Paul prepares for his third visit to Corinth, warning that he will not spare the unrepentant. He cites the Old Testament requirement of two or three witnesses and warns those who have sinned that when he comes he will not be lenient. He challenges the Corinthians to examine themselves to see whether they are in the faith, pointing out that Christ speaks through him — the same Christ who was crucified in weakness but lives by the power of God. Paul prays that they will do what is right so that he will not need to use his authority severely. The letter closes with final exhortations to restore relationships, agree with one another, and live in peace. The benediction that concludes the letter — 'The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all' — is the fullest Trinitarian formula in the Pauline corpus and has become the most widely used blessing in Christian worship.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The closing benediction (v. 14) is one of the most theologically significant sentences in the New Testament. It names all three persons of the Trinity in a single blessing formula: the grace of Christ, the love of God (the Father), and the fellowship (koinōnia) of the Holy Spirit. This is not a later credal formulation imposed on Paul but an early, pre-systematic expression of the church's experience of the triune God. The order — Christ first, then the Father, then the Spirit — reflects Paul's experiential starting point: believers encounter God's love through Christ's grace, and this encounter is made real by the Spirit's fellowship. The earlier paradox in verse 4 ('crucified in weakness... lives by the power of God') encapsulates the entire letter's theology in a single sentence about Christ.
Translation Friction
The 'two or three witnesses' citation (v. 1) from Deuteronomy 19:15 may refer to Paul's three visits (each visit being a 'witness' against the offenders) or to the standard legal requirement for church discipline. The phrase 'Christ is not weak in dealing with you but is powerful among you' (v. 3) could be heard as a threat of disciplinary action through apostolic authority, or as a statement about Christ's ongoing presence and power in the community. We render the Greek without privileging either reading.
Connections
The two-or-three-witnesses principle connects to Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, and 1 Timothy 5:19. The 'crucified in weakness / lives by the power of God' formulation connects to Romans 1:4, 1 Corinthians 1:23-25, and Philippians 2:7-8. The self-examination call echoes 1 Corinthians 11:28. The Trinitarian benediction connects to Matthew 28:19 and the later development of Trinitarian theology in the early councils.
This is the third time I am coming to you. "Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses."
KJV This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Paul quotes Deuteronomy 19:15, the legal requirement for establishing a charge. The application may be that each of Paul's three visits constitutes a 'witness' against the unrepentant — the first visit founded the church, the second ('painful visit') confronted the offense, and the third will bring judgment if necessary.
[TCR Cross-Reference] Quotes Deuteronomy 19:15. The TCR rendering of that OT passage preserves the Hebrew source text and documents the translation decisions behind it.
I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them —
KJV I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase ou pheisomai ('I will not spare') is the same verb used in 1:23, where Paul explained his delayed visit was 'to spare' the Corinthians. The time for sparing is ending; if repentance has not occurred by the time he arrives, Paul will exercise apostolic discipline.
since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you but is powerful among you.
KJV Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The Corinthians demanded proof (dokimēn) that Christ speaks through Paul. Paul's response is that Christ's power among them — seen in the gospel that transformed their lives and the signs that accompanied Paul's ministry — is that proof. The contrast between 'not weak' (ouk asthenei) and 'powerful' (dynatei) anticipates the next verse's paradox.
For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.
KJV For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This verse is the Christological key to the entire letter. Christ's crucifixion was an act of weakness (ex astheneias) — the most helpless, degrading death imaginable. Yet from that weakness, he lives by the power of God (ek dynameōs theou). Paul applies the same pattern to himself: his weakness mirrors Christ's crucifixion, and the power he exercises mirrors Christ's resurrection life. The cross-resurrection pattern is the template for apostolic ministry.
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
KJV Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Paul redirects the demand for proof: instead of testing Paul, the Corinthians should test themselves (heautous peirazete... heautous dokimazete). The test is whether Christ is 'in' them — a statement of the mystical union that defines Christian existence. The word adokimoi ('failing the test, disapproved, disqualified') is the negative of dokimos ('approved, tested'), used in verse 3 for the proof they sought from Paul.
I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test.
KJV But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Paul expresses confidence (elpizō, 'I hope') that the Corinthians will recognize that he is not adokimos ('disqualified'). The logic is circular by design: if Christ is in the Corinthians (v. 5), and Paul brought them Christ, then Paul cannot be a fraud.
But we pray to God that you may not do wrong — not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, even though we may seem to have failed.
KJV Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Paul's prayer reveals his deepest pastoral priority: he wants the Corinthians to do right, even if it means Paul looks bad. If they repent before he arrives, he will not need to exercise discipline — which means he will not get the chance to 'prove' his authority. He is willing to appear adokimos ('failed, disqualified') as long as the Corinthians are doing kalon ('what is good, what is right').
For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.
KJV For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
This deceptively simple sentence contains a profound claim about apostolic authority: it operates within boundaries set by truth itself. Paul's power is not arbitrary but bound to the truth of the gospel. He cannot act against the truth even if he wanted to — apostolic authority serves truth, not the reverse.
For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for.
KJV For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The final occurrence of the weakness-strength paradox in the letter: Paul rejoices when he is weak and the Corinthians are strong. The word katartisin ('restoration, mending, making complete') is related to the verb katartizō used for mending fishing nets (Matthew 4:21) and for setting a broken bone. Paul wants the Corinthian community healed and whole.
For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, so that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.
KJV Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The purpose of this entire severe section (chs. 10-13) is restated: Paul writes firmly now so that he will not have to act firmly later. His authority (exousia) is for oikodomēn ('building up, edification'), not kathairesin ('tearing down, destruction') — the same distinction made in 10:8. The letter is an instrument of pastoral care, not punitive power.
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
KJV Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Five imperatives close the letter: chairete ('rejoice' or 'farewell'), katartizesthe ('restore yourselves, be mended'), parakaleisthe ('comfort one another, encourage one another'), to auto phroneite ('think the same thing, be of one mind'), eirēneuete ('live in peace'). The promise attached is conditional in form: do these things, and 'the God of love and peace will be with you.' The title 'God of love and peace' is unique to this verse.
2 Corinthians 13:12
ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι.
Welcome one another with a sacred embrace.
KJV Greet one another with an holy kiss.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The 'holy kiss' (hagiō philēmati) is the standard early Christian liturgical greeting (cf. Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:26). It expressed familial bond and spiritual unity within the believing community, distinguishing itself from merely social or erotic greetings by the qualifier 'holy.'
2 Corinthians 13:13
ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς οἱ ἅγιοι πάντες.
All the saints greet you.
KJV All the saints salute you.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The greeting from 'all the saints' (hoi hagioi pantes) encompasses the entire believing community from which Paul writes, connecting the Corinthians to the wider body of Christ. The universal scope ('all') emphasizes that the Corinthians are not isolated but part of a network of churches united in faith.
The word can mean the fellowship that the Spirit creates among believers, the fellowship believers have with the Spirit, or participation in the Spirit. All three senses may be intended. The Spirit is not merely a force but a person with whom believers share communion.
Translator Notes
This is the fullest Trinitarian benediction in the New Testament and has become the most widely used liturgical blessing in Christian worship. Three divine persons are named with three distinct gifts: grace (charis) from Christ, love (agapē) from God the Father, and fellowship (koinōnia) from the Holy Spirit. The order — Christ, Father, Spirit — is unusual (Matthew 28:19 has Father, Son, Spirit) and reflects Paul's experiential starting point: believers first encounter Christ's grace, through which they know the Father's love, and this becomes real in the Spirit's fellowship. The SBLGNT omits the 'Amen' found in the KJV and some manuscripts.