administration of this service^ -fj SiaKovca t^s A.etToi;pyias rav-nys. This may mean, ' The administration by me of this service of yours, i. e. this benefaction of yours, which is a service ren- dered to God and his people.' It is a X^novpyia ; properly a public ser\ice, but always in the New Testament (except per- haps Phil. 2, 30) a religious service such as was rendered by the priests in the temple, Luke 1, 23. Heb. 8, 6. 9, 21 ; or by the Christian ministry, Phil. 2, 17. Comp. Rom. 1, 9. Or, it may mean, ' The service which you render by this benefaction.' The BtaKovLa, ministry, or service, consisted in the X^irovpyia^ the contribution. This suits better with v. 13, where htaKovia is used for what the Corinthians did, not for what Paul did. Not only supplieth. The Greek is somewhat peculiar; co-rt "TTpoa-avaTrXrjpovora, it is not only fully compensatory . . . but it ia (Trepta-crevova-a) overfloioing ; the participles being used as ad- jectives expressing the quality of the thing spoken of. The leant of the saints. Their necessities are not only supplied, but your service overflows, or is abundantly productive of good; by means of many thanksgivings to God ; t(3 ^ecj de- pending on €v)(apL(TTLiov as in verse 11.
13. While by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for (your) liberal distribution unto them, and unto all (men).
There is the same irregularity of grammatical construction in this verse as in v. 11; the participle So^a^ovres here referring to TToAAcoi/, as there TrXovrtt^oixevoi to v/xaii/. The sense is, ' Many thank God, glorifying him (8ta t^s Soki/x^s ttJs StaKovtaq Taurry?) on the occasion of the evidence offered by this service.' The preposition 8ta here expresses the occasional, not the instru- mental, or rational cause. It is neither through, nor, on ac- count of but simply hy, i. e. occasioned by. The simplest explanation of 8o/<t/x7^, in this passage, is proof, or evidence ; and the genitive, StaKovtas, is the genitive of apposition. The service was the proof. The thing proved by the service ren- dered by the Corinthians to their poor brethren, is what is mentioned in the sequel, viz., their obedience and their fellow- ship with the saints. Meyer makes SoKcixrj mean indoles spec- tata, the nature, or internal character. " From the nature of this service," whereby it proved itself to be genuine, or what