to expect or confide · verb — aorist active indicative, 1st person plural
but
ἀλλ᾽all᾽
G235
properly · conjunction
first
πρῶτονprōton
G4412
firstly (in time
gave
ἔδωκανedōkan
G1325
to give (used in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
selves
ἑαυτοὺςhe'autous
G1438
him- (her- · reflexive pronoun
Lord
κυρίῳkuriō
G2962
supreme in authority · noun — dative singular masculine, a title
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
us
ἡμῖνhēmîn
G2254
to (or for
by
διὰdia
G1223
through (in very wide applications · preposition
will
θελήματοςthelēmatos
G2307
a determination (properly · noun — genitive singular neuter
God
θεοῦtheou
G2316
figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which i…
Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the de…
Romans 14:7-9 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
2 Chronicles 30:12 Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.
2 Corinthians 8:1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;
1 Samuel 1:28 Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.
1 Chronicles 12:18 Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace…
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 8:1-6
Observe here,
I. The apostle takes occasion from the good example of the churches of Macedonia, that is, of Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and others in the region of Macedonia, to exhort the Corinthians and the Christians in Achaia to the good work of charity. And,
1. He acquaints them with their great liberality, which he calls the grace of God bestowed on the churches, Co2 8:1. Some think the words should be rendered, the gift of God given in or by the churches. He certainly means the charitable gifts of these churches, which are called the grace or gifts of God, either because they were very large, or rather because their charity to the poor saints did proceed from God as the author, and…
And this they did, not as we hoped--Translate, "And not as we hoped (that is, far beyond our hopes), but their own selves gave they first to the Lord." "First," not indicating priority of time, but first of all, above all in importance. The giving of themselves takes precedency of their other gifts, as being the motive which led them to the latter (Rom 15:16).
by the will of God--not "according to the will of God," but "moved by the will of God, who made them willing" (Phi 2:13). It is therefore called (Co2 8:1), "the grace of God."
Adam Clarke on 2 Corinthians 8:5
Not as we hoped - They far exceeded our expectations, for they consecrated themselves entirely to the work of God; giving themselves and all they possessed first unto the Lord; and then, as they saw that it was the will of God that they should come especially forward in this charitable work, they gave themselves to us, to assist to the uttermost in providing relief for the suffering Christians in Judea.
John Gill on 2 Corinthians 8:5
And this they did not as we hoped,.... All this was unexpected by the apostles, who knew their great affliction and deep poverty, and therefore could not have hoped for such a collection from them; or that they would have desired the apostle to have ministered it for them:
but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God; the sense of which is not barely, or only, that they committed themselves to the care of Providence in all their afflictions and poverty, trusting in God that he would provide for them for time to come, and therefore even in their strait circumstances gave liberally; and were so much under the direction of the apostles, God so disposing their min…
The Church Fathers
The words "not as we expected" refer not to the Macedonians' willingness to give but to the amount which they gave.
By giving themselves to God first and then to their fellow believers, the Macedonians demonstrated their sincere desire to be made perfect. Paul quoted their example in the hope of persuading the Corinthians to do likewise.
"And" this, "not as we hoped." This he says with reference both to the amount and to their afflictions. 'For we could never have hoped,' he says, 'that whilst in so great affliction and poverty, they would even have urged us and so greatly intreated us.' He showed also their carefulness of life in other respects, by saying, "But first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us by the will of God." 'For in everything their obedience was beyond our expectations; nor because they showed mercy did they neglect the other virtues,' "but first gave themselves to the Lord." What is, "gave themselves to the Lord?" 'They offered up [themselves]; they showed themselves approved in faith; they displayed much fortitude in their trials, order, goodness, love, in all things both readiness and zeal.' What means, "and to us?" 'They were tractable to the rein, loved, obeyed us; both fulfilling the laws of God and bound unto us by love.' And observe how here also he again shows their earnestness saying, "gave themselves to the Lord." They did not in some things obey God, and in some the world; but in all things Him; and gave themselves wholly unto God. For neither because they showed mercy were they filled up with senseless pride, but displaying much lowlymindedness, much obedience, much reverence, much heavenly wisdom, they so wrought their almsdeeds also. But what is, "by the will of God?" Since he had said, they "gave themselves to us," yet was it not "to us," after the manner of men, but they did this also according to the mind of God.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Philippians, Epistle to — Was written by Paul during the two years when he was “in bonds” in Rome (Phil. 1:7-13), probably early in the year A.D. 62 or in the end of 61. The Philippians had sent Epaphroditus, their messenger,…
Beneficence · 18:5,7-9; — 18:5,7-9;
Consecration · PER — PER
Emulation · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Liberality · Extraordinary - Exemplified: Churches of Macedonia — Extraordinary - Exemplified: Churches of Macedonia
Macedonia · General references — General references
Macedonian Empire, The · Liberality of the churches of — Liberality of the churches of
Missionaries, All Christians Should Be As · In first giving their own selves to the Lord — In first giving their own selves to the Lord
Poor, The · Regard for — Exemplified: Churches of Macedonia and Achaia — Regard for — Exemplified: Churches of Macedonia and Achaia
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
2 Corinthians 8:1-7
1. Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;
1. Certiores autem vos facio, fratres, de gratia Dei, quae data est in Ecclesiis Macedoniae;
2. How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
2. Quoniam in multa probatione afflictionis exsuperavit gaudium ipsorum, et profunda illorum paupertas exundavit in divitias simplicitatis [658] eorum.
3. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves;
3. Nam pro viribus (testor) atque etiam supra vires fuerunt voluntarii;
4. Praying us wit…
Paul now turns his attention to the collection for the Jerusalem church (8:4; 9:1). This relief fund was intended to aid the poverty-stricken saints in the holy city (Acts 11:27-30; Rom 15:25-27, 31; Gal 2:10). Paul had earlier given instructions about this matter (1 Cor 16:1-2); now it was time to collect the funds (2 Cor 8:6). Paul hoped this gift from Gentile congregations to the Jewish church would cement relations between the two groups in the early Christian community.
8:1-2 The churches in Macedonia included the church in Philippi, which we know from Acts and Philippians was being tested by many troubles and was very poor. Yet they were generous in sending gifts to Paul and in suppor…
