I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less?
Parallel Translations
-
I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less?
-
I will very gladly bestowe and wilbe bestowed for youre soules: though the moare I love you the lesse I am loved agayne.
-
And I will most gladly bestow, and will be bestowed for your soules: though the more I loue you, the lesse I am loued.
Cross-references (18)
Passages linked to 2 Corinthians 12:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:8 Even so, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you, not the Good News of God only, but also our own souls, because you had become very dear to us.
- 2 Corinthians 1:6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.
- Philippians 2:17 Yes, and if I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice with you all.
- Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly,
- 2 Timothy 2:10 Therefore I endure all things for the chosen ones’ sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
- 2 Corinthians 2:3 And I wrote this very thing to you, so that, when I came, I wouldn’t have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy would be shared by all of you.
- 2 Corinthians 6:12-13 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. Now in return, I speak as to my children: you also open your hearts.
- Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.
- John 10:10-11 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
- 1 Corinthians 4:8-18 You are already filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also might reign with you. For, I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor. Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place. We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, the dirt wiped off by all, even until now. I don’t write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you don’t have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News. I beg you therefore, be imitators of me. Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every assembly. Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.
- 2 Corinthians 1:14 as also you acknowledged us in part, that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.
- 2 Corinthians 12:14 Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I seek not your possessions, but you. For the children ought not to save up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
- 2 Samuel 17:1-4 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight. I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him will flee. I will strike the king only, and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace.” The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
- 2 Corinthians 7:3 I say this not to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and live together.
- 2 Samuel 13:39 King David longed to go out to Absalom; for he was comforted concerning Amnon, since he was dead.
- 2 Samuel 18:33 The king was much moved, and went up to the room over the gate, and wept. As he went, he said, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I had died for you, Absalom, my son, my son!”
- Galatians 4:10 You observe days, months, seasons, and years.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 15. And I will most gladly spend This, certainly,…
15. And I will most gladly spend This, certainly, was an evidence of a more than fatherly affection — that he was prepared to lay out in their behalf not merely his endeavors, and everything in his power to do, but even life itself. Nay more, while he is regarded by them with coldness, he continues, nevertheless, to cherish this affection. What heart, though even as hard as iron, would such ardor of love not soften or break, especially in connection with such constancy? Paul, however, does not here speak of himself, merely that we may admire him, but that we may, also, imitate him. Let all Pastors, therefore, learn from this, what they owe to their Churches.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 15 And I will very gladly spend and be…
15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
Ver. 15. Spend and be spent] If like clouds we do sweat ourselves to death, so souls may be brought home to God, it is a blessed way of dying. Mr Samuel Cook’s motto was Impendam et expendar, I will spend and be spent; this he cheerfully verified.
Read full note →
The less I be loved] This is many a good man’s grief, but his reward is nevertheless with God. The nurse looks not for her wages from the child, but from the parent.
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 And I will very gladly spend and be spent…
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; I am so far from desiring your money, that, if I had it, I would willingly spend it for you; and I do spend my strength for you, willing to die in your service, labouring for the good of your immortal souls.
Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved; but I am very unhappy as to some of you, who will not rightly understand me, but love me the less, the more they see my love to them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Did I make a gain of you,.... He appeals…
Did I make a gain of you,.... He appeals to the Corinthians against such calumnies and false insinuations, whether ever he had circumvented them in such a manner, or had ever used such artful methods to pillage them; or whether ever he had discovered any covetous disposition towards anything of theirs; or had employed any persons to draw out their substance from them, and get it for himself: he owns he had sent some persons to them on different errands, and asks if he had dealt fraudulently with them,
by any of them whom, says he,
Read full note →
I have sent to you: he desires them to name one single person of the many who came to them from him, that had received any money from them for him; or that they had any reason to believe he had employed for such purposes; and if they could not pitch on a single instance, they ought therefore to look upon this as a downright slander and calumny.
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 I will gladly spend - All I have. And…
I will gladly spend - All I have. And be spent - Myself.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. And I will very gladly spend and…
Verse 15. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you] I will continue to act as a loving father, who spends all he has upon his children, and expends his own strength and life in providing for them the things necessary for their preservation and comfort.
Though the more abundantly I love you] I will even act towards you with the most affectionate tenderness, though it happen to me, as it often does to loving fathers, that their disobedient children love them less, in proportion as their love to them is increased. Does it not frequently happen that the most disobedient child in the family is that one on which the parents' tenderness is more especially placed? See the parable of the prodigal son. It is in the order of God that it should be so, else the case of every prodigal would be utterly deplorable. The shepherd feels more for the lost sheep than for the ninety-nine that have not gone astray.
Read full note →
If I be asked, "Should Christian parents lay up money for their children?" I answer: It is the duty of every parent who can, to lay up what is necessary to put every child in a condition to earn its bread. If he neglect this, he undoubtedly sins against God and nature. "But should not a man lay up, besides this, a fortune for his children, if he can honestly?" I answer: Yes, if there be no poor within his reach; no good work which he can assist; no heathen region on the earth to which he can contribute to send the Gospel of Jesus; but not otherwise. God shows, in the course of his providence, that this laying up of fortunes for children is not right; for there is scarcely ever a case where money has been saved up to make the children independent and gentlemen, in which God has not cursed the blessing. It was saved from the poor, from the ignorant, from the cause of God; and the canker of his displeasure consumed this ill-saved property.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And I will very gladly spend - I am…
And I will very gladly spend - I am willing to spend my strength, and time, and life, and all that I have, for your welfare, as a father cheerfully does for his children. Any expense which may be necessary to promote your salvation I am willing to submit to. The labor of a father for his children is cheerful and pleasant. Such is his love for them that he delights in toil for their sake, and that he may make them happy. The toil of a pastor for his flock should be cheerful. He should be willing to engage in unremitted efforts for their welfare; and if he has any right feeling he will find a pleasure in that toil He will not grudge the time demanded; he will not be grieved that it exhausts his strength, or his life, anymore than a father will who toils for his family. And as the pleasures of a father who is laboring for his children are among the purest and most pleasant which people ever enjoy, so it is with a pastor. Perhaps, on the whole, the pleasantest employment in life is that connected with the pastoral office; the happiest moments known on earth are the duties, arduous as they are, of the pastoral relation. God thus, as in the relation of a father, tempers toil and pleasure together; and accompanies most arduous labors with present and abundant reward.
Be spent - Be exhausted and worn out in my labors. So the Greek word means. Paul was willing that his powers should be entirely exhausted and his life consumed in this service.
Read full note →
For you - Margin, as in the Greek, for your souls. So it should have been rendered. So Tyndale renders it. The sense is, that he was willing to become wholly exhausted if by it he might secure the salvation of their souls.
Though the more abundantly I love you ... - This is designed doubtless as a gentle reproof. It refers to the fact that notwithstanding the tender attachment which he had evinced for them, they had not manifested the love in return which he had a right to expect. It is possible that there may be an allusion to the case of a fond, doting parent. It sometimes happens that a parent fixes his affections with undue degree on some one of his children; and in such cases it is not uncommon that the child evinces special ingratitude and lack of love. Such may be the allusion here - that Paul had fixed his affections on them like a fond, doting father, and that he had met with a return by no means corresponding with the fervour of his attachment; yet still he was willing, like such a father, to exhaust his time and strength for their welfare. The doctrine is, that we should be willing to labor and toil for the good of others, even when they evince great ingratitude. The proper end of laboring for their welfare is not to excite their gratitude, but to obey the will of God; and no matter whether others are grateful or not; whether they love us or not; whether we can promote our popularity with them or not, let us do them good always. It better shows the firmness of our Christian principle to endeavor to benefit others when they love us the less for all our attempts, than it does to attempt to do good on the swelling tide of popular favor.
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 I most gladly will spend [2] all, and even…
I most gladly will spend [2] all, and even my life, for your sake, and so as to be spent, and even sacrificed, for your souls; though the more I love you, the less you or some of you love me, a kind and modest reproach. (Witham)
===============================
Read full note →
[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Libentissime impendam, & superimpendar, Greek: edista dapaneso, kai ekdapanethesomai, comsumam, & consumar.
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 I will . . . spend--all I have.
I will . . . spend--all I have.
be spent--all that I am. This is more than even natural parents do. They "lay up treasures for their children." But I spend not merely my treasures, but myself.
Read full note →
for you--Greek, "for your souls"; not for your mere bodies.
the less I be loved--Love rather descends than ascends [BENGEL]. Love him as a true friend who seeks your good more than your good will.
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 15. Very gladly—A rich, hearty flow of unselfishness. Others…
15. Very gladly—A rich, hearty flow of unselfishness. Others joy in gaining and taking, I in expending and giving.
Spend—Expend what I possess.
Read full note →
Be spent—All I am.
Less I be loved—A repayment, at least in love, would be grateful; but this is no condition to my expenditure of all I have and am. Nay, though the more I expend the less be your love, I still joy in the sacrifice.
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 15. very gladly] Or most gladly.
15. very gladly] Or most gladly.
spend and be spent] St Paul regards himself but as a gift of Christ’s love, in that he has been made a channel of His grace. Simply as such, as a means whereby Christ is enriching them with Himself, he will not only spend himself, but be spent by others, just as money is, which is worthless in itself, and is only valuable for what it enables us to obtain.
Read full note →
though the more abundantly I love you] This passage shews us how the man valued and yearned for affection, even while the Apostle knew it to be right to do his duty, without expecting the least return of any kind.
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 (15) And I will very gladly spend and be…
(15) And I will very gladly spend and be spent.—The pronoun is emphatic, I, for my part. The latter verb implies spending to the last farthing. As he sought not theirs, but them, so he is ready to spend for them not only all that he has, but even, as if to the verge of exhaustion, all that he is. And yet with all this there was the painful consciousness of toiling without adequate return. It seemed to him, in his intense craving for affection, as if their love varied inversely with his own.
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 Spend and be spent; rather, spend and be outspent,…
Spend and be spent; rather, spend and be outspent, or spent to the uttermost. (Php_2:17)
Ministerial devotion.
Read full note →
Paul rejoices and boasts that, however the Corinthians may misunderstand him, he cannot be accused of having acted towards them in a mercenary spirit. Disinterestedness at all events he must claim, and they must concede. They are the debtors, not he. He is the parent who lays up for the children. This he does cheerfully, and is resolved that he will do in the future as in the past. His determination is to spend and to be spent for their souls.
I A SINCERE PROFESSION. Had Paul been a stranger to his correspondents he could not have used such language as this. But he was well known to them, having lived and laboured in Corinth, working with his own hands for his maintenance, and putting forth every effort for the spiritual enlightenment and salvation of the citizens.
1. The minister of Christ spends for the enrichment of his people"s souls. He has "treasure," though in earthen vessels. He has "the true riches" committed to his keeping. His sire is to bestow the choicest and most precious blessings upon the spiritually necessitous. All he has he longs to part with.
2. The minister of Christ is willing to be spent for his people"s souls. Labour often involves suffering. Bodily powers may be exhausted; even the mind itself may give way under the strain of a toilsome, emotional, prolonged ministry. The missionary may sink beneath the burden of climate, of unrequited toil, of persecution. Every faithful minister must lay his account, not only with effort, but with self-denial and self-sacrifice.
II AN ARDENT APPEAL. The Revisers adopt a rendering of the latter part of this verse which harmonizes with what we may well believe to have been the sentiment of the apostle.
1. Paul has proved the abundance of his love; and every true minister,animated by the love of Christ and by pity for souls, has shown himself to be a true lover and friend of his fellow men.
2. Shall it, then, be the ease that those whom the Christian minister loves,and whose welfare he seeks, shall be indifferent and ungrateful? It is sometimes so; the very faithfulness and earnestness of the minister may occasion the aversion of those who desire that he should "prophesy smooth things," and leave them to their sinful pursuits and pleasures uninterrupted. Yet the affection and devotion of spiritual workers deserve a very different return. T.
Self-expenditure.
I A SPLENDID ILLUSTRATION OF CHRISTIAN SERVICE. The apostle is carried beyond the thought of giving some time, or strength, or property, for his beloved Corinthians; he expresses his perfect willingness to give himself . He will not count it a grief, but a gladness, to expend himself for them. Whilst many find great difficulty in giving a little for others, the apostle seems to find none in giving all. Here we have:
1. Whole-souled devotion. Nothing can transcend the apostle"s offer. And the voluntariness and the joy of the devotion place it in the first rank of excellence.
2. Earnest desire for welfare. The love of Paul for the Corinthians could not have been more forcibly expressed. Men gauge our love for them by what we are willing to give up for them; when we are willing to give up ourselves for them, they cannot but be convinced of our sincerity.
3. Indication of the importance of Christian work. For nothing else in the world would Paul have willingly spent himself. But Christian service more than justified the self-sacrifice. In his judgment nothing could compare with it for a moment. We may remember that in all departments of life we can render Christian service; spheres of labour become insignificant and mean only when Christian service is excluded from them.
4. A striking imitation of Christ. Paul has caught his Master"s spirit. His Lord laid down his life for him; he will now lay down his life for his Lord. Christ gave himself." The Lord"s servant is most fitted to do his Lord"s work when he is most like his Lord.
5. A secret of success. When we labour for Christ in such a spirt as this we are certain to prosper. Failure is the child of half heartedness and selfishness. Christ honour an entire consecration to his service.
II SELF-EXPENDING CHRISTIAN SERVICE PROMPTED BY A HIGH MOTIVE. The apostle was willing to spend himself for the souls of the Corinthians be spent for your souls" (New Version). In this labour he was seeking at the same time the highest glory of God and Christ, and the truest welfare of men. These objects unite in Christian service, which aims pre-eminently to do good to the souls of men. The saving and perfecting of souls redounds supremely to the glory of the Divine Being, whilst it secures the highest good for humanity. So dominated was the apostle by the desire to do good to the souls of men, that what is usually a very strong motive for action, viz. the love of others for us, was quite swept away. He declares that he will expend himself for the Corinthians, though this strongest indication of his love to them should produce a decreasing love for him on their part. The disinterested character of true Christian service is here very strikingly displayed. It was by such self-expenditure as that of Paul"s that early Christianity won its triumphs; it is for such self-expenditure that later Christianity pathetically calls. God is always thoroughly in earnest, but men are not. When men become so then "the arm of the Lord is revealed. H.
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 15. I will gladly spend, etc. As a loving…
15. I will gladly spend, etc. As a loving father, he will gladly spend and be spent for them; even without the return of his love.
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 And I will most gladly spend and be spent…
And I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less?
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.