conscious of the operations of grace, neither were the apostles conscious of inspiration. As the believer, however, may know that he is the subject of divine influence, so the apostles knew that they were inspired. But as the believer may doubt the wisdom of some of his holiest acts, so the apostles might doubt the wisdom of acts done under divine guidance. Such acts are always wise, but the agent may not always see their wisdom.
For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry . This gives the reason why he at first regretted having written. He knew that his letter had excited much feeling in Corinth, and until he learned the nature and eflects of that feeling, he re- pented having written. Though but for a season. That is, although the sorrow which he had occasioned was only tem- porary, yet it made him regret his former letter. This inter- pretation supposes a different punctuation of the passage from that found either in the common editions of the Greek text, or in the Enghsh version. It supposes that the proper place for the period or colon is after " I did not repent," and not after the following clause, " I did repent." In this latter case the whole sense is difterent, and the latter clause of the verse [I^Xi-Kdi yd-p) is connected with the first clause, and is intended to give the reason why he said he had made them sorry, and not the reason why he regretted having done so. The sense
of the whole would then be, ' I made you sorry for I
perceive from what I hear from Titus, that my former letter did, although only for a while, grieve you.' The next verse then begins a new sentence. But this is an unnatural con- struction ; it requires the verse to be paraphrased in order to bring out the sense ; and after all it amounts to little to say, ' I made you sorry, for I see I made you sorry.' The con- struction is simpler and the sense better if we put a colon or semi-colon after " I do not repent," and make v. 9 a part of the same sentence. ' Though I made you sorry I do not re- pent : although I did repent, (for I see that my letter made you sorry, though only for a time,) I now rejoice.' The meaning is, 'Though I did repent, I now rejoice.' Thus the passage is printed in the Greek of Stiee and Thiele's Poly- giott, and, so far as the pointing is concerned, (omitting the marks of parenthesis,) in Tischendorfs Greek Testament. In the Vulgate the same sense is expressed. " Quoniam etsi contristavi vos in epistola, non me pcenitet ; et si pceniteret,