2 Corinthians 7:8
7:8 For even if I made you sad 1 by my letter, 2 I do not regret having written it 3 (even though I did regret it, 4 for 5 I see that my letter made you sad, 6 though only for a short time).
2 Corinthians 12:19
12:19 Have you been thinking all this time 7 that we have been defending ourselves to you? We are speaking in Christ before God, and everything we do, dear friends, is to build you up. 8
2 Corinthians 13:2
13:2 I said before when I was present the second time and now, though absent, I say again to those who sinned previously and to all the rest, that if I come again, I will not spare anyone, 9
1 tn Grk “if I grieved you.”
2 sn My letter. Paul is referring to the “severe” letter mentioned in 2 Cor 2:4.
3 tn Grk “I do not regret”; direct objects in Greek must often be supplied from the context. Here one could simply supply “it,” but since Paul is referring to the effects of his previous letter, clarity is improved if “having written it” is supplied.
4 tn Grk “I did regret”; the direct object “it” must be supplied from the context.
5 tc A few important mss (Ì46c B D* it sa) lack γάρ (gar, “for”), while the majority of witnesses have it (א C D1 F G Ψ 0243 33 1739 1881 Ï sy bo). Even though Ì46* omits γάρ, it has the same sense (viz., a subordinate clause) because it reads the participle βλέπων (blepwn, “seeing”; the Vulgate does the same). A decision is difficult because although the overwhelming external evidence is on the side of the conjunction, the lack of γάρ is a significantly harder reading, for the whole clause is something of an anacoluthon. Without the conjunction, the sentence reads more harshly. This would fit with Paul’s “vehemence of spirit” (A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament, 435) that is found especially in 2 Corinthians and Galatians. However, the mss that omit the conjunction are prone to such tendencies at times. In this instance, the conjunction should probably stand.
6 tn Grk “my letter grieved you.”
7 tc The reading “all this time” (πάλαι, palai) is found in several early and important Alexandrian and Western witnesses including א* A B F G 0243 6 33 81 365 1175 1739 1881 lat; the reading πάλιν (palin, “again”) is read by א2 D Ψ 0278 Ï sy bo; the reading οὐ πάλαι (ou palai) is read by Ì46, making the question even more emphatic. The reading of Ì46 could only have arisen from πάλαι. The reading πάλιν is significantly easier (“are you once again thinking that we are defending ourselves?”), for it softens Paul’s tone considerably. It thus seems to be a motivated reading and cannot easily explain the rise of πάλαι. Further, πάλαι has considerable support in the Alexandrian and Western witnesses, rendering it virtually certain as the original wording here.
8 tn Or “for your strengthening”; Grk “for your edification.”
9 tn The word “anyone” is not in the Greek text but is implied.