2 Corinthians 12:16

“But be it so, I did not burden you, etc..] These words are not spoken by the apostle in his own person of himself, but in the person of his adversaries, and contain a concession and an objection of theirs, but be it so; they granted that he had not burdened the Corinthians, that he had took nothing of them himself for preaching the Gospel; they owned that he had preached it freely; this was so clear a point, and so flagrant a case, that they could not deny it; yet they insinuated to the Corinthians, and objected to the apostle, that though he did not receive anything from them with his own hands, yet he craftily and cunningly made use of others to drain their purses, and receive it for him;…”

“I did not burden you--The "I" in the Greek is emphatic. A possible insinuation of the Corinthians is hereby anticipated and refuted: "But, you may say, granted that I did not burden you myself; nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you (in my net) with guile"; namely, made a gain of you by means of others (Th1 2:3).”

“But be it so - This is evidently a charge of his enemies; or at least a charge which it might be supposed they would make. Whether they ever in fact made it, or whether the apostle merely anticipates an objection, it is impossible to determine. It is clearly to be regarded as the language of objectors; for: (1) It can never be supposed that Paul would state as a serious matter that he had caught them with deceit or fraud. (2) He answers it as an objection in the following verse. The meaning is, “We admit that you did not burden us. You did not exact a support from us. But all this was mere trick. You accomplished the same thing in another way. You professed when with us not to seek our…”

“But some may object, though I did not burden you, though I did not take anything of you myself, yet being crafty I caught you with guile - I did secretly by my messengers what I would not do openly, or in person. 2 Corinthians 12:17”

“12:16-18 Some of the Corinthians still believed that Paul had deceived them by trickery. They might have insinuated that Paul was helping himself to the proceeds of the collection for the Jerusalem church (chs 8–9). The answer to this charge is a reminder of the integrity of Titus and the other brother (see 8:18-24). The integrity of Paul and his associates should debunk such false charges.”

“I did not: Co2 12:13, Co2 11:9, Co2 11:10 being: That is, as my enemies represent, Co2 1:12, Co2 4:2, Co2 7:2, Co2 10:2, Co2 10:3; Th1 2:3, Th1 2:5; Pe1 2:3 2 Corinthians 12:17”