independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
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Superfluous to write — yet the brothers go ahead 9:1–5
vv. 1–2 — superfluous to write: the boast already made
1
Περὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς διακονίας τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους περισσόν μοί ἐστιν τὸ γράφειν ὑμῖν,independent — the tactful concession — μέν anticipating the δέ of v. 3
2
οἶδα γὰρ τὴν προθυμίαν ὑμῶνcause — γάρ — why writing is needless: their eagerness a settled fact (οἶδα)
ἣν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καυχῶμαι Μακεδόσιν,relative — on προθυμίαν — the boast Paul keeps making northward
ὅτι Ἀχαΐα παρεσκεύασται ἀπὸ πέρυσι,content — the boast's content — the perfect claims a standing readiness
καὶ τὸ ὑμῶν ζῆλος ἠρέθισεν τοὺς πλείονας.cause — the ground continued — provocation running both ways (cf. 8:1–5)
vv. 3–5 — yet the brothers sent: the boast protected
3
ἔπεμψα δὲ τοὺς ἀδελφούς,independent — the δέ answering v. 1's μέν — epistolary aorist; the delegation of 8:16–24
ἵνα μὴ τὸ καύχημα ἡμῶν τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν κενωθῇ ἐν τῷ μέρει τούτῳ,purpose — the negative purpose — κενόω: a boast shown hollow
ἵνα καθὼς ἔλεγον παρεσκευασμένοι ἦτε,purpose — the positive counterpart — periphrastic perfect subjunctive; καθὼς ἔλεγον embedded
4
μή πως ἐὰν ἔλθωσιν σὺν ἐμοὶ Μακεδόνεςconditional — protasis — leans on the fear clause below; μή πως fronted from it
καὶ εὕρωσιν ὑμᾶς ἀπαρασκευάστουςconditional — protasis coordinate — ἀπαρασκευάστους, a hapax negating vv. 2–3's 'prepared'
καταισχυνθῶμεν ἡμεῖς,purpose — μή πως — the dreaded outcome the sending forestalls
ἵνα μὴ λέγωμεν ὑμεῖς,phrase modifier — parenthetical aposiopesis — the readers' greater stake, tactfully veiled
ἐν τῇ ὑποστάσει ταύτῃ.phrase modifier — ὑπόστασις — the firm ground of the boast (cf. 11:17)
5
ἀναγκαῖον οὖν ἡγησάμην παρακαλέσαι τοὺς ἀδελφοὺςindependent — οὖν — the practical resolution; παρακαλέσαι complements ἡγησάμην
ἵνα προέλθωσιν εἰς ὑμᾶςcontent — ἵνα of content after παρακαλέω — the first προ-: arriving before Paul
καὶ προκαταρτίσωσιν τὴν προεπηγγελμένην εὐλογίαν ὑμῶν,content — coordinate content — προκαταρτίζω a NT hapax; the προ- cluster stresses advance arrangement
ταύτην ἑτοίμην εἶναι οὕτως ὡς εὐλογίαν καὶ μὴ ὡς πλεονεξίαν.purpose — epexegetic result infinitive — εὐλογία vs. πλεονεξία: bounty, not extortion
The sowing principle — God loves a cheerful giver 9:6–11
vv. 6–7 — the sowing law and the cheerful giver
6
Τοῦτο δέ·independent — elliptical heading — 'this [I say]'; the maxim announced
ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει,independent — the aphorism, first limb — the adverb doubled: sowing and reaping in strict proportion
καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπ' εὐλογίαις ἐπ' εὐλογίαις καὶ θερίσει.independent — second limb — ἐπ' εὐλογίαις, 'with blessings'; cf. Prov 11:24
7
ἕκαστος καθὼς προῄρηται τῇ καρδίᾳ,independent — the giving verb elided — 'let each give'; προῄρηται a settled resolve (NT hapax)
μὴ ἐκ λύπης ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης·phrase modifier — the rejected sources — regret and coercion
ἱλαρὸν γὰρ δότην ἀγαπᾷ ὁ θεός.cause — Prov 22:8 LXX — the warrant: ἱλαρότης against λύπη
vv. 8–11 — God supplies the seed: enriched to give
8
δυνατεῖ δὲ ὁ θεὸς πᾶσαν χάριν περισσεῦσαι εἰς ὑμᾶς,independent — from duty to divine supply — περισσεύω transitive: grace made to overflow
ἵνα ἐν παντὶ πάντοτε πᾶσαν αὐτάρκειαν ἔχοντες περισσεύητε εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθόν,purpose — the fivefold πᾶς — αὐτάρκεια, the Stoic ideal regrounded in God
9
καθὼς γέγραπται·comparative — the citation formula — one word carries the psalm
ἐσκόρπισεν, ἔδωκεν τοῖς πένησιν,content — Ps 112:9 (LXX 111:9) — broadcast giving, rejoining the sowing of v. 6
ἡ δικαιοσύνη αὐτοῦ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.content — Ps 112:9 — the benefactor's righteousness abides
10
ὁ δὲ ἐπιχορηγῶν σπόρον τῷ σπείροντι καὶ ἄρτον εἰς βρῶσιν χορηγήσειindependent — Isa 55:10 echo — the Provider named by what he provides; the first of three futures
καὶ πληθυνεῖ τὸν σπόρον ὑμῶνindependent — coordinate future — the means to give enlarged
καὶ αὐξήσει τὰ γενήματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης ὑμῶν·independent — coordinate future — Hos 10:12 LXX language; δικαιοσύνη again as benevolence (v. 9)
11
ἐν παντὶ πλουτιζόμενοι εἰς πᾶσαν ἁπλότητα,participial — anacoluthic nominative — loosely on the 'you' of v. 10; enriched in order to give
ἥτις κατεργάζεται δι' ἡμῶν εὐχαριστίαν τῷ θεῷ·relative — ἥτις qualitative — the hinge to the thanksgiving movement (vv. 12–15)
The overflow of thanksgiving 9:12–15
vv. 12–14 — the gift returns as thanksgiving and longing
12
ὅτι ἡ διακονία τῆς λειτουργίας ταύτης οὐ μόνον ἐστὶν προσαναπληροῦσα τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν ἁγίων,cause — ὅτι grounding v. 11's εὐχαριστίαν across the seam — λειτουργία casts the collection as priestly service
ἀλλὰ καὶ περισσεύουσα διὰ πολλῶν εὐχαριστιῶν τῷ θεῷ.cause — second limb — ἐστίν carried over; the godward surplus outranks the material supply
13
διὰ τῆς δοκιμῆς τῆς διακονίας ταύτης δοξάζοντες τὸν θεὸνparticipial — loose nominative — the subject shifts to the Jerusalem recipients; the gift as δοκιμή, an assay
ἐπὶ τῇ ὑποταγῇ τῆς ὁμολογίας ὑμῶν εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦphrase modifier — ἐπί + dative — first ground: confession verified by obedience
καὶ ἁπλότητι τῆς κοινωνίας εἰς αὐτοὺς καὶ εἰς πάντας,phrase modifier — second ground — κοινωνία enacted, catholic in reach (εἰς πάντας)
14
καὶ αὐτῶν δεήσει ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐπιποθούντων ὑμᾶςparticipial — genitive absolute — the recipients' intercession and yearning for their benefactors
διὰ τὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐφ' ὑμῖν.phrase modifier — the cause traced past the givers — grace recognized as the gift's true source
v. 15 — the doxology
15
Χάρις τῷ θεῷ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀνεκδιηγήτῳ αὐτοῦ δωρεᾷ.independent — asyndetic doxology — ἀνεκδιήγητος a hapax; χάρις returns as the last word, grace become thanks
Analysis. 2 Corinthians 9 lays out as three short cascades, each anchored by flush-left purple. In vv. 1–5 the main verbs are all Paul's own acts of tact and logistics — περισσόν ἐστιν, ἔπεμψα, ἡγησάμην — with the μέν of v. 1 answered by the δέ of v. 3: writing is 'superfluous,' yet the brothers go ahead anyway. Under ἔπεμψα hang the twin ἵνα clauses and the μή-πως fear clause of v. 4, whose double ἐὰν protasis leans forward, anchorless, on the apodosis καταισχυνθῶμεν ἡμεῖς, and whose parenthetical ἵνα μὴ λέγωμεν ὑμεῖς is dashed as the aposiopesis it is; v. 5's προ- cluster (προέλθωσιν, προκαταρτίσωσιν, προεπηγγελμένην) builds advance arrangement into the very words. Verses 6–11 turn gnomic: the sowing aphorism sits as two flush-left limbs; v. 7's rule is verbless (the giving verb supplied), grounded through its rejected sources in the near-quotation of Prov 22:8 LXX; God's enablement (v. 8) carries the fivefold-πᾶς ἵνα clause, is confirmed by Ps 112:9 hanging as a two-line catena under the single word γέγραπται, and issues in the Isa 55:10-echoing triple future of v. 10 and the anacoluthic πλουτιζόμενοι of v. 11 — read here with the ὑμῶν of v. 10. Verses 12–15 trace the gift's return journey: the ὅτι of v. 12 is set flush left at the section head, though it reaches back to ground v. 11's εὐχαριστίαν — a deliberate seam, honestly marked; from its οὐ μόνον … ἀλλὰ καί pair descend δοξάζοντες and the genitive absolute of v. 14, and the layout takes the glorifiers and yearners to be the Jerusalem recipients, not the Corinthians, before the verbless doxology of v. 15 closes flush left. Other choices named: the ἵνα clauses of v. 5 are read as the content of παρακαλέσαι rather than pure purpose; ταύτην ἑτοίμην εἶναι as an epexegetic result infinitive; ἁπλότης rendered 'generosity' (vv. 11, 13); and χάρις in v. 15 heard as the chapter's keyword returning as its last word — grace become thanks.