2 Corinthians 3:1

2 Corinthians 3:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
• New International Version (NIV)Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you?

Context of 2 Corinthians 3:1

We 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. 2You yourselves show that we have done good work. You are like a letter that is written on our lives. Everybody can read that letter and they can understand it. 3It is clear that you are a like a letter that Christ himself has written. We are the people who brought God's message to you. Now people see what God has done in your lives. That is like a letter that they read. But it is not a letter written on paper with ink. It is the Spirit of the living God who wrote it. He did not write it on pieces of stone. Instead, he wrote it deep inside you.

2 Corinthians 3:1 word by word

Ἀρχόμεθα πάλιν ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνειν; ἢ μὴ χρῄζομεν ὥς τινες συστατικῶν ἐπιστολῶν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἢ ἐξ ὑμῶνRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Do we beginἄρχομαιarchomai · to rule/beginG756
• againπάλινpalin · againG3825
• to commendσυνίστημι, συνιστάωsunistaō sunistanō sunistēmi · to commendG4921
• ourselvesἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• orεἰei · ifG1487
• ·μήmē · notG3361
• need weχρῄζωchrēzō · to needG5535
• asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• someτιςtis · oneG5100
• epistlesἐπιστολήepistolē · epistleG1992
• of commendationσυστατικόςsustatikos · recommendedG4956
• toπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• youσύsu · youG4771
• orἤē · orG2228
• ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537

Cross-references for 2 Corinthians 3:1

• 2 Corinthians 2:17Some people even tell God's message because they want to get a lot of money for themselves. But we are not like them. No, God himself has sent us to do this work. And he sees what we are doing. So we are honest and we speak God's message clearly, as Christ's servants should do.
• 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.
• 2 Corinthians 10:8You may think that I am too proud of my authority. But it is the Lord who has given that authority to us apostles. We have that authority so that we can help you become stronger as believers. We do not have it so that we can destroy you! So I am not ashamed to be proud of this.
• 2 Corinthians 12:11I am speaking like a proud fool, but you have made me do it. You yourselves should be saying good things about me. I may not be important. But I am as good as those very special apostles.
• 1 Corinthians 3:10I am like a good builder. God has given that job to me and he has helped me to do it well. I was the person who built the foundation. Now other people are building on that foundation. But each person must be careful how he builds.
• 1 Corinthians 4:15When I told the good news about Jesus Christ to you, I became like a father for you. You may have ten thousand teachers to help you understand the message about Christ. But I am the only person who is like a father for you.
• 1 Corinthians 10:33Copy my example. Whatever I do, I try to make other people happy. I do not try to do what will help me. Instead, I want to help other people. I live in that way so that God will save many people.
• Acts 18:27Later, Apollos decided to go to the region called Achaia. The believers in Ephesus agreed that he should do that. They wrote a letter for him to give to the believers in Achaia. They wrote, ‘When Apollos arrives, please accept him.’ God had been very kind to the believers in Achaia, so that they believed in Jesus. When Apollos came to them, he helped them very much.
• 1 Corinthians 16:3When I arrive there, you should choose people from your group who will take your gift to Jerusalem. I will write some letters that they will take with them. The letters will explain about your gift.

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 3:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Do we begin again to commend ourselves - By speaking thus of our sincerity, Divine mission, etc., is it with a design to conciliate your esteem, or ingratiate ourselves in your affections? By no means. Or need we - epistles of commendation - Are we so destitute of ministerial abilities and Divine influence that we need, in order to be received in different Churches, to have letters of recommendation? Certainly not. God causes us to triumph through Christ…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Do we begin again - This is designed evidently to meet an objection. He had been speaking of his triumph in the ministry 2 Corinthians 2:14, and of his sincerity and honesty, as contrasted with the conduct of many who corrupted the Word of God, 2 Corinthians 2:17. It might be objected that he was magnifying himself in these statements, and designed to commend himself in this manner to the Corinthians. To this he replies in the following verses. To commend…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The preference of the gospel to the law given by Moses. (1-11) The preaching of the apostle was suitable to the excellency and evidence of the gospel, through the power of the Holy Ghost. (12-18) Verses 1-11 Even the appearance of self-praise and courting human applause, is painful to the humble and spiritual mind. Nothing is more delightful to faithful ministers, or more to their praise, than the success of their ministry, as shown in the spirits and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-3Paul’s ministry was proven by the lives changed by the good news about Jesus, not by a letter of recommendation (compare Acts 18:27). Christ, who caused this change, used Paul to guide believers to him. The true signs are not in letters written with pen and ink on parchment, but in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23) in human lives and engraved on human hearts.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-182Co 3:1-18. The Sole Commendation He Needs to Prove God's Sanction of His Ministry He Has in His Corinthian Converts: His Ministry Excels the Mosaic, as the Gospel of Life and Liberty Excels the Law of Condemnation. 1. Are we beginning again to recommend ourselves (2Co 5:12) (as some of them might say he had done in his first Epistle; or, a reproof to "some" who had begun doing so)! commendation--recommendation. (Compare 2Co 10:18). The "some" refers to…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Corinthians 3:1

• Letters

In the dictionaries

• Corinthians, Second Epistle to the
• Plainness
• Sufficiency
• Untaken
• Apollos
• Commend
• Corinth
• Corinthians, Second Epistle to the
• Covenant, the New
• Epistle

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 3

• 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
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings