2 Corinthians 7:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

NIV: I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.

NASB: My confidence in you is great; my boasting in your behalf is great. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.

CSB: I am very frank with you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions.

NLT: I have the highest confidence in you, and I take great pride in you. You have greatly encouraged me and made me happy despite all our troubles.

KJV: Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

NKJV: Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.

This second preserved letter to the Corinthians turns a corner in this verse. Paul has just been asking the Corinthians to make room in their hearts for him again. He insists he is innocent from any wrongdoing against them. He has made clear, though, that he is not writing to condemn them. He still feels great affection for them.

Now he begins to describe just how positive his feelings are for them. He is writing with great boldness, and not because he is ashamed or disappointed in them. The opposite is true. Paul declares the great pride he still takes in them. The following verse helps to explain why he now says that, in fact, he is filled with comfort and overflowing with joy despite all the affliction he and his friends have experienced.

Paul is returning to a story he set aside earlier in this letter (2 Corinthians 2:13). The sequence of events is this: His last visit with the Corinthians had been a painful one. An apparently influential man had been guilty of sin. After leaving them, Paul had written a difficult letter instructing them to hold this man accountable for his sin. Would they choose Paul or this sinful man? Paul did not want to return to see them until he heard how things went, so he sent Titus with that letter. The text of that message has not been preserved. Paul and arranged to meet Titus in Troas with their response. However, when Paul arrived in Troas, Titus was not there. Paul moved on to Macedonia to wait for him.

Now Paul is beginning to describe his great relief and joy at what he finally did hear from Titus about the Corinthians' response to his letter. He was comforted. They had chosen to do what was right.

Second Corinthians 7:2–16 begins with Paul urging the Corinthians to make room in their hearts for him and his co-workers for the gospel. He then describes the great affliction they were under until Titus returned from a visit to Corinth. Titus' report that the Corinthians had responded to a severe rebuke from Paul with sadness and repentance brought Paul great comfort and caused him to rejoice. Titus, too, expressed affection for the Corinthians after seeing their obedience and humility. Paul concludes by declaring his complete confidence in the Corinthians, though he will discuss other difficult issues in the following chapters.

Verse 1 concludes the previous chapter's declaration that believers, as God's holy people, must cleanse their lives of defilement. Next, Paul urges the Corinthians once more to make room in their hearts for him and his co-workers. He expresses his great comfort and joy over Titus' report that they received a letter of rebuke from him with sorrow and repentance, eager to make things right. He is glad to hear that Titus was impressed with their obedience and humble attitude. This hasn't resolved all the issues between Paul and the Corinthians, but he expresses his complete confidence in them.

Second Corinthians 7 begins with a single verse concluding Paul's teaching about what it means for Christians not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. He then urges the Corinthians once more to make room in their hearts for him and his fellow ministers. He expresses enormous comfort at hearing that they have received a letter of rebuke from him with an eagerness to make things right with him. Titus, too, is impressed with their obedience and humility. Paul declares that he now has complete confidence in them. Following chapters will continue to address spiritual problems within that church.

Second Corinthians returns to similar themes as those Paul mentioned in his first letter to this church. Paul is glad to hear that the church in Corinth has heeded his advice. At the same time, it is necessary for Paul to counter criticisms about his personality and legitimacy. Most of this text involves that subject. The fifth chapter, in contrast, contains comforting words which Christians have quoted often in times of hardship. Paul also details his expectations that the church in Corinth will make good on their promise to contribute to the needs of suffering believers in Jerusalem.