Paul answers a suspicion with names the Corinthians knew. The charge was that although Paul took nothing himself, he was "crafty" and caught them "with guile" (2 Corinthians 12:16), perhaps through his helpers. So Paul names Titus, a man they knew. His first question asks whether Titus took anything from them. Barnes notes that they knew the answer: they "had received him kindly, treated him with affection, and sent him away with every proof of confidence and respect."

The second and third questions tie Paul to Titus. If Titus walked honestly among them, and Paul walked in the same spirit and the same steps, then the charge against Paul falls too. Barnes calls this "a very delicate turn." Gill takes "the same steps" to mean the same course of life, working to supply their own needs "rather than be burdensome to others."

No reply from Corinth is recorded, because none was needed. The Corinthians had seen Titus for themselves, and every question expects the same answer: Titus made no gain, and Paul and Titus walked alike. Paul goes straight on: "Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying" (2 Corinthians 12:19). His defense ends by pointing to their good, not his own name.

Titus was a Greek believer who worked closely with Paul (Galatians 2:3). Paul calls him "my partner and fellowhelper concerning you" (2 Corinthians 8:23). Paul had urged Titus to "finish in you the same grace" (2 Corinthians 8:6), the gift for "the ministering to the saints" (2 Corinthians 8:4), and had sent with him "the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches" (2 Corinthians 8:18). Barnes points back to those verses here. Gill mentions that some identify this brother as Luke, but the text does not name him.

The word for "make a gain" is pleonekteo, to take advantage of or overreach. "Steps" translates ichnos, a track or footprint. Paul's picture is of two men walking so closely together that they leave the same footprints.

Paul's defense rests on a shared life, not a single man's claim. He does not ask the Corinthians to trust his word alone. He points to his co-worker and asks them to compare. Gill puts the principle simply: "where are the same Spirit, temper, disposition, and principles, there will be the same works and actions." Matthew Henry says Paul and his helpers "all agreed in this matter to do them all the good they could, without being burdensome to them."

This fits the heart of the whole passage. "I seek not yours, but you," Paul says (2 Corinthians 12:14). The integrity of Paul's team was not about guarding a reputation. It came from love that sought the Corinthians themselves, not their money.