2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians 9
1It is indeed unnecessary for me to write to you concerning the service to the saints, 2for I know your readiness, of which I boast on your behalf to those of Macedonia, that Achaia has been prepared for the past year. Your zeal has stirred up very many of them. 3But I have sent the brothers that our boasting on your behalf may not be in vain in this respect, that, just as I said, you may be prepared, 4lest by any means, if anyone from Macedonia comes there with me and finds you unprepared, we (to say nothing of you) would be disappointed in this confident boasting. 5I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brothers that they would go before to you and arrange ahead of time the generous gift that you promised before, that the same might be ready as a matter of generosity, and not of greediness.
6Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work. 9As it is written,
10Now may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11you being enriched in everything to all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. 12For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through much giving of thanks to God, 13seeing that through the proof given by this service, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the Good News of Christ and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all, 14while they themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, yearn for you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you. 15Now thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!
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4 commentators · 45 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry2
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
In these verses the apostle speaks very respectfully to the Corinthians, and with great skill; and, while he seems to excuse his urging them so earnestly to charity, still presses them thereto, and shows how much his heart was set upon this matter. I. He…
Here we have, I. Proper directions to be observed about the right and acceptable manner of bestowing charity; and it is of great concernment that we not only do what is required, but do it as is commanded. Now, as to the manner in which the apostle would have…
John Gill15
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
For as touching the ministering to the saints,.... It looks at first sight as if the apostle was entering upon a new subject, though by what follows it appears to be the same; for by "ministering to the saints", he does not mean the ministry of the Gospel to…
For I know the forwardness of your mind,.... How that they were willing of themselves to engage in this good work; how readily they came into it; what a cheerful disposition of mind they showed towards it; and how forward they were to begin the collection…
Yet have I sent the brethren,.... Titus, and the other two mentioned in the foregoing chapter: one manuscript reads, "we have sent"; and the Ethiopic version, "they have sent", that is, the Macedonians; but the common reading is best. It might be objected…
Adam Clarke14
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
It is superfluous for me to write to you - I need not enlarge, having already said enough. See the preceding chapter, (2 Corinthians 8 (note)).
I know the forwardness of your mind - You have already firmly purposed to contribute to the support of the poor and suffering saints. That Achaia was ready a year ago - The whole of the Morea was anciently called Achaia, the capital of which was Corinth. The…
Yet have I sent the brethren - Titus and his companions, mentioned in the preceding chapter. That, as I said, ye may be ready - And he wished them to be ready, that they might preserve the good character he had given them: this was for their honor; and if…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown14
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
ready a year ago--to send off the money, owing to the apostle's former exhortation (Co1 16:1-2). your zeal--Greek, "the zeal from you," that is, on your part; propagated from you to others. provoked--that is, stimulated. very many--Greek, "the greater…
have I sent--we should say, "I send"; whereas the ancients put it in the past, the time which it would be by the time that the letter arrived. the brethren-- (Co2 8:18, Co2 8:22) --Titus and the two others. should be in vain in this behalf--"should be proved…
if they of Macedonia--rather as Greek, "if Macedonians." unprepared--with your collection; see Co2 9:2, "ready," Greek, "prepared." we, not to say ye--Ye would naturally feel more ashamed for yourselves, than we (who boasted of you) would for you. confident…
World English Bible — Public domain