And I wrote this same to you; that I may not, when I come, have sorrow upon sorrow, from them of whom I ought to rejoice: having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.

“"And I wrote this very thing unto you." What? That for this cause I came not, to spare you. When wrote he? In the former Epistle when he said, "I do not wish to see you now by the way?" I think not; but in this Epistle when he said, "Lest when I come again, my God should humble me before you." I have written then towards the end this same, saith he, "lest when I come, my God will humble me, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore." But why didst thou write? "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?" For whereas he said he was made glad by their sorrow, and this was too arrogant and harsh, again he gave it a different turn and softened it by what he subjoined. For, he saith, I therefore wrote unto you before, that I might not with anguish find you unreformed; and I said this, "lest I should have sorrow," out of regard not to my own interest but yours. For I know that if ye see me rejoicing ye rejoice, and if ye behold me sad ye are sad.”

“Aquinas began above with his general excuse concerning the delay in going to the Corinthians; here he intimates the cause of so great a delay, and how he spared them. And concerning this he does two things. First he intimates one cause of the delay to have been lest by his arrival he should bring them sorrow; second he shows another cause to have been lest the fruit which he hoped for among others, and had begun to produce, should be hindered, there when I had come, etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows the cause of the delay to be in general, lest he should bring sorrow; second he speaks specially of a certain one who had grieved him, there but if any one has grieved me. Concerning the first he does three things. First he assigns the reason why he put off coming; second he assigns the cause of what was said, for if I have grieved, etc.; third he makes clear what he has said, there for out of much tribulation. He says therefore: I said that I did not come to you, sparing you, in this namely, that I did not wish you to be made sorrowful, therefore I determined, that is, I firmly resolved, this very thing with myself, which I proposed, when I sent the other epistle, Ecclus. 37:20: before all things a true word, etc. Lest again, that is, another time, in sorrow I should come to you, that is, that I should make you sorrowful. And the reason why he did not wish to make them sorrowful is that same reason by which the Lord did not wish his disciples to fast, namely to this end, that they might be moved to Christ by love and not by fear, and be joined to him. For the Lord wished them to be strengthened and nourished in faith, in all sweetness and desire of heart, and thus, being strengthened by love, they would not easily be torn away on account of tribulations, because many waters could not quench charity, Cant. 8:7. Likewise the Apostle does not wish to make them sorrowful for this reason. The reason for this saying, namely that he does not wish to make them sorrowful, he assigns when he says for if I grieve, etc. And concerning this he does two things. First he assigns the cause why he did not wish to make them sorrowful; second he makes clear why he signifies this to them, there and this very thing I wrote. He says therefore: the reason why I did not wish to come in sorrow is that your sorrow redounds into my sorrow, and I rejoice at your consolation, and you alone console me, when I am among you; hence, if I should come and make you sorrowful, I would be made sorrowful from your sorrow, and thus there would be no one to give me joy among you, who are made sorrowful by me, because one who is made sorrowful does not easily console another. Prov. 10:1: a wise son, etc. Prov. 29:3: a man who loves wisdom, etc. Or otherwise: there is a twofold sorrow. One according to the world; the other according to God, which works repentance unto salvation. The Apostle is not speaking of the first, but of the second. And he says: from this very thing I will be consoled, if I make you sorrowful, that is, if by rebuking I lead you back to repentance; but if I should come and see you not repenting of your sins, then I would have no consolation, because no one is made sorrowful and repents on account of me, that is, my correction and rebuke. But the reason why I write this to you is that you may so dispose yourselves that, when I come, I may not have sorrow over the fact that I have seen you uncorrected, added to the sorrow which I had when I heard that you had sinned. And concerning this he does two things. First he sets down the admonition; second he shows the hope of the fulfillment of the admonition, there trusting in all of you, etc. The admonition is this: therefore I wrote this to you, namely that I am made sorrowful over the sin committed by you, II Peter 2:8: with iniquitous works they tormented the just soul, etc., so that you may prepare and dispose yourselves by correcting, so that when I come to you, I may not have sorrow over the sins, concerning which, namely you, I ought to have rejoiced, that is, I ought to have been glad and to have congratulated, namely over your presence. Luke 15:10: there is joy to the angels of God, etc. But what hope he has concerning the fulfillment of his admonition, he adds, saying trusting concerning all of you, etc.; as if he were to say: I have this confidence concerning you, that you so dispose yourselves, that when I come, all of you may give me matter for joy. And this you ought to do gladly, because my joy, etc., that is, redounds to your joy, or is for the sake of your joy, which you have from the recovery of grace. I Tim. 2: which is my joy, etc. Rom. 12:15: to rejoice with those who rejoice, etc. But because someone might doubt about this, that he says lest, when I come, I should have sorrow upon sorrow, and might ask what sorrow he had concerning them, therefore he consequently explains this, saying for out of much tribulation, etc. And concerning this he does two things. First he makes clear the sorrow already had for some time; second he answers a certain tacit question, there not that you should be made sorrowful, etc. He says therefore first: because I would have sorrow, if I did not find you corrected, added to the sorrow which I had when you sinned, and I had to make you sorrowful by rebuking harshly. For out of much tribulation and anguish of heart I wrote the first epistle, through many tears, which I shed for you already dead through sin. Jer. 9:1: who will give to my head waters, etc. Ecclus. 22:3: it is a confusion to a father concerning an undisciplined son. Isa. 57:1: the just man perishes, and there is no one who considers, etc. But it must be known that he sets down two things for the aggravation of sorrow, namely tribulation and anguish, because the one added to the other aggravates the sorrow. For sometimes one is troubled, but without anguish, namely when by some adversity one is pricked as if by a very sharp thorn, and yet sees ways of escape open to him; but if none should be open, anguish is joined to the tribulation. He says therefore out of much tribulation, by which I was pricked in fact and over your evil, and anguish of heart, because I did not see whence a remedy could easily be applied, I wrote, etc. Ps. 118:143: tribulation and anguish have found me. But because they might say: O Apostle, do you even write these things to us that we may be made sorrowful, and therefore he removes this, saying not that you should be made sorrowful, namely I write those things to you, but that you may know what charity I have toward you. For there are two signs of love, namely that one rejoices at the good of another, and is made sorrowful at his evil, and I have these toward you. Below 5:14: the charity of Christ urges us. More abundantly, than you would believe, or more abundantly than toward others.”

“Lest when I came I should have sorrow, I wished by sending you a letter first to rebuke and correct your evil ways, lest I should be forced to do so in person, which would be very painful to me Having confidence in you all, I had complete confidence that you would at once take away whatever might displease me, because you regard my joy as yours, and my grief therefore as yours also. I knew, therefore, that what displeased me would displease you. S. Paul says all this to prepare the Corinthians for his arrival, and to induce them to amend themselves, lest he should be deeply grieved at seeing them not yet amended”

“And I wrote this same unto you,.... Not what he had written in the preceding verse, or in Co2 1:23, where he says, that his not coming to them as yet was to spare them; but what he had written to them in his former epistle, concerning the excommunication of the incestuous man, which had so much grieved both him and them; and this the apostle chose rather to order by writing, than in person; hoping to hear of their repentance and amendment, before he came among them: lest, says he, when I came, or should come, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; some copies and the Complutensian edition read, "sorrow upon sorrow"; and so does the Vulgate Latin version, which seems to be transcribed from Phi 2:27, that is, he took this method of sending a reproving letter, in order to bring them to a sense and acknowledgment of sin; lest should he come in person, some would have been a grief and trouble to him, having fallen into sin not repented of; who ought to have been matter of rejoicing to him, as being the seals of his apostleship, and his work in the Lord: and this step he was the more encouraged to take, through the confidence he had of them, having confidence in you all; being fully persuaded of their affection for him, and opinion of him: that my joy is the joy of you all; that their joy and grief were mutual and common; that what he rejoiced in, they did likewise; and what was displeasing to him was displeasing to them; and therefore upon the first hint given, he took care to remove the occasion of such displeasure, that their mutual comfort might take place; assuring them, and of which they might be assured, that it was no joy to him to grieve them; he could have none when theirs was gone; his ultimate view in writing to them in the manner he had, was not to grieve, but to bring them to repentance and reformation, which issued in the mutual joy of him and them.”

“And I wrote this same unto you - This I particularly marked in my first epistle to you; earnestly desiring your reformation, lest, if I came before this had taken place, I must have come with a rod, and have inflicted punishment on the transgressors. See Co1 5:1-13. My joy is the joy of you all - I know that ye wish my comfort as much as I wish yours.”

“I wrote this same unto you--namely, that I would not come to you then (Co2 2:1), as, if I were to come then, it would have to be "in heaviness" (causing sorrow both to him and them, owing to their impenitent state). He refers to the first Epistle (compare Co1 16:7; compare Co1 4:19, Co1 4:21; Co1 5:2-7, Co1 5:13). sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice--that is, sorrow from their impenitence, when he ought, on the contrary, to have joy from their penitent obedience. The latter happy effect was produced by his first Epistle, whereas the former would have been the result, had he then visited them as he had originally proposed. having confidence . . . that my joy is the joy of you all--trusting that you, too, would feel that there was sufficient reason for the postponement, if it interfered with our mutual joy [ALFORD]. The communion of saints, he feels confident in them "ALL" (his charity overlooking, for the moment the small section of his detractors at Corinth, Co1 13:7), will make his joy (Co2 2:2) their joy.”