Paul probably wrote his first letter to the Corinthians in the spring of the year and his second one before winter in the same year.
II Corinthians 1:1 indicates that this letter was to be shared with other believers in the Roman province of Achaia.
Corinth had a reputation for prosperity, but she was also a byword for evil living. It was the place where the Isthmiasn Games were held, which were second only to the Olympics.
This book is an outpouring of the Apostle Paul’s heart toward a group of believers in a church that he had founded and that he dearly loved.
On Paul’s second missionary journey he had visited Corinth, a city in the southwest corner of Greece, where he preached the Gospel and spent eighteen months establishing the church.
Later, Paul had written a letter (I Corinthians) to them in which he dealt with grave and pressing problems confronting the church.
We cannot be sure of all that took place between I and II Corinthians, but it seems that Paul made a visit to Corinth and found that the problems that occasioned the first letter had not been solved (13:1-2). Following this visit he wrote the church a severe and sorrowful letter (2:4), which in all probability was lost in its entirety.
After receiving word from Titus the good news that the church had repented, Paul wrote this letter from Philippi (in Macedonia), hoping to visit them again soon (12:14).
Keep in mind that these Corinthian believers were subjected to persecution from enemies without and to treachery from enemies within their group.
Few passages in the Bible so clearly present the case for sacrificial giving as 8:1-9:15 does.
As we read this intensely personal letter, we need to listen to Paul’s words of love and exhortation and his commitment to the truth of the Word of God.