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

Do we have to show you our qualifications again? Do we, like some people, need letters that recommend us to you or letters from you that recommend us to others? 2You’re our letter of recommendation written in our hearts that everyone knows and reads. 3It’s clear that you are Christ’s letter, written as a result of our ministry. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, a letter written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

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 2:17At least we don’t go around selling an impure word of God like many others. The opposite is true. As Christ’s spokesmen and in God’s presence, we speak the pure message that comes from God.
• 2 Corinthians 5:12We are not trying to show you our qualifications again, but we are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us. Then you can answer those who are proud of their appearance rather than their character.
• 2 Corinthians 10:8So, if I brag a little too much about the authority which the Lord gave us, I’m not ashamed. The Lord gave us this authority to help you, not to hurt you.
• 2 Corinthians 12:11I have become a fool. You forced me to be one. You should have recommended me to others. Even if I’m nothing, I wasn’t inferior in any way to your super-apostles.
• 1 Corinthians 3:10As a skilled and experienced builder, I used the gift that God gave me to lay the foundation ⌞for that building⌟. However, someone else is building on it. Each person must be careful how he builds on it.
• 1 Corinthians 4:15You may have countless Christian guardians, but you don’t have many ⌞spiritual⌟ fathers. I became your father in the Christian life by telling you the Good News about Christ Jesus.
• 1 Corinthians 10:33I try to please everyone in every way. I don’t think about what would be good for me but about what would be good for many people so that they might be saved.
• Acts 18:27When Apollos wanted to travel to Greece, the believers ⌞in Ephesus⌟ encouraged him. They wrote to the disciples in Greece to tell them to welcome him. When he arrived in Greece, God’s kindness enabled him to help the believers a great deal.
• 1 Corinthians 16:3When I come, I will give letters of introduction to the people whom you choose. You can send your gift to Jerusalem with them.

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