2 Corinthians 11:8
in 2 Corinthians 11I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I robbed other churches, taking wages of them that I might minister unto you;
KJV
I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.
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This verse in 2 Corinthians 11
Commentary
10 notes on this verseI robbed other Churches - This part of the sentence is explained by the latter, taking wages to do you service. The word οψωνιον signifies the pay of money and provisions given daily to a Roman soldier. As if he had said: I received food and raiment, the bare necessaries of life, from other Churches while labouring for your salvation. Will you esteem this a crime?
This site's exposition
to humble myself in order to exalt you
on 2 Corinthians 11:7-9
The rivals apparently charged fees, yet Paul, who preached the gospel of God to you free of charge, is the one accused. Macedonian gifts covered his needs at Corinth, as Philippians 4:15-16 confirms.
This site's exposition
I robbed other churches
Robbed is a strong word for gifts freely given. John Wesley calls it a military term, taking the spoils. Adam Clarke explains the word for support as the daily pay of a Roman soldier.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Paul makes it clear that not only did other churches encourage him in his ministry to the Corinthians but also that they gave him significant financial support.
"I robbed other churches, taking wages of them that I might minister unto you." Here finally he speaks reproachfully, but his former words prevent these from seeming offensive; for he said, "Bear with me in a little foolishness:" and before all his other achievements makes this his first boast. For this worldly men look to especially, and on this also those his adversaries greatly prided themselves. Therefore it is that he does not first enter on the subject of his perils, nor yet of his miracles, but on this of his contempt of money, because they prided themselves on this; and at the same time he also hints that they were wealthy. But what is to be admired in him is this, that when he was able to say that he was even supported by his own hands, he did not say this; but says that which especially shamed them and yet was no encomium on himself, namely, "I took from others." And he did not say "took," but "robbed," that is, "I stripped them, and made them poor." And what surely is greater, that it was not for superfluities, but for his necessities, for when he says "wages," he means necessary subsistence. And what is more grievous yet, "to minister unto you." We preach to you; and when I ought to be supported by you, I have enjoyed this at others' hands. The accusation is twofold, or rather three-fold; that when both living amongst them and ministering to them, and seeking necessary support, he had others supplying his wants. Great the excess, of the one negligence, of the other in zeal! For these sent to him even when at a great distance, and those did not even support him when amongst them.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Although he could have said: I ate from the labor of my own hands; but, making his speech more expressive, he says: I received from others while serving you. The expression "I robbed" he used in the sense of: I stripped them and made them …
Secondly, because they could say: where did you obtain your support? He answers that it came from the other churches, saying: I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. By this he convinces them that they could not say …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I spoiled other churches - I, as it were, took the spoils of them: it is a military term. Taking wages (or pay, another military word) of them - When I came to you at first. And when I was present with you, and wanted - My work not quite supplying my necessities.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I robbed other churches,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I robbed other churches - The churches of Macedonia and elsewhere, which had ministered to his needs. Probably he refers especially to the church at Philippi (see Php 4:15-16), which seems to have done more than almost any other church for his support. By the use of the word “robbed” here Paul does not mean that he had obtained anything from them in a violent or unlawful manner, or anything which they did not give voluntarily. The word (ἐσύλησα esulēsa) means properly, “I spoiled, plundered, robbed,” but the idea of Paul here is, that he, as it were, robbed them, because he did not render an equivalent for what they gave him. They supported him when he was laboring for another people. A conqueror who plunders a country gives no equivalent for what he takes. In this sense only could Paul say that he had plundered the church at Philippi. His general principle was, that “the laborer was worthy of his hire,” and that a man was to receive his support from the people for whom he labored (see 1Co 9:7-14), but this rule he had not observed in this case. Taking wages of them - Receiving a support from them. They bore my expenses. To do you service - That I might labor among you without being supposed to be striving to obtain your property, and that I might not be compelled to labor with my own hands, and thus to prevent my preaching the gospel as I could otherwise do. The supply from other churches rendered it unnecessary in a great measure that his time should be taken off from the ministry in order to obtain a support.
The words behind it
9 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἄλλας | allas | Other | G243 → | 155 times |
| ἐκκλησίας | ekklesias | churches | G1577 → | 113 times |
| ἐσύλησα | esulesa | I robbed | G4813 → | |
| λαβὼν | labon | having received | G2983 → | 257 times |
| ὀψώνιον | opsonion | support | G3800 → | |
| πρὸς | pros | for | G4314 → | 700 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὑμῶν | humon | toward you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| διακονίαν, | diakonian | service, | G1248 → | 34 times |
ἄλλαςOther
allasG243 →155 times
ἐκκλησίαςchurches
ekklesiasG1577 →113 times
ἐσύλησαI robbed
esulesaG4813 →
λαβὼνhaving received
labonG2983 →257 times
ὀψώνιονsupport
opsonionG3800 →
πρὸςfor
prosG4314 →700 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
ὑμῶνtoward you
humonG4771 →2973 times
διακονίαν,service,
diakonianG1248 →34 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Philippians 4:18I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:16
And do not neglect to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
- Philippians 4:12
I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need.
- 2 Corinthians 9:12
For this ministry of service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God.
- Ephesians 5:2
and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
- Philippians 2:25–26
But I thought it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my needs.
- Hebrews 13:16
Through
2 Corinthians 11:9And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to…
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 2:9
Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:6
Nor did we seek praise from you or from anyone else, although as apostles of Christ we had authority to demand it.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:8–9
nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:9
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Corinthians
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians; John Chrysostom, Homily 23 on 2 Corinthians; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 2 Corinthians.