'But with you it may be that I will abide, or even winter, that you may set me forward on my journey wherever I go. For I do not wish to see you now by the way, for I hope to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.'
Indeed his purpose was not only to visit them but also to stay with them for a time, and possibly even to spend the winter with them, that they might then set him on his way to wherever the Lord would direct him. That is why he was not suggesting a quick visit on the way to somewhere else. For if the Lord permitted, he wanted to stay with them for a goodly period.
Thus Paul wanted them to know of his desire to spend time with them, and that the calumnies of those who said that he no longer cared for them were untrue.
‘If the Lord permit.' He was aware that he was a man under orders, and probably remembered the last time when he had had a sudden call to go to Macedonia (Acts 16:9). All his arrangements had to be subject to the Lord's requirements. Thus he makes this necessary proviso (compare James 4:13-15).
In fact his plans suffered a change. At the time of writing it was his plan to head north from Ephesus and then spend some time in Macedonia. Macedonia was the Roman province north of Corinth where Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea were. Then he planned to travel south to Corinth. But Paul changed his plan and travelled directly from Ephesus to Corinth for a visit that was quite hurtful (2Co 2:1; 2 Corinthians 12:14; 2 Corinthians 13:1-2), after which he returned to Ephesus (compare 2 Corinthians 2:5-8; 2 Corinthians 7:12). Later he visited Macedonia and then Corinth again (2 Corinthians 2:12-13; 2 Corinthians 7:6-16). This change of plan might have resulted from news of how his letter had been received.
While Paul did spend a winter in Corinth, it was in fact the winter after the one when he had expected to be there, the winter of about 57-58 AD rather than about 56-57 AD (compare Acts 20:2-3; Romans 16:1; Romans 16:23), for he sensed the need to spend a goodly time in Corinth, and in view of the problems in the church that he has mentioned in this letter, and had had confirmed by his visit, we can understand why.