The Meaning of 2 Corinthians 1:5 Explained

2 Corinthians 1:5

KJV: For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

YLT: because, as the sufferings of the Christ do abound to us, so through the Christ doth abound also our comfort;

Darby: Because, even as the sufferings of the Christ abound towards us, so through the Christ does our encouragement also abound.

ASV: For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth through Christ.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For  as  the sufferings  of Christ  abound  in  us,  so  our  consolation  also  aboundeth  by  Christ. 

What does 2 Corinthians 1:5 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Paul personally experienced many afflictions and sorrows, to which he began to refer here. However note that it is a particular kind of suffering to which he referred: the sufferings of Christ (cf. 1 Peter 2:20). These were the sufferings Paul was experiencing because he belonged to Christ and stood up for Christ in a hostile environment.
"Suffering which is the consequence of disobedience and selfishness has no blessing in it and cannot possibly be described as "of Christ."" [1]
"Samuel Rutherford wrote to one of his friends, "God has called you to Christ"s side, and the wind is now in Christ"s face in this land: and seeing ye are with Him ye cannot expect the lee-side or the sunny side of the brae [2]."" [3]
Paul"s point in this verse was this. Regardless of how great our sufferings for Christ may be, God will not only match them but exceed them with His comfort, strength, and encouragement.

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 1:5

The sufferings of Christ [τα πατηματα του Χριστου]
Subjective genitive, Christ‘s own sufferings. [source]
Abound unto us [περισσευει εις ημας]
Overflow unto us so that we suffer like sufferings and become fellow sufferers with Christ (2 Corinthians 4:10.; Romans 8:17; Philemon 3:10; Colossians 1:24). Through Christ (δια του Χριστου — dia tou Christou). The overflow (περισσευει — perisseuei) of comfort comes also through Christ. Is Paul thinking of how some of the Jewish Christians in Corinth have become reconciled with him through Christ? Partnership with Christ in suffering brings partnership in glory also (Romans 8:17; 1 Peter 4:13). [source]
Through Christ [δια του Χριστου]
The overflow (περισσευει — perisseuei) of comfort comes also through Christ. Is Paul thinking of how some of the Jewish Christians in Corinth have become reconciled with him through Christ? Partnership with Christ in suffering brings partnership in glory also (Romans 8:17; 1 Peter 4:13). [source]
Sufferings of Christ []
Not things suffered for Christ's sake, but Christ's own sufferings as they are shared by His disciples. See Matthew 20:22; Philemon 3:10; Colossians 1:24; 1 Peter 4:13. Note the peculiar phrase abound ( περισσεύει ) in us, by which Christ's sufferings are represented as overflowing upon His followers. See on Colossians 1:24. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 2 Corinthians 1:5

Galatians 5:24 Affections [παθήμασιν]
Better, passions. Often sufferings, as Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 1:5, 2 Corinthians 1:6, 2 Corinthians 1:7; Philemon 3:10; Hebrews 2:9. Often of Christ's sufferings. Comp. passions of sins, Romans 7:5(see on motions ). olxx, where we find πάθος in both senses, but mostly sufferings. Πάθος also in N.T., but rarely and PoSee Romans 1:26; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:5: always of evil desires. [source]
Philippians 3:10 Fellowship of His sufferings []
Participation in Christ's sufferings. See Matthew 20:22, Matthew 20:23; and on Colossians 1:24. Compare 2 Corinthians 1:5; 1 Peter 4:13. Faith makes a believer one with a suffering Christ. [source]
Colossians 1:24 That which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ [τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ]
Lacking, lit., behind. Used with different compounds of πληρόω tofill, 1 Corinthians 16:17; 2 Corinthians 9:12; 2 Corinthians 11:9; Philemon 2:30. Of the afflictions of Christ. The afflictions which Christ endured; which belonged to Him: not Paul's afflictions described as Christ's because endured in fellowship with Him (Meyer); nor the afflictions which Christ endures in His Church (Alford, Ellicott, Eadie). These afflictions do not include Christ's vicarious sufferings, which are never denoted by θλίψεις tribulationsThat which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ signifies that portion of Christ's ministerial sufferings which was not endured by Him in person, but is endured in the suffering of Christians in all generations in carrying out Christ's work. Compare 2 Corinthians 1:5, 2 Corinthians 1:7; Philemon 3:10. Hence those are mistaken interpretations which explain the filling up as a correspondence of the supply with the deficiency. The correspondence is between the two parties, Christ and His followers, and the supply does not correspond with the deficiency, but works toward supplying it. The point is not the identification of Paul with Christ in His sufferings (which is true as a fact), but the distinction between Paul and Christ. Hence the present tense, I am filling up, denoting something still in process. The full tale of sufferings will not be completed until the Church shall have finished her conflict, and shall have come up “out of great tribulation” to sit at the marriage-supper of the Lamb. [source]
Hebrews 13:12 Suffered [ἔπαθεν]
Used of Christ in Hebrews, 1st Peter, and Acts, but not in Paul, who, however, has παθήματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ sufferingsof Christ, 2 Corinthians 1:5; Philemon 3:10( αὐτοῦ ). [source]
Hebrews 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ [ἡγησάμενος τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ]
The participle gives the reason for his choice of affliction instead of sin: since he esteemed. “The reproach of Christ” is the reproach peculiar to Christ; such as he endured. The writer uses it as a current form of expression, coloring the story of Moses with a Christian tinge. Comp. Romans 15:3; Hebrews 13:13; 2 Corinthians 1:5; Colossians 1:24; Philemon 3:14; 1 Peter 4:14. The phrase is applied to Moses as enduring at the hands of the Egyptians and of the rebellious Israelites the reproach which any faithful servant of God will endure, and which was endured in a notable way by Christ. [source]

What do the individual words in 2 Corinthians 1:5 mean?

because as abound the sufferings of the Christ toward us thus so through - abounds also the comfort of us
ὅτι καθὼς περισσεύει τὰ παθήματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἡμᾶς οὕτως διὰ τοῦ περισσεύει καὶ παράκλησις ἡμῶν

ὅτι  because 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
περισσεύει  abound 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: περισσεύω  
Sense: to exceed a fixed number of measure, to be left over and above a certain number or measure.
παθήματα  sufferings 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Plural
Root: πάθημα  
Sense: that which one suffers or has suffered.
τοῦ  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Χριστοῦ  Christ 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: Χριστός  
Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God.
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.
οὕτως  thus  so 
Parse: Adverb
Root: οὕτως  
Sense: in this manner, thus, so.
διὰ  through 
Parse: Preposition
Root: διά  
Sense: through.
τοῦ  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
περισσεύει  abounds 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: περισσεύω  
Sense: to exceed a fixed number of measure, to be left over and above a certain number or measure.
καὶ  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
παράκλησις  comfort 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: παράκλησις  
Sense: a calling near, summons, (esp.
ἡμῶν  of  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.