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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>2 Corinthians 9 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/2_corinthians/9.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; 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In reality there is no new topic, and all flows on with unbroken continuity. This is part of the appeal to their self-respect begun in <a href="/context/2_corinthians/8-23.htm" title="Whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow helper concerning you: or our brothers be inquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ.">2Corinthians 8:23-24</a>. “You will pardon,” he practically says, “my words of counsel as to the necessity of prompt action; as to the general duty of that ministration to the saints you have shown that you need no instruction.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-2.htm">2 Corinthians 9:2</a></div><div class="verse">For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">For I know the forwardness</span> <span class= "bld">of your mind.</span>—This was the boast to which he had referred in <a href="/2_corinthians/8-24.htm" title="Why show you to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and of our boasting on your behalf.">2Corinthians 8:24</a>. Achaia (<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> Corinth, and perhaps Cenchreæ also) had been ready <span class= "ital">last year.</span> The urgency of his present appeal indicates a latent misgiving whether he had not unconsciously over-stated the fact, and had mistaken the “will” that had shown itself for an actual readiness to send off the money whenever it was called for. (See Note on <a href="/2_corinthians/9-3.htm" title="Yet have I sent the brothers, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, you may be ready:">2Corinthians 9:3</a>.) The word for “provoke,” used here in a good sense, is found in <a href="/colossians/3-21.htm" title=" Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.">Colossians 3:21</a>, in a bad sense, as “irritating.” This was another reason for prompt and generous action. It would be a permanent disgrace to them if, after having been held up as a pattern to others, they afterwards fell short of their excellence.<p><span class= "bld">Very many.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">the greater number.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-3.htm">2 Corinthians 9:3</a></div><div class="verse">Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready:</div>(3) <span class= "bld">Yet have I sent</span> <span class= "bld">the brethren . . .</span>—This, then, was his purpose in the new mission. He wanted the performance not to fall short of the promise. They must be found ready, their money collected. (Comp. <a href="/1_corinthians/16-2.htm" title="On the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.">1Corinthians 16:2</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">In this behalf.</span>—Perhaps, <span class= "ital">in</span> <span class= "ital">this particular,</span> or, <span class= "ital">in this respect,</span> would be more in harmony with modern English phraseology.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-4.htm">2 Corinthians 9:4</a></div><div class="verse">Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">Lest haply if they of Macedonia . . .</span>—The Greek for “Macedonians” has no article, and the word is meant to stir up something like an <span class= "ital">esprit de corps.</span> “Surely you Achaians won’t allow Macedonians to come and see that you fall short of what I told them about?” It is a probable, but not, as some have thought, a necessary inference, that neither of the two unnamed brethren of <a href="/2_corinthians/8-18.htm" title="And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches;">2Corinthians 8:18</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/8-22.htm" title="And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, on the great confidence which I have in you.">2Corinthians 8:22</a>, were of that province. What he now indicates is, that it is, at all events, probable that when he comes to pay his deferred visit he will be accompanied by Macedonians. If, then, they were still not ready, there would be shame for him; how much more for them!<p><span class= "bld">In this same confident boasting.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">in this confidence of boasting;</span> but the better MSS. give “in this confidence” only. The word so translated (<span class= "ital">hypostasis</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> literally, “that which stands under, the base or ground of anything,” has the interest of a long subsequent history in metaphysical and theological controversies, of which we find, perhaps, the first trace in <a href="/hebrews/1-3.htm" title="Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:">Hebrews 1:3</a>, where it appears as “person,” and <a href="/hebrews/11-1.htm" title="Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.">Hebrews 11:1</a>, where it is rendered “substance.” (See Notes on those passages.) In <a href="/hebrews/3-14.htm" title="For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end;">Hebrews 3:14</a>, it has the same meaning as in this passage.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-5.htm">2 Corinthians 9:5</a></div><div class="verse">Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as <i>a matter of</i> bounty, and not as <i>of</i> covetousness.</div>(5) <span class= "bld">Therefore I thought it necessary . . .</span>—The brethren were to go before St. Paul, so as to get all things ready for his arrival. There were to be no hurried and unsatisfactory collections then.<p><span class= "bld">Your bounty, whereof ye had notice before.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">your bounty, announced before.</span> He is not referring to any notice that he had given, whether in <a href="/context/1_corinthians/16-1.htm" title="Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do you.">1Corinthians 16:1-2</a> or elsewhere, but to the announcement that he himself had made to the churches of Macedonia. The word for “bounty” (<span class= "ital">eulogia</span>) has, like that for “confidence” in the preceding verse, the interest of an ecclesiastical history attaching to it. Literally, it means a “blessing;” then, as in the LXX. of <a href="/genesis/23-11.htm" title="No, my lord, hear me: the field give I you, and the cave that is therein, I give it you; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it you: bury your dead.">Genesis 23:11</a>, <a href="/judges/1-15.htm" title="And she said to him, Give me a blessing: for you have given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.">Judges 1:15</a>, it was used for the “gift,” which is the outward token or accompaniment of a blessing. In liturgical language, as connected with the “cup of <span class= "ital">blessing,”</span> it was applied—(1) to the consecrated bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper generally; (2) specially to those portions which were reserved to be sent to the sick and other absentees; (3) when that practice fell into disuse, to the unconsecrated remains; and (4) to gifts of bread or cake to friends or the poor, as a residuum of the old distributions at the Agapæ, or Feasts of Charity.<p><span class= "bld">As a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.</span>—The bearing of the last word is not quite obvious. Probably what is meant is this:—“Let your gift be worthy of what you call it, a ‘blessing’ expressed in act, not the grudging gift of one who, as he gives, is intent on gaining some advantage through his seeming generosity.” So understood, it expresses the same thought as Shakespeare’s well-known lines:—<p>“The quality of mercy is not strained,<p>It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”<p>It is possible, however, that the word “covetousness” had been applied tauntingly to St. Paul himself, as always “asking for more,” always “having his hand” (as is sometimes said of active organising secretaries in our own time) “in people’s pockets,” and that this is his answer to that taunt. The use of the corresponding verb in <a href="/2_corinthians/7-2.htm" title="Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.">2Corinthians 7:2</a>; <a href="/context/2_corinthians/12-17.htm" title="Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent to you?">2Corinthians 12:17-18</a>, is strongly in favour of this view. “Don’t look on this business,” he seems to say, “as a self-interested work of mine. Think of it as, in every sense of the word, a blessing both to givers and receivers.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-6.htm">2 Corinthians 9:6</a></div><div class="verse">But this <i>I say</i>, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">He which, soweth sparingly . . .</span>—It is interesting to note the occurrence of this thought in another Epistle of this period (<a href="/context/galatians/6-7.htm" title="Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap.">Galatians 6:7-8</a>).<p><span class= "bld">He which soweth bountifully . . .</span>—Literally, repeating the word before used, <span class= "ital">he which soweth in blessings.</span> The obvious meaning of the passage is that a man “reaps,” <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> gains, the reward of God’s favour and inward satisfaction, not according to the quantitative value of the thing given, except so far as that is an indication of character, but according to the spirit and temper in which he has given it.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-7.htm">2 Corinthians 9:7</a></div><div class="verse">Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, <i>so let him give</i>; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Every man according as he purposeth.</span>—The verb, which does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament, is used in its full ethical significance as indicating, not a passing impulse nor a vague wish, but a deliberate resolve, deciding both on the end and on the means for its attainment (Aristotle, <span class= "ital">Eth. Nicom.</span> iii., c. 2). Such, St. Paul teaches, should be the purpose of the giver—not the outcome of a spent emotion, or a promise half-regretted, but formed with a clear well-defined perception of all attendant circumstances, and therefore neither “grudgingly,” as regards amount, nor with reluctance, as giving under pressure.<p><span class= "bld">God loveth a cheerful giver.</span>—As in <a href="/2_corinthians/8-21.htm" title="Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.">2Corinthians 8:21</a>, so here, we have a distinct echo from the Book of Proverbs (<a href="/proverbs/22-8.htm" title="He that sows iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.">Proverbs 22:8</a>) as it stands in the Greek version. In that version we find the following: “He that soweth wicked things shall reap evils, and shall complete the penalty of his deed. God blesseth a cheerful man and a giver, and shall complete” (in a good sense) “the incompleteness of his works.” It is obvious that this differs much from the Hebrew, which is represented in the English version, and it is interesting as showing that St. Paul used the LXX., and habitually quoted from it, and not from the Hebrew. As coming so soon after the quotation from <a href="/proverbs/3-4.htm" title="So shall you find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.">Proverbs 3:4</a> in <a href="/2_corinthians/8-21.htm" title="Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.">2Corinthians 8:21</a>, it seems to suggest that the Apostle had recently been studying that book, and that his mind was full of its teaching. As a law of action, it may be noted that the principle has a far wider range of application than that of simple alms-giving. Cheerfulness in visits of sympathy, in the daily offices of kindness, in the life of home, in giving instruction or advice—all come under the head of that which God approves and loves. So the greatest of Greek ethical teachers had refused the title of “liberal” to the man who gave without pleasure in the act of giving. The pain he feels proves that if he could he would rather have the money than do the noble action (Aristotle, <span class= "ital">Eth. Nicom.</span> iv., c. 1).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-8.htm">2 Corinthians 9:8</a></div><div class="verse">And God <i>is</i> able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all <i>things</i>, may abound to every good work:</div>(8) <span class= "bld">God is able to make all grace abound toward you.</span>—The word “grace” must be taken with somewhat of the same latitude as in <a href="/context/2_corinthians/8-6.htm" title="So that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also.">2Corinthians 8:6-7</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/8-19.htm" title="And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ready mind:">2Corinthians 8:19</a>, including <span class= "ital">every form of bounty,</span> as well as “grace,” in its restricted theological sense: the means of giving, as well as cheerfulness in the act. He will bless the increase of those who give cheerfully, that they may have, not indeed the superfluity which ministers to selfish luxury, but the sufficiency with which all true disciples ought to be content. In the word “sufficiency,” which occurs only here and in <a href="/1_timothy/6-6.htm" title="But godliness with contentment is great gain.">1Timothy 6:6</a> (“godliness with <span class= "ital">contentment”</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> we have another instance of St. Paul’s accurate use of the terminology of Greek ethical writers. To be independent, <span class= "ital">self-sufficing,</span> was with them the crown of the perfect life; and Aristotle vindicates that quality for happiness as he defines it, as consisting in the activity of the intellect, and thus distinguished from wealth and pleasure, and the other accidents of life which men constantly mistook for it (<span class= "ital">Eth. Nicom.</span> x., c. 7). At the time when St. Paul wrote it was constantly on the lips of Stoics. (Comp. the <span class= "ital">Meditations</span> of Marcus Aurelius, iii. c. 11.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-9.htm">2 Corinthians 9:9</a></div><div class="verse">(As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.</div>(9) <span class= "bld">As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad.</span>—The words are quoted from the LXX. version of <a href="/psalms/112-9.htm" title="He has dispersed, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honor.">Psalm 112:9</a>. At first it might almost seem as if they were quoted in a different sense from the original, and applied, not to the giver of alms, but to God as the giver of all good, dispersing His bounty and showing His righteousness. There are, however, sufficient grounds for taking them in their true meaning here also. “The good man gives to the poor,” the Psalmist had said; “but he is not impoverished by his gifts. His righteousness” (the word is used as it perhaps is in the better text in <a href="/matthew/6-1.htm" title="Take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.">Matthew 6:1</a>—but see Note there—in the sense of alms-giving) “continues still and for ever.” He can, <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> go on giving from a constantly replenished store. That this is the meaning is shown by <a href="/2_corinthians/9-3.htm" title="Yet have I sent the brothers, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, you may be ready:">2Corinthians 9:3</a> of the Psalm: “Wealth and riches shall be in his house, and his righteousness endureth for ever:” the latter clause corresponding to the former, according to the laws of parallelism in Hebrew poetry.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-10.htm">2 Corinthians 9:10</a></div><div class="verse">Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for <i>your</i> food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)</div>(10) <span class= "bld">Now he that ministereth seed to the sower.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">he that giveth bounteously.</span> The Greek verb (<span class= "ital">epichorêgein</span>) has a somewhat interesting history. Originally it expressed the act of one who undertook to defray the expenses of the chorus of a Greek theatre. As this was an act of somewhat stately generosity, the verb got a wider range, and was applied to any such act, and was so transferred in like manner by the Apostle, probably, as far as we can trace, for the first time, to the divine bounty. It may be noted that it was not so used by the LXX. translators. The word indeed occurs but once in that version, in <a href="//apocrypha.org/ecclesiasticus/25-22.htm" title="A woman, if she maintain her husband, is full of anger, impudence, and much reproach.">Ecclesiasticus 25:22</a> (“if a woman <span class= "ital">maintain</span> her husband”). In its higher sense it becomes a somewhat favourite word with St. Paul (<a href="/galatians/3-5.htm" title="He therefore that ministers to you the Spirit, and works miracles among you, does he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?">Galatians 3:5</a>; <a href="/colossians/2-19.htm" title=" And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increases with the increase of God.">Colossians 2:19</a>), and is used by St. Peter (<a href="/2_peter/1-5.htm" title="And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;">2Peter 1:5</a>; <a href="/2_peter/1-11.htm" title="For so an entrance shall be ministered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.">2Peter 1:11</a>) after he had become acquainted with St. Paul’s Epistles, and possibly enriched his vocabulary through them.<p>The phrase “seed to the sower” occurs, with a different verb, in <a href="/isaiah/55-10.htm" title="For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:">Isaiah 55:10</a>. In the words that follow, “the fruits of righteousness,” there is an obvious reminiscence of <a href="/hosea/10-12.htm" title="Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness on you.">Hosea 10:12</a>, and <a href="/amos/6-12.htm" title="Shall horses run on the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for you have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:">Amos 6:12</a>. The phrase occurs again in <a href="/philippians/1-11.htm" title="Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.">Philippians 1:11</a>. The construction, according to the better MSS., varies somewhat from that of the Authorised version. <span class= "ital">He that bounteously giveth seed to the sower and bread for food</span> (the beneficence of God thought of, as shown both in seed-time and harvest) <span class= "ital">shall give bounteously, and multiply your seed, and increase the produce of your righteousness.</span> “Righteousness” is taken, as before, as specially presented under the aspect of alms-giving.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-11.htm">2 Corinthians 9:11</a></div><div class="verse">Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">Being enriched in every thing.</span>—The context points primarily to temporal abundance, but we can scarcely think that the other thought of the spiritual riches that are found in Christ (<a href="/2_corinthians/8-9.htm" title="For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich.">2Corinthians 8:9</a>) was absent from the Apostle’s mind. On the word for “bountifulness” see Note on <a href="/2_corinthians/8-2.htm" title="How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality.">2Corinthians 8:2</a>. The participles are not grammatically connected with the preceding sentence, but the meaning is sufficiently obvious.<p><span class= "bld">Which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.</span>—His thoughts are obviously travelling on to the time of his arrival at Jerusalem, to the announcement of the collected gifts of the Gentile churches at a solemn gathering of the Church there, to the thanksgiving which would then be offered.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-12.htm">2 Corinthians 9:12</a></div><div class="verse">For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;</div>(12) <span class= "bld">For the administration of this service.</span>—The latter word (<span class= "ital">leitourgia</span>) has, like that for “ministering” in <a href="/2_corinthians/9-10.htm" title="Now he that ministers seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)">2Corinthians 9:10</a>, an interesting history. In classical Greek it stands for any public service rendered to the State. In the LXX. version it, and its cognate verb and adjective, are used almost exclusively of the ritual and sacrificial services of the Tabernacle and the Temple, as, <span class= "ital">e.g.,</span> in <a href="/numbers/4-25.htm" title="And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering of the badgers' skins that is above on it, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,">Numbers 4:25</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/11-13.htm" title="He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.">1Chronicles 11:13</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/26-30.htm" title="And of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brothers, men of valor, a thousand and seven hundred, were officers among them of Israel on this side Jordan westward in all the business of the LORD, and in the service of the king.">1Chronicles 26:30</a>; and in this sense it appears in <a href="/luke/1-23.htm" title="And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.">Luke 1:23</a>; <a href="/hebrews/8-6.htm" title="But now has he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.">Hebrews 8:6</a>; <a href="/hebrews/9-21.htm" title="Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.">Hebrews 9:21</a>; and with the same shade of meaning, used figuratively, in <a href="/philippians/2-17.htm" title="Yes, and if I be offered on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.">Philippians 2:17</a>. That meaning survives in the ecclesiastical term “liturgy,” applied, as it was at first, exclusively to the service of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Here, probably, the thought is implied that a large and liberal gift to Christ’s poor, and for His sake, is the most acceptable of all forms of “service” in the liturgical sense of that word. So understood it implies the same truth as that stated in <a href="/james/1-27.htm" title="Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.">James 1:27</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Not only supplieth the want of the saints.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">fills up the things that were lacking.</span> The wants of the “saints,” <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> the disciples of Jerusalem, were, we must remember, very urgent. They had never quite recovered from the pressure of the famine foretold by Agabus (<a href="/acts/11-28.htm" title="And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.">Acts 11:28</a>), and the lavish generosity of the first days of the Church (<a href="/context/acts/2-44.htm" title="And all that believed were together, and had all things common;">Acts 2:44-45</a>; <a href="/acts/4-32.htm" title="And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.">Acts 4:32</a>) had naturally exhausted its resources.<p><span class= "bld">But is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God.</span>—More accurately, <span class= "ital">overflows, by means of many thanksgivings, to God:</span> the latter noun standing in a closer connection with the verb than the English version suggests. Some of the better MSS. give, <span class= "ital">to Christ.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-13.htm">2 Corinthians 9:13</a></div><div class="verse">Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for <i>your</i> liberal distribution unto them, and unto all <i>men</i>;</div>(13) <span class= "bld">Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God.</span>—The construction of the Greek sentence is again that of a participle which has no direct grammatical connection with what precedes, but the English version sufficiently expresses the meaning. <span class= "ital">Test</span> would, perhaps, be a better word than “experiment.” The word is the same as that rendered, with a needless variation, “experience” in <a href="/romans/5-4.htm" title="And patience, experience; and experience, hope:">Romans 5:4</a>, “trial” in <a href="/2_corinthians/8-2.htm" title="How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality.">2Corinthians 8:2</a>, “proof” in <a href="/2_corinthians/13-3.htm" title="Since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.">2Corinthians 13:3</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Your professed subjection.</span>—The English version makes the not unfrequent mistake of merging the genitive in a somewhat weak adjective. Literally, <span class= "ital">in your obedience to the confession of faith.</span> The latter noun is used in this sense in <a href="/context/1_timothy/6-12.htm" title="Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are also called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.">1Timothy 6:12-13</a>; <a href="/hebrews/3-1.htm" title="Why, holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;">Hebrews 3:1</a>; <a href="/hebrews/4-14.htm" title="Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.">Hebrews 4:14</a>. The word seems to have acquired a half-technical significance, like that which attaches to “faith” and “religion” used objectively.<p><span class= "bld">For your liberal distribution.</span>—The construction is the same as in the previous clause: <span class= "ital">for the liberality of your contribution.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-14.htm">2 Corinthians 9:14</a></div><div class="verse">And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.</div>(14) <span class= "bld">And by their prayer for you, which long after you.</span>—The structure of the Greek is again ungrammatical, but the following gives a somewhat more accurate representation: <span class= "ital">And while they long after you, in supplication for you, on account of the exceeding grace of God that rests on you.</span> He seems half lost in his anticipations of what will follow when he hands over the contributions of the Gentiles to the “saints” at Jerusalem. Their utterance of praise and thanksgiving will, he is sure, be followed by a yearning prayer of intercession for their benefactors.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_corinthians/9-15.htm">2 Corinthians 9:15</a></div><div class="verse">Thanks <i>be</i> unto God for his unspeakable gift.</div>(15) <span class= "bld">Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.</span>—So the section on the collection for the saints comes to its close. We are left to conjecture to what gift the Apostle refers: whether to the love of God as manifested in Christ, or to the spirit of love poured into men’s hearts. The use of the word in the Acts (<a href="/acts/2-38.htm" title="Then Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.">Acts 2:38</a>; <a href="/acts/8-20.htm" title="But Peter said to him, Your money perish with you, because you have thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.">Acts 8:20</a>; <a href="/acts/10-45.htm" title="And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.">Acts 10:45</a>; <a href="/acts/11-17.htm" title="For as much then as God gave them the like gift as he did to us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?">Acts 11:17</a>) is in favour of referring it to the gift of the Holy Ghost; that of <a href="/romans/5-15.htm" title="But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded to many.">Romans 5:15</a>; <a href="/romans/5-17.htm" title="For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)">Romans 5:17</a>, to the gift of pardon or righteousness. Probably it did not enter into his thoughts to subject the jubilant utterance of praise to a minute analysis.<p>At this stage there was manifestly another pause, of greater or less length, in the act of dictating. Fresh thoughts of a different kind are working in his mind, and rousing feelings of a very different kind from those which had been just expressed. 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