of the explanation in v. 6, and because cheerfulness in giving is afterwards enforced. Atid 7iot as of covetoiiS7iess ; literally, not as covetousness, i. e. not such a gift as betrays the avarice of the giver.
6. But this (I say), He which soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly ; and he which soweth bounti- fully, shall reap also bountifully.
The words tovto 8e, hut this, are commonly and most natu- rally exj^lained by supplying some such words as J say, or, consider. Others take them as the accusative absolute ; ' as to this, however.' Meyer unnaturally makes rovro the object of o-Tretpcuv, ' He who sows this sparingly, &c.' That is, in oth- er cases it may be different, but in this spiritual sowing, in this seed of good deeds, the rule always holds good. Our version gives a simple and suitable sense. The only question of doubt in the verse is the meaning of the words lit euAoytai?, which our translators have rendered adverbially, hountifidly. ' He that sows bountifully, shall reap also bountifully.' This undoubtedly is the meaning as determined by the antithesis, ' He that sows ^etSo/^eVco? sparingly, and he that sows ctt' evAo- ytais hountifidly? But the question is how to get that sense out of the words, which literally mean vnth hlessings. * He that sows with hlessings, shall reap loith hlessings? The force of the preposition ctti with the dative in this place may be ex- plained after the analogy of such passages as Rom. 4, 18. 1 Cor. 9, 10; ctt' eA-TriSt, tvith hope, as expressing the condition under which any thing is done ; or after the analogy of such places as Rom. 5, 14, cVt raJ o/xotw/aari, after the similitude, as expressing the rule according to which it is done. In either case the preposition and noun may express an adverbial quali- fication. In this case therefore, tV cuAoytat?, ad normani hene- ficiorum, as Wahl translates it, may, as the context requires, mean kindly, freely, or bountifully. Here, as just stated, the antithesis with i^eiSo/xcVw? requires the last, viz., bountifully. The sentiment here expressed is the same as in Prov. 11, 24, " There is that scattereth and yet increaseth ; and there is that withlioldeth more than is meet, but it tcndeth to poverty." It is comprehended also in the wider truth taught in Gal. 6, V. Our Lord teaches the same doctrine, Luke 6, 38, " Give and it shall be given unto you, etc." JMutt. 10, 41, and often else-