The Meaning of 2 Corinthians 9:5 Explained

2 Corinthians 9:5

KJV: 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 a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.

YLT: Necessary, therefore, I thought it to exhort the brethren, that they may go before to you, and may make up before your formerly announced blessing, that this be ready, as a blessing, and not as covetousness.

Darby: I thought it necessary therefore to beg the brethren that they would come to you, and complete beforehand your fore-announced blessing, that this may be ready thus as blessing, and not as got out of you.

ASV: I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your aforepromised bounty, that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty, and not of extortion.

Discover 2 Corinthians 9:5

CONTEXT: What is the Context of 2 Corinthians 9:5?

MEANING: What does 2 Corinthians 9:5 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in 2 Corinthians 9:5 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in 2 Corinthians 9:5?

What is the context of 2 Corinthians 9:5?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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 [a matter of] bounty, and not as [of] covetousness.

What does 2 Corinthians 9:5 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The brethren in view here are Titus and his two companions. The Greek word translated "bountiful gift" (eulogian, lit. good word) usually reads "blessing" elsewhere. The Corinthians" gift would be a blessing to the Judeans. That Isaiah , it would be an occasion for the Jerusalem believers to bless or thank God for their gift. The word also implies a sizable blessing. Paul assumed that his readers would collect a substantial sum of money and that generosity rather than covetousness would motivate them. Paul was contrasting two attitudes to giving, generously or grudgingly, rather than two ways of securing the gift, simple reception or extortion.

"Apparently, Paul did not see anything wrong or unspiritual about asking people to promise to give. He did not tell them how much they had to promise, but he did expect them to keep their promise. When a person signs up for a telephone, he promises to pay a certain amount each month. If it is acceptable to make financial commitments for things like telephones, cars, and credit cards, certainly it ought to be acceptable to make commitments for the work of the Lord." ^[1]

The subtle pressure that Paul put on his readers, which comes through especially forcefully in this section, raises a question as to his method of motivating his readers. Was he making it almost impossible for them to give from proper motives by stressing lesser motivating factors so strongly? Evidently Paul realized that the Corinthians might not follow through with their commitment unless they wanted to do so very strongly. After all, they had procrastinated a full year. The fact that he motivated them from several different directions does not indicate that what he presented as the proper primary motivation for giving in chapter8 is secondary. If his primary arguments failed by themselves, these secondary arguments would add force and hopefully move his readers to do what was right.

"So far from opportunistically playing off one church against another, as is often concluded from this passage, Paul Isaiah , rather, seeking to preserve the reputation of the Corinthians in a situation of potential misunderstanding in which they would have lost face." ^[2]

Context Summary

2 Corinthians 9:1-7 - "god Loveth A Cheerful Giver"

Paul evidently had considerable anxiety about the collection at Corinth for the starving saints at Jerusalem. He had started the idea, not merely because of his affection toward his own people, but in order to promote and foster the unity of the Church of Christ. There could be no greater evidence of the transforming power of the gospel than that it should obliterate the strongly-marked differences between East and West, between Jew and Gentile, and make it clear that Christ is all in all Paul does not, therefore, urge and entreat the Corinthians so much as he reminds them of his confidence in their response. No motive is so potent as the sense that a worthy response is expected of us by one whom we revere and love.

He likens money-giving to seed-sowing. What was placed in the collection box would assuredly return to the giver with large increase. Christians, therefore, should not give grudgingly, or of necessity, but freely, spontaneously, generously, as the farmer, who does not hesitate to dip his hand deeply into his granaries, expecting, as he does, that every additional atom of grain scattered will come back to him augmented certainly to thirty-fold and perhaps to a hundred-fold. You will meet again somewhere and sometime every coin that you have given with a pure heart. [source]

Chapter Summary: 2 Corinthians 9

¹ He yields the reason why he sent Titus and his brothers beforehand
⁶ And he proceeds in stirring them up to a bountiful alms, as being but a kind of sowing of seed,
¹⁰ which shall return a great increase to them,
¹³ and occasion a great sacrifice of thanksgivings unto God

Greek Commentary for 2 Corinthians 9:5

I thought [εγησαμην]
Epistolary aorist again. See note on Philemon 2:25 for the expression here. [source]

Go before [προελτωσιν]
Second aorist active of προερχομαι proerchomai Go to you before I come. Make up beforehand (προκαταρτισωσι prokatartisōsi). Late and rare double compound verb προκαταρτιζω prokatartizō (in Hippocrates). Only here in N.T. See καταρτιζω katartizō in 1 Corinthians 1:10. Your afore-promised bounty “Blessing” Note third use of “pro” before. He literally rubs it in that the pledge was overdue. That the same might be ready (ταυτην ετοιμην ειναι tautēn hetoimēn einai). Here the infinitive alone (ειναι einai) is used to express purpose without ωστε hōste or εις το eis to or προς το pros to with the accusative of general reference (ταυτην tautēn). The feminine form ετοιμην hetoimēn is regular (1 Peter 1:5) though ετοιμος hetoimos also occurs with the feminine like the masculine (Matthew 25:10). And not of extortion “And not as covetousness.” Some offerings exhibit covetousness on the part of the giver by their very niggardliness. [source]

Make up beforehand [προκαταρτισωσι]
Late and rare double compound verb προκαταρτιζω prokatartizō (in Hippocrates). Only here in N.T. See καταρτιζω katartizō in 1 Corinthians 1:10. [source]

Your afore-promised bounty [την προεπηγγελμενην ευλογιαν υμων]
“Blessing” Note third use of “pro” before. He literally rubs it in that the pledge was overdue. That the same might be ready (ταυτην ετοιμην ειναι tautēn hetoimēn einai). Here the infinitive alone (ειναι einai) is used to express purpose without ωστε hōste or εις το eis to or προς το pros to with the accusative of general reference (ταυτην tautēn). The feminine form ετοιμην hetoimēn is regular (1 Peter 1:5) though ετοιμος hetoimos also occurs with the feminine like the masculine (Matthew 25:10). And not of extortion “And not as covetousness.” Some offerings exhibit covetousness on the part of the giver by their very niggardliness. [source]

That the same might be ready [ταυτην ετοιμην ειναι]
Here the infinitive alone The feminine form ετοιμην hetoimēn is regular (1 Peter 1:5) though ετοιμος hetoimos also occurs with the feminine like the masculine (Matthew 25:10). [source]

And not of extortion [και μη ως πλεονεχιαν]
“And not as covetousness.” Some offerings exhibit covetousness on the part of the giver by their very niggardliness. [source]

Go before []
Notice the thrice repeated before, emphasizing the injunction to have everything ready before Paul's arrival. [source]

Make up beforehand [προκαταρτίσωσιν]
Adjust. See on Matthew 4:21; see on Matthew 21:16; see on Luke 6:40; see on 1 Peter 5:10. [source]

Bounty [εὐλογίαν]
Lit., blessing. In this sense only here in the New Testament. In the Septuagint indifferently of gift or blessing. See Genesis 33:11; Judges 1:15; Ezekiel 34:26. In Proverbs 11:25, liberal soul is rendered by Sept., εὐλογούμενη blessedWhereof ye had notice before ( προεπηγγελημένην )Rev., better, your afore-promised bounty. The bounty promised by you, or by me on your behalf. [source]

Lit., blessing . In this sense only here in the New Testament. In the Septuagint indifferently of gift or blessing . See Genesis 33:11 ; Judges 1:15 ; Ezekiel 34:26 . In Proverbs 11:25 , liberal soul is rendered by Sept., εὐλογούμενη blessed Whereof ye had notice before [προεπηγγελημένην]
Rev., better, your afore-promised bounty. The bounty promised by you, or by me on your behalf. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 2 Corinthians 9:5

Romans 1:2 He promised afore [προεπηγγειλατο]
First aorist middle of προεπαγγελλω proepaggellō for which verb see note on 2 Corinthians 9:5. [source]

1 Corinthians 16:1 Collection [λογίας]
Peculiar to the New Testament, and occurring only here and 1 Corinthians 16:2. The classical word is συλλόγη , Vulg., collecta, which latter is also used of the assemblies in which the collections took place. From λέγω to collect. For such material ministries Paul uses a variety of words; as χάρις bounty 1 Corinthians 16:3; κοινωνία contribution Romans 15:26; εὐλογία . blessing, 2 Corinthians 9:5; λειτουπγία ministration 2 Corinthians 9:12; ἐλεημοσύναι alms Acts 24:17. The word ἔρανος was used by the Greeks to denote a feast of contribution or picnic; a club for mutual relief, and a contribution, made as a club-subscription, or for the support of the poor. [source]

1 Thessalonians 5:13 Esteem [ἡγεῖσθαι]
Primarily to lead, which is the only sense in the Gospels and Acts, except Acts 26:2, in a speech of Paul. To lead the mind through a reasoning process to a conclusion, and so to think, to estimate. Only in this sense by Paul, Peter, and James. See 2 Corinthians 9:5; Philemon 2:3; James 1:2; 2 Peter 3:9. In both senses in Hebrews. See Hebrews 10:29; Hebrews 13:7. [source]

Titus 3:1 To be ready unto every good work [ετοιμος]
Pauline phrase (2 Corinthians 9:8; 2 Timothy 2:21; 2 Timothy 3:17), here adjective hetoimos (2 Corinthians 9:5), there verb. [source]

What do the individual words in 2 Corinthians 9:5 mean?

Necessary therefore I esteemed [it] to exhort the brothers that they should go before unto you and should complete beforehand the foreannounced blessing of you this ready to be thus as a blessing not covetousness

ἀναγκαῖον οὖν ἡγησάμην παρακαλέσαι τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ἵνα προέλθωσιν εἰς ὑμᾶς καὶ προκαταρτίσωσιν τὴν προεπηγγελμένην εὐλογίαν ὑμῶν ταύτην ἑτοίμην εἶναι οὕτως ὡς εὐλογίαν μὴ πλεονεξίαν

ἀναγκαῖον	Necessary
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: ἀναγκαῖος Sense: necessary.
ἡγησάμην	I esteemed [it]
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Middle, 1st Person Singular Root: ἐπιτροπεύω Sense: to lead.
παρακαλέσαι	to exhort
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active Root: παρακαλέω Sense: to call to one’s side, call for, summon.
ἀδελφοὺς	brothers
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Plural Root: ἀδελφός Sense: a brother, whether born of the same two parents or only of the same father or mother.
ἵνα	that
Parse: Conjunction Root: ἵνα Sense: that, in order that, so that.
προέλθωσιν	they should go before
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural Root: προέρχομαι Sense: to go forward, go on.
εἰς	unto
Parse: Preposition Root: εἰς Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
προκαταρτίσωσιν	should complete beforehand
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural Root: προκαταρτίζω Sense: to prepare beforehand.
προεπηγγελμένην	foreannounced
Parse: Verb, Perfect Participle Middle or Passive, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: προεπαγγέλλω Sense: to announce before.
εὐλογίαν	blessing
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: εὐγλωττία Sense: praise, laudation, panegyric: of Christ or God.
ὑμῶν	of you
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Plural Root: σύ Sense: you.
ταύτην	this
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: οὗτος Sense: this.
ἑτοίμην	ready
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: ἕτοιμος Sense: prepare ready.
εἶναι	to be
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active Root: εἰμί Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
οὕτως	thus
Parse: Adverb Root: οὕτως Sense: in this manner, thus, so.
εὐλογίαν	a blessing
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: εὐγλωττία Sense: praise, laudation, panegyric: of Christ or God.
πλεονεξίαν	covetousness
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: πλεονεξία Sense: greedy desire to have more, covetousness, avarice.

What are the major concepts related to 2 Corinthians 9:5?

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