2 Corinthians 8:18

Note

Sending men to Corinth to see to the collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem, Paul introduces one who travels with Titus. He gives no name, only this: the man is praised in the gospel throughout all the churches.

Chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians are about the collection. The churches of Macedonia had given generously out of deep poverty, and Paul urges Corinth to share in the same grace. Titus is going willingly, "eagerly coming to you of his own volition" (2 Corinthians 8:17), and this brother goes with him. He "was chosen by the churches to accompany us with the gracious offering we administer" (2 Corinthians 8:19). Paul says plainly why such care is taken with a large gift: "For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men" (2 Corinthians 8:21).

The noun euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον) stands in the dative with en, naming the sphere in which this brother has won his epainos (ἔπαινος), his praise. Literally, ‘whose praise is in the gospel’: he was known for his service in spreading and serving the gospel. The praise reaches dia pasōn tōn ekklēsiōn, ‘through all the churches’. "We are sending" translates an aorist, sunepempsamen, ‘we sent’, written from the point of view of the readers who will receive the letter; the BSB gives it as a present. The brother was probably one of those who carried this letter.

The KJV keeps the Greek shape: "whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches." The LSV is close to it: "whose praise in the good news [is] through all the assemblies." The BSB, "for his work in the gospel," spells out what the praise was for. "In the gospel" here means in the work of the gospel.

Who the brother was, the text does not say. Wesley notes, "The ancients generally supposed this was St. Luke" Wesley, and explains his praise as being "For faithfully dispensing the gospel" Wesley. Matthew Henry draws a lesson from the care Paul takes over money: "It is the duty of all Christians to act prudently; to hinder, as far as we can, all unjust suspicions" Matthew Henry. And: "A clear character, as well as a pure conscience, is requisite for usefulness" Matthew Henry.

The guess that it was Luke is an old one. Eusebius records that Origen, in the third century, listing the four Gospels, described Luke's as "the Gospel commended by Paul" Eusebius, Church History 6.25. His words have often been taken as a reading of this verse, as though Paul were praising Luke's written Gospel. But in Paul's letters "the gospel" is the spoken message and its work, so the more natural reading is that the brother was praised for what he had done for the gospel.

The brother's name has not come down to us, but his trustworthiness has. The gospel that reaches anyone today has come the same way, through the honest hands of many whose names are not remembered.