2 Corinthians 8: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Paul tells the Corinthians how the churches in Macedonia gave generously to the collection for God's people, even though they were poor and under pressure. He urges the Corinthians to finish the collection they began a year earlier, giving willingly out of what they have, so that surplus meets need on both sides. He then explains that he is sending Titus and two other trusted men to handle the money openly, so no one can accuse him of mishandling it.

Claim by Claim

1. 8:1
   • Paul addresses his readers as brothers.
   • Paul makes known to them the grace of God.
   • The grace of God has been given in the churches of Macedonia.
2. 8:2
   • The Macedonians were in a great test of affliction.
   • The Macedonians had abundant joy.
   • The Macedonians had deep poverty.
   • Their joy and poverty overflowed into the riches of their generosity.
3. 8:3
   • Paul testifies that the Macedonians gave according to their ability.
   • The Macedonians gave beyond their ability.
   • The Macedonians acted of their own accord.
4. 8:4
   • The Macedonians begged Paul and his companions with much entreaty.
   • They begged for the favor of sharing in the ministry to the saints.
   • The King James states that they asked Paul to receive the gift and to take upon himself the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
5. 8:5
   • The Macedonians did not act as Paul and his companions had hoped or expected.
   • The Macedonians first gave themselves to the Lord.
   • The Macedonians gave themselves to Paul and his companions.
   • They did this through the will of God.
6. 8:6
   • Paul and his companions urged Titus.
   • Titus had already begun this act of grace.
   • They urged Titus to complete this act of grace among the Corinthians, just as he had begun it.
7. 8:7
   • The Corinthians abound in everything.
   • The Corinthians abound in faith.
   • The Corinthians abound in speech.
   • The Corinthians abound in knowledge.
   • The Corinthians abound in all diligence.
   • The Corinthians abound in love, which is between them and Paul.
   • Paul tells them to abound in this grace also.
8. 8:8
   • Paul says he is not speaking by way of command.
   • Paul speaks by way of the earnestness of others.
   • Paul is testing the genuineness of the Corinthians' love.
9. 8:9
   • The Corinthians know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
   • Jesus Christ was rich.
   • Jesus Christ became poor for the sake of the Corinthians.
   • The purpose was that the Corinthians might become rich through his poverty.
10. 8:10
    • Paul gives his opinion in this matter.
    • This is expedient for the Corinthians.
    • The Corinthians began a year ago.
    • The Corinthians began not only to do but also to will.
11. 8:11
    • Paul tells them now to complete the doing of it.
    • There was a readiness to will.
    • The completion should match the readiness to will.
    • The completion should be out of what they have.
12. 8:12
    • If the readiness is present, the gift is acceptable.
    • The gift is acceptable according to what a person has.
    • The gift is not judged according to what a person does not have.
13. 8:13
    • Paul does not intend that others be relieved and the Corinthians burdened.
    • Paul intends equality.
14. 8:14
    • At the present time the Corinthians' abundance is to supply the others' lack.
    • The others' abundance is in turn to supply the Corinthians' lack.
    • The purpose is that there may be equality.
15. 8:15
    • It is written that the one who gathered much had nothing left over.
    • It is written that the one who gathered little had no lack.
16. 8:16
    • Paul gives thanks to God.
    • God put the same earnest care for the Corinthians into the heart of Titus.
17. 8:17
    • Titus accepted the exhortation.
    • Titus was more earnest.
    • Titus went to the Corinthians of his own accord.
18. 8:18
    • Paul and his companions sent a brother along with Titus.
    • That brother's praise in the gospel is throughout all the churches.
19. 8:19
    • The brother was also chosen by the churches.
    • He was chosen to travel with Paul and his companions in this gracious gift.
    • This gift is administered by Paul and his companions.
    • The administering is for the glory of the Lord himself.
    • The administering is also for the declaration of readiness: the King James reads this as the Corinthians' ready mind, while the Greek reads it as the readiness of Paul and his companions.
20. 8:20
    • Paul and his companions take precautions.
    • The precaution is that no one should blame them regarding this abundant gift.
    • This abundant gift is administered by them.
21. 8:21
    • Paul and his companions provide for what is honorable.
    • They do so not only in the sight of the Lord.
    • They do so also in the sight of men.
22. 8:22
    • Paul and his companions sent their brother along with them.
    • They have proven this brother diligent many times in many things.
    • This brother is now much more diligent.
    • His greater diligence rests on great confidence in the Corinthians.
23. 8:23
    • Titus is Paul's partner.
    • Titus is a fellow worker toward the Corinthians.
    • The other brothers are messengers of the churches.
    • The other brothers are the glory of Christ.
24. 8:24
    • Paul tells the Corinthians to show these men the proof of their love.
    • Paul tells them to show the proof of his boasting about them.
    • This is to be shown before the churches.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

8:1

Macedonia was the Roman province covering the north of Greece; the churches Paul has in mind are those at Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea. The word behind "grace" here is charis, which runs through this whole chapter in several senses: God's kindness, a favor granted, a generous act, and even the collection of money itself. The King James "we do you to wit" is simply old English for "we make known to you."

8:2

"A great trial of affliction" does not mean a trial in a court. It means a stretch of severe pressure and hardship, in this case hostility from their neighbors on top of real poverty. Macedonia had been drained by decades of Roman warfare and heavy taxation, so these were not comfortable donors.

8:4

"Saints" in the King James does not mean a special class of holy people; it renders a word meaning those set apart, and Paul uses it of ordinary church members. The particular people meant here are the believers in Jerusalem, who were poor. The whole chapter concerns a relief fund Paul was gathering from his Gentile congregations for them. "Ministering" translates diakonia, practical service or aid, not preaching.

8:6

Titus was one of Paul's closest coworkers and had already made a difficult visit to Corinth on his behalf (see chapter 7). "The same grace" here means the collection itself.

8:7

The ancient copies differ at the end of this verse: some read "your love for us," others "our love for you." Translations split, and the plain rendering follows the first.

8:8

"Forwardness" in 1611 English meant eagerness or readiness, without the pushy sense the word carries now. The "others" whose eagerness Paul points to are the Macedonians of verses 1 to 5.

8:9

The words Paul uses are ordinary financial ones: he was wealthy, he made himself destitute, so that you might become wealthy. The money language of the collection is being carried over into a larger claim, and Paul leaves the transfer unexplained.

8:10

"Expedient" meant beneficial or useful; it did not yet carry the modern suggestion of a convenient shortcut. "A year ago" renders a phrase meaning "since last year," which counted on an ancient calendar could mean anything from a few months back to a full twelve.

8:14

"Want" in the King James always means lack or need, never desire. "Equality" translates isotes, a word used of fair shares, even balance, and equitable dealing.

8:15

The quotation is from Exodus 16:18, about the manna the Israelites gathered in the desert. However much or little any person collected, when it was measured out it came to just enough: no surplus for the one, no shortfall for the other.

8:17

"More forward" again means more eager. The past tense "he went unto you" reflects a Greek habit of writing from the reader's point of view in time; Titus was most likely carrying this very letter, so the sense is that he is on his way.

8:18

Paul never gives this man's name, and the first readers presumably knew who was meant. Later guesses have included Luke and Barnabas, but there is no way to settle it. "Whose praise is in the gospel" does not mean a written Gospel book, none of which yet circulated under that title; the gospel here is the spoken message about Jesus, and his reputation comes from his work in spreading it.

8:19

"Chosen of the churches" translates a verb that originally meant to elect by a show of hands. The congregations picked this man themselves, as their own representative. "This grace" is again the collected money.

8:20

The collection was a large sum in cash, carried on foot and by ship across hundreds of miles with no banking system behind it. Paul arranges for delegates of the donor churches to travel with it so that nobody can accuse him of keeping any for himself.

8:21

"Honest" in 1611 meant honorable or above reproach rather than merely truthful. The wording echoes Proverbs 3:4 in its Greek form: doing what is right in the sight of God and of people alike.

8:23

"Messengers" translates apostoloi, the same word elsewhere rendered "apostles." Here it carries its everyday sense: men formally sent out by their home congregations as delegates, not the particular group of the Twelve.

8:24

Paul had been telling the Macedonian churches how ready Corinth was to give, and had used that readiness to spur them on; he says as much in the next chapter. The delegates arriving from those churches will see for themselves whether the boast holds up.