Texts in Conversation
Paul in 2 Corinthians 8 follows Jewish and Greco-Roman traditions, such as the Greek philosopher Dio Chrysostom, where generosity is measured by proportion and sincerity, not the amount given.
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2 Corinthians 8:12
New Testament
10 So here is my opinion on this matter: It is to your advantage, since you made a good start last year both in your giving and your desire to give, 11 to finish what you started, so that just as you wanted to do it eagerly, you can also complete it according to your means. 12 For if the eagerness is present, the gift itself is acceptable according to whatever one has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not say this so there would be relief for others and suffering for you, but as a matter of equality. 14 At the present time, your abundance will meet their need, so that one day their abundance may also meet your need, and thus there may be equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
Date: 55-57 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Dio Chrysostom Discourse 7
Classical
87 A poor man, if he be of strong character, finds the little that he has sufficient both to enable him to regain his health when his body has been attacked by an illness not too severe — when, for example, he is visited by the sort of malady that usually attacks hard-working people whenever they overeat — and also to give acceptable gifts to strangers when they come — gifts willingly given that do not arouse the recipient’s suspicion or give him offence, 88 perhaps not silver bowls, or embroidered robes, or a four-horse chariot, which were the gifts of Helen and Menelaus to Telemachus. For the poor man would be unlikely to have such guests to welcome as satraps or kings, for instance, unless they were very temperate and good men in whose eyes no gift is inadequate which is prompted by affection. But guests that are dissolute and tyrannical they would neither be able, I suppose, to serve acceptably nor, perhaps, would they care to extend such hospitality. 89 For it surely did not turn out any better for Menelaus that he was able to receive the wealthiest prince of Asia as a guest and that nobody else in Sparta was equal to entertaining the son of King Priam.
Date: 70-100 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The sentiment expressed here was widely held in the Jewish and Greco-Roman world and is illustrated in the story of “the widow’s mite” in Mark 12:41–44. On the Jewish side, Tobit 4:8 is relevant: “Measure your alms by what you have; if you have much, give more; if you have little, do not be afraid to give less in alms.” The enlightened pagan moralist Dio Chrysostom thought along similar lines: “No gift is inadequate which is prompted by affection.” ..."
* 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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