2 Corinthians 9:10

Contextual Overview

⁶ Remember this: The one who plants few seeds will have a small harvest. But the one who plants a lot will have a big harvest. ⁶ The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁶ This yet remember howe that he which soweth lytell shall reepe lytell: and he yt soweth plenteously shall reepe plenteously. ⁶ Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁶ Now I say this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows generously will also reap generously. ⁶ Remember this: The person who plants a little will have a small harvest, but the person who plants a lot will have a big harvest. ⁶ But this [I say,] He that sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. ⁶ But this [I say], He who soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he who soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully. ⁶ The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁶ Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he: Genesis 1:11, Genesis 1:12, Genesis 47:19, Genesis 47:23, Genesis 47:24, Isaiah 55:10

multiply: 2 Corinthians 9:6, Proverbs 11:18, Ecclesiastes 11:6, Philippians 4:17

increase: Hosea 10:12, Matthew 6:1, Ephesians 5:9, Philippians 1:11, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:10

Reciprocal: Genesis 26:12 - an hundredfold Leviticus 25:21 - I will Psalms 107:37 - which may Psalms 112:9 - dispersed Psalms 132:15 - bless her provision Song of Solomon 4:16 - the spices Matthew 13:23 - some an John 15:5 - same John 15:8 - is James 3:17 - full

Cross-References

Genesis 8:1
But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.

Genesis 8:1
And God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided;

Genesis 8:1
But God remembered Noah and all the wild and tame animals with him in the boat. He made a wind blow over the earth, and the water went down.

Genesis 8:1
But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over the earth and the waters receded.

Genesis 8:1
And God remembered Noah, and every living animal, and all the cattle that [were] with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters were checked.

Genesis 8:1
God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.

Genesis 8:1
And God remembered and thought kindly of Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind blow over the land, and the waters receded.

Genesis 8:1
Forsothe the Lord hadde mynde of Noe, and of alle lyuynge beestis, and of alle werk beestis, that weren with hym in the schip; and brouyte a wynd on the erthe.

Genesis 8:1
And God remembereth Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle which [are] with him in the ark, and God causeth a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subside,

Genesis 8:1
But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And He sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now he that ministereth seed to the sower, and bread for your food,.... For so the words ought to be pointed and read, as is clear from Isaiah 55:10 to which they refer; and are a "periphrasis" of God, who so blesses the seed that is cast into the earth, that it brings forth such an increase, as that there is a sufficiency of bread for food to the eater for the present year, and a sufficiency of seed to sow with again the next year; and that God, that does this every year, is able "to minister to", or supply your present necessities;

and to multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; though some consider these as a wish or prayer of the apostle's, that God would do all this for them. Some copies, and the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, read all in the future tense, "he will minister" to you, or "supply" you, "and will multiply your seed sown",

and will increase the fruits of your righteousness; and so contain a promise of a divine blessing, encouraging to liberality with cheerfulness, by strengthening their faith in the providence of God; who as he multiplies, not the seed expended in the family, or sold at market, or as in the barn, or laid up for a better price, but the seed sown in the field, so he will multiply the substance of men; not what they lay out on themselves and families, or lay up in their coffers, but what they give away, or bestow on Christ's poor: and all effects which follow acts of liberality, and which are here designed by "fruits of righteousness", such as a good name among men, blessing, praise, thanksgiving, and prosperity in things temporal and spiritual, these God will abundantly increase; some of which are mentioned in the following verses. So alms with the Jews is not only called צדקה, "righteousness", but "seed sown". Thus Jarchi interprets Psalms 37:26 "and his seed is blessed", he that

זורע, "sows" righteousness or alms, its end shall be for a blessing, or in the end he shall be blessed; and the phrase, "rain righteousness", in Hosea 10:12 is by the Septuagint rendered, γεννηματα δικαιοσυνης, "fruits of righteousness", the same as here, from whence it seems to be taken.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Now he that ministereth seed to the sower - This is an expression of an earnest wish. In the previous verses he had stated the promises, or had shown what we had a right to expect as a consequence of liberality. He here unites the expression of an earnest desire that they might experience this themselves. The allusion is to the act of sowing seed. The idea is, that when a man scatters seed in his field God provides him with the means of sowing again. He not only gives him a harvest to supply his needs, but he blesses him also in giving him the ability to sow again. Such was the benevolent wish of Paul. He desired not only that God would supply their returning needs, but he desired also that he would give them the ability to do good again; that he would furnish them the means of future benevolence. He acknowledges God as the source of all increase, and wishes that they may experience the results of such increase. Perhaps in this language there is an allusion to Isa 4:10; and the idea is, that it is God who furnishes by his providence the seed to the sower. In like manner he will furnish you the means of doing good.

Minister bread for your food - Furnish you with an ample supply for your needs.

Multiply your seed sown - Greatly increase your means of doing good; make the result of all your benefactions so to abound that you may have the means of doing good again, and on a larger scale, as the seed sown in the earth is so increased that the farmer may have the means of sowing more abundantly again.

And increase the fruits of your righteousness - This evidently means, the results and effects of their benevolence. The word “righteousness” here refers to their liberality; and the wish of the apostle is, that the results of their beneficence might greatly abound, that they might have the means of doing extensive good, and that they might be the means of diffusing happiness from afar.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Corinthians 9:10. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower — The sower, as we have already seen, is he that gives alms of what he hath; and God, who requires him to give these alms, is here represented as providing him with the means. As in the creation, if God had not created the earth with every tree and plant with its seed in itself, so that a harvest came, without a previous ploughing and sowing, there could have been no seed to deposit in the earth; so, if God had not, in the course of his providence, given them the property they had, it would be impossible for them to give alms. And as even the well cultivated and sowed field would be unfruitful if God did not, by his unseen energy and blessing, cause it to bring forth, and bring to maturity; so would it have been with their property: it could not have increased; for without his blessing riches take wings and flee away, as an eagle towards heaven. Therefore, in every sense, it is God who ministers seed to the sower, and multiplies the seed sown. And as all this properly comes from God, and cannot exist without him, he has a right to require that it be dispensed in that way which he judges best.

The word ο επιχορηγων, he that ministereth, is very emphatic; it signifies he who leads up the chorus, from επι, to, and χορηγω to lead the chorus; it means also to join to, associate, to supply or furnish one thing after another so that there be no want or chasm. Thus God is represented, in the course of his providence, associating and connecting causes and effects; keeping every thing in its proper place and state of dependence on another, and all upon himself; so that summer and winter, heat and cold, seed time and harvest, regularly succeed each other. Thus God leads up this grand chorus of causes and effects: provides the seed to the hand of the sower; gives him skill to discern the times when the earth should be prepared for the grain, and when the grain should be sowed; blesses the earth, and causes it to bring forth and bud, so that it may again minister seed to the sower and bread to the eater; and, by a watchful providence, preserves every thing. The figure is beautiful, and shows us the grand system of causes and effects, all directed by and under the immediate guidance and government of God himself.

There is a fine exemplification of this in the same figure thus produced by the prophet. Hosea 2:21; Hosea 2:22: I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens; and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. See the note there.

The fruits of your righteousness — Your beneficence; for so δικαιοσυνη is here to be understood. Matthew 6:1, already referred to.