2 Corinthians 7:9

Contextual Overview

⁵In fact, when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts on the outside, fears within. ⁵ For when wee were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on euery side; without were fightings, within were feares. ⁵ For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. ⁵ For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. ⁵ For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts on the outside, fears inside. ⁵ When we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. We found trouble all around us. We had fighting on the outside and fear on the inside. ⁵For even when we arrived in Macedonia our bodies had no rest, but we were oppressed at every turn—conflicts and disputes without, fears and dread 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. ⁵For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction-conflicts on the outside, fears within.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I rejoice: 2 Corinthians 7:6, 2 Corinthians 7:7, 2 Corinthians 7:10, Ecclesiastes 7:3, Jeremiah 31:18-20, Zechariah 12:10, Luke 15:7, Luke 15:10, Luke 15:17-24, Luke 15:32, Acts 20:21

after a godly manner: or, according to God, 2 Corinthians 7:10, 2 Corinthians 7:11, 2 Corinthians 1:12,*Gr.

that ye: 2 Corinthians 2:16, 2 Corinthians 10:8-10, 2 Corinthians 13:8-10, Isaiah 6:9-11

Reciprocal: Numbers 29:7 - afflict Nehemiah 8:9 - all the people Psalms 30:5 - weeping Psalms 32:6 - godly Song of Solomon 5:5 - my hands Isaiah 54:6 - a woman Jeremiah 31:9 - come Matthew 5:4 - General Mark 6:12 - preached Luke 18:24 - he was Luke 22:62 - and wept 1 Corinthians 5:2 - mourned 1 Corinthians 13:6 - rejoiceth 2 Corinthians 1:7 - our 2 Corinthians 2:4 - not 2 Corinthians 12:21 - and have not 1 Timothy 1:4 - godly

Cross-References

Genesis 2:19
Out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.

Genesis 2:19
And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Genesis 2:19
And out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and he brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called that living creature was its name.

Genesis 2:19
From the ground God formed every wild animal and every bird in the sky, and he brought them to the man so the man could name them. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name.

Genesis 2:19
The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

Genesis 2:19
So the LORD God formed out of the ground every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

Genesis 2:19
And out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

Genesis 2:19
So the Lorde God formed of the earth euery beast of the fielde, and euery foule of the heauen, and brought them vnto the man to see howe he would call them: for howsoeuer the man named the liuing creature, so was the name thereof.

Genesis 2:19
And out of the ground Yahweh God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and He brought each to the man to see what he would call it; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

Genesis 2:19
So the Lord took some soil and made animals and birds. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them. Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That's how they got their names. None of these was the right kind of partner for the man.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry,.... Their grief and sorrow, as a natural passion, was no matter or cause of joy to him; nor was this what he sought after, being what he could take no real pleasure in; for so far as that was a pain to them, it was a pain to him:

but that ye sorrowed to repentance; their sorrow issued in true evangelical repentance, and this was the ground of his rejoicing; for as there is joy in heaven among the angels, at the repentance of a sinner, so there is joy in the church below, among the saints and ministers of the Gospel, when either sinners are brought in, or backsliders returned by repentance:

for ye were made sorry after a godly sort; what gave him so much joy and satisfaction was, that their sorrow was of the right sort; it was a godly sorrow, they sorrowed after; or according to God, according to the will of God, and for sin, as it was committed against him; it was a sorrow that God wrought in them:

that ye might receive damage by us in nothing; what added to his pleasure was, that his writing to them, and the effect it produced, had not been in the least detrimental to them; things had worked so kindly, and this sorrow had wrought in such a manner, that they were not hurt in their souls, but profited; nor in their church state, they had not lost one member by it; nay, the offender himself, which was the occasion of all this trouble, was recovered and restored by these means.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry ... - I have no pleasure in giving pain to anyone, or in witnessing the distress of any. When people are brought to repentance under the preaching of the gospel, the ministers of the gospel do not find pleasure in their grief as such. They are not desirous of making people unhappy by calling them to repentance, and they have no pleasure in the deep distress of mind which is often produced by their preaching, in itself considered. It is only because such sorrow is an indication of their return to God, and will be followed by happiness and by the fruits of good living, that they find any pleasure in it, or that they seek to produce it.

But that ye sorrowed to repentance - It was not mere grief; it was not sorrow producing melancholy, gloom, or despair; it was not sorrow which led you to be angry at him who had reproved you for your errors - as is sometimes the case with the sorrow that is produced by reproof; but it was sorrow that led to a change and reformation. It was sorrow that was followed by a putting away of the evil for the existence of which there had been occasion to reprove you. The word rendered here as “repentance” (μετάνοιαν metanoian) is a different word from that which, in 2 Corinthians 7:8, is rendered “I did repent,” and indicates a different state of mind. It properly means a change of mind or purpose; compare Hebrews 12:7. It denotes a change for the better; a change of mind that is durable and productive in its consequences; a change which amounts to a permanent reformation; see Campbell’s Diss. ut supra. The sense here is, that it produced a change, a reformation. It was such sorrow for their sin as to lead them to reform and to put away the evils which had existed among them. It was this fact, and not that they had been made sorry, that led Paul to rejoice.

After a godly manner - Margin, “according to God;” see the note on the next verse.

That ye might receive damage by us in nothing - The Greek word rendered “receive damage” (ζημιωθῆτε zēmiōthēte) means properly to bring loss upon anyone; to receive loss or detriment; see the note on 1 Corinthians 3:15; compare Philippians 3:8. The sense here seems to be, “So that on the whole no real injury was done you in any respect by me. You were indeed put to pain and grief by my reproof. You sorrowed. But it has done you no injury on the whole. It has been a benefit to you. If you had not reformed, if you had been pained without putting away the sins for which the reproof was administered, if it had been mere grief without any proper fruit, you might have said that you would have suffered a loss of happiness, or you might have given me occasion to inflict severer discipline. But now you are gainers in happiness by all the sorrow which I have caused.” Sinners are gainers in happiness in the end by all the pain of repentance produced by the preaching of the gospel. No man suffers loss by being told of his faults if he repents; and people are under the highest obligations to those faithful ministers and other friends who tell them of their errors, and who are the means of bringing them to true repentance.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Corinthians 7:9. Ye sorrowed to repentance — Ye had such a sorrow as produced a complete change of mind and conduct. We see that a man may sorrow, and yet not repent.

Made sorry after a godly manner — It was not a sorrow because ye were found out, and thus solemnly reprehended, but a sorrow because ye had sinned against God, and which consideration caused you to grieve more than the apprehension of any punishment.

Damage by us in nothing. — Your repentance prevented that exercise of my apostolic duty, which would have consigned your bodies to destruction, that your souls might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.