But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.”
Parallel Translations
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But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.”
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God is faythfull: For oure preachynge vnto you was not ye and naye.
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Yea, God is faithfull, that our worde towarde you was not Yea, and Nay.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to 2 Corinthians 1:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
- Revelation 3:7 “To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things:
- John 7:28 Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know me, and know where I am from. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you don’t know.
- Revelation 3:14 “To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation, says these things:
- John 8:26 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.”
- 2 Corinthians 1:23 But I call God for a witness to my soul, that I didn’t come to Corinth to spare you.
- 2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.
- 2 Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forever more, knows that I don’t lie.
- 1 John 5:20 We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 18. God is faithful. By the term word he…
18. God is faithful. By the term word he means doctrine, as is manifest from the reason that he adds, when he says, that the Son of God, who is preached by him, is not variable, etc. As to his being always consistent with himself in point of doctrine, and not differing from himself, he intends that by this they shall form a judgment as to his integrity, and in this way he removes every unfavorable suspicion of fickleness or unfaithfulness. It does not, however, necessarily follow, that the man who is faithful in doctrine, is also observant of truth in all his words. But as Paul did not reckon it of much importance in what estimation he was held, provided only the majesty of his doctrine remained safe and sound, he, on that account, calls the attention of the Corinthians chiefly to that matter. He intimates, it is true, that he observed in his whole life the same course of fidelity, as the Corinthians had seen in his ministry. He seems, however, as if intentionally, in repelling the calumny, to transfer it from his person to his doctrine, because he was unwilling that his apostleship should be indirectly defamed, while he was not greatly concerned as to himself in other respects.
But observe, with what zeal he applies himself to this. For he calls God to witness, how simple and pure his preaching was — not ambiguous, not variable, not temporizing. In his oath, too, he connects the truth of God with the truth of his doctrine. “The truth of my preaching is as sure and stable as God is faithful and true.” Nor is this to be wondered at, for the word of God, which Isaiah says endureth for ever, (Isaiah 40:8,) is no other than what prophets and apostles published to the world, as Peter explains it. (1 Peter 1:25.) Hence, too, his confidence in denouncing a curse upon angels, if they dared to bring another gospel, one that was at variance with his. (Galatians 1:8.) Who would dare to make the angels of heaven subject to his doctrine, if he had not God as his authority and defense? With such an assurance of a good conscience does it become ministers to be endowed, who mount the pulpit to speak the word in Christ’s name — so as to feel assured that their doctrine can no more be overthrown than God himself.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He calleth God to witness, and for judge of…
He calleth God to witness, and for judge of his constancy in preaching and teaching one selfsame Gospel.
True, and of whose faithfulness it [were] horrible wickedness to doubt.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 18 But as God is true, our word toward…
18 But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.
Ver. 18. Our word toward you, &c.] God’s children are all such as will not lie, say and unsay, blow hot and cold with a blast, Isa 63:8. Christianus est, non mentietur, He is a Christian, he will not lie, was an old proverb. Sophronins testifieth of Chrysostom, nunquam eum mentitum fuisse, that he was never taken in a lie.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain As God is true to his promises, so he…
As God is true to his promises, so he hath taught me to be true to mine. Some make these words not to be merely declarative of the truth of God, but a kind of an oath, or calling the God of truth to witness, that his
word toward them; by which some understand the gospel, or the word which he had preached amongst them (and of that indeed he speaketh in the next verse); but to me it seemeth much less strained, to interpret Paul’s word, in this verse, of that word of promise of which he had before spoken, the promise which he owned before that he had made them of his coming to them. That
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word, he saith, was not yea and nay, that is, he did not make it with a quite contrary intention; but when he promised, he faithfully intended to have justified his word, and indeed to have come; but the providence of God, to which all men are subjected, had otherwise ordered him and disposed of him; which was the cause why he had not yet been as good as his word. It is very observable, how careful this great apostle was to clear himself from any imputations of levity and falsehood; and it should teach us to be careful to maintain our reputation in the world for truth and steadiness.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain By the word here, some understand St. Paul’s promise…
By the word here, some understand St. Paul’s promise to come to Corinth, that he did very seriously intend to come unto them; as if he had said, "As God is true to his promise, so has he taught me to be true to mine." Others understand by the word, St. Paul’s preaching, that his doctrine was not mutable and changeable, but always the same.
Here note, How ready and forward the adversaries of religion are from any real or supposed imperfections in the ministers of God, presently to blame and burden their ministry, to charge their private errors and mistakes upon their doctrine. There is a mighty propensity and great forwardness in bad men, to cast all the imperfections of the ministers of the gospel upon their ministry and doctrine.
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The devil is glad of an opportunity, by the failings of preachers, to bring the doctrines they preach either into doubt or disesteem. But though it be a great reproach for a minister to be mutable and contradictory in his doctrine, yet the wicked world do often accuse them of it, and charge them with it, when there is not the least occasion of it: Verily, as God is true, our word was not yea and nay.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But as God is true,.... It seems that the…
But as God is true,.... It seems that the false apostles had insinuated, that as the apostle had not kept his word in coming to them as he had promised, that he was not to be depended upon in his ministry; that he might as well contradict himself, and deceive others in the one, as well as in the other: wherefore he appeals to God in a very solemn manner, calls him to witness to the truth of his doctrine; for these words may be considered as the form of an oath; or he argues from, the truth and faithfulness of God, to the certainty and invariableness of the word preached, who is so true and faithful as that he will never suffer his word to be yea and nay: for when the apostle says, that
our word towards you was not yea and nay, he does not mean his word of promise to come to Corinth; but the word of his preaching, the doctrine of the Gospel, which was not uncertain, changeable, sometimes one thing, and sometimes another, and contradictory to itself. And by this the apostle would intimate, that since he was faithful and upright, uniform, consistent, and all of a piece in preaching the Gospel to them; so they ought to believe, that he was sincere in his resolutions and promises to come and see them, though as yet he had been hindered, and had not been able to perform them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Our word to you - The whole tenor of…
Our word to you - The whole tenor of our doctrine. Hath not been yea and nay - Wavering and uncertain.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. But as God is true] Setting the…
Verse 18. But as God is true] Setting the God of truth before my eyes, I could not act in this way: and as sure as he is true, so surely were my purposes sincere; and it was only my uncertainty about your state that induced me to postpone my visit. See 2Co 1:23.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain But as God is true - Tyndale renders this…
But as God is true - Tyndale renders this in accordance more literally with the Greek, “God is faithful; for our preaching unto you was not yea and nay.” The phrase seems to have the form of an oath, or to be a solemn appeal to God as a Witness, and to be equivalent to the expression “the Lord liveth,” or “as the Lord liveth.” The idea is,” God is faithful and true. He never deceives; never promises that which he does not perform. So true is it that I am not fickle and changing in my purposes.” This idea of the faithfulness of God is the argument which Paul urges why he felt himself bound to be faithful also. That faithful God he regarded as a witness, and to that God he could appeal on the occasion.
Our word - Margin, “preaching” (ὁ λόγος ho logos. This may refer either to his preaching, to his promises of visiting them, or his declarations to them in general on any subject. The particular subject under discussion was the promise which he had made to visit them. But he here seems to make his affirmation general, and to say universally of his promises, and his teaching, and of all his communications to them, whether orally or in writing, that they were not characterized by inconstancy and changeableness. It was not his character to be fickle, unsettled, and vacillating.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain But God is faithful: The sense seems to be,…
But God is faithful: The sense seems to be, as God is faithful, or I appeal to God, who is faithful, that in what I have preached to you, there is not yes and no; my doctrine concerning the faith in Jesus Christ, is and was always the same. Whether I, or Silvanus, or Timothy preached the Son of God, that is, what we taught concerning the Son of God, was not yes and no, was not first one thing, and then another; but in him was yes only, that is, in him, and his doctrine, which we have taught, all is yes, firm, and unchangeable. --- And all the promises of God, of sanctification and salvation, made to us in him, by his merits and grace, are equally yes, certain, and infallible; and therefore by him, and his promises are Amen to God, must needs be true, unto our glory, will turn to the salvation and glory of his elect in heaven. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain He adds this lest they might think his DOCTRINE…
He adds this lest they might think his DOCTRINE was changeable like his purposes (the change in which he admitted in Co2 1:17, while denying that it was due to "lightness," and at the same time implying that not to have changed, where there was good reason, would have been to imitate the fleshly-minded who at all costs obstinately hold to their purpose).
true--Greek, "faithful" (Co1 1:9).
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our word--the doctrine we preach.
was not--The oldest manuscripts read "is not."
yea and nay--that is, inconsistent with itself.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 18. Our word toward you—Our speech, whether by letter,…
18. Our word toward you—Our speech, whether by letter, by converse, or by preaching.
Not yea… nay—Was not of our own fickle human decision.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 18. But as God is true, our word toward…
18. But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay] There was no more infirmity of purpose in the Apostle’s preaching than there is untruth, or rather, unfaithfulness in God. ‘Word’ here means speech, discourse, as in 1Co_1:5.
was not] Rather, is not, since the doctrine once preached remains ever the same. See Gal_1:8-9.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (18) As God is true.—Literally, as God is faithful.…
(18) As God is true.—Literally, as God is faithful. The words were one of St. Paul’s usual formulæ of assertion. (Comp. 1Co_1:9; 1Co_10:13; 2Th_3:3.) In other instances it is followed commonly by a statement as to some act or attribute of God. Here it is more of the nature of an oath: “As God is faithful in all His words, so my speech” (the vague term is used to include preaching, writing, personal intercourse) “is true and faithful also.” There had been no “Yes” and “No” in the same breath; no saying one thing when he meant another.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain But as God is true; rather, but God is…
But as God is true; rather, but God is faithful, whatever man may be (1Co_1:9 1Co_10:13; 1Th_5:24; 2Th_3:3; 1Jn_1:9) Our word towards you, etc. The verse should be rendered, But God is faithful, because (faithful herein, that) our preaching to you proved itself to be not yea and may. Whatever you may say of my plans and my conduct, there was one thing which involved an indubitable "yea," namely, my preaching to you. In that, at any rate, there was nothing capricious, nothing variable, nothing vacillating. St. Paul, in a manner characteristic to his moods of deepest emotion, "goes off at a word." The Corinthians talked of his "yea" and "nay" as though one was little better than the other, and neither could be depended on; well, at any rate, one thing, and that the most essential, was as sure as the faithfulness of God.
Vers. 18-20.
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The promises of God.
If Paul, in delaying his promised visit to Corinth, had seemed chargeable with levity and fickleness, he was not really thus guilty. Such qualities were alien from his Christian nature. And not only so; they were contrary to the character of the God he worshipped, the Saviour he preached; contrary to the promises of the gospel he believed which they had received through his ministry. Thus the personal reference suggests the statement of a great Christian doctrine.
I GOD IS GRACIOUS AND GIVES PROMISES.
1. Revelation is one long promise; it consists, not merely of commands andadmonitions, but of assurances of favour and of help. Herein it proves its adaptation to the nature and to the needs of men. There were promises addressed to our first parents, to Abraham, to Moses.
2. The one promise distinctive of the old covenant was the promise of theSaviour, the Servant of the Lord, the Desire of all nations. In promising the Christ, Jehovah did indeed virtually promise all spiritual blessings to mankind.
3. The one promise of the new covenant is the promise of the Holy Spirit,in whom is grace and help for all human want and need.
4. The promises of God extend beyond this life into eternity, and includethe vision of our Saviour and the possession of an immortal inheritance and home.
II GOD IS FAITHFUL AND FULFILS HIS PROMISES.
1. Of this his unchangeableness and omnipotence are the certain pledge.What his fatherly goodness assures, his inexhaustible resources will realize.
2. The gifts of his Son and of his Spirit are the proof of his faithfulness. Allhis promises relating to these gifts have been already made good, and none who receives them can doubt his power and willingness to fulfil what yet remains.
3. The promises of individual guidance, protection, and aid cannot befalsified. "Ye know in all your hearts, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you.
4. Our confidence in Divine faithfulness may be tried, but cannot bedisappointed. The stream sometimes disappears and flows for a space underground and unseen; but it is there, and soon emerges in beauty and power. So with the purposes of God; they may be hidden and delayed, but they shall all be accomplished. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 18. Our word … was not yea and nay.…
18. Our word … was not yea and nay. That is, ambiguous and unreliable.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain But as God is faithful, our word toward you…
But as God is faithful, our word toward you is not yea and nay .
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:18-22 It was bad enough that Paul’s enemies at…
1:18-22 It was bad enough that Paul’s enemies at Corinth had attacked his character as unreliable and shifty (1:17). It was worse when they charged that his entire message was just as uncertain. In these verses Paul answers that allegation.
1:18-20 As surely as God is faithful: God can be trusted, as can his promises in Christ and his ministry through the apostles.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.