Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Corinthians 8:10

"And herein I give [my] judgment: for this is expedient for you, who were the first to make a beginning a year ago, not only to do, but also to will." — 2 Corinthians 8:10 (ASV)

And herein I give my advice.—We note the same careful distinction between command and counsel that we have seen in 1 Corinthians 7:25.

Who have begun before . . .—Better, who got the start, last year, not only in the doing, but also in the willing. At first, the words seem like an anti-climax, but what is meant is that the Corinthians were ahead of the Macedonian churches in both those stages.

They had formed the purpose of giving; they had begun to set aside and to collect, before their rivals had started. They had, as it were, scored those two points in that game of honourable competition.

It was “profitable for them” that he, as a bystander watching the game, should give them a hint, so that they might not ultimately be ignominiously defeated.

It is not easy to fix the exact limits of time indicated in the phrase “year ago.” The First Epistle was written around Easter. Then, after Paul remained at Ephesus for a while, his journey took him to Troas, and then to Macedonia. Following this, Titus arrived, reporting that the Corinthians had acted on the command of 1 Corinthians 16:1.

This would bring the timeline to the autumn months. Consequently, St. Paul, reckoning as a Jew would that the year begins with Tisri (September or October), might speak of what had taken place in April or May as done “last year,” even though a full twelve months had not passed.