2 Corinthians 1:6 (LSB)

Passage

But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is working in your perseverance in the same sufferings which we also suffer.

Nearby Context

2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:5 For just as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, so also our comfort abounds 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 is working in your perseverance in the same sufferings which we also suffer.

2 Corinthians 1:7 And our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even to live.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "whether", "afflicted", "comfort", "salvation", "comforted", and "working". 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 just as the sufferings of Christ..." into verse 7's "And our hope for you is firmly...", 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.