The Meaning of 2 Corinthians 4:9 Explained

2 Corinthians 4:9

KJV: Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

YLT: persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

Darby: persecuted, but not abandoned; cast down, but not destroyed;

ASV: pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Persecuted,  but  not  forsaken;  cast down,  but  not  destroyed; 

What does 2 Corinthians 4:9 Mean?

Context Summary

2 Corinthians 4:7-18 - The Inward Life Triumphant Over Affliction
Few men have been more conscious of their weakness than was the Apostle. The earthen vessel had become very cracked and scratched, but the heavenly treasure was unimpaired, as in the case of Gideon, when the pitcher was broken the lantern shone out. Paul here confesses that he was troubled, perplexed, persecuted, and cast down, always bearing the scars of Jesus, and being perpetually delivered over to death. But he gratefully accepted all these disabilities because he knew that they gave greater opportunities to Jesus to show forth, through him, His resurrection power. With the daily decay of the outward, there came the renewal of the unseen and spiritual. It is only in proportion as we are conformed to the sufferings and death of Christ that we begin to realize the fullness of what He is, and what He can be or do through us. Our one thought must always be the glory of Christ in the salvation of others.
Note the contrasts of 2 Corinthians 4:17. The affliction is light, but the glory of the future is fraught with radiant and satisfying blessedness. The one is transient, the other eternal. The one is the price of the other, though each is the gift of God. The comet which has gone farthest into the outer darkness returns closest to the central sun. [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Corinthians 4

1  Paul declares how he has used all sincerity and diligence in preaching the gospel,
7  and how his troubles and persecutions did redound to the praise of God's power,
12  to the benefit of the church,
16  and to the apostle's own eternal glory

Greek Commentary for 2 Corinthians 4:9

Forsaken [εγκαταλειπομενοι]
Double compound of old verb εγκαταλειπω — eġkatȧleipō to leave behind, to leave in the lurch. [source]
Smitten down [καταβαλλομενοι]
As if overtaken. Destroyed (απολλυμενοι — apollumenoi). Perishing as in 2 Corinthians 4:3. Was Paul referring to Lystra when the Jews stoned him and thought him dead? [source]
Destroyed [απολλυμενοι]
Perishing as in 2 Corinthians 4:3. Was Paul referring to Lystra when the Jews stoned him and thought him dead? [source]
Persecuted - forsaken [διωκόμενοι - ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι]
Rev., for persecuted, pursued, the primary meaning of the verb, thus giving vividness to the figure. Forsaken, lit., left behind in (some evil plight). The figure is, pursued by enemies, but not left to their power: left in the lurch. [source]
Cast down - destroyed [καταβαλλόμενοι - ἀπολλύμενοι]
This carries on the previous figure. Though the pursuers overtake and smite down, yet are we not killed. Rev., smitten down. In all these paradoxes the A.V. fails to bring out the metaphors. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 2 Corinthians 4:9

John 15:20 Remember [μνημονευετε]
Present active imperative of μνημονευω — mnēmoneuō old verb from μνημων — mnēmōn in John again in John 16:4, John 16:21. See John 13:16 for this word. If they persecuted me Condition of first class. They certainly did persecute (first aorist active of διωκω — diōkō to chase like a wild beast like the Latin persequor, our “persecute”) Jesus (John 5:16). They will persecute those like Jesus. Cf. John 16:33; Mark 10:30; Luke 21:12; 1 Corinthians 4:12; 2 Corinthians 4:9; Galatians 4:29; 2 Timothy 3:12 for proof that this prophecy came true. But the alternative is true and is stated by Jesus with a like condition of the first class, “if they kept my word” The world does praise the word of Jesus, but dreads to follow it. [source]
2 Corinthians 4:8 Pressed [τλιβομενοι]
From τλιβω — thlibō to press as grapes, to contract, to squeeze. Series of present passive participles here through 2 Corinthians 4:9 that vividly picture Paul‘s ministerial career. [source]
2 Timothy 4:10 Hath forsaken [ἐγκατέλειπεν]
In Pastorals here and 2 Timothy 4:16. See on 2 Corinthians 4:9. The compounded preposition ἐν indicates a condition or circumstances in which one has been left, as the common phrase left in the lurch. Comp. Germ. im Stiche. [source]

What do the individual words in 2 Corinthians 4:9 mean?

being persecuted but not being forsaken being struck down being destroyed
διωκόμενοι ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι καταβαλλόμενοι ἀπολλύμενοι

διωκόμενοι  being  persecuted 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: διώκω  
Sense: to make to run or flee, put to flight, drive away.
ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι  being  forsaken 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἐγκαταλείπω  
Sense: abandon, desert.
καταβαλλόμενοι  being  struck  down 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: καταβάλλω  
Sense: to cast down.
ἀπολλύμενοι  being  destroyed 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀπόλλυμι  
Sense: to destroy.