It is authored by Paul the Apostle and Timothy (2 Corinthians 1:1) in Macedonia in 55–56 CE.

The eighteenth-century German theologian Johann Salomo Semler suggested that this chapter was a separate letter later inserted into 2 Corinthians.

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: Proverbs 22:8 in Septuagint has "God blesses a cheerful man, and a giver", which may be what Paul refers to.

[10] Paul knew that all the magnificent promises of God were guaranteed through the perfect sacrifice of Christ (cf.

Thus, that "indescribable free gift" would include all the goodness and loyal love that God would extend to mankind through Jesus.