Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 9:5

"I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your aforepromised bounty, that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty, and not of extortion." — 2 Corinthians 9:5 (ASV)

To make certain that neither of these predicaments arose, Paul “thought it necessary to urge the brothers” to prepare for his coming to Corinth by supervising final arrangements for the collection there. He reminds the Corinthians of their earlier commitment (“the generous gift you had promised”). By a prompt response when the brothers arrived, they would be fulfilling an obligation they had voluntarily assumed and would ensure that the gift was not “grudgingly given.” Twice in this verse the Corinthian contribution is called a “generous gift” (Gk. eulogia, “blessing”: GK 2330), a biblical word that refers either to an act of blessing or consecration or to some concrete benefit given by God or a human being. Here the latter meaning is more appropriate—“a benefit bestowed” by the Corinthian believers on the Jerusalem saints. But other ideas are also suggested. (1) The Corinthian contribution would be an act that produced the blessing of thanksgiving to God; cf. vv.11–13). (2) Paul hoped that the “collection” (Gk. logeia, 1 Corinthians 16:1) at Corinth would be a “first-rate collection” (eu-logia). (3) Since “blessing” implies generosity, the word may denote “a generous gift” (NIV).