Texts in Conversation
In 2 Corinthians, Paul teaches that gifts are valuable when given willingly and proportional to their possessions. This follows a similar teaching in Tobit, which encourages giving in proportion to what someone has, whether great or small.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 4:8
Deuterocanon
7 Give alms of your substance: do not turn away your face from any poor man, and the face of God shall not be turned away from you, 8 As your substance is, give alms of it according to your abundance: if you have much, according to the abundance of it, give alms; if you have little bestow it, and do not be afraid to give alms according to that little: 9 for you lay up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity: 10 because alms delivers from death, and does not allow one to come into darkness.
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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 CE (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.” ..."
David W. J. Gill and Moyer Hubbard, 1 and 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 219.
* 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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