For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
Parallel Translations
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For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
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For all thinges do I for youre sakes that the plenteous grace by thankes geve of many maye redounde to the prayse of god.
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For all thinges are for your sakes, that that most plenteous grace by the thankesgiuing of many, may redound to the praise of God.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to 2 Corinthians 4:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
- Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
- 2 Corinthians 9:11-12 you being enriched in everything to all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through much giving of thanks to God,
- 2 Corinthians 1:11 you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift given to us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf.
- 2 Corinthians 8:19 Not only so, but he was also appointed by the assemblies to travel with us in this grace, which is served by us to the glory of the Lord himself, and to show our readiness.
- Psalms 50:23 Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”
- Colossians 3:16-17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
- Psalms 50:14 Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High.
- Galatians 1:24 So they glorified God in me.
- 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.
- Hebrews 13:15-16 Through him, then, let’s offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name. But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
- 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
- 1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
- 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
- 2 Corinthians 1:4-6 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ. 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.
- 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,
- Revelation 4:8-11 The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!” When the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!”
- Revelation 5:8-14 Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood out of every tribe, language, people, and nation, and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.” I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. The number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!” I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!” The four living creatures said, “Amen!” Then the elders fell down and worshiped.
- Revelation 19:4-6 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “Amen! Hallelujah!” A voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great!” I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 15. For all things are for your sakes He…
15. For all things are for your sakes He now associates himself with the Corinthians, not merely in the hope of future blessedness, but also in these very afflictions, in which they might seem to differ from him most widely, for he lets them know, that, if he is afflicted, it is for their benefit. Hence it follows, that there was good reason why they should transfer part of them to themselves. What Paul states, depends first of all on that secret fellowship, which the members of Christ have with one another, but chiefly on that mutual connection and relationship, which required more especially to be manifested among them. Now this admonition was fraught with great utility to the Corinthians, and brought with it choice consolation. For what consolation there is in this — that while God, sparing our weakness, deals with us more gently, those that are endowed with more distinguished excellence, are afflicted for the common advantage of all! They were also admonished, that, since they could not aid Paul otherwise, they should, at least, help him by their prayers and sympathy.
That the grace which hath abounded. That agreement between the members of Christ he now commends on the ground of the fruit that springs from it — its tendency to advance the glory of God. By a metonymy, according to his usual manner, he means, by the term grace, that blessing of deliverance, of which he had made mention previously — that,
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while he was weighed down, he was, nevertheless, not in anxiety: while oppressed with poverty, he was not left destitute, etc., (2 Corinthians 4:8, 9,)
and in fine, that he had a deliverance continually afforded him from every kind of evil This grace, he says, overflows. By this he means, that it was not confined to himself personally, so that he alone enjoys it, but it extends itself farther — namely, to the Corinthians, to whom it was of great advantage. When he makes the overflowing of God’s gift consist in gratitude, tending to the glory of its Author, he admonishes us, that every blessing that God confers upon us perishes through our carelessness, if we are not prompt and active in rendering thanks.
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 When it shall please God to deliver me, and…
When it shall please God to deliver me, and restore me to you, that exceeding benefit which shall be poured upon me, shall in like sort redound to the glory of God, by the thanksgiving of many.
He showeth how this constancy is preserved in them, to wit, because they respect God’s glory, and the salvation of the Churches committed unto them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 15 For all things are for your sakes, that…
15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
Ver. 15. That the abundant grace] This is one end wherefore God suffers his ministers to be subject to so many miseries, that the people might be put upon prayer and praise for their deliverance.
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 All things that Christ hath done and suffered, his…
All things that Christ hath done and suffered, his death, and his resurrection from the dead, and all things that I have done or suffered, all
are for your sakes; that the greater benefit it be which you receive from God, the greater praise, honour, and glory might redound to him by
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the thanksgiving of many; for God can be no otherwise glorified by us, than by the predicating of his mercy and goodness, and the praising of hint for the mercies which we receive from him. The more God doth good unto, the more honour, praise, and glory redoundeth to his name.
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 For which cause we faint not,.... Since our afflictions…
For which cause we faint not,.... Since our afflictions are overruled for the good of others, and the glory of God, we are not discouraged by them; our spirits do not sink under the weight of them; we do not give out from the work of the ministry because of them, but go on cheerfully therein: and the more so, since
though our outward man perish; our outward circumstances of life are very mean and despicable; we are oftentimes in a very distressed condition through hunger, thirst, nakedness, and want of the common necessaries of life; our bodies are almost worn out with fatigue, labour, and sorrow; our earthly tabernacles are tottering, and just ready to fall in pieces:
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yet the inward man is renewed day by day; that is, continually; it answers to , an Hebraism; see Est 2:11 the internal hidden man of the heart, the new man is in a prosperous condition; our souls are in good health; the work of God is comfortably carried on in us; we have sweet and repeated experiences of the love of God; we are growing in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ; and, like the palm tree, the more weight is hung upon it, the more it thrives; and, like the children of Israel in Egypt, the more they were afflicted the more they grew.
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 For all things - Whether adverse or prosperous. Are…
For all things - Whether adverse or prosperous. Are for your sakes - For the profit of all that believe, as well as all that preach. That the overflowing grace - Which continues you alive both in soul and body. Might abound yet more through the thanksgiving of many - For thanksgiving invites more: abundant grace.
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. For all things are for your sakes]…
Verse 15. For all things are for your sakes] We proclaim all these truths and bear all these sufferings for your sakes, thinking all our sufferings nothing if we can gain converts to Christ, and build believers up on their most holy faith.
That the abundant grace] Ἡ χαρις πλεονασασα· The abounding benefit-the copious outpouring of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, by which you have been favoured and enriched, may, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God: i.e. that the gratitude of the multitudes which have been converted may keep pace with the blessings which they have received, and περισσευση, abound, as these blessings have abounded.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For all things are for your sakes - All…
For all things are for your sakes - All these things; these glorious hopes, and truths, and prospects; these self-denials of the apostles, and these provisions of the plan of mercy.
For your sakes - On your account. They are designed to promote your salvation. They are not primarily for the welfare of those who engage in these toils and self-denials; but the whole arrangement and execution of the plan of salvation, and all the self-denial evinced by those who are engaged in making that plan known, are in order that you might be benefitted. One object of Paul in this statement, doubtless, is, to conciliate their favor, and remove the objections which had been made to him by a faction in the church at Corinth.
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That the abundant grace - Grace abounding, or overflowing. The rich mercy of God that should be manifested by these means. It is implied here, that grace would abound by means of these labors and self-denials of the apostles. The grace referred to here is that which would be conferred on them in consequence of these labors.
Through the thanksgiving of many - That many may have occasion of gratitude to God; that by these labors more persons may be led to praise him. It was an object with Paul so to labor that as many as possible might be led to praise God, and have occasion to thank him to all eternity.
Redound to the glory of God - That God may have augmented praise; that his glory in the salvation of people may abound. The sentiment of the passage is, that it would be for the glory of God that as many as possible should be brought to give praise and thanksgivings to him; and that, therefore, Paul endeavored to make as many converts as possible. He denied himself; he welcomed toil; he encountered enemies; he subjected himself to dangers; and he sought by all means possible to bring as many as could be brought to praise God. The word “redound” (περισσεύῃ perisseuē) here means abound, or be abundant; and the sense is, that the overflowing grace thus evinced in the salvation of many would so abound as to promote the glory of God.
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 For all things, that we suffer, are for your…
For all things, that we suffer, are for your sakes, that many may be brought to give thanks, and to praise God for eternity. This encourages us not to fail, nor faint in the cause of God, under these momentary and light tribulations, which mark in us above measure, an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. See the Greek text. (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 For--Confirming his assertion "with you" (Co2 4:14), and "life…
For--Confirming his assertion "with you" (Co2 4:14), and "life . . . worketh in you" (Co2 4:12).
all things--whether the afflictions and labors of us ministers (Co2 4:8-11), or your prosperity (Co2 4:12; Co1 3:21-22; Co1 4:8-13).
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for your sakes-- (Ti2 2:10).
abundant grace, &c.--rather, "That grace (the grace which preserves us in trials and works life in you), being made the greater (multiplied), by means of the greater number (of its recipients), may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God." [CHRYSOSTOM] (Co2 1:11; Co2 9:11-12). The Greek is susceptible also of this translation, "That grace, being made the greater (multiplied) on account of the thanksgiving of the greater number (for grace already received), may abound (abundantly redound) to," &c. Thus the Greek for "abound" has not to be taken in an active sense, but in its ordinary neuter sense, and so the other Greek words. Thanksgiving invites more abundant grace (Ch2 20:19-22; Psa 18:3; Psa 50:23).
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. With you, I say, (see last verse,) for…
15. With you, I say, (see last verse,) for all things in the glorious provisions made through Christ’s death, and insured by his resurrection, are not only for us apostles, but also for your sakes. A divine reason is now given why these provisions are not limited to apostles, but flow over to embrace the whole Church: namely, in order that (literally) the abounding grace may, through the thanksgiving of a greater number, redound to God’s glory. The greater the number saved the more immense the gratitude, and, in climax, the more superabounding the glory thence accruing.
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. For all things are for your sakes] Cf.…
15. For all things are for your sakes] Cf. 1Co_3:22, as well as the numerous passages in that Epistle where the well-being of mankind is represented as St Paul’s (and indeed God’s) only object, e.g. 1Co_6:12, 1Co_10:23.
that the abundant grace] Literally, that grace having abounded. There is a very similar passage in ch. 2Co_1:11. And this passage, like that, is capable of being construed in various ways. We may either take it (1) that grace, having abounded, might multiply on account of the thanksgiving of the greater number; or (2) that grace, having abounded, may by means of the greater number, multiply the thanksgiving to the glory of God, or (3) that grace, having abounded through the greater number, may multiply the thanksgiving to the glory of God. The last would seem the preferable rendering. For (1) God’s grace or favour abounds the more, the greater the number who are turned to Him, (2) the larger the number of converts, the greater the thanksgiving to God (for this use of ‘the greater number, see 1Co_9:19); and (3) the word translated ‘redound’ in the A. V. has also the transitive sense of ‘make to abound,’ as in Eph_1:8; 1Th_3:12, and ch. 2Co_9:8. The Greek here, as in 2Co_4:11, indicates God’s purpose, which having its origin in His love, issues in beneficence. In the happiness and gratitude of the beings He has created, He has thought fit to find His own.
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) For all things are for your sakes.—We can…
(15) For all things are for your sakes.—We can scarcely doubt that he thinks in his own mind, and intends to remind them, of the glorious words of 1Co_3:22-23.
That the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many . . .—More accurately, that grace, having abounded by means of the greater part of you, may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. The passage is nearly parallel to 2Co_1:11. He takes for granted that the grace which he has received has been given in answer to the prayers, if not of all the Corinthians, yet at least of the majority (comp. the same distinction drawn in 2Co_2:6), and he is sure that it will, in its turn, cause their thanksgiving to be as copious as their prayers. The passage is, however, obscure in its construction, and two other renderings of the Greek are grammatically possible, which is more than can be said of the English version: (1) “that grace having abounded, may, for the sake of the thanksgiving of the greater part of you, redound . . .”; and (2) “that grace having abounded, may, by means of the greater part of you, cause thanksgiving to redound . . .” What has been given above is, it is believed, the closest to St. Paul’s meaning.
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 All things are for your sakes. St. Paul has…
All things are for your sakes. St. Paul has already implied that his life is not his own setup, (2Co_1:6; 1Co_3:22, 1Co_3:23) and he recurs to the same thought in Col_1:24, and repeats once again towards the close of his life: "I endure all things for the elect"s sakes". (2Ti_2:10) Might ... redound. The verb perisseuo may mean either "I abound" or "I make to abound" as in 2Co_9:8 and Eph_1:8. Here there is a similar thought to that expressed in 2Co_1:11, and the best rendering is, In order that the Divine favour, being multiplied through the greater number (of those who share in it) may make the thanksgiving (which it excites) abound to the honour of God.
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. For all things are for your sakes. Our…
15. For all things are for your sakes. Our suffering, our dying daily, and the glorious hope, and the result of these things is that the thanksgiving of multitudes of the saved should redound to the glory of God.
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 For all things are for your sakes, that the…
For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound unto the glory of God . [The whole gospel ministry is for the sake of the believer, for the believer is the recipient of the grace of God, and the returner of thanks to God. God is glorified in him both by the grace which he bestows upon him and the thanksgiving which he receives from him. It therefore follows that the more believers there are, the more grace there is bestowed and the more thanksgiving there is received, and hence the more God is glorified.]
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain abundant grace
abundant grace
Grace (imparted). 2Co 6:1-3; Rom 6:1; 2Pe 3:18.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.