10:9,10 That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. His enemies said that his letters were weighty and stern, but his presence was very different. In other words, he terrified by empty threats.
10:9 I say this, that I may not seem to terrify you by letters - Threatening more than I can perform.
10:7-11 In outward appearance, Paul was mean and despised in the eyes of some, but this was a false rule to judge by. We must not think that none outward appearance, as if the want of such things proved a man not to be a real Christian, or an able, faithful minister of the lowly Saviour.