Verse 4
Who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Affliction ... Here is introduced the word which flies like a banner over the entire epistle. The word with its synonym "suffering" occurs eight times in this paragraph.
That we may be able to comfort ... Inherent in Paul's statement here is the fact that only those who have suffered are able to comfort others. Also, it is God who is the source of all comfort, except that which is merely superficial; and even those purely human sources of comfort are themselves related to the nature of God.
Who comforteth us ... One of the great comforts Paul had received and which he acknowledged here "seems to have resulted from the good reports brought from Corinth by Titus."[13] Paul's 1Corinthians letter had accomplished his purpose; the Corinthians had repented; and Paul was comforted in the knowledge that the crisis in Corinth had passed.
Before leaving this verse it should be pointed out that in the KJV the word "comfort" is rendered "consolation" in several places. Farrar called the variations "needless"; and, although granting that they were well intentioned, he said:
They arose from a false notion of style, a deficient sense of the precision of special words, and an inadequate conception of the duties of faithful translation, which requires that we should as exactly as possible reflect the peculiarities of the original, and not attempt to improve upon them.[14]
It is precisely in this conceit of "improving" the word of God that many of the "modern" translations are unqualified failures. The instance cited by Farrar from the KJV is fortunately rare in that version; but many of the current so-called "translations" are nothing but commentary, and in countless examples unwholesome and inaccurate commentary.
[13] John William Russell, Compact Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1964), p. 439.
[14] F. W. Farrar, op. cit., p. 2.
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