Exhorting Before the Bounty 2 Corinthians 9:5

Paul the apostle challenged church members in Corinth, “if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared” and he continued by writing, “we (that we say not, you) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.” In chapter nine and verse five of Second Corinthians, Paul tells the church members how it is, “necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty,” where we read:

Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof you had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.

The verse begins, “Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, ...” Paul began with the word, “therefore” which means “then, accordingly, consequently and these things being so” “I thought” which means “Paul considered, deemed and accounted” “it necessary” which refers to “needful, what one cannot do without, indispensable and what ought according to the law of duty be done” “to exhort” or “to call to one's side, summon, admonish, entreat and instruct” “the brethren” which refers to “fellow believers who are united to another by the bond of affection ”, “that they would go before” which means “that the brethren sent would precede in advance” “unto you” or “to the church members”. Paul knew it was “needful” to “admonish” the “brethren” who would visit the Corinthian church.

The verse goes on to say, “and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof you had notice before, that the same might be ready,...” Paul continued with the words, “and make up beforehand” or “prepare in advance” “your bounty” or “the church members' praise, lauding, panegyric, fine discourse and polished language”, “whereof you had notice before” which means “the church members received an announcement beforehand and were pre-announced in the sense of to promise”, “that the same” or “the like and selfsame” “might be ready” which means “should be prepared”. The 'brethren” who were sent by Paul would “prepare” in advance the “praise and lauding” of the church members so they would be “ready” for their visit.

Finally the verse says, “...as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.” Paul ended the verse with, “as a matter of bounty” which means “a happening of praise, laudation, panegyric, fine discourse and polished language”, “and not as of covetousness” which means “and not greedy desires to have more or avarice”. Paul did not desire the “gift” for the “gift's sake”, but rather as a point of “boasting” concerning the church.

When we meditate upon these words of Paul, we see how he cared not only for the gifts the church in Corinth were giving, but also that they were “prepared” to offer those gifts. There was no need to be ashamed of being “unprepared”, and he therefore sent “forerunners” to be sure they were ready to give. This type of care for church members should be prevalent throughout Jesus believers, and should there be the possibility of one group being “embarrassed” or “ashamed”, let us send word in advance that they might be prepared to share their “bounty”.

Next time Paul shares why he, “he that sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then,

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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