2 Corinthians 12:17

Did any of those whom I sent to you take advantage of you?:
This is what I mean, that those who were sent did not inform them of this, so that if they wished, they could offer the Apostle a worthy amount in return; for he did not want to accept it, because it was offered in a manner less worthy than he deserved. The Apostles understood this cunningly devised plan; to prove that what he did, he did not out of contempt, but out of greed.

Wherefore also he proceeds by question, saying, "I exhorted Titus, and with him I sent the brother. Did Titus make a gain of you?" 'walked he not just as I walked.' That is to say, neither did he receive. Seest thou how intense a strictness [is here], in that he not only keeps himself clear of that receiving, but so modulates those also who are sent by him that he may not give so much as a slight pretence to those who were desirous of attacking him. For this is far greater than that which the Patriarch did. For he indeed, when he had returned from his victory, and the king would have given him the spoil, refused to accept aught save what the men had eaten; but this man neither himself enjoyed [from them] his necessary food, nor allowed his partners to partake of such: thus abundantly stopping the mouths of the shameless. Wherefore he makes no assertion, nor does he say that they did not receive either; but what was far more than this, he cites the Corinthians themselves as witnesses that they had received nothing, that he may not seem to be witnessing in his own person, but by their verdict; which course we are accustomed to take in matters fully admitted and about which we are confident. 'For tell me,' he says, 'Did any one of those who were sent by us make unfair gain of you?' He did not say, 'Did any one receive aught from you?' but he calls the things 'unfair gain;' attacking them and shaming them exceedingly, and showing that to receive of an unwilling [giver] is 'unfair gain.' And he said not 'did Titus?' but, "did any?" 'For ye cannot say this either,' he says, 'that such an one certainly did not receive, but another did. No single one of those who came did so.' "I exhorted Titus." This too is severely said. For he did not say, 'I sent Titus,' but, 'I exhorted' him; showing that if he had received even, he would have done so justly; but, nevertheless, even so he remained pure. Wherefore he asks them again, saying, "Did Titus take any advantage of you? Walked we not by the same spirit?" What means, "by the same spirit?" He ascribes the whole to grace and shows that the whole of this praise is the good result not of our labors, but of the gift of the Spirit and of Grace. For it was a very great instance of grace that although both in want and hunger they would receive nothing for the edification of the disciples. "Walked we not in the same steps?" That is to say, they did not depart the least from this strictness, but preserved the same rule entire.

The meaning of these words is as follows: he himself did not "burden you," but someone might suspect that I, while accepting nothing myself, being a crafty man, instructed those sent by me so that they would ask you for something on their own behalf, in order that through this cunning, while exacting, I might appear not to exact. Whether this is fair—look and judge for yourselves. He calls this matter "craftiness" in order to reproach and shame them, and to show that they could have been giving against their will and as if as a result of deception—for craftiness consists precisely in taking from someone against their will. It is the greatest disgrace for them if they consider themselves victims of craftiness because they support their teacher.

Then he excludes this suspicion when he says, Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? First, in general; secondly, in particular. In general in the following way: if I had wanted to snatch anything from you by others, I would have sent those who might obtain these things. But did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you, by using them to extort your goods? As if to say: No: "We have taken advantage of no one" (2 Cor. 7:2); "That no man transgress, and wrong his brother in this matter" (1 Th. 4:16).