Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

2 Corinthians 9:5

ἀναγκαῖον οὖν ἡγησάμην κ. τ. λ.: therefore, sc., because of the reason in 2 Corinthians 9:4, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren (inasmuch as two of these “brethren” were not chosen by St. Paul, but were the delegates of the contributing Churches, the rendering “entreat” of the R.V. conveys well the meaning of παρακαλέσαι; but see on 2 Corinthians 8:6) that they should go beforehand unto you, sc., before the Apostle should himself arrive at Corinth, and make up beforehand your bounty which was promised beforehand, sc., to the Macedonians. “Bis dat qui cito dat” is what he would impress upon the Corinthian Christians. εὐλογία, elsewhere used in the N.T. as = “blessing” (e.g., Romans 15:29; 1 Corinthians 10:16; Galatians 3:14), is here = “gift,” a meaning which as the rendering of בְּרָכָה it frequently has in the LXX (Genesis 33:11, etc.). “Originally the blending of the two ideas arose from the fact that every blessing or praise of God or man was in the East (as still to a great extent) accompanied by a gift” (Stanley). cf. the similar ambiguity in the word χάρις. ταύτην ἑτοίμην εἶναι κ. τ. λ.: that (we must supply ὥστε as at Colossians 4:6) the same might be ready as a bounty (οὕτως ὡς marks the exact mode in which the thank-offering is desired; cf. 1 Corinthians 3:15; 1 Corinthians 4:1; 1 Corinthians 9:26), and not as an extortion, sc., a matter of covetous grasping on my part (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:17). The A.V. rendering of πλεονεξίαν = “covetousness,” seems to mean “niggardliness, such as a covetous man would exhibit,” and this would fall in well with the verses which follow; but it is not agreeable to the general meaning of the word or to St. Paul's usage elsewhere (see reff.).

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Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

2 Corinthians 9:5

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