John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 3. And I was with you in weakness , etc.] Meaning either the weakness of his bodily presence, the contemptibleness of his voice, and the mean figure he made as a preacher among them, both with respect to the matter and manner of his ministry in the eyes of many; or his lowly and humble deportment among them, not exerting the power and authority Christ had given him as an apostle; but choosing rather to work with his own hands, as he did at Corinth, to minister to his own necessities, and those of others; or the many persecutions which he endured there for the sake of preaching a crucified Christ; and which he sometimes calls infirmities; (see Corinthians 12:9,10) wherefore it is added, and in fear, and in much trembling : not only on account of the greatness and awfulness of the work in which he was engaged, and lest the souls he ministered unto should be drawn aside from the truth, and into a sinful compliance; but because of the violence of men against him, threatening his life, and lying in wait for it: hence, the Lord, to encourage him, spake in a vision to him, and bid him not be afraid, but boldly preach his Gospel, and not be silent; assuring him of his presence, and that no man should set on him to hurt him, for he had many chosen vessels there to call by his grace through his ministry, ( Acts 18:9,10) which no doubt greatly served to remove the fears and tremor that attended him.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-5 - Christ, in his person, and offices, and sufferings, is the sum an substance of the gospel, and ought to be the great subject of a gospe minister's preaching, but not so as to leave out other parts of God' revealed truth and will. Paul preached the whole counsel of God. Fe know the fear and trembling of faithful ministers, from a deep sense of their own weakness They know how insufficient they are, and are fearfu for themselves. When nothing but Christ crucified is plainly preached the success must be entirely from Divine power accompanying the word and thus men are brought to believe, to the salvation of their souls.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 CONJ εγω 1473 P-1NS εν 1722 PREP ασθενεια 769 N-DSF και 2532 CONJ εν 1722 PREP φοβω 5401 N-DSM και 2532 CONJ εν 1722 PREP τρομω 5156 N-DSM πολλω 4183 A-DSM εγενομην 1096 5633 V-2ADI-1S προς 4314 PREP υμας 5209 P-2AP
Vincent's NT Word Studies
3. I was with you (egenomhn prov umav). I was is rather I became. I fell into a state of weakness, etc., after I had come among you. With you, i.e., in intercourse with. See on with God, John i. 1. The implication is that his condition grew out of the circumstances in which he found himself in Corinth.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
2:3 {I was with you} (egenomen pros humas). Rather, "I came to you" (not en, was). "I not only eschewed all affectation of cleverness or grandiloquence, but I went to the opposite extreme of diffidence and nervous self-effacement" (Robertson and Plummer). Paul had been in prison in Philippi, driven out of Thessalonica and Beroea, politely bowed out of Athens. It is a human touch to see this shrinking as he faced the hard conditions in Corinth. It is a common feeling of the most effective preachers. Cool complacency is not the mood of the finest preaching. See fobos (fear) and tromos (trembling) combined in #2Co 7:15; Php 2:12; Eph 6:5.
