2 Corinthians 5:14

2 Corinthians 5:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
• New International Version (NIV)For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
• New King James Version (NKJV)For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;

Context of 2 Corinthians 5:14

12Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. 13If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. 16So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!

2 Corinthians 5:14 word by word

ἡ γὰρ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ συνέχει ἡμᾶς κρίναντας τοῦτο, ὅτι εἷς ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν· ἄρα οἱ πάντες ἀπέθανον.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• the loveἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
• of ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
• constrainethσυνέχωsunechō · to hold/oppressG4912
• usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• becauseοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• we thus judgeκρίνωkrinō · to judgeG2919
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• oneεἷςheis · oneG1520
• diedἀποθνήσκωapothnēskō · to dieG599
• forὑπέρhuper · above/forG5228
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• thenἄραara · thereforeG686

Cross-references for 2 Corinthians 5:14

• 2 Corinthians 8:8I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.
• Matthew 10:37“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.
• Luke 7:42But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
• John 14:21Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
• John 21:15After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
• 1 Corinthians 16:22If anyone does not love the Lord, that person is cursed. Our Lord, come!
• Ephesians 3:18And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
• Ephesians 6:24May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Hebrews 6:10For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.
• 1 Peter 1:8You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.
• Job 32:18For I am full of pent-up words, and the spirit within me urges me on.
• Luke 24:29but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them.
• Acts 4:19But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?
• Romans 2:2And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.
• 1 Corinthians 2:14But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
• Isaiah 53:6All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 5:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14For the love of Christ constraineth us - We have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, and this causes us to love God intensely, and to love and labor for the salvation of men. And it is the effect produced by this love which ̔, bears us away with itself, which causes us to love after the similitude of that love by which we are influenced; and as God so loved the world as to give his Son for it, and as Christ so loved the world as to pour out his…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14For the love of Christ - In this verse, Paul brings into view the principle which actuated him; the reason of his extraordinary and disinterested zeal. That was, that he was influenced by the love which Christ had shown in dying for all people, and by the argument which was furnished by that death respecting the actual character and condition of man (in this verse); and of the obligation of those who professed to be his true friends 2 Corinthians 5:15…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-15Verses 9-15 The apostle quickens himself and others to acts of duty. Well-grounded hopes of heaven will not encourage sloth and sinful security. Let all consider the judgment to come, which is called, The terror of the Lord. Knowing what terrible vengeance the Lord would execute upon the workers of iniquity, the apostle and his brethren used every argument and persuasion, to lead men to believe in the Lord Jesus, and to act as his disciples. Their zeal…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14Christ’s love compels us: This could mean either believers’ love for Christ or, more likely, Christ’s love for us. This love motivates believers to spread the message of Christ through their service (see 1 Corinthians 9:16).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. For--Accounting for his being "beside himself" with enthusiasm: the love of Christ towards us (in His death for us, the highest proof of it, Ro 5:6-8), producing in turn love in us to Him, and not mere "terror" (2Co 5:11). constraineth us--with irresistible power limits us to the one great object to the exclusion of other considerations. The Greek implies to compress forcibly the energies into one channel. Love is jealous of any rival object…Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Corinthians 5:14

• Death
• Depravity of Man
• Jesus, the Christ
• Love
• Minister, Christian
• Suffering
• Unselfishness
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• Christ, Messiah
• Appear
• Constrain
• Corinthians, Second Epistle to the
• Earthly
• Faith
• Groan
• Pray
• Reconcile

Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 5

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings