that His aim is the conversion and therefore also the salvation of the sinner.
This thought is brought out in the next verse, where a reason is assigned for this statement: For the sorrow which is according to God, which is wrought by God, which feels grief on account of sin as an offense against God, works out a repentance unto salvation not to be repented of. True sorrow over sins does not exist on account of the apprehension of punishment, but is essentially a feeling of misery and dejectedness on account of the insult which was offered to God by the transgression. Such a repentance sets the sinner on the way to salvation, since such a sinner will he prepared to receive the message of redemption. Therefore this proper repentance brings no regrets. The sorrow of the world, on the other hand, pictures to the eyes of the horrified sinner the terrible consequence:’ of his transgression in the matter of temporal and eternal punishments. When this feeling comes upon the sinner, there is nothing but the blackness of death and destruction before him: he is led to despair, as we see in the case of Cain, and still more in that of Judas. “And lest repentance or the terrors of the Law turn into despair, the preaching of the Gospel must be added, that it may be a repentance unto salvation.”
The Corinthians themselves offer an example of the value of godly sorrow: For behold this same thing, your being made sorry after a godly sort. Their own case was an excellent illustration of the point which the apostle was trying to make: What diligence it worked in you; how quickly their previous inactivity and slothfulness had given way to activity, especially as to the case of the discipline then in hand! And not only so, but also defense; how they had hurried to clear themselves of the fault found in their midst, to justify themselves before Titus, and thus before the apostle! What indignation; how angry they were at themselves for having ignored and tolerated this matter in their midst for so long a time! What fear; how they had dreaded the coming of the apostle with a rod, 1Co 4:21! What longing desire; how they had felt the need of him and of his apostolic counsel as soon as they had realized their condition! What zeal; how jealous they had become on behalf of God and His honor in their congregation! What avenging, or, infliction of punishment; how they had hastened to make good their wrong by inflicting upon the offender the punishment demanded by Paul! Thus had the Corinthians given evidence of the godliness of their sorrow; thus had they given proof, approved themselves to be pure in this matter, by clearing themselves from the guilt of this affair.
But the very fact that they had acted so promptly upon all his suggestions, that his admonitions had brought forth such rich fruits in their midst, would cause the Corinthians also to acknowledge the loving purpose of the writer: Accordingly, although I wrote to you, I did it not for his sake that did the wrong, nor for his sake that suffered the wrong, but in order that your zeal in our behalf might be made manifest to yourselves before God. The sin to which Paul referred had indeed been one of abominable wickedness, the son living with his stepmother in a relation permitted only in marriage, and that, apparently, while his father was still living! But though Paul also had in mind the putting away of the sin of the one and the repairing of the injury done to the other, his chief reason for writing was to stimulate the Corinthian congregation to a realization of what was due to its founder, the apostle, and to its Lord. He had not been wrong in his estimate of them; the discipline employed by them had strengthened the feeling of fellowship among themselves and had bound them more closely to the apostle. They had vindicated themselves in their own eyes and in his. And it had not been a vain, empty form, a mere pretense, since their deliberations and resolutions had taken place in the sight, in the presence, of God. Note: This last point should be remembered in all cases of church discipline.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
2Co 7:9 . ] see on 2Co 7:8 . To take the not in a temporal, but in a causal sense ( proinde, jam vero , with Emmerling and Billroth), is quite at variance with the context, because the thought is implied in the previous clause: I no longer regret i.
.] not regarding the sadness caused to you in itself .
] according to God, i.e. in a way in keeping with the divine will. See on Rom 8:27 . Bengel aptly remarks: “ Secundum hic significat sensum animi Deum spectantis et sequentis.” Not: by God’s operation , which (in opposition to Hofmann) Paul never expresses by (nor yet is it so even in 1Pe 4:6 ); with the Greeks, however, means according to divine disposal .
. ] not: ita ut , etc. (so Rckert), but the divinely-ordained aim of the previous : in order that ye in no point (comp. 2Co 6:3 ; Phi 1:28 ; Jas 1:4 ), in no sort of way (not even in the way of severe, saddening reproof), should have hurt (injury as to the Messianic salvation) from us , from whom, in fact, only the furtherance of your true welfare ought to proceed. See 2Co 7:10 . According to Osiander, means: in no part of the Christian life (neither in the joyfulness of faith nor in purity of morals). At variance with the context: for to the matters negatived by must belong the itself caused by him, which, had it not occurred , would have injured the of the readers (2Co 7:10 ).
The clause of purpose is to be connected with the . . immediately preceding, which is no parenthetic remark, but is the regulative thought controlling what follows (in 2Co 7:10-11 ); wherefore . . . is not, with Hofmann, to be attached to . .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
9 Now 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.
Ver. 9. That ye sorrowed to repentance ] Gr. , to a transmentation, to a thorough change both of the mind and manners. Optima et aptissima poenitentia est nova vita, The best and most appropiate repentance is a new life, saith Luther. Which saying (though condemned by Pope Leo X) is certainly an excellent saying. Repentance for sin is nothing worth without repentance from sin. If thou repent with a contradiction (saith Tertullian) God will pardon thee with a contradiction. Thou repentest, and yet continuest in thy sin. God will pardon thee, and yet send thee to hell. There is a pardon with a contradiction.
Sorry after a godly manner ] Gr. , according to God. This is a sorrowing for sin, as it is offensivum Dei, aversivum a Deo. offensive to God and a turning away from God. This both comes from God and drives a man to God, as it did the Church in the Canticles, and the prodigal.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9. ] , emphatic, as distinguishing from : now that I know not only of your grief, but of its being grief which worked repentance.
] as E. V., after a godly sort : ‘ with reference to God ,’ see ref. Rom. and note: “ secundum , hic significat sensum animi Deum spectantis et sequentis,” Bengel. , . cum. Cf. , 1Co 15:32 .
, . . .] in order that ye might in nothing be damaged by us : not , so that ye did not , as many Commentators: the divine purpose of their grief is indicated; ‘God so brought it about, in order that your grief occasioned by me might have, not an injurious, but a beneficial effect.’
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Co 7:9 . . . .: now, sc. , now that Titus is come, and I have learnt the effect of my letter, I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance (of which there was no sign when he wrote; see 1Co 5:2 ), for ye were made sorry according to the will of God, sc. , in God’s way as contrasted with man’s way ( cf. 1Co 15:32 and see reff.), so that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing, i.e. , the sorrow caused by my rebuke was divinely ordered for your good, so that my severity did not hurt but rather benefited you. The word occurs curiously seldom in St. Paul (see reff.), perhaps because it indicates the very first step in the religious life, that “change of mind” as to God which precedes even the renunciation of sin (see esp. for this use reff., Acts and Mat 3:2 ; Mat 4:17 , Act 2:38 , etc.), and this first step his correspondents had already taken, or his letters to them would not have been written.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
sorrowed = were grieved.
to = mite. Greek. gin, as in a.
repentance. Greek. metanoia. App-111. Here is the difference between Paul’s repentance and that of the Corinthians. The Corinthians were guilty of sin; Paul might have made an error of judgment.
after a godly manner = according to (Greek. kaki. App-104.) God, i.e. God’s mind and will.
that = in order that. Greek. hina.
receive damage = suffer loss. Greek. zemioo. See 1Co 8:11.
by = from. Greek. ek. App-104.
nothing. Greek medeis.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] , emphatic, as distinguishing from : now that I know not only of your grief, but of its being grief which worked repentance.
] as E. V., after a godly sort: with reference to God, see ref. Rom. and note: secundum, hic significat sensum animi Deum spectantis et sequentis, Bengel. , . cum. Cf. , 1Co 15:32.
, …] in order that ye might in nothing be damaged by us: not , so that ye did not , as many Commentators:-the divine purpose of their grief is indicated; God so brought it about, in order that your grief occasioned by me might have, not an injurious, but a beneficial effect.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Co 7:9. , I now rejoice) The now forms an epitasis;[38] not only do I not repent, that you had brief sorrow, but I even rejoice, because it has proved salutary to you.- , unto repentance) Unto here determines the kind of sorrow.- , [after a godly manner] according to God) according to here signifies the feeling of the mind, having regard to and following God. There is no sorrow with God; but the sorrow of penitents renders the mind conformable to God; comp. , according to, Rom 14:22; Col 2:8; 1Pe 4:6. So in Philostr. in Heroicis, p. 665, , I am come here under divine auspices.- , in nothing) This is consonant with that feeling, under which the apostle also speaks, 2Co 11:9, , in everything.-, ye might suffer loss or damage) All sorrow which is not according to God, is damaging, and deadly, 2Co 7:10.
[38] i.e. He had already said, I rejoiced, in 2Co 7:7 : and here in 2Co 7:9, now, added to the same word I rejoice, augments its force. See Append.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Co 7:9
2Co 7:9
I now rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly sort,-[Their repentance was a change of will produced by sorrow for sin which led to a reformation. A change of will produced by other considerations than sorrow for sin, or which fails to produce a change of conduct, is certainly not the repentance of which the apostle spoke.]
that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing.-The infliction of pain is, for the time, a damage or loss, unless it be compensated for by subsequent advantage, but instead of producing any injury, the reproof had resulted in the greatest spiritual good. Note the loving interest in these words concerning the temporary pain as having no right to occasion the least distress unless there was absolute need.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I rejoice: 2Co 7:6, 2Co 7:7, 2Co 7:10, Ecc 7:3, Jer 31:18-20, Zec 12:10, Luk 15:7, Luk 15:10, Luk 15:17-24, Luk 15:32, Act 20:21
after a godly manner: or, according to God, 2Co 7:10, 2Co 7:11, 2Co 1:12,*Gr.
that ye: 2Co 2:16, 2Co 10:8-10, 2Co 13:8-10, Isa 6:9-11
Reciprocal: Num 29:7 – afflict Neh 8:9 – all the people Psa 30:5 – weeping Psa 32:6 – godly Son 5:5 – my hands Isa 54:6 – a woman Jer 31:9 – come Mat 5:4 – General Mar 6:12 – preached Luk 18:24 – he was Luk 22:62 – and wept 1Co 5:2 – mourned 1Co 13:6 – rejoiceth 2Co 1:7 – our 2Co 2:4 – not 2Co 12:21 – and have not 1Ti 1:4 – godly
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE NATURE OF TRUE REPENTANCE
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2Co 7:9-10
The Apostle here distinguishes two kinds of sorrowone good and praiseworthy, and a blessing to the soul; the other useless and even hurtful, working death.
I. The need of sorrow, because of your own sin. It would be quite useless to talk of kinds of sorrow to persons who do not see the necessity of any sorrow for sin at all, who are perfectly well satisfied with themselves, and who bear lightly and thoughtlessly the sins of their past years. No repentanceno amendment of life can ever come out of a mind in that stateany more than you could expect a crop of corn out of ground that had not been ploughed or sown.
II. Godly sorrow.If you do feel your need of Christian sorrow; if your conscience accuses you of sin, and you cannot help pleading guilty; if you really desire to do better in the future than you have in the past, to live better, to pray with more sincerity, to be a better Christian altogether; if this be your desire, and you are willing and even anxious to take trouble in carrying that desire out, then your sorrow is what St. Paul calls godly sorrow. And you see what he says of such: Godly sorrow worketh repentance and leads to salvation. In what way does it do so? It is not merely the regretting that we have done wrong; it involves our trying to do right. It shows us the path of duty more clearly; it makes us more anxious to follow it. It leads us to salvation, because it leads back our souls to God.
III. The sorrow of the world.There is another kind of sorrow and a very much commoner kind. Because it is so common, St. Paul calls it the sorrow of the world, and says that it leads to death. It consists in being sorry merely for the consequences of a sin, and not troubling about the sin itself. This kind of sorrow does the soul no good, but harm. The sinner troubles himself very little about the sin itself. What he is afraid of is the punishment for it that is coming upon him by-and-by. He does not hate the sinhe is very fond of it; he would like to keep on practising it, only, he knows in his heart, that after sin must come, some time or other, death; and after death must come judgment for sin; and after judgment will come the everlasting punishment of the impenitent sinner. And he is afraid of hell. That is the extent of his sorrow. But as to being sorry for the sin, he clings to it and loves it, and is only sorry that unhappily he cant indulge in it without paying (so to speak) for his indulgence in the shape of punishment. And how is it possible that such a sorrow for sin (if we can call it sorrow) as this can do the soul anything but harm? It will only sink the soul deeper and deeper into the mire of sin as time goes on; more and more hopelessly lost will the man be with each time that this base and slavish fear of punishment takes possession of his soul and overcomes him with a feeling which he calls repentance, but which is only the sorrow of the world which worketh death.
III. There is nothing so important as getting rid of your sins.If you could once realise the awful issues that hang upon your caring for, or neglecting, the work of penitence and purification of soul that alone can make you fit for heaven; if you could look forward a little, beyond the grave, and see how bitterly, if you neglect it now, you will lament that you so neglected itlament, yes, with tears of sorrowwith groans and gnashing of teeth to think of your blindness and folly, and stupidity and ingratitude, in neglecting the offer of mercy and salvation; if you could once realise this, there would be no slackness in you or holding back any more. There would be no slurring over prayers any more; there would be no staying away from church any more; there would be no more bad words in the streets; no more want of religion in the houses; whatever might be the fault found with us, it would not be said that we were not in earnest.
Illustration
There was a nation in ancient times which attached no shame or disgrace to the crime of stealing. But if anyone was caught in the act of stealing, he was punished; not for the theft itself, but for being found out. Such a detected thief would no doubt be sorry. But his sorrow would refer not to the stealing itself, but to the being found out in it. This is an exact type of the sorrow of the world.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2Co 7:9. The mere fact that they were made sorry did not cause Paul’srejoicing, but their sorrow was the kind that caused them to repent. After a godly manner means their sorrow was the kind that pleased God; hence the letter from Paul had not damaged them in any way, but rather had bene-fitted them.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Co 7:9. Now I rejoice . . . that ye were made sorry unto repentanceunto a complete change of mind about this case; the sorrow, though sharp, was short and it was salutary,for ye were made sorry after a godly sort, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothingour treatment of you proved to be of God for your good.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 9 He was happy over their sorrow because it was Godly sorrow that moved them to repent. Paul was happy because the letter had caused no damage but, rather, good was done.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
I now rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly sort, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing. [In his first epistle to the Corinthians Paul had sternly rebuked them. Though recognizing that the rebuke was well deserved, the apostle regretted that he had written so sternly and uncompromisingly, fearing lest his letter might not work the results which he wished, for speaking what is right does not always lead to happy results (Joh 6:60-68). His words were calculated to cause them the sorrow of vexation or hurt vanity, or the sorrow of mortified pride, etc. But when he learned from Titus that it had caused them to sorrow as being culpable in the sight of God, and so caused them to repent as he desired, the apostle was glad that he had written as he had, for they hall lost nothing by reason of his timidity or tenderheartedness. He had made them sorry but for a season, and could now make them glad by this second epistle which contained the consolation of his approval.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to {f} repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
(f) In that this sorrow did you much good in leading you to amend your obscene behaviour and sins.