2 Corinthians 12:16

2 Corinthians 12:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
• New International Version (NIV)Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery!
• English Standard Version (ESV)But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But be that as it may, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning!

Context of 2 Corinthians 12:16

14Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be a burden to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15And I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less? But be it so, I did not myself burden you; but, being crafty, I caught you with guile. 17Did I take advantage of you by any one of them whom I have sent unto you? 18I exhorted Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?

2 Corinthians 12:16 word by word

ἔστω δέ, ἐγὼ οὐ κατεβάρησα ὑμᾶς· ἀλλ᾽ ὑπάρχων πανοῦργος δόλῳ ὑμᾶς ἔλαβον.Read the interlinear

• beεἰμίeimi · to beG1510

Cross-references for 2 Corinthians 12:16

• 2 Corinthians 12:13For what is there wherein ye were made inferior to the rest of the churches, except it be that I myself was not a burden to you? forgive me this wrong.
• 2 Corinthians 11:9and when I was present with you and was in want, I was not a burden on any man; for the brethren, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my want; and in everything I kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.
• 2 Corinthians 1:12For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
• 2 Corinthians 4:2but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
• 2 Corinthians 7:2Open your hearts to us: we wronged no man, we corrupted no man, we took advantage of no man.
• 2 Corinthians 10:2yea, I beseech you, that I may not when present show courage with the confidence wherewith I count to be bold against some, who count of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:3For our exhortation is not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:
• 1 Peter 2:3if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious:

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 12:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16But be it so, I did not burden you - That is: You grant that I did not burden you, that I took nothing from you, but preached to you the Gospel freely; but you say that, Being Crafty, I caught you with guile; i.e. getting from you, by means of others, what I pretended to be unwilling to receive immediately from yourselves. Many persons suppose that the words, being crafty, I caught you with guile, are the words of the apostle and not of his slanderers…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16But be it so - This is evidently a charge of his enemies; or at least a charge which it might be supposed they would make. Whether they ever in fact made it, or whether the apostle merely anticipates an objection, it is impossible to determine. It is clearly to be regarded as the language of objectors; for: (1) It can never be supposed that Paul would state as a serious matter that he had caught them with deceit or fraud. (2) he answers it as an objection…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-21Verses 11-21 We owe it to good men, to stand up in the defence of their reputation; and we are under special obligations to those from whom we have received benefit, especially spiritual benefit, to own them as instruments in God's hand of good to us. Here is an account of the apostle's behaviour and kind intentions; in which see the character of a faithful minister of the gospel. This was his great aim and design, to do good. Here are noticed several…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16-18Some Corinthians still believed Paul had tricked them. They might have suggested Paul took money from the collection for the Jerusalem church (chapters 8–9). The response to this accusation is a reminder of the honesty of Titus and the other brother (see 8:18–24). The integrity of Paul and his associates should disprove these false claims.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. I did not burden you--The "I" in the Greek is emphatic. A possible insinuation of the Corinthians is hereby anticipated and refuted: "But, you may say, granted that I did not burden you myself; nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you (in my net) with guile"; namely, made a gain of you by means of others (1Th 2:3).Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Corinthians 12:16

• Love
• Minister, Christian

In the dictionaries

• Backbiting
• Crafty
• Excuse
• Gain
• Grace
• Perfect
• Revelation
• Sufficient
• Thorn
• Unspeakable

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings