Therefore, as ye abound in every thing. — Literally, But, as ye abound, marking the transition from narrative to exhortation. He opens, as was his manner, with words of praise, and dexterously combines the gifts of “utterance and knowledge,” which he had acknowledged before (1 Corinthians 1:5), with the “earnestness and love” of which he had spoken in this very Epistle (2 Corinthians 7:12).
And in your love to us. — Some MSS. give the reading “our love for you,” but that in the text has abundant authority, and gives a far better meaning. The English expresses the general meaning, but there is a subtle delicacy in the Greek: “the love which, flowing from you, rests in us as its object.” The other reading would convey the sense of “the love which, flowing from us — i.e., from our teaching and influence — now dwells in you, and shows itself in act.” In any case, he is praising them for a quality which is actually theirs.