2 Corinthians 12:20

2 Corinthians 12:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:
• New International Version (NIV)For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;

Context of 2 Corinthians 12:20

18I asked Titus to come and visit you, and I sent another Christian friend with him. But Titus certainly did not deceive you to get anything from you. Both he and I have always been completely honest with you. We both think in the same way. 19What are you thinking when you read all this? Do you think that we want to show you how good we are? No, we are speaking as people who belong to Christ. God knows us. Everything that we do is to help you. We love you and we want to make you stronger as believers. When I come there to visit you, I hope you will be living in a good way. But I am afraid that I will not see what I want to see. Then you will see that I am different from what you want me to be! I am afraid that you may be quarrelling. You may be jealous of each other. You may be very angry with each other. Some of you may just want to please yourselves. You may be insulting one another, or telling lies about one another. You may be proud of how good you are. You may be causing trouble for one another. Yes, I am afraid that all those things may be happening among you. 21I am afraid that I may be very sad when I come back to you. My God may cause me to feel ashamed about you. Some of you may still be doing bad and disgusting things. You may be having sex with people that you are not married to, or in other wrong ways. Those are the bad things that many of you did at one time. If you have not turned away from those bad things, that will make me weep.

2 Corinthians 12:20 word by word

φοβοῦμαι γὰρ μή πως ἐλθὼν οὐχ οἵους θέλω εὕρω ὑμᾶς, κἀγὼ εὑρεθῶ ὑμῖν οἷον οὐ θέλετε, μή πως ἔρις, ζῆλος, θυμοί, ἐριθείαι, καταλαλιαί, ψιθυρισμοί, φυσιώσεις, ἀκαταστασίαι,Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• I fearφοβέωphobeō · to fearG5399
• lestμήπωςmēpōs mē pōs · so thatG3381
• when I comeἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
• I shallεὑρίσκωheuriskō · to find/meetG2147
• notοὐou · noG3756
• youσύsu · youG4771
• such asοἷοςoios · such asG3634
• I wouldθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• andκἀγώkagō kamoi kame · and IG2504
• debatesἔριςeris · quarrelG2054
• envyingsζῆλοςzēlos · zealG2205
• wrathsθυμόςthumos · wrathG2372
• strifesἐριθείαeritheia · rivalryG2052
• backbitingsκαταλαλιάkatalalia · slanderG2636
• whisperingsψιθυρισμόςpsithurismos · gossipG5587
• swellingsφυσίωσιςphusiōsis · arroganceG5450
• tumultsἀκαταστασίαakatastasia · disorderG181

Cross-references for 2 Corinthians 12:20

• 2 Corinthians 12:21I am afraid that I may be very sad when I come back to you. My God may cause me to feel ashamed about you. Some of you may still be doing bad and disgusting things. You may be having sex with people that you are not married to, or in other wrong ways. Those are the bad things that many of you did at one time. If you have not turned away from those bad things, that will make me weep.
• 2 Corinthians 13:9We are happy when we seem to be weak, if you become strong as a result. We pray that you will become completely as you should be.
• 2 Corinthians 1:23God will show that what I say is true! He knows my thoughts. Why did I decide not to come back to Corinth at this time? I did not come because I did not want to be angry with you.
• 2 Corinthians 2:1Because of that, I decided not to visit you again at that time. I did not want to make you sad.
• 2 Corinthians 10:2So please listen to what I am asking you. Some people among you think that we live like people who belong to this world. When I come to visit you, I am sure that I will be brave enough to speak against those people. But I do not want to have to speak strongly like that against all of you.
• 2 Corinthians 13:2I have already warned those people who did wrong things before. I did that when I was with you on my second visit. Now I am warning them again, while I am away from you. So, when I come to you the next time, nobody will go free. I will punish those people and all the others who have done wrong things.
• 1 Corinthians 4:18Some people among you have become proud. They think that I will never come back to warn them.
• 1 Corinthians 5:3My body is not there with you, but my spirit is with you. It seems like I am present with you. So I have already decided about this man. This is how you should punish him for what he has done.
• 1 Corinthians 1:11Some people from Chloe's house have told me news about you. My friends, they say that you are quarrelling among yourselves.
• 1 Corinthians 3:3You still do what your human nature wants to do. You are jealous of each other, and you quarrel with each other. Yes! This shows that you do what your human nature wants to do. You live like people who do not know God.
• 1 Corinthians 4:6My Christian friends, I want to help you to understand these things. That is why I have used Apollos and myself as examples. You should learn from us what this means: ‘Obey what is written in the Bible.’ None of you should be proud of one leader and not respect another leader.
• 1 Corinthians 6:7When you accuse each other like that, it shows that you have already failed. It would be better to accept it when other people hurt you. Even if people rob you, it would be better to accept it.
• 1 Corinthians 11:16Some people may want to argue about this. But I have told you what we do. And all of God's people in the different churches do the same thing.
• 1 Corinthians 14:36Remember that God's message did not start from you in Corinth! You are not the only people who have heard it, either.
• Galatians 5:15So you must not live like wild animals. Wild animals fight and they eat each other. If you live like that, be very careful! You may destroy one another completely.
• Galatians 5:26We must not become proud. We must not be jealous of each other, so that we cause trouble to one another.

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 12:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20I fear, lest, when I come - I think the present time is used here for the past; the apostle seems most evidently to be giving them the reason why he had not come to them according to his former purposes, and why he sent Titus and his companion. He was afraid to come at that time lest he should have found them perverted from the right way, and he be obliged to make use of his apostolical rod, and punish the offenders; but, feeling towards them the heart of…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20For I fear, lest, when I come - see 2 Corinthians 12:14. I shall not find you such as I would - That is, walking in the truth and order of the gospel. He had feared that the disorders would not be removed, and that they would not have corrected the errors which prevailed, and for which he had rebuked them. It was on this account that he had said so much to them. His desire was that all these disorders might be removed, and that he might be saved from the…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. 20-21Paul worried about facing rebellion and resistance during his upcoming visit. He feared the Corinthians had returned to their old ways. you may not find me as you wish: If necessary, Paul would respond firmly to obvious sinners (compare 1:23–2:17; 1 Corinthians 4:21).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. For--Assigning cause why they needed to be thus spoken to "for their edification"; namely, his fear that at his coming he should find them "not such as he would," and so he should be found by them "such as they would not" like, namely, severe in punishing misconduct. debates--Greek, "strifes," "contentions." envyings--The oldest manuscripts read "envying," singular. strifes--"factions," "intrigues," "factious schemes" [Wahl]. Ambitious self-seeking…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Corinthians 12:20

• Anger
• Backbiting
• Backsliders
• Church
• Envy
• Love
• Slander
• Strife
• Whisperer
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

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

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