What Does 2 Corinthians 13:2 Mean?
I have said it before, and I say it beforehand, as one beside you the second time. Now being away, I write to those who have missed the mark earlier, and to all the rest, that if I come again, I will not hold back.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:THE KEY
The warning’s force does not depend on the speaker’s presence: the word spoken ahead of the return already carries the promise of no sparing.
THE MEANING
The warning speaks now with its full force: distance does not drain the words already spoken. It names those who have missed and says that, when the speaker comes again, sparing will not be extended.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that distance or delay makes a warning empty.
THE ROOT
φείσομαι
pheisomai
GROWS FROM
φειδ- (pheid-), from φείδομαι (pheidomai)
To spare, hold back, or show restraint.
“will not hold back” in this verse is pheisomai. The line says restraint will not be extended when the speaker returns. The same root appears where sparing is withheld or given, making the choice about restraint unmistakable.
ALSO GROWS
epheisato: Held back from withholding; did not spare.
ἐφείσατο
Romans 8:32 uses this form for the Son who was not spared, carrying the same root into a moment of complete giving.
epheidomēn: Held back; refrained from imposing.
ἐφειδόμην
In 2 Corinthians 1:23, this form names sparing the readers, showing that restraint is a choice the same word family can express.
προλέγω
prolegō
GROWS FROM
λεγ- (leg-), in λέγω (legō)
To say or speak.
“I say it beforehand” in this verse is prolegō. The word means to say beforehand: the warning is already spoken before the return it names. The verse repeats that prior speech, so absence does not silence it.
ALSO GROWS
legō: To speak or say.
λέγω
This is the speaking root inside “foretell”: the warning is a prior saying, not merely an event imagined ahead.
logos: A word, saying, or account.
λόγος
The shared λεγ- (leg-) family links the prior speaking here with the concrete word that carries meaning.
προημαρτηκόσιν
proēmartēkosin
GROWS FROM
ἁμαρτ- (hamart-), in ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō)
To miss, miss the mark, or go wrong.
“those who have missed the mark earlier” in this verse is proēmartēkosin. The verse names completed acts of missing, not a vague identity. Its perfect participle holds those acts in view as the warning speaks now.
ALSO GROWS
hamartia: A missing or failure.
ἁμαρτία
This is the noun family behind the KJV’s “sinned,” bringing the concrete image of missing into the verse.
hamartēma: A misdeed or act of missing.
ἁμάρτημα
This branch keeps the focus on the particular acts the verse names, rather than turning them into a fixed label for a person.
THE PATTERN
A delayed consequence can be mistaken for canceled judgment, though the spoken word still stands.
Because the sentence against an evil work is not done quickly, therefore the heart of the children of humankind is filled within them to do evil.Do not be led astray. God is not sneered at. For whatever a person sows, that also he reaps.For we know the one who said, Mine is the vengeance; I will give back, says the LORD. And again, the LORD shall judge his people.THE THREAD
He who did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us all, how will he not also favor us with all things along with him?The verb here is φείδομαι (pheidomai), “spare”; Romans uses ἐφείσατο (epheisato), “spared,” from the same root. There, the Son is not held back; here, restraint will not be extended, giving the shared word a sharp edge across both verses.
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