2 Corinthians 1
BSASBPaul opens by blessing God as the source of all comfort, explaining that suffering and comfort both flow through believers to help others. He tells of a crushing hardship in Asia that taught him to rely on the God who raises the dead. He then defends his changed travel plans, pointing to God’s faithful “Yes” in Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:1-2
Paul writes as an apostle, sent not by his own choice but by God’s will. Timothy joins him as a brother. The letter goes to the Corinthian church and to believers throughout Achaia, the Roman province around Corinth. Paul greets them with grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus.
BSA: saints (“holy ones, set apart”): Believers are called saints because God has set them apart for himself, not because they are flawless.
See also: 1 Corinthians 1:2.
2 Corinthians 1:3
Paul begins with praise, not complaint. God is the Father of our Lord Jesus, and he is the source of compassion and every kind of comfort. Whatever follows in the letter, Paul wants the reader to see first who God is.
BSA: compassion (“showing pity, mercies”): God’s compassion is a tender pity that moves him to act for those who hurt.
Greek: παρακλήσεως (paraklēseōs, G3874) — “comfort, encouragement, a calling alongside.” The word pictures someone called to stand beside you. It means more than soothing words; it is strength given in the hard place. Paul uses this word family about ten times in the first few verses.
2 Corinthians 1:4
God does not comfort us only for our own sake. The comfort we receive in trouble becomes something we can pass on to others in any trouble. Our hardest seasons can become the means by which we help someone else.
BSA: comfort (“console, exhort”): Biblical comfort includes both consoling the hurting and encouraging them to go on.
See also: Isaiah 51:12.
2 Corinthians 1:5
Paul says suffering for Christ is real and abundant for him, but Christ’s comfort is just as abundant. The two grow together. The more we share in Christ’s sufferings, the more we find his comfort reaching us.
BSA: overflow (“abound, superabound”): Both the suffering and the comfort spill over like a flood, and the comfort is never outmatched.
See also: Philippians 3:10.
2 Corinthians 1:6
Paul sees his own afflictions and his own comfort as serving the Corinthians. His troubles lead to their encouragement and salvation. His comfort helps them to endure patiently the same kind of sufferings. Nothing in a believer’s life is wasted.
BSA: patient endurance (“perseverance, steadfastness”): This is the active strength to stay under pressure and not give way.
2 Corinthians 1:7
Paul’s hope for the Corinthians does not waver. He knows that those who share in suffering will also share in comfort. This is a sure promise: hardship is never the whole story for those who belong to Christ.
BSA: sure (“certain, confident”): Paul’s hope is firmly fixed, like something that cannot be shaken loose.
See also: Romans 8:17.
2 Corinthians 1:8
Paul tells them plainly about a severe trial in the province of Asia. He does not give details. The pressure was so heavy that he and his companions saw no way out and gave up hope of surviving. He is honest about his weakness.
BSA: despaired (“lost hope, were perplexed”): They were at a complete loss, with no way out that they could see.
Greek: ἐξαπορηθῆναι (exaporēthēnai, G1820) — “to be utterly without a way out.” The word is built from the idea of having no passage through. Paul felt like a traveler hemmed in on every side, with no road ahead.
See also: Acts 19:23-41.
2 Corinthians 1:9
Paul felt he had already received a death sentence. God allowed this so that Paul would stop leaning on himself and lean wholly on God. The God he trusts is the one who raises the dead, so no situation is beyond his power.
BSA: sentence (“verdict, judgment”): Paul felt as though a final verdict had been handed down on his life. raises (“brings back to life, resurrects”): God’s power is shown at the point where human power has run out.
See also: Romans 4:17.
2 Corinthians 1:10
God rescued Paul from a deadly danger in the past, and Paul trusts him to rescue him again. His hope rests on God’s record of faithfulness. Past help becomes the ground for present confidence.
BSA: deliver (“rescue, save”): The same word runs through the verse: God has rescued, is rescuing, and will rescue.
See also: 2 Timothy 4:17-18.
2 Corinthians 1:11
Paul does not claim to stand alone. The Corinthians help him by praying. When God answers, many people will thank him. Prayer is real work, and it draws many into the joy of seeing God’s kindness.
BSA: favor (“gift, blessing”): The rescue is a gift of God’s grace, not something Paul earned.
See also: Philippians 1:19.
2 Corinthians 1:12
Paul’s confidence is a clear conscience. He and his companions lived honestly and with pure motives, depending on God’s grace and not on clever human scheming. His boast is not in himself but in what God has done.
BSA: sincerity (“genuine, without mixed motives”): Paul’s motives were clean, with no hidden agenda.
Greek: εἰλικρινείᾳ (eilikrineia, G1505) — “purity, transparent sincerity.” The word suggests something held up to the light and found without flaw. Paul claims nothing to hide.
See also: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.
2 Corinthians 1:13-14
Paul’s letters say what they mean. He hides nothing between the lines. He hopes the Corinthians, who now understand him in part, will come to understand him fully. Then on the day of the Lord Jesus, they and Paul can rejoice together in each other.
BSA: understand (“come to know deeply, recognized”): Paul wants them to know him truly, as a person, and not only to follow his words.
See also: 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20.
2 Corinthians 1:15-16
Paul explains his earlier plan. He meant to visit Corinth on his way to Macedonia, return to them on the way back, and then be sent on toward Judea. This would have given them a double blessing, two visits instead of one.
BSA: blessing (“grace, divine favor”): Paul thought of his visit as a means of grace, a gift to them.
See also: 1 Corinthians 16:5-7.
2 Corinthians 1:17
Paul changed his plans, and some in Corinth accused him of being unreliable. He asks whether he acted lightly or like a worldly person who says yes and no in the same breath. He wants them to see that his word can be trusted.
BSA: carelessly (“with lightness, frivolously”): The charge was that Paul made promises without seriousness and dropped them at will.
2 Corinthians 1:18-19
Paul answers by pointing to God’s faithfulness. His message to them has not been a muddle of yes and no. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom Paul, Silvanus and Timothy preached, is not unreliable. In him God’s answer has always been yes.
BSA: faithful (“reliable, deserving of trust”): Paul swears by God’s trustworthiness, which is the foundation of everything he preaches.
See also: Hebrews 13:8.
2 Corinthians 1:20
Every promise God has made finds its Yes in Jesus Christ. Because they are fulfilled in him, we answer with our Amen, which means “so be it,” to the glory of God. We can lean our full weight on what God has promised.
BSA: promises (“commitments, assurances”): These are God’s binding pledges, and each is backed by his own character. Amen (“confirmation, trust”): Saying Amen is agreeing and trusting that God will do what he said.
Greek: ἀμήν (amēn, G281) — “truly, so be it.” The word comes from a Hebrew root linked to firmness and faithfulness. To say it is to put your own seal on what God has said.
See also: Romans 15:8.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22
God himself steadies both Paul and the Corinthians in Christ. He has anointed his people, marked them with his seal as his own, and given the Spirit in their hearts. The Spirit is a first payment, a guarantee of the full inheritance still to come.
BSA: seal (“of ownership, authentication”): A seal marked something as belonging to its owner and as genuine. pledge (“guarantee, down payment”): The Spirit is the first installment that guarantees the rest will follow.
Greek: ἀρραβῶνα (arrabōna, G728) — “down payment, deposit, first installment.” This was a commercial word for a deposit that bound the buyer to complete the purchase. The Spirit now in us is a real share of what is promised, and a pledge of the whole.
See also: Ephesians 1:13-14.
2 Corinthians 1:23
Paul calls God as witness to his true reason for not returning to Corinth. He stayed away to spare them. He did not want to come in sorrow and discipline before they had a chance to put things right. His delay was kindness, not fickleness.
BSA: spare (“treat leniently, have pity on”): Paul held back out of gentleness toward them, giving them time to repent.
See also: 2 Corinthians 2:1-3.
2 Corinthians 1:24
Paul makes clear that he is no master over their faith. They stand firm by their own faith in Christ. He and his companions are fellow workers with them, and their aim is the Corinthians’ joy.
BSA: fellow workers (“helpers, co-workers”): Paul sees himself beside the Corinthians, working with them toward the same goal.
See also: 1 Peter 5:3.