- Scio autem quod quum venero ad vos, in
plenitudine benedictionis evangelii Christi
venturus sum. - And I am sure that, when I come unto
you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing
of the gospel of Christ.
25.But I am going now, etc. Lest they should expect his immediate coming, and think themselves
deceived, if he had not come according to their expectation, he declares to them what business he
had then in hand, which prevented him from going soon to them, and that was, — that he was going
to Jerusalem to bear the alms which had been gathered in Macedonia and Achaia. Availing himself
at the same time of this opportunity, he proceeds to commend that contribution; by which, as by a
kind of intimation, he stirs them up to follow this example: for though he does not openly ask them,
yet, by saying that Macedonia and Achaia had done what they ought to have done, he intimates,
that it was also the duty of the Romans, as they were under the same obligation; and that he had
this view, he openly confesses to the Corinthians, —
“I boast,” he says, “of your promptitude to all the Churches, that they may be stirred up by your
example.”
(2 Corinthians 9:2.)
It was indeed a rare instance of kindness, that the Grecians, having heard that their brethren at
Jerusalem were laboring under want, considered not the distance at which they were separated from
them; but esteeming those sufficiently nigh, to whom they were united by the bond of faith, they
relieved their necessities from their own abundance. The word communication, which is here
employed, ought to be noticed; for it well expresses the feeling, by which it behooves us to succor
the wants of our brethren, even because there is to be a common and mutual regard on account of
the unity of the body. I have not rendered the pronoun τινὰ, because it is often redundant in Greek,
and seems to lessen the emphasis of this passage.^461 What we have rendered to minister, is in Greek
a participle, ministering; but the former seems more fitted to convey the meaning of Paul: for he
excuses himself, that by a lawful occupation he was prevented from going immediately to Rome. - And their debtors they are, etc. Every one perceives, that what is said here of obligation, is
said not so much for the sake of the Corinthians as for the Romans themselves; for the Corinthians
or the Macedonians were not more indebted to the Jews than the Romans. And he adds the ground
of this obligation, — that they had received the gospel from them: and he takes his argument from
the comparison of the less with the greater. He employs also the same in another place, that is, that
it ought not to have appeared to them an unjust or a grievous compensation to exchange carnal
things, which are immensely of less value, for things spiritual. (2 Corinthians 9:11.) And it shows
the value of the gospel, when he declares, that they were indebted not only to its ministers, but also
to the whole nation, from whom they had come forth.
And mark the verb λειτουργὢσαι, to minister; which means to discharge one’s office in the
commonwealth, and to undergo the burden of one’s calling: it is also sometimes applied to sacred
things. Nor do I doubt but that Paul meant that it is a kind of sacrifice, when the faithful gave of
their own to relieve the wants of their brethren; for they thus perform that duty of love which they
owe, and offer to God a sacrifice of an acceptable odor. But in this place what he had peculiarly in
view was the mutual right of compensation.
(^461) The words are, , “to make a certain contribution,” or, “some contribution,” or, as Doddridge has it, “a certain
collection.” There seems to be no necessity for leaving out the word. — Ed.