O you Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged.
All Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 6:11 Go To 2 Corinthians 6
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you. My mouth is open, it longs to say more to you, and to express all my affection for you, and it cannot. No matter what and how much I may say, it is less than my affection. The Apostle says this to show that what he had said of his patience, tribulations, and virtues was not from self-love, but from friendship, trust, and love towards the Corinthians. Friends are in the habit of interchanging their secret joys and sorrows, and thus showing their love for each other. When this is great they more and more try to express it, but find themselves unable to do justice to their feelings. This is what Paul does here.
The two ideas of "straitening" and "enlarging" are frequently contrasted by the Hebrews , to denote on the one hand sadness, timidity, suspicion, and avarice, and on the other joyfulness and generosity of heart. As sadness and avarice contract the heart, the brow, and the hands, so joy, cheerfulness, and charity expand them. Cf. Psalm 119:32, and 1 Kings 4:29.
