What does 2 Corinthians 2:6 mean?

We have no details about what went on between one of the men in the Corinthian church and Paul. Putting things together from the context of 1 and 2 Corinthians, Bible scholars speculate this man confronted Paul and challenged his authority as an apostle. The rest of the church either did not know about it or stood by and did nothing. Paul left and then wrote back to them a painful letter, which has not been kept. In it, he explained this man was in sin for rejecting Paul's God-given authority and leading the church astray. Paul apparently insisted the believers of Corinth must correct the man.

Paul has written that the man's offense was serious. He brought pain to the entire church. He was wrong. Now Paul writes, though, that it is time to turn and forgive the man. Paul says that punishment by the majority of the church is adequate. The term translated "punishment" here is epitimia, which only appears in the New Testament in this verse. Given the tone Paul uses here, it's possible that a softer word, such as "reprimand" or "scorn" might be more accurate.

A minority of interpreters suggested the man referred to here is the one sleeping with his father's wife, or stepmother, from 1 Corinthians 5. Paul told them to turn that man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (1 Corinthians 5:5). Most scholars do not believe that man to be the one Paul is talking about in this passage, however. The "punishment" given to the man who challenged Paul does not seem to have been as severe as being turned over to Satan, or excommunication. We are not told what the punishment was, but the man has apparently repented. Paul believes the time for any kind of censure or church discipline has come to an end.