And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I 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.
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Ambrosiaster
AD 400
The purification of the people is the apostle’s joy. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
Lest when I came I should have sorrow. I wished by sending you a letter first to rebuke and correct your evil ways, lest I should be forced to do so in person, which would be very painful to me.
Having confidence in you all. I had complete confidence that you would at once take away whatever might displease me, because you regard my joy as yours, and my grief therefore as yours also. I knew, therefore, that what displeased me would displease you. S. Paul says ail this to prepare the Corinthians for his arrival, and to induce them to amend themselves, lest he should be deeply grieved at seeing them not yet amended.
Paul had already said that he was gladdened by their sorrow. This may have seemed arrogant and harsh, so to soften the impact he adds this: He knew that if he were happy they would be happy and that if he were sad, they would be sad too… . It is with weighty meaning that I do not come to you, because I feel not hate or aversion but rather exceeding love.
What? That for this cause I came not, to spare you. When wrote he? In the former Epistle when he said, I do not wish to see you now by the way? 1 Corinthians 16:7 I think not; but in this Epistle when he said, Lest when I come again, my God should humble me before you. 2 Corinthians 12:21 I have written then towards the end this same, says he, lest when I come, my God will humble me, and I should mourn for many of them that have sinned heretofore.
But why did you write? Lest when I 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? For whereas he said he was made glad by their sorrow, and this was too arrogant and harsh, again he gave it a different turn and softened it by what he subjoined. For, he says, I therefore wrote unto you before, that I might not with anguish find you unreformed; and I said this, lest I should have sorrow, out of regard not to my own interest but yours. For I know that if you see...
