The Meaning of 2 Corinthians 1:11 Explained

2 Corinthians 1:11

KJV: Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

YLT: ye working together also for us by your supplication, that the gift through many persons to us, through many may be thankfully acknowledged for us.

Darby: ye also labouring together by supplication for us that the gift towards us, through means of many persons, may be the subject of the thanksgiving of many for us.

ASV: ye also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift bestowed upon us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Ye  also  helping together  by prayer  for  us,  that  for the gift  [bestowed] upon  us  by  the means of many  persons  thanks may be  given  by  many  on our behalf. 

What does 2 Corinthians 1:11 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Paul seems to have had no doubt that his brothers and sisters in Corinth would continue to pray for him.
". . . the Apostle is as secure of the intercession of the Corinthians as he is of God"s protection, and the one will contribute to the other." [1]
"Joining in helping" is the translation of a Greek word used only here in the New Testament: synypourgounton. It consists of three words meaning "with," "under," and "work." It paints a picture of laborers bowed down under some heavy burden that they are working hard together to lift.
"Intercessory prayer has great power, otherwise Paul would not so often solicit it on his own behalf, and enjoin the duty on his readers." [2]
"There is no limit to the power of intercessory prayer; and though the display of God"s mercy does not depend on it, we may be sure that He desires nothing more than that His people should be united in mutual intercession offered in the name of His Son. When such prayer is answered, it results in an outburst of praise and thanksgiving which redounds greatly to God"s glory." [3]
"In prayer, human impotence casts itself at the feet of divine omnipotence." [4]
"My heart always rejoices when anyone writes or says to me, "I am praying for you," for I need to be prayed for. I am so forgetful about prayer myself; so many times when I should be praying I am busy at something else, and often if there is any power at all in my messages I know it is because somebody at home or in the audience is praying for me. One owes so much to the prayers of God"s beloved people." [5]
"Persons" (Gr. prosopon) is literally "faces." A literal rendering presents the attractive picture of many faces turned upward toward heaven offering thanks to God for His answers to the united prayers of Paul and his readers. This is doubtless the figure Paul wanted us to visualize in this verse.
From this introduction hopefully we have learned a greater appreciation of the comfort of God and the afflictions He allows us to experience in our service for Him.
"The Arabs have a proverb, "All sunshine makes a desert."" [6]
"In this beautiful introduction Paul found occasion to be thankful in the most trying circumstances. Even suffering has benefits. It provides the occasion to experience God"s comfort, to watch Him answer prayer, and to observe how believers can be strengthened in their Christian walk and witness by another"s circumstances." [7]
"Comfort is the great word, comfort from God, comfort for others. So he prepared for whatever he had to say presently of rebuke, by a revelation of great tenderness. He called them to sympathize with him, and he assured them that God had sympathized with him, and that He would sympathize with them as they are asked to sympathize with him. It is the sympathy of sharing the activity of God, Who is the God of all comfort." [8]

Context Summary

2 Corinthians 1:1-11 - Sharing Comfort In Affliction
This was a circular letter, including in its scope all the scattered communities in the district. Grace was the usual salutation of the West, Peace of the East. Here they meet. All our mercies emanate from the Father's heart, and all comfort comes from the Comforter. When next passing through great sorrow and trial, notice how near God comes and what He says. Try to learn His methods, to get His secret. Remember that you are being comforted in order to comfort others. God is training you to be, like Barnabas, a "son of consolation." The gains of trial are immense, because they furnish the experience from which others may profit. Often God ministers comfort by sending a friend, 2 Corinthians 7:5-7.
Either through persecution or through severe illness Paul had been brought to the gates of death, 2 Corinthians 1:8. His recovery was little less than a miracle, but throughout his trust never wavered. Dare to believe, like Paul, that God has delivered, doth deliver, and will deliver! Past, present, and coming deliverances blend in this sweet verse. What He hath done, He doth now, and will do. Only see to it that you have the sentence of death in yourself, and on yourself, and that you go out of yourself to God, in whom is all necessary help. In such hours we may also receive great help from the faith of our friends, 2 Corinthians 1:11. [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Corinthians 1

1  Paul salutes the Corinthians;
3  he encourages them against troubles,
5  by the comforts and deliverances which God had given him,
8  so particularly in his late danger in Asia
12  And calling both his own conscience and theirs,
15  he excuses his not coming to them, as proceeding not of lightness,
23  but of his care for them

Greek Commentary for 2 Corinthians 1:11

Ye also helping together on our behalf [συνυπουργουντων και υμων υπερ ημων]
Genitive absolute with present active participle of late compound verb Paul relied on God and felt the need of the prayer of God‘s people. [source]
By means of many [εκ πολλων προσωπων]
Προσωπον — Prosōpon means face The word is common in all Greek. The papyri use it for face, appearance, person. It occurs twelve times in II Corinthians. It certainly means face in eight of them (2 Corinthians 3:7, 2 Corinthians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 8:24; 2 Corinthians 10:1, 2 Corinthians 10:7; 2 Corinthians 11:20). In 2 Corinthians 5:12 it means outward appearance. It may mean face or person here, 2 Corinthians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 4:6. It is more pictorial to take it here as face “that out of many upturned faces” thanks may be given It is indeed a difficult sentence to understand. [source]
Persons [προσώπων]
Face is the usual rendering of the word in the New Testament. Even when rendered person the usage is Hebraistic for face. See on James 2:1There is no reason for abandoning that sense here. The expression is pictorial; that thanksgiving may be given from many faces; the cheerful countenances being an offering of thanks to God. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 2 Corinthians 1:11

2 Corinthians 2:10 In the person [ἐν προσώπῳ]
Better, as Rev., in margin, presence; or face, as if Christ were looking on. See on 2 Corinthians 1:11. [source]
Colossians 2:7 Thanksgiving [εὐχαριστίᾳ]
For Paul's emphasis on thanksgiving, see Romans 1:21; Romans 14:6; 2 Corinthians 1:11; 2 Corinthians 4:15; 2 Corinthians 9:11, 2 Corinthians 9:12; Ephesians 5:20; 1 Timothy 2:1, etc. Εὐχαριστός thankful εὐχαριστεῖν togive thanks, εὐχαριστία thanksgivingare found only in Paul's writings. [source]
1 Timothy 4:14 The gift that is in thee [του εν σοι χαρισματος]
Late word of result from χαριζομαι — charizomai in papyri (Preisigke), a regular Pauline word in N.T. (1 Corinthians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 1:11; Romans 1:11; etc.). Here it is God‘s gift to Timothy as in 2 Timothy 1:6. By prophecy (δια προπητειας — dia prophēteias). Accompanied by prophecy (1 Timothy 1:18), not bestowed by prophecy. With the laying on of the hands of the presbytery In Acts 13:2., when Barnabas and Saul were formally set apart to the mission campaign (not then ordained as ministers, for they were already that), there was the call of the Spirit and the laying on of hands with prayer. Here again μετα — meta does not express instrument or means, but merely accompaniment. In 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul speaks only of his own laying on of hands, but the rest of the presbytery no doubt did so at the same time and the reference is to this incident. There is no way to tell when and where it was done, whether at Lystra when Timothy joined Paul‘s party or at Ephesus just before Paul left Timothy there (1 Timothy 1:3). Επιτεσις — Epithesis Πρεσβυτεριον — Presbuterion is a late word (ecclesiastical use also), first for the Jewish Sanhedrin (Luke 22:66; Acts 22:5), then (here only in N.T.) of Christian elders (common in Ignatius), though πρεσβυτερος — presbuteros (elder) for preachers (bishops) is common (Acts 11:30; Acts 15:2; Acts 20:17, etc.). [source]
Hebrews 13:18 Honestly [καλως]
Nobly, honourably. Apparently the writer is conscious that unworthy motives have been attributed to him. Cf. Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2:18; 2 Corinthians 1:11., 2 Corinthians 1:17 [source]

What do the individual words in 2 Corinthians 1:11 mean?

joining together also of you for us by supplication so that by many persons for the toward us grace bestowed through many thanks may be given
συνυπουργούντων καὶ ὑμῶν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῇ δεήσει ἵνα ἐκ πολλῶν προσώπων τὸ εἰς ἡμᾶς χάρισμα διὰ πολλῶν εὐχαριστηθῇ

συνυπουργούντων  joining  together 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: συνυπουργέω  
Sense: to help together.
καὶ  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
ὑμῶν  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
ἡμῶν  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
δεήσει  supplication 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: δέησις  
Sense: need, indigence, want, privation, penury.
ἵνα  so  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
πολλῶν  many 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: πολύς  
Sense: many, much, large.
προσώπων  persons 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: πρόσωπον  
Sense: the face.
τὸ  for  the 
Parse: Article, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
εἰς  toward 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
ἡμᾶς  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
χάρισμα  grace  bestowed 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: χάρισμα  
Sense: a favour with which one receives without any merit of his own.
διὰ  through 
Parse: Preposition
Root: διά  
Sense: through.
πολλῶν  many 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: πολύς  
Sense: many, much, large.
εὐχαριστηθῇ  thanks  may  be  given 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εὐχαριστέω  
Sense: to be grateful, feel thankful.