---
title: 2 Corinthians 2:6
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/2-corinthians-2-6/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/2-corinthians-2-6.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 2 Corinthians 2:6
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 2 Corinthians 2:6

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him.

## JW Usage

The Watchtower rarely emphasises this verse, as it describes Paul urging the Corinthian congregation to forgive and comfort the disciplined person — directly countering the model of indefinite shunning. When referenced, it is treated as an exceptional apostolic directive rather than a normative pattern for congregational discipline. The organisation's system keeps reinstatement decisions with a judicial committee, not with the congregation as Paul describes here.

## Protestant Usage

Paul writes that "the punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient" and urges the church to "forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow" (2 Corinthians 2:6–8). This reveals that apostolic discipline was temporary, restorative, and decided by congregational consensus — not imposed indefinitely by a secretive committee. The phrase "by the majority" shows the whole congregation participated in both the discipline and the restoration, contrasting sharply with the Watchtower's elder-controlled judicial process. Paul's concern about "excessive sorrow" implies a duty of care toward the disciplined person that is incompatible with total social isolation.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Shunning — The 1947 Reversal](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/shunning-1947.md) — Awake! 1947 vs Watchtower 1952 [Authority]
- [No Honourable Exit — Trapped by the Threat of Shunning](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/no-honourable-exit.md) — If you stay, you comply. If you leave, you lose everyone. [Practice]
- [Admonish Him as a Brother — The Verse That Undoes Shunning](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/shunning-admonish-as-brother.md) — 2 Thessalonians 3:14–15 / 2 Corinthians 2:6–8 / Matthew 18:17 [Practice]
- [Coerced Compliance Is Not the Same Moral Category as Virtue](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/coerced-compliance-vs-virtue.md) — The coercion threshold — what the fruit test can and cannot see [Practice]
- [2024 'Removed' Rebrand — Not Reform](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/2024-removed-rebrand-not-reform.md) — 2 Timothy 3:5 — A form of godliness, denying its power [Authority]
- [No Pastoral Grace — The Judicial Committee vs the Throne of Grace](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/no-pastoral-grace-confession.md) — Hebrews 4:15-16 — A sympathetic high priest [Salvation]
- [Pornography and Judicial Escalation — From Tribunal to Throne](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/pornography-judicial-escalation.md) — 1 Corinthians 10:13 — A way of escape, not a way of removal [Sanctification]
- [Public Reproof and Comment Performance — A Yoke of Slavery](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/public-reproof-performance-discipline.md) — Galatians 5:1 — For freedom Christ has set us free [Sanctification]
- [The Human Cost of Shunning](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/shunning-human-cost.md) — Social death, depression, and a grief the Bible never prescribes [Practice]