What does 2 Corinthians 1:1 mean?

This is the start of the second letter written by Paul as preserved in the Bible. It begins in a way familiar to most of his letters. He identifies himself by name and then by his position. Paul was an apostle of Christ Jesus. In this era, an apostle was understood to be someone sent or commissioned by another person to represent him and speak on his behalf. Paul did not apply for the job of "apostle of Jesus Christ." He was chosen for that role by God (Galatians 1:15–16; Acts 9:15). By introducing himself in this way, Paul was letting his readers know up front that what he would write in this letter would carry the weight of being the words of Christ.

Paul also sends greetings from Timothy, who was with him as he wrote this letter from Macedonia. This was about a year after writing 1 Corinthians. It may be that Timothy served as the scribe for Paul's letter, writing it down as Paul dictated. Paul sometimes described Timothy as his son in the faith. Paul became the younger man's mentor in ministry shortly after passing through Timothy's hometown of Derbe or Lystra. Timothy's mother was Jewish and his father was Greek. Timothy was already a believer in Jesus with a good reputation among the Christians. Paul recruited him to join his missionary team and travel with them (Acts 16:1–3).

Timothy had previously joined Paul in Corinth when the apostle was establishing the church there. Later, Paul had sent Timothy back to Corinth as his representative to address some of the issues the church was dealing with. That visit may not have gone well, leading to an even more troubled visit from Paul.

Paul identifies his audience as God's church in Corinth, along with all the saints—this is a term meaning all believers in Jesus—in the region of Achaia around the capital city.