What Does 2 Corinthians 8:5 Mean in the King James?
And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The first gift is the giver: what reaches others flows from the self already given to God.
THE MEANING
Generosity begins before anything changes hands: the self is first given to the Lord, then offered in service to others. The verse presents these as one movement shaped by God’s will.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that generosity is measured only by what leaves your hand; here, the giver is part of the gift.
THE ROOT
ἔδωκαν
edōkan
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι (didōmi), stem διδ- (did-)
to give, grant, or place something into another’s hands
“gave” in this verse is edōkan. The verb makes the people themselves the thing given: they give themselves to the Lord. Its compounds carry the same movement into handing something over or giving it back, showing that the outward gift begins with the giver placed in God’s care.
ALSO GROWS
paradidōmi: hand over, entrust
παραδίδωμι
It extends giving into a personal handover, echoing the verse’s picture of the self entrusted to the Lord.
apodidōmi: give back, repay
ἀποδίδωμι
It shows giving as something returned or passed onward, illuminating how what is given to God can also reach others.
THE PATTERN
Giving becomes whole when the giver is included in the gift.
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.THE THREAD
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.The same verb, δίδωμι (didōmi, “to give”), appears here as ἔδωκεν (edōken, “gave”). God’s giving of the Son echoes the people giving themselves: in both verses, giving carries personal involvement, not just transfer.
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