What Does 2 Corinthians 8:20 Mean?
Drawing back from this, that no one should find a blemish in us in this fullness which is served by us.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:THE KEY
The abundance is not merely managed; the word behind “administered” makes its handling an act of service.
THE MEANING
When abundance passes through your hands, its handling is part of the service itself. Care in its administration makes the work visible and leaves less room for a charge against it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A good cause makes it unnecessary for anyone to see how its abundance is handled.
THE ROOT
διακονουμένη
diakonoumenē
GROWS FROM
διακον-
diakon-
To serve or attend to another’s need.
“served” in this verse is diakonoumenē. English “administered” can sound like office work; the Greek word means serving or attending to another. The verse places abundance within that service: handling it is part of what is being given.
ALSO GROWS
diakonía: Service; ministry.
διακονία
The same word family names service itself, showing that handling the abundance is part of the ministry.
diákonos: Servant; minister.
διάκονος
This branch names the one who serves, placing the handler in a relationship of service to others.
μωμήσηται
mōmēsētai
GROWS FROM
μωμ-
mōm-
Blemish; fault.
“find a blemish in” in this verse is mōmēsētai. The word translated “blame” belongs to a family built around blemish and finding fault. It frames the risk as a visible stain on the work’s integrity, which is why the verse attends to how the abundance is handled.
ALSO GROWS
mōmáomai: To blame; find fault.
μωμάομαι
This is the verb used here, connecting a charge against the handlers with the act of finding fault.
ámōmos: Without blemish; blameless.
ἄμωμος
Its opposite sense shows the same word-family’s image of a work free from a visible flaw.
THE PATTERN
Abundance entrusted to service is kept credible through transparent care.
Looking ahead to what is beautiful, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of people.Scales of deceit are an abomination to the LORD, but a whole stone is his delight.The one who is steady in the least is steady also in much, and the one who is crooked in the least is crooked also in much.THE THREAD
As each has received a gift, serve it to one another as good stewards of the many-colored favor of God.The Greek verb translated “minister” belongs to the same word family as “administered” here, whose core sense is serving another. That shared root reveals stewardship as abundance moving through service toward others.
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