“For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.”
For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of the love I have for you — this passage is often called the 'severe letter,' likely preserved nowhere in our canon (or possibly 1 Corinthians, though most scholars think it's lost). The tears authenticate Paul's concern; he is not detached administrator but invested shepherd experiencing the Corinthians' pain as his own.
Church Fathers on 2 Corinthians 2:4
“For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be made sorry, but that you might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.” What more tenderly affectioned than this man's spirit is? For he shows himself to have been not less pained than they who had sinned, but even much more. For he says not “out of affliction” merely, but “out of much,” nor “with tears,” but “with many tears” and “anguish of heart,” that is,…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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