A common misinterpretation treats this verse as a blanket legal rule for modern courtrooms or personal disputes requiring exactly two or three eyewitnesses for any claim, ignoring its specific context of Paul's pastoral discipline within the church; another error assumes it promotes endless leniency through repeated visits without consequences, overlooking the warning of impending firm correction after prior opportunities for repentance.
II Corinthians 13:1
King James Version (1769)
1 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
Paul announces his third visit to the Corinthian church, invoking the Old Testament principle from Deuteronomy that a matter is established by the testimony of two or three witnesses, underscoring his intent to address ongoing issues like immorality and division with irrefutable evidence and decisive apostolic authority, ensuring fairness and accountability rather than hasty judgment.