2 Corinthians 1:7

And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) And our hope of you is stedfast.—Better, our hope on behalf of you. The sentence is brought in as a kind of parenthesis connected with the word “enduring.” He had not used that word lightly, still less as a tacit reproach, as though they were wanting in endurance. His hope for them, for their salvation in the fullest sense of the word, had never been stronger than it was at that moment.

So shall ye be also of the consolation.—Better, so are ye also. The verb is not expressed in the Greek, but it is more natural to supply it in the tense which had been used before. The English version practically dilutes the hope by throwing it into a future, which may be near or distant, instead of connecting it with the actual present. The Apostle could not doubt for a moment that they were at that very time sharers in the comfort as well as in the sufferings.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:1-11 We are encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. The Lord is able to give peace to the troubled conscience, and to calm the raging passions of the soul. These blessings are given by him, as the Father of his redeemed family. It is our Saviour who says, Let not your heart be troubled. All comforts come from God, and our sweetest comforts are in him. He speaks peace to souls by granting the free remission of sins; and he comforts them by the enlivening influences of the Holy Spirit, and by the rich mercies of his grace. He is able to bind up the broken-hearted, to heal the most painful wounds, and also to give hope and joy under the heaviest sorrows. The favours God bestows on us, are not only to make us cheerful, but also that we may be useful to others. He sends comforts enough to support such as simply trust in and serve him. If we should be brought so low as to despair even of life, yet we may then trust God, who can bring back even from death. Their hope and trust were not in vain; nor shall any be ashamed who trust in the Lord. Past experiences encourage faith and hope, and lay us under obligation to trust in God for time to come. And it is our duty, not only to help one another with prayer, but in praise and thanksgiving, and thereby to make suitable returns for benefits received. Thus both trials and mercies will end in good to ourselves and others.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And our hope of you is steadfast - We have a firm and unshaken hope in regard to you; we have a confident expectation that you will be saved. We believe that you will be enabled so to bear trial as to show that you are sustained by the Christian hope; and so as to advance your own piety, and confirm your prospect of heaven.

As ye are partakers of the sufferings - It is evident from this, that the Corinthians had been subjected to trials similar to those which the apostle had endured. It is not known to what afflictions they were then subjected; but it is not improbable that they were exposed to some kind of persecution and opposition. Such trials were common in all the early churches; and they served to unite all the friends of the Redeemer in common bonds, and to make them feel that they were one. They had united sorrows; and they had united joys; and they felt they were tending to the same heaven of glory. United sorrows and united consolations tend more than anything else to bind people together. We always have a "brotherly" feeling for one who suffers as we do; or who has the same kind of joy which we have.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

7. so shall ye be—rather, "So are ye." He means, there is a community of consolation, as of suffering, between me and you.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

We have a stedfast hope of you, that as you have endured sufferings for Christ and his gospel, so you will still endure them, as we have done. And we know,

that as you are partakers of the sufferings of Christ and his gospel, so you shall also share in those Divine consolations that those feel who endure such sufferings.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For our hope of you is steadfast,.... We have long ago entertained hopes of you, that the work of God is begun upon your souls, and will be carried on, and that you will hold on in the profession of your faith unto the end, and not be moved by the afflictions you see in us, or endure in yourselves; and so will pass on cheerfully in your Christian race, in the midst of all your troubles, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God, you may expect to be possessed of; and this hope, for or concerning you, continues with us firm and immovable.

Knowing, which may refer either to the Corinthians; so the Arabic version, "be ye knowing", or "know ye"; you may, or should know; this you may assure yourselves of: or to the apostle and other ministers; so the Syriac version, "we know", we are persuaded of the truth of this,

that as you are partakers of the sufferings; that is, of Christ, and the same which we also suffer for him:

so shall ye be; or rather, "so you are also of the consolation"; for the apostle seems to respect not future happiness and glory, in which, as there will be no afflictions and troubles, so no comfort under them, but present consolation, which the saints enjoy here as a pledge and earnest of that fulness of joy which they shall have with Christ for evermore.

Geneva Study Bible

And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

2 Corinthians 1:7. καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς κ.τ.λ.: and our hope for you is steadfast, knowing (we should expect εἰδότων, but cf. Romans 13:11) that as ye are partakers of the sufferings (see reff. for κοινωνός with a gen. objecti), so also are ye of the comfort. The main idea of this section is well given by Bengel: “Communio sanctorum … egregie representatur in hac epistola”.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. And our hope of you is stedfast] Most editors agree in placing these words before ‘or whether we be comforted,’ &c. It would seem to be their most natural place, for not only do they come awkwardly before the word ‘knowing,’ but the expression of the hope is more appropriate in reference to the endurance by the Corinthians of suffering than to their enjoyment of encouragement. The majority of the best MSS. are in favour of this arrangement of the sentence. The text is in great confusion here.

as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation] Literally, sharers. See 1 Corinthians 1:9, and note. Christians ‘had all things,’ even sufferings, in ‘common.’ Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:46; 1 Corinthians 15:49. Also Romans 8:17-23, ch. 2 Corinthians 4:17. The words ‘shall ye be’ are not in the original. It would be better to supply ‘are,’ the encouragement being not a promise for the future, but a present possession. Observe the way in which ye and you are used indiscriminately as the nominative in the edition of 1611. Cf. also 2 Corinthians 1:13-14. In the later editions ye has been substituted. The substitution commenced in 1661, and gradually made its way after that time. The rule that ye is used only “in questions, entreaties, and rhetorical appeals” (see Abbott’s Shaksperian Grammar, 236) does not seem to hold good here.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - And our hope of you is steadfast; literally, And our hope is steadfast on your behalf. The variations of text and punctuation in the verse do not materially affect the sense. The meaning is "And I have a sure hope that you will reap the benefits of our common fellowship with Christ in his affliction, and of the comfort which he sends, because I know that you have experienced the sufferings, and am therefore sure that he will send you the strength and the endurance. The close connection of tribulation and Divine encouragement are found also in Matthew 5:4; 2 Timothy 2:12; 1 Peter 5:10. The interchange of the two between teacher and taught is part of the true communion of saints (comp. Philippians 2:26). 2 Corinthians 1:7