2 Corinthians 8:22Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

“We have sent with them also our brother” (v. 22). Behold, he adds yet another, and this one too with praise and approval, both his own and that of many other witnesses.

“Whose diligence we have often tested in many things,” he says, “and who is now still more diligent because of his great confidence in you.”

Having praised him for his own merits, he also praises him for his love toward them. What he said of Titus, that “being very diligent, he went to you of his own accord,” he says also of this man: “who is now still more diligent,” that is, after Paul had sown in them the seeds of love for the Corinthians.

He adds another man, calling him a brother and approving him on the basis of testing and judgments, as one zealous in many things and repeatedly shown to be such. To elevate speech in this way belongs to praise. Now, he says, he has become still more zealous, as though in hope that you will give more generous alms, which he serves.

But we also sent another brother of ours. Though you did not know his tested character, we have tested him many times in many matters and found that he is zealous. He serves as my fellow worker in place of Titus. That is, he and Titus together take our place. They must not seem lesser in your eyes because I called them brothers. For they are apostles, though not from the Twelve, but from the Seventy-two.

The Apostle praised this man also, but did not declare who he was. Some say that it is Apollos, because already in the First Epistle he promised to send him.

"We sent with them our brother." Again, this is an unknown person. Some think it is Apollos (1 Cor 16:12). Others think it is Zenas (Titus 3:13). Still others think it is someone else.

We sent with them also our brother, he says. This was someone close to St. Paul, who carried out various commissions for him, both in the preaching of the Gospel and in other matters, perhaps even in the collection of offerings itself. It seems that he was one of the Macedonians.

St. Paul set three eyes upon the Corinthians: his own in the person of Titus, and those of the Palestinians and Macedonians, perhaps also Asians, in the persons of these two brothers. How much stirring and pressure he brought to bear on these Corinthians!

Adding this brother to the others, he does not leave him without a commendation. He brings forward in him one particular feature: diligence. In what? Most directly, in the exact fulfillment of commissions.