2 Corinthians 9:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

As above he said, “They begged us most urgently for the gift and the fellowship of the ministry to the saints. Therefore we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he should complete this gracious work among you” (2 Cor 8:4, 6), so here he says: “I have sent the brothers so that my boasting about you may not prove vain in this matter” (v. 3).

Do you see in what anxiety and fear he is? Lest everything he said appear to have been spoken only for persuasion, and not because it was so in deed, he says, “I sent the brothers.” “I care so much for you, that my boasting about you may not prove vain.”

He makes himself, as it were, a member of the Corinthian Church and is anxious for it. For he says: since I boasted of you, I feared lest I be put to shame. Therefore I sent the brothers, so that my praise might not prove vain, that is, that my praise might not be exposed by you as empty and useless.

For I, he says, admiring you, boasted before everyone and before them as well. Therefore, if you prove not to be such, the shame will be common. Yet not in everything, but only in this case, namely, lest I be put to shame in my expectation concerning almsgiving alone.

Rather, you should be prepared, as I also told the Macedonians, that all in Achaia were already ready and lacked nothing.

The Apostle mentions those brethren of whom he spoke above, that is, Titus and his companions. He spoke of them in connection with fulfilling the ministry to the saints. He wanted them to receive joyfully, not only on paper but face to face, what he had so often recalled. Thus the Apostle’s rejoicing, which shone forth in the radiance of his soul, would not be lost. By recalling this often, he shows his care for them, not wishing them to stumble.

The Apostle showed that he was anxious for himself and feared being convicted of false praises. Thus, by caring for their own reputation and for the reputation of their teacher, they would become more generous in their monetary offering.

Continuing his explanation about sending Titus and the two brothers to Corinth, the Apostle says that he made this advance arrangement so that everything would be ready among the Corinthians by his arrival. Thus he would be shown truthful in the praise he had given them before the Macedonians.

But there was probably another reason as well. By having the collection made outside his presence, he would avoid many unreasonable reproaches.

When he speaks of the excess of new arguments for almsgiving, the Apostle gives a subtle but irresistibly powerful inducement to generosity. He awakens generosity in the Corinthians with still greater force when he says that their zeal stirred up the zeal of the Macedonians.

I said in Macedonia that you had been prepared since last year, that is, that everything among you had been collected and was ready. It remained only to hand it over to the brothers appointed to receive the collections.

Since it would be unseemly if I came with the Macedonians and your collection were not yet ready, I sent the brothers to you. My purpose was that you might be prepared, as I told the Macedonians, and that my praise of you might not prove empty, vain, or false, not in general, but only in this matter, that is, with regard to the preparation of the collection among you.