2 Corinthians 10:18

2 Corinthians 10:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.
• New International Version (NIV)For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

Context of 2 Corinthians 10:18

16Then we want to tell God's good news to people in places beyond where you are. Those are not places where God has sent other people to work. Then we will not be praising ourselves for the work that anyone else has done. 17The Bible says this: ‘If you want to be proud about something, be proud of what the Lord has done.’ Who is really good? It is not the person who praises himself. It is the person that the Lord says is a good person.

2 Corinthians 10:18 word by word

οὐ γὰρ ὁ ἑαυτὸν συνιστάνων, ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν δόκιμος, ἀλλ᾽ ὃν ὁ κύριος συνίστησιν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• notοὐou · noG3756
• he thatἐκεῖνοςekeinos · thatG1565
• commendethσυνίστημι, συνιστάωsunistaō sunistanō sunistēmi · to commendG4921
• himselfἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• approvedδόκιμοςdokimos · testedG1384
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• whomὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• the Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962

Cross-references for 2 Corinthians 10:18

• 2 Corinthians 10:12Some people praise themselves. They say how clever they are. But we could never do that. We could not even try to be like those people. But they do not understand anything. They decide among themselves how good they are. They look at one another to see if they are better or worse.
• 2 Corinthians 3:1We do not need any more to show that our work is good. Some people need to have letters from other people to say that they do good work. We do not need to show you letters like that. Nor do we need you to write a letter like that for us.
• 2 Corinthians 5:12We are not trying again to make you think that our work is good. But we do want to give you the chance to be proud of us. Then you will be able to show the false teachers that they are wrong. They are proud about what they look like on the outside. They do not think about what they are really like inside themselves.
• Proverbs 21:2People think that everything they do is right, but the Lord knows exactly why they are doing it.
• Proverbs 27:2Let other people praise you. Do not boast about yourself.
• Luke 16:15Jesus replied, ‘You are happy when people like you. You want them to think that you are good people. But God sees inside you. He knows what you are thinking. The things that many people think are valuable are not valuable to God. He hates those things.’
• Luke 18:10Jesus said, ‘One day, two men went into the temple to pray. One man was a Pharisee. The other man took taxes from people.
• 2 Corinthians 6:4Instead, in everything that we do, we want to show that we are God's servants. When people want to hurt us, we are patient and brave. We have many troubles. We become sad and upset.
• 2 Corinthians 13:7Now we pray to God that you will not do any wrong things. We do not pray this to show that God has accepted us as good. We pray like that because we want you to do what is right. We want that, even if we ourselves seem to have failed.
• Acts 2:22Peter then said, ‘People of Israel, listen to what I am saying! Jesus, the man from Nazareth, came with God's authority to do his work. God did many powerful and special things through him. These miracles showed you clearly that God had sent him. You know about all this. These things happened here, and you saw them.
• Romans 14:18If anyone serves Christ in that way, they will make God happy. And other people will respect them.
• Romans 16:10Say ‘hello’ to Apelles. He has shown that he trusts Christ very well. Say ‘hello’ to those people who belong to Aristobulus's family.
• 1 Corinthians 11:19Perhaps there must be separate groups among you. Then everyone can see clearly which group God accepts as right!
• 2 Timothy 2:15Always try very much to serve God in a way that makes him happy. Then he will accept you as a good worker that he can trust. You must teach God's true message correctly. Then you will have no reason to be ashamed of your work.
• Matthew 25:20The servant who had received 5,000 gold coins came to his master. The servant said, “Master, you gave me 5,000 gold coins. Now I have an extra 5,000 gold coins.”
• John 5:42But I know what kind of people you are. I know that you do not really love God.

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 10:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Not he that commendeth himself - Not the person who makes a parade of his own attainments; who preaches himself, and not Christ Jesus the Lord; and, far from being your servant for Christ's sake, affects to be your ruler; not such a one shall be approved of God, by an especial blessing on his labors; but he whom the Lord commendeth, by giving him the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, and converting the heathen by his ministry. These were…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18For not he that commendeth himself … - Not he who boasts of his talents and endowments. He is not to be judged by the estimate which he shall place on himself, but by the estimate which God shall form and express. Is approved - By God. It is no evidence that we shall be saved that we are prone to commend ourselves; see Romans 16:10. But whom the Lord commendeth - see the note on Romans 2:29. The idea here is, that people are to be approved or rejected by…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-18Verses 12-18 If we would compare ourselves with others who excel us, this would be a good method to keep us humble. The apostle fixes a good rule for his conduct; namely, not to boast of things without his measure, which was the measure God had distributed to him. There is not a more fruitful source of error, than to judge of persons and opinions by our own prejudices. How common is it for persons to judge of their own religious character, by the opinions…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-18Paul quotes Jeremiah 9:24 to show that the Lord guides all missionaries. Boasting does not matter much. Success only matters when the Lord praises our service.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. (Pr 27:2). whom the Lord commendeth--to whom the Lord has given as His "Epistle of commendation," the believers whom he has been the instrument of converting: as was Paul's case (2Co 3:1-3). is approved--can stand the test of the final trial. A metaphor from testing metals (Ro 16:10; 1Co 11:19). So on the other hand those finally rejected by the Lord are termed "reprobate silver" (Jr 6:30).Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Corinthians 10:18

• Boasting
• God
• Pride
• Self-Exaltation
• Self-Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• Approved
• Beseech
• Captivity
• Measure
• Walk
• Warfare
• Weapon
• Commend
• Corinthians, Second Epistle to the
• Galatians, Epistle to the

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings