II Corinthians 13:9 · Bible study
2 Corinthians 13:9 Commentary: Perfection as Restoration
Greek · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Paul rejoices in his own weakness when it means the Corinthians are strong.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Paul rejoices when his own weakness accompanies the Corinthians’ strength, and he prays for their complete restoration (katartisis), a mending of what is broken, both personally and corporately.
- Key words: χαίρομεν (we rejoice), present tense, ongoing joy; ἀσθενῶμεν (we may be weak), present subjunctive, contingent weakness; κατάρτισιν (perfection), a hapax legomenon in the NT, meaning restoration, adjustment, or setting a joint.
- Main debate: Does ‘perfection’ refer primarily to individual sanctification (Wesley) or to corporate unity and good order (Gill, Cambridge)? Most commentators see both dimensions inseparably joined.
- Theological theme: Strength in weakness; the apostolic paradox of power made perfect in frailty; Christian maturity as restoration to God’s original design for body and community.
- Best use: Preaching on church unity, pastoral heart, spiritual maturity, and the purpose of church discipline. Also fruitful for small-group discussions on conflict resolution and the nature of Christian growth.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
In fact, we rejoice when we are weak but you are strong, and our prayer is for your perfection.
WEB World English Bible 2000
For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. We also pray for this: your becoming perfect.
KJV King James Version 1769
For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
For we rejoice, when we are weak, and ye are strong: this we also pray for, even your perfecting.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
for we rejoice when we may be infirm, and ye may be powerful; and this also we pray for--your perfection!
Darby Darby Bible 1890
For we rejoice when we may be weak and ye may be powerful. But this also we pray for, your perfecting.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
For we rejoice that we are weak and you are strong. This also we pray for, your perfection.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Por lo cual nos gozamos que seamos nosotros flacos, y que vosotros estéis fuertes; y aun deseamos vuestra perfección.
Pois nós nos alegramos quando estamos fracos, e vós estais fortes; e isto também desejamos: o vosso aperfeiçoamento.
Nous nous réjouissons lorsque nous sommes faibles, tandis que vous êtes forts; et ce que nous demandons dans nos prières, c’ est votre perfectionnement.
Wir freuen uns aber, wenn wir schwach sind, und ihr mächtig seid. Und dasselbe wünschen wir auch, nämlich eure Vollkommenheit.
Want wij verblijden ons, wanneer wij zwak zijn, en gij sterk zijt. En wij wensen ook dit, namelijk uw volmaking.
Poiché noi ci rallegriamo quando siamo deboli e voi siete forti; e i nostri voti sono per il vostro perfezionamento.
Albowiem się radujemy, że chociaśmy my słabymi, ale wy jesteście mocnymi; a tegoć i życzymy, abyście wy byli doskonałymi.
Мы радуемся, когда мы немощны, а вы сильны; о сем—то и молимся, о вашем совершенстве.
即使 我們 軟弱， 你們 剛強，我們也歡喜；並且我們所求的，就是 你們 作完全人。
For we are glad when we are feeble and you are strong: and this is our prayer, even that you may be made complete.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Koine Greek)
New Testament · Koine Greek · II Corinthians 13:9
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Paul is expressing a deeply counterintuitive joy: he is glad when his own weakness becomes the occasion for the Corinthians’ strength. Barnes notes that Paul is ‘willing to submit to self-denial and to infirmity if it may promote your spiritual strength.’ Gill and Calvin see in Paul’s ‘weakness’ his lack of occasion to exercise apostolic authority, he rejoices when the Corinthians’ good conduct spares him the need to act sharply. The word translated ‘perfection’ (katartisis, only here in the New Testament) is the key term. Clarke explains that it originally meant ‘the reducing of a dislocated limb to its proper place’, a medical picture of setting a bone. The Cambridge Bible adds that it signifies ‘the fitting together of a number of souls as the pieces in a mosaic.’ All major interpreters see in this word a vision of restoration: personal wholeness, corporate unity, and the end of division. Matthew Henry summarises the pastoral heart: Paul’s single desire is that ‘the gospel they preach may be honoured, however their persons may be vilified.’
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Personal sanctification view: Clarke and Wesley point to the restoration of the individual soul, with every faculty ‘placed in its proper place’ (Clarke), paralleling passages like 2 Cor 7:1.
- Corporate unity view: Gill, Cambridge, and Calvin emphasize the metaphor of setting a dislocated limb or mending nets—primarily about restoring the church’s order and unity, as in 1 Cor 1:10 and 2 Cor 13:11.
- Combined view: Most modern commentators see both dimensions inseparably joined: the individual’s perfection is worked out in a community that itself must be ‘fitted together.’
What is clear: Paul genuinely rejoices in his own weakness when it accompanies the Corinthians’ strength, and he earnestly prays for their complete restoration—a mending of what is broken, whether in personal holiness, church unity, or both.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Nature of Paul's weakness | Paul’s weakness is relational and positional: he appears weak when his apostolic authority is not needed because the Corinthians are behaving well. | Some stress this weakness as voluntary self-denial (Barnes, Calvin); others connect it to the physical sufferings Paul endured, which made him seem contemptible to opponents (Gill). |
| Meaning of katartisis (perfection) | All commentators note the word implies restoration, fitting together, or setting something right, a medical metaphor for setting a bone or mending a net. | Wesleyan tradition (Clarke, Wesley) emphasizes the personal holiness aspect: every faculty restored to its proper place. Reformed interpreters (Calvin, Gill, Cambridge) stress corporate unity and the orderly life of the church. Both views are found in the supplied excerpts. |
| Paul’s prayer vs. his apostolic authority | Paul prioritizes the Corinthians’ well-being over his own reputation; he prays instead of exercising sharp discipline right away. | Is this a strategy to avoid confrontation (a gentler approach) or a genuine preference that they would be so whole that his authority remains unused? The latter is more common, but some note Paul is also protecting his apostolic integrity (Matthew Henry). |
| The paradox of strength and weakness | Paul inverts worldly values: he counts weakness a cause for joy when it benefits others’ strength. | Whether this is a total renunciation of power or a selective use of power for building up. The broader context (2 Cor 10:8; 13:10) shows Paul does wield authority when necessary, but always for edification. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Paul wrote 2 Corinthians from Macedonia around AD 57, not long after the crisis that prompted his ‘tearful letter’ (2 Cor 2:4). The Corinthian church remained fractious: false apostles had challenged Paul’s credentials (2 Cor 11, 12), factions divided the congregation (1 Cor 1:10, 13), and some members had fallen into serious moral failure (1 Cor 5). Paul’s authority had been directly questioned, opponents sneered at his bodily presence as ‘weak’ and his speech as ‘contemptible’ (2 Cor 10:10).
Verse 9 lands in the closing appeal of the letter. Paul has just called the Corinthians to examine themselves (v.5) and declared he prays they might do no evil even if it makes him look ‘disapproved’ (v.7). Now he states his paradoxical joy: he does not need to wield power if they are walking in strength. The language of ‘weakness’ echoes Paul’s entire theology of apostolic suffering in this letter (2 Cor 4:7, 12; 6:4, 10; 11:23, 30; 12:9, 10). In Greco-Roman culture, honor and strength were prized; a leader who boasted of weakness was a scandal. But Paul reframes strength as Christ’s power showing through his own fragility (2 Cor 12:9).
The word katartisis was used in medical literature for the setting of bones and in political contexts for the restoration of civic harmony. Gill and Clarke draw attention to this: the church at Corinth was ‘like a disjointed body,’ and Paul wishes to see every member ‘in its proper place.’ The closing verses of the chapter (vv.11, 14) reinforce this: ‘Be perfected. Be of the same mind. Live in peace.’ Paul writes so that when he arrives he may build up, not tear down (v.10). The letter’s whole purpose culminates in this prayer for their right ordering.
Textual Notes
The supplied commentaries note no significant textual variants affecting the interpretation of this verse. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown observes that the conjunction ‘and’ between the two clauses is not present in the oldest manuscripts; this omission does not change the meaning, as the structure remains clear: ‘We rejoice when we are weak and you are strong; this also we pray for, your perfection.’ The reading is stable across the major Greek witnesses.
Reception History
This verse has been a touchstone for several streams of Christian teaching. John Wesley and the Methodist tradition drew on it to support the doctrine of entire sanctification, ‘perfection’ understood as the soul wholly restored to the image of God. Clarke’s commentary develops this at length, using the bone-setting metaphor to describe the purification of every faculty. The Reformed tradition, represented by Calvin and Gill, stressed the corporate and ecclesial dimension: Paul’s prayer is for the church to be properly fitted together as one body. In the Anglican tradition, the Cambridge Bible highlights the mosaic image of souls joined in unity. Early church writers, though less cited in the supplied sources, read the verse as an appeal for moral and doctrinal consistency, tying it to the closing exhortation ‘Be perfected’ (v.11). Across traditions, the verse has functioned as a prayer for the church’s complete health, personal and communal, spiritual and relational.
Preaching This Verse
Three-Point Outline
- Paul’s Joy in Apparent Weakness, Paul does not seek to appear powerful. He rejoices when the Corinthians’ good conduct makes his own authority unnecessary. His weakness is not a failure but a sign that they are strong in faith (Barnes, Gill).
- Paul’s Prayer for Their Perfection, The apostle prays for katartisis, a complete restoration of what is out of joint, both in individual souls and in the corporate life of the church (Clarke, Cambridge).
- The Nature of Christian Maturity, Perfection in this sense is not flawlessness but being fully fitted together in Christ: every member in its place, every relationship healed, the whole body functioning as God intended (Calvin, Gill).
Five-Point Outline
- The paradox of apostolic weakness: Paul is glad when he appears weak because the Corinthians are spiritually strong.
- The heart of a true pastor: personal reputation matters less than the flock’s well-being.
- The prayer that shapes Paul’s ministry: not for his own vindication but for their perfection.
- The meaning of katartisis: a medical metaphor of bone-setting, a builder’s term for fitting stones, and a picture of reconciled community.
- The call to be ‘perfected’ (v.11) as the answer to Paul’s prayer, a summons to unity, peace, and wholeness in Christ.
Illustration Hooks
- A doctor resetting a dislocated shoulder: the patient must endure pain and stay still while the joint is guided back into place. Paul prays for that kind of restoration, even if it stings at first.
- A broken mosaic being painstakingly reassembled, each piece finding its exact spot. The Corinthian church had shattered; Paul longs for the original beauty to reappear.
- A parent stepping back so a child can walk on their own. Paul accepts the role of the one who looks ‘weak’ because the stronger the child grows, the more the parent rejoices.
Questions Your Congregation Is Asking
- Why does Paul seem okay with being seen as weak? Doesn't that harm his credibility?
- What does ‘perfection’ really mean here? Is Paul telling us we can be sinless in this life?
- How does this verse apply to church conflicts today? What would it look like to ‘be perfected’ in a divided congregation?
Leading a Discussion
Paul’s closing words to the Corinthians turn away from defence and toward a prayer that still challenges us. He dares to call his own weakness a cause for joy, if it means others are growing strong. And he prays for their ‘perfection,’ not as flawless performance but as a deep, bone-level restoration to God’s design. In a church or small group marked by tensions, Paul’s heart invites us to reconsider what real maturity looks like.
Discussion Questions
- Reread verses 7, 10. Why does Paul connect his own ‘weakness’ with the Corinthians’ ‘strength’? What does that tell you about his view of leadership?
- Look up the word katartisis (perfection) in a Bible dictionary or lexicon. How does the image of setting a dislocated bone expand your understanding of Christian growth?
- In what ways might a church or individual today be ‘out of joint’? How would restoration feel, what would change?
- Paul prays for the Corinthians’ perfection while also calling them to examine themselves (v.5). How do prayer and personal responsibility work together in spiritual growth?
- Verse 9 echoes 1 Corinthians 4:10, where Paul contrasts ‘weak’ apostles with ‘strong’ Corinthians. Why does Paul keep returning to this theme? What is he trying to teach them?
- How can you apply this passage to a current relationship, within your small group, family, or church, where you might need to rejoice in another’s strength even at cost to your own pride?
- What would it mean for you personally to pray for the ‘perfection’ (the full mending) of someone you are in conflict with? What would that prayer look like?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| I Corinthians 4:10 | We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor. |
| II Corinthians 7:1 | Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. |
| II Corinthians 11:30 | If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness. |
| II Corinthians 12:5 | On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in my weaknesses. |
| II Corinthians 12:10 | Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. |
| II Corinthians 13:7 | Now I pray to God that you do no evil; not that we may appear approved, but that you may do that which is honorable, though we may seem to have failed. |
| II Corinthians 13:8 | For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. |
| II Corinthians 13:11 | Finally, brothers, rejoice! Be perfected. Be comforted. Be of the same mind. Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke draws attention to the Greek word the apostle uses, which originally means the setting of a dislocated bone back into its proper place. He applies this medical image to the church's disorder: the members are out of joint with one another and need to be realigned into harmonious unity, restoring the original order God intended for the soul and the fellowship.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes highlights Paul’s contentment with appearing weak or disrespected, as long as the Corinthians do no wrong and grow strong in faith. Paul would rather face reproach than have to exercise his authority to punish them. Barnes also points out that the rare Greek word for “perfection” here means complete restoration and good order, which Paul sought without needing discipline.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin reads Paul as willingly accepting the label of weakness and contempt if it means the Corinthians grow strong in God's grace. His severity toward them was not from choice but necessity, and always aimed at restoring them to spiritual health, like a physician who heals without harming the body.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
This commentator highlights that Paul uses a stronger Greek word for rejoice and speaks of inner spiritual strength, not merely outward might. The key observation is that perfection here does not mean completing a design, but the fitting together of many souls like pieces in a mosaic, combining restoration with unity.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The commentator highlights Paul's paradoxical joy: he is glad when his own weakness results in the Corinthians' spiritual strength. His ultimate prayer is not for his own comfort but for their complete maturity, or perfection.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill interprets the apostle's "weakness" as having no need to exercise authority, and the Corinthians' "strength" as their firm faith and active obedience. His wish for their "perfection" uses a medical metaphor: a dislocated bone being set back in joint. The Corinthian church was a disjointed body, and Paul desired their divisions healed and each member restored to its proper place.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB highlights the contrast between Paul's seeming weakness, having no occasion to display power, and the Corinthians' strength in faith and spiritual fruit. He notes that the Greek word for "perfection" here means the complete restoration of a dislocated limb, pointing to total spiritual mending rather than gradual improvement.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry stresses that Paul's deepest prayer was not for his own good name but for the Corinthians to do what is honest and honorable even if it left Paul himself looking unapproved. For Henry, a faithful minister cares more about the gospel's reputation than his own.
Vincent's Word Studies Evangelical 1887
Vincent connects "weak" with "unapproved," arguing that the apostles' weakness consists in being deprived of authority to discipline because the Corinthians' good conduct leaves no room for corrective action. He also notes the Greek word for "perfection" appears only here in the New Testament.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that the apostles rejoice when they appear weak, because that means they have no need to display their authority. His real wish is for the believers to reach perfection, which he defines as faith that expresses itself through love.