make a collection for the poor saints, you had begun ; and before they thought of it, you had determined to do it. ' Hav- ing thus been beforehand with them it would be to your dis- advantage to leave your work half done, seeing that the mere mention of your purpose, 9, 2, roused them to such self-deny- ing liberality.' A year ago^ (avro Trepuo-t.) This does not imply that a whole year had intervened, but is analogous to our popular expression last year. If Paul, according to the Jewish reckoning, began the year in October, he could prop- erly speak, when writing in November, of an event which happened in the spring, as having occurred last year. An in- terval of little more than six months, according to this view, from spring to fall, intervened betAveen the date of the first and second epistles of Paul to the Corinthians.
11. Now therefore perform the domg (of it) : that as (there was) a readiness to will, so (there may be) a performance also out of that which ye have..
JSFoio therefore^ i. e. as there has been the purpose and the commencement, let there be also the completion of the work. Literally, complete ye also the doing. That., (o-co?, in order that,) as the readiness to will^ so also the completion. Con- sistency required them to carry out their good intentions openly expressed. Out of that ichich ye have, Ik rov tx^iv, ac- cording to (your) property. The preposition Ik is not here to be rendered out of, but it expresses the rule or standard. Compare John 3, 34. The apostle was not desirous to urge them either beyond their inclination, or beyond their ability. What they gave, he wished them to give freely, and with due regard to their resources.
12. For if there be first a willing mind, (it is) ac- cepted according to that a man hath, (and) not accord- ing to that he hath not.
The connection is evidently with the last words of v. 11. They were to give according to their property, /or the stand- ard of judgment with God is the disposition, not the amount given. The same doctrine is taught by our Lord, Mark 12, 42. If there be first, literally, if there be present ; TrpoKctTaL does not mean ^^riVs adest, but simply adest. A willing
204 II. CORIISrTHIANS 8, 13.
mind^ rj TrpoSvfxta, the readiness^ or, disjyositio?!. It is ; that is, the Tvpo^vixia (the disposition) is accepted^ euTrpoo-SeKro?, ac- cejjtahle. It is often used in reference to offerings made to God. Rom. 15, 16. 1 Pet. 2, 5. Some of the an'cient MSS. introduce the indefinite pronoun rts, as the subject of the verbs exxj and c'xei, so our translators insert man^ ' according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.' The grammatical subject, however, of all the verbs in the verse is vrpo^v/xta, which Paul, according to his custom, per- sonifies, and therefore says. It is acceptable according to tliat it inay have^ {tav ^XV-) ^^ i^ more or less ; not according to that it hath not. This does not mean that the disposition is not acceptable when it exceeds the ability to give, or leads to extravagant gifts. This may be true, but it is not the idea here intended. The meaning is simply that the disposition is what God regards, and that disposition will be judged of ac- cording to the resources at its command. A small gift may manifest in one case much greater willingness to give, than a much larger gift in another.
13. For (I mean) not that other men be eased, and you burdened.
The reason why he did not Avish them to exceed their ability in giving, is here stated negatively. The positive statement follows in the next verse. The apostle did not wish to throw an unequal burden upon the Corinthians. He did not desire that others should be released from all obliga- tion to give, and they oppressed by it. Not to others ai'ccrts (relief), and to you ■!}X.2\j/l<; (oppression), is his concise expres- sion. According to this view, by aXXois, others, we are to understand other churches or Christians ; and by aveats, relief from the obligation to give. But this is consistent neither with what precedes nor with what follows. The equality which he aims at, is not the equahty of the churches in giving, but that which arises from the deficiency of one class being made up by the abundance of another. By others, therefore, we must understand the poor, and in this case, the poor saints at Jerusalem, and by ai/eo-ts release from the pressure of poverty, and by -^A.ti//ts the burden of indigence. The mean- ing therefore is, that Paul did not desire that the Corinthians should go beyond their ability in giving, for he had no wish that others should be enriched, and they impoverished. It is