2 Corinthians 1:6 (ASV)

Passage

But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:

Nearby Context

2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

2 Corinthians 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:6 But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:

2 Corinthians 1:7 and our hope for you is stedfast; knowing that, as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so also are ye of the comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:8 For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our affliction which befell [us] in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "whether", "afflicted", "comfort", "salvation", "comforted", and "worketh". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "whether" and "afflicted", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "For as the sufferings of Christ abound..." into verse 7's "and our hope for you is stedfast...", so "whether" and "afflicted" belong inside that flow. In 2 Corinthians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "whether" and "afflicted" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.