2 Corinthians 3:2

2 Corinthians 3:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
• New International Version (NIV)You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;
• New Living Translation (NLT)The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you.

Context of 2 Corinthians 3:2

1Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 4Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.

2 Corinthians 3:2 word by word

ἡ ἐπιστολὴ ἡμῶν ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐγγεγραμμένη ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν, γινωσκομένη καὶ ἀναγινωσκομένη ὑπὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων,Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Yeσύsu · youG4771
• areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• ourἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• epistleὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• epistleἐπιστολήepistolē · epistleG1992
• writtenἐγγράφωeggraphō · to write inG1449
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• heartsκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588
• knownγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• readἀναγινώσκωanaginōskō · to readG314
• ofὑπόhupo · by/under: byG5259
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• menἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444

Cross-references for 2 Corinthians 3:2

• 1 Corinthians 3:10According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.
• 1 Corinthians 9:1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?
• 2 Corinthians 7:3I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
• 2 Corinthians 11:11And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
• 2 Corinthians 12:15I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?
• Philippians 1:7It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
• Romans 1:8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
• 1 Corinthians 9:2If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:8For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 3:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Ye are our epistle - I bear the most ardent love to you. I have no need to be put in remembrance of you by any epistles or other means; ye are written in my heart - I have the most affectionate remembrance of you. Known and read of all men - For wherever I go I mention you; speak of your various gifts and graces; and praise your knowledge in the Gospel.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Ye are our epistle - compare 1 Corinthians 9:2. This is a most beautiful and happy turn given to the whole subject. The sense is plain. It is, that the conversion of the Corinthians, under the faithful labors of the apostle, was a better testimonial of his character and fidelity than any letters could be. To see the force of this, it must be remembered: (1)That Corinth was an exceedingly dissolute and abandoned place (see the introduction to the First…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. 22. our epistle--of recommendation. in our hearts--not letters borne merely in the hands. Your conversion through my instrumentality, and your faith which is "known of all men" by widespread report (1Co 1:4-7), and which is written by memory and affection on my inmost heart and is borne about wherever I go, is my letter of recommendation (1Co 9:2). known and read--words akin in root, sound, and sense (so 2Co 1:13). "Ye are known to be my converts by…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Corinthians 3:2

• Love
• Minister, Christian

In the dictionaries

• Corinthians, Second Epistle to the
• Plainness
• Sufficiency
• Untaken
• Corinthians, Second Epistle to the
• Covenant, the New
• Exodus, the Book of
• Law in the New Testament
• Paul, the Apostle

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