2 Corinthians 2:6

Sufficient to such a man is this punishment,.... By this punishment is meant, the excommunication of the incestuous person, or the censure that was laid upon him by the church: for this was inflicted

Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.

This verse maketh it clear, that by any, , he means the incestuous person, mentioned in , whom he had ordered to be cast out, and delivered to Satan; which (as appeareth from this verse) they had done, which is the punishment mentioned in this verse. They who think, that the punishment here mentioned was not excommunication, but another being delivered to Satan, and vexed by him: 1. Beg a grave question, viz. Whether delivering to Satan in this place signifieth any more than a casting of the person out of Christ’ s kingdom on earth, (which is his church), and making him one of the world again, of which Satan is the god? 2. They seem not to consider, that if this church had delivered him to Satan, they could have done no more: so as the apostle would not have said: Sufficient is this punishment, when it was the greatest that they could inflict. Some object, that it is not probable that the apostle (had he been cast out of the communion of the church, for so notorious a crime) would have given order for his being restored in so short a time, as was that between his writing the First and this his Second Epistle. 1. Some think, that he was as yet only under a suspension, and the church had not proceeded to excommunication: this opinion is favoured by the Greek word here used, which is epitimia, the gentlest of all the words in use in that language to express punishment by. 2. Though in the times following the apostles’ , a longer time was set after excommunication, for testifying the repentance of sinners notoriously scandalous, before the church did again admit them into her fellowship: yet that it was so in the apostles’ time, is more than appears. Possibly it might be so ordered afterwards, when, as the church multiplied, so sin more abounded; and they might, from many experiences of relapses, be quickened to make such orders. 3. The gift of discerning spirits was more usual in the apostles’ times than afterward; so that though in following times, when the apostles were dead, and the extraordinary gift of discerning spirits was failed or abeted, the church being not able any other way to judge of the truth of sinners’ repentance, than from their changed life and conversation, which asked time, might set a longer time for suck penitents; yet there might not be the same reason for the apostles doing it. 4. Notwithstanding any thing that appears, there might be the distance of a year or two between Paul’ s writing these two Epistles. Which was inflicted of many: who these many were, by whom the apostle saith this punishment was inflicted, is a little disputed; whether the presbytery, or the community.

6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. Ver. 6. Sufficient to such a man] The Novatians therefore were out, that refused to receive in those that repented of their former faults and follies. The Papists burnt some that recanted at the stake, saying, that they would send them out of the world while they were in a good mind.

(6) Sufficient to such a man is this punishment.—Better, perhaps, this censure, or rebuke: the Greek word epitimia being different from those in Matthew 25:46, and in Hebrews 10:29. It is natural to infer that this was somewhat after the pattern of the course marked out in 1 Corinthians 5:3-5. A meeting of the Church had been held, and the man delivered to Satan. Possibly this was followed by some suffering of body, supernaturally inflicted, or coming as the natural consequence (not less divine because natural) of remorse and shame. It was almost certainly followed by ex-communication and exclusion from religious and social fellowship. St. Paul had clearly heard what it had been, and thought that it had been enough. Which was inflicted of many.—Actually, by the majority. The decision, then, had not been unanimous. The minority may have been either members of the Judaising “Cephas “party, resenting what they would look upon as St. Paul’s dictation, and perhaps falling back on the Jewish casuistry, which taught that all the natural relationships of a proselyte were cancelled by his conversion; or the party of license, against whom the Apostle reasons in 1 Corinthians 6-8, and who boasted of their freedom. The Passover argument and the form of the sentence in 1 Corinthians 5 alike suggest the idea that the offender and those who defended him were Jews. On the other hand, see Note on 2 Corinthians 7:12.

Verse 6. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment] That is, the man has already suffered sufficiently. Here he gives a proof of his parental tenderness towards this great transgressor. He had been disowned by the Church; he had deeply repented; and now the apostle pleads for him.

6. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment] See note on 1 Corinthians 5:3-5. The discipline of the Apostolic Church, which had as its main object the restoration of the offender, was content when this object was attained. As soon as the offender renounced his sin, the end of the discipline was reached, and there was no further need of punishment. It was no desire of the Church in the Apostle’s times, however much that important principle may have been lost sight of afterwards, that the offender should be ‘swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.’ “A plan diligently to be observed, for it teaches with what equity and clemency the discipline of the Church should be tempered, lest its rigour should exceed proper bounds.” Calvin.punishment] (Blamynge, Wiclif.) The word in the original signifies rebuke as well as punishment. Perhaps here it partakes of both senses. The public rebuke, coupled with separation from the Christian community and formal delivery over to Satan which St Paul prescribed (1 Corinthians 5:5), was itself a severe punishment.which was inflicted of many] Literally, by the majority. Some, perhaps, may have declined to take part in it, for there were many, as the latter part of the Epistle plainly shews, who still refused to acknowledge St Paul’s authority.

Sufficient to such a man - The incestuous person who had been by Paul’s direction removed from the church. The object of Paul here is to have him again restored.

6. Such a man—The such implies such penitence as to justify forgiveness, and the next verse shows that his sensibilities were liable to become extreme. Punishment—Paul avoids naming the penalty as well as the crime.