2 Corinthians 8:9-15 – Imitate The Grace Of Christ In Giving

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 08 March 2026
Underlined words in Scripture quotes indicate words that are in common with the Greek text of the sermon passage. Otherwise, underlining indicates words to emphasize when reading this transcript out loud. Omitting greyed-out text should reduce read-aloud time to about 40 minutes.

Introduction

Read my translation of the passage, starting at v.8:
It is not exactly an order that I am dictating; it is rather giving proof through the diligence of others and the genuineness of your love for each other, because y’all know the grace of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One, that though He was rich, He became poor for your sakes, in order that y’all might become rich by means of that man’s poverty. So I’m giving advice in this, for this bears together with whoever of y’all that previously started a year ago, not only to do but also to be willing. So now indeed start completing the doing such that, as was the eagerness to be willing so also will be the completing out of what y’all have. For since the eagerness is laying itself forth, anyone will be well-received according to whatever he happens to have, not according to what he does not have. So it’s not in order that there might be relief to others but stress to y’all; rather it is out of [a desire for] evenness – in the present time y’all’s abundance for their need, in order that their abundance might also occur for y’all’s need, such that an evenness may occur, just as it has been written, “the one with much did not have too much, and the one with little was not deficient.”
As Paul makes the case for the Corinthian church to give generously to his fund for the poor saints in Jerusalem, he gave the example of the generous donations from the churches in Macedonia in verses 1-8, closing that paragraph by saying that he was “giving proof through the diligence of others and the genuineness of your love for each other.”
The diligence of others included the generosity of the Macedonian church, but it stems from the one great “Other” and that is Jesus Christ Himself, who proved His genuine love to us by laying down His life to save us when we were helpless to save ourselves.
It is to Christ’s loving example that Paul turns now in v.9 as a motivation to give generously to brothers and sisters in need:

v.9 Jesus Impoverished Himself To Enrich His People

“for” he says, “y’all know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (cf. 13:14)
- Paul defines “grace” in Romans 5:21 as “...righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (NKJV)
- and he elaborated on it in Ephesians 2:1-7 “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins... and were by nature children of wrath... But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (NKJV, cf. 3:8, 5:2)
But in order to do this, Jesus, who lived in eternal glory as God, co-equal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, co-creator of all things and rightful owner of everything in creation, left the riches of His glory and become poor and lived the life of a lowly human being and suffered for the sins of human beings. The New Testament describes some of “that poverty”:
- Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this attitude in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, while existing in God's form, did not consider being equal to God a prize to be clutched, but rather, emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (NAW)
- Luke 2:7 “And she [Mary] brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the [guest quarters].” (NKJV) That’s poverty – being born in a cattle stall!
- And when He reached adulthood He said in Matthew 8:20 “...The foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man does not. Where shall He recline His head?” and 20:28 “In this way the Son of Man did not come in order to be served, but rather in order to serve and to give His soul to be a ransom in the place of many.” (NAW)
- Hebrews 2:9 “However, we do see the one who for a little while had been made lower than angels, Jesus, having been crowned with glory and honor on account of His suffering of death in order that, by the grace of God, He might taste death on behalf of all.” (NAW)
- Galatians 3:13 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’)...” (NKJV)
But “He became poor for your sakes, in order that y’all might become rich by means of His poverty [literally: ‘through that man’s poverty’].
- Titus 2:14 “[He] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” (NKJV)
- Psalm 106:41-43 “...He sets the poor on high... And they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.” (NKJV)
- Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? … 10:12-13 “...the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’” (NKJV)
The Prosperity Gospel tradition that says that when you become a Christian, God makes you rich in terms of money and material possessions, but Scripture teaches us to understand what it means to be rich in terms of things that last forever:
- 1 Corinthians 1:5 “so that in everything, y'all were enriched by Him in every word and in every piece of knowledge...” (NAW, cf. 2 Cor. 6:10)
- James 2:5 “...Has not God chosen those who are destitute /in\ regards to the world to be rich in faith and to be those who inherit the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (NAW) Faith, the knowledge of God, good works, eternal life, and a place in the heavenly kingdom are what the Bible says are the riches that Christians can expect God to give them.
- 1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but [to trust] in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works...” (NKJV)
- Rev. 3:17-18 symbolizes these eternal riches of holiness, righteousness, and knowledge in terms of refined gold, white garments, and healed vision: “...you say,`I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' – and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked – I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.” (NKJV)
The point is that since Jesus impoverished Himself in order to save us and to share His eternal riches with us, we also must follow His example by giving, as we are able, from what we have, to those in need.
- “This is a good reason why we should be charitable to the poor out of what we have, because we ourselves live upon the charity of the Lord Jesus Christ.” ~M. Henry, 1714 AD
- Paul told the elders in Ephesus in Acts 20:35 “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (NKJV)

vs.10-11 Giving Goes Together With Being Willing

And herein/in this [matter] I give my judgment/opinion/advice, for this bears together/is expedient/advantageous/benefits/is best for y’all who have begun before/were the first to begin/start a year ago not only to do [this work of giving] but also to have the desire/be forward/be willing.
Paul continues in verses 10-11, very diplomatically giving more reasons, to encourage the Corinthian church to pick back up on its plans to give.
Many English versions translate the phrase in v.10 with an emphasis on the “benefit/advantage” that giving will bring to the Corinthians, but the main verb συμφέρει literally means “it carries together,” and, when I consider the emphasis of the two infinitives at the end of verse 10 pairing “doing” with “being willing,” I think Paul’s focus is not so much on the “benefit/ advantage” of giving but rather on the fact that it would be consistent of the Corinthians to “carry out” the plan which they had “initially” “wanted to do a year ago,” so his “advice” is that it would be best to go ahead and carry through with what they had “previously started.”
- If God has put a desire on your heart to do something in particular for His kingdom, it is good and right to try to put it into action.
The words “begun before/were the first to begin/start a year ago” connect back to 2 Corinthians 8:6 “...we urged Titus that, just as he had previously started it, so he might also bring to completion this grace among y'all as well...” and forward to 9:2 “for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia [Corinth] was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority.” (NKJV) So apparently, this was a charitable initiative which Titus had helped them start up a year ago, and it has to do with the collection for the poor Christians in Jerusalem that Paul wanted the mobilize the Gentile churches to give to.
There are other places in the Bible as well, where a disconnect between “willing” and “doing” good, is exposed as a problem, such as:
- Eccl. 5:4-6 “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed – Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?” (NKJV)
- In Jesus’ parable in Matthew 21 of the the two sons whom their father asked to go work in the family vineyard, “Which one did the will of his father?” Not the one who expressed willingness to go and did not go, but the one who actually went, right?
- And in Matthew 25, when Jesus described what it would be like “...whenever the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him… and all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He separates them…”
  - The ones who actually followed through with feeding the hungry and thirsty, hosting the homeless, clothing the ill-clad, nursing the sick, and visiting the prisoners are the ones to whom the King will say, “Come here, you who have been blessed by my father! Start inheriting the kingdom prepared for y'all from the foundation of the world.”
  - To the rest who would have been willing to do these things for Jesus, but “did not do” these things “even for the least of these,” the King will say, “You are cursed! Continue to conduct yourselves away from me into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.” (NAW)
- James 2:15-20 “...if a brother or sister happened to be subsisting exposed, and happened to be lacking in their daily food, and someone from among y'all happened to say to them, ‘Go on in peace, get yourselves warm and stuff yourselves full!’ and y'all didn't happen to give to them the things that would be appropriate for their body, what's the benefit¹? Even so the faith, if it doesn't happen to have works, is dead by itself. However, someone is going to say, ‘As for you, you have faith, but as for me, I have works!’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and as for me, I will show you my faith from my works. You yourself believe that God is one; You do well. The demons also believe and shudder. But, you want to know something, O empty man? The faith without the works is dead!” (NAW)
We, along with the Corinthians, are called in v.11 to “match” our “will/desire” to do good with “action” such that “as was the eagerness/readiness/promptitude to desire/be willing so also will be the completing…”
God gives us a number of promises in the Bible to let us know that charity is not only something that is “fitting” for willing saints, it is something for which God blesses His people:
- God says He will pay you back for your generosity in Proverbs 19:17 “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He [the LORD] will pay back what he [the giver] has given.” (NKJV)
- God says He is pleased with your sharing in Hebrews 13:16 “and never forget good works and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well-pleased.” (NAW)
- And God says that giving sets you up well for eternity in 1 Tim. 6:18-19 “Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” (NKJV)
But notice at the end of v. 11 the little phrase “by your ability/according to your means,” or more literally “out of what y’all have.” This is explained in...

v.12 What You Don’t Have Is Irrelevant With God

“...it is accepted [anyone will be well-received] according to whatever he happens to have, not according to what he does not have.”
- The poor widow, who gave two pennies while Jesus was watching the people make donations at the temple, was not displeasing to Jesus because she didn’t put more money in. She didn’t have any more money to contribute. What she “had” was “acceptable/well-received” by Jesus. (Mark 12:42ff)
- In the “Parable of the Talents,” in Matthew 25:15ff², the master entrusted different amounts of money to different stewards (“according to their ability”) and told them all to manage his money wisely. When he came back and asked them to show him how they had stewarded his money, he gave the exact same words of praise to the one who had earned 5 extra talents as the words of praise he gave to the one who had only earned 2. It was only the one who hadn’t even tried to invest the money entrusted to him who got scolded (and worse).
- In the law, God only called for offerings amounting to ten percent of your profit³, rather than a flat sum⁴ because He knew He had given different people different earning capacities, and He wanted to put offerings on a sliding scale according to their different abilities. He only asked for what they could “afford,” and He gave alternatives to the poor – for instance, if they didn’t have the means to offer a lamb, they could offer a dove instead (Lev. 5:7; 12:8; 14:31; Num. 6:21).
- So what Paul had instructed in First Corinthians 16:2 was “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper⁵, that there be no collections when I come.” (NAW)
- Here in Second Corinthians, it seems that the folks in Corinth hadn’t collected as much as they had meant to, and were hoping to put Paul off until they had had a better year of business and could give a more impressive amount, but Paul is saying to just go ahead and give what they could for now, assuring them that God will be quite happy with what they can give.
- When we put off giving, it has a way of getting away from us such that we end up never giving anything.
  - That’s one reason we train our children to go ahead and calculate a tithe on the little bits of money they make when they are young – even if it’s a penny tithe on ten cents of chore money earned. That teaches them to go ahead and give according to their ability.
- God doesn’t think more highly of the rich people whose contributions we really need to carry our church along. (He is, of course, “well-pleased” by the offerings of the wealthy when done with a “ready/willing mind,” but He is no “respecter of persons” ~Acts. 10:34). If your earning ability is small, your giving is just as important and delightful to God when done eagerly to worship Him.
The Greek grammar in v.12 indicates that the condition is true – that there really is a “ready/ willing mind” for giving among the Christians in Corinth.
- A more literal translation would be that the Corinthians’ “eagerness” to give “is laying itself forth.”
- This “eagerness/willingness/readiness” is mentioned in verses 11-12, as well as in v. 19 (“...this gift... is administered by us to the glory of the Lord Himself and to show your ready mind…” ~NKJV) and later on in 9:2 “...I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority.” (NKJV)
That being the case, anything they contribute will consummate the process in God’s eyes, and they will find acceptance from God – God will take pleasure in them.
- The Greek manuscripts leave it open to question whether it is the person or the person’s ready willingness that God will find “acceptable.”
- Many of the 21^st century English Bibles have inserted the word “gift” – which is not in any Greek manuscript – to resolve the question.
- But whether it is the “person,” the person’s “willingness,” or the person’s “gift,” the worshiper and his/her worship are closely connected, and God’s acceptance includes both you and what you have to offer when you come to Him with the right attitude of worship.
- The LORD told Moses in Exodus 25:2 “...From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.” (NKJV)
In verses 13-14, Paul moves on to another argument in favor of giving this gift, and that is God’s people can help each other out by evening-out economic disparities.

v.13-14 Solidarity in the Church Evens Out Financial Disparities

For I do not mean [or more literally: it’s not in order] that there might be relief/ease to others but stress/burden/affliction/pressure to you; rather it is out of [a desire for things] to be evened-out/by way of/that there might be equality/as a matter of fairness.
At the present time your plenty/abundance may be for their need/want/lack, in order that their abundance/plenty [in turn] might also occur for y’all’s need/want/lack, such that an evenness/equality/fairness may occur.
We know from the rest of the Apostle Paul’s writings that he was no Socialist.⁶
- In 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, he exhorted Christians “...to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.” (NKJV)
- And in Ephesians 4:28 he wrote, “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” (NKJV)
- For him, charity was supposed to be private (Mat. 6:3), personal (Eph. 4:28), and of your own choice (2 Cor. 9:5-7, Philemon 4).⁷
So in verse 13, Paul preempts the problem of dependency.
- It is a known sociological phenomenon that if people with more income than they need provide steady funding for poor people with no expectation of accountability or reciprocity, then the poor people who receive these funds take on more affluent lifestyles and stop trying to provide as much for themselves and become dependent on that free money. (We saw that recently when the State of Kansas tried to disqualify soft drinks and candy bars from SNAP benefits and got their hands slapped for it.)
- That has been an endemic problem in our nation’s welfare system. But taxing the rich is not the answer to a nation’s economic problems.
- And, as the history of Communist Russia has demonstrated, when a civil government takes “from each citizen according to his ability and redistributes to other citizens according to their need,⁸” citizens do less work because there is no profit incentive to doing more work, while vast amounts of wealth end up lining the pockets of the government bureaucrats who confiscate and redistribute the wealth.
- In his book, When Helping Hurts, Dr. Brian Fikkert tells the story of an African pastor who toured the United States raising money for a non-existent orphanage in Africa. None of the American churches knew how many other churches were contributing to this scam; they all thought they were the only one, and they were all giving large sums of money. Occasionally the American churches would send a summer mission team over to the orphanage, and when they did, the African pastor would gather all the kids from the all the families in the village into a big house for the week to make it look like he was running an orphanage. Meanwhile, he was living high on the hog, buying up more and more property and controlling more and more of the local politics.
- Paul says that what he has in mind is NOT one of those situations that foster dependency and waste, where one party takes on all the obligations to provide and the other party just mooches off of them, but rather what he has in mind is a way for Christians to help “level out” each other’s financial situations.
The Greek word he uses for that in verses 13 and 14 is ἰσότητος… ἰσότης.
- It is translated “equality/fairness” in most English versions, which can be a bit misleading for those of us who have been saturated in Cultural Marxism and who have heard those words used as catchphrases for blaming white Christian men for all the poverty in the world and as rationales for instituting political Socialism or Communism, which is not what the Apostle Paul taught.
- Instead, this word should be understood in terms of “leveling” things out, making things “smoother” and more “even” for those we love (John Calvin explained it “a proper adjustment”), not in terms of Humanistic “social justice⁹.”
- If a church in one part of the world is experiencing “abundance/plenty” (as Corinth apparently was) then they can choose to help a church in another part of the world that is experiencing “want/lack/need” (like Jerusalem apparently was). Then, in the years to come, should God’s providence reverse the economic situation, there is a church on the other side of the world ready and willing to share from their surplus to help level you out when you are bottoming-out financially.
- Paul put it later-on in 2 Corinthians 9:12 “For the administration of this service… supplies the needs of the saints...” (NKJV),
- and he added in Romans 15:27 that there was already some reciprocity that had gone on between these churches, for the Jewish churches in Israel and Syria had been the ones who had sent Paul out with the Gospel to the Gentile churches, so the Corinthians had already received a spiritual benefit from the very people they were now to send a financial benefit back to.¹⁰
This section closes in v.15 with a quote from the Greek Septuagint of Exodus 16:18 with only one word changed, and that was to use a synonym for “little.”

v.15 Comparison to God’s Provision of Manna during the Exodus

So why did Paul allude here to God’s provision of manna in the wilderness when he is in the middle of a fundraising appeal?
In context, the account from Exodus 16:14-18 is “...when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, ‘This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: “Let every man gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.”’ Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one's need.” (NKJV)
Exodus 16 emphasizes God’s supernatural intervention in making sure that His people had food to live on.
- The miracle was not only in the sudden appearance of a new food staple which could be harvested out of the uncultivated wilderness in large enough quantities to feed millions of Jewish refugees,
- but also in the mysterious ways that nobody could gather too much or too little of it¹¹ and how it would spoil overnight on every night of the week except for Friday night.
- God made them work for it – to harvest and cook it before they could eat it, but He prevented them from being able to work extra hard and stockpile it and treat it as a commodity to increase wealth and power relative to others. He wanted them to learn to do a moderate amount of work each day and trust Him for their daily bread.
Paul is cross-applying this principle to money. He’s saying that we can treat money like God taught the Hebrews to treat manna.¹²
- God will provide enough for us each day, and He will see to it that an appropriate amount of work (“six day-times a week” – Ex. 20:9), is enough to cover our needs, and we can trust that God will continue to look out for our needs in the days ahead,
- so, rather than worrying about the future and working extra and saving money and stockpiling it for unknown potential needs in the future, we can share surplus now with those who aren’t making ends meet, and we can trust that God will not leave us destitute in the future.
- It’s a little bit like Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” in economics. There is a God who is looking out for His people, and He will see to it that there is enough daily bread to go around, but He calls His church to work together with Him in that process – He calls us to share generously when we have extra and to receive thankfully when we have needs.
Do you have a Biblical worldview concerning work and money and savings?
- Are you working six days a week and resting one day a week?
- Do you see money, not as an end in itself to be collected, but as a means for God’s provision for yourself and others?
- Do you trust God’s daily providence enough to share what you have now without feeling insecure about the future?
Let us follow Jesus’ example in divesting Himself in order to enrich others
Let us combine willingness with action to follow through on good intentions to help others.
Let us trust that God will be well-pleased when we give what we can and stop comparing ourselves with others.
And let us join in with God in His work of providence in sharing generously with brothers and sisters in need when we have excess and receive thankfully¹³ from brothers and sisters when we are in need, and trust in God rather than ourselves for the future.

2 Corinthians 8:9-15 – Comparison of Textual Traditions & Versions^A

Byzantine^B	NAW	KJV^C	Rheims^D	Murdock^E	Coptic^F
8 Οὐ κατ᾿ ἐπιταγὴν λέγω, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς ἑτέρων σπουδῆς καὶ τὸ^G τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀγάπης γνήσιον ^H δοκιμάζων·	8 It is not exactly an order that I am dictating; it is rather giving proof through the diligence of others and the genuineness of your love for each other,	8 I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.	8 I speak not as commanding: but by the carefulness of others, approving also the good disposition of your charity.	8 I do not actually X command you, but by the promptitude of your ~~fellow~~ disciples, I would test X the sincerity of your love.	8 I was not saying it according to commandment, but through the earnestness of others, I approved (the) choiceness^B/genuineness^S of your love also.
9 γινώσκετε γὰρ τὴν χάριν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅτι ^Iδι᾿ ὑμᾶς ἐπτώχευσε^J πλούσιος ὤν^K, ἵνα ὑμεῖς τῇ^L ἐκείνου^M πτωχείᾳ πλουτήσητε.	9 because y’all know the grace of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One, that though He was rich, He became poor for your sakes, in order that y’all might become rich by means of that man’s poverty.	9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, [yet] for your sakes he became poor, that ye through Xhis poverty might be rich.	9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that being rich he became poor for your sakes: that through Xhis poverty you might be rich.	9 For ye know the goodness of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, ~~who~~ when he was rich, for your sakes became poor, that by Xhis poverty ye might be made rich.	9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ^B/^NX^S, that he became poor because of you, being rich, that ye [also] in the poverty of that one might become rich.
10 καὶ γνώμην ^O ἐν τούτῳ δίδωμι· τοῦτο γὰρ ὑμῖν συμφέρει, οἵτινες^P οὐ μόνον τὸ ποιῆσαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ θέλειν προενήρξασθε^Q ἀπὸ πέρυσι^R·	10 So I’m giving advice in this, for this bears together with whoever of y’all that previously started a year ago, not only to do but also to be willing.	10 And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to ~~be forward~~ a year ago.	10 And herein I give my advice: for this is profitable for you who have begun not only to do but also to be willing, a year ago.	10 And I ~~urgently~~ recommend to you, that ~~which~~ is for your advantage; ~~inas~~~~much as~~ ye began, a year ago, not only to purpose, but also to perform.	10 And in this I give an opinion: for this is [what is^S] profitable to you, who not only [the thing] to do, but ~~the~~ wish also ye were [beforehand in^B] beginning a year ago.
11 νυνὶ δὲ καὶ τὸ ποιῆσαι ἐπιτελέσατε,^S, ὅπως καθάπερ ἡ προθυμία^T τοῦ θέλειν, οὕτω καὶ τὸ ἐπιτελέσαι ἐκ τοῦ ἔχειν.	11 So now indeed start completing the doing such that, as was the eagerness to be willing so also will be the completing out of what y’all have.	11 Now therefore X perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.	11 Now therefore perform ye it also in deed: that as your mind is forward to be willing, so it may be also to perform, out of that which you have.	11 And now X complete ye by action, what ye purposed; that as ye had a promptitude in your purposing, so ye may X fulfill it in action, ~~according to your~~ ~~ability~~.	11 But now the thing also to do, fulfil; that according as the readiness of the wish, thus also may be the fulfilment, ~~according to~~ that which ^Ueach^B/ye^S has^B/have^S.
Byzantine	NAW	KJV	Rheims	Murdock	Coptic
12 εἰ^V γὰρ ἡ προθυμία πρόκειται, καθὸ^W ἐὰν ἔχῃ τις^X εὐπρόσδεκτος, οὐ καθὸ οὐκ ἔχει.	12 For since the eagerness is laying itself forth, anyone will be well-received according to whatever he happens to have, not according to what he does not have.	12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.	12 For if the willX be forward, it is accepted according to that which a man hath: not according to that which he hath not.	12 For if ~~there~~ is a willingness, a person is accepted according to what he hath, and not according to what he hath not.	12 For if the readiness ~~exists~~, according to that which^Y he hath he is accepted, not according to that which he hath not.
13 οὐ γὰρ ἵνα ἄλλοις ἄνεσις^Z, ὑμῖν δὲ^AA θλῖψις^AB, ἀλλ᾿ ἐξ ἰσότητος^AC	13 So it’s not in order that there might be relief to others but stress to y’all; rather it is out of [a desire for] evenness –	13 For I mean not that X other men be eased, and X ye burdened: 14 But by an equality,	13 For [I mean] not that X others should be eased and X you burdened, but by an equality.	13 For it is not, that X others may have easement, and X you pressure; 14 but that ye may be on equality	13 For not that a relief might be to others and a tribulation to you, but that an equality might be
14 ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ τὸ ὑμῶν περίσσευμα εἰς τὸ ἐκείνων ὑστέρημα, ἵνα καὶ τὸ ἐκείνων περίσσευμα γένηται εἰς τὸ ὑμῶν ὑστέρημα, ὅπως γένηται ἰσότης,	14 in the present time y’all’s abundance for their need, in order that their abundance might also occur for y’all’s need, such that an evenness may occur,	that now at [this] time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:	14 In this present time let your abundance ~~supply~~ their want, that their abundance also may ~~supply~~ X your want: that there may be an equality,	at the present time; [and that] your abundance may be a supply to their want; that their abundance likewise may be a supply to your want; that there may be equality.	in this present time. 14 [That] your abundance may be for (the) deficiency of those, and X the abundance of those may be ^ADfor your deficiency, that there may be an equality:
15 καθὼς γέγραπται· ὁ τὸ πολὺ οὐκ ἐπλεόνασε, καὶ ὁ τὸ ὀλίγον οὐκ ἠλαττόνησε.^AE	15 just as it has been written, “the one with much did not have too much, and the one with little was not deficient.”	15 As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.	15 As it is written: He that [had] much had nothing over; and he that had little had no want.	15 As it is written, He who [gathered] much, had nothing over; and he that gathered little, was not deficient.	15 according as it is written; He of the abundance abounded not, and he of the little was not in want.

1ὄφελος – not the same as συμφερω which some English versions translate “benefit” in 2 Cor. 8:10.

2Matt. 25:20-23 “So, when the one who had received the five year's-wages approached, he presented another five year's-wages, saying, 'Master, you delivered five year's wages to me; see here another five year's-wages I gained in addition to them!' And his master said to him, 'Well [done], good and faithful servant! You were faithful over few things; I will stand you in my stead over many. Enter into the joy of your master!' Then when the one who [had received] the two year's-wages approached, he said, 'Master, you delivered two year's-wages to me; see here another two year's-wages I gained in addition to them!' His master said to him, 'Well [done], good and faithful servant! You were faithful over few things; I will stand you in my stead over many. Enter into the joy of your master!'” (NAW)

3See “tithes” in Lev. 27:30,31,32; Num. 18:24,26,28; Deut. 12:6,11,17; 14:22,23,28; 26:12; 2Ch. 31:5,6,12; Neh. 10:37,38; 12:44; 13:5,12; Amos 4:4; Mal. 3:8,10; Mat. 23:23; and Luke 11:42.

4The one exception being the temple/census tax in Exodus 30:15 which was a flat tax of only half a shekel (somewhere around two day’s average wages) and thus affordable for anyone.

5ὅ τι [ἐ]ὰν εὐοδῶται compare to 2 Cor. 8:11 ἐκ τοῦ ἔχειν

6Cf. Hughes: “As Hodge points out, what Paul is advocating here ‘is not agrarianism, nor community of goods’, for in the New Testament all giving is voluntary and the fruit of love. Its object is the relief of want, not an artificial equalization of property. There is, moreover, ‘a special obligation resting on the members of Christ to relieve the wants of their fellow-believers’; for while, as Paul tells the Galatians (6:10), we are to ‘do good to all men’, irrespective of their religious views, yet we have a particular responsibility to assist those ‘who are of the household of faith’.”

7The correlation to Acts 4:34 is debated, as some Christians interpret it as Communism, and some Christians believe that it describes a practice which was later abandoned because it was problematic. I think it could be fit within the framework of a charitable system which was “private, personal, and voluntary,” especially considering that it was done outside the jurisdiction of the civil government.

8„Jeder nach seinen Fähigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen“ ~Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Programme, 1875

9The qualifying adjective “Humanistic” is important, since there is still a great need for godly magistrates to institute justice as defined by God’s word.

10“It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.” (NKJV)

11That is my interpretation. Matthew Henry interpreted it in terms of multiple members of each household collecting manna then bringing it home and distributing it evenly among their household members, and Calvin interpreted it as everyone in Israel gathering all their harvest of manna into one place every day, then each man taking only an omer for himself from that stock.

12“For whatever we have is manna, from whatever quarter it comes, provided it be really ours, inasmuch as riches acquired by fraud, and unlawful artifices, are unworthy to be called so... And as in the case of one hoarding the manna, either from excessive greed or from distrust, what was laid up immediately putrefied, so we need not doubt that the riches, that are heaped up at the expense of our brethren, are accursed, and will soon perish, and that too, in connection with the ruin of the owner... I acknowledge, indeed, that there is not enjoined upon us an equality of such a kind, as to make it unlawful for the rich to live in any degree of greater elegance than the poor; but an equality is to be observed thus far — that no one is to be allowed to starve, and no one is to hoard his abundance at the expense of defrauding others.” ~John Calvin
“Christian[s]... are all inmates of the same spiritual tent, travellers together through the wilderness of this world to the same heavenly Canaan. It is God who rains down the manna of His bounty in their temporal wealth. What they gather is His. And they may not gather only for themselves.” ~Christopher Wordsworth, quoted by Phillip Hughes

13Chrysostom waxed eloquent on this point: “I hear... many praying to this effect, and saying, ‘Suffer me not at any time to stand in need of men’ And I laugh exceedingly when I hear these prayers, for this fear is even childish. For every day and in every thing, so to speak, do we stand in need of one another. So that these are the words of an unthinking and puffed up spirit, and that doth not clearly discern the nature of things. Seest thou not that all of us are in need one of another? if to be in need one of another appears to thee a dreadful thing, [know that] it is impossible altogether to escape it; but if thou wilt avoid the tumult, (for thou mayest take refuge in the waveless haven of poverty,) cut off the great tumult of thy affairs, and deem it not disgraceful to be in need of another; for this is the doing of God’s unspeakable wisdom. For if we stand in need one of another, yet even the compulsion of this need draweth us not together unto love; had we been independent, should we not have been untamed wild beasts? Perforce and of compulsion God hath subjected us one to another, and every day we are in collision one with another. And had He removed this curb, who is there who would readily have longed after his neighbor’s love? Let us then neither deem this to be disgraceful, nor pray against it and say, ‘Grant us not to stand in need of any one;’ but let us pray and say, ‘Suffer us not, when we are in need, to refuse those who are able to help us.’”

AWhen a translation adds words not in the Greek text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics or grayed-out text, I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Greek word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original text, I use ~~strikeout~~. And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I insert an X. I also place an X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular. I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. NAW is my translation. My original chart includes annotated copies of the NKJV, NASB, NIV, and ESV, but I erase them from the online edition so as not to infringe on their copyrights.

BThis Greek New Testament is the 1904 "Patriarchal" edition of the Greek Orthodox Church. As published by E-Sword in 2016. The Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine majority text of the GNT and the Textus Receptus are very similar. The Westcott-Hort, Nestle-Aland, UBS, and Tregelles editions, however, are a slightly-different family of GNTs developed in the modern era, focusing on the few manuscripts which are older than the Byzantine manuscripts. Even so, the practical differences in the text between these two editing philosophies are minimal.

C1769 King James Version of the Holy Bible; public domain. As published by E-Sword in 2019.

DRheims New Testament first published by the English College at Rheims, A.D. 1582, Revised and Diligently Compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner, Published in 1582, 1609, 1752. As published on E-Sword in 2016.

EJames Murdock, A Literal Translation from the Syriac Peshito Version, 1851, Robert Carter & Brothers, New York. Scanned and transcribed by Gary Cernava and published electronically by Janet Magierra at http://www.lightofword.org, and published on E-Sword in 2023.

FThis is my conflation of the English translations of the Northern Bohairic and Southern Sahidic traditions published by Oxford Clarendon Press in 1905 and 1920 respectively, neither of which named the translator or editor. The beginnings and ends of multiple-word variants are marked out with brackets, with a superscript “S” for Sahidic or “B” for Bohairic. The editor of the Sahidic compilation did not have manuscripts for vs. 1-4, 6-8, 13-14, 18-19, and part of 20, and 22 – 23, and I have not discovered a published English translation of the subsequently-discovered manuscripts, so variants in that section for that tradition are not listed.

G“genuineness” is spelled accusative neuter singular, matching this definite article. Turner’s Grammar noted that this definite article “is used as an abstract substantive here, ‘what is genuine with respect to your love...’”

HVincent: “Used by Paul only. Contracted from γενήσιος legitimately born: hence genuine. Paul calls Timothy his lawful son in the faith (1Ti. 1:2). The kindred adverb γνησίως sincerely (A. V. naturally), occurs once, Php. 2:20.”

IAll English Bibles except for the Geneva and the NET insert the conjunction “yet” here, but it is not in any known Greek manuscript, nor is it in any of the ancient versions.

JVincent: “Only here in the New Testament. Primarily of abject poverty, beggary (see on Mat. 5:3), though used of poverty generally. “Became poor” is correct, though some [including Hughes] render “was poor,” and explain that Christ was both rich and poor simultaneously; combining divine power and excellence with human weakness and suffering. But this idea is foreign to the general drift of the passage. The other explanation falls in better with the key-note – an act of self-devotion – in 2Cor. 8:5. The aorist tense denotes the entrance into the condition of poverty [cf. Robinson “ingressive aorist”], and the whole accords with the magnificent passage, Php. 2:6-8.”

KLiterally “being” (Geneva Bible), but used in a concessive sense “although” (KJV, and most English versions since, Cf. ATR’s Grammar).

LAlmost all English translations translate the dative case here “through” except for the NET, ESV, and NLT, which commendably translated it “by,” accurately marking it as instrumental rather than locative. (Robertson also noted in his Word Pictures that it is “instrumental.”)

MThis is the far demonstrative Greek pronoun in the genitive case (“of that man”). All the Greek manuscripts are agreed on this. It appears that the ancient Vulgate and Peshitta versions translated it instead as a simple third person pronoun (“his”), and all the English versions followed suit, but the ancient Coptic versions rendered accurately with the demonstrative pronoun.

NThe Vaticanus is the only known Geek manuscript which omits “Christ.”

O“a deliberate opinion” (Robertson), as opposed to an “order” (v.8).

PMoulton: “‘Οιτινες in this context seems to be distinctly different than the relative pronoun (more indefinite), ‘whatever.’”

QThe only other occurrence of this word in the Greek Bible is in v.6, referring to what Titus did among the Corinthians.

RThe only other occurrence of this word in the Greek Bible is in 9:2, describing the same situation.

SRobertson: “The perfective force of επι- is present in the compound verb here, ‘Completely fulfilled.’”

TThis word occurs only a few places in the Greek Bible: (Sir. 45:23), Acts 17:11, and 2 Cor. 8:11-12, & 19, and 9:2. Vincent interpreted the προ- in terms of position (“in front of”).

USince the Greek verb is infinitive and therefore has no subject, either a singular or plural could be technically fitting to the grammar, but most versions (including Vulgate and Peshitta) interpreted it with a second person plural subject from the context.

VThis is a first class conditional structure with ει + present indicative verbs, indicating that the condition is true.

WThis rare spelling of the comparative is only found in the Greek Bible here, Lev. 9:5; (1 Esdras 1:48; Judith 3:3); Rom. 8:26; and 1 Pet. 4:13.

X“Someone is well-received” is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts and of the Greek Orthodox and Textus Receptus editions of the Greek New Testament (GNT), but the oldest known manuscript with this reading is dated to the 10th century. There are 17 Greek manuscripts (including all the oldest-known back to the 4^th century) which omit this word, changing the subject to “the willingness is well-received,” and that is the reading of all the contemporary critical GNT’s. However, the Peshitta, Vulgate, and Coptic versions, which date as early as the oldest Greek manuscripts support the majority, both employing a 3^rd person pronoun – a masculine pronominal suffix is in the Peshitta (the noun for “willingness,” however is masculine in Syriac, unlike in Greek, so this isn’t necessarily definitive), but a neuter standalone pronoun is in the Vulgate, supporting the indefinite relative Greek pronoun even more closely. The translation is not significantly different whether or not this pronoun was in the original, since it takes “someone” to have “the willingness,” to the two are essentially inseparable. The NIV, NET, and NLT, however, added a subject out of thin air, inserting “the gift,” which is not in any known Greek, Latin, Syriac, or Coptic manuscript.

YThere is a lacuna here in the Sahidic edition which lasts into v.14.

ZCf. 2:13 & 7:5 when it was Paul who experienced no “relief.”

AA“and” is the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts and of the Greek Orthodox and Textus Receptus editions of the Greek New Testament (GNT), but the oldest known manuscript with this reading is dated to the 6th century (although it is also a correction in the 4^th century Sinaiticus). However, there are 8 Greek manuscripts (including the oldest-known papyrus and the 4^th century Vaticanus) with no conjunction here, and that is the reading of all the contemporary critical GNT’s. The Peshitta and Vulgate, which date as early as the oldest Greek manuscripts, support the majority, inserting the Latin conjunction autem and the Syriac conjunction ܘ, and all the English versions insert a conjunction here, so it makes no difference in meaning.

ABThe e-sword edition of the Patriarchal text omits the first letter of this word, but the theta is in other editions of this same text published by the Greek Orthodox church and Maurice Robinson. My guess is that the presence of a textual variant marker somehow resulted in losing this letter in the e-sword edition.

ACThe only N. T. occurrence of this word outside of verses 13-14 here is Col. 4:1 “Masters, give your bond-servants what is just and fair…” (NKJV) In the Greek O. T. it also occurs in Job 36:29, (Ps. Of Sol. 17:41), and Zech. 4:7.

ADThe lacuna ends here in the Sahidic edition.

AE2 Corinthians 8:15 Ὁ τὸ πολύ, οὐκ ἐπλεόνασεν· καὶ ὁ τὸ ὀλίγον, οὐκ ἠλαττόνησεν.
cf. LXX Ex. 16:18 ...οὐκ ἐπλεόνασεν ὁ τὸ πολύ καὶ ὁ τὸ ἔλαττον οὐκ ἠλαττόνησεν...
Brenton’s English translation of the LXX: “And having measured the homer full, he that [gathered] much had nothing over, and he that had [gathered] less had no lack; each gathered according to the need of those who belonged to him.”
This is the only occurrence in the N. T. of this verb (“too little”), but it appears in the Greek Old Testament in several places besides Exodus 16:18 (Gen. 8:3, 5 – describing receding water levels; Exod. 30:15 – less money; 1 Ki. 11:22 - provision; 17:14 – volume of oil; and Prov. 11:24 – poverty).