“Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.”
My Notes
What Does 2 Corinthians 7:13 Mean?
"Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all." Paul describes a CHAIN OF JOY: the Corinthians' repentance comforted TITUS. Titus' joy comforted PAUL. Paul's comfort overflows to the CORINTHIANS through this letter. The joy is CONTAGIOUS — it travels from community to messenger to apostle to letter to community again. The refreshment circulates. The comfort multiplies.
The phrase "we were comforted in your comfort" (parakelēmetha epi tē paraklēsei hymōn — we were comforted/encouraged by your comfort/encouragement) makes the Corinthians' comfort the SOURCE of Paul's comfort: Paul's encouragement comes FROM theirs. The community's response produces the apostle's joy. The people Paul worried about have become the people who COMFORT Paul. The direction of encouragement has REVERSED — the corrected community now encourages the correcting apostle.
The "exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus" (perissoteron mallon echarēmen epi tē chara Titou — even more abundantly we rejoiced at the joy of Titus) adds a SECOND LAYER of joy: Paul doesn't just rejoice at the Corinthians' comfort. He rejoices EVEN MORE at TITUS' joy. The joy of the co-worker who visited Corinth and found repentance brings Paul EXCESSIVE joy. The joy is COMPOUNDED — Corinthian comfort + Titus' joy = Paul's EXCEEDING rejoicing.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Whose spirit have you refreshed recently — and has the joy traveled further?
- 2.What does the corrected community comforting the correcting apostle teach about the reversal that repentance produces?
- 3.How does joy-at-someone-else's-joy being a MULTIPLIER describe compounded rejoicing?
- 4.What chain of comfort are you part of — and is the encouragement circulating or stopping at you?
Devotional
We were comforted by YOUR comfort. And we rejoiced EVEN MORE at Titus' joy — because YOU refreshed HIM. The chain of joy: Corinth's repentance refreshes Titus. Titus' joy comforts Paul. Paul's overflow returns to Corinth. The encouragement is CIRCULAR. The joy MULTIPLIES as it travels.
The 'comforted in your comfort' makes the community the SOURCE of the apostle's joy: Paul's comfort doesn't come from heaven abstractly. It comes from the CORINTHIANS — the very community he was worried about. The people who caused him grief (2:4) now cause him JOY. The relationship that produced anguish now produces comfort. The reversal is the evidence of the repentance.
The 'exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus' adds COMPOUNDED joy: Paul doesn't just rejoice at the Corinthians' response. He rejoices EVEN MORE at watching TITUS rejoice. The joy of the CO-WORKER — the person who went to Corinth, delivered the letter, witnessed the repentance — produces ADDITIONAL joy in Paul. Joy-at-someone-else's-joy is a MULTIPLIER. The second-hand joy exceeds the first-hand.
The 'his spirit was refreshed by you all' identifies what the Corinthians DID: they REFRESHED Titus' spirit. The word 'refreshed' (anapepautai — has been rested, has been given rest/relief) means the Corinthians' response gave Titus' spirit REST. The anxiety he carried (would they repent? would they respond?) was replaced by RELIEF. The spirit that arrived in Corinth burdened left Corinth refreshed. The community's response was the balm.
Whose spirit have you refreshed — and has the joy traveled through the chain?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Therefore we were comforted in your comfort,.... In the comfortable situation the church was in; not in their grief and…
Therefore we were comforted in your comfort - The phrase “your comfort,” here seems to mean the happiness which they…
For the joy of Titus - Titus, who had now met St. Paul in Macedonia, gave him the most flattering accounts of the…
In these verses the apostle endeavours to comfort the Corinthians, upon whom his admonitions had had such good effect.…
Therefore we were comforted in your comfort Most modern editors punctuate as follows: -Therefore we were comforted. And…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture