2 Corinthians 8
The full text of 2 Corinthians 8 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Greek. Free to read.
1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.
2 In the midst of a severe trial, their overflowing joy and their deep poverty welled up in rich generosity.
3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own,
4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people.
5 And they exceeded our expectations: they gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.
6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part.
7 But since you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you, see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
10 And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so.
11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.
12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.
14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality,
15 as it is written: 'The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.'
16 Thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you.
17 For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.
18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel.
19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.
20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift.
21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of everyone.
22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you.
23 As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ.
24 Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
Translation notes (7)
- 2 Corinthians 8:2a Greek haplotēs (ἁπλότης), rendered here as 'generosity', literally means 'simplicity' or 'singleness'. Paul uses it of giving that flows from an undivided heart, without calculation or mixed motive, so the word carries both the disposition and the openhanded act. The paradox is deliberate: their poverty 'according to depth' (kata bathous) yields wealth of single-hearted giving.
- 2 Corinthians 8:4a Greek stacks three weighty terms: charis, 'grace' or 'favor' (rendered here as 'privilege'), koinōnia, 'fellowship' or 'sharing', and diakonia, 'service' or 'ministry'. In this letter these words function almost technically for the collection Paul was gathering for the Jerusalem church, described literally as service 'to the saints' (tous hagious).
- 2 Corinthians 8:9a The verb eptōcheusen (ἐπτώχευσεν), 'he became poor', is an ingressive aorist marking the decisive moment of entering poverty, while the participle plousios ōn, 'though being rich', points to a prior state. Paul thus compresses into a single sentence the movement of the incarnation described more fully in Philippians 2:6-8, grounding the collection appeal in Christ's self-impoverishment.
- 2 Corinthians 8:15a Paul quotes Exodus 16:18, where each Israelite's measured omer of manna proved sufficient regardless of how much was gathered. His Greek follows the Septuagint closely: ho to poly ouk epleonasen, 'the one with much did not have excess'. The manna narrative thus becomes a precedent for the equality among churches urged in the preceding verse.
- 2 Corinthians 8:18a Paul leaves this companion unnamed, saying only ho adelphos, 'the brother' (ὁ ἀδελφός). Ancient tradition, reported by Origen and preserved in some manuscript subscriptions to this letter, identified him as Luke; others have proposed Barnabas, Aristarchus or Tychicus. The identification remains uncertain, since Paul evidently expected the Corinthians to recognize him without a name.
- 2 Corinthians 8:19a Greek cheirotonetheis (χειροτονηθείς), 'chosen', derives from a verb that originally meant to elect by a show of hands and here denotes formal appointment by the assembled churches rather than Paul's personal selection. The same verb describes the appointment of elders in Acts 14:23. This unnamed companion thus carried a public mandate for handling the collection.
- 2 Corinthians 8:23a Koinōnos (κοινωνός), 'partner', denotes a formal sharing in a common enterprise, stronger than mere companionship. The brothers are called apostoloi (ἀπόστολοι), literally 'sent ones', used here in its ordinary sense of delegates commissioned by the churches rather than as the title of the Twelve; hence 'representatives'.
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