II. CORINTHIANS 8, 2. 193

whereas the context calls for only one. The meaning rather is, that notwithstanding their afflictions, their joy and their poverty abounded to their liberality. This the grammatical structure of the passage requires. IIoio that (on) ; the con- nection is with the verb in the preceding verse, ' I cause you to know that, &c.' In a great trial of affliction^ i. e. in afflic- tions which were a great trial (8oKt/xr;), i. e. a test of their sin- cerity and devotion. These afflictions were either those which they shared in common with their fellow-citizens, aris- ing out of their social condition, or they w^ere peculiar to them as Christians, arising from persecution. In writing to the Thessalonians, Paul reminds them that they had received the word in much affliction. 1, 6. 2, 14. Comp. Acts 16, 20. 17, 5. The abundance of their joy ; i. e. the joy arising from the pardon of their sins and the favour of God, which in 1 Thess. 1, 6, he calls the joy of the Holy Ghost, was abvmdant. That is, it rose above their sorrows, and produced in them the ef- fect of which he afterwards speaks. And their deep poverty^ [r] Kara /3dSov<i Trrcoxcta,) their abject poverty, or poverty down to the depth. Ahounded iinto^ i. e. manifested itself as abun- dant in relation to. The same verb (eTrepiWcuo-cv) belongs to both the preceding nouns, "joy " and "poverty," but in a somewhat different sense. Their joy abounded unto their liberality, because it produced it. The eftect proved the joy to be abundant. Their poverty abounded unto their liberali- ty, because it was seen to be great in relation to it. Their liberality made their poverty, by contrast, appear the greater. Jj7ito the riches^ (ttAovtos,) a favourite word with Paul, which he often uses in the sense of abundance. Rom. 2, 4, " Riches of his goodness," for abundant goodness. Eph. 1, 7, "Riches of his grace," for his abundant grace ; 1, 18, "Riches of his glory," for abundant glory, &c. Of their liberality^ dTr/VoVr^?, which is properly the opposite of duplicity, or double-rainded- ness, and, therefore, singleness of heart, simplicity, sincerity. Eph. 6, 5. Col. 3, 22. The Scriptures, how^ever, often use a generic term for a specific one, as glory for wisdom, or mercy, or power, which are different forms of the divine glory. So here the general term for right-mindedness is put for liberali- ty, w^iich is a specific form or manifestation of the generic virtue. Comp. 9, 11. Rom. 12, 8. In reference to the pover- ty of the Macedonian churches, Mr. Stanley, in his Commen- tary on this Epistle, appropriately quotes a passage from Dr. Arnold's Roman Commonwealtii, in which he says, "The