The first part of this letter to the Corinthians (1:12–7:16) is concerned primarily with a defense of Paul’s apostolic authority. The second part (chs. 8–9), which deals with the collection for the church in Jerusalem, has a related issue. When Paul went with Titus to the so-called apostolic council in Jerusalem in order to present his gospel, the other apostles not only unequivocally acknowledged his gospel, his apostolic authority, and his mission to the nations, but they also added nothing to him, except that he should “remember the poor” in Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1–10; cf. Rom. 15:26). As a result, the collection for Jerusalem became one of Paul’s major objectives as an apostle over the course of the next two decades. He wanted to conclude his evangelistic work in the eastern Mediterranean area (Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia) by taking a collection among the churches that he had established there and by bringing that gift to the Jerusalem “saints,” as he called them. From there, Paul planned to advance the gospel in the western Mediterranean area, by way of Rome, as far as Spain (Rom. 15:19, 22–24, 28). In other words, the collection was to come at approximately the halfway point in Paul’s mission to the Japhethites in Asia Minor and Europe (see Introduction). Therefore, the collection was important to Paul both because it was to be a significant milestone in his mission and because it was associated with his official recognition as an apostle at the apostolic council.
The words that Paul uses to refer to the collection—“grace, gift” (8:6, 7, 19), “service” (8:4; 9:1, 12, 13), “liberal gift” (8:20), “generous gift” (9:5)—show that it is not merely a philanthropic endeavor, but rather a profound theological program. Hence, when Paul accepts the obligation to “remember the poor” (Gal. 2:10), it fits very well with his commission as apostle to the nations, for he would be fulfilling the eschatological expectation of restoring Jerusalem’s fortunes through the nations. The nations that have come to share in the Jerusalemites’ restoration (“their spiritual blessings”) ought also to be of service to them in material blessings (cf. Rom. 15:26–27). For Paul, the collection was part of the OT motif of the eschatological pilgrimage of Israel and the other nations to Jerusalem (cf. 2 Cor. 9:9–10, citing Isa. 55:10 and Hos. 10:12).
According to Isaiah 66:18–21, Yahweh will gather “all nations,” who will come and see his glory in Zion and bring an “offering to the Lord” to the “house of the Lord” in Jerusalem. This strongly religious language prompts Paul to characterize the collection for Jerusalem in similar terms. In 2 Corinthians 8–9 he draws an implicit comparison between giving to Jerusalem and the Israelites’ freewill offering for the building of the tabernacle in Exodus 25:1–9; 35:4–29; 36:3–7. Interestingly enough, the only explicit reference in Acts to the collection seems to suggest that Paul and his companions delivered the gift to the Jerusalem temple (Acts 24:17–18). Moreover, Paul was mobbed for allegedly bringing Gentiles—the very Gentiles who had helped him with the collection—into the temple (Acts 21:27–30).
Paul wanted to encourage the wealthy Corinthians to complete the collection that he had previously instructed them to begin (1 Cor. 16:1–4). During the heat of the conflict between Paul and the Corinthians the preparations for the collection had come to a standstill. One wonders whether the severe famine that afflicted all Achaia in A.D. 51 (cf. Tacitus, Annals 12.43.1; J. Wiseman) may have supplied a ready excuse for the Corinthians’ change of heart about the collection. In any case, now that the majority of the church members had repented of their attitude toward Paul (7:9–10), and the apostle could again put “complete confidence” in them (v. 16), it seemed natural that he would refocus their attention on the collection. Hence, although many scholars conclude that 2 Corinthians 8 presupposes a different situation from that in the immediately preceding section (7:5–16), there is evidence of continuity that should not be overlooked. Especially important in this regard is the continuation of the imagery of building the tabernacle and temple from Paul’s defense in 2:14–7:4 (cf. 5:1; 6:16). Paul wants the collection to be completed before his imminent third visit to Corinth, so he makes the necessary preparations to ensure that it happens.
8:1–6 In 2 Corinthians 8:1–24 Paul calls upon the Corinthians to complete the collection. He begins his appeal by holding up the poverty-stricken Macedonians as an outstanding example of sacrificial giving to the cause (vv. 1–6). Paul hopes thereby not only to explain why he sent Titus back to Corinth in order to oversee the collection, but also to encourage the wealthy Corinthians to contribute as generously as possible.
8:1 The direct address of the Corinthians as brothers marks the transition to the new subject of the collection for Jerusalem. The word charis runs like a leitmotif throughout 2 Corinthians 8–9, displaying a variety of senses (cf. 8:1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 16, 19; 9:8, 14, 15). Here it is used in the sense of the grace that God gives people so that they can abound in good works (cf. 1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 9:8). The collection was to be a work of God in the hearts of the people, just as the freewill offering for the building of the tabernacle was (see below on v. 3a). Paul refers in the text to a plurality of Macedonian churches. According to Acts, Paul’s first foothold in Europe was Macedonia (cf. D. W. J. Gill; R. Riesner). Macedonia was the province through which the Via Egnatia ran, linking the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire with Rome itself. Two of the main cities that Paul visited, Philippi and Thessalonica, were on this strategic road, and three of Paul’s letters are addressed to the churches that Paul founded in these cities. Very likely, therefore, these are the Macedonian churches to which Paul refers here.
8:2 Paul goes on to describe the grace that God gave the Macedonians. As Paul acknowledges in 1 Thessalonians, the Macedonian church at Thessalonica had suffered severely for the cause of the gospel (cf. 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14–15). The term that Paul uses for trial in 2 Corinthians 8:2 is the same one he uses elsewhere in 2 Corinthians to refer to his own physical and mental tribulations (cf. 1:8; 2:4; 4:17; 6:4; 7:4; 8:13). In the case of the Macedonians, the trials may have included financial reversal, for Paul says that they gave out of their extreme poverty. Indeed, elsewhere Paul stresses the persecution suffered by particular groups of Macedonians (cf. 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14; 3:3–4; Phil. 1:29–30). Perhaps, however, the text refers to the lot of the Macedonians as a whole, for first-century Jews were still very much aware that the Macedonians—former masters of the inhabited world—had been subjugated to the Romans, with all that that entailed (cf. Philo, On the Life of Joseph 134–136; That God is Unchangeable 173; Josephus, War 2.360, 365, 387; Ant. 15.385–387; Sib. Or. 3:161, 172, 188–190, 610; 1 Macc. 8:10). Hence, Paul may be thinking in terms of world empire when he refers to the Macedonians in general. Ultimately, however, we do not know the cause of the Macedonian poverty to which Paul refers.
Despite their abject poverty, the Macedonians gave to the collection in rich generosity. The churches of Macedonia were well known for their generosity, as the church at Philippi illustrates (cf. Phil. 4:10–19). Romans 15:26 also notes that “Macedonia” was pleased to make a contribution to the poor in Jerusalem.
8:3a Paul elaborates on the Macedonians’ sacrificial giving. Since the Macedonian churches were in all likelihood much poorer than the church at Corinth, their sacrificial giving would have been a powerful example to the Corinthians. The Macedonians gave beyond their ability. According to Exodus 25:1–9, the Lord told Moses to instruct the Israelites to take for him for a freewill offering for making the tabernacle and its equipment. According to Exodus 35:4–29, these instructions for a collection were met with an overwhelming response by the people. The people were bringing much more than enough to do the work (Exod. 36:5), so much so that Moses had to issue a restraining order (vv. 6–7). In fact, Josephus (Ant. 3.104) records that each person was ambitious to contribute “even beyond [his] ability,” vying to outdo everyone else (cf. also Ant. 3.107). This is the kind of friendly rivalry that Paul hopes to stimulate among the Corinthians and that the Macedonians had already taken up as a challenge.
8:3b–4 The description of the Macedonians’ sacrificial giving continues. Just as Exodus 25:2 and 35:5 emphasize that the collection for the tabernacle was to be given freely and from the heart, Paul emphasizes that the Macedonians’ contribution was entirely on their own (lit., “of their own free will”) and from the heart. This is important for Paul to point out, because he has evidently been accused of lording over the congregation in Corinth (cf. 2 Cor. 1:24). The Macedonians’ participation was so voluntary that they actually pleaded with Paul for the opportunity to contribute, as if Paul did not initiate the idea (but cf. v. 17) and was somehow unwilling to allow them to participate. The text makes it clear that the Macedonians begged Paul urgently (lit., “with much entreaty”), as if it took sustained pressure for them to convince Paul that they should participate. Perhaps this implies again that the Macedonians were extremely impoverished and could not really give without depriving themselves. Verse 5 makes it clear, however, that Paul did expect some contribution from the Macedonians, however small. Paul’s reluctance can perhaps be compared to that of Moses, who had to hold the Israelites back from giving too much (cf. Exod. 36:5–7).
The collection is described as service (diakonia) to the saints of Jerusalem (cf. also 9:1, 12, 13). Paul has already used the term “ministry” (diakonia) several times of himself: He has the ministry of the Spirit (3:8) and the ministry of reconciliation (5:18). Now he reveals that he has the ministry of the collection for Jerusalem. The Macedonians pleaded with Paul for the privilege of sharing with him in this ministry. In Romans 12:13 Paul exhorts his Roman addressees to “share in the needs of the saints,” probably referring again to the contribution for Jerusalem (cf. Rom. 15:26). The apostle exhorts the Romans to pray that “my service to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints” (Rom. 15:31).
It is interesting to note that the Jerusalemites are not mentioned by name in 2 Corinthians 8. Paul expects that his addressees would know that the collection is for the Jerusalemites, even though the term saints elsewhere refers to believers as a whole (e.g., 1 Cor. 6:1–2; Rom. 8:27; 12:13; 15:25). In 1 Corinthians 6:2 the term includes the Corinthians and clearly alludes to the “saints of the Most High” in Daniel 7:18, 21, 22, 25, 27. When Paul first announced to the Corinthians the collection for Jerusalem, he called it “the collection for the saints,” which he would take to Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:1–4).
8:5 Paul’s description of the Macedonians’ sacrificial giving continues. The Macedonians far exceeded the response that Paul had hoped from them. They not only donated money (and things), but they gave themselves. In this self-sacrificial giving, the Macedonians’ motivation and priorities were clear: first to the Lord and then to the Lord’s apostle (and then to us). Thus the Macedonians acknowledged not only that the collection was of the Lord, but also that Paul had an ambassadorial role (cf. 2 Cor. 5:20) in administrating it. Throughout 2 Corinthians to this point Paul is seen to have a mediatorial role. The Macedonians were submitting to Paul in response to their obedience to the Lord. As if to underscore this point, the apostle states that the Macedonians gave in keeping with God’s will (lit., “by the will of God”). Like the freewill offering for the tabernacle, the collection was seen as a project commanded by God. It is no coincidence that in both canonical letters to the Corinthians Paul emphasizes that he is an “apostle by the will of God” (1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1). Indeed, as we have seen, there is a connection between the official recognition of Paul’s God-given apostleship and the collection (cf. Gal. 2:9–10).
8:6 The apostle uses the Macedonians’ exemplary attitude and behavior toward the collection in order to spur on the Corinthians’ participation in the campaign. Titus is the one who had recently carried the tearful letter to Corinth and had brought back news to Paul of the Corinthians’ repentance. Now the same Titus was to be sent back from Macedonia to Corinth, in order to deliver the second canonical letter and to oversee the completion of the collection before Paul arrives.
8:7–15 After giving this brief historical background, explaining why he sent Titus back to Corinth to oversee the collection after seeing the example of the Macedonians (8:1–6), Paul directly exhorts the Corinthians to complete the collection they had begun under Titus during the previous year (8:7–15).
8:7 Paul exhorts the Corinthians to exceed in the matter of giving just as they have in other areas. The implication is that the Corinthians excel the Macedonians in many ways. In 1 Corinthians Paul had emphasized the richness of the Corinthians “in all things” in Christ, including all speech and knowledge (1:5). Here he adds several more items to that list, including earnestness and reconfirmed love for Paul (cf. 7:7, 11, 12). Of course, the rich possession of spiritual gifts had also led the Corinthians to a realized eschatology that evidently elevated such riches, including material wealth, in a presumptuous and self-contented way (cf. 1 Cor. 4:8–13). Perhaps it was difficult, therefore, for the Corinthians to donate to a cause with such future goals as the collection for Jerusalem. In any case, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to also excel in the grace of giving to the collection for Jerusalem. Everything that the Corinthians have is a gracious gift from God; therefore, they should give commensurately, particularly now in the matter of the collection.
8:8 Paul clarifies the nature of his exhortation to the Corinthians by stating that he wants them to respond to the collection for Jerusalem in the same way that the Macedonians did—voluntarily and from the heart. Only in this way would their gift be an expression of grace. Hence, Paul is not simply commanding them (although he has the authority to do that); he appeals to them by means of the example of others like the Macedonians, hoping to create a friendly rivalry between brothers (see above on vv. 1 and 3a). The Corinthians are thereby given an opportunity to prove the genuineness of their love for the apostle (cf. v. 7). Love, in this case, is not primarily an emotion, but rather solidarity that comes to expression in tangible deeds.
8:9 Paul supplies the christological reason (For, gar) the Corinthians should excel in the grace of giving to the collection for Jerusalem. The illustration turns on the word grace (charis), in the sense of self-sacrificial giving. The Corinthians are to abound in the grace of self-sacrificial giving to the Jerusalem saints, because Christ gave himself. As often elsewhere, Paul’s admonition is based on the example of Christ (e.g., Phil. 2:5–11; 1 Cor. 11:1; 1 Thess. 1:6). Like the Macedonians who gave themselves (2 Cor. 8:5), Christ gave himself for the sake of others. Thus the Corinthians have both the Macedonians and Christ as examples of self-sacrificial giving.
Yet what does it mean that Christ became poor? Does it mean simply that he became a human being? That might be the meaning if we compare Philippians 2:5–11. More to the point is Galatians 3:13–14: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, … so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” On the analogy of this text, that Christ “became poor” means that he came under the curse of the law on behalf of others so that, through his sacrifice, others might know the riches of the Spirit.
8:10–11 Paul goes from making an appeal to giving an opinion. As in 1 Corinthians 7:12, the apostle provides his advice to help the Corinthians in their practice of godly living. The Corinthians had already begun the collection a year earlier. In the meantime, the weekly collection for Jerusalem as directed in 1 Corinthians 16:2 had apparently come to a halt. Now that at least partial reconciliation had taken place between the Corinthians and their founding apostle, they should, in Paul’s opinion, finish the work, that is, complete the collection. This advice is in the Corinthians’ best interest, for the collection is the will of God (cf. 2 Cor. 8:5).
The apostle considers the willingness to give to be more important than the actual accomplishment of giving itself. Against the background of the freewill offering for the building of the tabernacle (see above on v. 3a), the reason for this seems clear: The attitude of the heart and the willingness of the spirit are the crucial factors in proper giving (cf. Exod. 35:21). The Corinthians have the same fervent willingness as the ancient Israelites had (cf. Josephus, Ant. 3.106). Hence, the Corinthians had already begun to take the collection with the proper motivation of the heart; now they are encouraged to carry through their original intention.
Paul stipulates that the Corinthians should complete the task according to your means (lit., “out of what you have”). Seen in light of the freewill offering for building the tabernacle, Paul’s phrase suggests not so much that the Corinthians should follow the example of the Macedonians by giving beyond their means (cf. 2 Cor. 8:3a; Sir. 14:11), but rather that they should give according to what they happen to have on hand in their possessions, as did the Israelites in Exodus 35:23–24. In other words, the Corinthians are encouraged to offer gifts in kind, which could include a variety of commodities and not necessarily just money (see above on 2 Cor. 8:2; cf. Ezra 7:22). On the analogy of Ezra’s mission, however, we might expect that the offering consisted mainly of silver and gold (cf. Ezra 7:15–16; 8:25–30, 33–34; Sib. Or. 3:290–294).
8:12 The explanation (For, gar) of Paul’s advice is that what counts is not the kind of offering but the heart of the offerer (the willingness). Giving sacrificially of one’s substance, no matter what it may be, makes the offering acceptable to God (cf. Mark 12:41–44).
8:13 Paul clarifies (gar, NIV untranslated) his position on the Corinthians’ giving to the Jerusalemites. The point is not that the Jerusalemites (others) will be relieved of their poverty while the Corinthians are afflicted. Rather, from Paul’s perspective, Jerusalem, which has suffered impoverishment at the hands of the nations (Isa. 42:22; 55:1), requires the promised influx of tribute from the nations in order to complete the restoration of Israel (cf. Isa. 45:22; 53:12; 60:3–16; 61:6–7; 66:12). Only then will there be what Paul here calls equality, that is, between Israel and the nations. Just as Israel shares in the wealth of the nations, so also the nations share in the restoration of Israel (cf. Isa. 2:2–5; 11:10; 25:6–10).
8:14 Paul elaborates on this notion of equality. He is not so much concerned here that the Corinthians’ physical needs will be covered in the future if they give toward the needs of the Jerusalemites now. Rather, the issue seems to be more related to the fact that the Corinthians, as part of the nations to which Paul directs his mission, participate in the restoration of Israel both in the present and in the future. According to Romans 15:27, “if the nations have come to share in their [sc. the Jerusalem saints’] spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material things.” This is the present aspect of equality. Ultimately, the salvation of “all Israel,” when the full number of the nations comes in, will usher in the consummation (their plenty), including the coming of the Deliverer from Zion (Rom. 11:25–26) and the resurrection of the dead (Rom. 11:15). This is the future aspect. The Corinthians’ need for the resurrection is made clear in 1 Corinthians 15:12–19.
8:15 An illustration of Paul’s point about equality is drawn from a citation of Exodus 16:18, in the story of the feeding of the wilderness generation by means of manna. Paul’s concentration on the wilderness generation continues here (see above on 8:3a). It is interesting to see that his argument to the Corinthians consists largely of an allusion to two stories from Exodus about the collecting activity of the wilderness generation: the collection for building the tabernacle (Exod. 25:1–9; 35:9–29; 36:2–7) and the daily collection of manna (Exod. 16:1–30). Each person received from God the manna he or she needed for daily subsistence—not more and not less.
8:16–24 Having exhorted the Corinthians to complete the collection that they had begun (8:7–15), Paul recommends the emissaries he will send to take it to Jerusalem (8:16–24; cf. 1 Cor. 16:3–4, where Paul’s original plan was different). In doing so, Paul takes up where he left off in verse 6, with the sending of Titus. Paul wants to send Titus back to Corinth with two companions in order to bring the collection to a fitting conclusion. Paul did not need letters of recommendation to or from the Corinthians (cf. 2 Cor. 3:1), but his coworkers did. Paul is concerned to protect against any appearance of evil in the delivery of the collection. Hence, the present section prepares the way for Paul’s emissaries to be well received in Corinth. Paul did not write the present passage after he had already sent the three emissaries; rather, he probably sent the letter along with the delegation to Corinth. The past tense verbs in verses 17, 18, and 22 are to be understood from the perspective of the recipients (so-called epistolary aorists).
8:16–17 Paul begins this section by highlighting Titus, whom Paul has asked to supervise the collection in Corinth. Titus is said to have the heart for the Corinthians as Paul does. The heart is the same criterion for Paul’s apostolic authenticity as was emphasized in 5:12. The transformed heart is a hallmark of Paul’s ministry of the Spirit. There is a concept here of mutual devotion: Just as the Corinthians have zeal for Paul (cf. 7:11–12; 8:7), so also Paul and his coworker Titus have zeal (translated here concern) for the Corinthians.
Paul made an appeal to Titus to return to Corinth for the collection, just as he evidently appealed to the Macedonians to contribute to the collection. By the same token, just as the Macedonians gave to the collection from their own free will (8:3), so also Titus is returning to Corinth on his own initiative (lit., “from his own free will”).
8:18–22 Having reinforced his selection of Titus as the leading person in the delegation to Corinth (vv. 16–17), Paul now turns to the second (vv. 18–21) and third (v. 22) members of the delegation to Corinth, both of whom remain anonymous. Perhaps their names were to be introduced by Titus when he arrived in Corinth. In any case, their official function is similar to that of the twelve priests whom Ezra entrusted with the safe and honorable transport of the freewill offering from Babylonia to the Jerusalem temple (cf. Ezra 8:24–30).
8:18 Paul describes the second emissary. The first verb (we are sending) is an epistolary aorist, that is, a verb whose action will be past by the time the addressees receive the letter. The companion of Titus is a missionary (brother) who enjoyed a good reputation in all the churches for his service in the gospel.
8:19 The second member of the team is one who was chosen by the churches to aid Paul in carrying out the collection. Paul sees the collection in a theological context. He personally commits himself to honor the Lord (lit., “for the glory of the Lord”). According to Isaiah 66:18–21, a pivotal passage for understanding Paul’s mission to the nations, those who organize the ingathering of the nations to Zion and the offering of the nations for the Lord, declare the “glory” of the Lord among the nations (v. 19).
8:20–21 Paul handles a possible misinterpretation of the collection. Paul has already been accused of embezzlement (cf. 12:16ff.), a charge that he addresses in a preliminary way in 2:17. In order to prevent any criticism about his handling of this gift, Paul avoids making the delivery himself. Instead, he has commissioned representatives of the participating churches to deliver the collection. The analogy to Ezra’s procedure is obvious (Ezra 8:24–30).
The collection is referred to as a liberal gift, literally “abundance.” This is certainly an apt description of the collection if Paul has in mind the freewill offering for building the tabernacle in Exodus.
8:22 Paul follows with a description of the third member of the delegation. Like Paul and Titus, this man (our brother) is also zealous (cf. 8:16, 17). Paul recommends the third man as someone whom he knows well and who has proved himself to the apostle through repeated experience.
8:23 Paul summarizes his recommendation of the three emissaries to Corinth. Titus has been a companion of Paul at least since the apostolic council (Gal. 2:1). He had helped Paul in the conflict with the Corinthians. The two brothers are representatives of the churches (lit., “apostles of the churches” [cf. Phil. 2:25, where Epaphroditus is described as “your apostle and a minister to my need”]). This use of the term apostolos can be compared to the Jewish use of the term of one who is commissioned for a particular mission. Both of these representatives are described as a “glory” (here translated honor) to Christ. The impression given by verse 23 is that the two brothers had been appointed by the churches to assist Paul in the collection. At Paul’s insistence, they were there to ensure that Paul would not falsely be accused of embezzlement (vv. 20–21).
8:24 Paul draws his recommendation of the three emissaries to a conclusion (Therefore, oun), emphasizing the Corinthians’ responsibility in view of all the churches. Paul boasted to the Macedonian churches about the Corinthians (7:14; 9:3) and presumably to others as well (cf. 7:4). For this reason, the Corinthians should receive Paul’s emissaries in love and support them. In this way, the Corinthians preserve the brotherly fellowship in the love of Christ and, at the same time, they substantiate Paul’s boast about them to the other churches. If the Corinthians fail to cooperate, then Paul will lose face.
9:1–15 Having exhorted the Corinthians to complete the collection (8:1–24), Paul now generalizes his remarks about the collection to apply to Achaia as a whole but still including the Corinthians. This makes sense insofar as 2 Corinthians was obviously designed as a circular letter, addressed “to the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia” (1:1). While most of the letter has focused on Paul’s relationship with the Corinthians in particular, Paul broadens his scope to include also the recipients of the letter in the rest of the Roman province. The presence of chapter 9 in 2 Corinthians may well explain why Paul addressed the letter more generally in the first place. The collection to be taken when he comes for the third time to Corinth would include not just the capital of Achaia but the province as a whole.
9:1–5 The apostle now turns to Achaia as a whole and recommends the brothers mentioned in 8:18, 22–23.
9:1 Paul wants to give a warrant and explanation for his exhortation to accept the three delegates who are coming to Corinth and to be ready to make the contribution to the saints. The NIV unfortunately leaves untranslated the word “for” (gar), which links 9:1 to 8:24. As in 1 Thessalonians 4:9 and 5:1, Paul tells his addressees that they do not really need his exhortations on a particular topic and then he goes on to remind, reinforce, and clarify what they already know. The apostle has already mentioned the service to the saints (8:4).
9:2 The reason that Paul does not need to write to the Corinthians about the collection is given in verse 2. Paul does not need to exhort the Corinthians about the collection because he already knows their eagerness to participate from a year earlier (cf. 8:10–11). This time, however, he includes Achaia among those who were eager to contribute. Corinth was the chief city (and capital) of Achaia. Taken together, therefore, verses 1 and 2 express Paul’s confidence in the willingness of the Corinthians to contribute.
Paul states that his boasting about the Achaian’s eagerness to contribute to the collection has encouraged the Macedonians to contribute all the more. In this way, Paul hopes to provide another reason that the Achaians (including the Corinthians) should finish their own collection. The logic, however, is somewhat circular: the Corinthians should give because the poor Macedonians are giving so enthusiastically (8:1–5); yet the Macedonians are giving because the Achaians (Corinthians) are giving so enthusiastically (9:2). Therefore, the Corinthians should give both because of the example of the Macedonians to them and because of their example to the Macedonians. In reality, Achaia has not been ready since the previous year, as the Corinthian church dramatically illustrates. Therefore, Paul’s boast to the Macedonians about the Achaians seems to stretch the truth. The weak link in Paul’s logic and boasting is, of course, the Corinthian church, since eagerness of that church had flagged during the recent conflict, and the collection had certainly not been completed. The whole point of 2 Corinthians 8 is that the Corinthians should now complete the collection and accept the envoys who will deliver it to its destination.
The zeal of the Achaians (Corinthians) is said to have stirred most of the Macedonians to action. The verb suggests that the Macedonians were encouraged to emulate the example of the Achaians (cf. above on 8:3a).
9:3 Very likely realizing that his boasting to the Macedonians about the Achaians stretched the truth, Paul wants to ensure that the Achaians (including the Corinthians) are ready as he has boasted they would be. The simplest hypothesis is that the brothers to whom Paul refers here are none other than the ones he has already mentioned in 8:18, 22–23. In both cases, the brothers are being sent by Paul to Corinth and Achaia in order to oversee the collection before he arrives. Paul’s word is on the line, and he wants to present himself as a man of sincerity and integrity (cf. 2:17). The apostle has already acknowledged that the Corinthians are ready to give (cf. 8:11); now they need to be ready with the actual offering.
9:4 Paul’s goal in sending the advance party to Achaia is that neither he nor the Corinthians will suffer embarrassment. When Paul comes to Achaia on his way to Corinth for the third time, he evidently plans to be accompanied by Macedonians, i.e., further representatives from the Macedonian churches (cf. Acts 17:14–15; 20:4). Paul would be put to shame if these Macedonians were to discover that the apostle’s boasts about the Achaians and Corinthians were unfounded. In that case, Paul’s apostleship would be further discredited, not only in the eyes of the Corinthians and the Macedonians, but eventually even before the Jerusalemites. The whole collection enterprise threatens to unravel if the Corinthians do not cooperate.
Just as Paul boasted to Titus about the Corinthians before sending him to Corinth with the tearful letter, and Paul was not embarrassed by the Corinthians at the outcome (7:14), so also now Paul is hoping that the boasting that he had made to the Macedonians about the Achaians will turn out well.
9:5 The section (vv. 1–5) concludes with an explanation of why Paul is sending the brothers to Achaia before his own coming. Paul wants the Achaians’ gift to come from the heart in advance of his third visit to Corinth, not to be wrung out of them after he arrives. The Achaians’ contribution to the collection is to be a generous gift and not “stinginess.” Again, the freewill offering for the building of the tabernacle in Exodus provides a good model of such giving. The Achaians were capable of a substantial gift, so Paul does not hesitate to take steps to ensure that it is collected.
9:6–15 In this section, Paul speaks of the blessing that results from cheerful giving as another reason for the Corinthians to participate in the collection.
9:6 The argument begins in verse 6 with the concept of metaphorically reaping what is sown, which is part of the common stock of OT and Jewish wisdom tradition (cf. Prov. 22:8; Job 4:8; Sir. 7:3; Philo, On the Confusion of Tongues 21, 152; On the Change of Names 268–269; On Dreams 2.76; On the Embassy to Gaius 293). The prophetic tradition challenges the direct relationship between reaping and sowing by announcing that there can be an inverse relationship: those who sow wheat can reap thorns (Jer. 12:13), and those who sow in tears can reap with shouts of joy (Ps. 125:5). Paul partakes of the wisdom tradition when he states in Galatians 6:7–8: “A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Likewise in the present context, Paul applies the wisdom principle to the matter of giving generously to the collection for Jerusalem (cf. Prov. 11:24).
9:7 With this principle in mind, Paul exhorts the Achaians to give. Paul does not want to imply that the wisdom tradition that he uses in verse 6 reflects a merely mechanical process of sowing and reaping. He wants to emphasize that the wisdom tradition itself regards giving as a matter of the heart, and only cheerful giving is acceptable (cf. Sir. 35:8–9). As we have seen, the freewill offering for building the tabernacle is a prime example of giving that one decides in the heart (cf. Exod. 25:2; 35:5, 21, 22, 26, 29). Likewise, 1 Chronicles 29:16–22 speaks of a freewill offering for the temple that is given freely and joyously. Someone who gives grudgingly cannot expect a blessing from God in accordance with the wisdom principle. To establish this point, Paul gives a modified citation of Proverbs 22:8 LXX: “God blesses a cheerful and generous man.” In the previous line, this same proverb states that “he who sows wickedness shall reap evils.”
9:8 Paul relieves the Achaians’ anxiety about giving liberally by pointing to God and his resources. God so meets needs according to his abundant riches (cf. Phil. 4:19)—note the repeated use of the world “all”—that the recipients have enough left over to help others. Paul is further developing a theme that he started in 8:15 (citing Exod. 16:18), i.e., that everyone should have no more and no less than is required. The term that Paul uses here is all that you need (lit., “sufficiency”). This is by no means a purely Stoic concept. According to Pss. Sol. 5:16–17 (cf. Prov. 30:8; 16:8), “Happy is (the person) whom God remembers with a moderation of sufficiency, for if one is excessively rich, he sins. Moderate (wealth) is adequate—with righteousness; for with this comes the Lord’s blessing: to be (more than) satisfied with righteousness” (OTP). According to this principle of moderation, the wealthy Corinthians might be in danger of overstepping the bounds of what is rightfully theirs to keep if they did not give generously to the collection.
9:9–10 Paul substantiates his statement in verse 8 by means of two OT citations, while maintaining the imagery of sowing and reaping (v. 6). In verse 9, he substantiates his point by means of a citation from Psalm 111:9 LXX: “As it is written: ‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ ” A wisdom psalm that contrasts the fate of the righteous and the wicked, Psalm 112 emphasizes particularly the rewards of the righteous (vv. 1–9). The Psalm links the divine provision of riches (v. 3) with the righteous person’s responsibility to give to the poor (v. 4). Paul has already shown that there are really only two different kinds of people—the righteous and the wicked (cf. 6:14–16). Therefore, from a scriptural perspective, the works corresponding to righteousness clearly include giving to the poor.
In verse 10, Paul substantiates the other point that he makes in verse 8—that God is able to make all grace abound to the Achaians, so that they can in turn give. Here, again, the apostle uses an OT citation. Although there is no introductory formula to mark the citation as such, it is possible to tell from the distinctive style of the statement that Paul is citing Isaiah 55:10 (cf. D.-A. Koch). Isaiah 55:1–13 is a hymn of joy and triumph that celebrates the approaching consummation of Israel’s restoration. God’s promise about Israel’s restoration will be fulfilled as surely as the rain from heaven that falls upon the earth causes germination and ultimately provides seed to the sower and bread to the eater (vv. 10–11). More than any other statement in 2 Corinthians 8–9, this citation of Isaiah 55:10 shows that Paul’s concept of the collection is determined by the OT expectation of Israel’s restoration and the eschatological pilgrimage of the nations. Isaiah 55 offers the impoverished Israelites the hope of restored fortunes (vv. 1–2) and expects that the nations will come to the glorified Israel (vv. 4–5). Therefore, when Paul substantiates his claim that God is able to make all grace abound to the Achaians on the basis of Isaiah 55:10, he in effect sees them as involved in fulfilling the promise to restore Israel’s fortunes (see above on 2 Cor. 8:14).
The text also alludes to Hosea 10:12 LXX: “Sow for yourselves in righteousness, … seek the Lord until the fruits of righteousness come to you.” Here, again, the restoration of Israel is in view. Paul evidently interprets the “fruits of righteousness” as the Achaians’ wholehearted participation in the collection for Jerusalem, which contributes toward Israel’s restoration.
9:11 Paul goes on to restate his assertion in verse 8 (cf. the similar redundant use of the word “all”) that God’s grace to the Corinthians should issue in a generous gift to Jerusalem. However, Paul goes beyond what he has previously said by emphasizing that the Achaians’ gift will effect thanksgiving to God (the goal of Paul’s entire missionary endeavor, cf. 4:15). Indeed, the doxological purpose of history is realized in the eschatological praise of God by all nations in Zion (cf. Rom. 15:9–11).
This thanksgiving to God is the result of a partnership and mutuality between Paul and the Corinthians, which the apostle had stressed repeatedly in the earlier chapters of the letter (cf. 1:1–2, 3–11, 14, 24; 2:2; 3:18; 6:11–13; 7:2; 8:16–17). Moreover, we observe here that Paul’s mediatorial role (through us) extends even to the doxological outcome of the collection.
9:12–15 Paul elaborates on the theme of “thanksgiving” in verse 11 and appropriately concludes with a thanksgiving of his own. In verse 12, Paul goes back to the principle established in 8:14–15, that the Corinthians should supply the needs of the Jerusalemites (cf. 8:4).
In verse 13, Paul anticipates the praise to God that will issue from the Jerusalemites who receive the collection. According to Acts, when Paul arrived in Jerusalem (with the collection), he declared to the leaders of the Jerusalem church what God had done among the nations through his “ministry” or service, a word that Paul himself uses of the collection (Acts 21:19; cf. 2 Cor. 8:4; 9:1, 12, 13; Rom. 15:31). Then, Luke states, “Those who heard it praised God” (Acts 21:20).
As verse 14 goes on to state, the Jerusalem saints are bound together with the Achaians. The grace of God recalls the beginning of Paul’s discussion of the collection, where he refers to “the grace of God given to the Macedonian churches” (8:1), thus providing closure for these two chapters. Ultimately, God is the one responsible for the tremendous outpouring of love and wealth for Jerusalem, and so the praise belongs to him. The Jerusalemites, for their part, reciprocate the love that is shown to them. Thus the gift of God produces a gift for Jerusalem, which, in turn, binds together in love the church that is formed of both Jews and Gentiles.
Finally, in verse 15, Paul concludes his discussion of the collection and its doxological purpose with a doxology: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” The gift of God is the gift that sets all the others in motion. Here Paul is probably alluding to Christ (cf. 8:9), the supreme example of self-sacrificial giving, to motivate the Corinthians to give generously.
Additional Notes
8:1–9:15 If the collection had simply been a matter of relief for an acute situation (cf. Acts 11:27–30), Paul would not have taken so many years to complete the collection. Numerous texts show that the expectation of Isa. 66:20, that the nations would bring gifts to Jerusalem in connection with the restoration of Israel, was kept alive in the Second Temple period (cf. 4QDibHam frag. 1–2 iv 4–12; Pss. Sol. 17:31; Tob. 13:1–17; Sib. Or. 3:772–775; Hekhalot Rabbati [Schäfer, 144]; Song Rab. 4:19 [citing Isa. 66:20]).
According to Isa. 61:1–2, another text on the restoration mission to Zion, which Jesus incidently applies to himself (cf. Luke 7:22//Matt. 11:5) and which a Qumran text apparently interprets messianically (11QMelch), the Spirit-endowed anointed one is sent to bring the good news to the oppressed “poor” that the Lord is bringing liberation to the exiles (cf. also 4Q521). The Qumran community is called “the congregation of the poor (ʾebyōnîm)” (4QpPs37 3.10; cf. also 1QpHab 12.3; 1QH 5.22; 4Q434, 436), and an early Christian sect of observant Jews called the Ebionites (from the Hebrew ʾebyōnîm, “the poor”) continued to use the appellation of themselves well into the third century.
Paul’s collection for Jerusalem also echoes Ezra’s freewill offering for the second temple (Ezra 7:1–8:34), an offering to be donated not only by the Jews themselves but also King Artaxerxes, his counselors, and the whole province of Babylonia (Ezra 7:15–23). Ezra entrusted the enormous offering to twelve of the leading priests for safe transport back to the Temple (Ezra 8:24–30), and apparently had nothing to do with the offering en route, perhaps in order to avoid even the appearance of evil.
On Paul’s collection for Jerusalem, see Jouette M. Bassler, “Perspectives from Paul, 1: Money and Mission, 2: The Great Collection,” in God and Mammon: Asking for Money in the New Testament (Nashville: Abingdon, 1991), pp. 63–115; Dieter Georgi, Remembering the Poor: The History of Paul’s Collection for Jerusalem (Nashville: Abingdon, 1992); S. McKnight, “Collection for the Saints,” DPL, pp. 143–47.
Corinth had the reputation of being very wealthy because of its location at the great crossroads of the ancient world (cf. Strabo, Geography 8.6.20) and its importance as a commercial and financial center. The most common adjective applied to Corinth was “wealthy” (cf., e.g., Strabo, Geography 8.6.20–23; Dio Chrysostom, Orations 37.36); even the former Greek city was commonly referred to as “wealthy Corinth” (cf., e.g., Homer, Iliad 2.570; Pindar, Eulogies 122; Aelius Aristides, Orations 46.22; J. B. Salmon, Wealthy Corinth: A History of the City to 338 B.C. [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984]; Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archaeology [Good News Studies 6; Wilmington, Del.: Glazier, 1983]).
Cf. Stanley K. Stowers, “Peri men gar and the Integrity of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9,” NovT 32 (1990), pp. 340–48.
On Isa. 66:18–21 as foundational to Paul’s missionary strategy, see James M. Scott, Paul and the Nations: The Old Testament and Jewish Background of Paul’s Mission to the Nations with Special Reference to the Destination of Galatians (WUNT 84; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995).
On the eschatological pilgrimage of the nations to Zion, see further Isa. 2:2–4; 55:5; 56:6–8; 60:5–7; Mic. 4:2; Pss. Sol. 17:30–35; T. Zeb. 9:8; T. Ben. 9:2; 2 Bar. 68:5; and particularly, 4QDibHam 4.4–12.
It seems possible that 2 Cor. 8–9 also has in mind Ps. 72, a prayer for God’s blessing on the Davidic king. The psalm makes reference to the “poor” of his people, whom the king will deliver during his universal reign (vv. 2, 4, 12). Cf. Sib. Or. 5:414–419; Apoc. Ab. 31:6–10; 2 Bar. 72:2–6.
Cf. S. Talmon, “The Concepts of Mashîah and Messianism in Early Judaism,” in The Messiah: Developments in Earliest Judaism and Christianity (ed. James H. Charlesworth; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992), pp. 79–115 (esp. pp. 107–8).
Cf. James Wiseman, “Corinth and Rome I: 228 B.C.–A.D. 267,” ANRW 17.1, p. 505. Wiseman notes there is some evidence that other famines may also have affected Corinth during the reign of Claudius (cf. Seutonius, Claudius 18.2).
8:1 For a similar use of the direct address of the Corinthians as brothers in order to mark the transition to a new subject see 2 Cor. 1:8; 13:11.
On Macedonia, see David W. J. Gill, “Macedonia,” in The Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting, Vol. 2: The Book of Acts in Its Graeco-Roman Setting (ed. David W. J. Gill and Conrad Gempf; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), pp. 397–417; Rainer Riesner, Die Frühzeit des Apostels Paulus. Studien zur Chronologie, Missionsstrategie und Theologie (WUNT 71; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1994).
8:2 In A.D. 51, a severe famine was felt throughout Greece. Perhaps it affected Macedonia as well.
8:3a The expression beyond ability (para dynamin) is used elsewhere of levying tribute that was beyond the people’s ability to pay (Josephus, War 1.219) and of contributing to the repair of a war-torn city (Ant. 14.378).
8:9 According to texts like Deut. 28:15–68 and 29:20–29, poverty would be one of the curses that would come upon the people if they forsook the covenant. Hence, Isaiah 40–66 uses the notion of the “oppressed poor” as a technical term to refer to the sufferings of the exiles in Babylon. The entire nation has endured divine judgment, and, through its captivity in Babylon, Israel as a whole has become “poor.”
8:13 Paul’s use of the term equality might lead us to think of a community of goods. Josephus, for example, knows that the Essenes had community of goods, so that there was equality among them (War 2.122). According to the book of Acts, the earliest church in Jerusalem practiced a similar community of goods (cf. Acts 2:44–45; 4:32–5:11).
8:15 On the citation of Exod. 16:18 here, see Dietrich-Alex Koch, Die Schrift als Zeuge des Evangeliums Untersuchungen zur Verwendung und zum Verständnis der Schrift bei Paulus (BHT 69; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1986), pp. 258–60; Hays, Echoes of Scripture, pp. 88–91.
On the Jewish expectation of a second, eschatological miracle of manna, see 2 Bar. 29:8; Qoh. Rabbah 1:9; Sib. Or. fr. 3:46–49; Rev. 2:17. Paul’s point here could be that the Corinthians are participants in these eschatological events.
8:16 C. F. D. Moule describes the “epistolary aorist” as an “idiom … whereby the writer courteously projects himself in imagination into the position of the reader, for whom actions contemporaneous with the time of writing will be past” (An Idiom-Book of New Testament Greek [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968], p. 12). Whether or not Paul uses the epistolary aorist in 2 Cor. 8, 9 and 12 depends on whether one views the letter as an original unity or as a composite of several letter fragments. Cf. K. L. McKay, “Observations on the Epistolary Aorist in 2 Corinthians,” NovT 37 (1995), pp. 154–58.
8:20–21 We may note that the temple tax was often delivered to Jerusalem in the company of multiple representatives of the sending Diaspora communities, although more for the purpose of protection and security than for preventing embezzlement.
8:23 On the use of representatives (apostolos, šālîaḥ) for emissaries of the Jewish leadership, see C. Spicq, TLNT, vol. 1, pp. 186–94; P. W. Barnett, “Apostle,” DPL, pp. 45–51.
9:1 Literary-critical questions abound in 2 Cor. 8–9. In particular, ch. 9 is often taken as a document independent from ch. 8 (and from the rest of 2 Cor. for that matter). Cf. Hans Dieter Betz, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9: A Commentary on Two Administrative Letters of the Apostle Paul (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985). For an answer to Betz’s hypothesis, cf. Stowers, “Integrity of 2 Cor. 8 and 9,” pp. 340–48.
9:6 For another use of wisdom tradition in 2 Corinthians, see the antithetical questions in 6:14–16.
Gal. 6:6–10 is sometimes seen as an allusion to the collection (cf. L. W. Hurtado, “The Jerusalem Collection and the Book of Galatians,” JSNT 5 [1979], pp. 46–62).
9:8 Philo makes the same contrast between “sufficient” and “excess” (cf. On Dreams 2.47; On the Life of Joseph 111).
See Lev. Rab. 34:16, where Ps. 112:9 is used with Isa. 58:12 to suggest the means by which God will restore Israel.
9:10 Cf. Koch, Die Schrift als Zeuge, pp. 14, 23.
