2 Corinthians 2:5–11

2:5 But if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent (not to exaggerate)8 he has saddened all of you as well. 2:6 This punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him, 2:7 so that now instead9 you should rather forgive and comfort him.10 This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair.11 2:8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.12 2:9 For this reason also I wrote you:13 to test you to see14 if you are obedient in everything. 2:10 If you forgive anyone for anything, I also forgive him—for indeed what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything) I did so for you in the presence of Christ, 2:11 so that we may not be exploited15 by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes).

8	tn Or “(not to say too much)”; Grk “(not to burden you [with words]).”
9	tn Grk “so that on the other hand.”
10	tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is supplied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted and must be supplied from the context.
11	tn Grk “comfort him, lest somehow such a person be swallowed up by excessive grief,” an idiom for a person being so overcome with grief as to despair or give up completely (L&N 25.285). In this context of excessive grief or regret for past sins, “overwhelmed” is a good translation since contemporary English idiom speaks of someone “overwhelmed by grief.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the difficulty of expressing a negative purpose/result clause in English, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
12	tn Or “I urge you to show that your love for him is real.”
13	tn The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied (as an understood direct object).
14	tn Grk “to know the proof of you,” that is, to know if the Corinthians’ obedience to Paul as an apostle was genuine (L&N 72.7).
15	tn Or “be taken advantage of.”