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2 Corinthians 4:5

in 2 Corinthians 4

For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

KJV

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

This verse in 2 Corinthians 4

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Gregory of Nyssa

ON THE CHRISTIAN MODE OF LIFE · Written before 395.

And the apostle: "For we preach not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves merely as your servants in Jesus." Knowing, then, the fruits of humility and the penalty of conceit, imitate the Master by loving one another and do not shrink from death or any other punishment for the good of each other. But the way which God entered upon for you, do you enter upon for him, proceeding with one body and one soul to the invitation from above, loving God and each other.

This site's exposition

we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord: Paul states the content of his preaching against every accusation of self-promotion, one sentence that could stand as the whole letter's motto. And ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake: the apostle's true relation to Corinth is servanthood, doulos, not the mastery his rivals apparently claimed, and the servanthood is explicitly for Jesus' sake rather than for the church's approval. The commentators read the verse as the answer to every charge of self-interest the surrounding chapters raise, stated once and plainly before the argument moves on.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For we preach not ourselves,.... These words contain a reason why the apostles behaved themselves in the manner described, 2Co 4:2 and serve to explain in what sense this inspired writer is to be understood, when he calls the Gospel our Gospel, 2Co 4:3 and most clearly proves the Gospel to be a glorious one, which he had asserted, 2Co 4:4 since Christ, and not themselves, is the subject of it, "for we preach not ourselves".
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
For we preach not ourselves - The connection here is not very apparent, and the design of this verse has been variously understood. The connection seems to me to be this. Paul gives here a reason for what he had said in the previous parts of the Epistle respecting his conduct in the ministry. He had said that his course had been open, and pure, and free from all dishonest arts and tricks, and that he had not corrupted the Word of God, or resorted to any artifice to accomplish his designs; 2Co 2:17; 2Co 4:1-

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

For--Their blindness is not our fault, as if we had self-seeking aims in our preaching. preach . . . Christ . . . the Lord--rather, "Christ as Lord," and ourselves as your servants, &c. "Lord," or "Master," is the correlative term to "servants."

The words behind it

14 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Galatians 5:13

    For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

    it leads to

    • 1 Peter 2:16

      Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

    • 1 Corinthians 9:19

      Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

    • 1 Corinthians 8:9

      Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

    • Romans 15:1–2

      We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

    • Galatians 5:14

      The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 1:23

    but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 2:14

      The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

    • 1 Corinthians 2:2

      For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

    • 1 Peter 2:8

      and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Corinthians

The Crown of Thorns — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
The Crown of Thorns — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Gregory of Nyssa, ON THE CHRISTIAN MODE OF LIFE; James Denney, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, Expositor's Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748).