◄ 2 Corinthians 9:9 ►
As it is written: "He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever."
Study Bible
As it is written
This phrase is a common introductory formula used by Paul to reference the Old Testament Scriptures, indicating the authority and continuity of God's Word. It underscores the importance of Scripture as the foundation for Christian teaching and living. The phrase suggests that what follows is not a new concept but one deeply rooted in the Jewish tradition and God's eternal plan.

He has scattered abroad
The imagery of scattering suggests a generous and widespread distribution. In the Greek, the word "scattered" (διεσκόρπισεν, dieskorpisen) conveys the idea of sowing seeds, which implies an intentional and abundant giving. This reflects God's nature as a generous provider who gives liberally and without reservation. Historically, this can be seen in the agricultural practices of the time, where sowing seeds was an act of faith and hope for a future harvest.

His gifts to the poor
The focus on "gifts" (δωρεάς, dōreas) highlights the nature of God's giving as gracious and unearned. The recipients, "the poor," are often emphasized in Scripture as those who are particularly close to God's heart. This phrase calls believers to emulate God's generosity, reminding them of the biblical mandate to care for the needy. The historical context of the early church, which often faced poverty and persecution, makes this call to generosity even more poignant.

His righteousness endures forever
The term "righteousness" (δικαιοσύνη, dikaiosynē) in this context refers to God's faithfulness and justice. It is a reminder that God's character is unchanging and eternal. The phrase "endures forever" emphasizes the everlasting nature of God's righteousness, assuring believers that His promises and His moral order are steadfast. This eternal perspective encourages Christians to live righteously, knowing that their actions have lasting significance in God's kingdom.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Paul the Apostle
The author of 2 Corinthians, writing to the church in Corinth to encourage generosity and stewardship.

2. The Church in Corinth
The recipients of the letter, a diverse and dynamic early Christian community in the city of Corinth.

3. The Poor
The recipients of the gifts mentioned in the verse, representing those in need within the Christian community and beyond.

4. The Psalmist
The original author of the quote, which is from Psalm 112:9, emphasizing the enduring nature of righteousness and generosity.

5. God
The ultimate source of righteousness and the one who empowers believers to give generously.
Teaching Points
The Principle of Generosity
Believers are called to be generous, scattering their resources to help those in need. This reflects God's own generosity and love.

Enduring Righteousness
Acts of generosity are not just temporary; they have eternal significance. Our righteousness, demonstrated through giving, endures forever.

Imitating God’s Character
As God is generous and righteous, believers are encouraged to imitate these attributes in their own lives, reflecting His character to the world.

Trust in God’s Provision
Generosity requires faith that God will provide for our needs as we give to others. Trusting in His provision allows us to give freely.

Impact on the Community
Generosity strengthens the community of believers and serves as a testimony to the world of God’s love and provision.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the original context of Psalm 112:9 enhance our understanding of 2 Corinthians 9:9?

2. In what ways can we "scatter" our gifts today, and how does this reflect God's character?

3. How does the principle of generosity in 2 Corinthians 9:9 relate to Jesus' teachings in the Gospels?

4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure our acts of generosity have a lasting impact?

5. How can we encourage others in our community to embrace a lifestyle of generosity and righteousness?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 112:9
The original source of the quote, highlighting the blessedness of the righteous who are generous and compassionate.

Proverbs 11:24-25
Discusses the principle of generosity leading to increased blessings, reinforcing the idea of scattering gifts.

Matthew 6:19-21
Jesus' teaching on storing treasures in heaven, which aligns with the enduring nature of righteousness.

Galatians 6:9-10
Encourages believers to do good to all, especially to those in the household of faith, echoing the call to generosity.

1 Timothy 6:17-19
Advises the wealthy to be generous and willing to share, thus laying up treasures for the future.
Sermons
Correspondence Between Christian Sowing and ReapingC. Lipscomb 2 Corinthians 9:6-9
People
Corinthians, Macedonians, Paul
Places
Achaia, Corinth, Macedonia
Topics
Abideth, Abroad, Age, Almsgiving, Dispersed, Endures, Forever, Gifts, Gives, Poor, Remains, Righteousness, Scattered, Scatters, Wide, Writings, Written
Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Corinthians 9:9

     8701   affluence
     9121   eternity, nature of

2 Corinthians 9:5-9

     8262   generosity, human

2 Corinthians 9:6-11

     1330   God, the provider
     4510   sowing and reaping
     5556   stewardship
     6710   privileges

2 Corinthians 9:6-13

     5856   extravagance

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

     5503   rich, the

2 Corinthians 9:8-11

     5325   gifts

2 Corinthians 9:8-14

     4035   abundance

Library
December 25 Evening
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.--II COR 9:15. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.--For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

God's Unspeakable Gift
'Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.'--2 COR. ix. 15. It seems strange that there should ever have been any doubt as to what gift it is which evokes this burst of thanksgiving. There is but one of God's many mercies which is worthy of being thus singled out. There is one blazing central sun which shines out amidst all the galaxy of lights which fill the heavens. There is one gift of God which, beyond all others, merits the designation of 'unspeakable.' The gift of Christ draws all other …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Praise for the Gift of Gifts
"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."--2 Corinthians 9:15. IN the chapter from which my text is taken, Paul is stirring up the Christians at Corinth to be ready with liberal gifts for the poor saints at Jerusalem. He finishes by reminding them of a greater gift that any they could bring, and by this one short word of praise, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift," he sets all their hearts a-singing. Let men give as liberally as they may, you can always proclaim the value of their …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

3D Day. All-Sufficient Grace.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."--2 COR. ix. 8. All-Sufficient Grace. "All-sufficiency in all things!" Believer! surely thou art "thoroughly furnished!" Grace is no scanty thing, doled out in pittances. It is a glorious treasury, which the key of prayer can always unlock, but never empty. A fountain, "full, flowing, ever flowing, overflowing." Mark these three …
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

Letter Lviii to the Duchess of Lorraine
To the Duchess of Lorraine He thanks her for kindnesses shown, and deters her from an unjust war. I thank God for your pious goodwill which I know that you have towards Him and His servants. For whenever the tiniest little spark of heavenly love is kindled in a worldly heart ennobled with earthly honours, that, without doubt, is God's gift, not man's virtue. For our part we are very glad to avail ourselves of the kind offers made to us of your bounty in your letter. But having heard of the sudden …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

1872-1874. Letter from Rev. A. M. W. Christopher --Letter from Gulf of St. Lawrence-Mrs. Birt's Sheltering Home, Liverpool --Letter to Mrs. Merry --Letter from Canada --Miss
Letter from Rev. A. M. W. Christopher--Letter from Gulf of St. Lawrence-Mrs. Birt's Sheltering Home, Liverpool--Letter to Mrs. Merry--Letter from Canada--Miss Macpherson's return to England-- Letter of cheer for Dr. Barnardo--Removal to Hackney Home. Though human praise is not sought, we cannot but feel peculiar pleasure in giving the following testimony from a servant of the Lord so much revered as the Rev, A. M. W. Christopher of Oxford:-- "Of all the works of Christian benevolence which the great …
Clara M. S. Lowe—God's Answers

How to be Admonished are those who Give Away what is their Own, and those who Seize what Belongs to Others.
(Admonition 21.) Differently to be admonished are those who already give compassionately of their own, and those who still would fain seize even what belongs to others. For those who already give compassionately of their own are to be admonished not to lift themselves up in swelling thought above those to whom they impart earthly things; not to esteem themselves better than others because they see others to be supported by them. For the Lord of an earthly household, in distributing the ranks and …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Perhaps There is no Book Within the Whole Canon of Scripture So Perplexing and Anomalous...
Perhaps there is no book within the whole canon of Scripture so perplexing and anomalous, at first sight, as that entitled "Ecclesiastes." Its terrible hopelessness, its bold expression of those difficulties with which man is surrounded on every side, the apparent fruitlessness of its quest after good, the unsatisfactory character, from a Christian standpoint, of its conclusion: all these points have made it, at one and the same time, an enigma to the superficial student of the Word, and the arsenal …
F. C. Jennings—Old Groans and New Songs

The Spiced Wine of My Pomegranate;
OR, THE COMMUNION OF COMMUNICATION. I would cause Thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate."--Song of Solomon viii. 2.And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."--John i. 16. THE SPICED WINE OF MY POMEGRANATE. THE immovable basis of communion having been laid of old in the eternal union which subsisted between Christ and His elect, it only needed a fitting occasion to manifest itself in active development. The Lord Jesus had for ever delighted Himself with the …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

Meditations of the State of a Christian Reconciled to God in Christ,
Now let us see how happy a godly man is in his state of renovation, being reconciled to God in Christ. The godly man whose corrupt nature is renewed by grace in Christ and become a new creature, is blessed in a threefold respect--First, in his life; Secondly, in his death; Thirdly, after death. I. His blessedness during his life is but in part, and that consists in seven things:-- 1. Because he is conceived of the Spirit (John iii. 5), and is born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Work of the Holy Spirit
The Church of Christ. "It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is ruth."--1 John v. 6. We now proceed to discuss the work of the Holy Spirit wrought in the Church of Christ. Altho the Son of God has had a Church in the earth from the beginning, yet the Scripture distinguishes between its manifestation before and after Christ. As the acorn, planted in the ground, exists, altho it passes through the two periods of germinating and rooting, and of growing upward and forming trunk and …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Perseverance Proved.
2. I REMARK, that God is able to preserve and keep the true saints from apostacy, in consistency with their liberty: 2 Tim. i. 12: "For the which cause I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." Here the apostle expresses the fullest confidence in the ability of Christ to keep him: and indeed, as has been said, it is most manifest that the apostles expected …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Sunday after Ascension Day
Text: First Peter 4, 7-11.[1] 7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer: 8 above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves: for love covereth a multitude of sins: 9 using hospitality one to another without murmuring: 10 according as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God; 11 if any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth, ministering …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Of the Public Fast.
A public fast is when, by the authority of the magistrate (Jonah iii. 7; 2 Chron. xx. 3; Ezra viii. 21), either the whole church within his dominion, or some special congregation, whom it concerneth, assemble themselves together, to perform the fore-mentioned duties of humiliation; either for the removing of some public calamity threatened or already inflicted upon them, as the sword, invasion, famine, pestilence, or other fearful sickness (1 Sam. vii. 5, 6; Joel ii. 15; 2 Chron. xx.; Jonah iii. …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

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