What Does 2 Corinthians 9:14 Mean?
And through their prayer for you, yearning toward you for the surpassing favor of God upon you.
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
And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.THE KEY
God’s favor in you becomes a presence that draws others into prayer and longing for you.
THE MEANING
Others pray for you with a real longing to be near you. What draws them is the surpassing favor of God present in you. That favor becomes a bond between your life and theirs.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
God’s favor is not a private reward that leaves you separate; its presence in you draws others toward you.
THE ROOT
χάριν
charin
GROWS FROM
χαρ-
char-
Greek word-family stem associated with favor and gracious giving.
English “grace” can sound like an abstract quality; this word names favor shown or bestowed. Its word family includes freely granted favor and a favor-gift, so what is “in you” can be encountered by others as something relational and shareable.
ALSO GROWS
charizomai: Show favor, grant freely, or forgive.
χαρίζομαι
This branch shows favor as something actively given, echoing the favor others encounter in you.
charisma: A gift granted as favor.
χάρισμα
This branch makes favor tangible: it can take the form of something received and shared.
ἐπιποθούντων
epipothountōn
GROWS FROM
ποθέω
potheō
Long for; yearn.
“yearning toward” in this verse is epipothountōn. The phrase carries more than approval or polite concern; it describes a yearning directed toward you. Their prayer is personal and relational, drawn toward the favor they see in you.
ALSO GROWS
epipotheō: Long for; yearn.
ἐπιποθέω
This related verb expresses the same reaching desire that makes their prayer more than a distant wish.
epipothēsis: Longing; yearning.
ἐπιπόθησις
This noun names the desire that the verse places alongside prayer for you.
THE PATTERN
God’s favor is relational: it is received as recognition and moves outward as encouragement and shared gifts.
And the LORD said to Moses, I will do this word also that you have spoken, for you have found favor in my eyes, and I have known you by name.Who, when he came, and saw the favor of God, rejoiced, and urged them all, that with heart set in place they would cling to the Lord.As each has received a gift, serve it to one another as good stewards of the many-colored favor of God.THE THREAD
As each has received a gift, serve it to one another as good stewards of the many-colored favor of God.Here, “gift” and “grace” belong to the same Greek word family, tying what a person receives to what they pass along. That makes the longing in 2 Corinthians 9:14 concrete: the favor in you is encountered through what is given to others.
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