I speak not this to your condemnation. For we have said before that you are in our hearts: to die together and to live together.
ου προς κατακρισιν λεγω προειρηκα γαρ οτι εν ταις καρδιαις ημων εστε εις το συναποθανειν και συζην
8 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Why does the Apostle present even the desire to live as a great thing? Because it truly is very great.
Many suffer with their friends when they are afflicted. But when those friends prosper, they no longer rejoice with them, and even envy them.
We are not like this. If misfortunes overtake you, we will not be afraid to share those difficult times with you. And if you prosper, we will not envy you.
I do not say this in order to condemn you. How is this evident? From love, for you are in our hearts.
But since someone may love and yet not wish to expose himself to dangers, he says, “to die together.” And since there are many who, from envy, do not rejoice in the prosperity of friends, he adds, “and to live.”
The thought is this: in dangers we do not avoid you, and in prosperity we live with you and do not envy you.
We do not say this to condemn you together with them. For we said before that you are in our hearts, so that you may die together with us from persecutors and live together with us in the revelation of Christ.
That is, Paul says, I do not reject you, but call you to correction. For if someone condemns another, he does not release him.
“For I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” From what was said above, it follows that he wants them to know with what soul he speaks to them.
Those whom he wishes to take as participants in present sufferings for Christ and in the life to come, he does not reject. He calls them to become worthy of that participation.
“I do not speak to condemn you,” that is, I did not say this by accusing you of stinginess. “For I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” And he continues to speak in a way pleasing to them.
Returning to his interrupted account of the reasons that delayed his arrival in Corinth, the Apostle expresses the joy and consolation brought to him by the return of Titus. He also speaks of all that Titus saw and encountered in Corinth (2 Cor 7:2-16).
First he notes, though not in condemnation of the Corinthians, that he had wronged no one among them, harmed no one, and sought gain from no one. Contrary to all the slanders brought against him, he holds them all in his heart and boasts much of them.
Saint Paul continues: “I now overflow with joy,” that is, after the arrival of Titus, “although when we came into Macedonia from Troas, our flesh had no rest. Outside were attacks, within were fears” (2 Cor 7:2-7).
Continuing to establish the most heartfelt relations with the Corinthians, the Apostle repeats his desire for the closest communion with them, already expressed in 6:12. He declares that nothing hinders this, either on his side or on theirs.
They cannot complain of him in anything: neither of corruption, nor deception, nor covetousness. He, meanwhile, has many occasions and grounds to boast of their virtues. Thus he is comforted by them, rejoices through them, and loves them so much that he is ready to live and die with them.
“If some calamity should befall you,” says the Apostle, “I am ready to endure everything for your sake. For me neither death nor life has importance in itself. To be where you are is preferable to me. With you, even death is better than life, and life better than death” (Chrysostom).
Lest the Corinthians think that, in speaking of his innocence before them, the Apostle condemns them for their unjust treatment of him, he adds the reservation: “I do not speak this to condemn you.”
And lest anyone think it untrue that he is comforted by them, he then shows this through a living example of the consolation he had recently received.
“Declaring how great this joy is, the Apostle expresses it not only by the words, ‘I overflow with joy,’ but also by adding, ‘in all our affliction.’ Such was the delight given to us. By the abundance of its greatness it overcame all the sorrows that had befallen us.”
“Feeling that what he had said might seem harsh, he again softens his word” (Saint Chrysostom). The preceding word could not but leave strong bitterness in the hearts of the Corinthians. The rebuke was painful, though indirect.
Since they were not without blame, their troubled conscience could expect punishment or rejection. It was necessary to turn away this anxiety. He does so by saying: “I do not speak this to condemn you.”
Do not fear. I am not calling down punishment from heaven upon you. Katakrisis is a judicial sentence that determines punishment. I am not setting forth your guilt in order to reject you.
I love you so much that I cannot live without you, and I desire nothing for you except good. Yet instead of saying, “I love you with strong love,” he uses a circumlocution of love.
“For I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” He had not expressed his love for them in these exact words. Yet he had expressed it in other words no less strong.
He said: “Our heart is enlarged. You are not restricted in us” (2 Cor 6:11-12). To say to someone, “With you I can both die and live,” is the same as saying: “I have embraced you with broad love and will never part from you.”
Saint Chrysostom says: “Truly such love is very great. Even though despised by them, he is ready both to die and to live together with them. The Apostle does not simply say, ‘You are in our hearts.’
“He says it in such a way that, according to his words, we are ready to live and die with you. One may love and still flee dangers that threaten because of the beloved. But we do not love in this way.
“‘If some calamity should befall you,’ he says, ‘I am ready to endure everything for your sake. For me neither death nor life has importance in itself. To be where you are is preferable to me.
“‘With you, even death is better than life, and life better than death. Many suffer with their friends when they are in distress. Yet when their friends prosper, they do not rejoice with them, but even envy them.
“‘We, however, are not like this,’ says the Apostle. ‘If you fall into calamity, we shall not fear to share your misfortune. If you prosper, we shall not envy you.’”
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 17 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS