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2Co_7:6-7. Τοὺς ταπεινούς ] the lowly, i.e. the bowed down. This ὁ παρακαλῶν τοὺς ταπεινούς is a general designation of God, significant in its practical bearing (comp. 2Co_1:3), so that the suffering ἡμεῖς (in παρεκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς ) belong to the category of the ταπεινοί .
ὁ θεός ] is brought in later by way of attraction, because ὁ παρακαλῶν … παρεκάλεσεν ἡμᾶς were the chief conceptions. Comp. Kühner, ad Xen. Anab. iv. 3. 1.
ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ ] through the arrival.
Τίτου ] See Introd. § 1.
οὐ μόνον δὲ κ . τ . λ .] A delicate form of transition. Not merely through his arrival, not only through the reunion with him did God comfort us, but also through the comfort, wherewith he was comforted in regard to you (1Th_3:7) while he announced to us, etc. When Titus informed us of your desire, etc., this information had so soothing an effect on himself that we too were soothed. Comp. Ewald. The usual view, that Paul meant to say: through the comfort which he brought to me, for he related to me, etc., and thus wrote with logical inaccuracy, is as arbitrary as Hofmann’s way of escaping the difficulty—for which he adduces erroneously 1Th_3:10—that it must have run properly (?) in the form of παρακληθεὶς ἀνήγγειλεν . Certainly Titus had himself been comforted by what he saw in Corinth; but psychologically it was most natural that this “being comforted” on the part of Titus should be repeated and renewed by his communicating to Paul and Timothy his cheering observations and experiences, and so they too were comforted with the comfort which was afforded to Titus himself by the report which he was able to give. This interpretation—in which there is thus not to be assumed any blending of the comfort which Titus had felt in perceiving the improved state of matters at Corinth, and then in communicating it (Osiander)—is neither unnatural (Hofmann) nor turning on punctilious reflection (de Wette), but founded necessarily on the words, which Paul has not written otherwise, just because he has not conceived them otherwis.
ἐπιπόθησιν ] longing, namely, to see me again among yo.
ὀδυρμόν ] lamentation, for having saddened me so by the disorders tolerated in your church, especially in reference to the incestuous person. Comp. 2Co_7:11-12.
τὸν ὑμῶν ζῆλου ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ ] your eager interest for me, to soothe me, to obey me, etc. There was no need to repeat the article here after ζῆλον , since we may say ζηλοῦν or ζῆλον ἔχειν ὑπέρ τινος (Col_4:13), in which case ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ is blended so as to form one idea with ζῆλον . Comp. on Gal_3:26 and Fritzschior. Opusc. p. 245.
ὥστε με μᾶλλον χαρῆναι ] so that I was all the more glad. The emphasis is on μἀλλον (magis in Vulgate); on its meaning, all the more, comp. Nägelsbach on the Iliad, p. 227, ed. 3. The apostle’s joy was made all the greater by the information longed for and received, since from it he learned how, in consequence of his letter, the Corinthians had on their part now met him with so much longing, pain, and zeal. Observe in this the emphatic prefixing, thrice repeated, of the ὑμῶν , which gives the key to this μᾶλλον χαρῆναι . The former Epistle had had its effect. He had previously had for them longing, pain, zeal; now, on their part, such longing, etc., had set in for him. Thus the position of things had happily changed on the part of the church, which before was so indifferent, and in part even worse, in its mood towards Paul. Billroth, following Bengel, takes it: so that I rather rejoiced, i.e. so that my former pain was not merely taken away, but was changed into joy. Comp. also Hofmann.[258] In this case μᾶλλον would be potius. But the very prefixing of the μᾶλλον , and still more the similarity of 2Co_7:13, are against this.
Theophylact, we may add, has rightly remarked that Paul could with truth write as he does in this passage, inasmuch as he wisely leaves to the readers the distingue personas.
[258] Who finds the meaning to be: “that with the apostle for his own person the comfort, which he shared with Timothy, rose into joy.” In that case ἐμέ at least must have been used instead of the enclitic με . The transition to the first person singular is caused simply by the fact, that Paul now has in view the rebuke and injunction of the former Epistle, chap. 5.