2 Corinthians 12:16 (DRB)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

2 Corinthians 12:14 Behold now the third time I am ready to come to you and I will not be burthensome unto you. For I seek not the things that are yours, but you. For neither ought the children to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.

2 Corinthians 12:15 But I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls: although loving you more, I be loved less.

2 Corinthians 12:16 But be it so: I did not burthen you: but being crafty, I caught you by guile.

2 Corinthians 12:17 Did I overreach you by any of them whom I sent to you?

2 Corinthians 12:18 I desired Titus: and I sent with him a brother. Did Titus overreach you? Did we not walk with the same spirit? Did we not in the same steps?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "burthen", "crafty", "caught", and "guile". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "burthen" and "crafty", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "But I most gladly will spend and..." into verse 17's "Did I overreach you by any of...", so "burthen" and "crafty" 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 "burthen" and "crafty" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.