For 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 necessity of exercising severe discipline when he should come among them.

And that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not - That is, that I shall be compelled to administer discipline, and that my visit may not be as pleasant to you as you would desire. For this reason he wished all disorder corrected, and all offences removed; that everything might be pleasant when he should come; see 1 Corinthians 4:21; compare note on 2 Corinthians 10:2.

Lest there be debates - I fear that there may be existing there debates, etc., which will require the interposition of the authority of an apostle. On the meaning of the word "debate," see the note on Romans 1:29.

Envyings - see the note on 1 Corinthians 3:3.

Wraths - Anger or animosities between contending factions, the usual effect of forming parties.

Strifes - Between contending factions; see note on 1 Corinthians 3:3.

Backbitings - see the note on Romans 1:30.

Whisperings - see the note on Romans 1:29.

Swellings - Undue elation; being puffed up (see the notes on 2 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 4:6, note; 1 Corinthians 4:18-19, note; 1 Corinthians 5:2, note) - such as would be produced by vain self-confidence.

Tumults - Disorder and confusion arising from this existence of parties. Paul, deeply sensible of the evil of all this, had endeavored in this correspondence to suppress it, that all things might be pleasant when he should come among them.

I 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 a tender father, he was unwilling to use the rod; and sent the first epistle to them, and the messengers above mentioned, being reluctant to go himself till he had satisfactory evidence that their divisions were ended, and that they had repented for and put away the evils that they had committed; and that he should not be obliged to bewail them who had sinned so abominably, and had not repented for their crimes. If this verse be understood in this way, all difficulty will vanish; otherwise, what is here said does seem to contradict what is said, 2 Corinthians 7:6, 2 Corinthians 7:16, etc.; as well as many things both in the eighth and ninth chapters.

Debates, envyings - From these different expressions, which are too plain to need interpretation, we see what a distracted and divided state the Church at Corinth must have been in. Brotherly love and charity seem to have been driven out of this once heavenly assembly. These debates, etc., are precisely the opposites to that love which the apostle recommends and explains by its different properties in the 13th chapter of his first epistle.

Mr. Wakefield translates the original thus: strifes, rivalries, passions, provocations, slanders, whisperings, swellings, quarrels.

For I fear lest when I come,.... This fear arose from his fatherly affection for them, and care of them:

I shall not find you such as I would; truly penitent for former sins, thoroughly reformed in life and manners, zealous for God, Christ, and the Gospel, and hearty lovers of one another:

and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not; sharp in his reproofs and admonitions, severe in his corrections and censures, and lawfully using the authority he had from Christ, to punish incorrigible offenders:

lest there be debates; or "strifes", or contentions among them, about words to no profit, or about their ministers, as before; one being for Paul, and another for Apollos, and another for Cephas:

envyings: at each other's gifts, or "jealousies" of one another, and evil surmisings:

wraths; breaking out into words and actions, which discover hatred of mind, a malignant spirit, quite contrary to that of the Gospel:

strifes: law suits before heathen magistrates; contentions in the church who shall be greatest; or about lesser matters of religion, or things indifferent, vain, and trifling, and kept up merely for the sake of victory:

backbitings; speaking evil of one another, detracting from, hurting, or taking away each other's character and good name:

whisperings; secretly sowing discords among friends, and privately suggesting evil things of each other:

swellings; with pride and conceit of themselves, because of their riches, learning, and eloquence, and looking with disdain upon others:

tumults; at church meetings, interrupting one another, going into parties, and making rents and schisms.

Strifes (ἐριθεῖαι)

Rev., better, factions. See on James 3:14.

Wraths (θυμοί)

For the plural, compare deaths, 2 Corinthians 11:33; drunkennesses, Galatians 5:21; bloods, John 1:13 (see note); the willings of the flesh, Ephesians 2:3; mercies, Philippians 2:1. Excitements or outbursts of wrath.

Whisperings (ψιθυρισμοί)

Psithurismoi, the sound adapted to the sense. Only here in the New Testament. Secret slanders. In Sept., Ecclesiastes 10:11, it is used of the murmuring of a snake-charmer. Ψιθυριστής whisperer, occurs Romans 1:29.

Swellings (φυσιώσεις)

Only here in the New Testament. Conceited inflation. For the kindred verb φυσιάω to puff up, see on 1 Corinthians 4:6.

Tumults (ἀκαταστασίαι)

See on 2 Corinthians 6:5.

{8} 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:

(8) Having confirmed his authority to them, he rebukes them sharply, and threatens them also like an apostle, showing that he will not spare them from now on, unless they repent, seeing that this is the third time that he has warned them.

12:20 For I fear lest when I come, etc. He has been led to speak because he feared, unless he spoke plainly, that when he came he would have to rebuke severely on account of sins which he enumerates.

Debates, etc. The sins here given are those that belong to a divided state.

20. 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; from a Greek root, "to work for hire."

backbitings, whisperings-open "slanderings," and "whispering backbitings" (Ga 5:20).

swellings-arrogant elation; puffing up of yourselves. Jude 16, "great swelling words" (2Pe 2:18).

12:11-21 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 sins commonly found among professors of religion. Falls and misdeeds are humbling to a minister; and God sometimes takes this way to humble those who might be tempted to be lifted up. These vast verses show to what excesses the false teachers had drawn aside their deluded followers. How grievous it is that such evils should be found among professors of the gospel! Yet thus it is, and has been too often, and it was so even in the days of the apostles.