2 Corinthians 1:15 (WEB)

Passage

In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit;

Nearby Context

2 Corinthians 1:13 For we write no other things to you, than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end;

2 Corinthians 1:14 as also you acknowledged us in part, that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.

2 Corinthians 1:15 In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit;

2 Corinthians 1:16 and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and to be sent forward by you on my journey to Judea.

2 Corinthians 1:17 When I therefore was thus determined, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be the “Yes, yes” and the “No, no?”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "confidence", "determined", "come", "first", "might", "second", and "benefit". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "confidence" and "determined", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "as also you acknowledged us in part..." into verse 16's "and by you to pass into Macedonia...", so "confidence" and "determined" 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 "confidence" and "determined" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.