2 Corinthians 9:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Macedonian Christians were willing according to their ability, and even beyond their ability. "I bear witness," says the Apostle. They earnestly begged us to accept their gift and their fellowship in service to the saints, that is, in helping suffering Christians (2 Cor 8:3-4). Therefore, "by the zeal of others," says the Apostle to the Corinthians, "I test the sincerity of your love also" (v. 8). Besides this, you also wished to make offerings for the poor as early as last year (v. 10). Now complete the deed itself, so that what you eagerly desired may be fulfilled according to your means (2 Cor 8:11). Chapter 9, verse 6. In this matter I say to you, brethren: "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." If a farmer sows little, he will receive less than the one who sowed more. The same is true of a man in works of mercy. Whoever lives his life stingily, hoards his goods, and gives a kopeck with a trembling hand when he could have given a ruble, will see the same for himself both here on earth and there in heaven. The miser receives no sympathy from men. Everyone turns away from him as from a nearly insensible being, as from some monster. He is deaf to the groans of the poor and of orphans. He is blind and does not see his neighbor's wounds or the people's needs. Nothing touches him, troubles him, or moves him. He sits upon his capital and is bored that he has too little, and that it will not be enough for his life. He does not sleep at night for fear of losing gold and silver. But, O foolish man, "this night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have prepared?" (Lk 12:20). Perhaps you did not always gather them honestly. Perhaps you did so by wronging others, by denying yourself what was most necessary for your soul, such as the education of the mind and the ennobling of the heart by virtues. Perhaps you even denied yourself a proper piece of bread. After your death, your little coins will pass through the hands of heirs of various character. In your life they did not wish to know you, and after your death they will not remember you kindly. Quarrels, lawsuits, and sometimes irreconcilable enmity among relatives will begin over your capital. Your memory will perish amid noise and evil rumor about you. And there, in the other world, where will you find yourself? In Hades, in company with the devil and with envious demons. Yet with another disposition of heart you could have arranged both your life on earth and your lot in heaven differently. God sent you His gifts. You had food, earnings, and a kopeck left for a dark day. You could have given at least something for the benefit of your neighbors. Your soul would have had joy on earth. Your benefactions would have helped the poor. You would also have received sincere respect from your neighbors. After all, one cannot live without society and avoid contact with it. Otherwise one becomes overgrown and dull. The mind grows stupid, the heart hardens, and one becomes not a man but some petrified thing. Moreover, are you able to preserve your wealth, your health, and your earnings even for one minute if God does not bless them? But suddenly you may lose your means. If you yourself were stingy, do not expect special mercies from others. If you lose the position by which you lived, do not think others will especially pity and care for you, a stingy and insensible man. "With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you," said Christ (Mt 7:2). "Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy" (Jas 2:13). Is it not better, then, to live humanely, to sympathize with another's need, to help him, and to pity him? Your conscience will reward your kindness with peace, and others will surround you with goodwill and sympathy. It is true that he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Whoever gives alms willingly, without ulterior thoughts, without self-love, and without other selfish aims, will receive bountifully both here on earth and there in heaven. Here on earth, almsgiving cleanses sins (Sir 3:30) and draws the special good will of God. Because of his alms, the Gentile Cornelius received approval from God through an Angel. He was deemed worthy to be enlightened by Christianity through the Apostle Peter (Acts 10). It is more joyful for a good man to live on earth. Whoever has given from a pure heart to one truly poor has experienced what consolation and contentment come to our soul in those moments. How happy and blessed is the virtuous man who has made the task of his whole life to do good to his neighbors, to serve others, and to be useful to everyone in every good thing. Again, almsgiving defends a man in days of public calamity and misfortune. The Lord sometimes visibly preserves the prosperity of a good man. "Store up almsgiving in your chambers, and it will deliver you from every affliction" (Sir 29:15). The family of the virtuous man, his offspring, is blessed by God and is never abandoned. Therefore, parents, above all be kind yourselves. Because of your good, it will also be well with your children. Whoever gives alms lends those alms to God, and has God as his debtor (Prov 19:17; Mt 25:40). But the Lord God always repays our good a hundredfold. Then it will be well both with us and with our children. The holy King David, at the evening of his days, expressed his observation concerning the lot of virtuous people and their offspring. "I have been young, and now am old," he says, "yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful and lends without usury, and his descendants are blessed" (Ps 36:25-26). By the name of an honorable father, the life of his children is well ordered. Thus a good name is better than great riches. Mercy toward one's neighbor is more pleasing to God than sacrifices (Hos 6:6; Mt 9:13; Mt 12:7). When making offerings, for example for a church, one must also have mercy toward one's neighbors. "These you ought to have done," says Christ, "without leaving the others undone" (Mt 23:23). There in heaven, almsgiving is highly valued at the judgment (Jas 2:13). There the Kingdom of God will not be inherited by strictly fair yet merciless people, but by merciful people. They gave drink to the thirsty in due time, fed the hungry, helped the sick, consoled and visited the prisoner, and gave the stranger warm and peaceful shelter. Yes, almsgiving delivers from eternal death (Tob 12:9). Blessed, then, are the merciful, for they shall surely obtain mercy (Mt 5:7).

Since, then, the properties of seed and alms have such great likeness, the divine Apostle, in order to incline all toward richly generous almsgiving, spoke metaphorically. He said “he who sows,” as though instead of “he who shows mercy.” “Sparingly” means little, and “with blessing” means much.

He who sows little, he says, reaps little. He who sows much reaps much. That is, he who shows little mercy receives a small reward, but he who shows mercy with rich generosity receives a richly generous recompense.

And so that no one might think that God looks only at the quantity of alms, and not also at the disposition of the giver’s soul, he sets down the rules of alms pleasing to God, saying in 2 Cor 9:7: “Each one as he purposes in his heart, not with grief or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

The Apostle compares the giving of alms with sowing. “The truth is well known: what you sow, that you will reap,” says Bishop Theophan. “The sower knows this. Therefore he sows willingly and without sparing the seed. He is encouraged by the confidence that he will certainly reap what he has sown in abundance. The sower seems to spend and scatter seed. The giver of alms also seems to scatter his goods, yet this work bears fruit, and bears it more surely than sowing. From sowing there is not always a harvest, but from the sowing of alms there is no crop failure. One must only place goodwill into it. This disposition is like timely rain upon sowing. And let him give as much as the heart is disposed to give. Whatever is not according to this measure will be fruitless. Not with grief, nor of necessity. By grief is meant regret over what is given. This is a sign of stinginess. By necessity is meant compulsion, whether by the obligation of obedience, by common participation in the work, or by some other outward considerations. The Apostle wants giving to proceed from the heart, like lush grass from rich soil.”

According to the testimony of St. John Chrysostom, “Many fear to give alms under the pretext that they themselves might become poor and have to ask alms from others. To dispel this fear, the Apostle entreats God to make every grace abound. He does not ask God for wealth for them, nor for excess, but for every sufficiency. In spiritual goods, however, he asks abundance for them. Time will end, but the fruits of beneficence will remain, and in due season they will be reaped by the benefactor. The Apostle brings in the prophet as a counselor (Ps 111:9), having found a testimony that encourages generosity. For the word ‘he has scattered’ means nothing other than generosity in giving. Although what was given is no longer present, the fruits of the gift remain forever. But in this age also, the same prophet assures us: ‘I have not seen such a righteous benefactor forsaken, and his seed will be in blessing’” (Ps 36:25-26).

Further, the Apostle in his prayer asks God that the Corinthians, having received seed for the sowing of alms, would truly use it for this purpose. Thus they would be enriched with the fruits of righteousness. The Apostle desires that their material sufficiency go together with spiritual progress (Theophan).

In verse 11 the Apostle, according to the explanation of blessed Theophylact, teaches how wealth should be used. “It must not be buried in the earth, but held in all simplicity, that is, given with every generosity.” By simplicity here he means generosity, from which almsgiving comes and gives occasion for great thanksgiving (Chrysostom).

The Apostle applies this to almsgiving. The sower appears to spend and scatter seed, one knows not for what. So anyone might think who does not know what sowing tends toward and what it will give.

The giver of alms also seems to scatter his goods, one knows not for what. Yet it is certain that this work bears fruit, and it bears it more surely than sowing. From sowing there is not always a harvest, though one is always expected. But from the sowing of alms there is no crop failure. It always bears fruit.

One must only place goodwill into it, so that it pours out from the heart with the desire to spend one’s own for others. This disposition is for alms what timely rain is for sowing. The lack of such a disposition in almsgiving is for it what drought is for sowing.

The Apostle’s expressions point precisely to this. He says, “He who sows sparingly,” φειδομενως, with sparing and regret over the seed, or, what is the same, stingily, “will also reap sparingly.” He will reap φειδομενως. The earth will constrict its womb, as he constricted his hand, and will make what he sowed grow scantily.

“He who sows with blessing,” with a desire to scatter as much as possible, with a heart overflowing and sparing neither himself nor his own, “will also reap with blessing.” The earth will likewise open its womb generously to him, as he opened his sowing hands.

What the earth gives the sower, God gives to the giver of alms, measuring the generosity of recompense according to the goodwill of the gift. Theodoret writes: “The Apostle very suitably used a metaphor and called generosity sowing, pointing to the abundant fruit of beneficence. He also set before us those governed by stinginess, saying that the harvest corresponds to the quantity of the sowing.”

St. Chrysostom says: “He who sows sparingly, φειδομενως. He did not say ‘stingily,’ but used the nobler term for one who is sparing, φειδολου. And he called the act itself sowing, so that you might immediately remember the recompense, imagine the harvest, and understand that when you give to others, you receive more yourself than you give. Therefore he did not say ‘the one who gives,’ but ‘the one who sows.’ Nor did he say, ‘if you sow,’ but used a general expression. Again, he did not say ‘generously,’ but what is much greater, ‘with blessing.’”