Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Corinthians 1:12 For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grac…
2 Corinthians 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestatio…
2 Corinthians 7:2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
2 Corinthians 10:2-3 But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of…
2 Corinthians 11:9-10 And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Maced…
2 Corinthians 12:13 For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? forgive me this wrong.
1 Thessalonians 2:3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:
1 Thessalonians 2:5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 12:11–end
In these verses the apostle addresses himself to the Corinthians two ways: -
I. He blames them for what was faulty in them; namely, that they had not stood up in his defence as they ought to have done, and so made it the more needful for him to insist so much on his own vindication. They in manner compelled him to commend himself, who ought to have been commended of them Co2 12:11. And had they, or some among them, not failed on their part, it would have been less needful for him to have said so much on his own behalf. He tells them further that they in particular had good reason to speak well of him, as being in nothing behind the very chief apostles, because he had given them full proof a…
I did not burden you--The "I" in the Greek is emphatic. A possible insinuation of the Corinthians is hereby anticipated and refuted: "But, you may say, granted that I did not burden you myself; nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you (in my net) with guile"; namely, made a gain of you by means of others (Th1 2:3).
Adam Clarke on 2 Corinthians 12:16
But be it so, I did not burden you - That is: You grant that I did not burden you, that I took nothing from you, but preached to you the Gospel freely; but you say that, Being Crafty, I caught you with guile; i.e. getting from you, by means of others, what I pretended to be unwilling to receive immediately from yourselves.
Many persons suppose that the words, being crafty, I caught you with guile, are the words of the apostle and not of his slanderers; and therefore have concluded that it is lawful to use guile, deceit, etc., in order to serve a good and a religious purpose. This doctrine is abominable; and the words are most evidently those of the apostle's detractors, against which he defe…
But be it so, I did not burden you,.... These words are not spoken by the apostle in his own person of himself, but in the person of his adversaries, and contain a concession and an objection of theirs, but be it so; they granted that he had not burdened the Corinthians, that he had took nothing of them himself for preaching the Gospel; they owned that he had preached it freely; this was so clear a point, and so flagrant a case, that they could not deny it; yet they insinuated to the Corinthians, and objected to the apostle, that though he did not receive anything from them with his own hands, yet he craftily and cunningly made use of others to drain their purses, and receive it for him; and…
The Church Fathers
And in another place Paul writeth to his disciples, "Peradventure like a crafty man I have carried you off with guile;" and here also he closely uniteth guile with cunning.
Paul makes explicit all the charges which an opponent might make against him in order to clear himself on all counts. For he did not deal deviously with the Corinthians but straightforwardly. On the one hand he wanted to make provision for them in the sight of God and on the other he did not want their wealth in this life. He might have been suspected of despising them because the sums which they offered him were too small, but this was not the case.
Paul has spoken these words very obscurely, but not without a meaning or purpose. For seeing he was speaking about money, and his defence on that score, it is reasonable that what he says must be wrapt in obscureness. What then is the meaning of what he says? He had said, 'I received not, nay I am ready even to give besides, and to spend;' and much discourse is made on this subject both in the former Epistle and in this. Now he says something else, introducing the subject in the form of an objection and meeting it by anticipation. What he says is something like this; 'I indeed have not made a gain of you: but perhaps some one has it to say that I did not receive [of you] indeed myself, but, being crafty, I procured those who were sent by me to ask for something of you as for themselves, and through them I myself received, yet keeping myself clear of seeming to receive, by receiving through others. But none can have this to say either; and you are witnesses.'
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
2 Corinthians 12:16-21
16. But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
16. Sed esto: ipse non gravavi vos: verum quum essem astutus, dolo vos cepi.
17. Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you?
17. Num per quenquam eorum, quos nisi ad vos, expilavi vos? [933]
18. I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?
18. Rogavi Titume, et una cum illo misi fratrem: num quid a vobis extorsit Titus? An non eodem spirtu ambulavimus? An non iisdem vestigiis?
19. Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in C…
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Corinthians 12:16-18
Some of the Corinthians still believed that Paul had deceived them by trickery. They might have insinuated that Paul was helping himself to the proceeds of the collection for the Jerusalem church (chs 8–9). The answer to this charge is a reminder of the integrity of Titus and the other brother (see 8:18-24). The integrity of Paul and his associates should debunk such false charges.
