2 Corinthians 7:11

Contextual Overview

⁵For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. ⁵ For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. ⁵ For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. ⁵For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side—conflicts without, fears within. ⁵When we rode into Macedonia, it was constant mayhem. We were attacked from every direction. The battle against evil on the outside wasn't any harder than the battle against fear on the inside. ⁵ For even when we had come into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; there were fightings outside and fears inside. ⁵ For indeed, when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but [we were] afflicted in every way; without combats, within fears. ⁵ In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears inside. ⁵ For even when we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side. Fightings were outside. Fear was inside. ⁵ For when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side: from without were fightings, from within were fears.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

that: 2 Corinthians 7:9, Isaiah 66:2, Zechariah 12:10-14, 1 Corinthians 5:2

carefulness: 2 Corinthians 7:7, 1 Corinthians 12:25, Titus 3:8

clearing: Genesis 44:6, Genesis 44:7, 1 Corinthians 5:13, Ephesians 5:11, 1 Timothy 5:21, 1 Timothy 5:22

indignation: 2 Samuel 12:5-7, Nehemiah 5:6-13, Nehemiah 13:25, Job 42:6, Jeremiah 31:18-20, Daniel 6:14, Mark 3:5, Ephesians 4:26

fear: 2 Corinthians 7:1, Psalms 2:11, Proverbs 14:16, Proverbs 28:14, Romans 11:20, Philippians 2:12, Hebrews 4:1, Hebrews 12:15, Hebrews 12:16, 1 Peter 1:17, Jude 1:23

vehement: Psalms 38:9, Psalms 42:1, Psalms 130:6, Psalms 145:19, Song of Solomon 8:6, Isaiah 26:8, 1 Peter 2:2

zeal: 2 Corinthians 9:2, Psalms 69:9, Psalms 119:139, John 2:17, Acts 17:16

revenge: Psalms 35:13, Matthew 5:29, Matthew 5:30, Mark 9:43-48, Revelation 3:19

approved: 2 Corinthians 6:4, 2 Corinthians 13:7, Romans 14:18, 2 Timothy 2:15

Reciprocal: Leviticus 6:27 - wash Leviticus 16:29 - shall afflict Leviticus 23:27 - afflict Deuteronomy 16:3 - the bread 1 Samuel 7:2 - lamented Jeremiah 31:19 - I smote Ezekiel 20:43 - and ye shall Ezekiel 36:31 - shall loathe Matthew 3:8 - forth Luke 3:8 - fruits Luke 6:21 - ye that weep Luke 7:38 - weeping Luke 18:13 - but Acts 5:5 - great Acts 22:1 - my Romans 6:21 - whereof 1 Corinthians 7:34 - careth 2 Corinthians 7:8 - though I made 2 Corinthians 7:15 - with 2 Timothy 4:16 - answer James 4:9 - afflicted

Cross-References

Genesis 1:7
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.

Genesis 1:7
So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.

Genesis 1:7
So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

Genesis 1:7
God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament, and set the diuision betwene the waters which [were] vnder the firmament, and the waters that [were] aboue the firmament: and it was so.

Genesis 1:7
So God made the space and separated the water. Some of the water was above it, and some of the water was below it.

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament, and departide the watris that weren vndur the firmament fro these watris that weren on the firmament; and it was don so.

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament; and diuided the waters, which were vnder the firmament, from the waters, which were aboue the firmament: and it was so.

Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 lessening, or defending it; but by acknowledging their neglect, praying it might be overlooked, declaring that they were not partakers of the sin; nor did they approve of it, but disliked and abhorred it, and were highly pleased with the method the apostle advised to:

yea, what indignation; not against the person of the offender, but against his sin; and not his only but their own too, in not appearing against him, and taking notice of him sooner; and particularly that they should act in such a manner, as to deserve the just rebuke of the apostle:

yea, what fear; not of hell and damnation, as in wicked men and devils, who repent not; but of God, and of grieving his ministers; and lest the corruption should spread in the church, as the apostle had suggested, "a little leaven leavens the whole lump";

yea, what vehement desire; of seeing the apostle; of giving him full satisfaction; of behaving in quite another manner for the time to come; and to be kept from evil, and to honour God by a becoming conversation:

yea, what zeal; for God and his glory; for restoring the discipline of the church: for the doctrines of the Gospel; for the ordinances of Christ's house; for the supporting the character of the apostle, and other ministers of the word, against the false apostles:

yea, what revenge; not of persons in a private way, vengeance belongs to God; but of all disobedience, particularly that of the unhappy criminal among them, which has shown in the punishment inflicted on him by many:

in all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter; of the incestuous person: it appeared plainly that they did not consent to, and approve of his sin; and though at first they were unconcerned about it, did not mourn over it as they ought, nor make such haste to deal with the offender as they should, yet having discovered true repentance for their sloth, negligence, and indulgence, they are acquitted, and stand, in the apostle's view of them, as if they had not offended.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For behold this self-same thing - For see in your own case the happy effects of godly sorrow. See the effects which it produced; see an illustration of what it is suited to produce. The construction is, “For lo! this very thing, to wit, your sorrowing after a godly manner, wrought carefulness, clearing of yourselves,” etc. The object of Paul is to illustrate the effects of godly sorrow, to which he had referred in 2 Corinthians 7:10. He appeals, therefore, to their own case, and says that it was beautifully illustrated among themselves.

What carefulness - (σπουδήν spoudēn). This word properly denotes “speed, haste;” then diligence, earnest effort, forwardness. Here it is evidently used to denote the diligence and the great anxiety which they manifested to remove the evils which existed among them. They went to work to remove them. They did not sit down to mourn over them merely, nor did they wait for God to remove them, nor did they plead that they could do nothing, but they set about the work as though they believed it might be done. When people are thoroughly convinced of sin, they will set about removing it with the utmost diligence. They will feel that this can be done, and must be done, or that the soul will be lost.

What clearing of yourselves - (ἀπολογίαν apologian). Apology. This word properly means a plea or defense before a tribunal or elsewhere; Acts 22:1; 2 Timothy 4:16. Tyndale renders it, “Yea, it caused you to clear yourselves.” The word here properly means “apology” for what had been done; and it probably refers here to the effort which would be made by the sounder part of the church to clear themselves from blame in what had occurred. It does not mean that the guilty, when convicted of sin, will attempt to vindicate themselves and to apologize to God for what they had done; but it means that the church at Corinth were anxious to state to Titus all the mitigating circumstances of the case: they showed great solicitude to free themselves, as far as could be done, from blame; they were anxious, as far as could be, to show that they had not approved of what had occurred, and perhaps that it had occurred only because it could not have been prevented. We are not to suppose that all the things here referred to occurred in the same individuals, and that the same persons precisely evinced diligence, and made the apology, etc. It was done by the church; all evinced deep feeling; but some manifested it in one way, and some in another. The whole church was roused, and all felt, and all endeavored in the proper way to free themselves from the blame, and to remove the evil from among them.

Yea, what indignation - Indignation against the sin, and perhaps against the persons who had drawn down the censure of the apostle. One effect of true repentance is to produce decided hatred of sin. It is not mere regret, or sorrow, it is positive hatred. There is a deep indignation against it as an evil and a bitter thing.

Yea, what fear - Fear lest the thing should be repeated. Fear lest it should not be entirely removed. Or it may possibly mean fear of the displeasure of Paul, and of the punishment which would be inflicted if the evil were not removed. But it more probably refers to the anxious state of mind that the whole evil might be corrected, and to the dread of having any vestige of the evil remaining among them.

Yea, what vehement desire - This may either mean their fervent wish to remove the cause of complaint, or their anxious desire to see the apostle. It is used in the latter sense in 2 Corinthians 7:7, and according to Doddridge and Bloomfield this is the meaning here. Locke renders it, “desire of satisfying me.” It seems to me more probable that Paul refers to their anxious wish to remove the sin, since this is the topic under consideration. The point of his remarks in this verse is not so much their affection for him as their indignation against their sin, and their deep grief that sin had existed and had been tolerated among them.

Yea, what zeal - Zeal to remove the sin, and to show your attachment to me. They set about the work of reformation in great earnest.

Yea, what revenge! - Tyndale renders this: “it caused punishment.” The idea is, that they immediately set about the work of inflicting punishment on the offender. The word used here (ἐκδίκησις ekdikēsis) probably denotes “maintenance of right, protection;” then it is used in the sense of avengement, or vengeance; and then of penal retribution or punishment; see Luke 21:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 2:14.

In all things ... - The sense of this is, “You have entirely acquitted yourselves of blame in this business.” The apostle does not mean that none of them had been to blame, or that the church had been free from fault, for a large part of his former Epistle is occupied in reproving them for their faults in this business, but he means that by their zeal and their readiness to take away the cause of complaint, they had removed all necessity of further blame, and had pursued such a course as entirely to meet his approbation. They had cleared themselves of any further blame in this business, and had become, so far as this was concerned, “clear” (ἁγνοὺς hagnous) or pure.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Corinthians 7:11. What carefulness it wrought in you — Carefulness of obeying my directions, 2 Corinthians 7:15; yea, what clearing of yourselves from guilt by inflicting censures on the guilty person, and putting away evil from among you, 1 Corinthians 5:13; yea, what indignation against him who had dishonoured his profession, and defiled the Church; yea, what fear of my displeasure, and the rod which I threatened, 1 Corinthians 4:21; yea, what vehement desire to rectify what was amiss in this matter, 2 Corinthians 7:7; yea, what zeal for me; yea, what revenge in punishing the delinquent. See Whitby.

In all things, c.] In the whole of your conduct in this affair since ye have received my letter, ye have approved yourselves to be clear, αγνους; not only to be clear of contumacy and obstinate persistance in your former conduct, but to have done all in the compass of your power to rectify the abuses which had crept in among you. The Corinthians were not clear, i.e. innocent or void of blame in the fact, but they were clear of all blame in their endeavours to remove the evil.