2 Paul proceeds to explain (though still somewhat obscurely) what he means by the grace of God given in Macedonia. I mean (these words are not in the Greek but are needed after the English draw attention to), that (ὅτι; this could be rendered ‘for’) though they were sorely tried (δοκιμή, more or less as at 13:3; not as at 2:9; 9:13; Rom. 5:4; Phil. 2:22) by affliction (Barth, C.D. II ii. 637 sees here ‘vindication resulting from affliction’), the overflowing of their joy (Schlatter notes that