But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.

But be it so, I did not myself burden you; but, being crafty, I caught you with guile.

But be it so: I did not burthen you: but being crafty, I caught you by guile.

If I love you so intensely, am I the less to be loved? Be that as it may: I was not a burden to you. But being by no means scrupulous, I entrapped you, they say!

But let it be so, that I was not a trouble to you myself; but (someone may say) being false, I took you with deceit.

And so be it. I have not burdened you, but instead, being astute, I obtained you by guile.

You will admit that I was not a burden to you but you say that I was "crafty" and caught you "by a trick"!

But be it so. These words intimate, that Paul had been blamed by malevolent persons, as though he had in a clandestine way procured, through means of hired persons, what he had refused to receive with his own hands [1] -- not that he had done any such thing, but they "measure others," as they say, "by their own ell." [2] For it is customary for the wicked impudently to impute to the servants of God, whatever they would themselves do, if they had it in their power. Hence, Paul is constrained, with the view of clearing himself of a charge impudently fabricated, [3] to defend the integrity of those whom he sent, for if they had committed any error, it would have been reckoned to his account. Now, who would be surprised at his being so cautious as to alms, when he had been harassed by such unfair judgments as to his conduct, after having made use of every precaution? [4] Let his case, however, be a warning to us, not to look upon it as a thing that is new and intolerable, if at any time we find occasion to answer similar calumnies; but, more especially, let this be an admonition to us to use strict caution, not to furnish any handle to revilers. For we see, that it is not enough to give evidence of being ourselves upright, if those, whose assistance we have made use of, are not, also, found to be so. Hence, our choice of them must not be made lightly, or as a matter of mere form, but with the utmost possible care.

Footnotes

1 - "This passage is so far from being friendly to the exercise of guile, that it is a manifest disavowal of it. It is an irony. The Apostle does not describe what had actually been his conduct, but that of which he stood accused by the Corinthian teachers. They insinuated, that he was a sly, crafty man, going about preaching, persuading, and catching people with guile. Paul acknowledges, that he and his colleagues did, indeed, persuade men,' and could not do otherwise, for the love of Christ constrained them.' (2-Corinthians 5:11, 14.) But he indignantly repels the insinuation of its being from mercenary motives. We have wronged no man,' says he, we have corrupted no man; we have defrauded no man.' (2-Corinthians 7:2.) Having denied the charge, he shows the absurdity of it. Mercenary men, who wish to draw people after them, have an end to answer: and What end,' says Paul, could I have in view, in persuading you to embrace the gospel? Have I gained any thing by you? When I was with you, was I burdensome to you? No: nor, as things are, will I be burdensome. Yet being crafty, forsooth, I caught you with guile.'" -- Fuller' s Works, volume 3. -- Ed.

2 - The reader will find the same proverb made use of by Calvin, when commenting on 1-Corinthians 7:36. (See [68]vol. 1, p. 265.) He probably alludes, in both instances, to a sentiment of Horace: "Metiri se quenquam suo modulo ac pede verum est;" -- "It is proper, that every one should measure himself by his own measure and foot." (Hor. Epist. 1.7. 98.) -- Ed.

3 - "Pour refuter et repousser loin de soy le blasme qu'on auoit controuue impudemment;" -- "With the view of repelling, and putting far away from himself the blame which they had inpudently contrived."

4 - "Veu qu'on semoit de luy des souspectons et iugemens si iniques, apres qu'il auoit si diligemment pourueu a toutes choses?" -- "Inasmuch as they propagated such unfair surmises and judgments respecting him, after he had so carefully used precaution as to every thing?"

But 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 in the following verse. The meaning is, "We admit that you did not burden us. You did not exact a support from us. But all this was mere trick. You accomplished the same thing in another way. You professed when with us not to seek our property but our souls. But in various ways you contrived to get our money, and to secure your object. You made others the agents for doing this, and sent them among us under various pretexts to gain money from us." It will be remembered that Paul had sent; Titus among them to take up the collection for the poor saints in Judea 2-Corinthians 8:6, and it is not at all improbable that some there had charged Paul with making use of this pretence only to obtain money for his own private use. To guard against this charge. was one of the reasons why Paul was so anxious to have some persons appointed by the church to take charge of the contribution; see 1-Corinthians 16:3; compare the notes on 2-Corinthians 8:19-21.
Being crafty - Being cunning That is, by sending persons to obtain money on different pretences.
I caught you with guile - I took you by deceit or fraud. That is, making use of fraud in pretending that the money was for poor and afflicted saints, when in reality it was for my own use. It is impossible that Paul should have ever admitted this of himself; and they greatly pervert the passage who suppose that it applies to him, and then plead that it is right to make use of guile in accomplishing their purposes. Paul never carried his measures by dishonesty, nor did he ever justify fraud; compare the notes on Acts 23:6.

But 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; and therefore have concluded that it is lawful to use guile, deceit, etc., in order to serve a good and a religious purpose. This doctrine is abominable; and the words are most evidently those of the apostle's detractors, against which he defends his conduct in the two following verses.

(6) But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
(6) He sets aside another most grievous slander, that is, that he did subtly and by others make his gain and profit of them.

But be it so, I did not burden you,.... These words are not spoken by the apostle in his own person of himself, but in the person of his adversaries, and contain a concession and an objection of theirs, but be it so; they granted that he had not burdened the Corinthians, that he had took nothing of them himself for preaching the Gospel; they owned that he had preached it freely; this was so clear a point, and so flagrant a case, that they could not deny it; yet they insinuated to the Corinthians, and objected to the apostle, that though he did not receive anything from them with his own hands, yet he craftily and cunningly made use of others to drain their purses, and receive it for him; and which is suggested in the next clause:
nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile; so say the false apostles of me; for these are not the words of the apostle in his own person; nor to be understood of any spiritual craft, or lawful cunning and prudent artifices used by him, to allure and draw the Corinthians into a good liking and opinion of the Gospel and of his ministry, and so caught them, and was the happy means of their conversion; but they are spoken in the person of the false apostles, charging him with a wicked and criminal craftiness, by making use of other persons in a sly underhanded way, to get this church's money, when he pretended to preach the Gospel freely; to which he answers in the next verse.

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 (1-Thessalonians 2:3).

But be it so, I did not burden you, etc. It was charged that even if he did not burden them, there was guile about it and in some other way he would secure their substance. Hence he asks: Did I make gain by any of the messengers or helpers I sent you? Did they demand anything? He then specifies: I desired Titus. He sent Titus and another brother, but they asked no gain.

But some may object, though I did not burden you, though I did not take anything of you myself, yet being crafty I caught you with guile - I did secretly by my messengers what I would not do openly, or in person.