came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice ; having confidence in you all that my joy is (the joy) of you all.
Having said that his motive for not coming at once to Cor- inth Avas to avoid giving them sorrow, he here adds, 'And I wrote what I did in my former letter that, when I came, I might not have sorrow.' Instead of going in person to cor- rect the evils which existed in the church of Corinth, he wrote to them that those evils might be corrected before he came, and thus his coming would be a source of joy to both parties. It is evident from the preceding context, and from vs. 4 and 9, that £ypai//a here refers not to this epistle, but to the former one. This scmie^ tovto avro, that very thing, that is, the very thing which I did write respecting the incestuous person. The expi-ession seems to have special reference to that case, because that is evidently the case to which the following verses relate. It appears that the point about which the apostle was most anxious was, how the Corinthians would act in regard to his command, 1 Cor. 5, 13, to put away from among them " that wicked person." He seems to have feared that his enemies might have had influence enough with the church, to prevent their executing his command. He there- fore waited in painful suspense to learn the issue. And when Titus, on his return from Corinth, informed him that they had not only promptly obeyed his directions, but that the offender himself and the whole church had been brought to deep and genuine repentance, his heart was filled with gratitude to God, and with love to the people who had manifested such a Chris- tian spirit. All this is plain from what is said in ch. V. Eras- mus and several other commentators render tovto avTo hac eadem de causa, for this very reason. The sense would then be, ' I determined I would not come to you with sorrow, and for that very reason I wrote to you that I might not.' This, although it suits the preceding context, is not so con- sistent with what follows as the common interpretation ; for in the following verses the apostle states the reasons for his writing as he liad done in his former letter.
Lest wJien I came I should Jiave sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice. Tiiat is, 'I wrote what I did that I might not have sorrow from those, who should be to me a source of joy.' He wished all jjainful questions settled before lie came, llaving confidence in you all that my joy is the joy