have the more abundantly towards you. The ends which the apostle desired to accomplish by his former letter were numer- ous, and he therefore sometimes specifies one, and sometimes another. Here, he says, it was to manifest his love ; in v. 9 he says it was to test their obedience ; in ch. 7 he says it was to bring them to repentance. These are not incompatible ends, and therefore there is no inconsistency between these several statements. The love which I have the more ahundaMly towards you. This naturally means the special love which I have for you. His love for them was more abundant, or greater, than that which he had for any other church. This view is borne out by numerous other passages in these two epistles, which go to show that Paul's love for the Corinthian church was, for some reason, peculiarly strong. As vs. 5-1 1 have direct reference to the case of the incestuous person, it is the more probable that all that he says in the preceding verses as to his reasons for not coming sooner to Corinth, and as to the sorrow and anxiety which he felt about the state of the church there, had s^^ecial reference to that case.
5. But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part, that I may not overcharge you all.
The connection between this paragraph, vs. 5-11, and what precedes is natural and obvious. Paul had been speak- ing of his motives for writing his former letter. It was not intended to give them sorrow. If sorrow had been occasioned, it had not come from him. This led him to speak more par- ticularly of the case which had occasioned so much distress. The proper interpretation of this particular verse is, however, a matter of great doubt. The translation is of necessity, in this case, an exposition, and therefore the grounds of doubt do not appear to the English reader. Our translators, after Luther, assume that omo ixipov<;^ i?i part^ are to be connected with the preceding clause, and 7ra.vTa<: v/xas, yo2i all, with eVt- ^ttpo), overcharge. Thus construed the sense can only be, ' If any one has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but in part, that is, I am not the only person aggrieved. I say this, lest I should bear hard upon you all. It would be a severe reflection on you to say that you did not feel any sorrow for the ofience in question.' According to this view, the design of the passage is to guard against the impression that he