2 Corinthians 7:11 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Corinthians 7:11
For 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.
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — nominative singular neuter
that
λυπηθῆναιlupēthēnai
G3076
to distress · verb — aorist passive infinitive
ye
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
sorrowed
λυπέωlypéō
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
Romans 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
1 Timothy 5:21-22 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before anot…
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Psalms 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
1 Corinthians 5:13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
2 Corinthians 7:7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, yo…
Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 7:5-11
There seems to be a connection between Co2 2:13 (where the apostle said he had no rest in his spirit when he found not Titus at Troas) and the fifth verse of this chapter: and so great was his affection to the Corinthians, and his concern about their behaviour in relation to the incestuous person, that, in his further travels, he still had no rest till he heard from them. And now he tells them,
I. How he was distressed, Co2 7:5. He was troubled when he did not meet with Titus at Troas, and afterwards when for some time he did not meet with him in Macedonia: this was a grief to him, because he could not hear what reception he met with at Corinth, nor how their affairs went forward. And, besid…
Confirmation of Co2 7:10 from the Corinthians' own experience.
carefulness--solicitude, literally, "diligence"; opposed to their past negligence in the matter.
in you--Greek "for you."
yea--not only "carefulness" or diligence, but also "clearing of yourselves," namely, to me by Titus: anxiety to show you disapproved of the deed.
indignation--against the offender.
fear--of the wrath of God, and of sinning any more [SCLATER and CALVIN]; fear of Paul [GROTIUS], (Co1 4:2, Co1 4:19-21).
vehement desire--longing for restoration to Paul's approval [CONYBEARE and HOWSON]. "Fear" is in spite of one's self. "Longing desire" is spontaneous, and implies strong love and an aspiration for corr…
What carefulness it wrought in you - Carefulness of obeying my directions, Co2 7:15; yea, what clearing of yourselves from guilt by inflicting censures on the guilty person, and putting away evil from among you, Co1 5:13; yea, what indignation against him who had dishonored his profession, and defiled the Church; yea, what fear of my displeasure, and the rod which I threatened, Co1 4:21; yea, what vehement desire to rectify what was amiss in this matter, Co2 7:7; yea, what zeal for me; yea, what revenge in punishing the delinquent. See Whitby.
In all things, etc. - In the whole of your conduct in this affair since ye have received my letter, ye have approved yourselves to be clear, ἁγνους;…
The Church Fathers
One who provokes godly grief in us is our benefactor.
Someone who repents is troubled by the fear that he might sin again. But a person who knows that he has been deformed by sin longs to reform himself. One who knows that he is being rebuked for his own good begins to experience a zeal for bringing good works to completion.
"For behold," he saith, "this self-same thing, that ye were made sorry after a godly sort, what earnest care it wrought in you." 'For not only,' he saith, 'did your sorrow not cast you into that condemning of yourselves, as having acted idly in so doing; but it made you even more careful.' Then he speaks of the certain tokens of that carefulness; "Yea," what "clearing of yourselves," towards me. "Yea, what indignation" against him that had sinned. "Yea, what fear." For so great carefulness and very speedy reformation was the part of men who feared exceedingly. And that he might not seem to be exalting himself, see how quickly he softened it by saying, "Yea, what longing," that towards me. "Yea, what zeal," that on God's behalf. "Yea, what avenging:" for ye also avenged the laws of God that had been outraged. "In every thing ye approved yourselves to be pure in the matter." Not only by not having perpetrated, for this was evident before, but also by not consenting unto it. For since he said in the former Epistle, "and ye are puffed up;" he also says here, 'ye have cleared yourselves of this suspicion also; not only by not praising, but also by rebuking and being indignant.'
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Zeal — An earnest temper; may be enlightened (Num. 25:11-13; 2 Cor. 7:11; 9:2), or ignorant and misdirected (Rom. 10:2; Phil. 3:6). As a Christian grace, it must be grounded on right principles and directed…
Repentance · Should be accompanied by: Greater zeal in the path of duty — Should be accompanied by: Greater zeal in the path of duty
Sorrow · For sin — For sin
Zeal · Godly sorrow leads to — Godly sorrow leads to
Zeal, Religious · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
G3076
to distress
after
κατὰkata
G2596
(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
sort
θεὸνtheon
G2316
figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title
what
πόσηνposēn
G4214
interrogative pronoun (of amount) how much (large · correlative or interrogative pronoun — accusative singular feminine
carefulness
σπουδήν,spoudēn
G4710
"speed" · noun — accusative singular feminine
wrought
κατειργάσατοkateirgasato
G2716
to work fully · verb — aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
you
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
yea
ἀλλ᾽all᾽
G235
properly · conjunction
yourselves
ἀπολογίαν,apologian
G627
a plea ("apology") · noun — accusative singular feminine
yea
ἀλλ᾽all᾽
G235
properly · conjunction
indignation
ἀγανάκτησιν,aganaktēsin
G24
indignation · noun — accusative singular feminine
yea
ἀλλὰalla
G235
properly · conjunction
fear
φόβον,phobon
G5401
alarm or fright · noun — accusative singular masculine
yea
ἀλλ᾽all᾽
G235
properly · conjunction
desire
ἐπιπόθησιν,epipothēsin
G1972
a longing for · noun — accusative singular feminine
yea
ἀλλὰalla
G235
properly · conjunction
zeal
ζῆλον,zēlon
G2205
properly · noun — accusative singular masculine
yea
ἀλλ᾽all᾽
G235
properly · conjunction
revenge
ἐκδίκησιν;ekdikēsin
G1557
vindication · noun — accusative singular feminine
In
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
all
παντὶpanti
G3956
all · adjective — dative singular neuter
approved
συνεστήσατεsunestēsate
G4921
to set together · verb — aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural
For behold, this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort,.... The apostle proceeds to describe godly sorrow by its effects, which are so many evidences of the sincerity and genuineness of it; some of the things mentioned are peculiar to the case of the Corinthians, and others common to evangelical repentance in any:
what carefulness it wrought in you; to remove the incestuous person from communion with them, which they were very negligent of before; to sin no more after this sort; to keep up, for the future, a more strict and regular discipline in the church; to perform good works in general, and not to offend God:
yea, what clearing of yourselves; not by denying the fact, or l…
2 Corinthians 7:11-16
11. In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
11. Modis omnibus comprobastis vos puros esse in negotio.
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.
12. Itaque si scripsi vobis, non eius causa qui laeserat, neque eius causa qui laesus fuerat, scripsi: sed ut palam fieret stadium vestrum pro nobis apud vos, (vel, stadium nostrum in nobis erga vos,) in conspectu Dei.
13. Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his…
Two kinds of sorrow are mentioned: (1) Worldly sorrow that lacks repentance leads to spiritual death (e.g., see Matt 27:3-6; Heb 12:16-17). (2) Sorrow that leads us away from sin leads to salvation, as it did when the church in Corinth responded positively to Paul’s rebuke.
