Texts in Conversation
2 Corinthians 9 encourages giving with cheerfulness, echoing Sirach 35, which links generosity with gladness and divine reward. Both belong to a Jewish wisdom tradition that emphasizes voluntary, joyful giving rather than reluctant obligation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 35:11
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
9 The sacrifice of a righteous man is acceptable. It won’t be forgotten. 10 Glorify the Lord with generosity. Don’t reduce the first fruits of your hands. 11 In every gift show a cheerful face, and dedicate your tithe with gladness. 12 Give to the Most High according as he has given. As your hand has found, give generously. 13 For the Lord repays, and he will repay you sevenfold. 14 Don’t plan to bribe him with gifts, for he will not receive them.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
2 Corinthians 9:7
New Testament
5 Therefore I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you in advance and to arrange ahead of time the generous contribution you had promised, so this may be ready as a generous gift and not as something you feel forced to do. 6 My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work. 9 Just as it is written, “He has scattered widely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever.”
Date: 55–57 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... 2 Corinthians 9:7 ... Paul here cites standard Jewish wisdom; willingness may evoke Exodus 25:2, 35:5, 21-22 (compare 1 Chronicles 29:6-9; Ezra 2:68), suggesting that Paul had a fairly developed theology of giving based on the Old Testament. “Not reluctantly” echoes Deuteronomy 15:10 in the Septuagint. “God loves a cheerful giver” is from an addition to Proverbs 22:8 in the Septuagint (“God blesses a cheerful and giving person”; compare Sirach 35:11). The term rendered “cheerful” often applied in Jewish texts to gifts for the poor ..."
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2014), 514.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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