AUTHOR: Attributed to the apostle Paul, which can be verified during your reading, when the apostle mentions his relationship with this church. Furthermore, his text contains a lot of autobiographical information, and references to people who were close to the apostle should be considered. According to Christian tradition, the apostle would have written four letters to the Church in Corinth, two of which are now lost, so that 2 Corinthians may have been the fourth epistle.

THEMATIC: This epistle to the Corinthians affirms Paul's ministry, defends his authority as an apostle, and refutes the false teachers in Corinth. Of all Paul's epistles, this is the most personal. It is a revelation of your heart, innermost feelings and deepest motives. This exposure of his heart was not an easy task for the apostle, but a very unpleasant one. The presence of false teachers in Corinth called into question Paul's status as an apostle and his authority as a leader. He then wrote the second letter to the Corinthians to defend his position and denounce those who were distorting the truth. It must have been difficult for Paul to write the second letter to the Corinthians because he had to list his credentials as an apostle. In making this defense, he was obliged to relate experiences concerning which he preferred to be silent as a humble servant of Christ; but he knew it was necessary. Paul sent the letter to Corinth by the hand of Titus [2Co 2:12] and [2Co 7:5-7]. This left the apostle very concerned and anxious to know, as soon as possible, how the Corinthians had reacted to this reproof. Titus would have to return through Macedonia; Paul left Ephesus and went to Troas in order to find Titus as soon as possible [ 2Co 2:13 ]. Disappointed in his expectation, Paul went to Macedonia, where he found Titus, who gave him the news that that letter had had a beneficial effect and that the Corinthians had fully recognized Paul's apostolic ministry. However, there was a small minority who refused his authority. To comfort and encourage the former, and admonish the latter, Paul wrote his second letter.

COMPILATION: The likely date the epistle was written would have been around AD 56/57, a few months after the first letter, when Paul was somewhere in the Roman province of Macedonia, on his third missionary journey. At the time, the apostle was visiting the churches he had founded on his second trip. It consists of 13 chapters and 257 verses.