I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
I wrote unto you in an letter - Greek, 'in THE letter:' a former one not now extant. That Paul does not refer to the present letter is clear, as no direction 'not to company with fornicators' occurs in the previous part; also the words, 'in the letter,' could not have been added if he meant, 'I have just written' (2 Corinthians 10:10). 'His letters' (plural) confirm this. 2 Corinthians 7:8 uses the same phrase, in referring to our first letter, as here is used in referring to a former one. It probably was a brief reply to inquiries of the Corinthians: our first letter, as it enters more fully into the same subject, has superseded the former, which the Holy Spirit did not design for the Church in general. See my 'Introduction.'