2 Corinthians 12:16 (GNV)

Passage

But bee it that I charged you not: yet for as much as I was craftie, I tooke you with guile.

Nearby Context

2 Corinthians 12:14 Behold, the thirde time I am ready to come vnto you, and yet will I not be slouthfull to your hinderance: for I seeke not yours, but you: for the children ought not to laye vp for the fathers, but the fathers for the children.

2 Corinthians 12:15 And I will most gladly bestow, and will be bestowed for your soules: though the more I loue you, the lesse I am loued.

2 Corinthians 12:16 But bee it that I charged you not: yet for as much as I was craftie, I tooke you with guile.

2 Corinthians 12:17 Did I pill you by any of them whom I sent vnto you?

2 Corinthians 12:18 I haue desired Titus, and with him I haue sent a brother: did Titus pill you of any thing? walked we not in the selfe same spirit? walked we not in the same steppes?

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And I will most gladly bestow and..." into verse 17's "Did I pill you by any of...", so "charged" and "much" 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 "charged" and "much" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.