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What limit is there to the carping skill of envy and hatred! Some of this Judaizing party might say that, under cover of disinterestedness, he had acted cunningly in the matter of the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem. Was this so? Did the deputies make a gain of you? Did Titus abuse his position? One spirit, Christ's spirit, animated us, for we all "walked in the same steps." Think you that this has been said for self-justification? Do we excuse ourselves? Fears were oppressing him, fears that he would mention presently. Can it all be in vain? Assurances of fatherly regard, assurances of a willingness, ay, of a gladness, in giving all he had and all he was, even life itself, to their service and interest; would they pass for nought? And were there both history and prophecy in the melancholy winds, "The more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved"? The fervent appeal, the protracted argument, the action and reaction, the irony and the profound sincerity, the grieved tenderness, the sad ingratitude, the memory of noble self-sacrifice, gather into the climax, "We speak before God in Christ." There, at that bar of judgment, he makes the solemn avowal, "We do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying." Once more he would conciliate, nor should this long and impassioned outburst come to a close without calling God in Christ to witness his deep-felt affection for these ungrateful Corinthians. - L.

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KJV: But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.

WEB: But be it so, I did not myself burden you. But, being crafty, I caught you with deception.