2 Corinthians 8

¹Now we make known to you, brothers, the grace of God that has been given among the assemblies of Macedonia: ²that in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty overflowed into the wealth of their generosity. ³For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, of their own accord, ⁴they begged us with much appeal for the grace of sharing in the service to the holy ones— ⁵and not as we had hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us through the will of God, ⁶so that we urged Titus that, just as he had begun before, so he would also complete this act of grace among you as well. ⁷But just as you overflow in everything—in faith and word and knowledge and all earnestness and in the love from us that is among you—see that you overflow in this act of grace as well.

⁸I am not saying this as a command; rather, through the earnestness of others I am testing the genuineness of your love as well. ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. ¹⁰And I give my opinion in this matter, for this is beneficial for you, who last year were ahead not only in doing it but also in wanting to. ¹¹Now finish doing it as well, so that just as there was readiness in wanting to, so there may be completion, out of what you have. ¹²For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. ¹³For it is not that others should have relief and you affliction; rather, it is a matter of equality: ¹⁴at the present time your surplus goes to their lack, so that their surplus may also go to your lack, so that there may be equality. ¹⁵As it is written, “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

¹⁶But thanks be to God, who puts the same earnestness for you in the heart of Titus, ¹⁷because he accepted the appeal and, being all the more earnest, went out to you of his own accord. ¹⁸And we have sent with him the brother whose praise in the good news is spread throughout all the assemblies— ¹⁹and not only that, but he was also appointed by the assemblies as our traveling companion with this act of grace that is being carried out by us for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our readiness— ²⁰taking this precaution, that no one should find fault with us regarding this lavish gift that is being carried out by us. ²¹For we take thought for what is right not only before the Lord but also before people. ²²And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now much more earnest because of his great confidence in you. ²³As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for you; as for our brothers, they are envoys of the assemblies, the glory of Christ. ²⁴So show them the evidence of your love and of our boasting about you, before the face of the assemblies.

Translation notes 14

8:1–9 — “Grace”; “act of grace.” One Greek word is used for God's grace (verses 1, 9), for the privilege of taking part (verse 4, where the Greek's “the grace and the sharing” is joined into one phrase), and for the collection itself as a gracious act (verses 6, 7, 19). The draft keeps “grace” in each place, adding “act of” where the collection is meant, so the letter's single vocabulary remains audible. In verse 16 the same word is the ordinary expression for thanks.

8:2 — “Deep poverty”; “generosity.” The Greek describes poverty reaching down to the depths. “Generosity” renders a word whose basic sense is singleness or simplicity; at 11:3 the same word is rendered “sincerity.”

8:4 — “The service to the holy ones.” The collection for the believers in Jerusalem; compare Romans 15:25–27 and 1 Corinthians 16:1–4.

8:7 — “The love from us that is among you.” The Greek base reads “the love from us in you”; other editions read “your love in us,” that is, the Corinthians' love for Paul. The two readings differ by the exchange of two pronouns and are documented in the study notes.

8:9 — “He became poor.” The verb can mean to be poor or to become poor; the contrast with “was rich” supports “became.”

8:10–11 — “Were ahead”; “to do … to want to.” The verb is the one rendered “had begun before” in verse 6; “ahead” keeps its sense of a prior start without naming whom they preceded. The order is the Greek's: they were ahead not only in the doing but in the wanting, that is, the eager intention behind the action.

8:15 — Exodus 16:18. The manna narrative; the verbs “gathered” are supplied from the context of the quotation, which in Greek reads simply “the one of much … the one of little.”

8:16 — “Puts.” The Greek base has a present participle; the Nestle-Aland text has a past form, “put.”

8:18, 22 — “The brother.” Both companions are unnamed. Traditional identifications with Luke, Barnabas, or others are speculation.

8:19 — “Appointed.” The verb originally meant to elect by a show of hands and came to mean simply to appoint; the same word is used of appointing elders in Acts 14:23. “To show” before “our readiness” is supplied; the Greek has one preposition governing both “the Lord's glory” and “our readiness.” “Carried out” renders the letter's service verb, as in verse 20.

8:20 — “Lavish gift.” A word for abundance or bulk, here the large sum being collected.

8:21 — Proverbs 3:4. Adapted from the Greek Old Testament wording.

8:23 — “Envoys of the assemblies.” The word is “apostles,” here in its basic sense of persons sent with a commission by the assemblies, not the title used in 1:1.

8:24 — “So show them”; “evidence.” The Greek base has a participle used as a command; the Byzantine and Westcott-Hort texts have an explicit imperative. The sense is the same. “Evidence” renders a noun related to the verb “show”; it is not the “proof” word of 9:13 and 13:3.