This verse consists of two questions, the second of which expands or explains the first. These are rhetorical questions. Paul is making a last appeal to his readers before the severe teaching of chapter 5 begins. The initial phrase may be expressed as “Which would you like me to do?”

The word for rod is quite common in the Septuagint and elsewhere, with meanings ranging from “stick” generally, through the “staff” of a traveler or a shepherd, to the symbolic staff or “scepter” of a ruler. This is the only place where Paul uses this noun, so we must find its meaning almost entirely from the context of this verse. It is most unlikely that Paul thinks of a literal stick with which he is threatening to beat his converts. It is also most unlikely that he thinks of himself as a ruler. His authority is “in Christ” (verses 15, 17), and he describes it as that of a father (verse 15) or a teacher (verse 17). Both fathers and teachers had the acknowledged right to correct their children or pupils, if necessary, by using force. This idea is difficult to convey in the setting of many modern societies. Paul’s language also seems to have irony in it. Translators have found different ways of explaining or bringing out the meaning of this phrase. Bijbel in Gewone Taal and Revised English Bible say “a rod in my hand”; Moffatt and Barclay have “rod of discipline.” Phillips uses a verb instead of the noun: “ready to chastise you.”

With love in a spirit of gentleness translates the Greek quite literally. Spirit here does not refer to the Holy Spirit. In contrast to the rod of discipline which Paul has mentioned in the previous sentence, he is here referring to treating the Christians in a loving way. A possible rendering is “or will I be able to display my love for you and treat you gently?”

So the final part of the verse can be translated as “When I come to visit you, will it be necessary to punish you, or will I be able to display my love for you and treat you gently?”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .